The two-year application process has been a wild ride! I'm now enrolled in first year medicine at U of Calgary and am thoroughly enjoying every moment of it. I received an offer off the OOP waitlist a week before school started (after receiving the 'Class is Full' email!) and that was one of the best moments in my life in 2008.
Initially I was quite suprised at the fact that I was downright rejected by UBC and waitlisted by U of C and Queen's...after decades of preparation (since high school) and dedicated work. I did realize though that in addition to good grades and ECs, MMI interviews are absolutely CRUCIAL in candidate ranking and medical school acceptance. My pre-interview scores were good across all schools, only to be brought down by the MMI. (I had been waitlisted by UBC the year before in panel interviews so obviously the criteria and focus for MMI vs. panel interviews are quite different).
Eventually I'd like to make it to Toronto or Vancouver for residency (possibly in internal medicine) and the interview process is far from over (CaRMs and all), Both programs are extremely competitive so clearly the journey does not end here. Med school entrance merely marks the beginning of yet another journey - time to explore, conquest and eventually find the right niche in the profession.
Brief commentaries on the schools:
University of Calgary
I fell in love with the city and the school the first time I visited for interviews due to ppl's collegial, genuine attitudes and the city's cleanliness and friendliness. Calgary lacks the hustles and bustles of big cities (i.e. NYC) so not quite your type if you are into an extremely urban life, but is suitable for a little homebody like me =)
Likes: Early clinical exposure!! we started shadowing doctors the first month of school and went in wards to see patients also around the same time. So far I have explored the fields of internal medicine, family medicine, OB/GYN and surgery in the period of 5 months... a privilege not received by many other schools (esp. those that focus on basic sciences 8-5 every day during first year). Also very outgoing and friendly student/faculty population. Moderately sized residency programs where you get ample clinical/research exposure while getting to know everyone intimately :)
Dislike: 3-year program is TOO RUSHED!! we hardly get anatomy and pharmacology (if we don't study hard on our own, we get screwed in the wards). Also lack of basic science foundation for clinical knowledge (again due to shortened program length). Electives take place BEFORE clerkship rotations (makes no sense, but yeah, time constraints say it all). meagre holidays- 4 weeks in 1st yr (2 week xmas and 2 week summer), only 2 weeks xmas in 2nd yr (no summer!!!) and christmas before LMCC... ><
UBC
Absolutely would have been my first choice if I got in, but oh well, Calgary is good too and it's good to live away from home and be independent :)
Like: well structured program, ample time to explore different areas of medicine (2 months of rural practice in 2nd year summer, full year of clerkship and full year electives!) Vancouver is a beautiful place to live and work. Plus all my friends from HS/university went to ubc med.
Dislike: Program is HUGE, 256 ppl... seems school can hardly accommodate a population that large (lack of preceptors etc). Unimpressive CaRMs match rates.
Also, UBC is extremely unaccomodating towards OOP med students trying to do an elective in Vancouver... I dealt with the CPSBC and their attitude is absolutely anal. (well yeah they don't have room for even their own students...) enough said.
Queen's:
Like: collegial atmosphere, Kingston's a classy place to live in (and little distractions :P), small class size
Dislike: the school's too old fashioned! 2.5 years of lecture and shortened clerkship time?!! Also run-down facilities/buildings...
p.s. My Queen's interview never went well, only lasted 30 minutes and I was sure that I bombed it after walking out. The only good thing about the trip was the tour around the classy town and meeting my boyfriend on the airplane to TO/Kingston :D
U of Toronto:
...would have absolutely gone head over heels attending the school if accepted, for the prestige and the zillions of teaching hospitals around the area... but my standing's nowhere near their standards so whatever :P Rejected two years in a row, not surprised though.
Like: as said above
Dislike: again too old-school, they don't seem to apply clinical knowledge well to basic sciences when lecturing. Also the overly competitive atmosphere and HPF system... I'd like to be a good DOCTOR, not necessarily the TOP research clinician having the potential to become a nobel price laureate :P
And downtown Toronto's WAYYY too ghetto!!! Unfriendly pedestrians/drivers on streets... sketchy buildings and ppl... as exciting as the city is, it intimidates me.
Peace in life is key =)
UWO:
Like: peaceful atmosphere? ppl seem happy there :) London is a classy town as well.
Dislike: London is too small... also UWO's rigid prereq policy resulted in me not getting an interview (not because my marks are not good enough or anything). They don't accept APs and many SFU credits have been cut down by OMSAS so I somehow didn't end up with enough credits to even be considered in the program... &#@!^$&@!%
U of O:
never really wanted to go there in the first place, no MCAT required so their selection process is somewhat of a blackbox to me... not much I can say here.
For now I'm VERY happy the way I am in Calgary :) Only wish I did better on the interviews though ... but fortunately all ended up well!!
