Couple questions to current meds...

[Guest zirneklis]

Hi everyone,

I'm having a really hard time making a decision. As I went for a walk to clear my head, a bunch of questions popped into my mind instead....

1. Honestly, is the large class size a big problem? A lot of people tell me that I'll feel like a number and it's extremely impersonal....

2. Do a lot of people live at home and/or commute? Do that mean you dont' really hang out together? I imagine that many live in the university area as well though....

3. Someone told me that UofT grads are given first pick for residencies in UofT hospitals over grads from other schools. ie. a UofT grad has a better chance of getting a residency in Toronto than a Queen's grad...

4. Do you feel like the fact that you're in a big city is an advantage? More patient/volume diversity? Or do you feel you'd learn just as much in a smaller hospital?

 

Thanks...I'm sure I'll have more questions soon....

[Guest Lakers4life]

Hey,

 

Let me try to tackle a a few of these questions:

 

1. The big class is no problem at all; a lot of people seem to be very concerned about this though so it is quite an issue. First, the larger class size is not like 1000x bigger, but rather like 120 students in some schools vs. 200 at UofT. So, feeling like you are just a number is not really a concern. Most of your PBLS/Anatomy/seminars, etc. are all done in small groups of 10 or so. The only thing that you do as a class of 200 is the lectures and social events; lectures don't really matter b.c you are usualyl just listening, and although they can be interactive, that sort of learning is best left to the small groups.

 

You get to know more people at UofT meds b.c of the bigger class, but there are some disadvantages. First, there are obviously going to be more keeners and gunners. Secondly, with a bigger class you get more diversity and hence differnet interests; its pretty hard to find something 200 people want to do. So, you do tend to group off a bit, but most people will claim that they have their core of 10-20 friends and at least 40-50 other people with whom they can chill with.

 

IN terms of your concerns, to be honest I tihnk they refer more to UofT undergrad where you are 1:1600 in your bio class. Here, you get small group work where you need it. I can say that the acutal size has had 0 impact on my ability to learn, and I have not felt marginalized simply b.c of the numbers. Really, I have yet to hear of even 1 person complain that the class is too big once you get there; they only complaint most peope have is that you don't get to know everyone. But academically, most people don't have any problems that are b.c the class is too big.

 

2. It's like 50:50 between commuters and those that live there, avg commute time is 40mins. I commuted and I was very involved in school, played a lot of sports, and went out to a lot of events so it isn't that big a problem. Plus, with a class of 200 you will have enough people that want to do whatever you are into.

 

3. That is true simply b.c UofT grads are better known to the people making the decisions. They are more likely to pick people they know, unless of course you have made a bad impression.

 

4. Big city is very cool, b.c of all of the cool stuff you get to see. You get the St. Michaels and SUnnybrook tramua and more street life versus the bigger, high profile cases at the TGH. You get to see a lot, and no matter how specific of an item you want to do, there is usually a specialist willing to take you on. Plus, no where else do you get the top researchers available to you.

 

The downside is the obvious fact that you don't get to do as much with your hands versus a rural place. You can do your electives in a rural setting though [many people do] to make up for this. I am not in clerkship yet so I cannot comment to this extent in any detail yet.

[Guest Koggetsu]

are there going to be many 8:00 classes at UT? Cause i am from Scarborough and it takes me like1hr to get down there and although I've been doing it for 4 years now, I've never had any 8am classes and I'm wondering if its going to be hell everyday like that.

[Guest Lakers4life]

Yeah most of your classses start at 8:00, expect for 8 wks of M&N which is at 9:00.

[Guest cheech10]

I live in Markham, and I actually prefer the 8 am starts. There is much less traffic on the 401 and DVP, so you don't need to wake up that much earlier.