SharkLvr Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 As I'm trying to decide between programs, one major factor I'm looking at is the chance to do research. Though Mac doesn't have summers, I've heard that many mac students do research either during the school year or during block electives. But I was hoping some current mac students (or anyone else ) might be able to shed some light on "enrichment electives".....the chance to potentially take 6months-1 year off to do research. From what I've heard, students can do this after MF5... I was wondering how many students on average take advantage of this. Also, does the faculty encourage students to take time off in this regard, or is it more of a "remedial" thing...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inspiring-curmudgeon Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 As I'm trying to decide between programs, one major factor I'm looking at is the chance to do research. Though Mac doesn't have summers, I've heard that many mac students do research either during the school year or during block electives. But I was hoping some current mac students (or anyone else ) might be able to shed some light on "enrichment electives".....the chance to potentially take 6months-1 year off to do research. From what I've heard, students can do this after MF5... I was wondering how many students on average take advantage of this. Also, does the faculty encourage students to take time off in this regard, or is it more of a "remedial" thing...? I hear you can take a year off to do research at Mac. However, not many people choose to do so. I suppose it's because they don't want to rejoin another class once their done, among other things. I also read that you're not allowed to do electives in this time (so you don't have people doing a full year of derm electives lol), and that you only have a specific amount of time you can spend on clinical work, but only as long as it pertains to the research at hand. The question is, do you really want to take a year off in between medical school just for research? I think you're better off doing research during the summer in a 4-year school (if you want to match to a competitive residency), or just doing research once you match to residency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igeorgex Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 this is the one drawback I'm finding for mac: if you figure out that you wanna do a competitive specialty (most likely requiring research in the field) later on, you're kinda SOL. on the other hand, it could be a positive as well: if you figure out what you want early on, you can start building your CV towards CaRMS and that way you have 1 less year of school to wade through before getting to match. that being said, there are of course people who match into competitive specialties without a ton of research/electives in the field and are just overall great candidates... but I'm hesitant to say that's often the case. 3 year programs are a double edged sword for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 People from mac have matched to competitive specialties before (it's possible, I think there is a member here who matched to optho from mac) but in terms of time commitment to boost the CV, like george said, I think you have to dedicate a lot of time (and learning how/where to dedicate that time) in a very tight spot - along with class for the entire year. It's more difficult, but not impossible. I'm not in meds yet, but that's just what I've heard and learned from talking to people from mac med. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inspiring-curmudgeon Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 People from mac have matched to competitive specialties before (it's possible, I think there is a member here who matched to optho from mac) but in terms of time commitment to boost the CV, like george said, I think you have to dedicate a lot of time (and learning how/where to dedicate that time) in a very tight spot - along with class for the entire year. It's more difficult, but not impossible. I'm not in meds yet, but that's just what I've heard and learned from talking to people from mac med. I know someone that matched into optho from mac recently. However, people who do so are exceptional, to say the least. This guy had a 4.0 (>95% average in undergrad), a 40-something MCAT, and was doing optho research before med school! Mac is great if you want to do a less competitve specialty or know EXACTLY what specialty you want to go into and are willing to work from day one toward it (like the guy I know). However, the vast majority of med students figure out what they want to do during med school, and mac doesn't exactly give you a lot of time to decide... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanG8 Posted May 10, 2011 Report Share Posted May 10, 2011 I can't comment on the perceived lack of time to find your favourite medical specialty -- I was able to rule out Gen Surg, Anasthesia, Cardiology, GI, and a couple other specialties by doing horizontals. This is what most students do to get a glimpse of what they may like or dislike. In the end I found out that I enjoyed Emerg/Trauma. I know many of my colleagues are still at a loss for a decision, but if you actively seek out experience via horizontals and interest groups, you can make a decision. I'm not sure an extra year would really help in the end for those that are really indecisive. As for research, I met up with an emerg researcher at Mac by just dropping him an email and saying I was interested in doing some work with them. It's definitely doable to do research during pre-clerkship (don't know how it'll be during clerkship, but I'm sure it'll be manageable). That's just my experience, I'm sure some of my classmates can add their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amska Posted May 11, 2011 Report Share Posted May 11, 2011 I was wondering how many students on average take advantage of this. Also, does the faculty encourage students to take time off in this regard, or is it more of a "remedial" thing...? It is officially called an "enrichment year" or "enrichment opportunity". It is not very common (I think there were 1-2 people in my year), but it is not a remedial thing - the students who participated really wanted it. There's an application process with a selection committee. It can be 6mo-1yr in length, and most people start after MF5 (~3mo into second yr). The project will be noted on your transcript. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steeltown85 Posted May 13, 2011 Report Share Posted May 13, 2011 my sister graduated from mac a couple of years ago and matched to radiology. her friends matched to anesthesia, plastics, IM, etc. as several people have mentioned, through horizontal electives it's certainly possible to match to a competitive specialty. she told me that the faculty are for the most part very helpful and do everything they can to help you out. there are no marks or class rankings which makes for a more pleasant learning environment.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itimebomb2 Posted May 16, 2011 Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 You can also do research during the post-mf4 elective period - perhaps one or two weeks. Not a tonne, but the time is there! I suppose you could also use your one week off during the summer to do research ... lol. I was able to find time to get involved in a few research projects in my first year. I wrote a book chapter amongst other things. The fantastic thing about Mac is that you get a tonne of free time. I would say it is probably overall just as easy to do research at Mac as it is at any other school. (we have easier school years, other schools have summers but less school-year flexibility. Oh - and not to mention that Mac is (or at least was) the top research school in the country for several years in a row - probably still is. The reputation of the school is built on the massive research output of the health sciences faculty. U of T is probably the only other school in Canada that can compare with Mac in terms of research opportunity in medicine (in general). EBM was invented here!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.