OttawaOT17 Posted May 16, 2015 Report Share Posted May 16, 2015 Just wanted to try starting a thread for anyone who might be going to uOttawa this September for OT/PT. I noticed there aren't many of us who are on here but it would be nice to meet a couple of classmates that I'll be seeing next year So excited for September! I also went to uOttawa for undergrad and have lived in Ottawa for most of my life so if you have any questions let me know. I'll answer as best I can I also have a friend who was in PT so if you have any questions about that I'll answer as best I can, too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borninmay Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 Hi fellow UOttawa OT student I have been accepted to the program and indeed have a couple questions. I am an Anglophone from Alberta who learned French as a second language since elementary school (not immersion). My university minor is French and I have worked since 2011 part-time at a Francophone K-12 school. Nonetheless, my French is far from perfect. Am I completely crazy for thinking of going to UOttawa? Do you know of other Anglo people who have taken PT or OT at UOttawa, and what their experience was like? I know you can submit assignments and stuff in either language, but I don't wanna be at a disadvantage and end up hating the program because I have to spend every waking moment studying more than my fellow students. I also don't want to have a placement and the client resent me for not being perfectly fluent. I have been accepted to another OT school with an excellent program that also has 5 practicums. Also, general thoughts about Ottawa as a city? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OttawaOT17 Posted May 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 First off congratulations on getting accepted to your programs! To start off I know exactly how you feel about the language. I studied FSL up until high school but never french immersion so I can't say I ever studied in french. That also means I haven't studied any french since starting university but I work at a clinic where we get a lot of Francophone patients so I think that has helped me a lot in the past year.This will be the first time for me so I know exactly how you feel. You are actually in a better position with the language than I am having minored in French. Now to answer your question about managing in the program as an anglophone, the friend I have is actually the same as me. She never studied in french other than standard public school classes and french was always her second language. She is in the PT program but from what she tells me it's really not as bad as it seems. She told me some of her profs actually teach in English because they themselves aren't completely francophone. She also told me you can ask questions in any language and as you mention assignments/test answers can be written in either language. A lot of the students are more anglophone than French in both programs. Now I'm not saying that it'll be completely easy because obviously we'll probably encounter some vocabulary we're not familiar with but that's why my french-english dictionary will be my best friend haha. IMO if you can go on the uOttawa website and read the OT course descriptions without much problems, you should be okay (they're in french). I also think that if you felt okay in the interviews you'll be fine. On top of that I believe after a couple of months we'll be a lot more confident in our french. As for the placement it really is a gamble. There are a few hospitals in Ottawa. One is completely French (Montford) and the rest are bilingual (Ottawa General, Queensway-Carleton, Bruyere). Although there are more bilingual hospitals I get the impression they try to create a more French environment for the students so Montford seems to be a common placement. That's where my friend was placed anyways. You'd probably still encounter English patients because Ottawa is bilingual everywhere you tend to go. I think the biggest advantage however to the Ottawa program is that it is very small. The class is usually about 34-36 people so it's easy to get to know all your classmates, and help each other out. It's a really tight-knit program. As for the city I personally LOVE it. I've lived here since I was 4 and plan on staying here in the future as well. Someone in this forum described it as a big city with a small town feel and I think that's so true. It's easy to get to know new people, everyone is super nice. You'll bump into people you know often. It's a beautiful city, everywhere you go. It's not crowded or loud (personal preference, I like places that are calmer). In terms of transport, there's a bus that goes straight to the health science building and there's a shuttle from the main campus to the health science campus too. It comes often (every 15 mins) so if you end up living near the main campus (downtown) you can take that. It's free you just show your student ID. Lots of malls, restaurants, parks, etc... I've lived here a long time and discover new places all the time. I wish I could tell you how easy it is to find housing but I live with my family so I don't have much experience with that but you can easily find postings if you go on Kijiji. There's tons of places that rent out to students, I don't think you'll have a problem with that. Wow sorry for that long answer. I hope it helps. If you have any more questions don;t hesitate to ask. I'm sure you'll pick the right place for you and whatever you decide to do I wish you all the best I hope to see you in September Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borninmay Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 WOW thank you so much for the very detailed response! How very Canadian of you to apologize for giving me so much information I really appreciate it. I feel relieved that I would not be the only English-dominant person in the program. To be honest though, I was half hoping your response to me was going to be ''No don't come here, you need to be completely fluent in French'' so that it would be easier for me to make up my mind about what I am going to do now! I never thought I would be accepted to my 2 top schools - not that this is a horrible problem to have haha. In the uOttawa interviews, I thought I actually bombed 2 of the French stations, so it was a bit of a surprise to get in. However, I guess they saw promise in my English answers. I think you are very right that after two months of the program, our French will be a lot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marienike Posted May 20, 2015 Report Share Posted May 20, 2015 Congratulations to both of you for getting in! English is my 2nd language. I've always studied in French and then I went to University in English. Although, I did not know much English back then. I have to admit that it was a little bit hard, but I was also 18. It is totally doable! Don't be afraid to ask for help. You really should do it; being bilingual will open much more doors in the future. Also, I was wondering if we, students, are going to be getting in touch somehow? I don't know anyone in Ottawa; I kinda need to find roommates and a place to stay! Haha! This is what is freaking me out the most right now. Hopefully we will be getting that email with more informations soon! MP(I got into OT btw ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OttawaOT17 Posted May 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2015 borninmay: No problem! Haha I was trying to give you as much information as possible while not writing an essay but it didn't work out so well. I know what you mean with the interview. There was a couple of stations that I kept thinking about up until May 15. I think that by making it through the interview to being accepted means that they think we have enough French and English to do well in the program. I heard that the French stations actually have more weight than the English ones. The English ones are just there to verify that we are bilingual more than anything. So I'm guessing it didn't go as badly as you though marienlike; Congratulations on the acceptance! And thank you for the advice. What you said actually made me feel a bit better about the French. I know that the students admitted in the years 2013 and 2014 have a facebook page but I haven't found anything for this year yet. As for finding a place to stay I would check Kijiji (http://www.kijiji.ca/h-ottawa/1700185). A LOT of people post there. You will definitely find something there! And there's a facebook group called "Uottawa Student housing Billboard" where a bunch of people post about housing and roommates. You can check there. Hope that helped and I look forward to meeting you in September Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marienike Posted May 21, 2015 Report Share Posted May 21, 2015 Voici un groupe facebook que j'ai créé pour tenter de mettre en contact les étudiants en OT! https://www.facebook.com/groups/1574504559482602/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pht2015 Posted May 27, 2015 Report Share Posted May 27, 2015 Is there anyone on the PT waiting list in this forum? (As an OOP applicant for uOttawa) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OT-15 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Hey ! I am a student about to graduate from uOttawa in OT. I loved this forum to get some answers before my first year so I decided I should return the favor . As an anglophone, do not worry about the french requirements! I had not previously attended French school prior to OT although I did have pretty good spoken and comprehension. While almost all classes are taught in French, the profs are either english or know english, and for me, the majority of my written work throughout the two years, was done in english. Chances are, if you were accepted, it's because they believed your french was going to be enough ! Secondly, as for the placements, the french ones are quite limited. I did all 5 placements in Ottawa and all were in English. I did have French clients at times but reports were still written in English. I would not worry too much about that. As for living situations, there are tons of places close to Roger-Guindon so you can walk to school, which is amazing! uOttawa is amazing! The profs are awesome and I am sure you will all love it! Don't hesitate to ask me any questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borninmay Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Hey ! I am a student about to graduate from uOttawa in OT. I loved this forum to get some answers before my first year so I decided I should return the favor . As an anglophone, do not worry about the french requirements! I had not previously attended French school prior to OT although I did have pretty good spoken and comprehension. While almost all classes are taught in French, the profs are either english or know english, and for me, the majority of my written work throughout the two years, was done in english. Chances are, if you were accepted, it's because they believed your french was going to be enough ! Secondly, as for the placements, the french ones are quite limited. I did all 5 placements in Ottawa and all were in English. I did have French clients at times but reports were still written in English. I would not worry too much about that. As for living situations, there are tons of places close to Roger-Guindon so you can walk to school, which is amazing! uOttawa is amazing! The profs are awesome and I am sure you will all love it! Don't hesitate to ask me any questions Thanks for the reply! It's nice to hear from someone who has taken the program. What do you feel are the best parts of going to OT school at uOttawa? Do you feel there are any weaknesses in the program? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OT-15 Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Obviously there is always some cons to any program; we're humans and like to complain . But in all honesty, I think uOttawa provides a great education and I see myself finishing now compared to people who have gone to other OT schools and we are all pretty equal in my opinion. uOttawa also made it easy to have an excellent work/life balance! The best learning experiences you will have are the clinical placements and not necessarily in the classroom... The profs are great and super caring, it's a small class size and living in Ottawa was a great experience too. The only con I can really think of is lack of placements because of all the cuts in the public sector at the government level.... but as a pro, you have the option to do 3 (maybe even 4 next year) out of province and 1 international... so it opens the doors to a lot of different experiences. Otherwise, your education will be what you make it! I cannot stress enough that just going to class and listening is not going to be enough to make you a great OT.... you should volunteer, participate in non-mandatory things like guest lecturers, do optional certifications, and bond with your classmates (they're going to be your co-workers and support team not long after!).. and enjoy your last two years as a student because it flies by! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OttawaOT17 Posted June 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Hey ! I am a student about to graduate from uOttawa in OT. I loved this forum to get some answers before my first year so I decided I should return the favor . As an anglophone, do not worry about the french requirements! I had not previously attended French school prior to OT although I did have pretty good spoken and comprehension. While almost all classes are taught in French, the profs are either english or know english, and for me, the majority of my written work throughout the two years, was done in english. Chances are, if you were accepted, it's because they believed your french was going to be enough ! Secondly, as for the placements, the french ones are quite limited. I did all 5 placements in Ottawa and all were in English. I did have French clients at times but reports were still written in English. I would not worry too much about that. As for living situations, there are tons of places close to Roger-Guindon so you can walk to school, which is amazing! uOttawa is amazing! The profs are awesome and I am sure you will all love it! Don't hesitate to ask me any questions Thank you for giving us the time to answer our questions. You insight was very helpful. I am actually living in Ottawa and have been to uOttawa so the thing I am most curious about is where the placements will actually take place. I have a couple of places I would like to do my placements but I'm not sure if they are options. I know that the placement options can change from year to year and you're not guaranteed you first choices, but in your year what were you options? and where did you do your 5 placements? Thank you! Also congrats on almost finishing!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OT-15 Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 There are a quite a large variety of places that we do them, but it all depends on what OTs sign up to take on a student. At the moment (and next year too I believe), Tricia Morrison is the stage coordinator and absolutely fantastic!! She really takes into consideration what you want and has everyone fill out a profile... otherwise though, you will have almost no control over your placements and the opportunities change for each placement. Where did you have in mind? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OttawaOT17 Posted June 2, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Awesome . I'm really interested in working in hospitals in the future rather than outpatient clinics so I was hoping I'd have a few placements in the hospital. I was interested in CHEO for peds, Bruyere for geriatrics and really want to do a placement in the General Hospital Rehab Centre. Of course I know chances of getting all those placements aren't guaranteed but those are just some examples. But I also want to have a couple of placements outside of hospitals of course to get a comparison and see what it's like to work in all environments with all kinds of clients. I'm not too picky about those placements though. I really want to try things I don't know about. Those are the ones I'm interested in hearing about. Were there any placements that you got that were a new experience or unexpected for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karim10 Posted June 25, 2015 Report Share Posted June 25, 2015 Hello everyone ,I'm currently a francophone student studying kinesiology and I was hoping of applying to PT in Uottawa and I hope I can get some help . I was hoping for some information like average GPA required , how the gpa is calculated ( They have a weighted calculation in medecine per example) , I finished two years at york so far , my first year not so good I goy 3.51 . 2nd year better i got 3.88 , I have a good amount of volunteering experience , ECs and I have some basic research experience. Also is the interview MMI or normal ?Thank you so much for your time and comprehensionFélicitations pour ceux d'entre qui ont été accepté et bonne chance pour tous ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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