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This is a thread for future students to post any question relating to McMaster PT or OT. Hopefully future, current and former students can help answer questions. The "acceptance" threads can get very overcrowded especially when asking questions for specific schools, hence the idea behind creating a thread specific for a school. 

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Hi everyone in McMaster MPT! 

Congrats to those who secured a spot this fall for the class of 2022! If anyone knows of a Facebook group created for our class, or updated info regarding possible online/in-person curriculum, please reply with a link! I am looking forward to meeting all of you and hope we can find some creative ways to stay connected if we do start out online. :D

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2 hours ago, shinsplints said:

Hi everyone in McMaster MPT! 

Congrats to those who secured a spot this fall for the class of 2022! If anyone knows of a Facebook group created for our class, or updated info regarding possible online/in-person curriculum, please reply with a link! I am looking forward to meeting all of you and hope we can find some creative ways to stay connected if we do start out online. :D

Congrats on getting an acceptance ! In regards to a facebook group that will be set up by student council (in order for it to be official) this won't be done until the class is finalized. 

In regards to starting in September my guess would be it will be some form of a hybrid model ie some in person but mainly online (a lot of the material can be delivered online such as your PBT small group tutorials) 

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I don't think any school has a concrete plan for how the fall will look like, they most likely have multiple plans in case of a second wave or a significant improvement ect. I understand its frustrating but also need to look at it from a schools perspective its very difficult to plan. 

I can tell you McMaster as a university (outside of health care programs) has stated it will be online this fall term but some courses may still be required to come in for in person content (ie health care programs). Now this is very different from PT, OT, MD ect but gives you an idea on what the school is doing. So I don't anticipate school will be 100% in person in the fall, some level of online learning will most likely be in schools until 2021. What that level is may vary a lot depending on the province. I am sure the info session will provide some guidance into what they have planned. 

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17 hours ago, shinsplints said:

Hi everyone in McMaster MPT! 

Congrats to those who secured a spot this fall for the class of 2022! If anyone knows of a Facebook group created for our class, or updated info regarding possible online/in-person curriculum, please reply with a link! I am looking forward to meeting all of you and hope we can find some creative ways to stay connected if we do start out online. :D

Hi there! I have yet to confirm my offer but I am deciding between mac, queens and u of t! Can you tell me any reasons you specifically chose mac? I'd love some insight from other applicants about how they view the school and program! 

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On 5/30/2020 at 5:54 AM, AlliPT said:

Hi there! I have yet to confirm my offer but I am deciding between mac, queens and u of t! Can you tell me any reasons you specifically chose mac? I'd love some insight from other applicants about how they view the school and program! 

Hi AlliPT,

Arriving at my decision is likely unique compared to your situation but I will give you a few reasons in case you can distill some value:  

I applied to BC, Alberta and McMaster and Queens. As a mature student who graduated in 2012 (3.71 s-gpa) Toronto really wasn't an option unless I took pre-reqs within a certain time frame. Queens, McMaster and UBC seemed to be the only schools that even looked at my experience working as a Kin (Alberta only requires 30 hrs of volunteer, but this is beside the point) and unclear how much it factored in.

McMaster was unique. With a more generous MMI invitation criteria, they demonstrate that academics are important to withstand the rigours of the curriculum, but that it is not the only factor to develop great physiotherapists. Getting an interview is a great accomplishment and you have demonstrated your grades are sufficient to even get to the point you are. Many schools, combine your GPA and interview scores 50/50 after the interview, which seems retroactive and counter-intuitive, at least to me. Having worked alongside many different physios, I can say with confidence that  effective PT's are committed to lifelong learning and regularly adapt their approach to address the variety of challenges they face with patients. A GPA doesn't always capture that ability. 

McMaster has a long reputation for innovating and being leaders in this way and that they prioritize the educational needs of the student. Creating the MMI,  innovating new methods of curriculum and even the simple difference of 75% MMI /25% GPA, demonstrated to me that their values clearly aligned with my own.

Of course, there were features like not having friends/family in the same city, differences in cost of living and tuition and wanting to try out a new city that factored in but ultimately, I think we already know what we want, so just trust your gut and go for it!

Hope we can connect in a few months

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2 minutes ago, shinsplints said:

Hi AlliPT,

Arriving at my decision is likely unique compared to your situation but I will give you a few reasons in case you can distill some value:  

I applied to BC, Alberta and McMaster and Queens. As a mature student who graduated in 2012 (3.71 s-gpa) Toronto really wasn't an option unless I took pre-reqs within a certain time frame. Queens, McMaster and UBC seemed to be the only schools that even looked at my experience working as a Kin (Alberta only requires 30 hrs of volunteer, but this is beside the point) and unclear how much it factored in.

McMaster was unique. With a more generous MMI invitation criteria, they demonstrate that academics are important to withstand the rigours of the curriculum, but that it is not the only factor to develop great physiotherapists. Getting an interview is a great accomplishment and you have demonstrated your grades are sufficient to even get to the point you are. Many schools, combine your GPA and interview scores 50/50 after the interview, which seems retroactive and counter-intuitive, at least to me. Having worked alongside many different physios, I can say with confidence that  effective PT's are committed to lifelong learning and regularly adapt their approach to address the variety of challenges they face with patients. A GPA doesn't always capture that ability. 

McMaster has a long reputation for innovating and being leaders in this way and that they prioritize the educational needs of the student. Creating the MMI,  innovating new methods of curriculum and even the simple difference of 75% MMI /25% GPA, demonstrated to me that their values clearly aligned with my own.

Of course, there were features like not having friends/family in the same city, differences in cost of living and tuition and wanting to try out a new city that factored in but ultimately, I think we already know what we want, so just trust your gut and go for it!

Hope we can connect in a few months. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thank you for the response!! Mcmaster definitely stands out with their problem based learning, northern Ontario opportunity and their small class size! I am worried about housing to be honest. I live only an hour and 15 north of hamilton so If the fall is partially online I may commute but it seems like a difficult city to find housing because they dont have grad student housing. What is your plan for this?? I do hope we can connect!

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2 minutes ago, AlliPT said:

Thank you for the response!! Mcmaster definitely stands out with their problem based learning, northern Ontario opportunity and their small class size! I am worried about housing to be honest. I live only an hour and 15 north of hamilton so If the fall is partially online I may commute but it seems like a difficult city to find housing because they dont have grad student housing. What is your plan for this?? I do hope we can connect!

I am also worried about housing, but have been checking out things online. I'm moving from the west, so if i can just find something near campus I would be thrilled. All part of the adventure! feel free to PM if you'd like to share housing info or tips

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40 minutes ago, shinsplints said:

I am also worried about housing, but have been checking out things online. I'm moving from the west, so if i can just find something near campus I would be thrilled. All part of the adventure! feel free to PM if you'd like to share housing info or tips

Housing was fairly easy to find in my experience, most of the class ends up living together to be honest with you. Some areas to look into would be Dundas and West end hamilton (this is where the majority of grad students live). Once the class is finalized an official facebook page will be made which will help with getting in touch with classmates ! 

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1 minute ago, HK2018 said:

Housing was fairly easy to find in my experience, most of the class ends up living together to be honest with you. Some areas to look into would be Dundas and West end hamilton (this is where the majority of grad students live). Once the class is finalized an official facebook page will be made which will help with getting in touch with classmates ! 

That's great. Thanks for the info! 

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On 5/30/2020 at 8:54 AM, AlliPT said:

Hi there! I have yet to confirm my offer but I am deciding between mac, queens and u of t! Can you tell me any reasons you specifically chose mac? I'd love some insight from other applicants about how they view the school and program! 

One of the reasons why I choose Mac was for the new spiral curriculum, in the old curriculum (much like other programs I believe correct me if I am wrong tho) you would learn all MSK one unit, all CR another and all neuro another ect. New curriculum is you learn some MSK, some CR and neuro every unit and the complexity builds on itself. This is great as it simulates how we are tested in the national exam ie in each room it could be someone with a different system condition (helps you to practice switching from MSK to neuro very quickly). Mac also has 10 OSCEs (clinical exams) 2 in each unit, the midterm ones arnt as formal as the final in regards to stations and simulations of the real practical exam we all need to pass, but 10 clinical exams is a fair amount of practice you get for the national exam (I am unsure of how many clinical exams other programs have) 

 

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6 hours ago, HK2018 said:

One of the reasons why I choose Mac was for the new spiral curriculum, in the old curriculum (much like other programs I believe correct me if I am wrong tho) you would learn all MSK one unit, all CR another and all neuro another ect. New curriculum is you learn some MSK, some CR and neuro every unit and the complexity builds on itself. This is great as it simulates how we are tested in the national exam ie in each room it could be someone with a different system condition (helps you to practice switching from MSK to neuro very quickly). Mac also has 10 OSCEs (clinical exams) 2 in each unit, the midterm ones arnt as formal as the final in regards to stations and simulations of the real practical exam we all need to pass, but 10 clinical exams is a fair amount of practice you get for the national exam (I am unsure of how many clinical exams other programs have) 

 

Thank you for the response! Can you tell me anything about the atmosphere and community of the PT program and Hamilton overall? I've visited briefly, but am not familiar - is it safe, and are there things to do in the west end or is everything downtown? Also, weird question but is there year round street parking? LOL I come from a snowy city where we cant park on the roads overnight for 5 months, which makes finding a place with a driveway important! 

Also, can you comment on your feelings of preparedness for practice, and was the learning THAT much of an adjustment? Everyone makes it seem like it's this horrible transition where professors throw case studies at you and leave you for a semester to write exams after being given NO information, textbooks, lessons or anything. I doubt this is the case but that's how people react and I think perhaps people are just used to being given all the answers when in reality that's not how it works with patients.

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1 hour ago, AlliPT said:

Thank you for the response! Can you tell me anything about the atmosphere and community of the PT program and Hamilton overall? I've visited briefly, but am not familiar - is it safe, and are there things to do in the west end or is everything downtown? Also, weird question but is there year round street parking? LOL I come from a snowy city where we cant park on the roads overnight for 5 months, which makes finding a place with a driveway important! 

Also, can you comment on your feelings of preparedness for practice, and was the learning THAT much of an adjustment? Everyone makes it seem like it's this horrible transition where professors throw case studies at you and leave you for a semester to write exams after being given NO information, textbooks, lessons or anything. I doubt this is the case but that's how people react and I think perhaps people are just used to being given all the answers when in reality that's not how it works with patients.

For the program we are all very close with one another, PBL helps to create that atmosphere with the amount of small group work! A lot of walking trails, and hiking spots are in the west end hamilton (including Dundas and Ancaster). I would say more people spend most of their time outside of the downtown compared to non. For parking it really depends on where you live and what streets some are limited year round vs others not. 

In terms of do I feel prepared to enter the work field, I feel confident in my abilities to clinically reason and to problem solve which is something that really is emphasized within the program. In regards to skills in particular I feel that confidence for that just comes with repetition! 

I also really don't feel like we are left on our own to learn the material, each small group has an experienced tutor which helps guide you in the right direction. We definitely still have lots of assigned readings and textbooks that cover the basis. I would agree with you that people are used to didactic learning mainly from undergrad experiences, we definitely are taught backwards where you are given a case and need to come to a diagnosis (or clinical picture) instead of being given a condition first. To me this is what helps prepare Mac grads as it helps to reinforce problem solving/ clinical reasoning. But with that said Mac isn't for everyone and thats totally fair ! 

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On 6/1/2020 at 4:52 PM, HK2018 said:

For the program we are all very close with one another, PBL helps to create that atmosphere with the amount of small group work! A lot of walking trails, and hiking spots are in the west end hamilton (including Dundas and Ancaster). I would say more people spend most of their time outside of the downtown compared to non. For parking it really depends on where you live and what streets some are limited year round vs others not. 

In terms of do I feel prepared to enter the work field, I feel confident in my abilities to clinically reason and to problem solve which is something that really is emphasized within the program. In regards to skills in particular I feel that confidence for that just comes with repetition! 

I also really don't feel like we are left on our own to learn the material, each small group has an experienced tutor which helps guide you in the right direction. We definitely still have lots of assigned readings and textbooks that cover the basis. I would agree with you that people are used to didactic learning mainly from undergrad experiences, we definitely are taught backwards where you are given a case and need to come to a diagnosis (or clinical picture) instead of being given a condition first. To me this is what helps prepare Mac grads as it helps to reinforce problem solving/ clinical reasoning. But with that said Mac isn't for everyone and thats totally fair ! 

Hey, thanks for all the great info! I am trying to decide between Western and Mac PT (leaning towards Mac) and I was hoping to ask a few questions about the program!

Is there usually a significant learning curve to PBL or do most students adapt relatively quickly?

I was wondering if you think PBL might be particularly challenging for students with a non-traditional background? I did my undergrad in commerce and probably have major gaps in my anatomy and physiology knowledge. I expect I’ll have some catching up to do wherever I go, but I want to pick a program and learning style that facilitates this process. Do you think Mac's program works well for non-traditional students? 

Does Mac’s program lend itself well to online learning? I would imagine small group based learning would work quite well virtually, but would love to hear how it has been going in practice!

What is the workload like at Mac? I have heard SO many mixed messages about the MPT workload in the various programs and feel like I have no idea what to expect. I have no problem with lots of studying but would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Do you find yourself working more or less than your undergrad? Are you able to establish a decent work-life balance?

I think that’s all my questions for now, thanks! :) 

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13 minutes ago, PTornotPT said:

Hey, thanks for all the great info! I am trying to decide between Western and Mac PT (leaning towards Mac) and I was hoping to ask a few questions about the program!

Is there usually a significant learning curve to PBL or do most students adapt relatively quickly?

I was wondering if you think PBL might be particularly challenging for students with a non-traditional background? I did my undergrad in commerce and probably have major gaps in my anatomy and physiology knowledge. I expect I’ll have some catching up to do wherever I go, but I want to pick a program and learning style that facilitates this process. Do you think Mac's program works well for non-traditional students? 

Does Mac’s program lend itself well to online learning? I would imagine small group based learning would work quite well virtually, but would love to hear how it has been going in practice!

What is the workload like at Mac? I have heard SO many mixed messages about the MPT workload in the various programs and feel like I have no idea what to expect. I have no problem with lots of studying but would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Do you find yourself working more or less than your undergrad? Are you able to establish a decent work-life balance?

I think that’s all my questions for now, thanks! :) 

Hey! I'm not the person you asked but I just listened to the "therabaes" podcast, from three girls who are students and they gave lots of insight - class from about 9am to 4pm everydsy, basically the same as other schools, and they said they do a combination of lectures and labs, and also while students feel PBL, it seems all the universities are adopting McMaster's pbl style at least in part because as a PT, you have to be able to solve problems without anyone telling you the answers. Medicine is PBL and I think it's very relevant! :) await other responses but I'm leaning for mac and this is why! 

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1 hour ago, PTornotPT said:

Hey, thanks for all the great info! I am trying to decide between Western and Mac PT (leaning towards Mac) and I was hoping to ask a few questions about the program!

Is there usually a significant learning curve to PBL or do most students adapt relatively quickly?

I was wondering if you think PBL might be particularly challenging for students with a non-traditional background? I did my undergrad in commerce and probably have major gaps in my anatomy and physiology knowledge. I expect I’ll have some catching up to do wherever I go, but I want to pick a program and learning style that facilitates this process. Do you think Mac's program works well for non-traditional students? 

Does Mac’s program lend itself well to online learning? I would imagine small group based learning would work quite well virtually, but would love to hear how it has been going in practice!

What is the workload like at Mac? I have heard SO many mixed messages about the MPT workload in the various programs and feel like I have no idea what to expect. I have no problem with lots of studying but would love to hear your thoughts on the matter. Do you find yourself working more or less than your undergrad? Are you able to establish a decent work-life balance?

I think that’s all my questions for now, thanks! :) 

In regards to the learning gap, graduate studies is fairly different compared to undergrad and thus a natural learning curve occurs at the start, I wouldn't say its worse due to PBL. As well lots of students come from non traditional programs and do well within the model so I wouldn't be concerned about that. Keep in mind PBL is a new concept for almost everyone entering the program unless they were exposed to it in undergrad so your "background" doesn't really play a big role. 

For online learning it was a smooth and easy transition! 

The workload is fairly intense but you need to remember youre preparing for your future career, this should be material you are passionate about which helps with the high expectations. I work harder compared to undergrad because this is what I am invested in, you simply don't do the courses just to "get by" at the end of the program you will be a respected health care professional (after the national exams) so the material has a lifelong importance ! 

In regards to the amount of in person classes, it tends to be fairly less compared to other classes due to problem based learning/ self directed. In the early units you are in class a lot more frequently but as you progress this decreases significantly to around 18-20 hours depending on the week (schedules change a lot)

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On 6/3/2020 at 9:12 PM, AlliPT said:

Hey! I'm not the person you asked but I just listened to the "therabaes" podcast, from three girls who are students and they gave lots of insight - class from about 9am to 4pm everydsy, basically the same as other schools, and they said they do a combination of lectures and labs, and also while students feel PBL, it seems all the universities are adopting McMaster's pbl style at least in part because as a PT, you have to be able to solve problems without anyone telling you the answers. Medicine is PBL and I think it's very relevant! :) await other responses but I'm leaning for mac and this is why! 

 

On 6/3/2020 at 10:36 PM, HK2018 said:

In regards to the learning gap, graduate studies is fairly different compared to undergrad and thus a natural learning curve occurs at the start, I wouldn't say its worse due to PBL. As well lots of students come from non traditional programs and do well within the model so I wouldn't be concerned about that. Keep in mind PBL is a new concept for almost everyone entering the program unless they were exposed to it in undergrad so your "background" doesn't really play a big role. 

For online learning it was a smooth and easy transition! 

The workload is fairly intense but you need to remember youre preparing for your future career, this should be material you are passionate about which helps with the high expectations. I work harder compared to undergrad because this is what I am invested in, you simply don't do the courses just to "get by" at the end of the program you will be a respected health care professional (after the national exams) so the material has a lifelong importance ! 

In regards to the amount of in person classes, it tends to be fairly less compared to other classes due to problem based learning/ self directed. In the early units you are in class a lot more frequently but as you progress this decreases significantly to around 18-20 hours depending on the week (schedules change a lot)

Thanks so much for responding - both posts were super helpful! 

Also, I listened to the "therabaes" podcast, which was great - exactly the type of info I was looking for!

At this point I've pretty much decided on Mac. Hope to see you there in September! 

 

 

 

 

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Hi. I am an international student from the National University of Singapore. I am looking to apply to Mac PT next year. My expected s-GPA after conversion would be about 3.58 - 3.6. I would like to ask if anyone would be aware of those who got admission with a relatively lower GPA like mine. Thanks :D 

I am currently working on my volunteer hours and am also involved in a couple of research projects FYI.

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1 hour ago, PTornotPT said:

Hey! Since this thread has been so helpful, I thought I'd post to confirm that I accepted Mac PT earlier today. Super excited for September in Hamilton! 

Hey! Congrats! My name is Alli and I think I'll be accepting mac tonight! Where are you from?

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