UofT's essay questions

[alrightythen]

How are we supposed to integrate those clusters into the essay answers? It seems ridiculous to me that I have to think about incorporating the Scholar attribute into one of my essays.

[Meridian]

Ignore the guidelines at your own peril. They are written to help you understand expectations of what they will be looking for.

[alrightythen]

1 hour ago, Meridian said:

Ignore the guidelines at your own peril. They are written to help you understand expectations of what they will be looking for.

Of course. I was just venting about how forced and disingenuous it feels.

[avocado_toast]

I wonder if you are thinking of the role of the scholar too literally. When people hear the word “scholar” it’s natural to think of a full tenured professor at a university or something. I don’t think that the adcom needs you to be what one thinks of as a “scholar” in that sense.  

I feel like the role of the scholar in terms of the CanMeds role is more about your commitment to continuous life long learning - in the role of both the teacher and the student. Can you relate your experience of a time that you were teaching others? Or evaluating evidence and critically thinking about it? Have you ever contributed to the literature through a journal article or had discussed some findings you had at a poster presentation? Doctors are perpetually both teachers and students, they think critically and evaluate evidence and then contribute to new ideas. So it makes sense that the ad com wants you to include your own experiences and ideas about this into your essays.

[CantConcentrate]

If you think about each of the questions, each is typically structured to represent one of the clusters. Take this opportunity to both (a) answer the question, (b) ensure you're following UofT's guidelines, and (c) tell the adcom about yourself.