Talon01 Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Thought maybe we could try and get all the interview/school questions into 1 thread versus 100 separate threads. If anyone has any questions about the interview process, school, program, city, etc... ask away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eise Posted February 22, 2007 Report Share Posted February 22, 2007 Can anyone give me pros/cons on the school? I read the thread on why one should go to uottawa but im looking for reasons why it's 'better' than other schools, and im just not sure "friendly class" sells it best . Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0T6 Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 I'm not going to come here and post why we're "better" than another school.. I think all Canadian schools will give you a great undergrad med education and make you a competent physician. I think that thread that talks about our 'friendly class' outlines what makes us unique. Cons about our school I'll touch on since I'm not putting those in the other thread a) We don't get as much of a basic science foundation as the other schools. Which isn't a problem if you covered a lot of it in undergrad. For me personally, a clinically focussed program is a big sell for me and one reason I prefer the program here to some of the other schools. We don't get much in our curriculum on pharmacology which leaves us with a bit of a high learning curve come clerkship, but this is being worked on right now and hopefully a pharmacology elective will be integrated into the curriculum. c) Inconsistancy between expectations by block chairs.. this is similar to different profs in undergrad having different expectations come exams.. some of our profs make exams super clinical, others like to toss in more physiology. Some make exams based on lectures, others on our MCCQE-based block objectives. Fortunately, we're informed of these early on in most blocks so we can approach them appropriately. I'll post more if I think of em, but I gotta get running... our friendly class is goin to Barrymore's tonight for one of our classmates' birthday.. and that's something I (and I can honestly say the rest of Meds09) love about it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuma Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 c) Inconsistancy between expectations by block chairs.. this is similar to different profs in undergrad having different expectations come exams.. some of our profs make exams super clinical, others like to toss in more physiology. Some make exams based on lectures, others on our MCCQE-based block objectives. Fortunately, we're informed of these early on in most blocks so we can approach them appropriately. This con is especially true when considering the franco and anglo streams both write the same exam, yet have different block chairs and profs. Unfortunately, it is usually the anglo block chair that seems to write the exams with the franco browsing over it (not convinced they do this too thoroughly). There are often questions on the exam that were seen with much more emphasis and more detail on the anglo side. We have online access to the anglo lectures...but really, who has time to study 2 sets of lectures!! So if you are applying to the franco stream that is one disadvantage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eise Posted February 23, 2007 Report Share Posted February 23, 2007 Thanks! I definitely was not suggesting that a friendly class isn't important. I really like that about UOttawa. However, I'm worried if i am asked why uottawa in my interview, i will need to say more than i like friendly people....from what i know, ottawa seems similar to u of t in terms of curriculum, learning, etc. so im trying to distinguish the two... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zuckman Posted February 24, 2007 Report Share Posted February 24, 2007 Hey guys, I'm not a med student but these are some of my opinions. One major con is that the med school is not on main campus where all the univeristy social events are. So for those that like to mingle with people from other faculties, it's pretty hard when all the med classes are miles away from the main campus. Also, the med campus is far from the best parts of the city such as the Rideau Centre and Rideau Canal. Pros...quite a few I think. I like the systems based approach which is simply a change from premedical studies, laptop program is pretty sweet, Ottawa is a very nice city, lots of research oppurtunities in Ottawa, use of PBL which is a nice change..but every school has some PBL so not sure if this is really a pro. 4 yr program...compared to Mac and Calgary which are 3 yrs...4 yrs can be pretty good advantage..gives students time to think about their specialty choice. One question for the med students...how are the Ottawa matching stats. I heard that a while back when Ottawa required the MCAT that the matching stats were very poor...what about now? Zuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuma Posted February 25, 2007 Report Share Posted February 25, 2007 Hey guys,I'm not a med student but these are some of my opinions. One major con is that the med school is not on main campus where all the univeristy social events are. So for those that like to mingle with people from other faculties, it's pretty hard when all the med classes are miles away from the main campus. Also, the med campus is far from the best parts of the city such as the Rideau Centre and Rideau Canal. Pros...quite a few I think. I like the systems based approach which is simply a change from premedical studies, laptop program is pretty sweet, Ottawa is a very nice city, lots of research oppurtunities in Ottawa, use of PBL which is a nice change..but every school has some PBL so not sure if this is really a pro. 4 yr program...compared to Mac and Calgary which are 3 yrs...4 yrs can be pretty good advantage..gives students time to think about their specialty choice. One question for the med students...how are the Ottawa matching stats. I heard that a while back when Ottawa required the MCAT that the matching stats were very poor...what about now? Zuck I don`t think being away from the main campus is a con really. It is much more important (I think) to be in close proximity to the hospitals. This is much more convenient for electives and such. And our schedules don`t typically have lots of free time between classes for too much mingling with other programs anyway. There are physio, OT, SLP and nursing students in the same building...so there are some other non med students around. As for being "far" (it's only 15 minutes!) from Rideau Centre or the canal....well you can always live in these areas (I do)...and again, it is relatively more important to have the school situated in proximity to the hospitals (we are physically connected to CHEO and the General). As for the matching stats...you should check out the CARMS website. There are table that show you the data from previous match results, by school, discipline etc.... Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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