Guest DancingDoc Posted April 13, 2006 Report Share Posted April 13, 2006 What's clerkship actually like at UofT? I looked it up on the website and all, but I'd love to know what the reality is. What are the hours like, how much do you get to do, how many students are there per doctor (i.e. how much one-on-one learning).... etc. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scrubbed Posted April 17, 2006 Report Share Posted April 17, 2006 Hey there, Though I'm not in clerkship, I thought that I would get the ball rolling on your question. Some people argue that because that Toronto is a large centre, there are lots of fellows and residents around, which may make things a bit more difficult to get specific experience compared to a smaller centre. UWO, as you may have heard, supposedly gives its students a fair bit of responsibility. I've also heard that it depends on you as well, in that since there is so many people, you may have the opportunity to hang in the background, but if you do choose to get involved, you do have the oportunity to contribute. I don't think that I've heard many complaints about the quality of teaching or the hospitals. Since there is a diversity of sites, more than the average centre, you might have a bit more flexibility to choose an area within a certain field that you are interested in. As for the clerkship experience in general, there are quite a few books as well as posts in the med student area to peruse if you haven't done so already. Getting things started ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UTMed07 Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 What is it like?I'm a clerk at U of T. The hours, generally, are long. On surgery one has 6 AM starts. I don't think this is any different anywhere else. Sometimes how much you work depends on the hospital you're at. Currently I'm on psychiatry and at my hospital we do crisis counselling after hours-- something they don't do at all of the other sites.How much do you get to do...Depends somewhat on the rotation, supervisor, how much they think you can do, your enthusiasm and the year you're in. In third year they go easy on the people-- in medicine and psychiatry we don't do all-night call.How many students are there per doctor (i.e. how much one-on-one learning)...Again, it depends on the rotation. On surgery, psychiatry and obs/gyne there was a lot of one-on-one. On medicine there were a few med students on the team... a few 4th years and myself, but that isn't a problem 'cause you each get your own patients. Having been on an elective elsewhere, I think the clerkship experience at U of T doesn't measure-up that well in terms of responsibility and learning. On medicine, I was often cut-out of the management of my patients by the nurses-- they paged the residents directly. This didn't happen at the other place I visited (where I got to deal with more of the acute stuff (i.e. working-up chest pain)). On the positive-- I think U of T has more emphasis on EBM (evidence-based medicine)... which I think is a good thing and according to residents important for the fellowship exams. [fix typo] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Having been on an elective elsewhere, I think the clerkship experience at U of T doesn't measure-up that well in terms of responsibility and learning.That is certainly disappointing to hear! Do you think it depends very much on your academy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UTMed07 Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 That is certainly disappointing to hear! Do you think it depends very much on your academy?I do NOT think it varies very much by academy. U of T is focused on research. So, I think the teaching at the undergradate level gets a bit short changed. All-in-all I think there is a balance in that I've done some interesting stuff research-wise I don't think I'd have seen elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Hey there, I'm currently on a surgical elective here at UofT and am finding the experience quite comparable to that offered at McGill (where I was this past month and a bit). In fact, yesterday I was allowed to do more in the OR than I was during my entire time at McGill. I imagine that these experiences are very centre-, preceptor- and resident-based but so far I'm very happy with surgery at UofT. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DancingDoc Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 UTMed07, you say there is a more one-on-one for surgery (this is what I'm, I think, interested in) compared to medicine. Is this true for most surgery rotations? Can you choose who your supervising physician is/are (i.e. ones that are more into teaching)? General question: How many of your rotations can you do away, and is it only your electives that you can do elsewhere? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted April 19, 2006 Report Share Posted April 19, 2006 Hi , Just to add to the above (after more UofT experience today) re: UofT surgical experiences, I'd heard quite a bit about having little opportunity to do much in the OR while at UofT due to the large number of residents and fellows abounding. Well, today, I was first assist with the fellow on a 4.5 hour procedure. In fact, the staff surgeon came in for around only 10 mins of the whole OR time. During that time the fellow taught a great maneuver that permits super-easy opening of snaps with the "wrong" hand. (This can be quite clumsy for the OR neophyte.) Additionally, the residents have been super-great re: permitting us some freedom during the day (assuming that the patients' needs are taken care of). Today, post-op, I was able to spend a good hour in the surgical skills centre working on some techniques. So far, this is pretty impressive. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DancingDoc Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Kirsteen, Are you doing general surgery there right now or a specialized surgical rotation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Hi there, I'm currently doing a General Surgical specialty at UofT. That being said, since the Surgical Update is running for today and the next couple of days, I'm going to be filling in in the OR during some alternate General Surgery procedures. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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