Reasons for going to U of T

[Guest lalala]

Hey, I'm just curious to know why everyone wants to go to U of T med school? What are your reasons for applying there (besides the fact that it is a "big name"), and wanting to receive medical training in Toronto over another Canadian med school.

[Guest cheech10]

For me, it's the research facilities/opportunities, and the location.

 

Other possibilities could be:

 

-wanting to match in Toronto for residency, some feel that by working there before the match they will get more consideration (although you could also do away electives in Toronto for the same result)

 

-working at the large hospitals in Toronto

 

-working with particular faculty members

 

There are probably other reasons I can't think of right now.

[Guest why UT]

I am sure that Cheech10's reasons are all valid. However, I think a lot of people want to go to UT because of its reputation. Ten years ago, McGill was probably everyone's dream school because of its #1 ranking. However, since UT has been ranked #1 by Maclean's magazine for the past several years, people all want to go to UT now. I am not saying that that's the only reason why people would want to attend UT, but certainly the "name" helps.

[Guest JSS02]

My reasons are pretty similar to cheech's. The location is the most important one for me. With that said, I did like all the places I interviewed at, and would be happy at any of them...

[Guest cheech10]

Well, the OP specifically asked for reasons other than the name, so that's why I left that out. But there are cases, especially in regards to research, where the name matters (although maybe not very much?).

[Guest hmm]

if you're not interested at research, and want to concentrate mainly on the clinical aspect of medicine, is picking U of T a bad or neutral choice?

 

from what i've heard and from looking at some of the CARMs match stats, i'm not too sure if going to u of t gives you a greater chance of landing a residency there. i guess if you work with certain toronto doctors more often, then you'd be more likely to be recognized and get a spot there?

 

and can anyone comment on the thought that doctors in toronto are far too busy with so many patients, residents, and fellows that its hard to make good contacts and references?

[Guest ThugJaan]

hmmm...it is very easy to find someone to do an elective with or shadow...you jsut have to email around and stuf usually gets set up rather quickly and falls into place.

 

For me UofT was the best school so I went there, plain and simple. It was cheaper for me [b.c I live at home] so money wasn't an issue. Money is the big deterrant to coming to UofT.

 

But if you can manage the finances or live in Toronto already, then if you just judge a school on its merits, it is the best school with the best reputation, as is documented by almost any study [ie - MaCleans, Gourman, etc.]

[Guest caspase9]

Some things I've heard of U of T: it has a very competitive atmosphere, which means people are constantly studying and don't have time to develop a personality. I've heard this from a couple 2nd and 3rd year U of T meds, and from some doctors where I've volunteered. Any truth to this? It seemed that Queens and Western had a student body that meshed very well, and enjoyed having a good time, rather than studying every free hour. Perhaps the workload is higher in U of T meds, or maybe its a product of the competitive atmosphere? Any comments on this?

 

Also, ThugJaan, do you find commuting takes away from any of your enjoyment or activities or whatever? I, too, am debating the 1 hour+ commute if I get into U of T. Are there alot of activities or general meshing and socializing going on between U of T meds around classes, or is it just pretty much just run home and study? Does the workload make doing extracurriculars or commuting time tough? Do you find time to chill on weekends, or is it just mad stress mayhem?

 

I know alot of what I've heard might be bad stereotypes, but it never hurts to hear some more opinions.

[Guest lalala]

I have heard the exact same things as caspase 9 - that toronto is competitive, and there's not too much socializing between the students. For me, I want to make sure that I am not only getting a first rate education for the high cost of going to toronto, but have a friendly environment to work in for 4 years. I would almost say that the "competitive" and "unfriendly nature" of the students at u of t (if this were true) would be much more of a deterrent for me than the extravagant costs.

 

Also - i guess this is for the moderators - what do you guys feel about the more traditional approach to teaching at u of t med? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I know that at many other Canadian med schools, there is a lot more problem based learning and much less lectures-in-the-classroom type of learning. One med student who was hosting my interview session told me that they had ~ 8 hours lectures /week, which is a lot more than many other med schools across the country. How much "hands on" experience do you get in first and second year?

 

An additional thing that i've noticed on these boards is that at toronto, you may not finish all your electives before the residency match. Could someone elaborate on this? I'm not quite sure if this is true, or what the impact of not having finished all electives before the matching is.. Why is there this little quirk in the toronto med system?

[Guest JSS02]

I've heard the same complaints as well. But all the U of T med students I've talked to, including at the interview weekend, say it's not a big deal (of course, maybe I didn't ask enough of them...). There are of course some people that keep up the competitive attitude from undergrad, but since the class is big you don't really have to interact with them too much anyway (with some exceptions, like in PBL, etc.).

[Guest YongQ]

I think competitiveness at U of T is class-dependent. Try asking an 0T5 how the class atmosphere is... you will probably not get one person who says the atmosphere is competitive (more so than other schools), and probably only a few will say they don't have time for anything else. In fact I would venture to say we're just as fun (or a lot more fun) than other Ontario meds classes I saw at FSS. I know this is not the case with many of the 0T4s (by rumour and by observation), so you can't generalize. Try talking to one of your interview tour guides - they're all 1st years. I think you will get a lot more accurate a description than a clerk who's been in the wards and only gets to see a small fraction of his/her classmates regularly b/c of clerkship.

 

YONGQ

[Guest Beaver]

Yong Q

 

Just wondering does UofT have older students in the med classes (ie late twenties/early thirties)

 

Thank you

the beav

[Guest YongQ]

Lots.

 

While our class isn't particularly old, we have several people 27 or older (I think the oldest person is in her early thirties). I love these people, they are probably the best-adjusted med students out there and tots like me can learn a lot from them. One of my classmates even tried to start a "seniors club" but sadly, the Yearbook Committee rejected their club photo, claiming that they weren't legit (I found that a little harsh of them)... oh well, there's always next year!

 

YONGQ

[Guest Beaver]

seniors club?????

 

Thanks for the response Yong Q but at the ripe age of 28, if I get accepted for Sept, I hope you guys dont toss me in any seniors club, I think I can still keep up with you young chickens

 

Thanks for the response

 

I just asked out of curioisty because during the interview there were basically two lines of questioning. One revolving around my research and why the MD bla bla bla. And the other line of questioning was focused on how much experience I had with 23 year olds, ie in a social setting (we are only 5 years apart yet it seemed that was a big deal to them, like I spent my youth going to elvis concerts or something 8) ) Anyways I thought Hmm, maybe the class is really young without too many grad students, which contradicts what I've heard. In the end the interview (I think) went really well, but its nice to know of the diverse demographic, I think it adds to the learning experience of the class across age groups.

 

After all I can teach you how we used to breakdance in 1983 and you can show me how its done today

 

Thanks

the beav

[Guest YongQ]

Hey Beav,

 

Don't worry about age.. it's not stigmatized here at all (it's respected in fact) and if anybody gets rejected it won't be because of his or her age. Conversely, I don't think being older bestows any advantage to the applicant either. We have young people in our class just like any other.

 

YONGQ

[Guest Akane200]

YongQ wrote:

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote>Quote:<hr> . One of my classmates even tried to start a "seniors club" but sadly, the Yearbook Committee rejected their club photo, claiming that they weren't legit (I found that a little harsh of them)... oh well, there's always next year!<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END-->

 

The yearbook didn't believe they were a real club. It seemed to be something done by only 0T5s (0T4s never heard of any such a thing). Our concern was that it was only a clique.

 

They seemed to be among the many so-called clubs. Perhaps it was bad timing because they were lumped in with the many other "clubs" by 0T5s such as the "long distance relationship went down the drain" club. Really, we reserve the right to reject club photos. Not every group of friends deserves to be called a club and demand a photo. We only have a limited amount of space, and other clubs seemed to be more legitimate and inclusive of other years.

 

The seniors club was reconsidered, but after some discussion, it was still decided that it would not be included in the yearbook.

 

You mentioned that someone tried to starting a seniors club. What ever happened? Does the seniors club actually do anything???

[Guest YongQ]

Aww, that's not a good reason - what's one more picture? Compared to others, it invokes just as many or more fond memories of our years in meds. The yearbook should be classy and well-designed, but it should also reflect our class's sense of humour. The Seniors' Club not being a "real club" is just a dumb technicality really. Including a photo like that would probably be more worthy of putting in the yearbook than a lot of others people submit... I've seen past yearbooks and there is <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> always<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> space for one more picture if you are selective enough. Well there's no point in arguing about this here, I guess we'll just see for ourselves when the yearbook comes out later this month...

[Guest Akane200]

The yearbook comes out in September so that we can put in convocation photos.

 

As for being selective, that's exactly why not every picture makes it into the yearbook. The yearbook was not designed only for 0T5s. 0T5s have lots of photos in the yearbook as it is already. The yearbook actually is geared very much towards the graduating class because it is THEIR graduating class yearbook. At least, that's how we hope it will be.

 

What's one more picture? There isn't that much space to put every photo that we get in there. However, we really do hope to have lots of different photos of different people who will appear. Yeah, having a sense of humour is one thing, but having 5 very similarly humourous clubs from 0T5 demanding to be in the clubs section is another. The decision had to be made. The 0T5s have a section entirely to themselves, and they also express their sense of humour there. The first joke club was good, but then with all the other "clubs", it just wasn't funny anymore.

 

So, sorry to disappoint, but other clubs deserved to be in the clubs section (community affairs, student government, running club, etc.). If you feel that those clubs are not as worthy of being in the section as much as the seniors club, I won't attempt to convince you otherwise.

 

Perhaps it will be different next year. But of course, it's all a matter of opinion. Every photo is worth something to someone. It's hard to please everyone, but we do try our best. We really hope that regardless, people still like our yearbook.

[Guest lalala]

so... does this 'seniors clus' discussion mean that we should go to u of t because they take their yearbook seriously??

[Guest YongQ]

well we'll see how the yearbook turned out eventually.

 

lalala, come to U of T! If you do, we'll change our campaign from "Great Minds for a Great Future" to "Great Meds for a Great Yearbook!" Other favourite reasons to go to U of T include, "Because we think you're just super" and "Because we have more Tim Hortons per capita than any other city in North America." It's true!

 

But seriously, U of T is an excellent medical school, and it trains both superb clinicians and superb clinician-scientists, and the undergrad experience here is amazing if you make the effort to get involved.

 

YONGQ

[Guest Carolyn]

Are you sure you have more timmy Ho's than Hamilton?? There is at least one intersection where if you are stopped you can see three Tim Horton's and two more are just obscured from your view by tall buildings!! I thought that was our claim to fame... now that Tiny Talent Time isn't showing anymore and if it is true that toronto has more tim horton's per capita than what can we sell the great city of Hamilton on??

[Guest RAK2005]

Carolyn/Yong Q:

 

I'm from London, and I know we've got more than TO (per capita) and I believe we've surpassed Hamilton... which is damn near impossible

[Guest ThugJaan]

Hey,

 

You guys here are acting a little bit too uptight...if you were to get to know members of the first year meds class you would see that we are all really fun people and don't take stuff like this too seriously. For instance, if you were to read some of the emails we throw around on the listservs some of you sound like you would send a message to newpaper displaying our unprofessionalism.

 

The Senior's Club was intended to have some fun...geese...if you are that uptight that you can't laugh at yourselfs and others in your class without being serious please don't come to UofT...we like to study hard and have fun even harder.

[Guest sam]

thugjaan:

 

hold on--what is this "seniors' club" doing with the geese??

[Guest ThugJaan]

lol...old people like feeding geese...damn typos