Course Selection

[Guest ML]

I've been doing some thinking lately about course selections, and I was wondering if it would be advantageous for me to take 3 or 4 full year courses during the regular winter session, and then take some summer courses to make up the deficiency?

 

Also, will which schools in Ontario and BC will penalize me for taking less than a full course load?

[Guest BCgirl]

Hi ML, I can't really answer any of your questions, but I was just wondering why you want to take only 3 or 4 courses during the regular school year. Personally, I don't think I would like having summer courses... I would want a bit of a summer (even though I would be working full time) instead of being in school basically the entire year. Plus, taking a full course load shows you're capable of handling the work. And it isn't that tough, you just need to be able to manage your time well.

 

Good luck

[Guest JD]

I'm pretty sure that you'll need at least a couple of years with a full course load (i.e. 5 courses completed between Sept. and April) before being allowed to apply to schools like Ottawa, Mac, and Western. Also, as was mentioned in another thread, U of T won't count your worst year for less if you ever have less than a full course load. So overall I'd advise against it...

[Guest Ian Wong]

I wouldn't do that unless I had some compelling reason to, such as working a very time-intensive job, family reasons, etc.

 

Ultimately, before you do such a thing, you should really contact each med school as to how they will evaluate your transcript, and whether or not they will then consider you as a part-time student. There is certainly a chance that your application will be considered in a different light if you aren't taking a full courseload, especially if that's consistently throughout your degree.

 

Check with the med schools first. Their websites can be found at:

 

premed101.com/medschools.html

 

I hope they can help you out more specifically than I can.

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3

[Guest JSK]

ok, as i've been worried about for some time is that i've spent my last three years in college out of grade 12. i took 4 courses per semester in business with a running gpa of ~3.84. now that i've switched to sciences/pre-med, i'm only taking 3 courses, mostly because i've taken pretty much all of the filler courses the college offers as group requirements for my business degree transfer program thingy (...its been a long day ok...). also, i can't really take more science courses because they require pre-reqs which i have not yet completed or they're restricted to certain programs/students or they're just not being offered in the current semester. so, how bad is the combination of college+lighter course load+mediocre gpa to show for it?

 

also, about this courses selection thing. in med is your schedule/course selection pretty much laid out for you or do you pick what you want to take? how much or how little choice are you given? i looked at the ubc website that shows the med curriculum but i also saw the courses page which shows courses with codes such as EMER, ORPA and PAED. huh?? also, is there a minimum grade you have to get before they consider kicking you out?

 

lastly, how much would you say is learnt through instruction vs. learnt throught textbooks/readings...?

 

again and again, THANKS!

[Guest Ian Wong]

The UBC med schedule is the same for everyone until fourth year, so everyone takes the exact same courses. Those courses that you saw refer to Emerg Med, Orthopedic Surg, and Paediatrics, all of which are done in third year in the hospital. In fourth year, you get four months of time where you can choose which specialties to work in.

 

The minimum pass mark for each course here is set at 60%. I'm sure it varies with each med school. Failing a course means you need to rewrite that exam, and if you fail again, to redo that specific course. It's nearly unheard of for people to fail out of med school.

 

A LOT of what you learn in med school, particularly in a PBL program, is done by yourself at a desk in the library or at home. That's the nature of medical education however, and it makes sense in that once you graduate, you still need to keep learning, so being self-taught now will aid you in the future.

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3