Bittersweet Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 I am sure every medical student wants to be exposed to the most thorough, comprehensive curriculum possible - but like I said before ..... every Canadian program has their strengths and weaknesses. It depends on what program suits your needs / style. If anatomy is what interests you, scope out which schools offer a more comprehensive A&P / lab component. If research is your interest, find the schools that are research intensive. If you don't think small group based learning is your style, then don't apply to schools that focus on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hp18 Posted April 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 Here is the link SDN ranking for 10 best & 10 worst medical schools: http://share.studentdoctor.net/medical-school-locations.asp McMaster is 7th on 10 worst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KMG007 Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 Here is the link SDN ranking for 10 best & 10 worst medical schools: http://share.studentdoctor.net/medical-school-locations.asp McMaster is 7th on 10 worst. Interesting find...WAY TO GO McGill though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KMG007 Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 OH...but this thing is not licensing exam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laika Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 Here is the link SDN ranking for 10 best & 10 worst medical schools: That link ranks the LOCATION of a school, not the schools themselves. Unless I'm missing something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hp18 Posted April 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 That link ranks the LOCATION of a school, not the schools themselves. Unless I'm missing something? You are right! I have misplaced the website where I had seen McMaster ranked 108th in North America. UoT, McGill, Queens & Western are ranked much higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ploughboy Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 Quoting from that link... "About the SDN School Rankings We generated this list using data collected from our members throughout the US and Canada. The ranking criteria are straightforward. Students are simply asked to rate each school on a scale of 1-10. We do not use any weighting system to manipulate the results. Although the results make for interesting conversation, the list is completely unscientific and the results are often bizarre. These results are presented simply for entertainment value and should not be used to make career or application decisions." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted April 2, 2008 Report Share Posted April 2, 2008 This thread is seriously a waste of space... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orchid Posted April 3, 2008 Report Share Posted April 3, 2008 This thread is seriously a waste of space... agreed . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apt Posted April 10, 2008 Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 I have a friend who graduated MAC MD. Then came to a surgical program, for which he felt he was wholly unprepared. He called his MAC education a "$30 000 library card" since all they told him to do to solve a medical problem was to read. Wow! I too know few people from Mac who say they are not prepared for licensing exam. I will be looking at UofT, UWO, Queens & Ottawa first. If nothing is possible & left with Mac, I will probably take it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strider2004 Posted April 10, 2008 Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 I used to participate in this forum frequently but since med school, I only browse occasionally. The title of this thread caught my interest. Discussions like this are akin to cheering for your favourite sports team or being part of the 'cool' kids in high school. People tend to make arguments with facts that suits them. I'm a Queen's grad and have worth with/trained residencies from all over Canada. It's true that at the beginning of residency, graduates from 3 year programs sometimes feel that they have to play a bit of catchup but a 4 year program graduate won't have the experience of someone who has done 3 years of med school and 1 year of residency(also 4 years). In terms of licensing exams, you have to remember that the pass rate for Canadian graduates is probably upwards of 95% so any small 'difference' that people may comment on regarding differential pass rates is likely to be non-significant. Be rest assured that any med school in Canada will give you a good experience, but only if you want it. If you expect to be spoonfed, then go to a school with lots of didactic teaching. But expect that in residency, and you'll be torn to strips. Alex PGY4, IM/Respirology Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orchid Posted April 10, 2008 Report Share Posted April 10, 2008 Be rest assured that any med school in Canada will give you a good experience, but only if you want it. If you expect to be spoonfed, then go to a school with lots of didactic teaching. But expect that in residency, and you'll be torn to strips. hopefully people think again before bashing Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuma Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 Was browsing MACs site to get an idea of housing for electives next year (I go to Ottawa) and the title of this thread caught my attention. I believe it is true that MAC did have some issues with student success at licensing exams in the past. It is not so much that they weren`t trained to be good doctors...just that their exam format didn`t prepare them for the type of questions/format of the licensing exam. This has since been addressed and I believe in recent years MAC grads have done fine on their exams? As people have said, you need to find a school that fits your learning style and no matter where you go in Canada for med school, you will graduate a competent MD. It is a shame if an applicant writes off a school completely for issues from the past. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apt Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 Was browsing MACs site to get an idea of housing for electives next year (I go to Ottawa) and the title of this thread caught my attention. I believe it is true that MAC did have some issues with student success at licensing exams in the past. It is not so much that they weren`t trained to be good doctors...just that their exam format didn`t prepare them for the type of questions/format of the licensing exam. This has since been addressed and I believe in recent years MAC grads have done fine on their exams? As people have said, you need to find a school that fits your learning style and no matter where you go in Canada for med school, you will graduate a competent MD. It is a shame if an applicant writes off a school completely for issues from the past. I see......To be on safer side, I will still prefer UofT, Queens or UoO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treadmill Posted April 20, 2008 Report Share Posted April 20, 2008 I used to participate in this forum frequently but since med school, I only browse occasionally. The title of this thread caught my interest.Discussions like this are akin to cheering for your favourite sports team or being part of the 'cool' kids in high school. People tend to make arguments with facts that suits them. I'm a Queen's grad and have worth with/trained residencies from all over Canada. It's true that at the beginning of residency, graduates from 3 year programs sometimes feel that they have to play a bit of catchup but a 4 year program graduate won't have the experience of someone who has done 3 years of med school and 1 year of residency(also 4 years). In terms of licensing exams, you have to remember that the pass rate for Canadian graduates is probably upwards of 95% so any small 'difference' that people may comment on regarding differential pass rates is likely to be non-significant. Be rest assured that any med school in Canada will give you a good experience, but only if you want it. If you expect to be spoonfed, then go to a school with lots of didactic teaching. But expect that in residency, and you'll be torn to strips. Alex PGY4, IM/Respirology This gets my vote for post of the year! I also want to point out that McMaster might have lower pass rates when taking into account the demographics of students accepted. McMaster allows ppl to apply who don't have an MCAT or organic or physics and etc. (I think thats great btw cuz it gives ppl not in premed a chance) Perhaps a few students from drastically different fields (like music and pol sci) find it a little more difficult to adapt to biology and medicine as a whole. (Though most of them are able to transition successfully) That might contribute to the slightly lower pass rate for McMaster grads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strider2004 Posted April 22, 2008 Report Share Posted April 22, 2008 I see......To be on safer side, I will still prefer UofT, Queens or UoO. Again, to put things into perspective: I spent about a week studying for the LMCC Part 1 and about 3 days studying for the LMCC Part 2. Seriously guys, the licensing exam is NOT hard. The running joke is that it's an english comprehension test, only weeding out the graduates with english as their 2nd(or 3rd) language. You also don't really get your license after the LMCC. The REAL exam is the CCFP/RCPSC exam which is almost completely dependent on your residency training and not med school. DO NOT choose a medical school for its LMCC pass rate. Choosing one school over another based on the LMCC is like choosing one girlfriend over another because she is 1/2" taller. Really not the big picture. Choose a school for its location, learning style or if you really want, for its success in matching its students into their 1st choice specialties. Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apt Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 Choose a school for its location, learning style or if you really want, for its success in matching its students into their 1st choice specialties. Alex This exactly is my concern. I do not want to end up being family physician. I want specialty of my choice. That is why my first choice is UofT, 2nd choice Queens, 3rd choice UoO & last choice Mac (no offenses). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alastriss Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 I have a friend who graduated MAC MD. Then came to a surgical program, for which he felt he was wholly unprepared. He called his MAC education a "$30 000 library card" since all they told him to do to solve a medical problem was to read. Why blame the program? what if that 30,000 library card worked wonders for someone else but not him? I think in the end its what YOU make of it. Every strength can be exploited and every weakness can be dampened - Its just up to you. I say that because I know people who got their MDs from there and they loved it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasx Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 This exactly is my concern. I do not want to end up being family physician. I want specialty of my choice. That is why my first choice is UofT, 2nd choice Queens, 3rd choice UoO & last choice Mac (no offenses). Um if you look at last years Carms stats, Mac students do quite well being matched to their first choice of residency. http://www.carms.ca/eng/operations_R1reports_07_e.shtml Report 28 is % of students who got their top choice. For MAC, only 3.8% did not. It is true a large % of MAC students (42.6%) picked Family Medicine, according to report 8. But just because you go to mac doesn't mean you have to pick that if you don't want to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatewayMD Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 This exactly is my concern. I do not want to end up being family physician. I want specialty of my choice. That is why my first choice is UofT, 2nd choice Queens, 3rd choice UoO & last choice Mac (no offenses). No offenses but your not getting in to med....or maybe you are and your just trolling for argument. anyways as a new member i've noticed this board has some anti mac issues that need to be resolved so here is the only list you should go by similar to the one i posted 10 minutes ago UofT = school for virgins Queens = school for butchers/serial killers/prison escapees UwO = only if you have those wierd boots bug eyed sunglasses and 68 pairs of yoga pants Mac = Awesome place where everyone is chilling and plays acoustic guitar, and 67% of the population has a dirty handlebar mustache Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall&Oates Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 UofT = school for virgins Queens = school for butchers/serial killers/prison escapees UwO = only if you have those wierd boots bug eyed sunglasses and 68 pairs of yoga pants Mac = Awesome place where everyone is chilling and plays acoustic guitar, and 67% of the population has a dirty handlebar mustache Is this guy for real? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GatewayMD Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 Mac = Awesome place where everyone is chilling and plays acoustic guitar, and 67% of the population has a dirty handlebar mustache I've been going to mac for 7 years now Guitar Hero? Oh puleeze...!!! Well, unlike some people on this forum I play the real guitar, ahem . I rest my case.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonesRN Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 Haha. Well researched point GatewayMD!...have you ever considered Law? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall&Oates Posted April 23, 2008 Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 I rest my case.... Hah! How could I have been so blind!! Well, GatewayMD... I stand corrected. But good to know I already have a secret admirer on this forum, hahaha... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macster Posted April 24, 2008 Report Share Posted April 24, 2008 Hah! How could I have been so blind!! Well, GatewayMD... I stand corrected. But good to know I already have a secret admirer on this forum, hahaha... And just to add to GatewayMD's points, your name is Hall&Oates, so we know that you have a deep down respect for dirty-looking facial hair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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