DelightedPreMed Posted April 12, 2016 Report Share Posted April 12, 2016 Hi guys! I'm one of those people that needs to talk about things after they've happened, so please humour me. Lol! We've all signed confidentiality agreements, so no sharing of specifics, but I'm curious to hear from everyone surrounding their thoughts on the interview, the campus and Mac in general! I'll start! This was my first visit to Mac and Hamilton in general. I thought the upper year students were great and did an awesome job selling the school. The interview itself was what I expected. Some of the stations presented questions that were a little more complex than I expected, and I was disappointed with my performance in one, but overall I feel ok about my performance. I was surprised to learn such great things about the regional campuses, especially Niagara... I had assumed that Hamilton would be my obvious first choice, but I definitely need to do more research and potentially visit the other cities. It seemed to me that the Hamilton group is less close-knit than the groups at the regional campuses and I like the idea of having a small group for social support. Anyone else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess85 Posted April 14, 2016 Report Share Posted April 14, 2016 I personally felt there were no surprises for the mac MMI. Pretty much on par with the feedback I had received from those who had gone through the process and from what I had been practicing. We'll have to see how that translates come May 10th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curiousaboutapps1 Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 I didn't have a good experience. I don't think my interview went badly per say. I was just generally unimpressed with the school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewDirection Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 [Record scratch] It is refreshing to see someone sharing a contrarian opinion, though. I enjoyed my experience there. The upper year students were very helpful and the interview wasn't too bad. Probably could have done a bit better on at least a couple of stations but definitely better than my previous MMI at another school. Regional campuses are not an option for me as distance is a factor, what with the family and all. I do feel that if that wasn't a factor, I would probably choose the Niagara campus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarawng37 Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 I didn't have a good experience. I don't think my interview went badly per say. I was just generally unimpressed with the school. Also had the same impression. I don't see the appeal of Mac at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a7x Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 I personally very much enjoyed both my MMI and the school, the students really set my mind at ease about the possibility of getting a regional campus and it was actually a hard decision to rank Hamilton first after my discussions with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premed23 Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 I had a very positive experience at McMaster. The students were extremely welcoming and comforting. The MMI questions were very interesting and varied in topics. Overall, the questions were easy/moderate in difficulty (but we shall see about that come May 10th, haha). My rest stations ended up being two very great conversations about my hobbies and Mac's PBL curriculum. Quite happy with McMaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curiousaboutapps1 Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 Oh the students were nice and all. Something about how they teach anatomy didn't sit right with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premed23 Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 Oh the students were nice and all. Something about how they teach anatomy didn't sit right with me. Can you elaborate? I don't know too much about this, but as an anatomy-lover, it does make me super curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curiousaboutapps1 Posted April 15, 2016 Report Share Posted April 15, 2016 What I understood from their presentation is that they don't do dissections. Someone with an anatomy degree does it and you just look. Additionally there were comments from students at every campus that implied that you might not get to see a cadaver for each lesson at the Hamilton campus because there aren't enough to go around? But that at the smaller campuses each group gets one and you see it every lesson. It seemed odd to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Birdy Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 What I understood from their presentation is that they don't do dissections. Someone with an anatomy degree does it and you just look. Additionally there were comments from students at every campus that implied that you might not get to see a cadaver for each lesson at the Hamilton campus because there aren't enough to go around? But that at the smaller campuses each group gets one and you see it every lesson. It seemed odd to me There are multiple prosected cadavers in the anatomy lab, plus many standalone specimens which are available at any time. I don't personally attend the anatomy sessions, but I know they are there and available for student perusal with an anatomist. While a cadaver dissection is not a standard part of the curriculum for us, there is a dissection course offered as an elective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbinners Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 I definitely found it hard to judge how I was doing on the MMI. I felt better in some stations than others, but whether that correlates with how I'll be marked I have no clue. I have to say I liked the tenor of questions a lot more a McMaster than at Queens -- I care more about the issues raised in the Mac MMI than those raised in the Queens MMI, on the whole, and their selection suggests to me that the focus of the school aligns more with my own. The choice of question subjects plus the fact that they had a student present specifically about health advocacy, and the one faculty member to speak had a really exciting (to me) list of experiences in rural and equity-driven medical practice combined to reinforce my opinion that Mac would be first on my list of schools. The students definitely seemed less cohesive as a community than Queens and Western -- but then again the things that bring those students together aren't my primary interests, so I'm not sure how much that matters to me. I'm going to have to seek out folks with interests similar to mine regardless of what schools I go to, should I be lucky enough to get the chance -- ! Also I'm really excited about the PBL approach. I like how patient-centric it is, and that it teaches the skills you ultimately need as a clinician: the ability to go from a history to a literature review, explanation and treatment plan. I like that it gives you flexibility in how you allocate your time. I also am turned off by lots of hours of lectures because I find them a really inefficient way to learn, personally. I'm always surprised how many people seem to prefer that style; but power to you! That's why there's a mixture of approaches out there Best of luck to everyone who interviewed!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarawng37 Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 With U of T switching to a PBL style and Ottawa already using that style for several years though, does Mac still offer anything unique about their curriculum? I'm curious because I always see people talking about how PBL is the reason Mac stands out, but it doesn't seem like the case anymore. I also agree with how the students were friendly but didn't seem as cohesive as a community. I really liked the MMI questions Mac had but the school as a whole just didn't have a lot of what I was looking for. The 3 year program, the possibility of doing your preferred core electives after CARMS, the lack of adequate anatomy resources at Hamilton campus, etc. all just seem like disadvantages to me. I thought I'd be excited by the school like I was at every other interview but I was disappointed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbinners Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 Just look at the class schedules for each, and you'll see that Mac still clearly has the boldest approach, PBL-wise. Adding PBL to lectures isn't really the same thing. I'm excited for U of T that they are changing up their system this year, and if I'd had a shot there I might have been tempted by their program -- but it will also be a guinea-pig year, and I would have had some hesitations about that. I would be really surprised if Ottawa rivals Mac for truly self-directed learning, but I don't really know because I didn't apply there. Just because the school describes their curriculum as including small-group or PBL learning doesn't mean that's really how they run their core curriculum. I can't see it being as appealing if they only use it to top up their core curriculum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cytosine Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 Just look at the class schedules for each, and you'll see that Mac still clearly has the boldest approach, PBL-wise. Adding PBL to lectures isn't really the same thing. I'm excited for U of T that they are changing up their system this year, and if I'd had a shot there I might have been tempted by their program -- but it will also be a guinea-pig year, and I would have had some hesitations about that. I would be really surprised if Ottawa rivals Mac for truly self-directed learning, but I don't really know because I didn't apply there. Just because the school describes their curriculum as including small-group or PBL learning doesn't mean that's really how they run their core curriculum. I can't see it being as appealing if they only use it to top up their core curriculum. Just to clarifying what it's like at uOttawa : Every week, we have about : - 12 hours of lectures - 5 hours of CBL (similar to PBL) - 3 hours of clinical skills development Edit : In the 12 hours of lectures, I was counting about 4 hours/week of lectures or labs in anatomy/histology/pathology Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeuroD Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 Just to clarifying what it's like at uOttawa : Every week, we have about : - 12 hours of lectures - 5 hours of CBL (similar to PBL) - 3 hours of clinical skills development Could someone post the equivalent for Mac? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fightoffyourdemons Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 Each incoming year at WRC has a cadaver that they split for dissections. Prosections (previously dissected ones done by professional anatomists) have been shown to be more conducive to learning than dissections actually. If you go on other medical student websites, most if not all actually prefer prosections. You waste a lot of time digging through fat and unrelated tissues. What I understood from their presentation is that they don't do dissections. Someone with an anatomy degree does it and you just look. Additionally there were comments from students at every campus that implied that you might not get to see a cadaver for each lesson at the Hamilton campus because there aren't enough to go around? But that at the smaller campuses each group gets one and you see it every lesson. It seemed odd to me 6 hours of lectures (Monday and Friday mornings) 3 hours clinical skills 3 hours professional competencies 6 hours PBL We will also have random little extra sessions thrown in there - extra consolidation clinical skills, Renal fair day, extra pharmacology lectures if you're at WRC, etc. Could someone post the equivalent for Mac? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarawng37 Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 Thanks for the breakdown! Ottawa and Mac seem very similar then. It's true U of T will have a guinea pig year, but the info I've seen so far suggests the change will be quite substantial and it won't just be adding on a few group work sessions to the main lectures. There's a detailed breakdown and sample weekly schedule here http://foundations.md.utoronto.ca/student-faq Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeeplz Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 I really enjoyed it. I found the overall interview quality to be much higher than McGill's. It was awesome that they actually had political questions, or questions that required you to have really thought about a topic or issue before you walked in. I felt like they actually tried with the presentation, which is once again more than I can say for McGill. I am officially leaning towards Mac if I get an offer. Also, has anyone received the survery for campus rankings yet? I have not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeuroD Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 Also, has anyone received the survery for campus rankings yet? I have not. Ya, I got mine April 11, 8:39AM from dore.assistant@gmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeministKilljoy Posted April 16, 2016 Report Share Posted April 16, 2016 Those who interviewed last weekend will likely get it in the next week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeeplz Posted April 17, 2016 Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 Ya, I got mine April 11, 8:39AM from dore.assistant@gmail.com Did you interview last weekend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeuroD Posted April 17, 2016 Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 Did you interview last weekend? No, April 3rd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaxsci Posted April 17, 2016 Report Share Posted April 17, 2016 I haven't gotten mine yet either (I interviewed last weekend). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.