Factors in Choosing a School

[holiday1001]

thanks - Looking forward to it

ottawa's a great city! best of luck

[cnb88]

As for UofA, it is a great school, but given the problems it has had in the past with its medical school dean, and given that the Alberta government just slashed the university's budget, I, personally, would be choosing another medical school if I had the choice. But that's just my opinion. I'm sure there are plenty of other people who would choose UofA over other schools.

 

That's EX-dean. He's been gone for a few years now. The current dean and vice deans (is that what they're called?) are actually super awesome and very involved with our education/interested in our feedback.

 

As for the AB government slashing the university's budget- that might be a concern for other faculties, but for the med faculty, since we'll be undergoing accreditation in 2014, there's no way any budget cuts will be noticed by the students. Simply put- if there were major cuts that affected the education we receive, the med school would no longer be accredited. In fact, because the university will be undergoing accreditation in January, it will be one of the best times to be a student here- your voice will HAVE to be heard; improvements will be made. And the money will come from somewhere- if anything they'll raise the differential cost of tuition. But considering we're almost 10k lower than our Ontario counterparts, we don't have much to worry about for a little while.

 

 

 

Anyways, in terms of choosing a school it should rest solely on the awesomeness of their MMI video

[momo555]

what's the differential cost?

 

2012-2013 Tuition

 

$3,712.16

 

$7,424.32

 

2012-2013 Program Differential Fee

 

$2,250.30

 

$4,500.60

 

Total

 

$5,962.46

 

$11,924.92

 

 

so it used to be that the tuition the prev. year paid was 7424 but you guys had to pay 11,924?

 

If so, what an inflation!!!

[cnb88]

what's the differential cost?

 

so it used to be that the tuition the prev. year paid was 7424 but you guys had to pay 11,924?

 

If so, what an inflation!!!

 

No no...

 

The basic tuition would be approximately the same as undergrad tuition (based on our increased number of credit hours). The program differential basically includes all other fees and things because we're in medicine. Several faculties have it- nursing, business, and (I think) eng are 3 that I'm aware of. The program differential has stayed relatively the same (increasing with the CPI) for several years now. But since AB legislates that tuition can only increase with the CPI, the program differentials are what can/will be changed-if at all. (If anything, science, arts, and the rest of the faculties may decide to introduce program differentials to make up for the 7.2% cut the UofA has to deal with).

 

Last year's tuition was relatively the same as ours (maybe up a little for 2016). It definitely did not increase that much!

 

Don't worry I'd hazard a guess it wouldn't go up more than 2k AT MOST. That's if they increase it significantly at all.

[rmorelan]

Anyways, in terms of choosing a school it should rest solely on the awesomeness of their MMI video

 

Ha - I say just video alone

[Sobueno]

I think that when you've done your residency somewhere, it's probably easier to get a job there, but that's just what I've heard.

 

Personally I think observerships are what you make of them. I did one afternoon in a few different things, like ob/gyn, and paediatrics. It was interesting but I don't think I really understand what it means to practice that specialty.

 

But I have been spending at least one half day per week in psychiatry since October, sometimes two half days or a full day if I have it, and I've worked with 7-8 psychiatrists in all different areas/practice types, and been allowed to see patients - sometimes independently - and write notes, so I think I do have a relatively good idea about that specialty.

 

I think those are kind of the two extremes of what people do with observerships. You can definitely learn a lot about a specialty by doing them, if you use them appropriately.

 

But I see them as a way to narrow down/confirm my interests - I think that the real test is in clerkship when you see what it's like to really do that thing every day and have patients of your own. To me if you don't know what you want to do, the best way to use observerships is to narrow it down to a few things so that you can use clerkship electives and selectives appropriately to make a final decision.

 

If you do know what you want to do, I think it does help to make connections in the specialty so that the staff know you when you rotate through later.

 

Personally, observership time was important to me when choosing a school not so much for my career goals, but just to keep me interested and engaged and feeling connected to the clinical side of medicine.

 

Just $0.02 from an MS2

 

That's really good to know actually. I'm not sure what I want to get into, and I thought observerships might be a good way to get some added exposure to things in first and second years. I've thought about ob/gyn since going through the birthing process with my wife was AMAZING, buuuut that may be a completely different story when it's someone else's baby/significant other haha. I'll definitely keep this in mind when the time comes though.

[Sobueno]

Anyways, in terms of choosing a school it should rest solely on the awesomeness of their MMI video

 

Hahaha well then UofA it is! Seriously though, such a good video.