February 5th

[Guest brandonite]

Just wondered if anybody else was going on February 5th to the Information Session. There are a couple of us going from Brandon.

 

Also, if anybody went last year, do you remember what the dress code was? I was guessing informal, but a friend of mine thought it might be formal.

 

I just sent in my autobiography today. I'm looking forward to meeting a bunch of people that I'll spend the next 4 years with.

[Guest missing Manitoba]

Hey Brandonite,

 

Unfortunately, I can't make it to the forum. Would you mind posting some of what is said there? I'm calling to get the written package, but there will probably be more information presented in person since applicants will be able to ask questions.

 

My autobiographical sketch isn't quite finished yet -- I didn't get the letter until I got back to Kingston on Tuesday.

 

As for attire, if I remember correctly, the people who attended the session the year I took biochem dressed nicely but not formally. In other words, they didn't wear suits, nor did they wear jeans.

[Guest sazzafraz]

Hi,

I too attended the info session last year, successfully as I am in med school this year. I would agree that most people at the session did not get too overdressed. However, I would also state that the Dean, Associate Dean, Registrar, and a bunch of other "decision makers" will be present. I chose to dress probably a little nicer than some of the others. The way I look at it is that it is another opportunity to make an impression. You won't have another opportunity to make a first impression either. Plan to go up and introduce yourself to all of the "big guys". It is easier to go with someone else just to make mingling afterwards a little easier.

 

Good Luck with your interviews.

saz

[Guest brandonite]

Missing Manitoba - (or QUEENSCHEM... )

 

I'll post it here, or would you rather I sent you an email? My email is kpaulson@mts.net, if you'd prefer. I got my letter back in December for some reason, but I was busy with finals and then break, so I just sent it in yesterday. My stuff was due on the 11th, so I pushed it right to the wire. But the others from Brandon just got their letter this week.

 

Sazzafraz - thanks for the help. I'll maybe weare a dress shirt or something like that. I'm usually fairly 'dressed up' to begin with. Might as well make a good impression.

 

Maybe I'll meet you there! Are you in Med 1? I have a few friends from Brandon doing Med 1 right now... Hey, what do you know about the student appartments? I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I have pretty good MCATs. I've heard from some people who love it there, and some people who hate it... What's your thoughts?? Thanks!

[Guest missing MBQUEENSCHEM]

Brandonite:

Yeah, an email would be great! I'll send my email addy to you. Thanks!!!

 

My letter, like yours, was dated December 14, but it was sent to my Kingston address while I was in Manitoba for Christmas break. After having a slight panick attack upon seeing the due date for the essay, I called the U of M -- they were really great about giving me an extension.

 

Sazzafrazz:

I'm wondering about the student apartments, too. How are they? They sound really convenient, but I've seen enough university housing to be a little leery.

[Guest brandonite]

I'll try to take notes. I'm looking forward to it - getting a chance to meet some of the people that I'll spend the next four years with, and learning more about what I'll be doing the next four years. Too bad you can't make it out, but I suppose it is asking a bit much for you to fly out here just for an information session!

[Guest missing MB]

Thanks again!

 

I would have liked to meet people and become more familiar with the school, too. I might have tried to scrounge the money together to fly out had the session been on a weekend or even a Friday; however, coming out for a Tuesday would mean missing an anatomy lab, four classes, and two volunteer shifts, at the very least. :eek

[Guest sazzafrazz]

Hello people,

I can definitely hear the excitement in your messages. It truly is exciting to finally be on the threshold, isn't it? Don't worry out of towner if you can't make the meeting. Not to scare Brandonite but I definitely had some anxiety leaving that meeting last year. Of course while you're there, you are sizing up all you competition. Last year I felt as though I was surrounded by a lot of smart people. Lets just say I was feeling more confident before the meeting! They don't really cover any new and breaking news at the meeting. You'll hear about some of the experiences from people in my class. They'll clarify what is expected of you over the process. They'll give you a chance to ask some questions both during the presentation and afterwards personally. So think of some good ones.

Re med apartments. I can't say that I've been in them. I know several of my classmates love living there however. They are not very spacious but most people study in the library. They save a lot of time on traveling thats for sure. ( I commute 1/2 hour each way) I've heard a few complaining about the lack of meals because they can't cook. A couple in particular are always salivating over my lunch. If your really confident I would highly recommend learning to cook a few easy meals that you can reheat for lunches etc. That seems to be the only complaint I heard so far. There are more and more of my class mates moving in to the dorms as space becomes available. I know also that later in clerkship and residency many will rent in the dorms to maximize on sleeping in their own bed in between shifts.

 

Good Luck, Maybe I'll see you at the meeting, not sure if I'll attend or not as we have an exam pending.

Saz

[Guest sazzafrazz]

Hello people,

I can definitely hear the excitement in your messages. It truly is exciting to finally be on the threshold, isn't it? Don't worry out of towner if you can't make the meeting. Not to scare Brandonite but I definitely had some anxiety leaving that meeting last year. Of course while you're there, you are sizing up all you competition. Last year I felt as though I was surrounded by a lot of smart people. Lets just say I was feeling more confident before the meeting! They don't really cover any new and breaking news at the meeting. You'll hear about some of the experiences from people in my class. They'll clarify what is expected of you over the process. They'll give you a chance to ask some questions both during the presentation and afterwards personally. So think of some good ones.

Re med apartments. I can't say that I've been in them. I know several of my classmates love living there however. They are not very spacious but most people study in the library. They save a lot of time on traveling thats for sure. ( I commute 1/2 hour each way) I've heard a few complaining about the lack of meals because they can't cook. A couple in particular are always salivating over my lunch. If your really confident I would highly recommend learning to cook a few easy meals that you can reheat for lunches etc. That seems to be the only complaint I heard so far. There are more and more of my class mates moving in to the dorms as space becomes available. I know also that later in clerkship and residency many will rent in the dorms to maximize on sleeping in their own bed in between shifts.

 

Good Luck, Maybe I'll see you at the meeting, not sure if I'll attend or not as we have an exam pending.

Saz

[Guest brandonite]

Thanks for the help, sazzafrazz.

 

To be honest, I'm not too worried about getting in. Perhaps I should be, but I did pretty well on the MCATs (don't really want to post them again, but they're elsewhere on this site), and my AGPA is over 4.2 . I applied to some US schools, so I'll just be trying to decide if UofM is where I'll be going next year. I've heard nothing but good things from current students, and I'd really like to stay close to home, so I'm strongly leaning towards UofM right now. But I want to make an informed decision!

 

Anyway, I'd like to get a feel for what the class is like. I wouldn't mind chatting with a bunch of the current students to get a feel for what you guys think of the school. I also want to check out the facilities. I heard that there's a big gym in Brodie, with a running track. Is that true? That would be a big plus. Do they give us a tour when we come out for our interviews? I wouldn't mind seeing the school when there are people around. I also want to talk to some of the profs there who are doing research in the area that I'm interested in, so I can check out the research facilities. The UofM website is pretty sparse for information about the school! I emailed Charles to see if I can get a chance to talk to him about the school and the MD/PhD program (I'm thinking about that), but he has yet to get back to me (I emailed him over a month ago!).

 

Anyway... Sorry about all the questions! Thanks for your help!

[Guest sazzafrazz]

Brandonite,

You will get a chance to talk to current students at the Feb 5th forum. Many from our class will be there. Yes is the answer to all of your questions except the one about seeing the research facilities. For that you will have to make special arrangements. The best person is Charles or his assistant Christie. Try Christie if you can't get Charles(he is extremely busy). Chrisie Struch is fantastic, if she can she will help you. Even if she can direct you appropriately. The interviews will be on a Saturday so I'm sure there won't be anyone around to give you a tour. You will get a current student guided tour of all the facilities including the gym and Track(100 M - very nice and super convenient). There are lots of aerobic classes, kick boxing, yoga type classes. The four years of med and dentistry run intramurals after classes in ultimate, volleyball, basketball, hockey(other campus), and a couple of others. Our class in february is organizing Salsa classes. It sounds corny but our class is so amazingly cohesive it will be awesome. The library is brand new and has great study carols with laptop plug ins, individual lighting, and rocker chairs(awesome). We can draw on the other campus' stacks at no charge. There is cheap photocopying downstairs at BOB's, saves us all a lot of money. Oh yeah the gym has a pingpong table, pool(although not filled as of yet) and a huge weight room with tons of equipment. I think there's also some martial arts. Gym membership for the school year was $70 and the whole year $90. We each have our own mailbox at the school which is great for leaving stuff for other students and for professors to leave stuff for us. (and e-mail addresses set up for us too) We constantly send e-mails to the class late at night. Its great to get the interaction late at night when you're the only ones up studying. The student lounge also has shuffleboard(table top). The school has a program set up for us to go and do early exposures with any of the programs that you may be interested in. So far I've attended several surgeries, ER, pediatric ICU, and neurology. All awesome. I'm just rattling stuff off as I think of it. Any other questions? Also there are 4 cafeteria/restaurants that I'm aware of. All cheap and good!

 

Can't think of anything else right now.

[Guest brandonite]

Wow. You've been amazingly helpful... I'm going to try and talk to Charles tomorrow about some of this stuff. Like I said, I'm really leaning towards UofM, and that helps a lot. I like to run and work out, so the gym there is definitely a big plus. And I talked to a couple Med 1's over the break, and they all told me that you guys were really close as a group. I think somebody mentioned the Salsa classes. That's probably why I want to get a feel for things on the 5th - I want to get an idea about the rest of my class, assuming I get in.

 

I'm a bit confused about the tour - do they give that to us on the 5th, on the day we interview, or do we have to schedule that on our own?

 

So, what's the workload like? Not that it really matters - I expect med school to be hard. But I've had a few people tell me that they have more free time in med school than they did in undergrad. That seems too good to be true. I'd like to keep on with a few of my extracirricular things and volunteer activities, but is there time for that?

 

I'll probably think of more questions as I go on...

[Guest sazzafrazz]

There's no tour on the 5th. You'll get the guided tour on your interview day. It will be guided by one or two students from my class. There you can ask any question you want. The students will give you an honest answer. Plus they may take you down to the anatomy lab! Spooky!

 

Block I the workload was a 3.5 - 4 on a 5 point scale. It really depends on your educational history. If you have any immunology, pharmacology, histology, pathology, infectious diseases (there were 12 subjects in total that we took)in your background you will find a lot of Block I a review. If you come from my background (Chemistry and Business) then you'll find that there is a lot of work to do. The work itself isn't hard but the sheer volume is amazing. I found I got a little behind in the beginning because I also worked full-time after school for the first month. I was never able to catch up. I won't let that happen again. It's different from undergrad in the sense that you're in school everyday til 5:00. They have every minute of your time accounted for while you're at school. There aren't even regular lunch breaks! I literally know where I will be on Mar 17, 2004 at 3:15 P.M. It's both comforting and scary all at the same time.

 

Block II has been a cake walk. About a 1 on a 5 point scale. I've been focusing on early exposures and lining up research projects for the summer. Making time to see my non-med school friends is really important to me too so I've been doing a lot of that. Also I'm bracing for next block. It's supposed to be about a 7 on a 5 point scale.

 

The most difficult thing I found was getting used to the system. The subjects aren't broken up by subject, they're all just lumped in together so you really don't figure out your organization until the end of the block. You have different Doctors for different classes and it can be confusing just who teaches what especially in the beginning. Now that I get it it's great because it exposes you to tonnes of different specialists. All of which are totally approachable. We also have classes that continue on through the block sections with their own exam schedules and some where you just hand in papers. You really have to keep yourself organized.

 

A question for you. Why, if you could spend $28,000+/- on med school in Manitoba would you chose to go to the U.S. where you're going to spend $42,000 U.S on the first year. (I had the opportunity to go to Viginia for school and this was the first year tuition) This just puts you so far behind right off the bat. Not to mention far from home. Our students are homesick. Most made it home over Christmas but not all of them.

saz

[Guest missing MB]

Hey Saz,

 

I really appreciate all the info you're doling out -- even if it is distracting me from writing my autobio sketch.

 

Will the pool ever ACTUALLY be filled??? My aunt works as a tech in the pathology department there, so I've heard a lot about that pool. Apparently, it's a wee bit of a joke among the staff. Do you happen to know if there's any intramural soccer?

 

I'm curious to see what the U of M anatomy labs are like. I've just started taking a third year anatomy course as an elective here at Queen's (like you, I have a background in chemistry), and we're going to "meet" the cadavers tomorrow. The labs here are far too sterile and brightly lit to be remotely "spooky".

 

Have you had James Johnston (the oncologist) as a teacher yet? I know he's an associate prof there, but I'm not sure what he teaches.

 

Ugh...back to my sketch. I'm having trouble fitting my life into 1000 words -- and I'm only 22.

[Guest brandonite]

sazz - thanks for the info! I'm a Physics/Math guy, so most of this will be new to me. But I have a pretty good memory, so I should be ok.

 

As to why I'm considering the US... Well, I have the MCATs to get into a top US research school (my average is 12.75, which is shocking since I was only getting about an 11 average on the practice tests - I got REALLY lucky is the only explanation I've arrived at. ). I'm aware of the expenses, but Harvard and Yale offer financial aid to Canadians, so they aren't too much more expensive. I am interested in research, and they offer a lot of options for me. And when I look at the hospitals attached to some of those hospitals, they blow my mind away. I've spent some time in the St. B and the HSC (not for the best reasons, unfortunately), and they don't compare to the Duke University Hospital, for example. The resources they have are amazing. And the whole clerkship, as far as I know, is in the hospital.

 

That said, UofM is still the school that I'm leaning towards. Firstly, it's a lot cheaper. Secondly, the atmosphere seems a lot more relaxed, and the class seems a lot closer. And the research area I'm interested in was actually pioneered by the NRC Institute for Biodiagnostics, which is in Winnipeg, so the UofM is in the same league as Harvard for the area that I'm interested in! And, all my family is in Manitoba, which is important to me.

 

Basically, I'm just keeping my options open. I want to make an informed decision. So...

 

Missing - if there isn't soccer, we should look into that... I used to play, but haven't in a while. It'd be nice to get back into it. And I just rambled on about why I wanted to be a doctor, talked about some of my ECs, and went on about rural Manitoba for a bit. Mine isn't the prettiest essay of all time, but it's done!

[Guest missing MB]

D'oh!!! I forgot to talk about rural Manitoba! I really have to remember to bring that up in the interview. Actually, I exceeded the 1200 words and still couldn't fit everything in. It was almost as frustrating as the Alberta essay, which only allowed 3 pages double spaced to describe how an experience has influenced my life. :rolleyes Both essays turned out pretty poorly as a result. But, at least they're done.

 

And yes, we really must look into soccer. I don't live well without soccer. I'm currently playing in two indoor leagues in intramurals, and I play outdoor every summer and fall.

[Guest brandonite]

Rural Manitoba is like gold with the admissions people, as far as I've heard. I still live in Wawanesa at home (so, really, I'm not a brandonite ), so I mentioned that. And I haven't volunteered at a hospital, but I took my grandmother to all her medical appointments when she had cancer, so I talked about how I know the medical process from the patient's point of view. I didn't really talk about many of my ECs - not enough room!

 

If there's not enough interest for a med soccer league, or there's no place to play, we could probably enter a med team in the university league. That'd be fun. Although you'd be way better than me. I haven't played since junior high! I play squash three times a week, so I'm in good shape. I just wouldn't be able to handle the ball...

[Guest missing MB]

I'm not a Brandonite, either -- home is Rapid City for me. My family doctor told me to fit the words "rural Manitoba" into every other sentence during the interview, but I think I'll try to be a little more subtle than that -- maybe just every 4 sentences.

 

That word limit was really frustrating. I somehow ran so totally out of space that I hardly mentioned my own experiences as a cancer patient, which I could easily have filled the entire 1200 words with; however, I suspect they will come up in a big way during the interview.

 

I'm really not a very good soccer player -- I just play a lot because I love it. A med team would be a great idea. I've never tried squash -- I tend not to play individual sports -- but it's incredibly popular here.

[Guest brandonite]

I spent a paragraph at the beginning on rural Manitoba, discussed why I wanted to be a doctor for the next four or five, did a quick paragraph outlining my volunteer activities, and finished off with research. It's not really an autobiography, but based on the instructions, I thought we had fairly wide latitude. Hopefully it wasn't a problem.

 

I wasn't any good at soccer back in junior high, so I can only imagine how bad I would be now. I could run, and that's about it. I've always played more individual sports. Dunno why. Squash is a good sport - like badminton or tennis, only a fair bit more physical. Lots of slamming into walls, that kind of thing.

[Guest missing Manitoba]

Brandonite,

The more I'm reading about your sketch, the more I'm kicking myself over my own. I only dedicated a few sentences to why I want to be a doctor -- I really wish I'd written more -- and instead focused primarily on the "suitability" part, outlining my life experiences chronologically to show my development as a person. Hopefully, though, "why do you want to be a physician" will be a major question in the interview.

 

How important is the sketch in the selection process? I was under the impression that it's used more as an aid for the interviewers than anything else, but I'm not really sure. How exactly does the U of M arrive at the personal assessment score?

[Guest Ian Wong]

Both are important. My personal opinion is that since you're going to be asked "Why do you want to be a doctor" in your interviews anyway, that you also highlight some of personal experiences in your sketch.

 

I think both of you will do just fine! Just different ways of arriving at the same end point.

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3

[Guest brandonite]

I haven't been able to find out the breakdown of the 40% given to interview/essay/recomendations. My guess would be that the essay would be mainly used as information for the interviewers, but I really don't know for sure. I do know that they take the recomendations pretty seriously, though, so I think they must have some weight.

 

I think I asked Charles that when he was out here, and he didn't really answer me. They do give a pretty good breakdown of your scoring already, so my guess is that he didn't want to give away everything.

 

As to the question of the sketch itself... I would say you are fine. I actually stole most of my essay from my US application, and for them, I felt I had to explain why I was jumping from research in physics and astronomy to med school, so I wanted to describe for them my reasons. And, on the US application, there is a huge section available for you to describe your EC's, so I didn't really have to go over it again. If I had to do it over again, I probably would be like you and tend to focus less on the 'why I want to be a doctor aspect'. However, coming from a school with a great reputation like Queens, and with what sounds like a lot of experience in hospitals , I'm sure you'll get in regardless of your sketch.

[Guest sazzafrazz]

Hello people,

 

Not to worry, there is a med intramural soccer team, cna't believe I forgot soccer! Who knows what is up with the pool?

 

Both of your approaches to the essay are great. They will ask you a couple of easy questions to ease you into the interview. One absolutely will be Why do you want to be a doctor? So if you forgot it before you will get your chance. Also I scanned the messages quickly, I think I read that you forgot to mention your personal experience with cancer. This may be a good topic to touch on in one of the first few questions so that they will explore it more. They each will have a dissected copy of your letter infront of them. They've planned questions to grill you on from it. So know it well. Think of positives/negatives/funny/most rewarding/least....etc on each topic that you brought up in your letter. It will get grilled. One popular question last year was Of anyone alive or dead, Who would you have dinner with and why?(no family)

Back to the books

I'm really glad to see you guys using this site. It was a great resource for me as I went through all of the stages of applying. It's a nice support system while you anxiously await correspondance. It would be great to get more people interested in it.

 

Saz

[Guest missing MB]

Hi Saz!

 

Thanks for the heads up regarding the soccer team! I was a little anxious about attending a school for 4 years that didn't participate in the greatest sport on Earth.

 

The info on the interview process is very much appreciated, too. Although I did mention being a cancer patient in my essay, I wasn't able to go into a lot of detail because of the word limit, so I do anticipate being asked a lot of questions on the subject. I'm pretty well-prepared for this (hopefully) as friends/classmates/fellow volunteers often ask me about my experiences.

 

It would definitely be great if more people got involved in the forum, particularly the Manitoba board! (Hint hint, lurkers... ) I agree about this site; it's an amazing resource (thanks, Ian!) and a really supportive, positive "place" to visit.

 

 

Hey Brandonite!

 

Thankfully, my "hospital experience" has been, generally speaking, pretty great. The majority of my doctors, nurses, nursing aids, orderlies, etc are truly wonderful people. As for the ones who aren't, I definitely learned something from them, too. :\ And, I will officially be 2 years cancer-free as of the end of this month/beginning of next , so, all-in-all, I feel incredibly fortunate.

 

Unfortunately, even with this unplanned "life experience" under my belt, I'm not feeling particularly sanguine about being accepted -- I am not the world's best interviewee.

[Guest brandonite]

It's funny, now that we can see the views count, the number of views for this thread keeps on jumping higher and higher. So, people are obviously reading what we say, and not joining in. I lurked around here for a while when I was studying for the MCAT, and I'm glad that I decided to actually start posting! So, especially if you're potential classmates, you might as well speak up!

 

Anyway, I'm glad to hear you're doing good, missing! You seemed to mention you were sick there, but I wasn't sure if this was something you still had, or if you were in remission. I completely agree with you regarding the people I've met - even though I was just looking after someone who was sick, so I didn't have nearly the same experience you did, all the doctors and nurses I've met were really great.

 

And soccer isn't the greatest sport in the world. That's football. But I'll forgive you for the mistake, because of the whole soccer/football confusion.

 

Saz - our pre-med advisor is supposed to be giving us mock interviews out here. He has interviewed for UofM for like the past twenty years. He's a really great guy. I've also checked out interviewfeedback.com for some tips. I hope to interview near the beginning so I can get this over with!