HeHeBunny Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 Current UC Med Students: - Whats the current note taking / lecture style like? More specifically, are notes put-up at the beginning of the course and you can print everything in one-fell-swoop, or are notes put up 30 minutes before hand and thus having a tablet/laptop essential? Maybe its a bit of both and professor/course dependant? Feel free to post any additional burning questions you have! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 Current UC Med Students: - Whats the current note taking / lecture style like? More specifically, are notes put-up at the beginning of the course and you can print everything in one-fell-swoop, or are notes put up 30 minutes before hand and thus having a tablet/laptop essential? Maybe its a bit of both and professor/course dependant? Feel free to post any additional burning questions you have! Definitely professor/course dependent. Having said that, some days we have 8 hours of lecture (not often!) at 50 pages per lecture. Even if you do a bunch of slides per page (which is hard to take notes on anyways) that's a lot of paper/ink. The vast majority (95+) take notes on a tablet or computer. I podcast and rarely go to lecture, so I skip directly to making summary notes in evernote as I watch the lecture because I can pause/rewind as needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lacigolonummI Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 Definitely professor/course dependent. Having said that, some days we have 8 hours of lecture (not often!) at 50 pages per lecture. Even if you do a bunch of slides per page (which is hard to take notes on anyways) that's a lot of paper/ink. The vast majority (95+) take notes on a tablet or computer. I podcast and rarely go to lecture, so I skip directly to making summary notes in evernote as I watch the lecture because I can pause/rewind as needed. Is the U of C workload overwhelming? The school appealed to me a lot but everyone is warning me (if I am fortunate enough to receive admission) to choose other schools, simply because 3 years of direct schooling will burn you out horribly. I am not sure I quite believe this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeHeBunny Posted April 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 I've always struggled with the idea of taking notes on a computer when it comes to figures, drawings, pictures, etc.. Do you find many people use something like a touchscreen tablet to deal with this or ... ? Is there any sophisticated note taking apps/software that is now commonplace among your class? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 Is the U of C workload overwhelming? The school appealed to me a lot but everyone is warning me (if I am fortunate enough to receive admission) to choose other schools, simply because 3 years of direct schooling will burn you out horribly. I am not sure I quite believe this I don't find it overwhelming. Did those people attend U of C? It's definitely busy but I think med school is busy for everyone! Especially with the flexibility of podcasting if that's your thing, I've found it quite reasonable. Like I said full lecture days are rare and there's usually tons of variety during the day which makes it feel less overwhelming. I can see how people who went to a traditional school might see it that way, but you adapt. Would it be nice to have a whole summer off? Probably but there are also plus sides as I've said before. One of the main ones being that you get very little vacation in residency so it'll be nice to ease into that while I don't have much responsibility in med school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 I've always struggled with the idea of taking notes on a computer when it comes to figures, drawings, pictures, etc.. Do you find many people use something like a touchscreen tablet to deal with this or ... ? Is there any sophisticated note taking apps/software that is now commonplace among your class? I have an iPad, lots of people have tablets. But lots of people make due with just annotating the PDF on a computer and I don't think they've had trouble. Most of the info is on the figures anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjc2 Posted April 5, 2015 Report Share Posted April 5, 2015 How often can you get the lecture content via podcast? Just wondering how much flexibility there is with actually having to show up for class vs. watch the lectures at your own leisure, and when that flexibility runs out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 How often can you get the lecture content via podcast? Just wondering how much flexibility there is with actually having to show up for class vs. watch the lectures at your own leisure, and when that flexibility runs out. Pretty much always. I'd say 10% of the time there's no podcast from this year, but almost every time that happens there is one from last year. Probably only <1% of the time is there no podcast at all, and you can usually make do with the notes and other sources. I never go to class, haha. The slight chance that there is no podcast is vastly outweighed by the fact that I am soooo much more efficient when podcasting. Not even close, for me, but to each their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjc2 Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 But when, in the 3-year program, does that flexibility run out? Pretty much always. I'd say 10% of the time there's no podcast from this year, but almost every time that happens there is one from last year. Probably only <1% of the time is there no podcast at all, and you can usually make do with the notes and other sources.I never go to class, haha. The slight chance that there is no podcast is vastly outweighed by the fact that I am soooo much more efficient when podcasting. Not even close, for me, but to each their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 But when, in the 3-year program, does that flexibility run out? Not sure what you mean. Obviously you have to be at the hospital as per your schedule in clerkship. (Third year) But before that it's pretty flexible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjc2 Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Thanks amichel, that's what I was trying to get at. Sorry for not being clear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Thanks amichel, that's what I was trying to get at. Sorry for not being clear No problem! Let me know if you have more questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostLamb Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 There's plenty of sessions where you do have to be present in person. For example, small groups (nearly daily), communications, physical exam, patient presentations...I am sure I am missing something. For me, there was value in attending in person--the social aspect, meeting your profs face to face, and the general need to get out of the house and avoid cabin fever!! Also, I am probably part of the 5% or less who used exclusively paper and pen to take notes. Always printed 6 slides per page. I have about a dozen binders of notes from med school. It just was the easiest way for me to get the info I needed. I most certainly avoided distraction by other things online.... to each their own! ll Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 There's plenty of sessions where you do have to be present in person. For example, small groups (nearly daily), communications, physical exam, patient presentations...I am sure I am missing something. For me, there was value in attending in person--the social aspect, meeting your profs face to face, and the general need to get out of the house and avoid cabin fever!! Also, I am probably part of the 5% or less who used exclusively paper and pen to take notes. Always printed 6 slides per page. I have about a dozen binders of notes from med school. It just was the easiest way for me to get the info I needed. I most certainly avoided distraction by other things online.... to each their own! ll Yes I should have made it clear, there are lots of mandatory things. Otherwise I'd be so lonely, haha. And yes, to each their own for sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeHeBunny Posted April 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 Like many, if I am fortunate enough to receive an acceptance, much of my schooling costs will rely on loans/lines of credit/etc... To this regard, do any current med students have any tips or suggestions from your own experiences? Things you wish you knew or had done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 Like many, if I am fortunate enough to receive an acceptance, much of my schooling costs will rely on loans/lines of credit/etc... To this regard, do any current med students have any tips or suggestions from your own experiences? Things you wish you knew or had done? I feel like I'm the only one answering haha. If (when) you get in there will be a class Facebook group where there will be tons of people to answer your questions. I don't currently have government loans (joys of getting in out of third year!) but I do have a line of credit. Make sure you talk to the professional student Rep at the banks because the rest of them don't have a clue. It's super easy to set up. One of them met me in the lobby of a hotel in Calgary on a Saturday as I was only in town looking for apartments for the weekend. They want your business. As far as managing debt, I'm only in first year, but I can pass along the advice I've gotten from people farther along in the process. Which is: Be reasonable, but don't deprive yourself for the sake of being frugal, it's not worth it. Go to class events, fly home to visit family when you need to etc... For me, that has meant: - I don't have a roomate. I spend twice as much money in rent, but it's worth it for my mental well being -I go home for a visit every six weeks or so. See rationale above. - I went on a spring break trip with 22 of my classmates. It was awesome. Some people didn't go because they didn't want to spend the money, and while I won't speak for them and say they regret it, it's not a sacrifice you need to make. Now, of course, it's personal. There are people more frugal than me and there are people who spend way more than me. Not sure if that's what you were asking, haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearpuppy Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 So I guess I want to ask a similar question regarding weekends -- how common would it be to have non-mandatory obligations on a Friday and/or Monday, such that it would enable taking a long weekend to see family/friends via air? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 So I guess I want to ask a similar question regarding weekends -- how common would it be to have non-mandatory obligations on a Friday and/or Monday, such that it would enable taking a long weekend to see family/friends via air? You can usually find a weekend to do that. Course 3 was terrible for that, so in response they gave us 2 flex days where you can miss mandatory events. But other than that one course, so far it hasn't been hard to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear4321 Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 Sorry to backtrack here, I just wanted to add my two cents about the note taking business. Each of you will certainly figure out what works best for you, but in case this method helps someone find their groove sooner I thought I'd share ... The majority of the lecture notes are made available via PDF before class (those PPTs can be converted to PDF), I would download these and follow the slides on my laptop, typing in my own notes along the margins (I used the free program Foxit PDF, this viewer allows you to modify PDFs). When it came time to really study, I would print off only the slides that I felt were most pertinent. This is great for those (like me) who prefer to study off paper than a computer screen. Otherwise, as mentioned above, slides can easily be printed off at the lab just before lecture to be written on. Calgary students are given a certain amount of printing credits so the first hundred or so pages are free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostLamb Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 I think the printing credits don't exist anymore...you need to put money on your onecard. I think they took it away while I/we were in clerkship. You'd have to ask a Narwhal or Roost---er, Humu what the printing status is these days! LL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 I think the printing credits don't exist anymore...you need to put money on your onecard. I think they took it away while I/we were in clerkship. You'd have to ask a Narwhal or Roost---er, Humu what the printing status is these days! LL Yes. Does not exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 Sorry to backtrack here, I just wanted to add my two cents about the note taking business. Each of you will certainly figure out what works best for you, but in case this method helps someone find their groove sooner I thought I'd share ... The majority of the lecture notes are made available via PDF before class (those PPTs can be converted to PDF), I would download these and follow the slides on my laptop, typing in my own notes along the margins (I used the free program Foxit PDF, this viewer allows you to modify PDFs). When it came time to really study, I would print off only the slides that I felt were most pertinent. This is great for those (like me) who prefer to study off paper than a computer screen. Otherwise, as mentioned above, slides can easily be printed off at the lab just before lecture to be written on. Calgary students are given a certain amount of printing credits so the first hundred or so pages are free. I also like to study off paper, but don't find it super practical. So I take notes while watching podcasts I'm Evernote, then make hand written summary notes based off the course objectives (using my Evernote notes) while studying for tests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear4321 Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 I think the printing credits don't exist anymore...you need to put money on your onecard. I think they took it away while I/we were in clerkship. You'd have to ask a Narwhal or Roost---er, Humu what the printing status is these days! LL hahaha.... oops! sorry for turning this thread into a den of lies... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeHeBunny Posted April 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2015 Lets talk numbers real quick: Estimated Costs (Applicant Manual, pg. 25) Tuition: $15,012 Fees: $1,129 Books & Supplies: $5,050 Are these estimated costs fairly accurate? Does it change when entering your 2nd or 3rd year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amichel Posted April 18, 2015 Report Share Posted April 18, 2015 Lets talk numbers real quick: Estimated Costs (Applicant Manual, pg. 25) Tuition: $15,012 Fees: $1,129 Books & Supplies: $5,050 Are these estimated costs fairly accurate? Does it change when entering your 2nd or 3rd year? I have nooo idea how they got to 5000 for books and supplies. Stethoscope: 250 All the AMA, CMA Fees 500 ish White coat 40 Books: as much as you want Some people have bought exactly zero textbooks. I've bought quite a few and have probably spent around 800. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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