University of Alberta Experience

[PTFan]

Hi !

 

I have applied to the University of Alberta for Physiotherapy and wanted to know what your experience was like? What did you love/hate? Anything memorable?

 

I look forward to hearing from you all!

[OTAPPLICANT026]

following!

[PTwhatt]

It's a blast! There are 3 physical locations that you can be at. Edmonton, Camrose or Calgary. Camrose (10-12 peeps) and Calgary (20 ish peeps) are the satellites that more often than not join into the larger (80-90 peeps) Edmonton class for lectures and labs. It's a seamless process and I would argue being at the satellites is much better for all the hands-on labs as you have more 1-1 time with your instructors. The 'TA's for every specific hands-on labs are brilliant as they are all established and well-experienced CURRENT practicing physiotherapists that take time out of their busy work schedule to come into the labs and guide your hands in the labs. They are not just TAs that have learned the curriculum and are there to help. 

Socially it's also brilliant. There's a lot of social activities that you can choose to be a part of. There's also no social pressure if you're also more of a lone wolf and tend to pick and choose your events to join. You spend most days 8-5 with the same people for 2 years and a half so everyone becomes a brother and sister in the program so it's really fun to just hang out with them doing stuff like curling, bowling, galas, game nights waterparks etc. 

OT/PT/SLP all kind of hang out in the same building (Corbett hall) so there's no worry in the winter of walking around -40 campus to get to anywhere. All and any classes are taught in there. That building becomes home. There is a fun lounge room that you spend most of your non-studying non-class hang out time in with all other PT/OT/SLP students. 

ALL instructors are brilliant. ALL instructors are very accessible. Some instructors teaching parts of your curriculum are world-renowned in their field of practice so it is extremely fortunate to have them teaching your their ways. 

Placements are generally awesome too. There is a good system in place to make sure that you have the most successful placements possible with minimal influence of a 'bad clinical instructor'. The person in charge to assigning everyone's placements works very hard to make sure she coordinates the best placements possible for very needy 110 students haha. 

Workload intensity varies on who you ask. Some people still haven't come to grips with the idea that you are no longer in 3.7-4.0 hunt mode. Your GPA really doesn't matter anymore. You do have to maintain a 3.0 (or 3.3 can't remember) but that really shouldn't be a problem as the courses are not set up to challenge you beyond a 3.0. The ones that generally feel flooded are the ones that are aiming for 4.0s for scholarships or still feel that their GPA defines their success. If you can teach yourself to become more comfortable with 3.3-3.6 you can enjoy a much better balance of life throughout the program. Save all your energy for placements because those are really what make you a physio

I can type for hours about the program. If you got any specific questions feel free to shoot me a message! 

[Otpthopeful]

2 hours ago, PTwhatt said:

It's a blast! There are 3 physical locations that you can be at. Edmonton, Camrose or Calgary. Camrose (10-12 peeps) and Calgary (20 ish peeps) are the satellites that more often than not join into the larger (80-90 peeps) Edmonton class for lectures and labs. It's a seamless process and I would argue being at the satellites is much better for all the hands-on labs as you have more 1-1 time with your instructors. The 'TA's for every specific hands-on labs are brilliant as they are all established and well-experienced CURRENT practicing physiotherapists that take time out of their busy work schedule to come into the labs and guide your hands in the labs. They are not just TAs that have learned the curriculum and are there to help. 

Socially it's also brilliant. There's a lot of social activities that you can choose to be a part of. There's also no social pressure if you're also more of a lone wolf and tend to pick and choose your events to join. You spend most days 8-5 with the same people for 2 years and a half so everyone becomes a brother and sister in the program so it's really fun to just hang out with them doing stuff like curling, bowling, galas, game nights waterparks etc. 

OT/PT/SLP all kind of hang out in the same building (Corbett hall) so there's no worry in the winter of walking around -40 campus to get to anywhere. All and any classes are taught in there. That building becomes home. There is a fun lounge room that you spend most of your non-studying non-class hang out time in with all other PT/OT/SLP students. 

ALL instructors are brilliant. ALL instructors are very accessible. Some instructors teaching parts of your curriculum are world-renowned in their field of practice so it is extremely fortunate to have them teaching your their ways. 

Placements are generally awesome too. There is a good system in place to make sure that you have the most successful placements possible with minimal influence of a 'bad clinical instructor'. The person in charge to assigning everyone's placements works very hard to make sure she coordinates the best placements possible for very needy 110 students haha. 

Workload intensity varies on who you ask. Some people still haven't come to grips with the idea that you are no longer in 3.7-4.0 hunt mode. Your GPA really doesn't matter anymore. You do have to maintain a 3.0 (or 3.3 can't remember) but that really shouldn't be a problem as the courses are not set up to challenge you beyond a 3.0. The ones that generally feel flooded are the ones that are aiming for 4.0s for scholarships or still feel that their GPA defines their success. If you can teach yourself to become more comfortable with 3.3-3.6 you can enjoy a much better balance of life throughout the program. Save all your energy for placements because those are really what make you a physio

I can type for hours about the program. If you got any specific questions feel free to shoot me a message! 

Thank you for sharing this! Such great info.

Can you tell us how the admissions process went for you? How confident were you with your MMI answers? What was your GPA? Did you get accepted first round or off of the waiting list?

[whistler27]

I didn't actually go to UofA (chose an Ontario school), but I went through the process and was accepted. It was a pretty easy application process, and everyone I communicated with was super friendly and supportive! I had to email back and forth to adjust interview dates/times and they made it quite easy for me. The actual interview was interesting - it's a typically MMI style interview with a question/scenario in each room. UofA typically has at least one "acting" scenario which is a bit different than your classic "sit down and talk to me" type of question. I was definitely nervous, but was able to enjoy the process. The people interviewing you are faculty members, physiotherapists, and I believe a few stations had physio students. The day went by super fast! I think it took about a month before we found out if we got in or not (I was accepted first round to calgary campus).

I think that is most of what I remember off the top of my head, but if you have any specific other questions I'm happy to try to answer!

[PTFan]

On 4/19/2019 at 3:54 PM, PTwhatt said:

It's a blast! There are 3 physical locations that you can be at. Edmonton, Camrose or Calgary. Camrose (10-12 peeps) and Calgary (20 ish peeps) are the satellites that more often than not join into the larger (80-90 peeps) Edmonton class for lectures and labs. It's a seamless process and I would argue being at the satellites is much better for all the hands-on labs as you have more 1-1 time with your instructors. The 'TA's for every specific hands-on labs are brilliant as they are all established and well-experienced CURRENT practicing physiotherapists that take time out of their busy work schedule to come into the labs and guide your hands in the labs. They are not just TAs that have learned the curriculum and are there to help. 

Socially it's also brilliant. There's a lot of social activities that you can choose to be a part of. There's also no social pressure if you're also more of a lone wolf and tend to pick and choose your events to join. You spend most days 8-5 with the same people for 2 years and a half so everyone becomes a brother and sister in the program so it's really fun to just hang out with them doing stuff like curling, bowling, galas, game nights waterparks etc. 

OT/PT/SLP all kind of hang out in the same building (Corbett hall) so there's no worry in the winter of walking around -40 campus to get to anywhere. All and any classes are taught in there. That building becomes home. There is a fun lounge room that you spend most of your non-studying non-class hang out time in with all other PT/OT/SLP students. 

ALL instructors are brilliant. ALL instructors are very accessible. Some instructors teaching parts of your curriculum are world-renowned in their field of practice so it is extremely fortunate to have them teaching your their ways. 

Placements are generally awesome too. There is a good system in place to make sure that you have the most successful placements possible with minimal influence of a 'bad clinical instructor'. The person in charge to assigning everyone's placements works very hard to make sure she coordinates the best placements possible for very needy 110 students haha. 

Workload intensity varies on who you ask. Some people still haven't come to grips with the idea that you are no longer in 3.7-4.0 hunt mode. Your GPA really doesn't matter anymore. You do have to maintain a 3.0 (or 3.3 can't remember) but that really shouldn't be a problem as the courses are not set up to challenge you beyond a 3.0. The ones that generally feel flooded are the ones that are aiming for 4.0s for scholarships or still feel that their GPA defines their success. If you can teach yourself to become more comfortable with 3.3-3.6 you can enjoy a much better balance of life throughout the program. Save all your energy for placements because those are really what make you a physio

I can type for hours about the program. If you got any specific questions feel free to shoot me a message! 

Thanks for sharing! I actually got accepted! I really loved the campus, everyone was so friendly and it's a beautiful place. In terms of housing etc, would you be able to describe what it's like? Are there any specific website one can use?

Also, how/ when can you apply for scholarships for the PT program?

Once again, your answer was super helpful! Especially about the placements