Application Overview
Our main goal with this program is to select applicants who are likely to bloom into excellent surgeon in our program. We are looking for people hoping to improve and willing to step outside of their comfort zone to do so. We are also looking for hard working, compassionate, dedicated, and passionate people. We consider our program as a family so we are looking for people who will integrate well in the family, who will contribute to make our program a better program and who will be able to work well in teams. We seek well rounded individuals, with demonstrated interests outside surgery, who possess the following core values: integrity, accountability, and initiative. We aim to produce the best trained surgeons in Canada who will provide excellent patient care and contribute to advance the field of General Surgery.
We offer 6 residency spots each year:
Canadian Medical Graduate - 4 positions
Canadian Medical Graduate, Bilingual Stream - 1 position
International Medical Graduate - 1 position
We use a combination of file review and interview to collect information on applicants and make ranking decisions. We strive to keep the process as objective as possible. As such, we are using a standardized scoring sheet for the file review and we are anonymizing the files in an effort to avoid bias. We are also doing a formal bias training this year in an effort to improve the fairness of our process.
The interview process includes multiple mini interviews conducted by a combination of senior residents and staff members. We have switched to this format many years ago and we think it help with the objectivity of the process. We come up with questions and scenario covering traits that we think are important to success in our program. Each station having a specific goal, we using a different scoring sheet for each station.
This year there will be 7 stations for each applicant plus one “break station”. The MMI will be conducted via Zoom breakout rooms. More details will follow in the next few weeks.
first round Timeline
Sept 20, 2023 - Access to CaRMS online for applicants
Sept 20, 2023 (12 pm EST) - Program descriptions published
Oct 12, 2023 (5 pm EST) - Deadline for translation requests for references.
Nov 1, 2023 (12 pm EST) - Program selection opens, applicants can start select programs they wish to apply to
Nov 17, 2023 - DEADLINE for transcripts and records sent by medical schools
Nov 30, 2023 - DEADLINE for reference letters
Dec 1, 2023 (12 pm EST) - DEADLINE for applications, file review begins
Jan 5, 2024 - Interview offers
Jan 19, 2024 - Ottawa interview date
Feb 1, 2024 (12 pm EST) Ranking period begins
Feb 29, 2024 (3 pm EST) - Submission of program rank order lists
Mar 19, 2024 (12 pm EST) - MATCH DAY
Second round Timeline
Mar 19, 2024 (12 pm EST) - 2nd round opens
April 3, 2024 - DEADLINE for reference letters
April 4, 2024 - DEADLINE for applications
April 9, 2024 - Ranking period opens
April 17, 2024 - DEADLINE for rank order list
April 25, 2024 - MATCH DAY