Update on the "hybrid" curriculum

[SnowmanTheSWOMEN 156]

Hey there fellow MD2024's, 

The August 4th update on UGME website shows that CBL may all be online (link: https://med.uottawa.ca/undergraduate/updates-regarding-covid-19-ugme-program-activities). Since lectures would be online (I hope so since it would be a very massive gathering), and as someone coming from far away, it does not make sense for me to pay monthly rent simply to attend mandatory PSD sessions a few times a semester (and by that I mean 4 times in the Fall). AFAIK, mandatory in-person activities at uOttawa are: SIM, CBL, and PSD.

I would save more money and be closer to my family by flying to Ottawa only for the PSD. Anyone on a similiar boat?

Does anyone when SIM takes place, and whether it is virtual or in-person? 

I am seriously considering requesting a deferral... I wished they consolidated the curricular changes earlier on like Uoft and McMaster.

 

[worst24hours 6]

I think judging by the schedule posted online and the update on that link, lectures are in person right now (ofc, subject to change)

[petitmonstre111 72]

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[dopamineislife 16]

I am also considering flying or driving down for what seems to be the few in-person components. While I am very grateful for the opportunity to start med school, I find it upsetting that we received registration late and still have to receive information on how the school year will proceed. There’s very little time to plan things - Eg find housing. Also when do we find out about o-week? 

[UwoToUo 121]

That's really disappointing, the CBL bubbles would've made it at least justifiable bc the mandatory portion was biweekly. True, if there's only one thing in person then school is virtually online (lol). But given Ottawas track record, what happens if second semester has more in person components and they tell us 1-2 weeks before. Not that moving to ottawa only to have 4 in person things the first 4 months isn't a fat L lol. If only mandatory PSD, it is doable to fly just for that. I guess if you get sick and airport bans you for 14-21 days, doctors note saves you and they advise you to quarantine anyways. Where did you find out PSD is only 4 times in the fall? If I can stay home I probably would too and try to get out of my lease or just adjust the period I'm renting for if thats even possible. 

Btw SIM started after Jan last year according to the survival guide pdf, no idea if it's going to be virtual though.

[SnowmanTheSWOMEN 156]

1 hour ago, UwoToUo said:

That's really disappointing, the CBL bubbles would've made it at least justifiable bc the mandatory portion was biweekly. True, if there's only one thing in person then school is virtually online (lol). But given Ottawas track record, what happens if second semester has more in person components and they tell us 1-2 weeks before. Not that moving to ottawa only to have 4 in person things the first 4 months isn't a fat L lol. If only mandatory PSD, it is doable to fly just for that. I guess if you get sick and airport bans you for 14-21 days, doctors note saves you and they advise you to quarantine anyways. Where did you find out PSD is only 4 times in the fall? If I can stay home I probably would too and try to get out of my lease or just adjust the period I'm renting for if thats even possible. 

Btw SIM started after Jan last year according to the survival guide pdf, no idea if it's going to be virtual though.

On the Class Schedule, it seems that the PSD course (MED 13021 or smth) takes place 4 times in the fall.

And I agree, it would be a fat L if suddenly they decided that Winter2021 would be in-person on a short notice. We would have to arrange half-year leases and stuff...Also, I guess SIM is for the second semester then?

1 hour ago, dopamineislife said:

I am also considering flying or driving down for what seems to be the few in-person components. While I am very grateful for the opportunity to start med school, I find it upsetting that we received registration late and still have to receive information on how the school year will proceed. There’s very little time to plan things - Eg find housing. Also when do we find out about o-week? 

I also have no idea about O-week. Judging by what the ASS president said, it's probably online right?

2 hours ago, petitmonstre111 said:

Sort of in the same boat. If I can get away with flying a few times to Ottawa, I’ll definitely consider it. Definitely getting more and more impatient over here...

Definitely agree.

2 hours ago, worst24hours said:

I think judging by the schedule posted online and the update on that link, lectures are in person right now (ofc, subject to change)

Hmm, the Class Schedule denotes Foundations and Unit 1 courses as "hybrid"... I would assume that the big lectures are virtual while anatomy sessions/CBL sessions were tentatively in-person (before the update took place).

In any case, this is a stressful time for everyone for sure. 

[,,aow 39]

8 hours ago, worst24hours said:

I think judging by the schedule posted online and the update on that link, lectures are in person right now (ofc, subject to change)

I think the schedule we see online is just what it was from last year (room numbers etc) and it's tentative. I have a hard time believing that they will have lectures in person when it's the easiest on everyone to do it online. 

[popfossa 46]

I understand how it's frustrating that we haven't received much information and having to pay rent to only be in person for 4 times a semester would suck. However, that being said I am sure that Ottawa had a reason for asking us to move to Ottawa. They are definitely working hard with Public Health to try and get as much components in person. To give you a perspective, my friend's sister is on the academic committee at Queens and they just had Public Health shut down all their preliminary plans. Thus, I can imagine how frustrating it can be for faculty. If things improve drastically then we may convert to more in person sessions (looking for housing in November or December would suck). For me personally, even if we were fully online I would want to be in Ottawa. I think it's a great opportunity to meet our classmates and do fun activities together. 

Also, random thought, maybe we have to self isolate for 14 days before attending the PSD sessions. That is why we need to be in Ottawa. 

[anonymouspls 259]

9 hours ago, worst24hours said:

I think judging by the schedule posted online and the update on that link, lectures are in person right now (ofc, subject to change)

Here at western we have about 3-4 in-person sessions in total for important physical exam and anatomy sessions until February, that's it. I highly doubt that this is the case for Ottawa as there are guidelines all Ontario schools have to follow.

[bruh 496]

20 minutes ago, anonymouspls said:

Here at western we have about 3-4 in-person sessions in total for important physical exam and anatomy sessions until February, that's it. I highly doubt that this is the case for Ottawa as there are guidelines all Ontario schools have to follow.

The guidelines are quite broad so every school is doing their own thing. Lectures and Anatomy labs are in-person at UofT (in-person is optional). But I'm looking at my schedule and there are in-person stuff about 3 times every week. Clinical skills and CBL are online until at least January.

[petitmonstre111 72]

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[DrOtter 345]

34 minutes ago, petitmonstre111 said:

uOttawa’s official communication last month was that students were obligated to move to Ottawa for the fall semester... I sure hope it would be for more than 3-4 in-person sessions...

me too. It'll be pretty disappointing if we were told to move only to have 3-4 sessions for the entire semester  

[Psych 163]

I agree that it's frustrating, but I think part of the reason they're asking students to move to Ottawa is because they've said that as guidelines change, they're going to move as much stuff in-person as possible. The way I interpret that, this could even mean having things online in September and moved in-person by October or November if guidelines change. It seems to me like as soon as guidelines change, our curriculum delivery could change as well (which could be literally any time)

From the hybrid delivery announcement email: "As Ottawa Public Health guidelines permit, we will offer more face-to-face learning and in person activities, thus we recommend you remain flexible in scheduling your personal activities"

[,,aow 39]

Even with confirming that we met the acceptance conditions to sign a lease was delayed a ridiculous amount of time.

I really hope that if the lectures are online and the curriculum they decide on, to just keep it consistent for at least 1 semester. 

I believe lectures are always posted online anyways so I don't understand why having 100+ students in one room might happen but regardless I think we will have the option to choose!

Anyways, I hope we hear back soon with a solid plan!

[MedSchoolHope101 28]

Anyone else interested in filing a class action lawsuit for emotional distress and financial loss? 

On a more serious note, I am also dissapointed at the way the university has handled things. I think that, at this point, it would be best if they had optional in-person activities regularly and they scheduled (in advance) a few mandatory sessions for the entire 2020-2021 academic year. While I understand that the adminitration is trying to do their best and this situaton must be frustrating for them as well, it is important to consider that it may not be in the best interest of students to move to a different city where they do not have a support system and pay rent on top of that when we are still not sure how many in-person activities will be able to take place. 

[petitmonstre111 72]

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[premed72 80]

1 hour ago, petitmonstre111 said:

information package?)

Wait what is this?? LOL 

[dopamineislife 16]

5 hours ago, petitmonstre111 said:

Am I the only one getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of communication from the faculty? Latest email regarding registration specifically mentioned getting documents (information package?) by the end of this week, and looks like we’re not getting anything (on time), yet again... I get that COVID is disrupting everything, but I can’t help but be frustrated. It seems like every other school has been communicating with the incoming class, while we’re still left in the dark. 

I completely agree with this and don’t we start classes in 2 weeks? 

[SnowmanTheSWOMEN 156]

If you check Elentra, they changed every class to Virtual pretty much for the first 2 months, including PSD and SIM. Probs still updating the last 2 months.

 

[DrOtter 345]

44 minutes ago, SnowmanTheSWOMEN said:

If you check Elentra, they changed every class to Virtual pretty much for the first 2 months, including PSD and SIM. Probs still updating the last 2 months.

 

yeah you're right. but a few appear to either have RGN location or marked as "hybrid". It's strange how many French classes still get a RGN location tho 

[popfossa 46]

16 hours ago, petitmonstre111 said:

Am I the only one getting increasingly frustrated with the lack of communication from the faculty? Latest email regarding registration specifically mentioned getting documents (information package?) by the end of this week, and looks like we’re not getting anything (on time), yet again... I get that COVID is disrupting everything, but I can’t help but be frustrated. It seems like every other school has been communicating with the incoming class, while we’re still left in the dark. 

As frustrating as it is for us, I imagine it is equally frustrating for the faulty. I agree that the least they could do is send us an email with an update just being like, "We are sorry this is taking so long but we are in communication with public health at the moment, etc." However, on the bright side we are about to start medical school which is very exciting regardless of how we start IMO. 

[petitmonstre111 72]

 

On 8/15/2020 at 1:19 AM, DrOtter said:

 

[Pomme 6]

5 minutes ago, petitmonstre111 said:

Good to know - I wasn’t able to access Elantra until this morning. I now ventured and round the hybrid model schedule on the preclerkship page... seems more up to date than what’s on Elantra if you want to take a look. https://curriculum.med.uottawa.ca/common/documents/Schedules/Weekly Timetable Templates/Weekly Timetable Template - Hybrid Model_Anglophones.pdf

Is that the same email/password for uOzone? I can't seem to log in... 

[popfossa 46]

23 minutes ago, Pomme said:

Is that the same email/password for uOzone? I can't seem to log in... 

Doesnt work for me either

[SnowmanTheSWOMEN 156]

55 minutes ago, petitmonstre111 said:

It was referring to documents we have to sign but won’t have time to read on registration day

Good to know - I wasn’t able to access Elantra until this morning. I now ventured and round the hybrid model schedule on the preclerkship page... seems more up to date than what’s on Elantra if you want to take a look. https://curriculum.med.uottawa.ca/common/documents/Schedules/Weekly Timetable Templates/Weekly Timetable Template - Hybrid Model_Anglophones.pdf

French timetable available under preclerkship page is actually very similar to English one, and shows limited in person components.

doesnt work for me