Mac Vs UofT

[Guest Colm]

Hi all,

 

Is there anyone out there who has been accepted both to UofT and to Mac? If so, I would be interested to hear what school you've decided to attend, and on what factors you based your decision.

 

Cheers,

Colm

[Guest Kate]

I got offers from Mac, Queen's, UofT and Western (don't ask me why!). I chose Mac out of them all because I'm 26 and have been out working for a while. I didn't want to spend 4 years in school before getting back into the workforce. I'd also talked to some Mac grads who were really enthusiastic about the program.

I really like the fact that learning is done actively in small groups rather than passivly in a lecture hall with 100+ people. Past students said they really enjoyed the amount of elective time they had (7 months block electives!). I like the flexible schedule too - one of the students I talked to is managing to raise 3 kids and go to med school while her husband is out of town on business a couple days a week.

I ruled out Queen's because I went there for undergrad and you get to finish less of your clerkship before CARMS applications are due; UofT because it's so big, expensive, supposedly more competitive, and doesn't place much emphasis on self-directed learning; and Western because I don't think I could deal with 2 years of jam-packed weekly schedules before clerkship. I think I'd like to go to UofT for residency, so I wanted to go somewhere else for med school.

The decision was really tough though, because everyone I talked to said they're all really good schools and that it doesn't really matter where you do your undergrad.

[Guest Akane200]

Hmmmm, I'm surprised that you think that U of T doesn't place a lot of emphasis on self learning. As far as I know, having just done one year here, I think there is so much emphasis on self directed learning that if you don't do this, you'll actually fall behind. We have PBLs too that push us to do that too at times, but there are also lectures (so it's a little of both) to keep a balance.

 

In any case, congrats with your decision.

[Guest MEDCOMPSCI]

First of all congrats on all the acceptances...must have been a very stress-less May/June knowing that you had some many good interviews! (well, I bet you were still a little worried

 

From what I have heard about UofT, it seems that they do indeed have a significant PBL portion to the curriculum.

 

My only concern with Mac has do to with options. I believe Mac places at a very large rate into the primary care residencies. Moreover, if you want to do your residency at UofT, doing your electives their is an absolute must in order to get to know those people who will make the all important decisions. Finally, if things don't work out in CARMS and one decides to pursue the NRMP route down south, Mac's lack of real lectures will require a lot more preparation for the USMLEs.

 

Mac has a very innovative programme though, and the 3 year deal is really nice for those of us who want to get out as soon as possible to pay down the debt. Personally, I would like to have mre options open to me in terms of residency.

[Guest Jane]

Kate,

 

Congratulations of your acceptance(s)! I am applying to MAC this year and was wondering if you would be interested in corresponding over the next year.

[Guest bubba]

Here is a copy of Carolyns comments on how well MAC matches and the myht associated with Family medicine.

 

<a href=http://forums.delphiforums.com/anandmed/messages?msg=536.33>Click here</a> to link to the original thread on delphi

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Just to add my two bits as a 2nd year Mac student... just because you don't have a science background doesn't mean you'll finish medical school without understanding the basic sciences... that said, I've yet to use my organic chemistry (with some very small insignificant pharmacology examples) (where I could have easily picked up the concepts)... Who knows, maybe it'll come up in Clerkship (2 weeks away!)

 

Having had some sciences courses coming in, they were beneficial but it definitely wasn't the bio, chemistry or organic chemistry that were beneficial! Physiology, Anatomy, Immunology, Genetics etc. made my load a whole lot easier... and allowed me to go to bed by 11 every evening and be involved in a whole bunch of other things... however, I have friends who didn't have any of those but have still done really well here at Mac!

 

As far as Residency matches go, here are the stats from last year's cARMS report for all schools - There is a wierd myth that Mac only produces family medicine grads. As you'll see from the numbers Mac actually has fewer grads going into family meds than Dal, Ottawa, Alberta and UBC! In fact, Mac students got some extremely competitive spots this year -> most of the people I know who graduated last year got into very competitive specialties like Emerg at Toronto, Surgery at Toronto, a number in Pediatrics etc.

 

Here are some stats from the 2001 CaRMS report:

 

What is most apparent to me is that it really doesn't make a Huge difference which school you go to... It is really up to you!

 

Matched to first choice discipline:

Mem: 88%

Dal: 87%

McGill 76%

Ottawa: 95%

Queen's: 89%

Toronto: 85%

McMaster: 92%

Western: 87%

Manitoba: 78%

Sask: 90%

Alb: 81%

Calg: 86%

BC: 84%

 

Memorial, McGill and Toronto have the highest proportion of their graduating class staying home for postgrad training, while Queen's Western and McMaster have the highest proportion of their graduates matched away for postgrad training.

 

The report also has a list of first choice disciplines by medical school - I won't write those out but if I write out family medicine, then you can probably get a good idea about how schools do in placing people in specialties when you combine them with the above scores...

 

Family Medicine as a First Choice by Medical School

 

Mem: 27.1%

Dal: 37.7%

McGill: 11.1%

Ottawa: 40.5%

Queen's: 17.8%

Toronto: 26.6%

McMaster: 32.3%

UWO: 27.1%

Manitoba: 22.2%

Sask: 31.6%

Alb: 34.3%

Calgary: 26.9%

UBC 35%

 

This isn't meant to be a Mac Defense - only to point out that you can get into any discipline you want from any school --- definitely! It really has a lot more to do with the individual student...

 

And finally to reinforce the other poster, Mac students have the same passrate as the national average...

 

Hope this email dispelled some myths.

 

best regards

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[Guest MAR]

At the information session at Mac that was held summer of 2000. We were told that Mac's results in qualifying exams were better than average.

[Guest Jeannie]

Kate I was just wondering what was your secret.

 

That's awsome that you got offers from so many places. Just wondering how your GPA etc were. What kind of stuff were you involved in and what was your occupation previous to applying.

 

Did you have a science background?

 

That is truly stellar I have never heard of anyone getting so many offers!

 

Way to Go Kate!

 

Jeannie

[Guest Kate]

Jane,

 

Sorry I missed your post last summer. I didn't check this board again until this evening - got too busy with decisions and preparing to move. Hope everything is going well with your med school applications. Let me know if you have any more questions. I promise I'll check back again soon!

 

Jeannie,

I'm still not too sure what my secret was. The first time I applied to the 5 Ontario med schools in '95, I got four interviews (rejected by Mac), was rejected by Western after the interview, and was waitlisted at the other three schools. Somehow I never cleared the waitlist, so I went overseas to work before applying again.

I did my undergrad in Engineering Physics, and did my Orgo/Bio prereqs in summer school after third year (just before writing the MCAT). I had a good GPA (3.86 for the four years, 3.92 for the best 2 or 3 years not counting summer school). Thank God I didn't have to take English or History or some of the other really subjective courses! I was really active in intramural sports, and had done 4 years worth of volunteering in high school. Also ran the Christmas Carol service with a friend one year, which also involved a food drive.

I think the first time around I didn't get in because I didn't do well in the interviews - that's what must have made Western reject me, because the marks should have been ok for a spot.

At any rate, I went and worked in Germany as a technical support specialist for Nortel. Worked my way up in terms of responsibility, got some awards at work, and really had to develop lots of teamwork/teambuilding/communication skills. I guess having had that time out in the workforce and travelling gave me a lot more stuff to talk about during the interviews and in my application essays. Probably made me stand out more in a pile of essays.

I'm pretty sure I also did better in the interviews this time around, although I can't say I thought any of them went brilliantly. I had good examples of dealing with different difficult situations and was probably more warm, friendly, and easy to talk to (used to be quite shy, but got(cured of that a bit while working).

I really didn't think I'd get into Mac after my interview here. I felt like they'd just grilled me on a couple questions that I didn't have satisfactory answers for, but maybe my Dad was right and all they wanted to do was push me and see if I'd lose my cool...

I didn't have time to do much volunteering over the past few years (traveled lots for work), nor did I have time for any team sports or other things like that. Didn't seem to make too much of a difference. I did have two summer jobs in research (medical imaging and biomedical engineering).

I think it helps a lot to be able to show that you've had experience in a lot of different situations - dealing with a bad boss, dealing with conflict, juggling a lot of different commitments while still making time for hobbies... Get involved in things you can show your excitement about on paper and in an interview. Show that you've at least seriously thought about other careers and be able to tell them why medicine is really what you want to do. Get a good idea of what doctors actually do (ie. not just "I really want to help people"). Come across as warm, friendly, and having a personality. Be a little different - I'm pretty sure I talked a bit about like liking science fiction novels at a couple of interviews. I know I talked about travelling around Europe in my U of T interview.

I had my parents and boyfriend read over my essays and give me comments. Mostly what they said was to be positive about yourself when writing. Show a good attitude and show them that you're really excited about embarking on a career in medicine. Emphasize the positive, show what you've learned out of bad situations or how you've managed to turn them around. It is possible to squeeze a fair bit of information in the space allowed if you're concise and don't repeat yourself. Don't say the same thing a few different ways in different spots (I've seen people do it) - take advantage of the space to tell them a few different things about you. Give them a glimpse of your personality - those were the essays I liked the best when I marked some applications last fall...

Good luck with everything!

Kate