Differences Between Ontario Med Schools

[shipran 2]

Hi all, 

 

Of course all the med schools in ontario are accredited and all schools should be able to teach you what you need to know to be a doc. 

 

What do you think are the major differences between them in terms of curriculum and student life? 

 

lets say you got into all ontario med schools ... how would you go about picking? are there any that are more reputable than others? which schools are more research focused/community focused etc or which helps student get into competitive residences? any quirks that you cant necessarily read about on med school websites?

 

im asking because i have read what the med school websites say, but its probably different from the actual student experiences

 

thanks

[m_jacob_45 188]

Definitely take a look at the ways the material is taught as an important thing. For example, my school has a really good mix of CBL and lectures, which I think I prefer more than if they did only one or the other. I also really like how we learn everything in body system-based blocks for all of pre clerkship (except for our foundations unit at the beginning). Some schools do more basic science stuff in first year and only get to the body-system based stuff in second year. Also schools teach anatomy very differently. For example, my school teaches the anatomy related to the body systems we're learning gradually throughout pre clerkship whereas other schools (I've heard) focus on anatomy pretty exclusively for a couple months and then they are mostly done with it. Other considerations are whether there are hospitals nearby the school (easier for doing electives/observerships). Also, is the school located downtown in a big city or not downtown/in a smaller city (makes a difference in atmosphere and cost of housing). Also, for schools with multiple campuses, I'm not sure if that makes a big difference in terms of everybody getting to know each other. 

 

In terms of getting into residency, all schools will prepare you well for residency and people are involved with research at all Ontario med schools. Obviously, there might be more competition at schools with more students...

 

Hope this helps!

[shipran 2]

hey thanks! what school are you at? 

[m_jacob_45 188]

hey thanks! what school are you at? 

 

No prob! U Ottawa. 

[Galaxsci 43]

I honestly thought you were at U of T because that's exactly how I would've described our curriculum. I believe you have a few more lectures at Ottawa, whereas ours are moreso pre-week and mid-week online videos and modules made by the faculty.

[lisasimpson 10]

know what you want and prefer to get it done as fast as possible and get out? go to mcmaster. want to take your time and have summers? go anywhere else. 

[mdjdot 8]

I don't think it even matters really for med school... ?

[Pippa756 25]

I don't think it even matters really for med school... ?

Not so sure about that ... definitely have heard of contrasting experiences form a number of people I know who went to different programs, i.e. Toronto compared to say NOSM.

[thestar10 114]

Toronto --> significantly overloads you with lecture work. Poor quality of life

 

Ottawa, Queens, Western --> all similar tbh in terms of lifestyle culture education. A pretty good quality of life.

 

Mac --> PBL, free time. No summers. A pretty good quality of life.

 

NOSM PBL/lecture pre-clerkship. Rural clerkship with lots of travel and 

[S. pneumoniae 21]

Toronto --> significantly overloads you with lecture work. Poor quality of life

On what basis can you make such a broad statement? I'm not trying to single you out or anything, I'm genuinely curious if "poor quality of life" is a common experience for those at U of T.

[RicardoKaká 302]

On what basis can you make such a broad statement? I'm not trying to single you out or anything, I'm genuinely curious if "poor quality of life" is a common experience for those at U of T.

 

I think this was before the shift to Foundations, I think Toronto is more streamlined now and not as burdensome with lectures. I would maybe argue that Queen's has stayed the most traditional, but then again I could be completely wrong hahaha. But I think with Foundations Toronto has changed a bit.

 

I am also curious though about hearing the experiences of others 

[Caliver 19]

lol. im from U of T (the pre-"foundation" era) and i had an awesome quality of life especially with living in downtown Toronto.

 

There's not much difference in terms of quality of education you will get - you will be a fine med student if you are good. 

What differs is the types of opportunities you get. You may get more hands-on experience at smaller schools while you may have more exposure to research in bigger schools. Having said that, people from smaller schools also do research at other institutions. Bigger schools also offer community rotations for maximum clinical exposure. 

 

TL;DR Med school's what you make out of it and where you would enjoy living in. Pick after you get in. 

[thestar10 114]

On what basis can you make such a broad statement? I'm not trying to single you out or anything, I'm genuinely curious if "poor quality of life" is a common experience for those at U of T.

Disclaimer: I didn't go to U of T although I have my partner did and I have many other friends who did as well. My comments relate to my observations with the old curriculum. At least in the first year it was 9-5 Lectures and significantly more testing than other schools are what I based my claim on. I held positions on OMSA for few years and there were multiple times Toronto students had to decline events and meetings to study. 

 

I'm a resident in TO now and I my impression (although I could be wrong) is that U of T students have more work and appear more burnt out compared to other schools learners/my own experiences at a different school.

[Galaxsci 43]

I'm in Toronto with the new Foundations and can attest to the fact that we might have 9 hours of lecture/week on a heavy week. Usually it's closer to 6 hours. The rest is CBL (small group cases), anatomy labs, other group work (clinical skills, self reflection, public health stuff etc.). In my opinion, it's less work than undergrad.

[elucidator2341 19]

I'm in Toronto with the new Foundations and can attest to the fact that we might have 9 hours of lecture/week on a heavy week. Usually it's closer to 6 hours. The rest is CBL (small group cases), anatomy labs, other group work (clinical skills, self reflection, public health stuff etc.). In my opinion, it's less work than undergrad.

I could be mistaken, but isn't this Foundations a similar amount of work as the other Ontario schools like Queen's and Ottawa?

[Galaxsci 43]

Probably. You can't really know because nobody knows what the workload at each school is actually like.

[Pippa756 25]

On 5/3/2017 at 3:42 PM, thestar10 said:

Toronto --> significantly overloads you with lecture work. Poor quality of life

 

Ottawa, Queens, Western --> all similar tbh in terms of lifestyle culture education. A pretty good quality of life.

 

Mac --> PBL, free time. No summers. A pretty good quality of life.

 

NOSM PBL/lecture pre-clerkship. Rural clerkship with lots of travel and 

Toronto - poor quality of life - completely agree - very tough, especially financially!!!

[elucidator2341 19]

11 minutes ago, Pippa756 said:

Toronto - poor quality of life - completely agree - very tough, especially financially!!!

Are you actually in U of T med? And besides the greater cost (which is to be expected in any large city a la New York, Vancouver, etc.), it can easily be argued that Toronto is one of the best places to live in North America. There's always something to do

[rmorelan 2,559]

6 minutes ago, elucidator2341 said:

Are you actually in U of T med? And besides the greater cost (which is to be expected in any large city a la New York, Vancouver, etc.), it can easily be argued that Toronto is one of the best places to live in North America. There's always something to do

assuming you have time to do any of it

 

[la marzocco 351]

How do Ontario med schools stack up against McGill? Does anyone know?

[ArchEnemy 131]

18 hours ago, qnzjlo said:

How do Ontario med schools stack up against McGill? Does anyone know?

Ontario medical schools are a lot more expensive than Quebec medical schools, especially if you are not from Quebec. 

In terms of education wise, all schools should be pretty similar in preparing you for residency. It just depends on your learning preferences, and which city you would like to live in for the next 3-4 years.

[la marzocco 351]

On 5/31/2017 at 2:25 PM, ArchEnemy said:

Ontario medical schools are a lot more expensive than Quebec medical schools, especially if you are not from Quebec. 

In terms of education wise, all schools should be pretty similar in preparing you for residency. It just depends on your learning preferences, and which city you would like to live in for the next 3-4 years.

.

 

[whyKD 6]

3 hours ago, qnzjlo said:

I agree with you completely: looking at McGill's out-of-province tuition fees, it's $57,300 over four years. I just calculated U of T's, it's around $97,100 for four years. McMaster comes out to $82,600 over four years. Those three figures I quoted above are inclusive of all incidental fees. This fact alone is pushing me to choose McGill. 

Does anyone know how McGill's curriculum compare with U of T's and Mac?

 

Mac's is for three years. So per year, it is technically more than UofT, but you're studying for one fewer year so it's only ~83k. For whatever that is worth

[indefatigable 648]

3 hours ago, qnzjlo said:

I agree with you completely: looking at McGill's out-of-province tuition fees, it's $57,300 over four years. I just calculated U of T's, it's around $97,100 for four years. McMaster comes out to $82,600 over four years. Those three figures I quoted above are inclusive of all incidental fees. This fact alone is pushing me to choose McGill. 

Does anyone know how McGill's curriculum compare with U of T's and Mac?

 

At the current time, it's worth noting there's a conditional ROS contract that must be signed with the Quebec government as an OOP medical student within Quebec.  Practically speaking, it means that settling long-term in Montreal isn't really that feasible.  A lot of people move to different schools for residency or work, so it shouldn't be a big issue, especially coming from McGill which has a broad network nationally and beyond.    

[ArchEnemy 131]

2 hours ago, calcan said:

At the current time, it's worth noting there's a conditional ROS contract that must be signed with the Quebec government as an OOP medical student within Quebec.  Practically speaking, it means that settling long-term in Montreal isn't really that feasible.  A lot of people move to different schools for residency or work, so it shouldn't be a big issue, especially coming from McGill which has a broad network nationally and beyond.    

It is interesting that Quebec actually discourages physicians from settling and practising in Quebec...