Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

Post Interview Talks

Neurophilic

Recommended Posts

still_tryin88 Newbie

still_tryin88

Posted
Posted

I actually really liked the Queens interview.  I got there quite early so I had time to do tours/chat with students beforehand, so I didn't get that same "rushed" feeling that people are describing.  I also didn't really feel like the "change in instructions" before going in made too much of a difference, as it didn't really change my response style that much.  In terms of the prompts themselves, there were a few tricky ones, but overall I probably built up the MMI in my head before going, so in comparison to what I was expecting they didn't seem that bad.

 

One thing I wish is that there were some 3rd/4th year students hanging around to answer some questions.  The 2019 class was awesome (very welcoming and friendly, happy to answer any and all questions), but I feel like 1st years tend to still be in the honeymoon stage, and they can't necessarily answer questions about the clerkship rotations etc.  Might be nice to have a couple upper year students hanging around the waiting area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 59
  • Created
  • Last Reply
susurrous Newbie

susurrous

Posted
Posted

One thing I wish is that there were some 3rd/4th year students hanging around to answer some questions.  The 2019 class was awesome (very welcoming and friendly, happy to answer any and all questions), but I feel like 1st years tend to still be in the honeymoon stage, and they can't necessarily answer questions about the clerkship rotations etc.  Might be nice to have a couple upper year students hanging around the waiting area.

 

Many of the 3rd/4th years are gone on their clerkship rotations, so that's why it's mostly the 2019 class that helps out during the interview weekend! And glad to hear that you enjoyed your experience at our school :) Although we don't know too much about clerkship rotations, we do have some idea of how they are structured so you could ask regardless. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Neurophilic Newbie

Neurophilic

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I actually really liked the Queens interview.  I got there quite early so I had time to do tours/chat with students beforehand, so I didn't get that same "rushed" feeling that people are describing.  I also didn't really feel like the "change in instructions" before going in made too much of a difference, as it didn't really change my response style that much.  In terms of the prompts themselves, there were a few tricky ones, but overall I probably built up the MMI in my head before going, so in comparison to what I was expecting they didn't seem that bad.

 

One thing I wish is that there were some 3rd/4th year students hanging around to answer some questions.  The 2019 class was awesome (very welcoming and friendly, happy to answer any and all questions), but I feel like 1st years tend to still be in the honeymoon stage, and they can't necessarily answer questions about the clerkship rotations etc.  Might be nice to have a couple upper year students hanging around the waiting area.

 

 

Many of the 3rd/4th years are gone on their clerkship rotations, so that's why it's mostly the 2019 class that helps out during the interview weekend! And glad to hear that you enjoyed your experience at our school :) Although we don't know too much about clerkship rotations, we do have some idea of how they are structured so you could ask regardless. 

 

Actually there was one fourth year med student on the day I interviewed who was nice enough to answer any questions I and a few other individuals had before he had to leave for his rotation :) And yes he made the program sound amazing.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Savac Newbie

Savac

Posted
Posted

I'm pretty sure one of the evaluations is whether you knock and how dominant/weak it was.

 

You give us too little credit. I might get in trouble for putting this out there, but we actually were also judging the rate/rhythm(ie. regular, irregularly irregular, etc.) and amplitude. Also, the total time spent on the knock was pretty critical. /s

 

Don't worry about knocking on the door guys, haha. We're much more interested in what you say rather than how you knock on a door. There will be plenty of time during medical school to teach proper door knocking technique. There's a few lectures about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Savac Newbie

Savac

Posted
Posted

Would you be able to fill us in a little on how 3rd and 4th year works? I'm mostly wondering how many rotations are done in the hospitals in Queens vs having to travel to do them? I think someone on here had speculated that for at least some of the specialties, you'd have to go elsewhere, since they didn't think there would be enough spots in Kingston itself.

 

Also, thanks! It's always awesome when current medical students are willing to come on here and answer all of our questions.

 

At least 1/3 of your core rotations would be located at regional centres by default. You can trade with classmates if you want more/less

 

 

Edit: Missed the first part of this question. I'll edit it in later if nobody answers it

Edit2: Epona is the real MVP

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Neurophilic Newbie

Neurophilic

Posted
  • Author
Posted

You give us too little credit. I might get in trouble for putting this out there, but we actually were also judging the rate/rhythm(ie. regular, irregularly irregular, etc.) and amplitude. Also, the total time spent on the knock was pretty critical. /s

 

Don't worry about knocking on the door guys, haha. We're much more interested in what you say rather than how you knock on a door. There will be plenty of time during medical school to teach proper door knocking technique. There's a few lectures about it.

I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites
_ _ Newbie

_ _

Posted
Posted

Everyone will have to do their Family placement outside of Kingston (with the exception of people who really need to stay in Kingston, e.g. they have a child). Most people will do part of their OBS/GYN rotation outside of Kingston.  There is also the possibility of doing Peds, Internal, and Surgery as a regional placement.  I think there are only two blocks that are guaranteed to be in Kingston, medicine subspecialties and "periop" (ER/anesthesiology/surgical specialties).

I think if you want to stay in Kingston for the entirety of clerkship (with the exception of your Family block) that is possible, because there are people that want to have regional placements.  Your accommodation/travel is covered by Queen's when you are on a regional placement.

I think this is becoming fairly common across Canada, but Queen's also has the option of an "integrated" clerkship stream, which has family/psych/peds combined into an 18-week placement in a smaller community.  These make up about 18/100 spots, and are really popular (so if you have no interest you will definitely not end up with an integrated stream).

Another thing to note: we have 6 weeks of elective in third year, which I don't think too many schools have.  The remaining 10 weeks (or 12 weeks, depending on your stream) are in fourth year at typical elective time (Sept - Nov ish).  Altogether, you'll have 16/18 weeks of pre-CaRMs electives. 

One of the core blocks is also after CaRMs, which again I don't think is too common at other schools, but I've heard from fourth years that they liked it, and would rather not have to go off on electives after matching and can instead relax a bit. 

That was really helpful, thank you! 

Do you (or others) ever feel limited in terms of exposure to different specialties, etc. being in a smaller center? And do you find the smaller center/class translates to more one 'hands-on' experience in clerkships, again, compared to a larger city/school?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...