Why UBC?

[M3P0]

In preparation for the MMI, I was wondering what I'd say if this question came up. Why UBC? I like the province and I have family there. But in terms of the school, what are some things we should know? Do they have a unique curriculum? Good research opportunities? I'm not sure what they expect to hear. Honestly I'd be happy to get into any school in Canada (most people feel this way). I'm OOP btw, so don't know much about UBC in particular.

[frenchpress]

25 minutes ago, M3P0 said:

In preparation for the MMI, I was wondering what I'd say if this question came up. Why UBC? I like the province and I have family there. But in terms of the school, what are some things we should know? Do they have a unique curriculum? Good research opportunities? I'm not sure what they expect to hear. Honestly I'd be happy to get into any school in Canada (most people feel this way). I'm OOP btw, so don't know much about UBC in particular.

When schools ask this question, I think they mostly want to know honestly why you want to come, that you have thought about the connections you have here, if you will feel supported here, etc. UBC does have a somewhat unique curriculum, but no one is expecting you to mention “the spiral” lol - in fact, many of the interviewers are community members and won’t necessarily know anything about the curriculum anyways, so it’s not like you can give a right answer. 

[BCelectrophile]

I'm at UBC and some of the cool/unique things we have here are: 

1. Distributed Program: The distributed sites are pretty cool, you can join a smaller program and go to school in Victoria/Kelowna/Prince George or join the bigger program at the Vancouver campus, and have friends/classmates across the province.

2. FLEX: at UBC we have curricular research requirements (=FLEX project) with a ton of support from faculty. They really make a point that you can do whatever you want even if it's not traditional research. From talking to my friends at other schools it can be pretty challenging to find research on your own so it's nice to have the curricular support.

3. Spiral: As previously mentioned, the spiral is unique to UBC and it could be considered a plus.

4. Early clinical exposure - I'm not sure what they do at other schools but we have half-days working/shadowing in family practice offices starting right away in fall of 1st year (even during the pandemic)

 

[Fast_Layne]

If I was asked this question, I think I'd just be honest and say that my roots are here. All my friends, family, the people I've grown up with, the places I've grown up with...they're all in Vancouver. And that's important as a physician or medical student to feel like you're at home, and to have social support nearby when things get tough.

I didn't really know much about the curriculum at UBC, other than it was fully accredited and was a pretty reputable school.