Questions about UofT Medical School!

[nikki dale]

I have questions about how UofT Med School operates.

 

I am mainly confused because of the concept of 'academies'.

 

Where do classes take place?

 

If you are assigned the UTM campus, does that mean your entire schooling (classes) are at UTM? I am not including DOCH and ASCM as I understand that these are placements at various hospitals/health-related areas.

 

Are classes taped/recorded for later viewing?

 

I also noticed this schedule for example:

http://www.md.utoronto.ca/Assets/FacMed+Digital+Assets/ume/Preclerkship/SFT2011Schedule.pdf

 

How come on Monday it shows the medical sciences building and on Tuesday class is at UTM? This does not make sense to me.

 

Any explanation would be helpful!!

[steve1234]

I have questions about how UofT Med School operates.

 

I am mainly confused because of the concept of 'academies'.

 

Where do classes take place?

 

If you are assigned the UTM campus, does that mean your entire schooling (classes) are at UTM? I am not including DOCH and ASCM as I understand that these are placements at various hospitals/health-related areas.

 

Are classes taped/recorded for later viewing?

 

I also noticed this schedule for example:

http://www.md.utoronto.ca/Assets/FacMed+Digital+Assets/ume/Preclerkship/SFT2011Schedule.pdf

 

How come on Monday it shows the medical sciences building and on Tuesday class is at UTM? This does not make sense to me.

 

Any explanation would be helpful!!

 

Yes your classes will take place at your home campus. Lectures are livestreamed between the campuses, sometimes the lecturer is at utm and sometimes at uoft. Eg if the lecture is at UofT then its teleconferenced to UTM & viceversa (pretty much its like watching the prof on a big screen but you can still ask quesitons etc, the technology is prety nifty). Thats the reason why sometimes classes are shown as at Utm and sometimes at uof tbecuase its based on where the professor will be on that day.

Academies are different - there are 3 academies at the StGeorge campus and mississauga is its own academy. they refer to which hospitals you will be placed at (ie mississauga - creditvalley/trillium).

[quackster]

I have questions about how UofT Med School operates.

 

I am mainly confused because of the concept of 'academies'.

 

Where do classes take place?

 

If you are assigned the UTM campus, does that mean your entire schooling (classes) are at UTM? I am not including DOCH and ASCM as I understand that these are placements at various hospitals/health-related areas.

 

Are classes taped/recorded for later viewing?

 

I also noticed this schedule for example:

http://www.md.utoronto.ca/Assets/FacMed+Digital+Assets/ume/Preclerkship/SFT2011Schedule.pdf

 

How come on Monday it shows the medical sciences building and on Tuesday class is at UTM? This does not make sense to me.

 

Any explanation would be helpful!!

 

Classes take place on the campus (either downtown or UTM) and are videoconferenced between the sites. Students placed at UTM will travel downtown to do anatomy labs on certain days and will inevitably attend some lectures downtown on those days.

 

Your academy is where you'll do ASCM, small group DOCH and PBL, and later on of course, where you'll be based out of for clerkship. Each academy has 2-4 hospitals/teaching sites affiliated with it.

[nikki dale]

Thanks steve and quackster. That makes more sense.

 

As I look at the schedule, it seems like because of the Gross Anatomy Lab, a UTM student would actually be spending half of their days in downtown. But after December, the classes are back at UTM.

 

And by being part of the UTM campus, you are in the UTM academy by default, so there are no opportunities of partaking in a clerkship in downtown?

 

Silly as it sounds, I was hoping for something like a Peter-Boyd or Fitzgerald clerkship but UTM for my pre-clerkship and classes. If that makes sense at all. I just mean, I feel like the diversity of hospital experience would be greater with the other academies, but I would rather be at UTM for class and I don't mind the hospitals like Trillium but I don't want to leave out Toronto completely.

[OIC]

Not really sure what you are asking for here. It sounds like you'd like to spend your first two years at MAM (Mississauga Academy of Medicine) and your last two years at St. George, that isn't really an option. All four years are spent at one of the two campuses. While it was commonplace to switch academies upon entering clerkship in the past, this stopped happening when MAM opened.

 

During the first semester, about half of the time MAM students are downtown because of the anatomy lab. There is a shuttle that brings them back and forth and many of them ended up staying the night with St. George students at random points to prevent unnecessary commutes. That being said, MAM students HAVE to be at MAM every Friday and many Wednesdays even during the first semester because our community health classes (often) and clinical skills sessions (always) are held at academy hospitals.

 

We are the first year that has this system so its tough to say exactly how things are going to shake out in clerkship. Previous years even have clerks switching between academy hospitals after clerkship has started. For example, some PB students may be required to do a rotation or two at a WB or Fitz hospital and vice-versa. Whether or not the same will happen with MAM students and the 1T5 class hasn't been made clear.

 

I'm not sure I understand why you'd pick MAM for pre-clerkship but not clerkship. If you feel very strongly about wanting Toronto hospitals and you are given the opportunity, consider selecting St. George. Where you go to lecture doesn't really matter. Both sites are great.

[nikki dale]

Not really sure what you are asking for here. It sounds like you'd like to spend your first two years at MAM (Mississauga Academy of Medicine) and your last two years at St. George, that isn't really an option. All four years are spent at one of the two campuses. While it was commonplace to switch academies upon entering clerkship in the past, this stopped happening when MAM opened.

 

During the first semester, about half of the time MAM students are downtown because of the anatomy lab. There is a shuttle that brings them back and forth and many of them ended up staying the night with St. George students at random points to prevent unnecessary commutes. That being said, MAM students HAVE to be at MAM every Friday and many Wednesdays even during the first semester because our community health classes (often) and clinical skills sessions (always) are held at academy hospitals.

 

We are the first year that has this system so its tough to say exactly how things are going to shake out in clerkship. Previous years even have clerks switching between academy hospitals after clerkship has started. For example, some PB students may be required to do a rotation or two at a WB or Fitz hospital and vice-versa. Whether or not the same will happen with MAM students and the 1T5 class hasn't been made clear.

 

I'm not sure I understand why you'd pick MAM for pre-clerkship but not clerkship. If you feel very strongly about wanting Toronto hospitals and you are given the opportunity, consider selecting St. George. Where you go to lecture doesn't really matter. Both sites are great.

 

I like UTM, I just don't want to *not ever* have the opportunity to be in a Toronto hospital through a clerkship/preclerkship. That was my only concern. I just didn't know that clerkship was also done via the academy. I thought the academy was just for the ASCM, small group DOCH and PBL.

[quackster]

You are more or less bound to your academy hospital for third year only. Fourth year rotations can be anywhere. Also, don't discount Trillium and CVH. They're huge hospitals with significant volume and specialized programs.

 

Regarding anatomy, labs finish the beginning of November, so the commuting only happens for about 2.5 months.

[nikki dale]

You are more or less bound to your academy hospital for third year only. Fourth year rotations can be anywhere. Also, don't discount Trillium and CVH. They're huge hospitals with significant volume and specialized programs.

 

Regarding anatomy, labs finish the beginning of November, so the commuting only happens for about 2.5 months.

 

Perfect, thank you!!

I'm sorry if I came across as 'discounting Trillium and CVH' - it was not my intention. I only meant to say that I don't want to be limited to that experience. Most of the academies include more than 2 hospitals. I'm glad that in 4th year there will be more diversity of options.

[OIC]

These fourth year rotations are a reference to the 12 weeks of electives we have in our final year. The expectation is that you are spending this time to tailor yourself to one or two residencies and going to several different hospitals, often times in different cities. The idea, as far as I can tell, isn't really to get a feel for UofT hospitals, but to see how things are done in different cities/provinces and gain insight (and references!) into the specialties you want.

 

This being said, you can ALWAYS do research and observerships in any UofT hospital throughout the 4 years, no one cares (and no one will ask) which academy you are from as long as you are a UofT med student.

[DanInVan]

Don't forget all of the selective time post electives (bascially, the second hald of fourth year). Selectives will be done at many sites around Toronto (and some rural locations if you desire).

[liverpool]

Haha, worry about these things after getting an interview

[rogerroger]

Don't forget all of the selective time post electives (bascially, the second hald of fourth year). Selectives will be done at many sites around Toronto (and some rural locations if you desire).

 

 

 

True, but just for the record, selectives are post-CaRMS and you cannot do anything you want, they are different from electives. You "select" from a menu of choices which are all UT affiliated but all over the place, GTA, rural, down town etc. Then there is a random internal match process. I suspect the down town sites will always be most popular. My class obviously does not have Mississauga in the equation and the down town sites within the popular specialities were still extremely hard to get. Many people got their later choices in the selective match. I ranked a popular speciality multiple times in locations from down town Toronto to rural and still lost the selective match lottery. I got my later choices which are sadly not extremely relevant to what I applied to CaRMS for and this occurred for multiple different selectives.

 

Take home message - I would not depend on selectives for that authentic inner city Toronto experience. What you get feels very random. But who knows what things will look like 4 years down the road. The curriculum that I entered medical school with is pretty much totally gone now four years later.

 

 

 

PS: Guys I recommend posting your questions in the UT fourm sticky U of T Frequently Asked Questions. This way your questions and the corresponding answers will be kept in perpetuity.