Why Toronto?

[Guest PDSP]

Same thread as the other schools and similar questions.

 

So, I ask the question to those currently at Toronto why they decided to choose Toronto? What do you like best about the medical program at Toronto? What do you like least?

 

I also have some specific questions related to Toronto's program.

 

1. Do you find the block method of teaching material (i.e. all of anatomy before physiology) an effective way to learn the material? Is it hard to place the information without the context of the other courses (i.e. physiology, pathology)?

 

2. Is there time off from classes to study for exams? Is there coordination of exams amongst the different classes?

 

3. What type of social atmosphere is there at Toronto? Does the class tend to hang-out together? Do many students commute to the school, and hence not hang around after class?

 

4. How effective is the PBL component of the curriculum?

 

5. Given that Toronto has the highest tuition, what type of financial assistance (bursaries) is given out at Toronto? (Average value, examples)

 

4. How much elective time is there in advance of CaRMS letters? (weeks)

 

5. How did you find the 4th year review courses for the LMCC exams?

 

6. Does Toronto tend to take its own students for residency positions?

 

7. Historically, how well have Toronto students done on the USMLE Step 1?

 

Thanks again.

 

PD

[Guest bluesky125]

Hi PDSP,

 

Great questions! I will try my best them.

 

Why Toronto?

There are a few reasons:

1) My family lives in TO so it makes it a lot easier to go home.

2) I love the hospitals in downtown. I get to meet many interesting patients.

3) Lots of opportunities to do research and shadow doctors from any specialities imaginable.

 

What I like best about my program?

The students! I met a lot of amazing people this year. Also there are so much opportunities to do things outside the curriculum. Which such a big program, you are bound to find someone with similar interests.

 

What I like least?

I am still confused about how the Toronto curriculum is organized. I don't see why I have to learn all of anatomy in the first two months. Personally, I will like a system based approach better. However, this block method is still workable because eventually you can gain the big picture.

 

Is there time off from classes to study for exams? Is there coordination of exams amongst the different classes?

Because our curriculum is organized in blocks, we usually get a midterm or an exam every month. Personally, I like this testing method better because it forced me to keep up with my work. However, there is not much classes off to study for an exam. Usually, I have classes till Friday and Monday will be the exam. Luckily, the exam only covered that current block. This makes the amount of material I need to know more manageable. However, I question some of the details I need to know. For example, there is a tendency for profs to teach rare diseases that I will probably never see just because it is discovered in TO. However, I also find the faculty very flexible. The course directors really encourage student feedback and have made many positive changes to the course.

 

What type of social atmosphere is there at Toronto? Does the class tend to hang-out together? Do many students commute to the school, and hence not hang around after class?

From my class survey, it takes 45 minutes on average for the first year med class to commute to school. Our class is usually very sociable and there are a lot of activities to do. Our social reps did quite an amazing job this year I believe your level of participation really depends on your preferences ie family obligations. There are many social activities to attend. It is up to you to decide if you want to go. There is no pressure either way.

 

I also like to add that TO has an amazing Student Affairs Office. I really feel supported by the staff and they are really willing to help students out. Also, my class is very supportive. Around exam times, there are many emails from different classmates giving out old exams, helpful journal articles, latest ideas on exam questions.

 

How effective is the PBL component of the curriculum?

PBL experience varies greatly depends on the group and tutors. Overall, I like my PBL experience and I just view it as another way for me to look at the materials.

 

Given that Toronto has the highest tuition, what type of financial assistance (bursaries) is given out at Toronto? (Average value, examples)

There are quite a lot of financial assistance available. However, I do not know the average bursary values. I suggest contacting the Admissions and Awards Office for further info.

 

How much elective time is there in advance of CaRMS letters? (weeks)

Hmm, I am not very sure about that. Ha ha, I should really try to figure this out. I will get back to you after I ask an upper year.

 

How did you find the 4th year review courses for the LMCC exams?

Can't answer that yet

 

Does Toronto tend to take its own students for residency positions?

I just know that a lot of UT med students get match to UT residency positions. Also, I think some residency programs guarantee that they will interview all UT med student applicants.

 

Historically, how well have Toronto students done on the USMLE Step 1?

Can't answer that either.

 

Hopes this is helpful

bluesky125

[Guest PDSP]

Bluesky125,

 

Thanks for the very insightful personal reflection of your first year experience at U of T. It is interesting how both you and UWOMed2005 (at UWO) have indicated that the curriculum seemed rather disorganized. That is both the block-based and the system-based approaches had their difficulties.

 

PD

[Guest UWOMED2005]

Yeah, that is interesting! As I mentioned in my post, I think it is probably the case with EVERY med school as you usually have a gazillion different MDs (or PhDs), all extremely busy with their clinics, trying to collaborate on a curriculum without being entirely sure what the other profs are teaching. Problem is, we only attend the one school each so have no clue how everyone else compares.

[Guest Lakers4life]

I have just finished my 2nd year at the UofT and getting ready to just veg out for the summer before the clerkship monster kicks in!

 

 

To start with, I chose TO mainly b.c of the fact that I could live at home and that I liked what TO had to offer [big academic centre, lots of hospitals, tons of specialists,etc.] I am much more a city boy then a country one and this was a good mix for me.

 

What I like best is the students and the faculty [for the large part!]. Great, friendly, lots of fun and lots of help available. MOst people are not very anal about helping each other and making sure everyone gets through. Plus most people have a good sense of humor and its not all just serious study with no jabbing mixed in.

 

What I like least has to be the 2nd year DOCH course; its a community research project with not nearly enough time and not nearly enough help. For anyone in 1st year here, GET STARTED IN THE SUMMER with a self-initated project. You will thank me next spring!

 

Anyways, to answer a few of your questions:

 

1. I thought the teaching was fine; the whole key is the foundations of medical practise course in 2nd year when you start to learn clinical stuff realting to cardiology, respirology, psych, etc. and by then you have covered everything so you have a 'whole-body' context that becomes easier to understand how crazy multi-system stuff like nephrology works.

 

2. Well you have ample time in 2nd year, not so much in 1st. I am a crammer so I bascially started studying almost for every exam with less than 2 weeks remaining. I still had classes to go to in between but it was basic hibernation mode for those 1.5 weeks.

 

A smarter person may have elected to study in advance and avoided this trend, so this is not what happens to everyone. There is usually enough time to study, and we only have 3 courses [core, ASCM, DOCH] running at the same time. ASCM is a clincal meds course for which you don't really study a lot until the final exam, and DOCH is community health which is really an easy course. You you focus your studying on the core material at any given time, until the final month or so when you have 3 exams.

 

3. It's pretty social! The 2nd years are much more social than the 1st years [i don't think even they will argue this point!] so clearly this doesn't apply to all classes. However, we used to hang out all the time and got involved in a lot of activities. The whole class has some activities planned [ie - bowling, golf, etc.] but for the most part you join the clubs you wanna take part in. Since Uoft is almost 200 students large, its hard to even find a club that everyone will enjoy [retro vs. hiphop, etc.] so you tend to group off a little bit, but its still a very social place.

 

4. PBL depends on the group and the tutor; my experiences have ranged from great to poor with everything in between. I would say that it helps you formulate a team approach which is critical to clerkship, but don't expect too much else from it. You will get a chance to have 1 on 1 time with true experts in their field [no matter how specialized] so there are benefits if you take the chance to follow these people around.

 

5. There is some available, not nearly enough. You will need loans though unless you have the cash up front. They are starting up groups to look into the issue of tuition and recentely there was a genours donation by the student body to bursaries, so it is getting better.

 

6. I dunno...maybe I will start to learn more about this in clerkship...you canfind this out before hand by going to the various talks and stuff, but I haven't looked into this as yet.

 

The rest of your questions about the LMCC and the USMLE and Residency I cannot answer as I truthfully haven't even thought that much about them yet. I am still trying to figure out what I want to do and its not getting any easier with all the cool stuff you learn in 2nd year!

 

PDSP, you clearly have thought about this a lot and have some great questions!

[Guest PDSP]

Lakers4life:

 

A discussion thread has been started in Western's section to discuss Western vs. other schools (i.e. Toronto)

 

I really appreciate your thoughts on U of T. I think my decision is now between Toronto and Western. Both are great schools with good reputations. Both have the traditional, didactic lecture style pre-clerkship years. And, both have a large number of specialists to which I may be able to observe. I guess where the two schools differ is in terms of the organization of the material. Toronto is block-based, while Western is System-based. And, from comments made by both UWO and U of T students, both curricula appear to be somewhat disorganized. Western does have the transition period in fourth year, while U of T has a longer clerkship period. Whereas the electives are interspersed throughout clerkship at U of T, they are concentrated at the end of clerkship at Western. Toronto is located in a city with the highest number of teaching hospitals in Canada. I see this in two ways. First, great opportunity to get exposed to a wide spectrum of experiences. On the other hand, the level of responsibility bestowed upon a clerk may be less than at school with less post-graduates. Well, off to wonder the streets of Toronto in search of an inspirational notion upon which to base my decision.

 

To those of you who are still waiting to hear or are on the waiting lists, this conversation thread may be somewhat difficult to read at this time. I sincerely hope that you get an offer and have to go through the decision process as well.

All the best.

 

PD