Windsor med school

[Guest Chieka101]

Hi! Just registered (suprised they didn't ask for my blood type too - sheesh).

 

Anyway, do you know what's going on with a med school in Windsor, Ontario? It's supposed to be a satellite site with UWO. Does anybody know what theat means exactly?

 

I think right now it means that they take students for residency only - they have a student already, actually.

 

Does anybody have other info? When will apps be available for first year med students?

 

Thanks.

[Guest hmsdread]

Hey there,

 

As of next year there will be 12 third year students doing their clerkship in Windsor, followed by 24 every year after. There will also be a complement of 20 residents amongst various specialites. These students will be registered at UWO, not Windsor. The only way, probably for the next several years, to get involved in the Windsor program is to be accepted at Western. This is what they mean by a satellite campus. Here is an article sent to me by a friend, probably from the Windsor Star that might clear up some confusion. I'd write some more myself but I'm leaving right now. Take care.

 

Btw, are you from Windsor? I am.

 

29/10 Expansion of UWO medical school to Windsor moves forward with naming of assistant dean

 

WINDSOR, ON – In an effort to counteract the critical doctor shortage in Southwestern Ontario, The University of Western Ontario is continuing to roll out its regional and rural training programs through the Southwestern Ontario Medical Education Network (SWOMEN).

 

Today, Western's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry announced the appointment of Dr. Raphael Cheung to the role of Assistant Dean, SWOMEN/Windsor, and the appointment of Dr. Jim Rourke to the position of Assistant Dean, SWOMEN/Rural-Regional. Both Cheung and Rourke will work with physicians, local health care providers and community partners to ensure the highest quality medical training for students and residents who will hopefully choose to practice in the region.

 

"We are delighted that Dr. Cheung and Dr. Rourke have accepted the important role of coordinating training in Windsor and throughout Southwestern Ontario. This is a major milestone in the development of our rural and regional programs," says Dr. Carol Herbert, Dean, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at Western. "The speed with which we have been able to develop this program, which will be up and running as of September 2003, is a measure of the commitment of all of our partners in Windsor and in other communities touched by SWOMEN."

 

Funded through the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, the SWOMEN program was announced last October as a key strategy to ease the doctor shortage in Southwestern Ontario. The most recent surveys indicate that the region is critically underserviced and requires approximately 350 doctors to bridge the gap in care. The Ministry is providing $1.5 million to support the training network for the first year and has committed to further funding annually as the program develops.

 

"Today's announcement is part of the Eves government's plan to ensure quality access to doctors where and when they are needed," said Tony Clement, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. "What this $1.5 million means to the people of Southwestern Ontario is more doctors – many from local communities – will be trained to practice, and that more doctors will soon be arriving to meet the needs of those in rural Ontario."

 

Cheung is a well-known Windsor physician specializing in Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Internal Medicine. With the help of resources at the University of Windsor, he will coordinate training at Windsor Regional Hospital and Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital, both partners in the education network. Cheung will eventually work with 24 undergraduate medical students and 20 residents in Windsor health care settings each year.

 

"This is one of the most important health care initiatives Windsor has ever seen," says Dr. Cheung. "This is our chance to improve the long-term health and vitality of our community by attracting new, young physicians who will care for us and our families far into the future."

 

Rourke, a member of Western's Department of Family Medicine for 15 years, is a family physician in Goderich, Ontario. He is recognized internationally as an expert in rural medicine and rural medical education. Since 1997, Rourke has been director of the Southwestern Ontario Rural Regional Medicine Unit (SWORRM), Western's rural education and research program. As Assistant Dean he will expand his role, working with additional students and faculty located in the region which will now extend to Essex County.

 

"This is an enormous step forward," says Dr. Rourke. "Over the five years I have been working with rural and regional communities, we have both increased the interest in rural-regional medicine for students, and provided them with exceptional experience, skills and knowledge to practice there. With the SWOMEN expansion, we will be able to reach more students and train more doctors for communities in Southwestern Ontario."

 

The expansion for Western also marks a significant expansion for the University of Windsor, which will become the academic hub for Dr. Cheung, the students and faculty training in the Windsor area.

 

"Bringing medical students into our community was an idea only two years ago. I congratulate the government, Dean Herbert and her colleagues, our local hospitals and all the groups and individuals who have been able to make this happen within a relatively brief period," says Dr. Ross Paul, President, University of Windsor.

 

"The satellite campus at Windsor, with offices in the new Health Education and Learning Centre, is an exciting addition to our university and important to our community. Working closely with Dr. Cheung, Dean Herbert and many community leaders, we look forward to rapid progress over the next few years in attracting and keeping first-rate medical practitioners," Dr. Paul says.

 

Three undergraduate students and two residents are currently training in Windsor as part of a pilot project for SWOMEN. In September 2003, 12 undergraduates and several more residents will participate. The numbers will move to the full complement of 24 undergraduates and 20 residents in Windsor by 2004. The rural-regional program will also see increased placement for residents and undergraduates over the next two years.

 

 

 

-Edited to improve the formatting of the article. Ian

[Guest therealcrackers]

Our class (2005) will have the 12 clerks going down next year. We are being sold on the possibilities this learning experience will hold for us, not on anything concrete yet about the infrastructure of running a clerkship program for the first time (like accomodation, seminars, transportation, invoked costs, communication with London, opportunities to see the rest of your classmates etc.), and whether or not that 12 clerks involves 12 clerks for the whole year or various combinations of "12 clerk-years" . So far the administration has yet to choose whether to use a carrot or a stick to get people to go, although those who travel to Windsor will be "volunteers". Several of the clerks this year (class of 2004) have done 6-week rotations in obstetrics, and have really benefitted from the experience---the fact that there aren't a lot of residents around means the clerks do a lot of the stuff themselves, and with obstetrics like most programs the more you do, the better... other specialties, having the additional support network provided by senior and junior residents might make for a better learning experience. That being said, 6 weeks is very different from an entire calendar year...

 

So! Having come to an incomplete point about this in the above paragraph, let me sum up.

 

About 50 students are going to Windsor on a tour at the end of the month, to see the facilities that would be in place and in use for the following year. The program will be up and running next year---in the long run this is a very good thing. The period of organization has been REMARKABLY brief. It remains to be seen about the implementation of the program; this could (and probably will) be a phenomenal experience. But at the back of everyone's mind is the fear it could be a logistical nightmare...

[Guest aneliz]

To answer the original question....

 

From what I understand there is no plan (in the immediate future) to have any first or second year med students in Windsor. The med students in Windsor will be third year UWO students doing their clerkship. Whether there are 24 people that go there for the whole year or many people that go there for part of the year is another story that hasn't been resolved yet. So, in terms of 'applying' to Windsor, you can't really do that. If you are interested in training in Windsor, you will need to apply to and get accepted at UWO and then in your third year, you will be able to go to Windsor for all (or part of) your clerkship.

 

The advertisement of a 'Windsor med school' is slightly misleading. It is a satellite campus of UWO which means that all of the students that go there will already be UWO students. There are not additional 'windsor med student seats' on top of the currently existing UWO seats and you can't apply to Windsor....this is different than the plan for a 'Northern med school' which will be an independent entity with a quota of seats and its own admission procedures.

[Guest Ian Wong]

I think this could be an incredible opportunity. By far, I got my most hands-on experience doing a "rural" elective in Mission BC, where I was the only medical student and there were no residents. This was done in the summer between Med 2 and Med 3, before I'd started clerkships. Too bad, because I got the chance to do many things there that I didn't do again throughout the ENTIRE Med 3 clerkship in Vancouver; cutting out skin lesions and suturing the wounds back up, spending an entire morning with the radiologist just looking at the day's films, getting the chance to start a number of IV's in the OR, etc.

 

On the other hand, I'm sure that there's the chance that you won't get the most even coverage of all the disciplines; just by random chance and probability, there's almost certainly going to be some deficit in one of your rotations. ie: You aren't able to rustle up enough local ENT's to get a good rotation in that, or enough anesthesiologists to give each medical student a full two weeks in the OR, etc.

 

Also, while not having residents around is touted as a huge advantage, the bottom line is that medicine is taught hierachically. You need attendings in order to teach residents, and you need residents to teach medical students. Attendings often have other issues on their minds (getting through all their patient obligations of the day and then going home) that significantly cut into the time they can spend teaching students. The outstanding attendings are the ones that still MAKE time to teach students, but these attendings are hard to come by.

 

As a result, I'd hedge my bets and say that while I wouldn't want to be the first group going through it, I'd certainly get in line to be part of the second group!

 

Ian

UBC, Med 4

[Guest Chieka101]

Yeah, I'm a Windsorite, but I did my undergrad at Western (PURPLE AND PROUD!).

 

The Windsor Star had two articles on the med school last week, but I wasn't exactly sure what was going on. I'm at U of Windsor right now and supposedly they are working on buildings for the med school, but I don't really see it. So, UWOers, thanx for the inside scoop and Ian, thanx for the caution.

 

Peace.

[Guest hmsdread]

Hey again,

 

The new health sciences building is being constructed next to the Education building on Sunset, where the temporary parking lot used to be.