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Why You Should Choose Western!


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Greetings,

 

As this is my final year as a Western Medical Student, I thought I would give a little plug for my soon to be Alma Mater. I'll let the 2012s and 13's tell you about how fun this school is, I will focus on the upper year stuff: I give you the top 2 reasons why UWO is the best medical school in the country.

 

1. Our clerkship is the best in the country, bar none. We do all our clinical rotations in year 3, so when we start our electives, we don't look like fools in front of that Toronto PD you are trying to impress. I heard from MULTIPLE residents on my electives (for a surgical specialty) that we are the best trained elective students. By the time you do your electives, you have intubated, possibly scoped, sutured multiple times, possibly even performed parts of surgeries (multiple classmates had performed tonsillectomies in year 3, another had buzzed off the gallbladder in a lap chole). We do first call on medicine... it's either you OR a junior resident covering your team. You are prepared well here.

 

Which leads me to...

 

2. You can't always get what you want... unless you go to Western. Match Day was March 8th this year. Not trying to sound pompous, but we kicked ass. We matched about 98%* (for your comparison, U of T was about 95%). And yes, it would be easy to match 100% if everybody went for family, but we had:

-12 general surgery matches (in a year where there are no Canadian spots left in the 2nd round)

-2 ophtho

-3 ENT

-3 urology

-6 ortho

-2 derm

-2 plastics

-multiple matches to IM (including a large group to Mac, supposedly the best IM program)

-multiple matches to paeds (including a bunch to Ottawa, the premier paeds program)

 

All of which results in...

 

3. Schulich Grads ranked #1 in Canada on LMCC (licensing exam all 4th year students write)

 

4. London has some of the best surgical programs in the country, so you will be exposed to them in your clerkship teaching and (may) have an opportunity to work with them. (I realize this is more desirable for those who want to do surgery, but my point is that there are very few surgeries that aren't performed here and you WILL interact with some of the best known surgeons in the country because the programs are generally smaller than in a bigger center.)

 

For those 4 reasons alone, I would strongly encourage all of you to consider ranking UWO near the top of your lists.

 

GOB

 

*All my stats are from talking to classmates here and at other schools. No official numbers are out yet.

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Do you know when official stats will be out? If so, where will we find them?

 

 

The match only happened 3 days ago, and I think they usually wait till the results from the 2nd iteration are done before posting (though don't quote me on this). When they ARE up they are found on the CaRMS website under "Operations --> Reports and Statistics". Hope it helps.

 

GOB

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-12 general surgery matches (in a year where there are no Canadian spots left in the 2nd round)

-2 ophtho

-3 ENT

-3 urology

-6 ortho

-2 derm

-2 plastics

-multiple matches to IM (including a large group to Mac, supposedly the best IM program)

-multiple matches to paeds (including a bunch to Ottawa, the premier paeds program)

 

Congratulations, Meds 2010! :)

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you forgot the 3 rads matches too! So impressed with our class!

 

Anyway, I just wanted to reiterate what I mentioned in another post (upper year perspective on why uwo) since it belongs here too:

 

1) Core clerkship before electives. I didn't realize how much this was a huge advantage until I actually got to my electives. Not only was I not as stupid as I would have been otherwise, I felt confident in my role as a clerk and what I was expected to do. I knew how to write orders, admissions, do dictations, manage my own patients, do a good patient presentation. Now all I had to figure out (which was plenty!) was where in the chart do the orders and notes go, how to navigate the dictation system, what time and where did everything take place.... I couldn't imagine doing that AND trying to figure out how to be a good clerk... AND try to impress my attending!

 

From last I heard, Queen's generally does their electives within a couple months of starting clerkship. I think U of T has more time in core clerkship before doing electives, but there is (some) elective time in 3rd year, whereas at UWO there is NO elective time in 3rd year. Having some elective time in 3rd year *may* help students make up their mind if they are having difficulty choosing specialties. But then again I have classmates who, even now, after all of clerkship and electives are done, are having trouble still choosing a career (you know who you are !)

 

2) The second half of 4th year is called Transition period. Usefulness is debatable. (Actually no, I'm sure most people - including the faculty - would agree that it is probably the weakest aspect of the curriculum right now). Most classes aren't directly applicable to the LMCC but at least it gives us more time to study or relax, find housing, work on our tachy skit, etc. There is apparently going to be a revamp of this curriculum in the near future though to make it more useful. What ISN'T debatable though, is how great it is to NOT have to be at the hospital for 6am like in clerkship and like most other med students across Canada have to do at this time of the year!

 

Regarding the hectic schedule when you interview for carms, most medical schools give their students 3 weeks off (as does UWO). I know at Mac they only give the students 1 week off but many of the students work over the preceding summer so that they can take more time off for interviews.

 

The best preclerkship reasons to come to UWO?

- camaraderie/class spirit (but really - you'll find that at every program)

- at least 2 half days off a week for observerships/studying/slacking

- pass/fail (although most schools are now, except queens, I think)

- your mark is based on an end-of-block test (30%), exam given twice a year (40%), assignment (15%), small group participation (15%) - you are tested on the material (in different ways) twice, so there is more time to consolidate the concepts in your head. Plus, if you botch one component, you can still make up for it with the other components.

- systems-based curriculum with time given for more symptom-based 'consolidation' weeks to integrate material learned in different blocks (e.g shortness of breath lecture integrating respiratory, cardiovascular, psychiatric etc. causes).

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you forgot the 3 rads matches too! So impressed with our class!

 

Anyway, I just wanted to reiterate what I mentioned in another post (upper year perspective on why uwo) since it belongs here too:

 

1) Core clerkship before electives. I didn't realize how much this was a huge advantage until I actually got to my electives. Not only was I not as stupid as I would have been otherwise, I felt confident in my role as a clerk and what I was expected to do. I knew how to write orders, admissions, do dictations, manage my own patients, do a good patient presentation. Now all I had to figure out (which was plenty!) was where in the chart do the orders and notes go, how to navigate the dictation system, what time and where did everything take place.... I couldn't imagine doing that AND trying to figure out how to be a good clerk... AND try to impress my attending!

 

From last I heard, Queen's generally does their electives within a couple months of starting clerkship. I think U of T has more time in core clerkship before doing electives, but there is (some) elective time in 3rd year, whereas at UWO there is NO elective time in 3rd year. Having some elective time in 3rd year *may* help students make up their mind if they are having difficulty choosing specialties. But then again I have classmates who, even now, after all of clerkship and electives are done, are having trouble still choosing a career (you know who you are !)

 

2) The second half of 4th year is called Transition period. Usefulness is debatable. (Actually no, I'm sure most people - including the faculty - would agree that it is probably the weakest aspect of the curriculum right now). Most classes aren't directly applicable to the LMCC but at least it gives us more time to study or relax, find housing, work on our tachy skit, etc. There is apparently going to be a revamp of this curriculum in the near future though to make it more useful. What ISN'T debatable though, is how great it is to NOT have to be at the hospital for 6am like in clerkship and like most other med students across Canada have to do at this time of the year!

 

Regarding the hectic schedule when you interview for carms, most medical schools give their students 3 weeks off (as does UWO). I know at Mac they only give the students 1 week off but many of the students work over the preceding summer so that they can take more time off for interviews.

 

The best preclerkship reasons to come to UWO?

- camaraderie/class spirit (but really - you'll find that at every program)

- at least 2 half days off a week for observerships/studying/slacking

- pass/fail (although most schools are now, except queens, I think)

- your mark is based on an end-of-block test (30%), exam given twice a year (40%), assignment (15%), small group participation (15%) - you are tested on the material (in different ways) twice, so there is more time to consolidate the concepts in your head. Plus, if you botch one component, you can still make up for it with the other components.

- systems-based curriculum with time given for more symptom-based 'consolidation' weeks to integrate material learned in different blocks (e.g shortness of breath lecture integrating respiratory, cardiovascular, psychiatric etc. causes).

 

Hi,

 

what's a block? :o I'm having an airhead moment.

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you forgot the 3 rads matches too! So impressed with our class!

 

Anyway, I just wanted to reiterate what I mentioned in another post (upper year perspective on why uwo) since it belongs here too:

 

1) Core clerkship before electives. I didn't realize how much this was a huge advantage until I actually got to my electives. Not only was I not as stupid as I would have been otherwise, I felt confident in my role as a clerk and what I was expected to do. I knew how to write orders, admissions, do dictations, manage my own patients, do a good patient presentation. Now all I had to figure out (which was plenty!) was where in the chart do the orders and notes go, how to navigate the dictation system, what time and where did everything take place.... I couldn't imagine doing that AND trying to figure out how to be a good clerk... AND try to impress my attending!

 

From last I heard, Queen's generally does their electives within a couple months of starting clerkship. I think U of T has more time in core clerkship before doing electives, but there is (some) elective time in 3rd year, whereas at UWO there is NO elective time in 3rd year. Having some elective time in 3rd year *may* help students make up their mind if they are having difficulty choosing specialties. But then again I have classmates who, even now, after all of clerkship and electives are done, are having trouble still choosing a career (you know who you are !)

 

2) The second half of 4th year is called Transition period. Usefulness is debatable. (Actually no, I'm sure most people - including the faculty - would agree that it is probably the weakest aspect of the curriculum right now). Most classes aren't directly applicable to the LMCC but at least it gives us more time to study or relax, find housing, work on our tachy skit, etc. There is apparently going to be a revamp of this curriculum in the near future though to make it more useful. What ISN'T debatable though, is how great it is to NOT have to be at the hospital for 6am like in clerkship and like most other med students across Canada have to do at this time of the year!

 

Regarding the hectic schedule when you interview for carms, most medical schools give their students 3 weeks off (as does UWO). I know at Mac they only give the students 1 week off but many of the students work over the preceding summer so that they can take more time off for interviews.

 

The best preclerkship reasons to come to UWO?

- camaraderie/class spirit (but really - you'll find that at every program)

- at least 2 half days off a week for observerships/studying/slacking

- pass/fail (although most schools are now, except queens, I think)

- your mark is based on an end-of-block test (30%), exam given twice a year (40%), assignment (15%), small group participation (15%) - you are tested on the material (in different ways) twice, so there is more time to consolidate the concepts in your head. Plus, if you botch one component, you can still make up for it with the other components.

- systems-based curriculum with time given for more symptom-based 'consolidation' weeks to integrate material learned in different blocks (e.g shortness of breath lecture integrating respiratory, cardiovascular, psychiatric etc. causes).

 

From what I have been told by students at Queen's during the interview process, it's changing for next year to simply Pass Fail instead of Honours Pass Fail.

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Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but a the blocks are the different systems. E.g. cardiovascular, psychiatry, GI, MSK, etc.

 

Sorry for being unclear! Yes, 'blocks' are usually 4-6 week periods where we learn about a different system - in each block, we learn about the anatomy, physiology, embryology, histology, pharmacology, clinical medicine (diseases, workup, treatments, etc.) of a given system. We have a test at the end of the 4 or 6 weeks, and then we have an exam on the same material during our exam period in either December or June. It's theoretically double the stress, but I like it better because it keeps me on top of my studying and allows me to look over material more than once.

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From what I have been told by students at Queen's during the interview process, it's changing for next year to simply Pass Fail instead of Honours Pass Fail.

 

From my discussions with Queen's students during the first interview weekend it seems like the schools curriculum is in the midst of a fairly significant transformation. There are some rumours floating around that the 2014s will be the first class to see their clerkship beginning at the start of third year, rather than in January.

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Its interesting to see that other schools are matching Schulich's clerkship. I have heard from numerous people that Schulich's is the best in the province, but if other schools are going to mirror the same clerkship then Schulich will need to start marketing their other selling points harder :D

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Yeah, in fact the structure makes the most logical sense. The difference (at least from my discussion with the clerks) is in what you get to DO during clerkship, and the level of responsibility you have as a Schulich clerk.

 

Yeah, we seem to be front line workers in a lot of cases - first to see the patient and get things rolling. At some schools it appears like you are more in the background - can't do that here :)

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The structure of Schulich's clerkship is by far the most common in North America, probably with good reason - but I don't think it was ever really unique.

 

Maybe I wasn't quite clear with my post... the benefits of the clerkship program at UWO aren't JUST that there is a structure that makes sense: it's the hands-on environment. Case in point: I spoke recently to a friend of mine who attends U of T and told me how on medicine, they do call till midnight and then go home. My question was: what happens when an admission comes in at 2am? What happens when Mrs Smith is in Thyroid Storm and her temperature is through the roof? What happens when Mr. Tylenol OD's blood glucose levels are continuing to sky-rocket? Because these are all things that I have had to manage acutely on my 6 weeks of CTU.

 

Different friend, also U of T: "On general surgery I didn't suture once".

 

Me: :eek:

 

To me, that's the difference.

 

(I am not trying to pick on U of T, but I simply know the most about their program since I have a bunch of friends who go there.)

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  • 2 weeks later...

2. You can't always get what you want... unless you go to Western. Match Day was March 8th this year. Not trying to sound pompous, but we kicked ass. We matched about 98%* (for your comparison, U of T was about 95%). And yes, it would be easy to match 100% if everybody went for family, but we had:

-12 general surgery matches (in a year where there are no Canadian spots left in the 2nd round)

-2 ophtho

-3 ENT

-3 urology

-6 ortho

-2 derm

-2 plastics

-multiple matches to IM (including a large group to Mac, supposedly the best IM program)

-multiple matches to paeds (including a bunch to Ottawa, the premier paeds program)

 

What about the 100+ other med students? Where did they match into?

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What about the 100+ other med students? Where did they match into?

 

Well it is all over the map - if I remember we had 3 rads, 3 neurosurg, 2 cardiac surgery, a pile of family positions of course (about 30% if I remember Dr. Chan right).

 

The main point I guess is so many matched first round and this suggests most people got what they wanted. To put it in perspective 3 people I believe didn't match out of a 150ish :)

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