Any current U of T Medical Students willing to answer questions?

[manbearpig]

I have an interview coming up at U of T and was wondering if there were any current medical students who would be willing to answer a few questions about their time at the school. Just some general questions about curriculum, research opportunities, social life, pros/cons. There is only so much you can learn by reading on websites.

 

Anything would be greatly appreciated and thank you for your consideration!

 

Mike

[1234]

I'm sure if you ask the questions on here, I and other UofTers will be able to answer them.

[amino_acid]

I'm sure if you ask the questions on here, I and other UofTers will be able to answer them.

 

I agree. Just post it here and you'll probably get more responses.

[manbearpig]

Well just a very general question(s) to start off with - what does a typical day/week look like in first year? Second year? How does the curriculum differ from other schools? Is there lot's of free time to learn on your own? Or is most learning done in the classroom?

 

I've heard that there is less emphasis on PBL and more on traditional lecture based learning.

[mig174]

typical day: 9-5 class, study, party

typical week: 9-5 class, study, participate in extracurricular activities, party; after dec, days end earlier.

difference from other schools: more study, more structure.

lots of free time: no.

most learning done in the classroom: 50/50. gotta study a lot by yourself.

[KennethToronto]

Well just a very general question(s) to start off with - what does a typical day/week look like in first year? Second year? How does the curriculum differ from other schools? Is there lot's of free time to learn on your own? Or is most learning done in the classroom?

 

I've heard that there is less emphasis on PBL and more on traditional lecture based learning.

 

Your typical day in 1st/2nd year: sleeping in the lecture room. Go for lunch at MaRS/OPG. Go to sleep again in the lecture room. Go home and listen to lectures at 1.5x.

 

How does the curriculum differ: hard to say since I haven't attended other medical schools...but the pre-clinical part will be comprehensive and you'll learn what you need.

 

Is there lots of free time: I can't comment since the curriculum has likely changed into an unrecognizable form from when I went through it...but the hours were not bad. Maybe when you're studying for the exams it's bad but there's plenty of free time.

[manbearpig]

Sounds great. Thank you for the replies!

 

Furthermore, what are your perceptions of the school in terms of clinical experience? Are there many opportunities early on to actually get hands on experience with patients? Or is it mostly learning in the classroom?

 

And your interactions with professors/physicians? How willing are they to help you? For example, is it easy to set up shadowing with doctors from various specialities to get a sense of what you like?

 

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

[OIC]

http://torontomeds.com/orientation/?page_id=2

[rogerroger]

Your typical day in 1st/2nd year: sleeping in the lecture room. Go for lunch at MaRS/OPG. Go to sleep again in the lecture room. Go home and listen to lectures at 1.5x.

 

How does the curriculum differ: hard to say since I haven't attended other medical schools...but the pre-clinical part will be comprehensive and you'll learn what you need.

 

Is there lots of free time: I can't comment since the curriculum has likely changed into an unrecognizable form from when I went through it...but the hours were not bad. Maybe when you're studying for the exams it's bad but there's plenty of free time.

 

Amen. Haha so true!

 

For all my sleep lost in clerkship the days sleeping in preclerkship probably can account for it all...

 

Now for my two cents... With all seriousness, by second year I had a pretty good sense that learning medicine in lectures was pretty ineffective for me. The lectures were often dry. Very dry... Many topics were flogged to death. Often many lectures were 2x longer than they should have been, there was a lot of added fluff. So I just stopped attending most AM's.

 

Come exam times I watched recorded lectures at x2 and could get through a "day" of lectures within part of an evening.

 

Pre-clerkship is good times. You have massive amounts of time. You do nothing for three weeks, have loads of time to chill, go out, enjoy life, then you study like crazy for one week and repeat. It is not that bad. It does not prepare you for some of the physically taxing "marathons" of studying for exams while juggling call etc during clerkship and beyond, heh. But you can't ask for it all!

[1234]

Sounds great. Thank you for the replies!

 

Furthermore, what are your perceptions of the school in terms of clinical experience? Are there many opportunities early on to actually get hands on experience with patients? Or is it mostly learning in the classroom?

 

And your interactions with professors/physicians? How willing are they to help you? For example, is it easy to set up shadowing with doctors from various specialities to get a sense of what you like?

 

 

Thanks,

 

Mike

 

Toronto has clinical/research leaders in all fields and the most medical resources out of the medical schools in Canada. The opportunities are always there - more than anywhere else. But it up to you to pursue them. Everyone in Toronto - faculty, residents, physicians, assistants, surgical skills techs - everyone. Most don't actively promote opportunities. There are some formally organized opportunities - FM clinical experience, etc. However, there are countless informal opportunities but you have to do the work to find them.

 

Shadowing is the same thing. Most physicians really love their field and love taking on students. Others love their field but are extremely busy with resident teaching/research/clinical duties. Once again, you do the research, you find the opportunities, and you pursue it like a mature adult. Again, there are formal opportunities for shadowing and mentorship - ie. WB set up mentorship with staff physicians in your personally desired field.

[spiritedaway]

Since classes are 9-5 each day, do you find that you still have time to shadow doctors in 1st year or get involved in other ECs and research?

 

What do most people do in the summers off from medschool?

 

Thanks

[Andie]

Since classes are 9-5 each day, do you find that you still have time to shadow doctors in 1st year or get involved in other ECs and research?

 

What do most people do in the summers off from medschool?

 

Thanks

 

All our classes are video recorded, so as long as its not a small group session, seminar, PBL or a lab, you can do whatever you want. Lots of people go do other stuff and then just catch up on lectures in the evening. As for time to actually do this, depends what block you are doing. During anatomy with lots of labs there were not many days where this was possible. During MNU we had 8 weeks with Tuesday afternoons off, and some formal shadowing programs set up, so it was pretty easy during that block.

 

For summers most people I know are either doing research or one of the clinical programs for med students. We get so many emails to our list server about opportunities for the summer, you definitely will be able to find something that interests you. ROMP and rural placements are also popular. Some people are just going traveling. Its really up to you.

[rogerroger]

For summers most people I know are either doing research or one of the clinical programs for med students. We get so many emails to our list server about opportunities for the summer, you definitely will be able to find something that interests you. ROMP and rural placements are also popular. Some people are just going traveling. Its really up to you.

 

On a related note...

 

If you are flexible about what type of research you do I highly suggest travelling AND doing some research during a summer of pre-clerkship. You get the best of both worlds! The IFMSA has a great exchange program where you get free accommodation overseas while doing some research.

 

Check out: http://www.ifmsa.net/public/searchredb.php

 

I did this between first and second year and it was pretty awesome. I did a bit of research and every Friday evening I would jump on a train with other international med students who were participating in the program and travel all weekend and return late Sunday night. I met some pretty cool med students too from all around the world, I am still in touch with many of them several years later. It was hands down one of the best summers ever. Go do it! You won't regret!

[wcoast11]

On a related note...

 

If you are flexible about what type of research you do I highly suggest travelling AND doing some research during a summer of pre-clerkship. You get the best of both worlds! The IFMSA has a great exchange program where you get free accommodation overseas while doing some research.

 

Check out: http://www.ifmsa.net/public/searchredb.php

 

I did this between first and second year and it was pretty awesome. I did a bit of research and every Friday evening I would jump on a train with other international med students who were participating in the program and travel all weekend and return late Sunday night. I met some pretty cool med students too from all around the world, I am still in touch with many of them several years later. It was hands down one of the best summers ever. Go do it! You won't regret!

 

Wow! Looks amazing! Was the process of applying easy or complicated? Is it a common thing for UofT students to do? Did anyone guide you through the application or did you just set it up all yourself?

[rogerroger]

Wow! Looks amazing! Was the process of applying easy or complicated? Is it a common thing for UofT students to do? Did anyone guide you through the application or did you just set it up all yourself?

 

The IFMSA (International Federation of Medical Student Associations) is an organization which helps coordinate activities between different national medical student associations such as the CFMS (Canadian Federation of Medical Students - all Canadian med students are members, http://www.cfms.org/) and the other similar organizations around the world.

 

Every school has a student who is selected to be a liaison with the CFMS. This person will advertise and facilitate the application process. When you create your application you rank some exchange preferences by nationality. The IFMSA will then contact the corresponding national organizations and see if there is any accommodation spots available. After you are accepted by an overseas medical student association (I think everyone is accepted somewhere) you rank projects located in that country and that country's association facilitates the process of getting your accommodation lined up and the approval of project supervisor.

 

Accommodation and food is free, and sometimes your air travel is subsidized depending on the country you are travelling too. In return you are expected to accept a medical student from overseas to stay at your place in Canada in the future. That is the exchange part. I had a Finnish student stay in my place later on in second year while I was away from Toronto.

 

In my class between 1st and 2nd year there were a handful of students who participated, maybe 4-6. There are so many opportunities that everyone is doing something. However, the most popular choice when I was a pre-clerk was CREMS (http://www.md.utoronto.ca/program/research/crems.htm) which is UofT's own summer research program based in Toronto. The research in CREMS is more rigorous than what you would do with the IFMSA. You spend more time doing research in CREMS and need to toss a poster together and present it. If you want maximize your odds of getting your name on a paper then CREMS is the way to go. If you want to get some light research done while simultaneously being immersed in a unique healthcare system and travelling then I suggest going with the IFMSA.

 

Either way, the opportunities during the summers of pre-clerkship are numerous, there really is something for everyone if you keep your eyes open.

[wcoast11]

Thanks for the explanation!

[DoktaEvergreen]

Hey,

 

I was wondering if any first years could let me know if the curriculum is strictly lecture based + labs, or is there a small component of PBL and small tutorial sessions as well?

 

Thanks

[quackster]

There are seminars during the cardio and resp sections of Structure and Function, and PBL and seminars in Metabolism & Nutrition and Brain & Behaviour.

[nikki dale]

On a related note...

 

If you are flexible about what type of research you do I highly suggest travelling AND doing some research during a summer of pre-clerkship. You get the best of both worlds! The IFMSA has a great exchange program where you get free accommodation overseas while doing some research.

 

Check out: http://www.ifmsa.net/public/searchredb.php

 

I did this between first and second year and it was pretty awesome. I did a bit of research and every Friday evening I would jump on a train with other international med students who were participating in the program and travel all weekend and return late Sunday night. I met some pretty cool med students too from all around the world, I am still in touch with many of them several years later. It was hands down one of the best summers ever. Go do it! You won't regret!

This seems really cool!

Do you have any idea why McMaster isn't on this list?

 

http://www.ifmsa.net/public/ecscore.php?id=66

"Available Universities / Cities for Incoming Students"

"Memorial University (St. John's)

Northern Ontairo School of Medicine (Sudbury)

Northern Ontario School of Medicine (Thunder Bay)

Ontario Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario)

University of Alberta (Alberta)

University of British Columbia (British Columbia)

University of Dalhousie (Halifax)

University of Manitoba (Winnipeg)

University of Ottawa (Ottawa, Ontario)

University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon)

University of Toronto (Toronto)

University of Western Ontario (London (Ontario))"

[rogerroger]

This seems really cool!

Do you have any idea why McMaster isn't on this list?

 

http://www.ifmsa.net/public/ecscore.php?id=66

"Available Universities / Cities for Incoming Students"

"Memorial University (St. John's)

Northern Ontairo School of Medicine (Sudbury)

Northern Ontario School of Medicine (Thunder Bay)

Ontario Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario)

University of Alberta (Alberta)

University of British Columbia (British Columbia)

University of Dalhousie (Halifax)

University of Manitoba (Winnipeg)

University of Ottawa (Ottawa, Ontario)

University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon)

University of Toronto (Toronto)

University of Western Ontario (London (Ontario))"

 

I'm guessing but I assume the three year curriculum at Mac does not allow students to go away for months at a time. Therefore you cant exchange with another student overseas, thus no point in listing projects.

[nikki dale]

I'm guessing but I assume the three year curriculum at Mac does not allow students to go away for months at a time. Therefore you cant exchange with another student overseas, thus no point in listing projects.

 

Well that's odd, because I distinctly remember at the interview, they said you can take a 4th year (or it was during the normal 3 years, I don't remember) to do research electives.

[atomickitten86]

Well that's odd, because I distinctly remember at the interview, they said you can take a 4th year (or it was during the normal 3 years, I don't remember) to do research electives.

 

What the preclerkship elective in the summer after 1st year? That's 7 weeks... I realize research can take a long time... but I assume many of these experiences are to get your feet wet rather than trying to publish or complete something.

[rogerroger]

What the preclerkship elective in the summer after 1st year? That's 7 weeks... I realize research can take a long time... but I assume many of these experiences are to get your feet wet rather than trying to publish or complete something.

 

 

You won't normally publish stuff with the IFMSA exchange. I don't think publishing should even be on your mind when embarking on such an expirence. Many people won't publish with CREMS either. If you want to publish stuff getting started in the summer and staying on board throughout the years ahead helps. With this said, summer expirences can certainly get your foot in the door.

[rogerroger]

Well that's odd, because I distinctly remember at the interview, they said you can take a 4th year (or it was during the normal 3 years, I don't remember) to do research electives.

 

 

I dunno, I did med school at UofT. You should ask the undergrad MD students over on the Mac forum, maybe they would know?

[1234]

Well that's odd, because I distinctly remember at the interview, they said you can take a 4th year (or it was during the normal 3 years, I don't remember) to do research electives.

 

You can take a 4th year through Mac Med. It is called an ENRICHMENT YEAR. It is taken typically by those who are unsuccessful in matching after 3rd year. It allows you to stay associated with the school and partake in clinical electives as a clerk rather than as a random observer. It is time you can use to do whatever you want - improving or enriching your application. I'm not exactly sure whether if you have to pay another 20K in tuition though.