Question: Dal and Mac

[proton]

Hello all,

 

I am very, very lucky and grateful to have been accepted to Mac (close to home) and Dal, but I have a couple of questions about Mac. I'm hoping that some current students could shed some light on something for me. Is clerkship at mac more stressful than clerkship at other schools? I've heard that pre-clerkship isn't bad from reading the posts on here, and I know that clerkship is stressful and hard no matter where you go. I've read first year students posts saying burnout is not a concern, but with utmost respect I wonder if that's because they havent' hit clerkship yet. goleafsgochris pointed out that everyone's pretty fried at the end of clerkship...is this moreso because there aren't many breaks in the mac curriculum? My biggest fear is of burning out.

 

Dalhousie is really far from home and has a couple of points I'm not crazy about, but the big draw is that it's a four year program with two summers off before clerkship. I've been given next to no time to respond to Dal -- any insight, anyone? I would sincerely appreciate it.

[leescait]

Hmm, well, I am first year so perhaps I am not who you want to hear from. But I am friends with some upper years.

 

I think in a way you are asking an impossible question - no one has done clerkship at two schools! Stress is a pretty subjective thing to measure.

 

I think you have to decide if you are someone who really needs those summers off. For me, it's not hugely important. You do get integration weeks between units (there are 5) with about 4-5 days of no homework, no stress. Those are enough for me to recharge. During clerkship, we get two weeks in 2nd year around christmas, and 3 weeks in 3rd year around Christmas, plus a flexible 2 week vacation. A lot of people save this for carms, but if you are site specific in where you want to interview (ie, I know I want to around Southern Ontario) and won't be flying all over the place, this probably means you can take it when you think you'll need it.

 

All that said, I really think this will boil down to you. Will you feel like you are missing out without a summer, stress aside? Med school will be stressful no matter what - and only you know how important those months away are.

[proton]

Thanks a lot for your answer, Leescait. It is a bit of an impossible question I guess. I know rationally that it should be doable - mac has their program this way for a reason and many people go through it every year and do fine - it just seems like a daunting thing. Many thanks for your response.

[inspiring-curmudgeon]

Mac - Out one year earlier

Dal - Summers off

 

Which one is more important to you? You'll be practicing for decades, and you're only in your 20s once (of course I'm assuming you're in your 20s), so don't base your decision on time saved. If you think you can handle the 3-year program, go for Mac. If you're someone who likes their summers for travel, recharging, international electives, research, etc. then go to Dal. Also, don't forget about the differences between the cities!

 

Good luck!

[MD2015]

I'd go to Dal.

[proton]

Thanks for all the insight, folks. I appreciate it.

[LLAV]

i'm waitlisted at mac so me suggesting that a four year program is better might seem biased.But this is my honest opinion

For me I definitely would like summers to do solid research projects (and publish) and travel and take time off. The continuous pace of the 3 year program is a bit much for me. Also I'm really interested in community health and international development, summers will allow me to travel and do long term work up north or abroad. I understand that mac offers electives abroad or up north but that's only a couple weeks vs months.