UWO (London) vs UBC (Vancouver)

[ma17]

Hi all,

I have the fortune of picking between these two medical schools. Expense and location does not matter to me, really. I'm not someone who goes out a ton and living expenses isn't a concern to me if it means a better education. My main reason for wanting to choose Western is that I live in Ontario and I could visit my family every so often pretty easily.

I'd love to hear from students who can talk about (1) what do you think makes your school's curriculum great, (2) how supportive is the faculty (specifically in terms of guiding students who have no mentors or family in medicine)? Lastly, I know both school's operate on a pass/fail system, so for CaRMS most candidates are seen the same academically. Your ability to match then is based on your research, ECs, impression during elective rotations, LORs, and interview. So, (3) how does either school prepare you for this non-academic portion of matching?

Thanks a ton for helping me make this decision!

[bearded frog]

Also consider where you want to do residency/eventually work, based on your desire to be close to family I assume you would prefer to also stay close in residency and long term, so Western would certainly have a significantly increased chance of staying at Western for residency, and probably a somewhat increased chance of staying on Ontario, although if you went to UBC and then prioritized returning with Ontario electives/letters/etc. it's hard to quantify how much of an advantage it would be, and perhaps be outweighed by other factors.

Also consider the opportunity to spend 4 years on the other side of the country (before someone says Ontario isn't the other side of the country... it is when you're in BC) with a fresh start and the personal opportunities that may provide (the caveat being you may never want to go back!)