Interview at Mcgill

[jackal143]

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Hi everyone,


I finally got an interview at Mcgill, I'm applying for general surgery as externally funded doctor. I dont know what questions they ask and what are they interested in. also I heard from someone that they called 14 candidates for only 2 positions which makes it more and extremely difficult.

guys anyone knows how the interview goes and what things that I can mention which will help to get the position

I need your help.

 

[dragonfly99]

Congrats. All I know about McGill is that is a highly regarded Canadian university...I have a friend who did undergraduate in biology there. She is from the country of Mauritius. I don't know anything about their medical center. I don't know what an "externally funded candidate" is either. You might get better responses to your question if you posted on the surgery forum rather than general residency one...though I don't know how many Canadian surgeons are on here.

 

[Acherona]

I don't know what an "externally funded candidate" is either.

=Free labor for McGill. They fill a certain percentage of their residency positions with students from the middle east whose governments pay their salaries to get "western" training. Then when they go back to their countries they are the big-shots with the Canadian degree.

I wouldn't expect a touch-feely interview from McGill. If I were you I'd find someone whose entered the program from your country in a previous year and ask them how to prepare. If you can speak English and seem affable, that is a good start.

 

[jackal143]

I don't want to be a big shot hen I come back to my country and I dont want to be a famous surgeon with a degree to hang it on my door without skills just to show off. I'm looking for good training programe wheather in Canada or anywhere else.

I speak fluent english as I graduated from Ireland, so English is not a problem here.

My biggest worry is that Mcgill every year calls around 20 candidates for interviews and they accept only 3.

This year they called 14 and they are accepting only 2.

I have good Cv and my grades from RCSI are good also, but my problem is that I didnt waste my time doing the USMLE becasue I don't want to go to the States its either Canada or France and I have my reasons why I dont want to go there.

Some of the Candidates have the USMLE, I want to know will they consider passing the USMLE as a tool to distiguish candidates or they are only satisfied with the Canadian exam.

Thank god I know some French and I think this might help me in the Interview but I believe to be well prepared for thier questions and have good persuasive answers is the key to win the seat.

Thats why I'm trying to ask everyone I know to gather as much Information as I can.

At the end, It doesnt matter from where you graduate, as a Surgeon you need good exposure and practice to become a good one, this is my believe.

Thanks

 

[Blade28]

Those odds don't seem too bad to me. Many places here interview 100-150 people for 6-8 spots.

 

[gutonc]

Those odds don't seem too bad to me. Many places here interview 100-150 people for 6-8 spots.

Absolutely agree. Although the numbers vary between programs, a good rule of thumb in IM (a relatively non-competitive specialty) is 10 interviews per position. 7 interviews/slot in GS seems like pretty good odds.

 

[Acherona]

Some of the Candidates have the USMLE, I want to know will they consider passing the USMLE as a tool to distiguish candidates or they are only satisfied with the Canadian exam.

Thank god I know some French and I think this might help me in the Interview but I believe to be well prepared for thier questions and have good persuasive answers is the key to win the seat.
Thanks

If you passed the LMCC they won't care about the USMLE. I don't think they really know how to interpret a USMLE score.
French will help once you're here but I don't know of any middle eastern residents who actually speak french, so its obviously not an admission criterion. McGill likes to pretend French is not necessary. If you get a French-Canadian interviewer you can play that up though, and how much you like the French culture and Montreal blah blah. Nevermind that that accent makes you want to gouge out your cochlea on a daily basis.

 

[Blade28]

Absolutely agree. Although the numbers vary between programs, a good rule of thumb in IM (a relatively non-competitive specialty) is 10 interviews per position. 7 interviews/slot in GS seems like pretty good odds.

Yup. Our program last year conducted around 130 interviews for 9 spots. 😱