“Obviously we know a lot of the residents but they’re busy and we’re busy and it’s hard to meet up. And you don’t want to waste other people’s time. All of my friends are preparing as well. You don’t want to be selfish because everyone’s going through the same thing.” Fehr wants to stay in Saskatchewan and applied for residency positions in neurology, physiatry (physical medicine and rehabilitation) and family medicine. She participated in two sessions at the mock interviews, one with a family medicine resident and one with a psychiatry resident. Even after doing some interview prep on her own, she was asked a couple of “zinger” questions. One question she hadn’t anticipated was identifying the biggest sacrifice she has made to be in medicine. After the mock interview, she was ready for it. “I think time. I’m giving up the prime of my life. I could be travelling. I could be doing a lot of things. I could also be making money if I had chosen a different profession. I think that’s not something to be forgotten. But this is the career that I will be the happiest in and I value that over the other things,” she said confidently and with a smile.
Dr. Brenton Janzen, resident
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I TOLD THEM, ‘RELAX. YOU’RE GOOD CANDIDATES. YOU’RE U OF S TRAINED. WE HAVE A GREAT SCHOOL HERE. YOU CAN SELL YOURSELF TO THE PROGRAM.’
In addition to helping with how to best frame an answer to questions, Dr. Janzen wanted to help the students see what they’re going through as normal. “When you see the students come in, you realize that everybody’s nervous. Everyone has one or two questions that they kind of flub and don’t give a great answer,” he said. “I told them, ‘Relax. You’re good candidates. You’re U of S trained. We have a great school here. You can sell yourself to the program. Any will be happy to have you. Just go with what works for you, what fits with your personality and lifestyle.’” The annual process of matching medical students in their final year to residency training programs is in full swing across Canada. Interviews for the first iteration ended Feb. 7. The deadline for students and programs to submit their rankings is Feb. 18. March 2 is the big day when the matches are released. Students aren’t the only ones who are eager for the results. As one of the Moose Jaw family medicine residents who helped with the CaRMS interviews in 2015 and 2016, Dr. Janzen remembers Match Day last year. “When we got our match list (for Moose Jaw), it was an exciting day. It wasn’t the same as opening your own match day with your heart in your throat, but it was still exciting,” he said.
Cassie Fehr, Class of 2016
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I GOT SUCH GOOD FEEDBACK TODAY AND IT’S REALLY BOOSTED MY CONFIDENCE. I’M REALLY HAPPY WITH HOW THINGS WENT. SMA DIGEST | WINTER 2016
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