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Managing Workload


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Here's a couple questions for those who are now in the program or have gone through it. Was there ever significant burnout during your studies? If so, what did you do to manage it?

Also, does the 8:30-17:30 nature of the school days allow for most students to have some nights free and most weekends free (except perhaps for exam weeks)?

Did you find yourself having to schedule many other activities like shadowing or anything CV-building to after classes?

Are there any tips you want to share about how you organise your activities?

Thank you kindly.

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During pre-clerkship, yes there is free time. But not enough for everything - either you have weekends evenings free, or there will be interest groups, shadowing, research etc taking up your time.

 

In clerkship, you are owned by the hospital. Rounds start at 6am on some services, days ending at 5 or 6, plus evening or overnight call every 4 nights including weekends. So the question is not if weekends/evenings are free but rather how many weeks until you have a weekend free.

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During pre-clerkship, yes there is free time. But not enough for everything - either you have weekends evenings free, or there will be interest groups, shadowing, research etc taking up your time.

 

In clerkship, you are owned by the hospital. Rounds start at 6am on some services, days ending at 5 or 6, plus evening or overnight call every 4 nights including weekends. So the question is not if weekends/evenings are free but rather how many weeks until you have a weekend free.

 

 

Does U of C give you the option of finishing the program in 4 years instead of 3 years?

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Does U of C give you the option of finishing the program in 4 years instead of 3 years?

Only ways to do 4 years are: (1) go unmatched and do an extra year of clerkship, (2) take time off to do a masters or something then return back to the MD after. So, yes longer than 3 years but actually more work overall. There's no such thing as part time med school if that's what you're asking. The actual work load is likely similar at a 4 year school though, the difference being we work year round while they get summers off. For us, here are our guaranteed holidays:

 

Year 1 July 2017-March 2018

-Whatever the holiday beginning of August is called (3 days incl weekend)

-Labour day (3 days incl weekend)

-Thanksgiving (3 or 4 days incl weekend)

-Christmas (2 weeks)

-Family day (3 days incl weekend)

-End of year 1 (2 weeks end of march)

 

Year 2 April 2018-Feb 2019

-Victoria Day (3 or 4 days incl weekend)

-Canada Day (1 day)

-Whatever the holiday beginning of August is called (3 days incl weekend)

-Labour day (3 days incl weekend)

-Thanksgiving (3 or 4 days incl weekend)

-Christmas (2 weeks)

 

Year 3 Feb 2019-April 2020

-Wellness weekend September (4 days incl weekend end of September)

-Christmas (2 weeks)

 

You also have 3 flex days in each academic year to use whenever you want unless there is an exam. You cannot bank up flex days from previous years though.

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Yes the free time is there though not too much but if you plan ahead anything can be done, it doesn't matter weekend or not. I do my research, CV stuff, software editing and extra learning in this. Remember ever body got the same 24 hours how you choose to spend them depends on you entirely.

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Just chiming in with a question to Calgary students. I have been discussing with a few students taking the 3 year vs 4 year program, and some were mentioning that if you wish to take out of province electives sometimes you may not have all of the requirements at that given time. Is this true? 

 

The short answer is yes. This is why I said you could do "mostly" any elective during your clerkship year. Calgary front-loads 8 (of 12) weeks worth of electives at the start of your clerkship year. One of the issues with front-loaded electives is that some institutions require clerkship students to have completed core rotation training, or sometimes just an elective, in the area students wish to have a secured elective. UBC internal medicine was an example for me this year. I heard other classmates had issues with pediatrics. Some institutions are very strict about their policies and others allow you to find ways to make things work. For example, you could complete an internal elective at an institution that didn't have any training requirements and then do a later elective at UBC. Or, some institutions will let you use one of Calgary's "perclerkship" electives to count as training in an area. Etc. It's not ideal, unfortunately. The other other disadvantage I have found with front-loaded electives is that you are often working alongside students that have already had over a year of clerkship clinical training and you're just super green on your first elective. It's also tough to choose electives at the front of clerkship and maybe still not having a great idea of the area of medicine you ultimately want to pursue. It can feel like wasted weeks in some ways.

 

Regardless, Calgary students historically and consistently match above the national average to desired residency spots.

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The short answer is yes. This is why I said you could do "mostly" any elective during your clerkship year. Calgary front-loads 8 (of 12) weeks worth of electives at the start of your clerkship year. One of the issues with front-loaded electives is that some institutions require clerkship students to have completed core rotation training, or sometimes just an elective, in the area students wish to have a secured elective. UBC internal medicine was an example for me this year. I heard other classmates had issues with pediatrics. Some institutions are very strict about their policies and others allow you to find ways to make things work. For example, you could complete an internal elective at an institution that didn't have any training requirements and then do a later elective at UBC. Or, some institutions will let you use one of Calgary's "perclerkship" electives to count as training in an area. Etc. It's not ideal, unfortunately. The other other disadvantage I have found with front-loaded electives is that you are often working alongside students that have already had over a year of clerkship clinical training and you're just super green on your first elective. It's also tough to choose electives at the front of clerkship and maybe still not having a great idea of the area of medicine you ultimately want to pursue. It can feel like wasted weeks in some ways.

 

Regardless, Calgary students historically and consistently match above the national average to desired residency spots.

 

 

The only thing I'll add is that the UME knows about this issue and really tries to help students who have trouble getting out-of-province electives. Most of the time, they are able to resolve the issue with the school. Additionally, this is not something that happens the majority of the time. We also know that despite perceived disadvantages of front-loading electives, students get really good/excellent evaluations in general during their electives, which is super important for CaRMS. 

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