HopeToBeGreen Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 The graduation video for the Mac Medicine class is here: My favorite part is where the graduates talk about where they were when they found out they got into medical school and how they felt at that moment. I was wondering if anyone here would like to share their experiences and feelings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychoswim Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 Nothing special.. I was chatting with people in the UdeM forum here while waiting for 12:01AM on May 13 so that the school's online portal would update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigars53 Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 It was 2-3 weeks before the first day of class, I was still on the waiting list. I was at work (a bioinformatics research lab), doing some boring simulations on my computer. I received the email and starting running and dancing around the lab. That was pretty funny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 I was pushing an elderly patient (working at a continuing care centre) when the admissions office phoned and asked if I wanted to stay on the waitlist, which pretty much told me they were gonna phone me in the next day or two... then as I was driving home to second cup they phoned and told me I got in, I was pretty apathetic to be honest, I had a thing set up to study in the Netherlands for free the next year and was looking forward to it, my family and friends were pretty ecstatic though. I would have preferred to apply the next year but my fourth year marks sucked so I just took what I could get, since I knew they would count the fourth year marks next app. The second school was really hilarious, it was my last day at the aforementioned job and I was more excited about getting in there instead of the first offer... the shift was a gong show and we had a little mini shin dig after... to this day I wish school #2 took me before school #1... I have a feeling I would have stayed in medicine from the numerous people I know who attend school #2 (fits my personality a million times more). It was 2-3 weeks before the first day of class, I was still on the waiting list. I was at work (a bioinformatics research lab), doing some boring simulations on my computer. I received the email and starting running and dancing around the lab. That was pretty funny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leon Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 The second school was really hilarious, it was my last day at the aforementioned job and I was more excited about getting in there instead of the first offer... the shift was a gong show and we had a little mini shin dig after... to this day I wish school #2 took me before school #1... I have a feeling I would have stayed in medicine from the numerous people I know who attend school #2 (fits my personality a million times more). You're leaving the field, muse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted September 24, 2011 Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 already did, i want to do dentistry instead, mixed in with some work in psychology. You're leaving the field, muse? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBoss Posted September 25, 2011 Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 The second school was really hilarious, it was my last day at the aforementioned job and I was more excited about getting in there instead of the first offer... the shift was a gong show and we had a little mini shin dig after... to this day I wish school #2 took me before school #1... I have a feeling I would have stayed in medicine from the numerous people I know who attend school #2 (fits my personality a million times more). Would you have chosen school #2 if you had been offered admission from both at the same time? If so, did you still attend school #1 anyway because it was too late to arrange to attend school #2 by the time you received your offer? I think I remember you saying in a post from your first year that you really liked school #1, did something important change since then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted September 25, 2011 Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 Yeah, I wanted to get into number 2 over number 1 by quite a bit, you pretty much nailed the reason I stuck with 1 right on the head. I just never really enjoyed medicine all that much, at least the way we learned and practiced it. I'm taking a biochem prereq for the dent right now and I love thinking about the energetics of different reactions, why they're that way, how an enzyme works to lower activation energy, what solvents would be better for an enzyme and why etc. because I took like 10 classes in qualitative chemistry and can really think about it conceptually, in medicine I felt like I was being taught more how to be a mechanic, not that it isn't challenging, the amount of material is volumous, it's challenging in a different way... but I like solving puzzles and coming up with unique and creative solutions based on what I've learned from experience or what I've been taught (hence the propensity towards a more nebulous specialty like psychiatry where you have the flexibility to be creative and in depth in your treatment) rather than memorizing treatment protocols. No doubt, there's good reason for this pedagogical style, you don't really care if your doctor knows all the pharmacological intricacies of beta blockers or ace inhibitors, just they're good options for high blood pressure. From what I've heard from numerous people I know who attended school 2, I probably would have enjoyed the experience a lot more since it's more tailored to my approach to solving problems, as well as other factors (different demographic, focus, teaching style) etc. Let's just say I'd fit in at Mac really well but not at U of T, lol. Would you have chosen school #2 if you had been offered admission from both at the same time? If so, did you still attend school #1 anyway because it was too late to arrange to attend school #2 by the time you received your offer? I think I remember you saying in a post from your first year that you really liked school #1, did something important change since then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mm88 Posted September 25, 2011 Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 It was pretty anti-climatic for me because it was all by email. I was up early for an engagement and opened my email hoping to see the timing had been pushed back....or that it had been cancelled. Instead I saw "University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine : Offer - U of C Medicine." I was happy for about 2 seconds then realized "****. How do I tell my boss? ****, I'm going to be late" then ran out the door. I went back to my room for a break later on in the day and saw the email from Manitoba as I was going to email my references to thank them (again) and tell them about how I got into Calgary. Emails ruin the excitement of everything. I wish I had the luxury of tearing open an envelope on May 13th or going crazy over the phone. But nope, I just got emails and wore a stupid grin on my face for the rest of the day. I think the whole experience was ruined by not being able to tell everyone and scream the news at the top of my lungs. I'M SO LAME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anxious_101 Posted September 25, 2011 Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 Getting my U of T offer at 9:59 AM on May 5th was the most exciting moment as U of T was my first choice - my parents have put that email up on their fridge door with a smiley face magnet . A bunch of friends (most of who also got offers for Ontario schools on May 5th) and I got seriously drunk for the first time that night. We entitled the pics from that night on facebook as "The night that never ended." That weekend, my parents took me to the BMW dealership and I got a Z4. That made the summer for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebouque Posted September 25, 2011 Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 but I like solving puzzles and coming up with unique and creative solutions based on what I've learned from experience or what I've been taught (hence the propensity towards a more nebulous specialty like psychiatry where you have the flexibility to be creative and in depth in your treatment) rather than memorizing treatment protocols. . Do you believe that in dentistry you will be able to quench your thirst for problem solving and finding creative solutions that go beyond protocols and algorithms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aaronjw Posted September 25, 2011 Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 I'm quite certain that if im ever blessed with med school acceptance i'll bawl like a new born baby lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
small_town_girl Posted September 25, 2011 Report Share Posted September 25, 2011 Best response to my excitement: when I got home I told my bro I got in, and his response "Cool.." bahaha...my mom asked me if I was sure I read the e-mail right.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBoss Posted September 26, 2011 Report Share Posted September 26, 2011 Yeah, I wanted to get into number 2 over number 1 by quite a bit ... Ah okay, that was rather unfortunate then. I hope you future endeavors, whether they include dentistry or not, prove to be much more fruitful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erk Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 I checked my email at 6 am even though results weren't expected until 1 pm, then I woke up my wife as soon as I saw the mail and we read it together. I already had an idea what was inside because the subject line was a giveaway. Then I went to work and painted cedar shakes for a renovation. That was a strange day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larrivee Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 Muse, you said you are interested in pursuing psychiatry because it would allow you to be creative and in depth in yourtreatment... Psychiatry requires an MD does it not?? My finding out about my first choice (Ubc) was the most exciting of the acceptances. I was at work and my wife called me sayingthat people in the Ubc forum had received snail mail acceptance letters( this was the day before Ubc said the EMAIL would come). And she said I had a letter, but I wasn't sure if rejections were by mail to, so I had to wait alllll day bc I wouldn't let her open it without me! Painful! Then I went to her house and opened it and started screaming and then making out haha, it was awesome. The other acceptances were exciting to but my reaction was more like "oh sweet, that's pretty cool" and then I got all confused of which school I actually wanted to go to and the finally wet back to m original first choice happy story Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted September 28, 2011 Report Share Posted September 28, 2011 i'm not really interested in doing general dentistry, i want to be a little bit artistic, i also wanted to split time between that and counselling, plus some other endeavours Do you believe that in dentistry you will be able to quench your thirst for problem solving and finding creative solutions that go beyond protocols and algorithms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-Stark Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 Yeah, I wanted to get into number 2 over number 1 by quite a bit, you pretty much nailed the reason I stuck with 1 right on the head. I just never really enjoyed medicine all that much, at least the way we learned and practiced it. Not to pry overly, but did you even start clerkship before you decided to switch to something else? in medicine I felt like I was being taught more how to be a mechanic, not that it isn't challenging, the amount of material is volumous, it's challenging in a different way... but I like solving puzzles and coming up with unique and creative solutions based on what I've learned from experience or what I've been taught (hence the propensity towards a more nebulous specialty like psychiatry where you have the flexibility to be creative and in depth in your treatment) rather than memorizing treatment protocols. Well, certainly in medical school you need to learn about the correct approaches to different presentations or things like the ACS protocol, but... well, I really find that there's no shortage of problem-solving or "learning from experience" in medicine. Certainly dentistry is a far more circumscribed "mechanic"-like field, far more limited in scope. And to take just one example, as an anesthesiologist you might consider a patient in need of complex spinal surgery with multiple coagulopathies, a difficult airway, chronic anti-platelet agent use, and limited mobility - there's certainly no "protocol" for that, and in the end it comes down to a judgement call of how to weigh the different factors at play. So, protocols and algorithms? Maybe in a few emergency cases or initial management, but those are largely the domains of nursing. No doubt, there's good reason for this pedagogical style, you don't really care if your doctor knows all the pharmacological intricacies of beta blockers or ace inhibitors, just they're good options for high blood pressure. I think understanding the mechanisms and effects of these drugs is rather key actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apache Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 no, i wanted to do psychiatry, and the md was the path there... i didn't care for most of the rest of it ever really. i don't think that you get that to me medicine/dentistry is just a job, i have much higher aspirations than becoming a doctor/dentist, but it's on the path to those aspirations. dentistry is just a job, and if i were to pursue the field i would pursue something that allowed me flexibility and problem solving (emergency dentistry, prosthodontics), but in reality, i just want a job where i can work 25 hours a week while i work on my side careers until they build enough momentum. the only thing i could see myself pursuing with full zest as a lone career in either is psych, so yeah, idunno. when i say mechanisms i mean sub-cellular mechanisms, extreme depth, not that it inhibits the angiotensin 1 enzyme and the physiology, i'm interested in how the type of glucose transporter and sub cellular affect the differential regulation of glycolysis in muscle versus liver cell affect physiology, stuff too in depth to be practical... but im not really interested in the research of such processes... i just enjoy reading about them im not trying to trash your profession, i dont think dentistry is the most amazing profession either, but my ideal professions need capital and a high propensity for risk because im likely to fail multiple times before i succeed, so really medicine/dentistry is just a means to an ends rather than the ends Not to pry overly, but did you even start clerkship before you decided to switch to something else? Well, certainly in medical school you need to learn about the correct approaches to different presentations or things like the ACS protocol, but... well, I really find that there's no shortage of problem-solving or "learning from experience" in medicine. Certainly dentistry is a far more circumscribed "mechanic"-like field, far more limited in scope. And to take just one example, as an anesthesiologist you might consider a patient in need of complex spinal surgery with multiple coagulopathies, a difficult airway, chronic anti-platelet agent use, and limited mobility - there's certainly no "protocol" for that, and in the end it comes down to a judgement call of how to weigh the different factors at play. So, protocols and algorithms? Maybe in a few emergency cases or initial management, but those are largely the domains of nursing. I think understanding the mechanisms and effects of these drugs is rather key actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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