DMD7 Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Hey everyone. Can anyone share their experience attending either dental school? I am from Ontario and just found out I was accepted to McGill. I am hesitant about the first two years with the med students (I feel like Toronto has an advantage here by not doing that) I also want to make sure I make the right decision because this is the next four years of my life. If I went to McGill I would love to learn French so that's not a concern for me and obviously the tuition and cost of living is far better than Toronto. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ostracized Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 I went to UofT. I obviously can't comment on McGill, but the much lower tuition and the smaller class size would be a serious draw for me if I were in your shoes. Out-of-province tuition at McGill is about half of UofT tuition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1234 Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 My friend's McGill class had 8 guys and 22 ladies - definite plus for the dudes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanup Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Montreal is amazing. I visited for the first time in years with friends on Victoria Day weekend and really, really didn't want to leave. The vibe is amazing. Also, the tuition is DIRT CHEAP. This is a no-brainer IMO. Dental school is what you make of it, so I wouldn't let the medical education deter you; if anything you might really like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanup Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Also, even if you attend U of T, I'd still recommend learning French; it could do wonders for your future career (there are very few French-speaking doctors and dentists in Ontario it seems; lots of Chinese-speaking ones of course ). But being at McGill and living in Montreal would obviously facilitate this change much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD7 Posted June 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Thanks for everyone's opinion I appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbesbesbe Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 I'm not going to speak for my classmates in general, but there are a few of us who kind of wish that we had gone somewhere other than McGill. Dental school may be what you make of it, but that's pretty hard to do when you're elbow deep in tub of dismembered penises and vaginas trying to memorize every stupid blood vessel and nerve of yet another body part that will never be relevant to dentistry. BTW, I have forgotten ALL.OF.THEM. I was originally pretty psyched to learn all the med material when I started, but that got old after about a month. Then I was REALLY psyched to finally start dentistry, but it's so incredibly rushed trying to pack in as much material and training as possible in 6 months before we have to start treating patients. That's when 18 months of med started feeling like a total waste of time. U of T may be pricier, but maybe check out what their facilities are like. Many of my classmates and I get kind of bummed when we see footage of schools with nice facilities. All of our stuff is old and crappy. Granted, we're theoretically moving soon, so we might be updated by the time you start clinic here. Right now though, there are a few people holding their chairs together with packing tape. If you think you want to work right out of school, you will have an uphill battle here. They HEAVILY "encourage" residency. The plus side of that is that the school will work to help you with residencies and specialties because they're so hardcore about it. Overall, this is just *my* personal opinion, but if I did it over again, I'd pick a different school, even with much higher tuition, but I want to start work right away, I have no interest in specializing, and I've forgotten more of BOM than I learned so I really would have prefered more actual dental school. wow...cause of such a low tuition, i thought once you get in Mcgill dentistry, you are set I guess that's not the case and what you are saying really makes me NOT want to go to dental schools that have 2 years with med students...like ubc I absolutely agree with you, doing this 2 years of med stuff is a total waste looking at a dental perspective Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanup Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Why do schools have 2 years of med education, then? Even Harvard has it. Does it not preen or help you if you're interested in specialising? At least they help you with that, and even if you wind up doing a GPR, it's only a year, and you're paid to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ostracized Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Why do schools have 2 years of med education, then? Even Harvard has it. Does it not preen or help you if you're interested in specialising? At least they help you with that, and even if you wind up doing a GPR, it's only a year, and you're paid to do it. It is cheaper for the school, for one thing. One class, one professor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbesbesbe Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 It is cheaper for the school, for one thing. One class, one professor. That's what i'm saying...it costs less for the school BUT it doesn't help us students they may say that this helps the students get a broader mind in the medical field or wutever, but its all about the cost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ostracized Posted June 19, 2012 Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 That's what i'm saying...it costs less for the school BUT it doesn't help us studentsthey may say that this helps the students get a broader mind in the medical field or wutever, but its all about the cost For sure. At UofT we had several lectures on each organ system but obviously not in the detail of med school. I wouldn't want to spend more time than we did, but on the other hand - if you paid me $60,000 (about the difference in price between McGill and UofT) I might be happy enough to learn about uro-genital pathology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbesbesbe Posted June 19, 2012 Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 For sure. At UofT we had several lectures on each organ system but obviously not in the detail of med school. I wouldn't want to spend more time than we did, but on the other hand - if you paid me $60,000 (about the difference in price between McGill and UofT) I might be happy enough to learn about uro-genital pathology. true that LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbesbesbe Posted June 19, 2012 Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 personally and this is just me I would choose the cheapest dental school (which is usually the most completive anyways) if I had the choice, which not many of us do, I would chose Mcgill over UofT At the end of the day, you become a dentist with DMD/DDS It really doesn't matter i believe, the school you go to, but how you make of yourself after dental school and establish a name for yourself. Great job op for getting BOTH acceptances! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanup Posted June 19, 2012 Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 personally and this is just me I would choose the cheapest dental school (which is usually the most completive anyways) if I had the choice, which not many of us do, I would chose Mcgill over UofT At the end of the day, you become a dentist with DMD/DDS It really doesn't matter i believe, the school you go to, but how you make of yourself after dental school and establish a name for yourself. Great job op for getting BOTH acceptances! Would personally do this as well. The cost of both dental education and dentistry itself is only rising; saving $60k is enough for a down-payment on a nice house, a new practice, a nice car, etc. Our tuition is only the first of our financial commitments. I highly doubt Malkynn and other McGill grads are crippled in their clinical knowledge or anything like that, and you guys are probably ultimately in a better position 1-2 years out of school since you'll have essentially zero debt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Molar Posted June 19, 2012 Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 I definitely want to specialize, thus McGill is my first choice as they strongly encourage students to do residency The one year internship in Oral Surgery sounds really cool to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMD7 Posted June 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 Is U of T not a good school for becoming a specialist as well? And do they not help you with finding residencies? A major plus of McGill seems to be their outreach programs along with the lower tuition. I am curious if U of T has many outreach programs. I feel like living in either city would be a wonderful experience though. I just want to make the right decision seeing as it is a big decision. But I definitely feel fortunate to be deciding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mighty Molar Posted June 19, 2012 Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 Is U of T not a good school for becoming a specialist as well? And do they not help you with finding residencies? A major plus of McGill seems to be their outreach programs along with the lower tuition. I am curious if U of T has many outreach programs. I feel like living in either city would be a wonderful experience though. I just want to make the right decision seeing as it is a big decision. But I definitely feel fortunate to be deciding. Obviously both U of T and McGill are awesome dental schools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpringDrive Posted June 20, 2012 Report Share Posted June 20, 2012 I personally think that the 18 months of medicine courses would help me preparing for the US Dental Board Exam (Step 1) which will open more doors to specialty programs. Obviously both U of T and McGill are awesome dental schools I thought they were changing that to pass/fail anyways? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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