UWOMeds2005

[Guest Sarah]

Hey there

 

I have been reading yor posts and you seem pretty together about things. I was wondering, what kind of things did you do during your summers in between your undergrad years? ie what kinds of research, volunteer, extra cirric did you engage in? Furthermore what is yor story, did yo go straight from 3 or 4 years undergrad? Finally why did choose Western over say Dal, or did it not work out there.

 

thanks alot I appreciate it alot!!!!

 

Sarah, I wish you continued success

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Interesting question. I was shooting for medicine from grade 11, so alot of my decisions since then were geared towards making me competitive for meds. I don't have too much time at the moment, so I'm going to try to answer in point form:

 

Summers from grade 12 to the year before I got in:

-1996: Ran Rickshaw in Downtown Ottawa, played club rugby

-1997: Volunteered for the summer as a camp counsellor at the CNIB, played club rugby

-1998: Took 1st year Biology at Carleton. Not much else.

-1999: Worked as a parking lot attendant (had to pay the bills) and then as a camp counsellor at the CNIB.

-2000: Worked in a research lab as a summer student, Planned Orientation Week for King's College (Halifax), wrote the MCAT

 

I don't really know how this stacks up compared to the rest of the class here. . . many have done more, many have done less.

 

I went into med school after a 4 year Combined Honours degree in Biochem + Microbiology & Immunology. I also took alot of humanities courses in UG as many of the med schools are looking for "well-rounded applicants."

 

Why Western and not Dal? First of all, why not Dal? Well, I'm originally from Ontario and I was worried about the OOP bias at Dal. Also worked in the library there and was a little worried about the funding cuts and facilities, + current provincial government, provincial debt and state of Health Care in NS. I love that province (NS), but in terms of economic outlook, health care & education spending. . . NS has a few problems to solve.

So why Western? First, I was impressed by the atmosphere at Western and their clinical opportunities, particularly in clerkship. That, and the fact I got into Western right off the bat so didn't have to worry about coming off the waitlist. . . admittedly, that was a pretty significant factor.

 

If you want, I'd be willing to publish my whole autobio sketch if it would be of any use.

[Guest sarah]

Thanks alot UWO20005MEDS sure if you wouldn't mind putting up your autobio that would be really helpful. i appreciate your help and advice thank you

 

sarah

[Guest khoberian]

Don't mean to be instrusive, but I would really appreciate it if you could put up some more info.

 

Thanks!

[Guest Justin L]

what were your marks like UWO2005, did you have some bad years ie. c's and b's and then have the one good year that got you through the door for the cutoff's?

 

Thanks UWO2005

[Guest jennifer Y]

Thanks for being so willing to share your info. What is your opinion re UT vs UWO. Do you think that will affect your CaRM chances for first choice,ie does the surrounding hospitals or physicians tend to favour those that went to their local med school? Would going to a smaller med school have an advantage since you have a better chance to do well and perhaps to get to know the instructors better. Pls shed some light on this if you would. I just wanted to look ahead.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Ok - here goes - I'll try to respond to all the posts at once.

 

ACADEMICS/MARKS: I don't remember the exact numbers, but I do remember "ballpark figures" (ie within 0.04 or so. . .)

1st year -3.54 on the OMSAS scale.

2nd year - 3.72 - but based on 4.5 credits. So this year didn't count for some of the schools, or

3rd year - 3.82 GPA

4th year -3.75, but didn't matter - med schools didn't get those marks until after decisions had been made.

U of T GPA - 3.71 (no favourable admissions formula applied due to the half-credit I dropped in 2nd year! - Doh!)

Western GPA - 3.82

Queen's GPA - 3.71

Course Selection - Did a degree in Biochem and Microbiology & Immunology at Dalhousie/King's College. Also did a fair number of "Humanities"-type courses. . . Took the "Foundation Year Programme" at King's College, which was a 3-credit course covering the History of Modern Thought from the Mesopotamians to Postmodernism. Also took a bunch of credits in History, Contemporary Studies, & History of Science & Technology (Could have had a minor in the latter if they offered it.)

 

AUTOBIOGRAPHIC SKETCH:

ACADEMICS:

1992/09-1997/06* * * * (10) Ontario Secondary School Diploma

1992/09-1997/06* * * * Enrolled in the Gifted Program Lisgar Collegiate Institute, ON

1992/09-1997/01* * * * (10) Ranked #1 student out of 178 Graduating Students January 1997

1997/09-1998/05* * * * (6) Completed Foundation Year Programme

1997/09-9999/99 (6) B.Sc - Combined Honours in Biochemistry and Microbiology & Immunology

VOLUNTEER:

1997/07-1998/08* * * * (8) Volunteer at Camp for Visually Impaired Children

1998/05-1999/* * * * (2) Volunteer in the Children's Hospital of

1998/05-1999/08* * * * Eastern Ontario Summer Recreation Program

2000/01-2001/01 * * * * 1) Volunteer in the Meal Assistance Program at

2000/01-9999/99* * * * the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences

AWARDS:

1994/04-1994/06 "Most Valuable Player," Lisgar Junior Rugby Team

1996/09-1997/06 (10) Member of Lisgar Team which Ranked

1996/09-1997/06 #1 Nationally in the Ontario Biology Competition

1996/09-1997/06 (10) Richard & Sybil MacDonald Award for Academic Perseverence

1997/01-1997/06* * * * (10) "Most Valuable Player" of Lisgar Rugby Team

1997/09-1998/05 (6) King's - George David Harris Scholarship King's ($6000)

1997/09-1998/05 * * * * for Academics and "Qualities of Mind & Character"

1999/09-2000/05* * * * (6) King's incourse scholarship for Academics ($1500)

1999/09-2000/01 * * * * (6) Dean's List of Distinction, Dalhousie

1999/09-2000/05* * * * (6) Kilmer McMillan Prize for Top Marks in 3rd

1999/09-2000/05* * * * Year Dalhousie Biochemistry Classes

2000/09-9999/99* * * * (6) Awarded $3000 in-course King's Scholarship

2000/01-9999/99* * * * (6) President's List of Distinction, King's College

EXTRACURRICULAR:

1994/01-1994/05* * * * (10) Actor in Lisgar's "Much Ado about Nothing"

1994/04-1997/06* * * * (10) Member of Lisgar Rugby Team

1995/01-1997/04* * * * (10) Lisgar X-Country Ski team

1995/05-1997/08* * * * Member of '96 Eastern Ontario Championship Rugby Team

1996/01-1996/05* * * * (10) Played Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream

1997/01-1997/06* * * * (10) Captain of Lisgar Senior Rugby Team

1999/08-1999/09* * * * (9) Orientation (Frosh) Leader at King's College

1997/09-9999/99* * * * (9) Starter on King's Rugby team

1997/09-1998/04* * * * (9) King's representative at York debating tournament

1998/10-1999/02* * * * (9) Acted in "Measure for Measure" with King's Theatrical Society

1999/09-9999/99* * * * (9) President of the King's Science Society

1999/09-9999/99* * * * (9) King's Student Union Council Science Representative

1999/09-9999/99* * * * (9) King's representative on Dal Science Society

1999/09-9999/99* * * * (9) President, King's Rugby Club

EMPLOYMENT:

1994/06-1994/09* * * * Staff Member at Red Pine Camp (12)

1996/06-1996/09 Provided guided Rickshaw Tours of Ottawa

1999/06-1999/08 (8) Camp Counsellor at the Canadian

1999/06-1999/09* * * * Institute for the Blind Summer Camp in Ottawa

1999/09-2000/01* * * * (5) Library Assistant W.K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library, Dalhousie

2000/04-9999/99 (9) King's Orientation Week Co-chair (organizer)

RESEARCH:

1997/01-1997/06 (4) Tested synthetic polymers for use in Pacemaker Leads and

1997/01-1997/06* * * * Transplant Operations (Ottawa Heart Institute)

2000/05-9999/99 (3) Localization of Nitric Oxide Synthase

2000/05-9999/99* * * * Retina using Novel Fluorescent Indicators

OTHER:

2000/07-2000/07* * * * (11) Red Cross Standard First Aid Course

 

- I'm sure some of my class mates have better marks/autobiographical sketch, and I'm also sure some have stuff that's not as strong (actually, now that I think of it - the autobiographical sketch is NOT evaluated by Western, so it doesn't really matter!) So don't stress if your autobiographical sketch doesn't have as many entries, or think only goofballs go to Western if your sketch is way better. . .

- In fact, most classmates had at least a few extracurriculars, but people got into our class with ZERO research, ZERO volunteer experience, or ZERO awards, etc. I think all of these will help you. . . but don't stress if you don't have them on your autobiographical sketch.

- I don't know, I'm no expert at this, but I did try to do as many things in as many different areas I could (ie sports, volunteer, school council, research). That would be my suggestion on what to do

- My first year was mostly B+s. . . but in the end it could have been all 'B's and 'C's and would have been the same result - would have been under the cutoff for Western. So DON'T worry if that is the case. . . though it could eliminate you from the cutoffs for schools that calculate the GPA differently.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Hmmm. . . Western vs. U of T for CARMS.

 

Well, first of all, I'm only in first year Med School (not residency,) so haven't had the pleasure of going through CARMS yet. If someone knows how to guarantee your first choice on the CARMS match, I'd be ecstatic if you could pass that information on to me. . . it would make my 4th year much less stressful.

 

That being said, most of the info I've received from talking to fourth years is that the key to getting a top residency is contacts and reference letters from someone the residency selection committee knows. If you really want to do residency in Toronto, at first glance it would seem that would favour U of T. . . after all you're right there, so you have the chance to schmooze the profs right from first year.

 

But that's not the whole story. The real key, I believe, is 4th year electives. In 4th year (3rd year for Mac and Calgary, I believe) you do electives (usually 4, each 1 month) with programs of your choice. If you're smart, you'll make sure to arrange your electives with the programs you're interested in for residency. That'll give you a full month ON THE WARDS to show members of the residency selection committee what a good candidate you are.

 

Furthermore, you have the opportunity to set-up summer electives after 1st and 2nd year anywhere you want to add to that experience. One guy in our second year class has set up a Cardiac Surgery elective with one of the top Cardiac Surgeons at U of T for the summer. If that doesn't give him exposure to the Cardiac Surgery selection committee at U of T, I don't know what will.

 

Bottom line: It really doesn't matter where you do your MD. If you're good enough to get into an extremely competitive residency, you'll get in whether you graduated from Western, Sherbrooke, UBC, Saskatchewan or U of T. You're going to be doing your MD and hanging out with classmates for FOUR years - go somewhere you can have fun, do stuff to make you stand out for residency selection committees, and you'll do fine.

[Guest awong37]

I don't even have a copy of my autobiographical sketch any longer....

 

Best,

Alex.

[Guest JD]

Hey UWOMED, when you said that some people got in with "zero" research, volunteer, or awards, do you mean that they were completely lacking in just one of the above categories? I think it would be pretty tough to get in with nothing in ALL of those three categories, no?

[Guest UWOMED2005]

I meant "one" of those categories, but not all. It's not like I checked. It's not exactly the best conversation topic for orientation week or otherwise: "Hey, how you doing? Nice to meet you. Look - I know nothing about you, but, how many research papers have you published? And how many volunteer activities have you done?" We just don't do that kind of thing. After talking to, hanging out with, and getting to know people here at Western and learning that there were people in the class who didn't do research or didn't volunteer at Sick Kid's in Toronto, I just wanted you guys to know that just because you didn't do research or volunteer in a Hospital doesn't mean you can't get in. I'd still suggest trying both of those experiences, though.

[Guest Jennifer Y]

to UWOMED2005:

Do you honestly think that Scott L and Milhouse would make good doctors? They should have presented this side (true colour) of themselves to their interviewers at their med interview. Wonder why they didn't.

[Guest awong37]

Greetings,

 

While some might see the cultural diversity at UofT as being a benefit, others may not necessarily see it that way... that being said, I am somewhat disturbed by the comments made by both Scott L. and Milhouse. They appear, in my eyes, to be fairly blatant attacks on a subset of the UofT medicine population. In a class as large as the one at UofT, there are bound to be people that share interests and those that share completely different interests. If you don't necessarily share interests with someone else, perhaps you can try to introduce them to your interests, or vice versa? If that doesn't work, nobody ever said you had to be friends with everyone in the class. It's one thing, IMO, to not want to hang around with people, and it's another thing to criticize people based on their choice of lifestyle. Such attacks are inappropriate and unnecessary. Who are we to judge the quality of life and the lifestyle of our peers, especially those that we don't necessarily know very well?

 

Here at UWO, when you come for your interview, or if you ever speak with anyone in our class, I would hope that we will be able to convey two important messages about student life. The first is that anything is possible here. If you want to study nonstop because of a constant paranoia that you'll fail or get less than 90%, that's fine. If you want to party all the time and live the "good life", that's fine too. If you want to start your own rugby club, that's fine. If you want to dabble a little in one thing and dabble a little in something else, that's fine. The basic point is this: it's all good here. We have such a highly diverse group of people with myriad interests and backgrounds, and it's the people here who make it what it is. I enjoy life here because I enjoy being with (and having fun with) the people here.

 

The second point is that, while we stress that you can be anything you want to be, there's an overwhelming consensus amongst faculty and students that it is healthy (and perhaps even necessary) to pursue a variety of outside interests for the sake of keeping perspective and maintaining a certain level of sanity in what can at times be a stressful environment (i.e. exam time). Here at UWO, we care about each other... not only for our academic development (i.e. passing exams), but also for our personal and emotional development as well. If you're interviewing here on April 6/7, and you come to the Information Session, you'll hear me stress these words again and again... you can be anything you want to be, balance is good, we care about each other, and the people make the place, not vice versa.

 

I would comfortably say that my views are shared by the vast majority (if not everyone) in my class, and I commend our Admissions Committee for doing an incredible job last year in selecting our group. It's a great bunch.

 

That is all I have to say regarding these issues... to those who are reading this forum constantly and stressing over every last little detail about medical admissions, my advice is simple: work hard, do what you enjoy, experience all that life has to offer and take the time to reflect on the lessons you learn from the successes and failures, and be a good person. If you do these things, and if you want really want to be a doctor, you will be. Not only that, you'll be a damned good one at that.

 

Best,

Alex.

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

Alex- Great post! I remember the info session vividly and the whole "anything is possible" attitude to me is a major selling point of UWO Meds. Well said about the apparent attack on the UT "subset".

JJ- Does UWO Meds have a lacrosse team??? If so, then all I can say is duuuuuude...

 

Take care and best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Hey Tim,

 

Sorry, but we don't have a Lacrosse team at the moment. . . of course, this time last year we didn't have an Old Timer's Road Hockey Club either, until one of the first year's this year started the OTRHS. So anything's possible. In fact, if you do want to put something together next September I'd love to be part.

 

-Jeff

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

That's a great idea! I'll be sure to gauge the interest should UWO be good enough to take me. I'll need to get Ainesworth on board though- I don't think I'm the least bit qualified to teach even the most basic of lacrosse skills- kind of like a "don't try this at home"!

 

Take care,

 

Tim

[Guest Liana]

What is it with med students and rugby?

Seems almost a contradiction.

 

Do a lot of students play rugby (male and female?)

I'm thinking of learning, myself..

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Actually, I don't think there is a great connection between med school and rugby. It's not like that's the secret to getting into medical school (Western interview committee: "Do you play rugby? Yes? Well then, you're in!") But there are a bunch of med students here who have played the sport either in High School or on Varsity rugby teams. Unfortunately, the number has been declining recently so we've had to fully merghe our team with the Ivey team. . . in my class only myself and one other guy have joined the team (there are a few others who feel they're "too busy" to play) and the year ahead of me there's only one guy still playing. . . too bad, because I recently ran into a girl whose brother was in the class of 1999 and was heavily involved in the meds rugby team. . . apparently they had quite the turnout back then.

 

And on the question of whether medical students should be playing a sport like rugby I'll share the following anecdote from my Queen's interview last year. . .

 

Interviewer: "I see you play rugby."

Me: "Yep."

Interviewer: "Well, you know Queen's has quite the varsity team - would you think of trying out for the team?" (just for the record, Western has won the championship 3 out of the last 4 years. . .)

Me: "Well, actually, I kind of thought my varsity rugby days were over with. I mean, if I get into medical school I figure I won't have the time to play a varsity sport - I'll be too busy studying." (I did say that - now check the response)

Interviewer: "Actually, here at Queen's we firmly believe you should try to keep up all those great extra-curricular activities that got you in here. In fact, we've got two guys here in second year who play for the Varsity Football team."

Me: "Really? Hmmm. . . only other problem is I've had a few concussions and once I'm in medical school I think I'd be worried about head injury (stupid thing to say in an interview BTW, but at the time I really thought I had retired from the sport and I really hadn't considered trying out for the varsity squad at Queen's so was caught off guard). I think I'll need my brain fully intact to practice medicine."

Interviewer: "I wouldn't worry about it so much - if you do suffer brain damage, you can always become an orthopod." (Orthopod = Orthopedic surgeon. And yes, the interviewer really did say that.)

 

To be honest, while applying last year I fully expected that upon admission to medical school, I'd be too busy studying to do anything else. And I thought that was what the medical schools wanted.

That, however, is not the really the case. Note that the criteria for many of the medical schools (particularly Queen's and Western). . . they want a certain minimum GPA to make sure you can hack the material and the workload, but once you've made the cutoff, things like the interview and autobiographical sketch are the key to getting in.

 

The above experience, along with the fact that one of the first things the faculty Western told us was to make sure we maintain a healthy balance of school and other stuff, made me realize how important maintaining a healthy balance of activities is to surviving medical school. I mean, we all work hard. But it's important to have fun as well.

 

That's not to say you don't work hard. I've never put as much time into school as I have this year, and at the end of the day, you still have to pass the licensing exams and know enough stuff so that you're not a detriment to the patient. But being well rounded really is important.

[Guest Akane200]

I seldom read the UWO meds forum, but I feel the need to defend my school.

 

Written by Scott L<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote>Quote:<hr>

I was accepted to UWO Meds also but got conned into the UofT name brand, however the regrets are plenty here in my 2nd year. There is nobody cool here to hang with play sports with party etc. I too am a big rugby fan, actually Auzzie rules football is my game of choice. However trying to get anything good going here with these dorks at Hong Kong U er I mean UofT is nearly impossible.

 

This is some advice to the folks out ther: go to a school that looks at all sorts of things outside of grades, you will have a better experience. Here at Hong Kong U all they care about is 3.85+ so to get those marks most of the people here never left the library except to retape their glasses. trust me its not a good environment if you like to do things outside of study <hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END-->

 

Really, you can't actually be in my class. How could you even think that we don't play rugby??? Are you even aware that we have a few men's intramural rugby teams? Sports is pretty big in our class, so I wonder where you've been all term.

 

And a second thing is that the number of chinese people in our class is less than 20 (and only a few are actually from HK) out of a class of almost 200. This impression that there are a lot of HK people who are antisocial is wrong. There are lots of asian students in the undergraduate student body, but much much fewer in med school.

 

Those that are in our class are not of the "anti social HK type" that you describe, and many of us are well rounded outgoing individuals. I feel offended at such remarks. No one conned you to come to U of T. Being in TO, it should be expected that you will meet many people from different backgrounds. Not everyone studies like crazy, and no one makes you hang out with boring people. I really doubt that you even know anyone in our class to make such remarks.

 

As for the "spadina" reference, it is pretty offensive. That's where Chinatown is. But it's quite far from the medical buildings and most hospitals, so I don't think anyone actually goes there for lunch.

[Guest strider2004]

Scott L,

 

Why are you talking about students going for a 3.85+ average? It's H/P/F at UofT, the GPA system ended in undergrad. You sound like an applicant on the UofT waiting list who's trying to convince people to pass over UofT so you can scoop on their seat in class. I think it's funny because on the Queens board people were saying that Queens has little ethnic variety(not true). ---slide into Queens promo--- I can see why you would like Queens though. It has a small class and we all get along quite well. My classmates also have a strong interest in sports. We currently have a person on the varsity rowing team, field hockey team, and swim team(different people). If you would like to pursue a sport while in medical school, think of Queens. Western's not bad either.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

You're right Strider. . . U of T is H/P/F, so going for a 3.85 is useless. I hadn't thought of that. Sounds like your hypothesis is correct, also especially seeing as there's very little Aussie rules football played in this country, and "Scott L" and "Milhouse" share the same computer for internet access despite the fact they claim to be med students at different schools!

 

Amazing how some dingbats think that posting bs on an internet forum such as this will actually help them get in. . . especially considering the fact IP addresses are traceable, and it really isn't too hard to figure out who posts things (ie VAGABONDMD). . . Good thing for them noone on any admissions committees have ever read messages on this board, right?

 

And on another note. . . at least this experience has taught me that as a moderator I can delete messages I don't like! Don't worry, I won't use that privelege unless a message is way overboard

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

Rugby has always been a sport I haven't really understood completely, but mostly b/c I've never taken the time to learn- I'm sure it's great and should I be admitted somewhere where we can wear our med school colours into war, you know I'll be there. Auzzie Rules is very cool as well, though I can't seem to find it on TV anymore- boo! Cheers to the increased lacrosse coverage on TV these past few years!

Hey UWOMed2005- whatever happened to that VagabondMD guy, anyway?

 

Talk to you later!

 

Tim

[Guest UWOMED2005]

VagabondMD. . . he was posting on Delphi last I checked. . . kind'of got scared away from posting last I checked - he hasn't posted in a while. I think he got scared away by some of the flack he took at Delphi (admittedly, alot unfairly and much of it my own fault. . . though I'm not so upset by that considering some of the stuff he posted. . .) It's kind of unfortunate though. . . while many/most of his opinions offended many, sometimes he was a good guy about being honest with people as to who he was - and he was good about letting you guys applying to meds know you didn't have to be 'Mother Teresa' to get into meds.

 

Auzzie rules is a wicked sport. . . I've played it, but very rarely. One of my buddies (actually, the captain of my first rugby team) was signed by one of the Australian clubs (the lions?, I believe) to play for them but wrecked his back. Good guy, though. I have to admit, I'm really hoping now you'll get the "thickvelope" so you can start up that lacrosse team here at Western. There's a bunch of guys in my class who should be playing rugby but for various reasons (ie wussdom) won't play - but I think they'd be willing to play Lacrosse.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

P.S. - If you're up for some rugger, the league the Meds boys play isn't too intense. As I've said, we play mostly with the boys from 'Ivey' and many of them played a couple of times in High School, if at all. Tim, if you are interested at all you could fully come out with no experience and fit in just fine. You met Will, right? (My billet - he was out with us at Molly Bloom's that night.) I'm hoping to recruit him for the team, and he only played one year in High School. The commitment is perfect for med school (one weekend night a week's practice, some optional time drinking with the MBA boys, and the occasional weekend game/trip against Harvard, Michigan, etc.) and it's a good chance to meet people outside the MD program. . .

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hey guys,

 

On the Aussie Rules front, do any of you know if the Brisbane Bears are still around, and their prior, vice-captain, Marcus Ashcroft? A number of years back, I was working in Brisbane as a temp and got hooked up in a post as receptionist for the Bears. I didn't have an iota of a clue about Aussie Rules nor the players... This one day, when one guy came in wearing almost all brown (including the brown shorts) and approached the desk, I asked if he was the UPS dude arriving to pick up the day's parcels/envelopes. His response: "Ah, naw darlin' I'm the captain of this team." Errr, oooops.

 

Overall though, good bunch o' lads.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen