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Utsg Vs Mam


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I guess lifestyle-wise, it's difficult to compare living in a city like Toronto vs Mississauga but did you find it was difficult making it to Toronto for social events? For ones with your fellow med students and just in general? I'd also imagine cost of living is lower in Mississauga? Do a lot of students drive to class or is public transit more common? 

 

Academically, did you find the teleconferencing lessons to be less effective than having the instructor there in person? In terms of other academic resources and labs, are the two campuses fairly equivalent?

 

I guess ultimately I feel like the default choice is the Toronto campus and I'm wondering what the advantages of the MAM campus are.

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Don't make the mistake of thinking Mississauga is small by any means. The city is still the 6th largest in Canada (I think). Definitely lots to do there! Social life will still be good and transportation to downtown is free for MAM students I believe. Also, MAM has a beautiful new health science building which is also a plus. Can't provide you much detail though, just don't make the assumption that MAM isn't a good experience because it's a satellite campus. 

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Don't make the mistake of thinking Mississauga is small by any means. The city is still the 6th largest in Canada (I think). Definitely lots to do there! Social life will still be good and transportation to downtown is free for MAM students I believe. Also, MAM has a beautiful new health science building which is also a plus. Can't provide you much detail though, just don't make the assumption that MAM isn't a good experience because it's a satellite campus. 

 

For sure! How I feel right now is that if I got either campus I'd end up being happy since both seem great. I'm just wondering in terms of filling out the survey selecting your campus preference, if MAM provides any distinct advantages over Toronto.

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I guess lifestyle-wise, it's difficult to compare living in a city like Toronto vs Mississauga but did you find it was difficult making it to Toronto for social events? For ones with your fellow med students and just in general? I'd also imagine cost of living is lower in Mississauga? Do a lot of students drive to class or is public transit more common? 

 

Academically, did you find the teleconferencing lessons to be less effective than having the instructor there in person? In terms of other academic resources and labs, are the two campuses fairly equivalent?

 

I guess ultimately I feel like the default choice is the Toronto campus and I'm wondering what the advantages of the MAM campus are.

 

 

1. It is not difficult to make it down for social events. During O-week you become friends with a lot of people and quickly find places where you can crash downtown when you make the trip. Also, its a quick, cheap Uber to get dt from mississauga and not a very long drive unless you go in rush hour. Class social events are also typically held on nights where it's convenient for the entire class so making it back early the next morning isn't an issue.

 

2. Most students who live in Mississauga drive/carpool to class (the ones who don't live on campus anyway). Most areas with condos are about 10-15 minute drive to the school (even during rush hour). However, we do get free mississauga transit passes for the city. There are shuttles that run to the hospital from campus on days we are required to be there. Condos are about $200 cheaper per month on avg and the apartments are a bit bigger depending what area you are in. 

 

3. A lot of people actually prefer the teleconferencing. We get some lectures at MAM but honestly hardly even notice when they are at the front of the room. The technology is state of the art, not to mention most people just watch lectures at home anyway and don't go to class. Some people prefer no lecture since you can chat during lecture, walk in late without interrupting, etc.

 

4. The academic resources are better at MAM than St. George (except for local research). Our building and anatomy lab our brand new. Also, we have 2 floors of our building dedicated entirely for us and so other students on campus are restricted from accessing it. Also, clinically the experiences are better since there are less trainees in the sites and you get a closer relationship with your preceptor.

 

5. Main disadvantages are commute if you are required to be dt a lot for research or if you are hellbent on living dt. Also not as much stuff to do in Mississauga and not everything is right around the corner. You won't be as close with most of the dt students, but you will be twice as close with the MAM students.

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Thanks that was really comprehensive! You mentioned research, and that's definitely something I'm interested in pursuing. Are there fewer research opportunities at MAM, and is it difficult to balance constantly commuting to Toronto for research purposes?

 

I was also wondering what the more long-term clinical implications of being at MAM are, i.e. in terms of clerkship? 

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Thanks that was really comprehensive! You mentioned research, and that's definitely something I'm interested in pursuing. Are there fewer research opportunities at MAM, and is it difficult to balance constantly commuting to Toronto for research purposes?

 

I was also wondering what the more long-term clinical implications of being at MAM are, i.e. in terms of clerkship? 

 

Anecdotally I know that some have struggled doing research and commuting downtown. They have chose to live downtown and commute to MAM (which is a bit of an inconvenience, but doable). My research has been done over the summer and so I didn't personally have a problem balancing. There are only fewer opportunities because THP has only recently begun becoming more "academic". The research opportunities there are just beginning to grow and obviously not as well established as downtown. However, MAM students are able to participate in anything downtown just as the St. George students would and there are no administrative barriers to doing so.

 

Not quite sure I understand the second question.

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I see. My second question was in reference to something I might have misheard during my tour. Are students of a certain academy only allowed to do their clinical rotations during clerkship at the hospitals of their academy. More generally, does being at MAM have any effect on your clerkship?

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I see. My second question was in reference to something I might have misheard during my tour. Are students of a certain academy only allowed to do their clinical rotations during clerkship at the hospitals of their academy. More generally, does being at MAM have any effect on your clerkship?

 

I see. For the most part yes. You will be required to do clerkship at trillium health partners which is comprised of credit valley hospital, mississauga hospital, and queensway. There are options for a few placements downtown (i.e. SickKids for Peds, and I think there is also one ER rotation you can downtown), but for the most part we are in Sauga.

 

As I said before, that is largely beneficial as there are almost no other learners (no-few residents, no fellows, etc.). That means we get entrusted with much more responsibility as medical students and have the opportunity to do way more clinically than our dt counterparts. Again this is pretty dependent on your supervisor but overall, the opportunities to be more closely involved are better at MAM. Probably the main advantage of the campus.

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Also, clinically the experiences are better since there are less trainees in the sites and you get a closer relationship with your preceptor.

 

As I said before, that is largely beneficial as there are almost no other learners (no-few residents, no fellows, etc.). That means we get entrusted with much more responsibility as medical students and have the opportunity to do way more clinically than our dt counterparts. Again this is pretty dependent on your supervisor but overall, the opportunities to be more closely involved are better at MAM. Probably the main advantage of the campus.

 

I would be careful about making such statements. The clinical experience are experience are excellent at both campuses. The clinical responsibility are equivalent at both sites. I have interacted and taught students from both sites, and they are indistinguishable, they're excellent students at St. George and MAM, and they're crappy students at both St. George and MAM (like any medical school).

 

Not having residents or fellows means less/no teaching. The downtown campuses have rotations that have CMR's/SMR's/JMR's that WANT to teach you and help you grow. On top of that they have award winning staff teachers whose job is to teach through clinical experiences. The morning reports, teaching rounds etc... are incredible and as a medical student you can get often resident level teaching.

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I would be careful about making such statements. The clinical experience are experience are excellent at both campuses. The clinical responsibility are equivalent at both sites. I have interacted and taught students from both sites, and they are indistinguishable, they're excellent students at St. George and MAM, and they're crappy students at both St. George and MAM (like any medical school).

 

Not having residents or fellows means less/no teaching. The downtown campuses have rotations that have CMR's/SMR's/JMR's that WANT to teach you and help you grow. On top of that they have award winning staff teachers whose job is to teach through clinical experiences. The morning reports, teaching rounds etc... are incredible and as a medical student you can get often resident level teaching.

 

Thank you for adding your insight. Obviously what I am saying is based on a combination of what upper year MAM students have told me as well as comparing my own experiences and those of my colleagues with those of some of my downtown counterparts in our year. Of course this is variation between students and sites, and there are both excellent and crappy students at both campuses. I also never said downtown training wasn't excellent as well and that students downtown won't get plenty of great learning opportunities.

 

The statement about not having residents or fellows means less/no teaching I am unsure about. That seems like a blanket statement as well since the physicians who teach in Mississauga are absolutely dedicated to what they do. They love to teach and not having more students around doesn't hinder that or make them worse educators.

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The statement about not having residents or fellows means less/no teaching I am unsure about. That seems like a blanket statement as well since the physicians who teach in Mississauga are absolutely dedicated to what they do. They love to teach and not having more students around doesn't hinder that or make them worse educators.

 

When I said less/no teaching I meant in the sense of modelling a residency rotation (which doesn't model real life, but models what you will go through during residency). I also have many friends and colleagues who went through MAM, and then did electives at academic sites (both downtown TO as well as other sites across Canada), and they were surprised at how much teaching goes on during those rotations. I never said the quality/dedication to teaching isn't present at MAM, but like any hybrid site (academic/community) you'll get more a service feel (thats just how it is). I know this because in residency you get placed at community sites (for 1 or more rotations) to get a sense of how medicine operates in the 'real world' and therefore less rounds/teaching. Doesn't mean the experience is any worse (or better), it's just different.

 

I remember doing a selective in Cardiology at Southlake hospital, a large community site similar to MAM. Great friendly staff, great exposure. But little to no teaching on site. This was expected, and yet I still had an enjoyable experience.

 

My main point was don't think that having residents or fellows around is a bad-thing, our job isn't to compete with you for clinical experiences. Our job is to work with you, and help you out as best we can, in terms of teaching and getting the right experiences. Both as a medical student and as a resident I have had great teachers that are fellows and senior residents. 

 

Note: I speak particularly about internal medicine, I'm not as familiar with other residency programs

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