Do You Have Question About Uofc Med? Ask Away

[sjc2]

One of my favourite medical words, for sure! <3

 

My colleagues said what I would say regarding wearing suits--I agree. 

 

The other point I would make is about good colour coordination. Personally, I prefer a monochromatic colour palette with a bit of pop and I would second MSW's suggestion of wearing something that fits you very well. I would also tend to not wear a black suit for interviews, but this is just my opinion. Even if you can't afford / don't want to spend the money at a place like Harry Rosen or Holt's (James & Dickson in Kensington is also a great little store), it might be worth it to pay a visit simply to get the advice from the sales associates on colour coordination or what sorts of fits work best for your frame.

 

 

I was one of the only people wearing a grey suit when I interviewed and even thought it probably didn't translate into me getting the offer that I did, it gave me a boost of confidence because I didn't look like everyone else! So I fully agree with Borborygmi here

[princeofpersia]

Hey there, 

 

This may be a bit of a premature question to ask, since we haven't even gotten interview invites. but could some of the current students let me know if there are any overnight activities for Orientation or throughout the program? I'm planning to move with my toddler if I get in to UofC, and it might take some time for my husband to be able to get a transfer for work. I'll have daycare to rely on during the daytime but I'm worried about what to do, if there are overnight trips for Orientation or mandatory evening activities. My husband will definitely be here before I start clinicals so I'm not worried about then, but just the first 6 months or so. Any insight? 

[MSWschnoodle]

Hey there, 

 

This may be a bit of a premature question to ask, since we haven't even gotten interview invites. but could some of the current students let me know if there are any overnight activities for Orientation or throughout the program? I'm planning to move with my toddler if I get in to UofC, and it might take some time for my husband to be able to get a transfer for work. I'll have daycare to rely on during the daytime but I'm worried about what to do, if there are overnight trips for Orientation or mandatory evening activities. My husband will definitely be here before I start clinicals so I'm not worried about then, but just the first 6 months or so. Any insight? 

 

 

Hey there!

 

For the most part, no. There are evening components to the orientation but they are optional. The naming ceremony runs into the evening and the formal is a night time thing as well, but not all students attend the evening events. I think there was also a family friendly BBQ event that might have run into the evening but your toddler would be invited to that :-)

 

Clinical Core happens early at U of C (starts with course 1) and that can sometimes run into the evening hours depending on the preceptor you get. One of my clinical core preceptors in course 1 had us out until 7:30 at night while the other only saw us during regular course hours, but clinical core after 5:30 is an exception, not the rule. You will also have 160-ish awesome classmates who can sometimes help out if you're in a bind. I know we have a couple of dholes that have offered babysitting to classmates so you can always reach out if something comes up. 

 

If you do get an offer of admission and you have questions about child care etc. there will be a Facebook group full of Dholes and Goats and calgary-based baby animals (incoming classmates) that you can talk to. There are quite a few dholes that have children, so they can give you plenty of information about finding fun things to do with your toddler and what daycare options are around campus.

[princeofpersia]

Thanks so much MSWschnoodle. Totally eases my anxiety quite a bit. I was afraid that due to childcare issues, I'll be missing out on extracurricular activities and bonding with the rest of the classmates. I don't want to be too much of an outsider and not be there for a lot of non-mandatory events. Guess I'll have to find a balance if I get in. 

 

Hey there!

For the most part, no. There are evening components to the orientation but they are optional. The naming ceremony runs into the evening and the formal is a night time thing as well, but not all students attend the evening events. I think there was also a family friendly BBQ event that might have run into the evening but your toddler would be invited to that :-)

Clinical Core happens early at U of C (starts with course 1) and that can sometimes run into the evening hours depending on the preceptor you get. One of my clinical core preceptors in course 1 had us out until 7:30 at night while the other only saw us during regular course hours, but clinical core after 5:30 is an exception, not the rule. You will also have 160-ish awesome classmates who can sometimes help out if you're in a bind. I know we have a couple of dholes that have offered babysitting to classmates so you can always reach out if something comes up. 

 

If you do get an offer of admission and you have questions about child care etc. there will be a Facebook group full of Dholes and Goats and calgary-based baby animals (incoming classmates) that you can talk to. There are quite a few dholes that have children, so they can give you plenty of information about finding fun things to do with your toddler and what daycare options are around campus.

[MSWschnoodle]

Thanks so much MSWschnoodle. Totally eases my anxiety quite a bit. I was afraid that due to childcare issues, I'll be missing out on extracurricular activities and bonding with the rest of the classmates. I don't want to be too much of an outsider and not be there for a lot of non-mandatory events. Guess I'll have to find a balance if I get in. 

 

 

There is a HUGE spectrum of how involved people are when it comes to extracurriculars. Some folks attend a ton of events while some of my classmates really don't attend events outside of class time because of their family commitments. You will build relationships with classmates during mandatory class sessions (small group etc.), so extracurriculars are not the only opportunity for that. There are also interest groups and student groups that meet over lunch. You will absolutely find a balance that works for you and you will also get assigned student and faculty mentors that can help you navigate those first few months.

[struggling2getin]

Hi,

I was recently invited to interview at Calgary as an OOP and was wondering if you had any recommendations on sources I could use to learn about the Albertan healthcare system/political issues relevant to health. Also what would you consider to be some controversial/hot debate topics going on in the province right now? I've subscribed to a news outlet already but was just a bit curious if you all had any words of guidance before I dove into my readings. 

Thanks for the help!

[MSWschnoodle]

Hey Dastruggles,

 

Congrats on your interview! Looking forward to seeing you when you make the trek.

 

Alberta's health care system is largely similar to the Canadian healthcare system... but there are a few issues that differ in this province:

 

The NDP government - So our largely conservative province voted in the NDP last election. The NDP have some policies related to healthcare that are quite different from those of the tories.

 

Formula Funding (as in baby formula) - this made the news within the last year or two. 

 

Physician pay/health care sustainability - Alberta's physician pay is high compared to most other places and our health care costs are high. This is obviously coming up as a concern in a province where the main source of revenue took a nose dive.

 

Oil prices/Carbon taxes/Sustainable energy etc. - You can just assume that if it is relevant to oil/energy it's relevant to politics in Alberta. 

[Borborygmi]

Bumping (reviving) this thread in case there are questions that newly accepted students may have that have already been answered in here or to open the door for further questions. Congrats to the new aminals!

[MountainAmoeba]

Obviously I have tons of questions.

 

For example....what are our animals going to be?

 

Actually that's it.

 

Animals.

[arctic_med]

This is a great thread, thank you all for your sharing.

[MSWschnoodle]

Obviously I have tons of questions.

 

For example....what are our animals going to be?

 

Actually that's it.

 

Animals.

 

 

Top. Secret. 

 

Seriously. The appointment of the class to the menagerie is a secret so closely guarded most of the current class will not know until the ceremony is underway. Those that do know have been sworn to absolute secrecy and must carry the burden of this knowledge alone. 

 

 

 

♫Who knows if the new animals

Have fins or fur or mandibles?

WE DOOOOO, WE DO♫

 

[MountainAmoeba]

#Amazing

 

Haha amazing

Top. Secret.

 

Seriously. The appointment of the class to the menagerie is a secret so closely guarded most of the current class will not know until the ceremony is underway. Those that do know have been sworn to absolute secrecy and must carry the burden of this knowledge alone.

 

 

 

♫Who knows if the new animals

Have fins or fur or mandibles?

WE DOOOOO, WE DO♫

 

[MountainAmoeba]

Is there a gym facility in the HSC, or TRW? Or do we use the main campus facilities?

[MSWschnoodle]

Is there a gym facility in the HSC, or TRW? Or do we use the main campus facilities?

 

 

Your student ID gets you use of main campus facilities.

 

There are indeed gym facilities in HSC. You can get a key for the Dungeon in the basement (I think it's $25). It's not fancy.

 

If you prefer fancy, Kinetix has memberships available to you as well: https://www.ucalgary.ca/kinetix/membership. 

[freewheeler]

Dungeon is barebones. A room with free weights, some weight machines and that's it IIRC.

 

Kinetix is much larger, pricier, many cardio machines, some free weights and a stretching area IIRC.

 

If you move to a condo that has a gym included that is another option.

 

You could go to main campus but it's kind of out of the way unless you happen to live near it as we spend all of our time at foothills even though the main campus isn't that far away.

[anonymousnurse]

Anyone have a link for Kinetix that works? thanks!

[MountainAmoeba]

Click on the link, and even though it says it's broken, you will be at the website, and can browse. Read the header bar!

 

Anyone have a link for Kinetix that works? thanks!

[MountainAmoeba]

https://www.ucalgary.ca/kinetix/membership

 

This is it

[newmed2016]

The 100$ for a year membership for students to use during "off hours" (5-10 am, 1-3 pm, 6-8 pm is sweet in that its empty and super nice, has nice showers, etc 

 

Also, lol on getting to know the animal name, it hasn't even been picked yet and when it is only like 5 people will know...its hard core

[sjc2]

Is there a gym facility in the HSC, or TRW? Or do we use the main campus facilities?

 

I use my CMA membership and get a $400 yearly pass to Goodlife. Reasons for doing this:

1. I'm not bothered to go to an overcrowded gym at main campus

2. I like Kinetix but you're restricted on the times you can go on the student rate 

3. The GoodLife membership lets you go to any Goodlife in Canada which is going to be awesome for Clerkship and great for when I travel on breaks.

[Thepathlesstaken]

Hi everyone,

I was wondering if it is common for students to go for a run during lunch break? and if there are any good spots in which to do this?

 

[newmed2016]

Yeah lots of people run/workout over lunch. The river pathway are 800 m away from either the TRW entrance or the main FMC entrance, so you can run down and run along the river no problem. 

[knispow]

Hi there. Do you have any pointers for the Top 10. Should the impact part be narrative? Example-based? Factual? Resume-like? Bragging?

Last year I mentioned all the R1-R7, but somehow did pretty bad on the evaluation. 

[MountainAmoeba]

On 2017-09-08 at 6:18 PM, knispow said:

Hi there. Do you have any pointers for the Top 10. Should the impact part be narrative? Example-based? Factual? Resume-like? Bragging?

Last year I mentioned all the R1-R7, but somehow did pretty bad on the evaluation. 

 

Absolutely do not do it "brag" style. Or resume based. They already have your work experience and grades. Make it a targeted narrative that shows em who you are. Remember nothing you've done compares to a graduated surgeon. So you won't impress them by bragging, but show them you're a person worth teaching. Use your experiences to show them what you have learned, and you you are. Not what you've achieved.    

 

[Confluence]

On 5/11/2016 at 9:44 PM, freewheeler said:

How do U of C students find the campus?

 

From what I remember the U of C med school is near the Foothills hospital which is a separate campus away from the main U of C campus.

 

There is a Kinetix gym that seems reasonable in terms of price (how busy does it tend to be/does it have a good selection of equipment?).

 

How far are the main grocery stores from the Foothills campus/from where people who live close to the med school are at?

 

From what I could google everything seems ~15 minutes away by car in terms of grocery stores.

 

IIRC lectures are optional and recorded (just audio or including video?) and how do you find what appears to be many full days 8:30 am - 5:30 pm in class (I took a look at the class of 2019 first year schedule)? Is there a decent mix of lecture/small group/clinical activities on those long days that you don't feel super bored/tired/drained or is it as exhausting as I think it is?

 

Any advice on finding a place to live near the medical school campus for someone OOP (Ontario) as well as buying a car and insurance/LOC?

 

I also have an OSAP loan that has begun accumulating interest since I will be graduating next month and need to call OSAP and figure this out, but I was wondering if any U of C students have experience with when OSAP typically is available to apply for, when it usually comes through and when tuition payments are due. With the July start date it is kind of concerning as OSAP isn't even available to apply to right now.

 

Sorry for all of the questions, just trying to make as informed of a decision as possible as I do 100% intend on accepting Calgary although I'm on the waitlist at U of A.

 

--

 

Some of my own thoughts:

 

Honestly I loved the sense of community and relaxed/laid-back vibe of the class/faculty at U of C, but I loved the campus at U of A.

 

I am over the whole 3 years vs 4 years thing (I am not sure but it would appear that you get earlier clinical exposure at U of C compared to U of A from what I tried to make sense of the first year schedules for both schools). U of A also looked like a lot more lecture and small case-based group learning (which I wouldn't be too fond of if it meant less time spent on direct clinical exposure).

 

I am kind of thinking of FM and am pretty interested in UCLIC at U of C, but I also really don't have any exposure to the Royal College specialties so I can't exactly rule them out yet and kind of worry about managing my time effectively enough to make myself competitive with any of those specialties as I'd really have to spend some time checking out my short-list of them before committing myself to the pursuit of any single one.

 

I kind of feel like research opportunities might be more plentiful/accessible at U of A, but I honestly don't know. I also have no previous research experience and don't think I'd be interested in basic research. I might be into clinical research however.

 

Still torn b/w U of C and U of A. 

 

Anyone have any thoughts on any or all of this?

 

Thank you!

Now that it's been a couple years, I was wondering if you had gotten the answers for your questions. I have many of the same ones, and I'd love to hear your current thoughts regarding your previous questions.