Mac vs. Calgary

[Guest medsplease]

Hey guys!

 

First of all I want to congratulate everyone who was admitted. I was quite lucky and admitted into both meds programs at Mac and Calgary. I am very grateful but am quite confused about where to go. They are both 3 year programs and seem the most similar in all of Canada. I know that Hamilton and Calgary are very different but can anyone offer any insight to the differences of the programs? The good and the bad?

 

Thanks!

[Guest windymountain2003]

Hi,

 

My personal reasons for choosing Calgary over Mac:

 

1. Program does not have as much PBL- it has regular lectures and small group cases.

2. Found that the staff and adcom was much more flexible and human in dealing with me when I was applying. Ex They actually called you from Calgary to tell you you got in.

3. Being an outdoorsy type, I preferred the city of Calgary to the city of Hamilton. There are tons of trails and green spaces, not to mention Mountains.

4. Slightly smaller class size.

5. Lower tuition

 

I didn't realize this when I decided to move here, but Calgary is an exciting place to live right now because of the oil boom. It is just nice to live in a province where there is no provincial debt and there are new hospitals being built and lots of funding for health research.

[Guest jmh2005]

Well, I wouldn't post this on the Mac site, but if I had the choice of Mac vs. Calgary, I would have chosen Calgary!!...I didn't have that luxury...congrats!

 

1. It's a bit hard to say (from my perspective) in terms of differences in curriculum now that Mac has totally changed (hopefully for the bettter) but it is still very PBL which can be great (I loved that aspect), but it's not for all...mind you, they now have more lectures which I think was badly needed, this one is a toss up, probably something you would know more about...

 

2. The class in Calgary is much smaller (also nice)...less 'competition' for electives/selectives, I honestly don't know how 148 will work at Mac, towards the end of the program I called 10 docs to get an elective (and all outside of Hamilton, places like Burlington, Mississauga, Oakville) and every doc already had a student...My 11th call was finally willing to take me...

 

3. As for being flexible, accomodating...Mac... not really at all...I could tell you a really long, drawn out story about how un-accomodating, non-flexible, non-student focused they really are...ahh, what the heck, I'll abbreviate it...basically is this...I wanted to switch a clerkship rotation (straight switch) with a classmate who lived in the city (with his/her family) I was to go to (and a city I didn't pick or want to ever go to but it was a lottery and I was the loser...) about 45-minutes to 1 hour away from Mac, but they wouldn't let us switch because "No switches are allowed" that's a direct quote from at least 2 of the not so friendly physician administrators at my lovely alma mater, after pleading our cases, which were so inherently logical, "no, sorry" no reasons given ever...so it didn't matter that I had to drive 1.25 hours and my friend had to drive 1 hour each way but yet that could have all been avoided...it would have been a straight-up switch and may have involved changing a few sheets of paper and they wouldn't even do that for me after all I had done for the program...after that they lost a lot of my respect, actually quite a lot of my respect and money...bottom line: Mac not so student-friendly/focused

 

4. Calgary vs. Hamilton....'nuff said....

 

5. The medical community...it is great to practice in Alberta from what I hear, waiting lists are less, doctors are more appropriately remunerated and they are happier bunch than we are here in Ontario....

 

6. Tuition: I don't know exactly what it is at UofC, but I know it's a lot less than McMaster for 3 years! Edit: just read a thread that said tuition is less than 7000/year...that's more than HALF of what Mac's tuition is....wow, UofC is looking great...love that the gov't has so much money they can give students rebates...I think I need to move...

 

Don't get me wrong, if I had to do it all over again, I would go to Mac (i just wanted to be a physician)...and Mac gave me that, but when you do have choices, you need to look very closely at your options and make a decision that is right for you and your situation...

 

Just a few things to think about from a former Mac Meds grad....all the best with your decision...you can always go somewhere else for your residency and both places will get you your MD, which, when you come down to it, is great! Congrats on being able to decide,

 

All the best...

[Guest Jerika81]

Wow, I can't believe they wouldn't let you switch that rotation! You must have been so angry.

Calgary is definitely very student focused- for the above example it takes nothing more than each student involved signing a paper to switch any rotation, and a lot of people do this, which I'm sure creates a bit of extra work, but no one seems to mind.

[Guest medsplease]

Thanks guys for all of your advice. It is very valuable to me at this point and I see where everyone is coming from. Yes I agree, at either school I'll have an amazing experience and become an MD. But since I do have the choice, I want to make the best one for me.

 

Thanks so much for the input.

[Guest jmh2005]

Don't forget to let us know where you decided, now I'm curious...all the best with your decision...

[Guest marbledust]

Tuition: I don't know exactly what it is at UofC, but I know it's a lot less than McMaster for 3 years! Edit: just read a thread that said tuition is less than 7000/year...that's more than HALF of what Mac's tuition is....wow, UofC is looking great...love that the gov't has so much money they can give students rebates...I think I need to move...

 

Just a wee clarification: the tution costs in the other thread refer to each semester, not the entire year. It would have been a dream to have only paid $7000 per year at U of C