Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

so i'm interested in surgery...


Recommended Posts

I just got into med school, and I'm interested in surgery (I KNOW I KNOW, it may change, but still...I've had a bit of experience to know that I'm at least interested in it)

 

I was wondering how important it is to go to a medical school that has a strong anatomy program to getting a surgical residency.

 

Any thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

choose the school that is most compatible with your personality and your learning style.

 

Mac's system is very self-directed. You need to be very organized and self-driven to find answers, explore literature and be truly inquisitive. This can be frustrating to some, while others may find this truly beneficial as they can explore what they would like.

 

Ottawa's system is a mix of self-directed and the more didactic/traditional means of knowledge acquisition. It provides structure to students through providing fundamentals through a lecture/case-based approach, followed by the opportunities (in the afternoon) to gain further understanding through a self-directed approach.

 

Personally, I would choose Ottawa over Mac. The overabundance of group activities/exploration of literature at Mac would frustrate me as there are always those individuals that do not pull their weight. Ottawa has a strong integrated approach that is compatible with a range of learning styles. Yes, Mac has a strong and innovative prorgam - but it is not for everyone. And most people do better in a more structured environment. There are very few that can effectively utilize the Mac system to maximize their learning.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

choose the school that is most compatible with your personality and your learning style.

 

Mac's system is very self-directed. You need to be very organized and self-driven to find answers, explore literature and be truly inquisitive. This can be frustrating to some, while others may find this truly beneficial as they can explore what they would like.

 

Ottawa's system is a mix of self-directed and the more didactic/traditional means of knowledge acquisition. It provides structure to students through providing fundamentals through a lecture/case-based approach, followed by the opportunities (in the afternoon) to gain further understanding through a self-directed approach.

 

Personally, I would choose Ottawa over Mac. The overabundance of group activities/exploration of literature at Mac would frustrate me as there are always those individuals that do not pull their weight. Ottawa has a strong integrated approach that is compatible with a range of learning styles. Yes, Mac has a strong and innovative prorgam - but it is not for everyone. And most people do better in a more structured environment. There are very few that can effectively utilize the Mac system to maximize their learning.

 

That is a great insight! I have to chose between Queens & Mac (waitlisted at UoT). I agree combination of structured and self directed study will be ideal. After discussing with various people in the profession, I have decided to accept Queens at the last moment as UoT remains my top choice (if at all I come off the wait list by 29th May).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From what I've heard from friends at Mac is that they don't really teach you any anatomy.... you really have to figure it out for yourself. It just depends on how you learn best. For me that would be disasterous.... I like anatomy being taught to me since I had no real background in it. I hope that helps!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

 

McMaster has a combination of self-directed learning and we also have scheduled lectures, which seems quite similar to Ottawa's program. Anatomy is taught at McMaster. There are Anatomy lectures and many students choose to have additional sessions in small groups with the Anatomy preceptors.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just got into med school, and I'm interested in surgery (I KNOW I KNOW, it may change, but still...I've had a bit of experience to know that I'm at least interested in it)

 

I was wondering how important it is to go to a medical school that has a strong anatomy program to getting a surgical residency. Specifically, I'm torn between Mac and Ottawa. Which would facilitate my goals more? Or does it even matter? Taking a quick look through CaRMs data shows that Mac doesnt produce too many surgeons, but that could just be selection bias i suppose.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Doesn't make any difference. Go where you're going to be happy because you'll learn what you need to know regardless of where you go. There's lots of free time in medical school so you'd better like where you are living. The only caveat to that would be if, for example, you think you want to do Plastics or ENT (as two surgical examples) you would be better off someplace that actually has a Plastics or ENT residency program as well.

 

More important between a 3 and 4 year school would be "do you want summers?". You're getting on a long road-if there's some stuff you still want to do in the next 6-10 years of your life (ie travel etc) choose a school that gives you that option.

 

Good luck with your decision and keep on the surgery track-you actually get stuff done!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Who's Online   0 Members, 0 Anonymous, 92 Guests (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online
×
×
  • Create New...