Med 3 Calendar and Milestones

Choosing a specialty

• Continue to keep an open mind - there is not yet any rush to decide

Immunization documents for Away electives

• Use your Winter break to gather all the immunization forms from the AFMC Electives Portal from all the schools you think you might like to attend
• Submit them to McGill Student Health using the procedure outlined here
• Also take care of Criminal Background Checks, if this is required by your school of interest

Past students say Winter Break is a great time to do this: your documents will be up to date for all your 4th year electives that way, and won't be too old: normally they cannot be more than a year old at the time of the elective start date.

Booking electives

• To be in advance for Med4 and try to ensure you get the electives you want, apply for your first Med4 elective in January of Med3
• If planning to apply to American residency programs, apply for an American elective for the first elective of Med4

Booking electives

• To be in advance for Med4 and try to ensure you get the electives you want, apply for your 2nd Med4 elective in February of Med3

Meet the Career Advisor

• By this time, you will have hopefully already had a 3rd year meeting with the Career Advisor to discuss your specialty intentions, goals, dossier and residency application strategy. 

Choosing a specialty

• Ideally, you would have an idea of your top two or three specialties by March of Med3. This gives you time to plan electives and activities for the coming months that can enhance your dossier

Getting ready for residency applications

• consider asking some of your Med3 supervisors for Letters of Recommendation
• Begin researching residency programs on CaRMS
• If interested in applying to American programs, see FRIEDA Online (create a free account) and take a look at the MyERAS Userguide

Booking electives

• your first 2 electives of Med4 should ideally be confirmed by May of Med3.

Choosing a specialty

• Attend CAREER FAIR (a recall day), and mingle with program representatives of all McGill's residency programs

Meet the Career Advisor

• If you haven't met in the 3rd year to discuss your specialty intentions, goals, dossier and residency application strategy before June of Med3, now is the time to look at taking an appointment before too long. 

Getting ready for residency applications

• If applying to American residencies, contact CaRMS to obtain your ERAS token, and register with ERAS to begin filling out your application