Guest DrTK Posted June 13, 2004 Report Share Posted June 13, 2004 Hi! This is a question for Queens med students who picked Queens over Western. I've heard a million reasons why Queens is so great from Queens students (and I agree with all of them) but I've also heard a million reasons why Western is so great from people who went to Western. Are there any specific reasons why those of you who were offered admission at both picked Queens? This isn't meant to be a battle between Queens and Western...I'm just having a really tough time deciding what I want to do because I think both schools are amazing! Any insight would be great! Thanks! DrTK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest drews97 Posted June 13, 2004 Report Share Posted June 13, 2004 Reasons: 1.Doesn't require a car at all 2.Very pretty city 3.Better geographical situation to other cities (ie://close to Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and a lot of the Eastern US. I'm not originally from Ontario so going to a school that allowed me to explore a bit more easily was a plus!!) 4.Closer to decent skiing (I know...this sounds like a silly reason, but I grew up in Alberta and I LOVE skiing so this was also a big plus for me!!!) 5.I liked the idea of not having tests throughout the semester. True, it makes the last month of school hell (well, if you're like me and leave alll your studying till the last minute!), but it gives you a lot of chances during the semester to go on observerships, play sports, have fun, volunteer, etc. 6.I just liked the 'vibe' more when I had my interview at Queen's. During my interview everyone was very friendly and enthusiastic about their school (this isn't to say that people at Western weren't), and they did a good job selling their town and university. Ultimately I'm extrememly happy with my choice. I've made some great friends and had some awesome experiences in my first year at Queen's. I'm sure if I had chosen Wester I would have had a great time as well. You honestly will have a great time and make good friends at either place, but for the reasons posted above, I"m confident that Queen's was the right choice for me:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DrTK Posted June 13, 2004 Report Share Posted June 13, 2004 Hi drews97! Thanks for your insight. I never really thought about being close to all major cities, but Kingston really is. Now, could someone help clarify the clerkship portion of your schooling? From the Western forum, I found this about Western's clerkship: "Next good thing about clerkship is that you are FIRST CALL - meaning that you get to see a lot more, do a lot more and learn a lot more." Are clerks first call at Queens? The UWO moderator wasn't sure. If someone can comment on this (and add any more about my last post) I'd really appreciate it! Thanks! DrTK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strider2004 Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 About first call: Both clerk and residents do house-call and the person called first really depends on the nursing staff and your resident. We do stay the entire night (usually) and all the floors have our pager numbers. However, because we usually can't order anything (again, this is sometimes up to the nurses to obey your orders), residents are usually first call for mundane orders and if there's something interesting, the resident usually calls you to see it concurrently with the resident or to assess the situation and report back to the resident. The residents use their discretion to do the mundane stuff. One night a PGY1 made me follow him around just so I could see how much B.S. the nurses make you do sometimes. **I was actually glad that as a clerk, I didn't have to bother with that. ** For example, a nurse paged him for a coumadin order so the resident had to walk to that floor, get the patient's chart and check his INR(because for some reason, the nurse was too busy herself to tell him over the phone). Usually, the clerk would be sleeping during that ordeal. As much as you'd like to get the full PGY1 experience, it's great to have some rest. I found that our level of responsibility does go up the further you are into clerkship. In the first month(January as opposed to Sept in UWO) I wouldn't want to be first call since it's awfully stressful. Nurses will use their discretion as to whether they'll obey your orders as you get more experienced. I fond that the younger nurses were more apt to listen to you. The length of clerkship is identical in UWO and Queen's because despite Queen's starting later(ie Jan 04vs Sept 03 , UWO finishes earlier(Dec 04vs April 05). This does mean that we do some of our core rotation after the match but we get to pick what we'd rather do first. If you're a surgery keener, you usually get to do your surgery block first before you go on your electives. As we found out from this year's match success, Queen's definitely isn't undermatched when it comes to competitiveness. We also hit the gbround running when we reach residency because we haven't been out of the hospital for 6 months like UWO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lex Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Strider, This year's match success aside, are you a fan of the later clerkship start-date? Did you find personally that doing electives early and during the CaRMS interview period prohibited you in any way from getting to know departments/people at other schools? If not, why not? I realize that the overall success of this year's class is incredible, but it seems as though match rates are fairly stable over the long run. I heard that the delay is designed to avoid conflict between Y3 and Y4 schedules on the wards - is this true? Thanks. L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strider2004 Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 It's true that the hospitals aren't big enough for both years. To make the expereince more fulfilling for clerks, they've limited the max number in the hospital. With the classes getting larger, they're sending more and more to satellite sites (like belleville and peterborough). From what I understand, the same problem with overlap occurs as Western as well, hence the same clerkship time. At Toronto, they have plenty of room so they have about 4 months more clerkship than the rest of us. We didn't actually do electives during the CaRMS interview period - they occur a year earlier. Last year was interesting in that because of SARS, we were given an additional 2 weeks of elective time in August of clerkship(about midway). I did have more confidence than I did in my prior electives, despite not having done the core rotation( it was in pediatrics which i eventually did not rank for residency). I do feel that the electives would best serve us if they occurred later in the year, perhaps in the late summer/early fall. However, it would take a major overhaul of the current system for that to happen. At one point I wished that I had more clerkship epxerience before CaRMS so that I could better decide what I wanted to do. However, after going through the core rotations, I realized that I had picked the right thing in the beginning. Once in a while there are people who discover late in the game (ie. after the CaRMS deadline) that they want something else and are thus less competitive. I did not find that doing earlier electives hurt us in terms of getting to know people. The best way to improve your chances for a good match is to do your electives with the right people in the right places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lex Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Cool, thanks Strider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sarah371 Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Lex, I echo Strider's point about first call in Kingston....the other plus is that you have fewer residents and fellows to stand behind in the line up to do cool things....I got to first assist on a tendon repair when on call for surgical subspecialities because the resident on call with me was already involved in a neurosurgery case. You also have the option at Queen's to change your family (4 weeks) rotation to your elective period and do a four week elective later on in your clerkship. If you are lucky enough to know what you want to do early there are numerous opportunities to do clinical work/observerships in that field before you even start clerkship. I knew that I was interested in oncology so the summer between 2nd and 3rd year I did 8 weeks in the Kingston Regional Cancer Centre which allowed me to have some knowledge of the field before I went on electives. SARAH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NL07 Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Hey. I chose Queen's over Western and echo many of the opinions above. Ill just add that I spoke to the dean about the clerkship issue and he spelled out that it wasn't an issue at all. Not only is Queen's not short changed when it comes to the sheer amount of time in clerkship (as was mentioned), but there is a big advantage to having electives sheduled prior to the carms match. As is the case across Ontario, and Canada, a medical school is a medical school. Ultimately, if you're lucky enough to have a choice, there's really no way to lose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DrTK Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 Hi NL07! Thanks for filling me in on the clerkship question...it's good to hear from someone like the Dean that there really is no issue! That was my only major concern with Queens...and yet I still haven't decided! Thanks to everyone else who has posted in response to my initial question. You have really shown me what an awesome class you are! DrTK P.S. If anyone else still wants to post, go right ahead! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HSR07 Posted June 14, 2004 Report Share Posted June 14, 2004 I had a nerve wracking choice last year that took me weeks, although it wasn't between Queen's and Western but between Queen's and McGill. On paper, McGill was the "right choice" but it just didn't feel right. My gut feeling was that Queen's fit me better, and I haven't regretted it for a second. So my two cents is that its good to consider all the pro's and cons, but make sure you also listen to your instincts as well as to what school will suit you best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DrTK Posted June 16, 2004 Report Share Posted June 16, 2004 Hi HSR07! I appreciate what you said. I'm hoping that my instincts kick in a little faster because I have to mail my decision on Monday at the latest (that's FedEx-ing it!) I love both schools, and the more I learn about each the more I want to go to both (too bad this isn't an option!!) Thanks so much for everyone's help! DrTK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DrTK Posted June 20, 2004 Report Share Posted June 20, 2004 Hi again! I wanted to thank everyone who posted answers to my questions. I really appreciate the effort you've made! My instincts finally did kick in...and although I absolutely love Queens, I'll be heading to Western this fall and hence opening up a spot on the waitlist for someone. Thanks again and best of luck next year! TK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ian Wong Posted July 3, 2006 Report Share Posted July 3, 2006 Floating to the top... Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webshy Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 You also have the option at Queen's to change your family (4 weeks) rotation to your elective period and do a four week elective later on in your clerkship. If you are lucky enough to know what you want to do early there are numerous opportunities to do clinical work/observerships in that field before you even start clerkship. I knew that I was interested in oncology so the summer between 2nd and 3rd year I did 8 weeks in the Kingston Regional Cancer Centre which allowed me to have some knowledge of the field before I went on electives. I heard this past weekend that not all students who request this option are granted it. How many people can be accommodated? If this option is pursued, when is the second elective experience? Thanks for the information. Elaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_B Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 I heard this past weekend that not all students who request this option are granted it. How many people can be accommodated? If this option is pursued, when is the second elective experience? Thanks for the information. Elaine This warrants some explanation. First off, our core family rotation is 6 weeks, not 4. Second, if your family rotation falls in the first 5 blocks, you can move your family into your elective period (which at Queen’s begins in Feb). The reason one does this is to have more experience for their electives, or simply in hopes that the program directors remember you during interviews in Jan. The big thing about this is, if you can arrange a rotation somewhere and the Family medicine department approves of where it is, they will usually give the OK to the switch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flying kumquat Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 I think it's just blocks 2-5 in which you can do this, not all the first 5 blocks. Even if you could do it in block 1, why would you want to start clerkship with electives? Elective preceptors (at least the ones I've come across) are understanding of your position when you tell them you've just started clerkship in January and usually adjust their expectations accordingly, but there's no reason to go out there with even less experience than the majority at Queen's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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