Toronto Vs Alberta for General Internal Medicine

[regular]

I currently have electives at Alberta (Grey Nun's Hosptial) and Toronto (Toronto Western Hospital) for 4 weeks of general internal medicine. If anyone has done electives at these places, I would appreciate any feedback on which would offer a better experience and allow a better chance of working with attendings to obtain reference letters.

 

Both are community hospitals Grey Nun has 330 beds and TWH has 236. I would have preferred a larger teaching hospital, but I hope a smaller hospital will offer a more personalized experience.

[blinknoodle]

The IM rotation at TWH is fabulous. You get a lot of the bread-and-butter IM, compared to the wild and wacky at TGH. Speaking Portugese, Greek, Vietnamese, etc would be a great asset, though. I don't think they let you choose your attending (you can ask them now which team you are on and who the staff will be). Typically, it is one attending each month. If you have specific questions, let me know (I have no idea who is on the selection committee, but most staff are awesome).

[PlatinumIce]

Hey Regular

 

I'm just finishing up 4th year at UWO and did an elective at TWH in internal. It was an amazing experience - tons of variety, great staff and residents, and unparalleled teaching (I have to mention the view of Lake Ontario and the CN Tower from the morning report room)

 

But to be honest, I didn't even realize it was considered a 'community hospital' (is it?) - I saw a great variety of patients and had a good time.

 

You should enjoy it - it's a great place.

[Lactic Folly]

Most people who have rotated through internal medicine at the Grey Nuns in Edmonton will agree it is also an excellent experience.. the staff care about students' development and experiences.. push you to take ownership of patients and give detailed feedback, are dedicated to patients and great role models too. Unless things have changed since I was there, there are 2 teams, and staff do one-week rotations, so you may or may not get to work with someone twice during a 4 week elective. However, during that one week, each staff is on 1 in 2 call (no senior resident), so if you are on call with them, it is possible to spend enough time working with them to get a good reference.

[Franky83]

TWH is an academic teaching hospital with its own UofT academy. Some consider it a "community hospital" because it's not part of the "big 5" hospitals on University ave. They have great staff there, many of whom sit on the residency admissions committee. Their teaching is excellent and its a very friendly and supportive environment. If you have an opportunity to do an elective there I would go for it.