Choosing academies

[guest2019]

Do each of the academies have options to do rotations in a community hospital, or are some academies more “academically” oriented than others?

[lurker25]

I've heard that if you rank Fitzgerald as your first choice and WB as your second, then there's a fair chance you'll end up at PB, as the people who rank WB first will be given priority for WB spots and Fitz is just very competitive due to its small size. Can any current UofT students confirm this? Also, for someone who will be living downtown and really does NOT want to commute, is ranking WB first a "safer" strategy?

[iluvexcel]

On 6/1/2019 at 12:30 AM, lurker25 said:

I've heard that if you rank Fitzgerald as your first choice and WB as your second, then there's a fair chance you'll end up at PB, as the people who rank WB first will be given priority for WB spots and Fitz is just very competitive due to its small size. Can any current UofT students confirm this? Also, for someone who will be living downtown and really does NOT want to commute, is ranking WB first a "safer" strategy?

Both are true. PB has a lot of perks, but if you really cannot commute, then picking WB first will maximize your chance of getting a site downtown. 

[lurker25]

3 hours ago, iluvexcel said:

Both are true. PB has a lot of perks, but if you really cannot commute, then picking WB first will maximize your chance of getting a site downtown. 

Thanks for the reply. My main problem with PB is North York General, that would be death lol. WCH would be great, and I guess Sunnybrook is OK.

I am curious about the PB perks though, if you don't mind on talking about them?

[keener12345]

Actually I think NYGH may be more not as bad as you think. It’s on a subway line.

[striders02]

51 minutes ago, keener12345 said:

Actually I think NYGH may be more not as bad as you think. It’s on a subway line.

Yeah. And Sunnybrook is definitely closer than NYG but further off the line, probably would have to subway to Davisville then take the 11 to Sunnybrook, so would be a bit of a trip. 

Edit: as keener12345 points out below, there's a shuttle that runs from WCH to Sunnybrook, so generally won't have to take TTC.

[keener12345]

Just now, striders02 said:

Yeah. And Sunnybrook is definitely closer than NYG but further off the line, probably would have to subway to Davisville then take the 11 to Sunnybrook, so would be a bit of a trip. 

Yeah and for Sunnybrook, they offer a shuttle from WCH, so you don’t have to worry about TTC.

[V99]

Can observerships be done outside of your academy during preclerkship, and can you be involved in research outside your academy?

Also, can electives in clerkship be done outside of your academy? Thanks!

[roro2555]

Hey guys. Just graduated from UofT, so happy to answer all your questions having gone through the entire process. Feel free to message me privately if you want to ask questions. 

So I was in Fitz and we can talk about that experience (if you want) but in general all the academies are great. I will say that everyone who was in PB my year had an amazing experience. The shuttle is supper accessible and what they all used. You tend to travel with your classmates (so you literally in the same boat). I think the variety of learning environments is awesome! I think PB has a very close knit community and so its something to think about. North York General is an awesome site to train at and as you will progress through clerkship you care less about what is close to you and what is the best experience. So if you have more access to these sites and teachers why not! 

2 hours ago, V99 said:

Can observerships be done outside of your academy during preclerkship, and can you be involved in research outside your academy?

Also, can electives in clerkship be done outside of your academy? Thanks!

^ 100%. You arent limited all by your academy site. I think sometimes when you meet an awesome tutor who is affiliated with your site it is just easier to set up the shadowing experience. Eventhough I was Fitz, I shadowed in TGH/TWH. SickKids ER etc. etc. In terms of research- again it does not depend on your academy but again often you are taught by faculty that are very much involved in research so it is easier to inquire about opportunities. But I think in general if you do your homework on what preceptors you want to work with it doesn't really matter. We have a research opportunity called CREMS in the summer and they post jobs across all sites and everyone has the chance to apply to them equally and without prejudice. I would say though if you know you have specific research area in mind that it may be helpful to balance you research roles and small groups if they are in the same building. But honestly WB also has several sites that quite far away that this doesnt really matter either! 

Electives in 4th year can be done anywhere in Toronto and for the most part we all did our electives across Canada which is the point of electives. If you are asking about your core rotations there is actually more flexibility than you may think. For example despite being in Fitz I did rotations at St Mikes, St Joes, Toronto Western, Markham Stouville. There was also the option of doing some rotations at TEGH, Scarborough and NYGH. It varies from year to year depending on the offerings. WB has a few spots at Humber River, MGH, Scarborough, St Joes etc....So you can see where I am going with this. For the most part you will do your clerkship where you are affiliated with but it isnt a hard and fast rule. And once electives role around you can really do it wherever. 

In choosing academies I will say really think about the size of the cohort and the experience you want out of it. I chose Fitz because I wanted the smaller group and I knew everyone in my class. In addition, I have a strong interest in public health, addictions, inner city medicine and working at SMH with tutors and preceptors who felt the same way was an amazing experience. I would also say if you have strong inclinations for a specific academy write it down in the box given, it cant hurt. 

Hope this helps and again feel free to message me with any other UofT related topics. Super freshly minted MD and so I have a lot of thoughts about everything.   

[lurker25]

16 hours ago, roro2555 said:

Hey guys. Just graduated from UofT, so happy to answer all your questions having gone through the entire process. Feel free to message me privately if you want to ask questions. 

 

Thanks for that elaborated answer! Just as curiosity, my understanding is that each academy has a few anchor hospitals and students will be assigned to those individual hospitals for the clinical part of pre-clerkship. For instance at Fitz you could be assigned to St. Mike's or St. Joe's. If someone at Fitz is assigned to St. Joe's are they still allowed to use the learning facilities of St. Mike's? Like lets say its the weekend and I want to use one of the seminar rooms available at Li Ka Shing even though that's not my primary anchor hospital, am I still allowed?

[roro2555]

1 hour ago, lurker25 said:

Thanks for that elaborated answer! Just as curiosity, my understanding is that each academy has a few anchor hospitals and students will be assigned to those individual hospitals for the clinical part of pre-clerkship. For instance at Fitz you could be assigned to St. Mike's or St. Joe's. If someone at Fitz is assigned to St. Joe's are they still allowed to use the learning facilities of St. Mike's? Like lets say its the weekend and I want to use one of the seminar rooms available at Li Ka Shing even though that's not my primary anchor hospital, am I still allowed?

Hey that is a great question. So yes you are at certain anchor hospitals. I believe what happened in Fitz applies to the other academies. Basically you will have a variety of small groups and clinical skill sessions at various hospital sites- and you will have access accordingly. All Fitz students will have St Mikes badges and will be able to access the learning spaces in Li Ka Shing, even if youre at St Joes youll just have an additional badge. I believe the same is the case with all PB students having access to their study space in WCH even if youre at Sunnybrook. You tend to get badges for your main hospitals. In terms of studying in spaces that are outside your academy, you wont get a St Mikes badge if youre a PB student (you will get it if you do an elective in fourth year there). So Li Ka Shing has a library that is open to the public and if you have friends in Fitz we would all study together but you wont have a badge to use after hours. Hope that helps? 

[lurker25]

4 hours ago, roro2555 said:

Hey that is a great question. So yes you are at certain anchor hospitals. I believe what happened in Fitz applies to the other academies. Basically you will have a variety of small groups and clinical skill sessions at various hospital sites- and you will have access accordingly. All Fitz students will have St Mikes badges and will be able to access the learning spaces in Li Ka Shing, even if youre at St Joes youll just have an additional badge. I believe the same is the case with all PB students having access to their study space in WCH even if youre at Sunnybrook. You tend to get badges for your main hospitals. In terms of studying in spaces that are outside your academy, you wont get a St Mikes badge if youre a PB student (you will get it if you do an elective in fourth year there). So Li Ka Shing has a library that is open to the public and if you have friends in Fitz we would all study together but you wont have a badge to use after hours. Hope that helps? 

Thanks! That's exactly what I wanted to know.