Advice for choosing between Queen's and Western

[Guest kaisermark]

Hey all,

 

I posted this earlier and had a few responses, but it got wiped out entirely by the problems with ezboard. Okay, I'm trying to choose between Western and Queen's, but they're so similar it's very difficult. How would you guys compare them (programs especially), and what would you pick?

 

Thanks so much!

[Guest michca]

Hi Kaiser,

I thought I would dig up an old thread for you on this topic for you since no one from Queen's has responded as yet

 

pub125.ezboard.com/fpreme...=269.topic

 

You may also want to take a look at the What's Up Doc booklet Queen's puts out annually-it's packed with info! Here's a link to it:

 

meds.queensu.ca/undergrad..._s_up_doc_

 

If I had the choice- things I would be considering would include, in no particular order:

 

1. Location- do you have a preference for Kingston versus London? Proximity to larger centres- Toronto Ottawa and Montreal? Smaller city vs. medium sized city?

 

2. People- how friendly/relaxed/inviting did the med school students/staff seem to you? Where do you feel you would most fit in?

 

3.Size of class- 133 versus 100 (ok so that's not much of a difference!)

 

4. Curriculum set up-I don't know too many details re. Queen's curriculum- hopefully the links above will provide you with more info.

 

5. Good old gut feeling as to which one might be better for you!

 

Good luck with your decision!

[Guest kaisermark]

Hi Micha,

 

thanks for the help, and thanks for also posting this in the very active Western forum. I had a quick look earlier, but now when I went to check it out in detail, the posts had been erased. stupid ezboard problems... do you remember the gist of it? If not that's okay. I am taking your hypothetical questions into consideration.

 

Thanks,

Mark

[Guest michca]

Bah! These ezboard problems are really starting to be annoying. Oh well...

Mark, I am not sure of the exact posting re. what the Queen's students thought.

I think the general consensus was that the first part of first year was basically a review of undergrad science in order to make sure everyone is on the same page. So depending on how well you remember the science stuff, that first semester can be a relaxing introduction to medical school.

Then second semester is when you get into the medical units. This semester is apparently pretty busy!

After first year, I am not so clear. I have taken the liberty of copying the curriculum information from the Queen's website for you here:

 

First Medical Year

 

Phase I (MEDS 411)

 

Introduction to the Sciences Relevant to Medicine

Phase IIA (MEDS 412)

 

 

Oncology

Haematology

Infectious Disease

Allergy

Immunology

Dermatology

Microibiology

Musculoskeletal

Communication/Clinical Skills (MEDS 415)

 

Special Medical Electives (MEDS 419)

 

Second Medical Year

 

Phase IIB (MEDS 421)

 

Psychiatry

Ophthalmology

Otolaryngology

Neurosciences

Phase IIC (MEDS 422)

 

Genitourinary

Respiratory

Cardiovascular

Phase IID (MEDS 428)

 

Critical Enquiry Elective

Clinical Skills (MEDS 425)

 

Special Medical Elective (MEDS 429)

 

Third/Fourth Medical Years

 

Phase IIE (MEDS 431)

 

Gastrointestinal

Reproduction

Endocrinology

Clincial Skills (MEDS 435)

 

 

Clerkship

 

Clinical Clerkship begins in the January of the third academic year and is an integral part of the Medical program. The clerkship provides opportunities for close, personal interaction between students and other members of the healthcare team including faculty, post-graduate trainees ("residents"), nurses, therapists and other professionals.

 

Electives/Selectives

 

Each student has twelve weeks of elective time and six weeks of selective time to complete prior to graduation.

 

 

 

 

 

I have heard mentioned over and over again that starting Queen's clerkship a bit later doesn't really give you a disadvantage. There USED to be some really good threads discussing this. From looking at the CARMS website, it seems as though 59.1% of Queen's grads and 60.7% of Western grads matched to their first choice in the 2005 cycle. In 2004, 62.5% of Queen's students matched to their first choice, and 56.6% of Western students matched. So..from this data it doesn't really look like the clerkship "delay" matters.

 

 

I only wish someone from Queen's would actually bother to reply to these posts! Again, good luck deciding! If nothing else, go with your gut feeling as to which school is better for you, as you really can't make a wrong decision here!

[Guest Valani9]

To answer about the clerkship stuff very brieflly:

 

The only real disadv. to our clerkship schedule is that we get only 1 month of core rotation before we go to our electives. This just means that you would want to get the right core stuff done first, before your elective (eg. internal core before elective in cardiology, surg. core before elective in plastics).

 

There is certainly no disadvantage in terms of matching or performance. Queen's clerks do very well, and the match well too.

[Guest kaisermark]

Hey Valani9, so Queen's students have no problem matching from what you're saying. Everyone else seems to say the same thing, so that's cool. But one thing that does seem to bother me is that you may not know which specialty you should do your elective in by the time you have to choose (which is pretty early). At Western they do all their core rotations first then choose. How do Queen's students deal with this issue (i.e. lots of time invested in observerships in the first two years)?

[Guest seedstrike]

Hi Valani,

 

The typical Queen's students do quite a lot of observerships (me being an exception ). In terms of deciding what field you want to go into before elective/clerkship time isn't really a problem. Most student's in my class have narrowed down what they want to do (family, surgery, internal med) and that's pretty much all you need to know when the time for the clerkship lottery comes around.

 

As far as electives go, based on what I have seen amongst my friends, i'd say most already have a good idea as to what they want to do. Electives are set up 6 months in advance (usually) so it can be a pain if you are indecisive. When it's time to schedule electives, you will already have done most of the heavy blocks (ENT, Optho, Neuro, Derm, ID, Cardiology, Nephrology, MSK). The only big ones that would be remaining would be Obs/gyn and GI...but then most people I know who want to get into these fields came into med school knowing that they wanted to do that.