Guest peachy Posted December 20, 2002 Report Share Posted December 20, 2002 Hi there, Can any of the U of T meds students shed some more light on the admissions process and timeline, as was done in the very helpful recent thread in the McMaster forum? I am particularly curious about whether Toronto has anything analagous to the "collation committee" at McMaster that looks at each student holistically rather than by just weighing numbers. Or, after the interview, are your grades on everything just punched into a computer which comes up with a final ranked list? Thanks! peachy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest IP3R Posted January 5, 2003 Report Share Posted January 5, 2003 I heard that essays are in the process of being evaluated by committees consisting of 2nd year students, faculty members and community members. All of these people read the essays and then the committee decides on a score for each essay. This, along with GPA and autobiographical sketch determines whether a candidate will receive an interview offer. Interview offers usually start going out from the beginning of March up until the beginning of May. I've never heard of anything called a "collation committee" but I know that it is more than just numbers that get you into U of T medical school. Your essay and sketch are important in getting you an interview and then once you get an interview, you're interview score is quite important. Although I had heard that the interview is only worth 20% of the final decision (with grades being 60% and sketch 20%) I'm not sure if this breakdown is accurate and also, I am quite certain that even if you have a great GPA and an impressive sketch, if you're interview does not go well, it is unlikely you will be offered admission. (Therefore, it is likely that individuals are looked at "holistically" since a high ranking on GPA and sketch will not guarantee you admission.) I'm not sure if I answered your question but hopefully I gave you a little more insight into the admissions process at U of T. Best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted January 5, 2003 Report Share Posted January 5, 2003 Thanks! Are you a U of T meds student? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest IP3R Posted January 5, 2003 Report Share Posted January 5, 2003 Yes. So I went through the process. It's quite stressful and I understand why you want to know as much as possible about how your application will be evaluated. I was the same way. The admissions process seems to be one that is kept a bit of a secret. It's impossible for anyone not actually on the committe to know exactly what goes on! The info given on this site is usually quite reliable though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted January 6, 2003 Report Share Posted January 6, 2003 Are you in first year? Just curious. I'd love to hear your impressions re: competitiveness / atmosphere in the class, how well integrated PBL is into your curriculum, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest doctorfunk Posted January 6, 2003 Report Share Posted January 6, 2003 A friend of mine who is OT5 (2nd year) stated that the perception and reputation that UofT meds is ultracompetitive is largely untrue. In addition, he noted that the PBL portion of the program is still in its infancy and only plays a peripheral role at this point. In the next few years, it should become more developed and integrated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bluesky125 Posted January 6, 2003 Report Share Posted January 6, 2003 Hi Peachy: I am in my first year and overall I like the atmosphere in my class. There is a lot of worries that U of T is ultracompetitive but it is not true. I will agree that most of my class really wants to do well but we are also very supportive. It is my first day back and it is great to see all the familiar faces again. Everyone looks refresh after the holidays and it is fun to hear what everyone did. In terms of PBL, I think it is more integrated into our curriculum this year. However, I don't really feel I am directing my own objectives or learning. My tutor usually is the one indicating what our group should be learning. Oh well, hopefully I will get more independence with the next tutor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cheech10 Posted January 7, 2003 Report Share Posted January 7, 2003 I just want to echo bluesky125's thoughts. The class as a whole is not competitive. There is a very small part that is somewhat competitive, but most of the class is relaxed, and you can ignore the competitive ones. Sure everyone want's to do well, but since EVERYONE who gets over 80 in a course gets honours (it's not a percent of the class like some schools), the focus is on doing YOUR best, not beating everyone else. For PBL, I've had 2 different tutors so far, and the tutor's style makes a HUGE difference as to your experience. One was laid back and we really got to set our own objectives, discuss what we wanted to, etc. and one was very controlling. Bluesky125, I hope you get a better tutor next time, because it really does make a huge difference. The integration is ok. We do PBL on topics related to what we cover in lecture at that time, but it still feels kind of "tacked on" to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JS28 Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 Hi, Do all applicants need some sort of experience working in a clinic or shadowing a doctor? Would an applicant's experience volunteering in a hospital (e.g. portering, doing special events for patients, occasionally following a counsellor on her rounds, etc.) suffice? I ask because I have not yet had the experience of working in a doctor's office. Even if I did find a job working in an office, I would likely only be getting experience taking phone calls, asking patients for their health cards, etc. and would not have the opportunity to really watch how a doc deals with his/her patients. Will interviewers expect us to know the specifics of a doctor-patient encounter, how a hospital is run, what roles nurses play, or even what the life of a medical student is like? Thanks to all who have been taking the time to answer our questions! JS28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 Hi JS28, I think it's less the in-hopsital time that's important as it is to have had some experiences that would lead you to have a richer understanding of some of the minutiae (positive and negative) of your future profession. Also, given that so many applicants have volunteer work on their list of extracurriculars, it's not an experience that would necessarily set you apart from the flock. As an example, during my interviews last year some of the questions I fielded stressed answers that surrounded my perceptions of a doctor's life and the health care environment. The interviewer asked about my exposure to doctors, i.e., were there any in my family, among my friends, etc. He and she even went as far to state that they have encountered a few individuals whose perception of the profession did not seem to stretch further than those provided by television shows such as E.R.! In short, I'd select a volunteering position because you enjoy doing the activity associated with it. If you don't, those 3-4 hours a week may near midget purgatory. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peachy Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 Anybody have any suggestions for how to answer the question about understanding the profession? I have no real practical experience in this setting - nobody in my family is a doctor, I've never done shadowing, etc. I mean, I've GONE to the doctor .. I've volunteered in hospitals, but had virtually no exposure to doctors in this context. If you tell them that you've read about it, etc, are they going to still think that you don't know enough about it? Is it essential to have actually watched doctors doing their job? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted January 11, 2003 Report Share Posted January 11, 2003 Hi there, It's not necessarily about watching doctors do their jobs... Indeed, a couple of family members of mine are doctors, as is one of my good pals, however, I've not had to see them at work to get a feel for their perception on the ups and downs of the medical profession, its environment and all sorts of other related issues. You could gain some insight about many different careers, including medicine, by genuinely being interested in it. If you have that genuine interest, you may tend to seek out information to satisfy that interest and as with any prospective career, it's probably a wise thing to do. Many of those interviewing you are trained to find out pretty efficiently if you're interested in medicine just because you fancied what you thought was Doug Ross' job! So this gets back to your question then peachy... You might want to think about how you gained your perception of medicine as a career, try to gauge whether those perceptions are an accurate representation of medicine in Canada (or another area of the world which may be of interest for future practice--incidentally, I was asked during one interview how I felt about the contrasts between Swedish and Canadian health care systems), and what factors within these perceptions have influenced you to apply to become a doctor. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JS28 Posted January 12, 2003 Report Share Posted January 12, 2003 Thanks Kirsteen for your reply. I have had patient contact in a non-active treatment hospital, but I did not actually shadow a doctor per se. I guess working in that atmosphere was great experience in itself. Just another random question: if I have never really worked closely with a nurse/OT/rehab. tech or other members of a health care team (including docs), how can I justify why I have ruled out other professions? I do believe I am familiar with what the medical profession entails just from talking to doctors and doing some research about the day in the life of a physician. I just find it difficult to describe cogently why I don't want to pursue another health-related profession if I am so anxious about "helping people". ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.