srotondo19 Posted May 19, 2017 Report Share Posted May 19, 2017 Hi, I was hoping that there were some current and/or past Western and Queen's PT students that could weigh in on their program experience thus far. Pros and cons of each program as well as the city of Kingston and London would be immensely helpful. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OT1995 Posted May 19, 2017 Report Share Posted May 19, 2017 I did my undergrad at Western in the faculty of health sciences, and had a few of the PT profs during undergrad. I loved Western, and the PT profs I did have were great. Western has an amazing student experience/atmosphere, and living in London was honestly not that bad. There are lots of places to live (i.e. different neighborhoods) and the bus system is generally good. Elborn college is where most of your classes will take place, and there's student housing very close to it/that side of campus. Rent is generally all over the place- in my second year I paid around $550 (I lived around a 4 min walk from Elborn), but then moved for my last 2 years and paid $475/month. Msg me if you have any specific questions that you think I could answer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srotondo19 Posted May 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2017 Also, does anyone know if Queen's program is renowned for anything? I know that Western has a great orthopedic/MSK division but I haven't found any info about Queen's program. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conham Posted May 19, 2017 Report Share Posted May 19, 2017 i am Western PT student. The city is decent, food is meh. things to do is okay but overall not bad to live. The program is great, good profs, facilities are good (being renovated soon), and classmates are the best part. I believe Queen's is known for their cardioresp since they have a hospital close by with a good cardioresp floor. That being said, all the programs will teach you the same stuff you need to know for the national exam. It's just a little more expertise in some fields over another - minor differences in the grand scheme of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UWOPT17 Posted May 20, 2017 Report Share Posted May 20, 2017 Currently a second year PT here. As mentioned above, great student experience and the program is extremely strong in MSK/ortho, with many of our profs also teaching the OPA ortho level system courses. Living is fairly cheap, and most of the student areas have grocery stores and/or bus stops within walking distance. Cons: Western has 2 associated hospital sites for placement, which usually give enough placements for everyone to get at least one, however this is probably a smaller network than say Toronto. The catchment area for Western is also very wide, ranging from Windsor-Kitchener/Waterloo and up to Owen Sound, so there is always a possibility that you will be moving around for a few placements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT1010 Posted May 21, 2017 Report Share Posted May 21, 2017 Former student at Western here. Like people have said it is a great program with great profs that really do care about you. I'm obviously a little biased in saying Western is better but I have heard amazing things about the Queen's program as well and I don't think you can go wrong with either. Talking to clinicians that I've worked with, Queen's and Western both have a really good reputation of churning out excellent physios. I'll be honest about the city, it's not great and a little dull. If you look past the active party scene, there's really not a whole lot. The school and the housing are in it's own little area of the city, kinda isolated from the rest of the city which is nice. The city itself doesn't offer a whole lot beyond the chain restaurants in terms of food and there's not a whole lot of cool places to explore.There's also definitely some sketchy parts of town to avoid and even downtown at night can be iffy. Had my bike stolen from my front porch too so watch out for that! Overall, in terms of London the city, definitely wasn't my cup of tea. It's not bad living there, but also not great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPT2019 Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 Also, does anyone know if Queen's program is renowned for anything? I know that Western has a great orthopedic/MSK division but I haven't found any info about Queen's program. Thanks I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for but I know that Queen's seems to be renowned for producing excellent PTs which is why I'm leaning toward going to Queen's. Talking to PTs at both clinics I volunteered for, they have said that they slightly prefer hiring Queen's grads over other schools in Ontario. I have heard this from other prospective students and seen people mention this on these forums as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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