slikz Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 So, how did it go? What were your thoughts of U of A's MMI? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lezesh Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 Thought it went quite well. There was one station where I thought my answer probably sounded so bland and unoriginal (the interactive scored station). Overall, I think it was very fair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaVen777 Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 I felt the questions were fair. There were a few questions that took me by surprise, but those were actually the ones I had the most fun with. Overall, I feel that my answers were a little more bland than I would have hoped, and I can think of at least 1 question where I didn't feel I did well. It's all such a blur though, so who knows! I had never been to the UofA before, and I must say, the school is quite nice. The facilities look great, the med students were super friendly, and I can tell the UofA is a great place to study medicine. The video was really funny too. I certainly feel better about my UBC and UofC interviews, but I don't think I necessarily bombed the UofA one. Overall, I hope one of the 3 schools is kind enough to accept me. Now it's just the waiting game for me. Let's see..... 53 days to go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurknomore Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 I felt like quite a few of my answers were bland and unoriginal, but I think that's just how everyone feels after the interview. I must say the facilities were quite impressive though. I'd love love love to go to this school! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phonex98 Posted March 20, 2011 Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 I totally agree with the bland answers... maybe it was the questions themselves which led to bland answers ? I don't know, but I felt much more confident coming out of the U of C interviews than the U of A ones (as said above). In retrospect I could have been more creative with my responses.... oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slikz Posted March 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2011 I'm sure you guys (and gals) did great. Honestly, everyone's answers are a bit bland at times, and like you mentioned, it may have just been the questions that lead to those type of answers, thus, everyone is in the same boat and grading should be relative Personally, I thought it went great. I had a lot of fun with most of the stations. Some of them made me laugh, and some others just made me shake my head... I also had one or two stations where I felt things weren't superb, but they were still pretty good. Now it's time to wait for May 13th. Gah! And in the meanwhile, I have a biochem midterm on Tuesday I need to study for... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBoss Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 Honestly, everyone's answers are a bit bland at times, and like you mentioned, it may have just been the questions that lead to those type of answers Maybe, I can certainly think of one prompt I got where I still can't think of anyway to to answers with any creativity. I won't disclose what it was about, but I certainly didn't feel there was much in terms of options for solving the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ubiquitous_Me Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 I think I know which one you're talking about and other students that i talked to felt similarly about that question. It was overall, a fun experience and a needed break from studying/mini vacation! Edmonton is a very pretty city! We've all tried to give it our best and let's just keep our fingers crossed now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suziep100 Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 house boats?? Also, when you are talking about the interactive station, we are talking about the one question that is included in our scores right? I remember for one station, the interviewer cut me in the middle of my answer and started asking me about what I would do if (my response) could not take place. At the time, I slightly panicked because I thought the reason the interviewer cut me off is because she didn't like my responses, so I asked her to wait until I finish my responses and then once I finished, I told her that she can question me now . But now I realized that it was an interactive station. Freak. I wish I hadn't been such an idiot For creative station (the one-line question, won't disclose the content but hopefully you know what I'm talkin' about) I focused more on delivering my answer in a logical manner rather than creating a creative response. So I basically outlined my answer similar to the MCAT format. Am I screwed? :S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBP Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 house boats??Also, when you are talking about the interactive station, we are talking about the one question that is included in our scores right? I remember for one station, the interviewer cut me in the middle of my answer and started asking me about what I would do if (my response) could not take place. At the time, I slightly panicked because I thought the reason the interviewer cut me off is because she didn't like my responses, so I asked her to wait until I finish my responses and then once I finished, I told her that she can question me now . But now I realized that it was an interactive station. Freak. I wish I hadn't been such an idiot For creative station (the one-line question, won't disclose the content but hopefully you know what I'm talkin' about) I focused more on delivering my answer in a logical manner rather than creating a creative response. So I basically outlined my answer similar to the MCAT format. Am I screwed? :S They were supposed to push you in that question. To judge your ability to react. But yeah, you're not screwed. Don't worry. I don't remember a one line question. What time was your interview? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBoss Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 house boats?? I rocked that question too, and also the one about jumbo jets (I don't remember a house boat question either) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suziep100 Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 They were supposed to push you in that question. To judge your ability to react. But yeah, you're not screwed. Don't worry. I don't remember a one line question. What time was your interview? Hey HBP It's the "creative" question, and I interviewed on Saturday. Check your PM for details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGB Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 What were people's thoughts on how U of A presented itself as compared to U of C? I personally left feeling much more excited about Calgary than Alberta...but that being said would still love to be accepted at either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBP Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 I think that's purely due the awesomeness of Dr. Walker. If Dr. Walker was working at U of A, there'd be a reverse effect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suziep100 Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 I was really impressed by the U of A's facilities and students. Felt like U of A students were realistic and honest about representing their experience of the school. At this point, I want to get acceptance from ANY schools would be great, but if I have a choice, I'd definitely choose U of A over U of C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fouronesix Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 I was shocked to hear that people generally consider U of A to be the more prestigious school of the 2 in Alberta, given how much they jabbed U of C during the whole thing. That being said, the med students were probably the most enthusiastic bunch I've seen so far with their cheers and loud clapping. It definitely seemed like a great school. In fact, I woke up this morning with that "come to u of a" song stuck in my head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurknomore Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 I think that's purely due the awesomeness of Dr. Walker. If Dr. Walker was working at U of A, there'd be a reverse effect. I totally agree with this one. Dr. Walker is a nice guy and very persuasive but I caution my fellow applicants to not forget that it his job is to hype up the school and make it as attractive as possible. He is partial, whereas we must stay impartial to make the best informed decision. There was one thing I had issue with in his post-interview talk to us. In his talk, he put up a chart of the 2010 Carms match stats to show that U of C was comparable to other Cdn schools. http://www.ucalgary.ca/mdprogram/prospective/nationalranking (chart # 3). Note that this graph is posted on the U of C site. However, there is published data (from Carms) that show a very different picture when you break it down. http://www.carms.ca/pdfs/2010R1_MatchResults/Match%20Results%20by%20First%20and%20Lower%20Ranked%20Program%20Choices_en.pdf This graph shows that in the first iteration, only 50% of students matched to their first choice. Also, close to 10% of the students failed to match in the first round. Obviously, he left this part out and I certainly don't blame him because I would have done the same had I been in his role. I know that these stats represent just one year, but, it still leaves me questioning if that could happen in the year I graduate if I choose to go to U of C. I hope this hasn't been too critical of U of C or Dr. Walker. I have alot of respect for his transparency and the way the application process has been handled thus far. However, I still felt compelled to share this information w/ my fellow applicants so that students have all the information to make an informed decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarathonRunner Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 One thing that I don't like about U of A is the fact that the President of the University is the highest-paid university president in Canada, and the provost and other senior admins are also very well paid, yet faculty members were asked to take furlough days last year to save money, and many other employees at the U of A were laid off. U of A has posted a deficit budget again this year: http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2011/03/21/ualberta-posts-deficit-of-4-9-million/ While that likely won't affect the medical school, since they do treat their medical students very well, it may affect the university as a whole, and have a trickle-down effect on the medical students. There has also been an investigation of the medical faculty due to alleged mistreatment of faculty members: http://thegatewayonline.ca/articles/news/2011/01/27/complaints-lead-investigation-med-faculty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardiomegaly Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Interesting you mention transparency. I think part of the reason that Dr. Walker sells U of C so well is that he is super positive. If you look at Dr. Stobart and Dr. Moreau, they are both enthusiastic about our school but they're also very realistic and strive to discuss any current issues. When I interviewed, Dr. Stobart addressed the accreditation issue in a very serious manner, which kind of seemed scary at the time compared to my fun experience interviewing at UofC. Looking back, I realize they were trying to be as honest as possible about any problems going on at our school - and some people don't realize there are problems so they come off as maybe more gruff than the happy go lucky Ian Walker. They are all great deans but have a different approach to selling admissions. With regards to those UofC graphs attached to the link, I think you have to read between the lines. They boast such a high percentage of students matching to their first choice discipline (re: specialty, not location) and that so many students matched to family medicine and internal. Calgary has one of the lowest percentage match rates to Family Medicine in the country -there's a graph somewhere on the CaRMs website. In terms of going unmatched in the 2011 first round, U of A had 6, U of C had 14. And not everyone who went unmatched was gunning for ROAD/ENT. The gateway article brings up a topic that is pretty hot in our faculty right now. Said individual is being investigated by a higher up Canadian academic committee and our students are involved in the process. I think that in all cases you shouldn't let one not so pleasant/popular individual ruin the reputation of the entire school - the student body, the UME and associate deans are fantastic and advocate strongly for the needs and desires of the students. If you had met our new Dean of Learner Advocacy and Wellness you'd know what I mean, she's pretty much the most amazing physician I've had the privilege of meeting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanosuke Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 I thought the interview at UofA was enjoyable overall. Here's hoping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igotacookie Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 come study at the uofa We promise you will have the time of your life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sanosuke Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 I hope to I was wondering how many other people felt really good about the interview process... I was surprised by how relaxed everything felt, no stress at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatonekid Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 I was really unsure about UofA before the interview, but everyone there did an excellent job of "selling" the school. Especially the 1st year group leaders that talked to us before the MMI process started. The only thing that was kind of difficult was how neutral-faced the interviewers were. I know they're supposed to be that way, but it's still a unnatual situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slikz Posted March 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 I was really unsure about UofA before the interview, but everyone there did an excellent job of "selling" the school. Especially the 1st year group leaders that talked to us before the MMI process started. The only thing that was kind of difficult was how neutral-faced the interviewers were. I know they're supposed to be that way, but it's still a unnatual situation. Good point, but when you really think of it, the neutral face is pretty minor... What about when you walk into a patient's room and they are keeled over, throwing up, and in total agony because of pain and you still have to talk to them? What about (possible) psychiatric patients, who may be, perhaps, muttering threats under their breath towards you, while you still have to talk to them, and the list goes on... Personally, I think helping out downtown, having long conversations with certain homeless individuals (with untreated psychological/substance abuse problems) and volunteering in the ER trying to be supportive to patients in all types of situations, greatly helped me out in that area. I found that even the most intense 'stare-down' look I got one from one interviewer didn't phase me at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hushwawa Posted March 23, 2011 Report Share Posted March 23, 2011 Good point, but when you really think of it, the neutral face is pretty minor... What about when you walk into a patient's room and they are keeled over, throwing up, and in total agony because of pain and you still have to talk to them? What about (possible) psychiatric patients, who may be, perhaps, muttering threats under their breath towards you, while you still have to talk to them, and the list goes on... Personally, I think helping out downtown, having long conversations with certain homeless individuals (with untreated psychological/substance abuse problems) and volunteering in the ER trying to be supportive to patients in all types of situations, greatly helped me out in that area. I found that even the most intense 'stare-down' look I got one from one interviewer didn't phase me at all. You da man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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