Guest Jo Posted May 14, 2002 Report Share Posted May 14, 2002 Queens seems to be lagging behind in Ian's survey of the med school of choice. Can any Queens' students share what it was that attracted them to the school? I know the topic was brought up in regards to what to say during the interview (and it quickly veered into a discussion of ethnicity), but I would be interested in hearing honest answers on why students chose to go there. Cheers. (go leafs go!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strider2004 Posted May 15, 2002 Report Share Posted May 15, 2002 I'm in the group of people who were chosen by Queens as opposed to the other way around. I've met people from many different schools in Ontario and I think they're all pretty good so it's hard to say why Queens is better than all the rest. Instead, I will echo what students from other schools are jealous of: 1) less class time than UofT or Western. We get more breaks 2) fewer exams - once a semestre and less of it, only 3 exams a semestre as opposed to the 20 or so and some schools. 3) more time off - 1st years get off mid May and 2nd years get off Mid April - sure we have to do an 8wk research project after 2nd year but a lot of med students do that anyway; we just get it incorporated into our curriculum. It still leaves us with 2 months free time. I believe that UofT doesn't even get a march break. 4) Kingston is nice in the summer - wanna learn to windsail? This is the place to do it 5) The small hospital setting does give us room to meet lots of doctors. It's quite easy to set up month long observerships with docs - even the plastic surgeons. There's more elbow room in ORs 6) Small class means that you actually get to know everyone. That just means less uncomfortable silences in small groups. 7) Nice bursary. 1/3 of our tuition is redistributed back to us depending on financial need. 8) We don't need a car to get around. This is cozy thoug ha car definitely is an asset. It's just good that you can live so close to every hospital that you don't have to DRIVE 30mins home at 3am. You can just walk 5 mins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jennifer Y Posted May 25, 2002 Report Share Posted May 25, 2002 How much of a disadvantage is it not to have finished all your electives by the time the CaRms comes around? And if this is a real disadvantage, why do the dept of med at Queen's not changing it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Queens Med Lurker Posted June 12, 2002 Report Share Posted June 12, 2002 Hi! I know that this thread has gotten a little old, but I'd like to quickly address the clerkship issue. It has been a concern that Queen's clerkship period begins three months later than at other schools. A committee was set up last year to determine if the issue put Queens grads at a residency matching disadvantage. It was determined that it did not (in fact, when you add up the amount of time that we're doing clinical stuff from first year until graduation, we actually end up with MORE than the med schools with longer clerkship periods). Queens students have historically matched very well, even in the more typically competitive specialties. For these reasons, it was decided that it wasn't worth changing the whole system (which would have meant cutting down some of our vacation time at some point). As for the timing of electives, the main complaint is that they are very early in the clerkship period, leading to concerns that we won't be as competent as students from other schools who don't get them until later. Our curriculum is set up so that electives fall from February until May, and there is additional room in August. I believe that CaRMS isn't due until fall of fourth year. This was also investigated by the committee, but as I said above since Queens students get so much clinical exposure before even starting clerkship, this was not a problem. If you are concerned about how much clinical time and clerkship Queen's students get, speak to a Queen's med student. I'm sure they will put your concerns to rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest strider2004 Posted June 13, 2002 Report Share Posted June 13, 2002 QUeens students actually DO finish their electives before the CaRMS applications are due. There's even enough time for outside supervisors to write reference letters for the students. The timing of electives is actually pretty good. In terms of competency, I don't think there's a problem. You get about 6 weeks of clerkship before electives start and this is typically spent in your first choice specialty(or last choice if you were unlucky in the lottery). You can also switch around your elective time with your family medicine rotation to get elective time later in the year. So instead of doing electives from Feb to May, you could do it from Feb to April, FM in May, then electives in September or wherever you originally had you FM block. Anyway, this is all just little details that aren't that important right now. Overall, there's nothing wrong with the schedule at Queens. I have heard horror stories at UT where students may get elective time AFTER they've already matched to their specialty. What's the use in that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cgb Posted June 13, 2002 Report Share Posted June 13, 2002 I think that its really important that the message gets out there that electives are in fact completed BEFORE the residency match. It was my understanding (from reading non-Queen's threads, talking to non-Queen's students, and reading other sites) that the electives were completed AFTER the match. It was this misinformation that almost made me choose not to go to Queens. Thankfully that error was corrected for me by Sarah371. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest governorgeneral Posted June 24, 2002 Report Share Posted June 24, 2002 a lot's been said about queen's, but i thought i might revive this thread and see if anyone choosing between queen's and another school this year might have any other tiebreakers to suggest. i'm a sk resident looking at queen's and u of s. [from the u of s board - hope no one minds the duplication...] i thought i might share what others have said so far... i hope no one from either school will take this negatively. i can see myself enjoying the programme at either school, so this is pretty hard to choose. 1. curriculum. between the two, u of s is known for graduating high quality clinicians, partly 'cause of the programme design, partly 'cause of the added responsibilities jursis/clerks have to take on when regular house staff isn't around/too busy. my mom's a nurse at the regina general and sees this first hand - you do learn a lot, but it's often under pressure and perhaps not under the most ideal circumstances. on occasion nurses actually do the teaching - which i think is a good thing, helps to cut down the "doctoritis" ("rampant paternalism", said the medical post) that can be a problem on wards nowadays. i'm not too familiar with the situation in kingston, but like u of s they start with professional/clinical skills right in first year. queen's also finishes all the basic science stuff in the first semester, while u of s runs genetics, microbiology, etc through to 2nd year. it seems like a good idea to get it over with early while it's all still fresh after my bsc (immunology), but then again i don't really remember all that much anyway... =) a few of the doctors in regina mentioned an issue with "partial accreditation" at u of s med not too long ago... however, this was more to do with residencies (pathology and paediatrics, specifically) in sk than the md programme. since that's at least 4 years away, and i don't see myself in either field (at this point), doesn't really matter. teaching style-wise, both seem to mix PBL and normal lectures. not really a factor to me. queen's has an 8-week "critical enquiry elective" in 2nd year, where you research some aspect of medicine (not necessarily lab stuff - you can go out and look at health care in developing areas, or health policy, etc.). that would be really interesting, but it's also something you could put together on your own outside med school if you had the contacts. 2. location. s'toon is the obvious advantage 'cause i'll be home (or 3 hours from home, anyway - 2 when no one's looking...). but kingston would be good as a completely new experience - i got to live in montreal for 4 years, so life in a smaller city would be quite the change. 3. facilities. both seem to be pretty good. our queen's tour guide said with a hint of pride the anatomy lab "has the highest airflow exchange rate in southern ontario". i couldn't see much of u of s 'cause rod and brad didn't have keys to get in anywhere. both schools have the hospital (RUH/KGH) right on campus. human facilities wise, i'm told because kingston's closer to TO and ottawa, it'd be easier to arrange for observerships etc during the summer in these larger centres and get even more exposure. there's also a lot of research at queen's, and an md/phd is always an option (though not really one i'm set on). 4. money. kingston's a bit more expensive to live in. tuition at queen's is $12 500 vs u of s's $9 230. but i'm still really interested in the military sponsorship so over 4 years $ shouldn't be an issue. just the cost of flying home vs driving home on holidays. 5. reputation. queen's wins here, but i think i'm kinda jaded with the whole concept of prestige... i mean, mcgill's has a pretty good reputation, but having been there four years... it's not all perfect. i definitely wouldn't base a decision on prestige. 6. students. hmmm. u of s is an even smaller school. i also know a few ppl there so it'd be pretty comfortable. queen's as a whole is more "diverse", there's a lot more ppl coming in from other cities/provs than u of s. (makes sense, with the quotas.) something that strongly pushes me to queen's is the u of s waitlist. if enough ppl do decline u of s, the vast majority of the interviewed applicants (including a few ppl i know) will get in this year, which i'd really like to see happen. 7. overall feeling. all this taken together... i'm told that i would find queen's "different and interesting", and u of s "familiar and comfortable". anyone else have any thoughts about it? whether queen's was the only school you applied to or not, i could use any extra advice. thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pop 999 Posted June 25, 2002 Report Share Posted June 25, 2002 Hi Gov.Gen. Being a current student at UofT and an in comming OT6, it seems odd that I would add to your discussion. But I have spent my undergrad at Queens, and they were the best years of my life so far. the sense of community and togetherness that I felt was incredible. Even now, I associate myself with Queens more than UofT. Plus, the faculty there is excellent (afterall, they are very focused in undergrad training) and the assistance in scholarship and bursary is very generous. In sum, I would do my MD at Queen's if it weren't for personal reasons. Hope this plug helps! Pop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest governorgeneral Posted June 27, 2002 Report Share Posted June 27, 2002 hey pop, thanks for your plug. i've decided to accept queen's - look forward to experiencing that community and togetherness this september! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jo Posted June 27, 2002 Report Share Posted June 27, 2002 hi gov gen: On the acceptance/rejection list for Queens, I thought I read that you were rejected..? Were you rejected and then accepted afterwards?? Or off the waitlist? In any case, congrats on your acceptance! I'm sure you will have a great time at Queens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest governorgeneral Posted June 27, 2002 Report Share Posted June 27, 2002 hey jo, long story... [inside joke - check out the saskatchewan forum if you want in...] i was actually waitlisted at queen's, but got the lucky envelope last thursday. (i might be wrong, but i think there are 200 ppl on the queen's waitlist this year (as opposed to ~100 in the past), so to get an outright rejection then an acceptance might be hard to come by. but something like that happened at mac last year, if i heard right.) will i be seeing you there next year? good luck with everything! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jo Posted June 28, 2002 Report Share Posted June 28, 2002 Hey Gov Gen, No such luck... I was waitlisted (by the way congrats to Sumi23 and others who got off the waitlist!)... I still have my fingers crossed but am really starting to lose hope... I was pretty disappointed because I thought my interview went pretty well, but I guess you just never know...... :'( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest governorgeneral Posted June 28, 2002 Report Share Posted June 28, 2002 hey jo, still a few days left - don't let it stop you from enjoying the canada day weekend! got my fingers crossed for you too. yeah, congratulations to sumi23 and all the fellow waitlisters! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sumi23 Posted June 28, 2002 Report Share Posted June 28, 2002 Thanks Jo and GovernorGeneral! I will keep my fingers crossed for you Jo and hope to see both of you there in the fall. Sumi23 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...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.