Guest tugg Posted March 27, 2003 Report Share Posted March 27, 2003 I'm just wondering if anyone has any info regarding the way the U of A runs their classes. Do they take a systems approach? I know there is a little PBL but not too much and that you get very limited access to patients in the first year but other than that I don't really know how they run things. Thanks for any help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fox Posted March 27, 2003 Report Share Posted March 27, 2003 When I had my interview I was told that three days a week classes go from 8-5 and the other two we have half a day off (one morning, one afternoon). There is the class that medicine and dentistry take together (ethics, practical stuff) and i think it is one afternoon a week, but I am sure the moderator knows more about the schedule..... Tugg, is U of A your first choice? Are you from Edmonton? Congrats on getting in, I admire your perserverance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest summervirus Posted March 27, 2003 Report Share Posted March 27, 2003 Hiya, Fox has the right idea. I actually wrote a bit about our curriculum in an earlier post. We have all our classes in first year and most in our second year with the dentistry students. For the past two years, the first year students have gotten Friday afternoon off (which is cool if you want to go home/out-of-town for the weekend) and a morning off. First year runs like this: you start off with Intro block, then Triple I block (Infection, Inflammation, Immunity), followed by Endocrine, and lastly CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary-Renal). A year round course called POM/D (Practice of Medicine in Dentistry) is integrated with the system-based blocks to teach you clinical skills (like how to take a history). The amount of Problem-based learning (PBL) that you do depends on which block you're in. There's some in Intro block, none in Triple I or Endocrine, but a ton in CPR. Oh, by the way, as an aside, from what one of the third-year students told me, the UofA did really well with the new curriculum. The class that just graduated (2002) was the first to go through all four years of the new curriculum and the UofA placed second on the national licensing exam (LMCC/MCCQE). (Number one is Toronto). But, the exam, apparently, is divided up into two parts: problem-based cases and conventional questions. We (UofA) actually placed first in the problem-based cases section (but ended up second overall). So, I guess the results imply that PBL-skills are taught pretty well here. Second year is pretty similar; you'll study: GI (gastroenterology), MSK (musculoskeletal), Reproduction (urology, O&G), Neurology (which includes psychiatry), and Oncology. Hope this gives you a better idea of how things are run here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest summervirus Posted March 27, 2003 Report Share Posted March 27, 2003 Oh yeah, one more thing I forgot to add; we are required to do a 12-hour elective in first year and another one in second year. These electives count as "courses" too. Students are allowed to pursue an elective in any area of his/her choice. The main purpose of these electives is for early clinical exposure. There aren't any strict learning objectives from these two electives although you are given an evaluation (pass/fail). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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