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Can upper years/graduates of Mac med comment on the condensed program/lack of summers?


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I've read posts stating that despite Mac being a 3-year program with no summers, students are still able to make it work in terms of building their CV, doing research, etc. I've also heard that the program is fairly chill during pre-clerkship with lots of free time to do the aforementioned things. As someone who is leaning towards picking Mac, this is good to hear. 

However, what I'm wondering is, does Mac's condensed program and lack of summers lead to a lot of stress and burnout during clerkship (in comparison to 4-year schools)? Or do most students find it manageable? 

Thanks :)

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2 hours ago, claypot said:

Hey I’m entering my third year at Mac :)

Made this account just to post this since there seems to be some worries for this year’s incoming class.

 

You’re right on that the three year program is still super conducive to developing a solid CV, I’d say that Mac might even have an upper hand at letting students develop their CV in ways that really pertains to their personal interests because you have more consistent free time during preclerkship (instead of a really busy school term and two months off in the summer). This means more time to establish and continue connections for the long term right from the beginning of first year which can be invaluable for your entire med school career (and afterwards too).

 

When it comes to burn out, every medical school will have students who feel more burnt out and every medical student will probably feel some degree of burn out at times. It really depends on each individual’s needs and what type of work schedule they prefer. There was still enough time throughout the years for my classmates and myself to go on 2-3 trips/year or go home and relax if we wanted. My peers who go to other 4-year programs probably travelled a similar amount as myself since most of them end up picking up some sort of full time research position throughout their summers anyways (no one really has true ‘summers off’ in med school anymore). 

 

Clerkship is different and definitely a lot more work but overall has been an incredible experience. Everyone has been really supportive and HHS is a major hospital network that sees a large variety of cases (including interesting rare ones) like most academic centres but still manages to maintain a type of community feel. Lots of great hands on experience and clinical exposure throughout the years. Yes, at times I’ve felt burnt out and tired but again, there likely aren’t a lot of clerks at any school who haven’t felt this way. And having started med school just under two years ago and knowing that I’ll be done this next year is a nice little (read: major) perk too. 

 

I’m sure there’s many peers in my cohort who feel that the three year program placed a lot more stress on them. Especially those who have been considering competitive surgical specialities (but from my experience it seems gunners will feel more pressure regardless of the school). I do recognize that this is potentially a major con for choosing Mac and I was really lucky since I had a good idea of what I wanted to go into (internal) and it didn’t change. Side note: if you’re interested in internal medicine, Mac is amazing with renowned staff and residency program.

 

Sorry if that felt disjointed, I wrote it up during my break. But I hope that helps!

 

2 hours ago, claypot said:

One thing that I forgot to mention is that they revamped the med school curriculum so the schedule is a lot better too for the incoming first years. I don’t know the details but apparently it addresses a lot of the concerns we the upper years voices (like electives/rotations schedule) and increased the amount of break time you get! 

Amazing, thank you for such a detailed and helpful response! This makes me feel much more confident about the decision I'll be making. :D

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