UA pros and cons

[Lunasly]

Originally Posted by zap_man99

if you are gungs-ho about shadowing you can get whatever shadowing you want basically. Some of my friends already booked all of their required shadowing. Im not sure hot much shadowing you can do in regards to derm etc. But i do know a few that have done shadowing of an on call resident already

Yes I do believe this is the approach I would take. I would just shadow some of the specialties the interest me the most.

Originally Posted by cardiomegaly

My philosophy on picking between medical schools is pick the one that chooses you. Simple enough.... not all of us will be lucky enough to get the choice.

You are absolutely right. What I am contemplating is moving to Alberta from BC to gain IP status so that I have a better chance at getting into UofA. If I am in Alberta and any school accepts me, I can assure you I will go there.

[zap_man99]

EDIT: im an idiot

[Lunasly]

Yeah, I made a post a few threads down asking the question. As long as I move in their during the summer of the 4th year then I should be fine. I would move and apply within the same summer so I would have been here 1 year prior to matriculation (assuming I am lucky enough to get in). I have one issue (which I guess isn't so much an issue), but by the end of my 4th year I would be 1 course away from from completing my degree. Except I will be in Alberta and am not sure how I can finish my last course to get my degree. I would complete it in the summer of my 4th year, but I have to move. i also can't complete it during my 4th year because I would be taking on too many credits.

It's Calc II if that matters.

Btw about the IP status. I think you can go to school and that you just have to be living in Alberta for a year prior to matriculation. I am going to call them just to double check.

[Nucklehead]

Originally Posted by Lunasly

Hey guys,

I was really thinking that I wanted to go to UBC, but damn I have heard a lot of bad things. I have heard U of A on the other hand is a great school. However, every school has its cons and I was wondering if anyone here can list a few. I will start of by listing some cons of UBC and perhaps you can can see if UBC relates to them or not.

1) I heard at UBC there is too much PBL and this thing called DDPS which can often seem like a big waste of time.

2) There isn't enough Anatomy time during your preclinical years.

3) Your exams are all clustered up during the end of the year which can become very stressful.

4) Are you H/P/F or just P/F?

5) During clinical skills groups or rotations you have an 8:1 student to preceptor ratio which means you get less clinical exposure.

6) I have read that the administration at UBC can often times be considered useless.

7) Is is a hassle to have to commute from hospital to hospital.

8) There aren't enough electives for the number of students in 4th year.

----

Also, how are the preclinical years at UA set up? In other words, are they very similar to the US system where in first year you learn anatomy, biochemistry , and physiology and then in second you really focus on pathology?

Thanks,
Lunasly.

Randomly came across this post and was compelled to reply.

1) PBL at UBC is 3X/week. Pretty standard for most Canadian schools from what I hear. Re: DDPS, I think you're referring to DPAS (Doctor, Patient and Society) which can be a bit of a bore at times but again every school seems to have some kind of variation of this.

2) UBC does full cadaver dissections with plenty of hands on "scalpel" time and labs are open on weekdays/weekends for self-study.

3) Exams are at the end of each semester.

4) UBC is H/P/F but there is debate on how long that will continue.

5) I think you're totally confused about this mystical 8:1 ratio. Clinical skills sessions with tutors are 6:1...these are NOT the same thing as clinical rotations. In these sessions you basically get taught clinical exams by a tutor and then practice on a volunteer patient, ie. a cardiac exam. Clinical rotations in the hospital are an entirely different entity.

6) The administration at UBC is huge, confusing, and very bureaucratic.

7) First year students are nearly always at UBC campus. Second year students split time between VGH/Diamond Centre and UBC campus. It takes about 15-30 minutes to commute between the two, but you very rarely have to commute on the same day. Clerkships are done at any number of university associated hospitals in the Lower Mainland, ie. VGH, Royal Columbian, St. Paul's, BC Children's...

8) It's tough to get all the electives you want, at the times you want. Not sure if this is unique to UBC or not, but I suspect it isn't.

I hope this clears things up a bit.

[Lunasly]

Originally Posted by Nucklehead

Randomly came across this post and was compelled to reply.

1) PBL at UBC is 3X/week. Pretty standard for most Canadian schools from what I hear. Re: DDPS, I think you're referring to DPAS (Doctor, Patient and Society) which can be a bit of a bore at times but again every school seems to have some kind of variation of this.

2) UBC does full cadaver dissections with plenty of hands on "scalpel" time and labs are open on weekdays/weekends for self-study.

3) Exams are at the end of each semester.

4) UBC is H/P/F but there is debate on how long that will continue.

5) I think you're totally confused about this mystical 8:1 ratio. Clinical skills sessions with tutors are 6:1...these are NOT the same thing as clinical rotations. In these sessions you basically get taught clinical exams by a tutor and then practice on a volunteer patient, ie. a cardiac exam. Clinical rotations in the hospital are an entirely different entity.

6) The administration at UBC is huge, confusing, and very bureaucratic.

7) First year students are nearly always at UBC campus. Second year students split time between VGH/Diamond Centre and UBC campus. It takes about 15-30 minutes to commute between the two, but you very rarely have to commute on the same day. Clerkships are done at any number of university associated hospitals in the Lower Mainland, ie. VGH, Royal Columbian, St. Paul's, BC Children's...

8) It's tough to get all the electives you want, at the times you want. Not sure if this is unique to UBC or not, but I suspect it isn't.

I hope this clears things up a bit.

Thanks for the reply. I guess the questions I initially raised aren't all the uncommon among many of the universities. I am a little bummed out about the H/P/F system, but I am hoping they will take it out. I just don't want the stress of trying to achieve honours when other schools don't even use it. I wonder if it plays a large role during the CaRMS match.

In regards to electives I haven't really heard any complaints about U of A, but I have definitely heard a lot of complaints about getting elective time at UBC.

How is research at UBC? I mean it is a research school so I understand research is available to students, but how easy is it to get involved relative to UofA? Can a student who want to get into one of the ROAD specialties go up to one of the PI's and ask to get involved with a research project related to any of those without hassle? If not, is this the same at U of A? I only assume it is more difficult at UBC because the class size is larger (correct me if I am wrong on this), thus more people I am sure want those competitive specialties.

Without a doubt, however, I wish I could stay close to home and live in Vancouver.

[Larrivee]

Hey, they are in the process of curriculum renewal, chances are by the time you would be admitted to UBC they will have changed to P/F. They have already changed DPAS to P/F. And P/F/H isn't that big of a deal... i thought it would create a lot more competition but no one really cares about it.
Anatomy is awesome at UBC I love it, you do full cadaver dissections plus have access to plastinated prosections. Last year I had the (beautiful) dilemma of deciding between Alberta and UBC, and they are both great great schools. For me it came down to where I wanted to live and beautiful BC won hands down and I've had no regrets. If you have any questions about UBC PM me.

[kylamonkey]

Originally Posted by zap_man99

Just so you know, to gain IP status you need to live here without going to school here for a year. I think anyways

That's not correct- we've discussed this many times and you may be a student while gaining residency.

[zap_man99]

my bad. sorry for the confusion

[Lunasly]

Originally Posted by Larrivee

Hey, they are in the process of curriculum renewal, chances are by the time you would be admitted to UBC they will have changed to P/F. They have already changed DPAS to P/F. And P/F/H isn't that big of a deal... i thought it would create a lot more competition but no one really cares about it.
Anatomy is awesome at UBC I love it, you do full cadaver dissections plus have access to plastinated prosections. Last year I had the (beautiful) dilemma of deciding between Alberta and UBC, and they are both great great schools. For me it came down to where I wanted to live and beautiful BC won hands down and I've had no regrets. If you have any questions about UBC PM me.

Thanks Larrivee,

You and I actually attended the same university. Glad to hear that the H/P/F system is not something to worry about. I assume that because other schools are on a P/F system that it won't even matter when it comes time to match. The only thing that worries me now is booking elective time, the amount of clinical exposure, and the availability to do research.

What are your thoughts? I'll send you a PM in case you don't get a chance to see this post.

Thanks,
Lunasly.

[cardiomegaly]

Link I spoke of: http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52062

Between Edmonton and Vancouver I don't think there's much difference on availability to do research, they are both huge centres with lots of academic staff. I won't lie that space is getting tighter on our end in terms of clinical exposure, more students means less call and more people around to do the same amount of work/participate in ORs/clinics etc but it's what you make of it as a learner. Be self-directed, independent and take initiative and it becomes less of a pressing matter. Too many medical students is a problem for the majority of the Western schools.