McMaster Students

[Sage880]

Sorry, broad question here.

I'm a Canadian student studying medicine in Ireland. It's a 5 year program here but we only go to school for about 8 months a year. Starting my second year in the fall and am considering applying to a Canadian school.

Did very well on my MCAT and am top of my class in Ireland. I think McMaster's program will be harder but I think I'm up for it.

If I apply this year and get in next year I'll still finish at the same time. Trying to decide where I'd like to work right now, Canada or Ireland.

All that info aside, I was just wondering what your thoughts are about McMaster since you've been there? Loves and hates about the school and program - that kind of thing if you've got a second.

Thanks!

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[docbill]

http://p084.ezboard.com/bpremed101

try this for Canadian Schools

 

[gqindian]

hamilton is a hole!

McMaster med program is pretty chill i hear compared to other medical schools. I know about 20 people in the program right now and most love it. One of my friends says he has more free time now then he did in undergrad. So, I would say mac is a good school...but i must say, hamilton the city is a piece of crap

 

[tupac_don]

Sorry, broad question here.

I'm a Canadian student studying medicine in Ireland. It's a 5 year program here but we only go to school for about 8 months a year. Starting my second year in the fall and am considering applying to a Canadian school.

Did very well on my MCAT and am top of my class in Ireland. I think McMaster's program will be harder but I think I'm up for it.

If I apply this year and get in next year I'll still finish at the same time. Trying to decide where I'd like to work right now, Canada or Ireland.

All that info aside, I was just wondering what your thoughts are about McMaster since you've been there? Loves and hates about the school and program - that kind of thing if you've got a second.

Thanks!

School is based on a PBL (Practice Based Learning) system. There is no grading in terms of A, B, C or even 70,80.90%. You just get evaluated by a preceptor assigned to you. The program is only 3 years so that is a distinct advantage. However, talking to some friends who worked with McMaster grades say that their training has some holes. I would say it's a good school if you like learning on your own and nobody really teaching you anything, b/c they basically don't you teach yourself. However, I think the traditional system is better at building a solid base at least from my point of view. If you are in a rush to finish med school it might be a good option for you then.

 

[whoam]

Do you have to start from first year if you transfer to MAC?

 

[Sage880]

Yeah, I'd have to start from first year if I went there. I'd start fall of 2006.

Not sure Mac would be my first choice because of all the PBL. Although I basically just studied by myself or with a group this whole year anyway. Just went to classes to see what was going to be stressed. Still, I kind of liked just zoning out in class with a coffee and listening to someone talk believe it or not!

I also wish it was a 4 year program instead of a 3 year one. I'd like to be finished, but I'm in no rush. I'm more worried about learning everything properly and doing well on the boards. But, hopefully 2 years of pre-clinical stuff here in Ireland would help me out. I think I'm going to apply and see what happens.

I can't apply to any other school but Mac since I never took Organic Chem in undergrad. I only wrote the MCAT.

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Badkarma25]

i'm from hamilton actually and did 2 undergrad degrees at mac, studying med at ucd right now. from having a lot of experience with pbl (mcmaster is where it all started), i think it's a big load of crap and its probalby the last med school i'd go to (beggars can't be choosers mind you). i don't think ALL pbl is an effective way to learn medicine, and from the friends i have who went there/are going there, there are a lot of holes in the training and you're frequently thrown into the deep end and expected to be able to swim at an olympic calibre level. mac med has this amazing worldwide reputation as being innovative which, unfortunately, many prospective students think is synonomous with quality, and this isn't the case. i've had profs and doctors there tell me to go elsewhere for medical training, as the curriculum is very patchy. would i have gone there if i had gotten in? most likely. the most attractive part is the 3 year curriculum. but don't be fooled by all this innovation and pbl. i have a hard time having faith in a program with no prerequisites whatsoever (admittedly the number of students admitted from non-science backgrounds is small).
i have a few friends here in dublin with me that applied to mac after getting into dublin and they didnt' even get interviews. one guy did molecular bio at mac (really tough program), had a 3.6 GPA and lots of extracurriculars but didn't even get an interview. he went into the admissions office to chat with them about improving his chances and their attitude was, "if you already have a spot in a medical school, why do you want to come back here?".....pretty intuitive i'd say, because his family and stuff is in hamilton and he wants to be guaranteed to practice in canada but their attitude is really weird. had a few docs on the admissions committee tell me jesus christ would have trouble getting in even if he cured a leper during his interview.
if you have anymore questions get back to me, i'll try to put you in touch with some former and current students if i can.