Caliver

In downtown Toronto, UHN and MSH have a large number of +1 ER docs. Not sure what the rationale is but politics probably plays a big role. In addition, at those centres, even though the patient population can be quite complicated, many specialty services are readily accessible. There is a noticeable difference between +1 and FRCSC docs when it comes to their comfort level for more complex issues (rather than just pattern recognition). I personally noticed this between St. Michael's vs. MSH/TGH/TWH in terms of the consult quality, although there are variabilities depends on the person.

But it seems like RBC does not keep the prime rate while Scotia does during repayment. I think someone on the forum confirmed this as well..

How does switching LOC from one bank to another work? Do you still get the same benefits as you would if you sign up in first year?

If you want to sign with a Toronto branch, I suggest you look into the one on Queen street. She is the rep for U of T. But please keep in mind that you need to have confirmation of enrollment for the branch (which I don't get unfortunately..)

I went to both RBC and Scotia in downtown T.O today. While meeting with the RBC rep was a bit unpleasant, the Scotia rep impressed me with her knowledge and down-to-earth attitude. And the RBC rep implied that the interest rate *might* change from prime rate to something else over the course of repayment period whereas the Scotia rep guaranteed prime rate for the entire duration. As well, the Scotia rep said that the limit for first year could go up to 70k but it means that the annual cap for the remaining three years would decrease accordingly to meet the maximum cap of 200k in total. Oh well, I can't access LOC anyways until the end of August because of U of T's reluctance to help its students, but just wanted to share information for those of you who are interested.

According to the chart comparing LOCs from various banks, BMO offers $250k but the BMO website says it gives $200k (http://www.bmo.com/home/personal/banking/mortgages-loans/loans-loc/loc/student-loc/medical). Can anyone confirm? :S This LOC business is so confusing.

How did you guys manage to ask your science profs for reference letters? I have always been in large classes and have not been too active in classes (i.e. I didn't go up to the prof after class, etc.). But I do have good marks in science courses. What will I need to do to get a good reference letter, even though I don't personally know them that much..? Same goes for non-academic profs.. Thanks!

-Clicked- Thank you! (This essay was written before I started following TPR guidelines.. any comments would be appreciated!) Progress often complicates as much as it simplifies There has been much progress made in technology in the contemporary society. Communication is among one of the technologies that have drastically evolved in recent years. In the modern world, it has become much easier to get in contact with people in remote areas via online media such as E-mail, Skype and Facebook. With Facebook, for example, people can communicate with their friends to whom they have not talked for many years in a simple way: posting on their walls. People can also check how other people are doing via their status on facebook. People may leave messages such as "I am going to Blue Jays game tonight" so their friends or families can keep track of them. Though it seems that the communication in the modern society has become much simpler than in the past, it has also become complicated in its unique way. The privacy issues have become hot issues ever since the birth of Facebook. Because it provides easy access to personal information, abuse of such information has been made possible. Therefore, Facebook has implemented toughened up security system on personal information, which complicates connecting with other people a bit. In the modern onine modern technology, with which personal information can be easily accessible, the progress has complicated as much as it has simplified. On the other hand, progress in offline or non-online methods of communication has been largely more simplifying than complicating. Nowadays, with many people carrying their cell phones, it is possible to get hold of them anywhere any time. People can also get in contact with others overseas as well through affordable and quality international calls, fast international mailing and shipping. Unless they are under surveillance by a national secret service or they are talking in a large public area, their privacy is granted better with these offine methods. No one is going to able to overhear the conversation or open up the envelope to access their personal information. It still is possible to get hold of people with these methods. The progress in these offline communication services has simplifed contacting other people than complicating it. There has been much improvement in the field of communication both online and offline. Though they perform similiar functions, they possess different traits. Both the online and offline media enable people to contact others in a much simpler way compared to the past when people were relying on simple mails delivered via horse riders. To differentiate the two, the online media has complicated the communication in a unique way that personal information delivered through the media can be abused. The offline method, on the other hand, has not posed this problem. The matter of complication and simplification ultimately bogs down to the media type in the field of communication technologies. As depicted here, progress can complicate as much as it simplifies and the opposite can happen as well.

-Clicked- Thank you! There are times when an individual's private acts should become a public concern. Describe a specific situation in which an individual's private acts should not become a public concern. Discuss what you think determines whether or not the acts of an individual should become a public concern. In the modern society, the issues around privacy of individual members are treated importantly, as evident in privacy laws set up in many nations. Privacy includes personal information and daily activities of an individual. The privacy laws are generally established to secure the privacy of each member of the society. However, there are times when an individual’s daily actions need to be publicly monitored. Criminals with severe crimes, such as sexual assault, should be a common concern in the neighbourhood and need to be constantly monitored to prevent any potential damage to the community. For example, Canada has implemented Sex offender registry to protect each community from sex offenders. This registry contains and releases a list of sex offenders with their address to neighbours and encourages the neighbours to observe the offenders closely to effectively prevent any potential harm that could be done to the community. Therefore, an individual’s daily motions should become a public concern when the individual is deemed to be potentially harmful to the society. In contrast, an individual’s daily actions should not be a daily spotlight, if the individual does not cause any harm or damage to the community. Nowadays, there are many homosexual people in the neighbourhood. Some people have argued that the homosexual people can adversely affect the neighbourhood and should forbid gay marriages. However, unless these homosexual people have a history of crimes, they do not physically cause harm to any communities. Their sexuality plays no role in damaging the society and therefore should not be a public concern. In fact, their rights have been established in several nations, as evident in allowance of same-sex marriage in Canada. Pierre Trudeau once said “Government has no business in the bedrooms of the nation”. Individual’s privacy rights need to be respected and should not become a public concern when the individual does not cause any harm to the society. The privacy of each member of the society is a complex issue. If an individual has a history of severe crimes, such as sexual assault, the person needs to be constantly monitored by the neighbourhood to prevent any potential damages. On the other hand, if an individual does not pose any harm to the community, the individual’s rights to enjoy privacy need to be secured. For example, though homosexual people have different sexuality from traditional measures, they do not damage the society and therefore their privacy needs to be respected. Ultimately, whether or not daily actions of an individual should be monitored is determined by the measure of physical harmfulness to the society. As depicted here, there are times when an individual should be monitored publicly but there are times when the opposite should occur as well.

-clicked- The primary concern of a business is to maximize the physical safety of its employees. Since industrial revolution in 19th century, people have been able to enjoy a plethora of new products with new techniques and manufacturing machines. This eventually has led to increased demand for labour. In many cases, employers did not initially realize the adverse effect of the work and this resulted in harming their employees. Nowadays, the main responsibility of a business is to maximize and secure the overall health of its employees. In Japan during 1960s, workers in a chemical factory started to develop unusual symptoms. Their bones started to deform and their newborn babies had numerous birth defects. The employers of the company were not aware of the adverse effect of chemicals that workers inhaled everyday and therefore were not concerned with shielding the workers from the harm. After scientific analysis on the chemicals, employees were given masks and other protection equipment. Thus, a business should assure the physical safety of its employees when the harm is clearly known. However, there are other instances where the primary concern of business is not guarding physical safety of its employees. The primary duty of a security company, for example, is to protect its clients’ safety at the expense of its employees’ safety. If the safety of the employees were to be the primary concern, the business would not attract the clients and would fail as a result. The voluntary nature and the purpose of the job let the company set its primary goal to maximize its clients’ overall health rather than its employees’. Therefore, whether or not the primary concern of a business is to secure its employees’ physical safety depends on the awareness of the harm caused by the work and the inherent nature of the job. If the harm is known and the purpose of the job does not involve putting the employees at risk, like in manufacturing factories, the physical safety of the employees should be assured by the employers. However, there will always be certain professions, such as security guards and police officers in which the safety of the workers must be put at risk due to inherent nature of the job. It is only with the inherent nature of the job that putting physical safety of employees at risk is justified. Thank you!