Dal Or Mun?

[mdtobe19997]

I am a surgical resident so i think i would know about the surgical programs at both schools, and yes i was first assist in almost every OR during my clerkship at MUN, i was second or third assist during my two electives in halifax , so i think i can rightfully comment on that.

Well, it seems a little fruitless to sit here and discuss it since you seem to have your mind made up. Best of luck to you!

[A-Stark]

I am a surgical resident so i think i would know about the surgical programs at both schools, and yes i was first assist in almost every OR during my clerkship at MUN, i was second or third assist during my two electives in halifax , so i think i can rightfully comment on that.

 

 

You made an account here yesterday specifically to make these comparisons? Oookay. 

[NLengr]

I'm a chief resident in a surgical specialty in Canada. I spent time during clerkship at both MUN and Dal. I spent time in the ORs at both. Furthermore, I have worked extensively with clerks from both schools. On top of all that, I was offered admission to both medical schools.

 

Look, the thing is, both MUN and Dal are strong schools. They both provide good responsibility and training for med students. The average quality of the clerks I see coming out of the East Coast (MUN or Dal) when they do electives with us is superior to average quality of clerks I see doing electives with us out of Ontario or the West (full disclosure: Manitoba clerks are also awesome). Some of this may have to do with excellent clerkship training. Maybe some to do with East Coast work ethic. IMO, the clerks from the East and Manitoba are capable of operating at a more independent level than Ontario (again on average) and will more often take the initiative to do things like draft a treatment plan for a consult before they review the patient with the resident or write up post op orders. Most Ontario clerks don't even know how to write basic OR orders which, in a way, is probably a failure of residents to teach adequately.

 

Neither MUN or Dal have a large number of fellows, so OR exposure is excellent at both sites. Besides some basic surturing skills, you'll pick up your OR skills during residency. You might get to do a few extra things at MUN due to less residents in some specialties, but it's not going to make or break your match or your surgical training in the long run. Compare that to some bigger Ontario schools where the med students may only get to see a handful of operations as third assist during a two week rotation.

 

When it comes to trying to match to a surgical specialty each has advantages and disadvantages. Dal has more academic programs, which means it's easier to get exposure to the staff and residents from say an ENT program. They'll know who you are come elective time. The downside of that is because they have residents, the staff may not be as invested in helping you learn or match (they need to worry about training residents). At MUN, you may not have exposure to the academic program of your choice. However, this also means that you are working directly with staff when shadowing or on elective. Most staff from there seem very interested in helping med students succeed and match. They'll go the extra mile to make sure you are well trained going into electives and they are willing to write letters and make calls to people they know to try and help you get a spot in the match. What's a better situation? It's hard to say and probably depends on what individual student you are talking about.

 

Trying to figure out what school will help you match is pointless anyway. The individual person and how they use the advantages they are given, is what matters.

 

As I said before (I don't know if it was this one or the MUN thread) but the most important thing is to pick a school where you will succeed. Doing well in med school (both from a knowledge acquisition and an evaluation POV) is easier if you have a good support network. If you do well in med school overall you are more likely to end up in your choice specialty. If you have a solid support network in one city (say your family lives in Halifax), I would recommend strongly consider going to where your support network is located.

 

Now, can we get back to talking about Lottie's?

[Chels1267]

I'm a chief resident in a surgical specialty in Canada. I spent time during clerkship at both MUN and Dal. I spent time in the ORs at both. Furthermore, I have worked extensively with clerks from both schools. On top of all that, I was offered admission to both medical schools.

 

Look, the thing is, both MUN and Dal are strong schools. They both provide good responsibility and training for med students. The average quality of the clerks I see coming out of the East Coast (MUN or Dal) when they do electives with us is superior to average quality of clerks I see doing electives with us out of Ontario or the West (full disclosure: Manitoba clerks are also awesome). Some of this may have to do with excellent clerkship training. Maybe some to do with East Coast work ethic. IMO, the clerks from the East and Manitoba are capable of operating at a more independent level than Ontario (again on average) and will more often take the initiative to do things like draft a treatment plan for a consult before they review the patient with the resident or write up post op orders. Most Ontario clerks don't even know how to write basic OR orders which, in a way, is probably a failure of residents to teach adequately.

 

Neither MUN or Dal have a large number of fellows, so OR exposure is excellent at both sites. Besides some basic surturing skills, you'll pick up your OR skills during residency. You might get to do a few extra things at MUN due to less residents in some specialties, but it's not going to make or break your match or your surgical training in the long run. Compare that to some bigger Ontario schools where the med students may only get to see a handful of operations as third assist during a two week rotation.

 

When it comes to trying to match to a surgical specialty each has advantages and disadvantages. Dal has more academic programs, which means it's easier to get exposure to the staff and residents from say an ENT program. They'll know who you are come elective time. The downside of that is because they have residents, the staff may not be as invested in helping you learn or match (they need to worry about training residents). At MUN, you may not have exposure to the academic program of your choice. However, this also means that you are working directly with staff when shadowing or on elective. Most staff from there seem very interested in helping med students succeed and match. They'll go the extra mile to make sure you are well trained going into electives and they are willing to write letters and make calls to people they know to try and help you get a spot in the match. What's a better situation? It's hard to say and probably depends on what individual student you are talking about.

 

Trying to figure out what school will help you match is pointless anyway. The individual person and how they use the advantages they are given, is what matters.

 

As I said before (I don't know if it was this one or the MUN thread) but the most important thing is to pick a school where you will succeed. Doing well in med school (both from a knowledge acquisition and an evaluation POV) is easier if you have a good support network. If you do well in med school overall you are more likely to end up in your choice specialty. If you have a solid support network in one city (say your family lives in Halifax), I would recommend strongly consider going to where your support network is located.

 

Now, can we get back to talking about Lottie's?

 

Anytime my friend! White Russians all around!

[A-Stark]

I am a surgical resident so i think i would know about the surgical programs at both schools, and yes i was first assist in almost every OR during my clerkship at MUN, i was second or third assist during my two electives in halifax , so i think i can rightfully comment on that.

 

 

So you did 11 weeks of surgery rotations in Halifax along with two longitudinal pre-clerkship electives over the course of a year? 

[DelightedPreMed]

I'm a chief resident in a surgical specialty in Canada. I spent time during clerkship at both MUN and Dal. I spent time in the ORs at both. Furthermore, I have worked extensively with clerks from both schools. On top of all that, I was offered admission to both medical schools.

 

Look, the thing is, both MUN and Dal are strong schools. They both provide good responsibility and training for med students. The average quality of the clerks I see coming out of the East Coast (MUN or Dal) when they do electives with us is superior to average quality of clerks I see doing electives with us out of Ontario or the West (full disclosure: Manitoba clerks are also awesome). Some of this may have to do with excellent clerkship training. Maybe some to do with East Coast work ethic. IMO, the clerks from the East and Manitoba are capable of operating at a more independent level than Ontario (again on average) and will more often take the initiative to do things like draft a treatment plan for a consult before they review the patient with the resident or write up post op orders. Most Ontario clerks don't even know how to write basic OR orders which, in a way, is probably a failure of residents to teach adequately.

 

Neither MUN or Dal have a large number of fellows, so OR exposure is excellent at both sites. Besides some basic surturing skills, you'll pick up your OR skills during residency. You might get to do a few extra things at MUN due to less residents in some specialties, but it's not going to make or break your match or your surgical training in the long run. Compare that to some bigger Ontario schools where the med students may only get to see a handful of operations as third assist during a two week rotation.

 

When it comes to trying to match to a surgical specialty each has advantages and disadvantages. Dal has more academic programs, which means it's easier to get exposure to the staff and residents from say an ENT program. They'll know who you are come elective time. The downside of that is because they have residents, the staff may not be as invested in helping you learn or match (they need to worry about training residents). At MUN, you may not have exposure to the academic program of your choice. However, this also means that you are working directly with staff when shadowing or on elective. Most staff from there seem very interested in helping med students succeed and match. They'll go the extra mile to make sure you are well trained going into electives and they are willing to write letters and make calls to people they know to try and help you get a spot in the match. What's a better situation? It's hard to say and probably depends on what individual student you are talking about.

 

Trying to figure out what school will help you match is pointless anyway. The individual person and how they use the advantages they are given, is what matters.

 

As I said before (I don't know if it was this one or the MUN thread) but the most important thing is to pick a school where you will succeed. Doing well in med school (both from a knowledge acquisition and an evaluation POV) is easier if you have a good support network. If you do well in med school overall you are more likely to end up in your choice specialty. If you have a solid support network in one city (say your family lives in Halifax), I would recommend strongly consider going to where your support network is located.

 

Now, can we get back to talking about Lottie's?

 

This post was very helpful, thank you!

 

I'm a current applicant, but for what it's worth my former boss and mentor (MD/Researcher of 30 years) gave me the exact same advice. Go where you have support, you'll be that much more successful.

[_ _]

I'm a chief resident in a surgical specialty in Canada. I spent time during clerkship at both MUN and Dal. I spent time in the ORs at both. Furthermore, I have worked extensively with clerks from both schools. On top of all that, I was offered admission to both medical schools.

 

Look, the thing is, both MUN and Dal are strong schools. They both provide good responsibility and training for med students. The average quality of the clerks I see coming out of the East Coast (MUN or Dal) when they do electives with us is superior to average quality of clerks I see doing electives with us out of Ontario or the West (full disclosure: Manitoba clerks are also awesome). Some of this may have to do with excellent clerkship training. Maybe some to do with East Coast work ethic. IMO, the clerks from the East and Manitoba are capable of operating at a more independent level than Ontario (again on average) and will more often take the initiative to do things like draft a treatment plan for a consult before they review the patient with the resident or write up post op orders. Most Ontario clerks don't even know how to write basic OR orders which, in a way, is probably a failure of residents to teach adequately.

 

 

Do you have any other experience/comparisons between the experience clerks seem to have in ON versus Dal? 

Thanks!

[NLengr]

Outside of my specialty, nothing that I think would be helpful because I don't deal with them outside of my specialty.