Saskatoon or Regina?

[justdoingmybest]

As we will be choosing which campus we want to study at this week, I'm wondering if any current or past MD students at U of S can provide some pros and cons of each campus? I know U of S just sent out some information regarding the benefits of both campuses, but I want to get as in depth an answer as I can regarding the good/bad of both before I make the choice. Thanks!

[Scorbix]

The sites are generally the same in a lot of regards. Both centres are excellent for teaching, as everyone gets the same lectures; some are streamed from Saskatoon, while others are from Regina. In every practical sense, the first two academic years in Saskatoon or Regina are the same. As a student in the Regina cohort due to graduate in June, I can speak more to what I enjoyed about Regina specifically, but I will preface by saying that my experiences are my own, as are my opinions. Regina, generally speaking, has less residents training in the city, which may translate to more one-on-one face time with staff; moreover, as it currently stands, clerks (Year 3 and 4 students) in Regina have the capability of writing orders without the need for a co-signing resident or staff. This may change in the future, but I found it to be something that brought out more maturity and ownership of my patients. You may also get more responsibility as a clerk, but I do not know if this is true for everyone. Regina has a particularly strong Family Medicine and Obstetrics/Gynecology programs, and so if you are considering either of those specialties, Regina might be a better fit for you. Saskatoon has stronger access to a more diverse range of specialties (surgical and non-surgical), and the majority of the University of Saskatchewan PGME Program Directors are based out of Saskatoon. Research may be easier to do in Saskatoon -- that is not to say research in Regina is difficult to do, one simply might need to work a little harder to find the best project for one's self. You should also consider looking into which city you could see yourself living in for 3-4 years, so I would encourage you to look more into Regina and Saskatoon as places to live. Regardless of what site you end up at/choose, you'll get a strong education, and come out of the program as a very competent and capable clinician, and be well-prepared for the demands of residency.

[justdoingmybest]

13 minutes ago, Scorbix said:

The sites are generally the same in a lot of regards. Both centres are excellent for teaching, as everyone gets the same lectures; some are streamed from Saskatoon, while others are from Regina. In every practical sense, the first two academic years in Saskatoon or Regina are the same. As a student in the Regina cohort due to graduate in June, I can speak more to what I enjoyed about Regina specifically, but I will preface by saying that my experiences are my own, as are my opinions. Regina, generally speaking, has less residents training in the city, which may translate to more one-on-one face time with staff; moreover, as it currently stands, clerks (Year 3 and 4 students) in Regina have the capability of writing orders without the need for a co-signing resident or staff. This may change in the future, but I found it to be something that brought out more maturity and ownership of my patients. You may also get more responsibility as a clerk, but I do not know if this is true for everyone. Regina has a particularly strong Family Medicine and Obstetrics/Gynecology programs, and so if you are considering either of those specialties, Regina might be a better fit for you. Saskatoon has stronger access to a more diverse range of specialties (surgical and non-surgical), and the majority of the University of Saskatchewan PGME Program Directors are based out of Saskatoon. Research may be easier to do in Saskatoon -- that is not to say research in Regina is difficult to do, one simply might need to work a little harder to find the best project for one's self. You should also consider looking into which city you could see yourself living in for 3-4 years, so I would encourage you to look more into Regina and Saskatoon as places to live. Regardless of what site you end up at/choose, you'll get a strong education, and come out of the program as a very competent and capable clinician, and be well-prepared for the demands of residency.

Thank you for your input! From my research I think both cities would be great places to live and are pretty similar to my hometown so I'll be comfortable in either. I'll keep all of this in mind when making my choice this week.

[WinterCanon]

I take slight issue to the above - the large majority of lectures in second year are delivered from Saskatoon.  Like, I'd guess around 80% last year.  Not a huge deal, but if you would be bothered by video-conferenced lectures (with all that that entails) its worth bearing in mind.

For me, I chose Saskatoon purely because I didn't want to have to move again after first year.

 

[justdoingmybest]

4 hours ago, WinterCanon said:

I take slight issue to the above - the large majority of lectures in second year are delivered from Saskatoon.  Like, I'd guess around 80% last year.  Not a huge deal, but if you would be bothered by video-conferenced lectures (with all that that entails) its worth bearing in mind.

For me, I chose Saskatoon purely because I didn't want to have to move again after first year.

 

That's a good point on the moving thing - hard enough to adjust to a new place as an OOP and even worse if you have to move again right away. Thank you for the input!

[drcasper]

I have heard that if you choose Regina as your first choice you have a better chance of being accepted as most people would rather be in Saskatoon. Does anyone know if your location preference actually gets weighed in the decision process? 

[Scorbix]

43 minutes ago, drcasper said:

I have heard that if you choose Regina as your first choice you have a better chance of being accepted as most people would rather be in Saskatoon. Does anyone know if your location preference actually gets weighed in the decision process? 

No, it does not. The College will try to place you in your site of preference, but you are not more likely to be accepted if you rank one site over the other. You are, however, more likely to get your site of choice if you are ranked higher in the admission ranking list.

[justdoingmybest]

The preference survey was just sent out!

[medaesthetics95]

For what it's worth, I'm a 3rd year medical student (Regina campus) and i was in the same boat as most of you guys when picking the site. I ended up picking Regina because a lot of my friends in upper years had complained about not getting enough experience in Saskatoon. I was always around them since I had done my undergrad at the UofS and they were always stressing about their rotations. Now actually having seen both saskatoon and regina site, I have to agree that the Regina campus has things to offer that Saskatoon just can't. (There's nothing wrong with that but its just how it is based on the amount of residents and the amount of staff Saskatoon has compared to Regina) A lot of classmates here in Regina have similar things to say. Not to mention that we have our personal area in the hospital that we have access to 24/7 and also a mini gym that nobody else has access to. Let me know if you have any questions

[medaesthetics95]

City wise, they were both pretty similar. Similar restaurants, clubs and rec leagues at the universities. 

[justdoingmybest]

7 hours ago, medaesthetics95 said:

For what it's worth, I'm a 3rd year medical student (Regina campus) and i was in the same boat as most of you guys when picking the site. I ended up picking Regina because a lot of my friends in upper years had complained about not getting enough experience in Saskatoon. I was always around them since I had done my undergrad at the UofS and they were always stressing about their rotations. Now actually having seen both saskatoon and regina site, I have to agree that the Regina campus has things to offer that Saskatoon just can't. (There's nothing wrong with that but its just how it is based on the amount of residents and the amount of staff Saskatoon has compared to Regina) A lot of classmates here in Regina have similar things to say. Not to mention that we have our personal area in the hospital that we have access to 24/7 and also a mini gym that nobody else has access to. Let me know if you have any questions

Thank you for your help! 

[lolz3]

One thing to think about is that it's easier to switch from Saskatoon to Regina, if you later change your mind. There's multiple cases of people switching to Regina just because their preference changed, but switching from Regina often requires exceptional circumstances.

[justdoingmybest]

1 hour ago, lolz3 said:

One thing to think about is that it's easier to switch from Saskatoon to Regina, if you later change your mind. There's multiple cases of people switching to Regina just because their preference changed, but switching from Regina often requires exceptional circumstances.

I had no idea you could switch. What's the process like/what criteria do you need to meet?

[lolz3]

On 4/3/2020 at 4:14 PM, burneraccount909 said:

I had no idea you could switch. What's the process like/what criteria do you need to meet?

At least before, just have to provide details regarding why you want the switch. Criteria is generally that you need exceptional circumstances that were unpredictable and have changed significantly since you accepted your site. I would say a great majority do not get their switch approved. There is an appeal level further to that, but few students take it that far.

[caffeinatedpessimism]

Just bringing this thread up again - does anyone know if the preference survey has been sent out for 2021 yet? Also, do they just email it to you or do you have to go to a specific website to access it?