Usask a good school?

[monkey]

I'm feeling a bit low on self-esteem as my friends laugh at the idea i consider UofS as a possible choice for myself.

Is UofS not supposed to be a good school? from what i've read of the program it sounds really good. they provide clinical expsoure in first year and are very good in terms of faculty and students. Ut doesnt provide such exposure and is supposedly more callous in terms of faculty and student interactions...

so what is it about sask?!

[Ian Wong]

The weather! :) When I interviewed there, I left Victoria in March where the temperature was around 10 degrees (granted, it was raining that day) and flowers had already been blooming for weeks. I dropped into Saskatoon that evening to a -15 degree temperature, and there was still about a foot and a half of snow on the ground. For a lot of people, studying in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, etc would be preferable to studying in Saskatchewan.

The med school itself is supposed to turn out really strong clinicians (which is one big end goal of every med student), due perhaps to lots of early clinical responsibility.

Ian
UBC, Med 3

[governorgeneral]

hey monkey,

i can relate to what you're saying; even my friends at the u of s had the same reaction when i said it was my first choice over the ontario schools. like ian said, location might be a "negative" point, saskatoon not having the same draw as TO or montreal. if i understand it correctly, you can do your 4th year clerkship/electives in regina (the superior city, imho... =p) instead of saskatoon, so you have ample chance to have a complete change of scenery. as for the weather... well, being cold builds character. the long summers more than make up for it.

another point - research doesn't seem as big at the u of s as at other places (u of a is stronger there), but unless you're gunning for an md/phd that shouldn't be much of an issue. (actually, does u of s have an md/phd programme?)

all in all though, small class (~60 this year, probably the smallest school in canada), early clinical experience, new hospitals, low cost of living, super-friendly faculty staff... u of s is a great school, definitely my first choice (though unfortunately this is now a moot point). this isn't just exaggerated boosterism because it's my home province; i've had the opportunity to attend school and interview elsewhere, and I really would choose u of s over anywhere else.

[princejr13]

Monkey,

You don't have to worry about your friends saying bad things about the U of S med school. The fact is that it is a good school like all other canadian schools. Maclean's hits us hard on their rankings even though their rankings aren't really based on just the medical school. But if you're interested, U of S placed 11 out of 16, so you can see that there were universities finishing behind it (including Calgary which is usually considered to be pretty good). Here are some bonuses for attending the U of S med school:

1) U of S graduates have a high rate of matching to their first choice of specialty upon graduation. I am not sure of the exact numbers, but I think its higher than the overrall average of all the shcools.

2) Students gain exposure to clinical situations from very early on. If you want to be a good doctor, you have to be keen on clinical skills.

3) Low tuition. Next year the tuition is slated to be around $8,000 + books + equipment. At U of T and other Ontario med schools the tuition alone is $14,000.

4) Sure Saskatoon is small and doesn't have the attractions you might find in Vancouver or Toronto. But that also means alot less commuting for students. Believe me, having lived in both Toronto and saskaoon, I don't find the small town atmosphere all that bad, its actually nice. Saskatoon is also a fairly cheap city to live in.

5) Small class size. I am fairly certain that the U of S med classes (60 students) are the smallest in all Canadian schools. You will get to know your profs much better and they are more likely to give you more one on one time. The ultra-competitive attitude will also be minimized.

Monkey, the bottom line is that you will become a doctor and your chances of landing the residency of your choice will be just as good by attending any one of the med schools in Canada. It is not like the United States where elitism is fostered.

[kosmo14]

Well said princejr, I absolutely agree with everything you said. I would have to say that I don't believe there are any bad Medical schools or programs in Canada, and I am sure each can make a long list of qualities that make it great (UofS no exception). I would like to however, point out a $1230 error in your response. The UofS just approved, about 2 weeks ago, a tuition hike in most colleges, with Med and Law being hit the hardest (Med 18% Law 27%), making next years tuition $9230 in the College of Medicine. Still a bargain when compared to ontario schools, not so much so when compared to Western Canadian schools.

[kosmo14]

Surfing through the UBC forum, I just thought of another reason to choose UofS. They have over 8 pages of how screwed up the admissions process is. It seems to encompass thier whole forum. The applicants to the UofS get to discuss passing/failing interviews, importance of reference letters, and how good/bad our school is, sounds much less bitter than in the UBC forum. At least we know what is happening every step of the way.

[Ian Wong]

:)

Another one might be that the forums are counting on you folks to get accepted, so that we can finally get some moderators in on this joint. It's a race now between Saskatchewan and Alberta to see which of you guys'll come through first! :)

Ian
UBC, Med 3

[NBer]

I don't know anything about USask, but I know where you are coming from. I'm from the maritimes and everyone always considers Dalhousie a "better" medical school than MUN. Not sure why, but anyone I told that I was applying to MUN gave me the disappointing look...oh you didn't get into Dal???
When I interviewed at MUN I was so impressed, and it made MUN my first choice. THe small class size (60 students there too), early exposure to patients (we would actually see patients before Christmas break in our first year), the non-competitiveness (the faculty tries to discourage it and alot of work is done in groups), and friendly and super helpful staff.
My advice...don't worry about what others have to say. Apply to a couple of schools, if you are fortunate enough to interview at a few than you can do the comparison. It all depends on what you are looking in for a school...do you want small classes or would you rather have 100 classmates...everyone has different opinions as to what makes a good school
Cheers

[UWOMED2005]

My neighbour two doors down from my parents is an anaesthesiologist and she said she thought MUN had one of the best medical programs around. Of course, she did her MD at MUN so is a little biased. Seriously though, I can see a huge advantage to the smaller programs at MUN and Saskatchewan.