IMP, Victoria -- any news?

[Guest supa76]

Just curious if anyone knows of any news about how the program is working out in Victoria. Being from the island, I'm very interested in the IMP and looking for any first/second hand feedback after almost one year since it started.

 

For one, I can imagine that the small class size (24) is a real benefit in terms of student:teacher ratio, but the dependence on too much "tele-learning" or whatever from Vancouver could be a real limitation. Has there been a greater focus on community and rural practice? Has it been too UBC-centric?

 

thanks,

supa

[Guest physiology]

Hello,

 

The current first years won't be able to comment on this matter yet.

 

However, in the 2nd year class, it always has been "UBC centric", just simply because of the numbers. 152 UBC students & 48 PG/UVIC students. But, they do try to balance things out. In the endocrine block, we've had mostly Vancouver lecturers, but in other blocks such as GI and MSK, there were lecturers at least once or twice a week from the IMP & NMP.

 

DPAS is also very diverse with respect to guest speakers. Typically, they'll strive for a panel of speakers from all 3 sites.

 

Hope that helps.

[Guest supa76]

cool thanks for the info.

 

the Fall edition of UBC's "Medicine" had a good, if not propaganda-ish, article about the "distributed learning technology" that links all the schools. sounds very cool, but i'm not convinced that its going to be the same as having "one big class" anytime soon.

[Guest supa76]

as far as site ranking..

 

i know the adcom says they give acceptance first, then check your site ranking. if your 1st choice is full, then they give you your second choice.

 

how can this garuntee that students from the island/north BC (or at least people really wanting to eventually live in said places), get to study there? i.e. if someone who really wanted to go to vancouver, was born and raised in van, ranked VMP no.1, and IMP number 2, would they get the IMP spot if the VMp spot was full, over an applicant a couple spots down whos background was totally geared towards working on the island and who ranked IMP number 1? I dont see how they can promise to increase people from underserved areas going to study and train in these underserved areas if they dont take the above into account.

 

for this reason i'm hesitant to not rank IMP number one, even though the adcom says it is not a factor. they must at least peek...

 

that being said, i think there is a special pool or something for people who are geared towards the NMP. how does this work? is there something similar for IMP?

 

hopefully some of this was somewhat clear. too much time today at a computer, counting down the days until this damn internship is over...

 

supa

[Guest kaymcee]

Hi supa,

 

You describe an interesting scenario. I think it would be best, however, to just rank your site choices as you see fit rather than looking too much into the process of how students are assigned.

 

They could offer acceptance, "rank" these people, and give the top students their first choice, etc. and move down the list. Or, what they could do is place everyone their number 1 choice and then look at who wouldn't mind being in their number 2 choice. They could do this by the "ranking" of their application, or they could read their application and notes from their interview to decide on this. I think UBC is quite sensitive regarding where people want to be placed, and will only give people their second or third choice if they believe the student would thrive in these places.

 

I don't think anyone knows how this is done. As such, it's probably best to give your number 1 ranking to the site you actually want to go to the most.

[Guest physiology]

Rank sites that you want to go to, not ones that you think will be easier to get into.

 

The NMP committee ranks applicants based on a "rural suitability score", that is, how suitable you are to study up north. If don't put down anything in your application that makes you suitable for the north, you may not get it.

 

This happened to one guy in my class. He put NMP first, but got VFMP.

 

Physio

[Guest kahone]

don't forget though, NMP openly has a sub-committee for assessing suitability for their program. Even if one *wants* the PG (or perhaps this applies to the Island in the same way), they may decide an applicant is not a good match for their program/location.

 

last year at the interview weekend the rep from NMP (and IMP echoed this as well) not to try to play games with the site selection. Be sincere, think about it, look into each, make an honest decision and go for it. I have heard of at least one person who ended up in an alternate site and was miserable during pre-clinical phases.

K

 

edited cuz I pulled the trigger too quick

[Guest supa76]

good points... thanks

 

i would be happy (fortunate) to go to either place, but since my background etc. is from the island, i believe my 'rural suitability' for the IMP will be quite high. This is really my strong point of my app -- and yes, I do really want to live and practice on the island -- it's just i would slightly prefer being in vancouver for the school part over victoria. So in that sense i was wondering if the fact that i might rank IMP number 2 will alter my chances at all in terms of having a good suitability score to work on the island. The adcom says they accept first, then place you in order of your choices...and from what you have said above, it shouldn't matter in the least.

 

But, it seems that almost every applicant would rank all sites 1,2,3 no matter if they actually wanted to go there or not (i mean, i'm even applying to manitoba! :b ), so that if the adcom accepts one before they actually view one's site ranking, then people who don't have the 'suitability' to work at one of the programs or real desire may end up there anyways, over people who actually want to practice there... or... they select you because you have 'good suitablity' to work on the island, but you rank VMP no.1, so they send you there. is this making any sense?

 

this is all of course depending on me actually getting an interview! so on that note, lets just say i'm not really overly concerned about my placement at a specific spot and/or finding a 'loophole' to get into an easier program, just curious about the process. i.e. how they are genuinely increasing spots for people from underserved areas on the island in the absence of seperate applicant pools. perhaps the 'sub-commitee' for the NMP that kahone mentioned works similarly for IMP?

[Guest physiology]

Supa,

 

Rural suitability is ONLY for the NMP. Because UVic is in Victoria, it is considered an urban program similar to Vancouver. So your island suitability would have no bearing on your choices. However, because most people who apply to med are from the greater Vancouver region, most of them request the VFMP first.

 

However, things may have changed on the application. This is how it worked when I applied.

[Guest kupo]

My understanding is that the NMP sub committee only exists for its northern program. That's what the NMP student rep told me anyways.

 

Be honest about the benefits of each program if you get an interview. They'll sniff you out if you try to indicate that you are really suitable for NMP when you really aren't.

 

Kupo

[Guest supa76]

I guess NMP would be quite a bit different vs. both IMP and VFMP, so it would warrant its own commitee. Its a shame to us island people, but I can imagine most applicants would be happy to end up in Victoria or Vancouver. I read somewhere about someone choosing VFMP 1st and NMP 2nd, and getting NMP, so how you rank the sites really doesn't end up making any difference.

 

Its interesting that they consider your suitablity for each program, once you are given acceptance. The idea of some subjectivity in this regard is comforting.

 

I will be at the bottom of the pack anyways, so I'm sure the IMP, with only 24 spots, will be long full by the time they get to me! (please get to me...)