Interview Two: University of Manitoba Medical School

Two weeks after my trip to Calgary, I set off on the second leg of my "national tour". The destination, Winnipeg.

My flight to Winnipeg wasn't as early in the morning as my Calgary. That meant I actually got a respectable amount of sleep, and woke up at a decent hour (7 am). That weekend was a major cram time for me, as I had to finish off my take-home midterm for Endocrinology. Long story short - I wrote a lot over the weekend. You'd be amazed how productive you are when you're sitting very bored in an empty airport terminal!

Bye Vancouver, see ya soon!


Welcome to the prairies: the whole city of Regina in one shot.

Winnipeg airport.

I arrived in Winnipeg around mid-afternoon. I had given myself a few hours to explore the city centre - my first stop: McDonalds in the underground mall for some lunch. I was starving, as I hadn't had a thing to eat since 7am. Alas, Winnipeg has even less to see than Calgary. I walked in the other direction to another mall, and decided I'd had enough and wanted to get back to my hotel and rest. Total touristy time: 1 hour, 15 minutes. I made an excellent purchase, though. I picked up a copy of Freakonomics. What an exciting book to read, I highly recommend it. Part economics, part entertainment - great combo.

My hotel room..two starts at its best.

Going towards the city centre.

I thought this was a pretty cool statue.

That's it...back to my hotel.

I pretty much read the whole thing throughout the course of my trip.

My attempt to sleep was thwarted by a group of youngins. They thought it to be a great idea to party till 3am. I lost count of how many times they slammed the door. At least I could sleep in a little bit the next day. I found out later that my cheerful floormates were probably American teens on spring break. You see, legal drinking age in Manitoba is 18 - it's 21 just across the border. Case closed.

I arrived at the medical school quite a bit earlier than my 2:20 pm interview time. I had a great time sitting down and chatting with other interviewees and first year med students. Everyone was in a good mood, and the vibe was great. The interview itself went well, in my opinion. It was incredibly relaxed, and I felt that it was a very fair chance for me. After the interview, I went on a rather short tour of the building, chatted a bit with some of the first years, then got on my taxi to get to the airport and go back home.

The health sciences building from outside.

The atrium of the health sciences building.

Another angle of the health sciences building atrium.

Finally, my overall summary of the medical school at the University of Manitoba, as well as some comments about the city of Winnipeg. (Some of them may seem a bit, odd...this list is just as much for my memory as it is for public consumption).

Pros:

• The medical program has a small class size. This forms a tight knit class, as well as gives a great chance to get to know instructors if one wants.
• The university seems to really take care of its medical students, I was very impressed by this.
  
• Lots of clinical exposure since the facility is the only major care centre for a very large region.
• St. Boniface Hospital is in a nice place (the French Quarter of town), and it's where I'll spend a lot of time in my clerkship years.
• A new Clinical Skills Centre is in the initial phases of building; unfortunately, it's uncertain whether it will be complete in time for our class.
• Opportunity to do research and graduate with an MD & BSc Med. Research is conducted during Summer 1 and Summer 2. Also, we get a summer stipend of $4500. Research can be conducted in many topics and in many areas.
• Lots of opportunity to get early clinical experience. Doctors are willing to take University of Manitoba med students in an observer role.
• Cost of tuition is VERY low. Cost of living is VERY low.

Cons:

• Health Sciences Centre & Hospital are in a shady part of town.
• The city centre is full of loitering homeless people; downtown Winnipeg is depressing.
  
• The city has no freeways?!
• It's very cold during the winter.
• The transit system is not highly recommended

Unsure:

• Teaching is lecture focussed: starts off with basic sciences, then goes through each system studying physiology/anatomy/pharmacology/pathology/etc in the clinical context.

Cowtown - Sunday (Day 2)

I woke up on Sunday feeling refreshed. Despite my trouble falling asleep, I seemed to have evaded my typical morning grogginess. I ordered up some breakfast, for some reason I thought I was really hungry. After waiting twice as long as I was told to wait, my massive stack of pancakes arrived. I learned a valuable lesson that day: anxiety suppresses my appetite. It wasn't like I was freaking out, not at all. It was more of a mixture of excitement and not knowing what to expect. Whatever it was, I think I managed to eat a single pancake (out of 3) and some fruit. I plan to switch up my traveling breakfast. From now on, I'll get a bagel and tea. Nothing too heavy.

I checked out of the hotel around 11AM and headed over to the Health Sciences Centre where the interviews were held. I got there way too early - my Vancouver-based distance/traveltime calculations are way off. These cities have no traffic (especially on Sunday!), and the distances are within eyesight. In any case, instead of looking like a complete tard, I decided to walk around the Health Sciences Centre in my own little one-man informal tour. It's an impressive building. It seems new and sleek, and I assume somewhat functional.

Just inside the entrance of the Health Sciences Centre.

I guess that means me!


Hippocrates. I like his toga.

Soon enough, my interview day started. This 4.5 hour trek lasted me from noon till near 5pm. The medical school interview at U of Calgary is pretty intense. It comes in two parts:

Part 1 is the Multiple Mini Interview. In this segment, we do a round robin interview with 9 individual judges spending 10 minutes at each station. As with all medical schools, I've signed a confidentiality agreement of some sort, so I can't give much in the way of details. Basicaly, think of it as 9 first impressions.

Following Part 1 was, you guessed it, Part 2 - the On Site Essay. We were given 50 minutes to type two essays. Again, no details. But trust me in this, it wasn't very fun or enlightening. At least we got to type it up in the computer lab.

Finally, we were done! We got the canned speech about how great the medical school program is at U of C. The faculty/doctor who spoke to us, and generally followed us around all day, was a great guy. Calgary Flames jersey aside, he seemed like a really nice guy.

With the interview day over, I waited another aeon for my taxi. First, picked up my stuff from the hotel, then off to the airport. It must be a Calgary thing - I had a great time chatting with the cab drivers in Calgary. I got to the airport way too early, but I had nothing else to do. Did you know that WestJet doesn't let you check in earlier than 5 hours before your flight? Well now you know.

That was a very, very long 5 hours. In that span of time, I ate 12 inches of sandwich and read half a book. Thank god I found some nice individual sofas right beside my gate. I bet my ass-print is permanently pressed into that sofa. I'll be sure to check on my way back from Winnipeg (as I'm stopping in Calgary).

Trying reading this book for 4 hours. I dare you.

As we were finally settling into the plane, the captain came on with some not-so-great news. Maintenance had found a large dent in the tail of the airplane, rendering it unfit to fly. Great, another hour of sitting around. Although, I suppose that's better than disintegrating mid-flight.

Almost home.

So, what did I learn through this experience?

• Vancouver is an amazing city. Hands down, the scenery, the city, the shops and entertainment. I don't think there's much competition - in Canada at least. I've been to lots of places, but only now that moving away has become a very real possibility have I realized how amazing this city is.
• Interviews for medical school aren't as big and bad as I thought. Just relax, be yourself, and don't worry. I don't know how well I did, but what's done is done - no need to second guess myself.

Last, but not least, my summary of studying medicine at the University of Calgary:

Pros:

• Calgary isn't Vancouver, but it's still not that bad of a city. It's urban, modern, and growing fast. At least Calgary has Vancouver style condo highrise buildings going up. Also, downtown Calgary is pretty clean and safe.
• Calgary has covered walkways EVERYWHERE...you could probably make it through a whole winter day without going outdoors. And trust me, for a spoiled Vancouverite, that sounds very tempting.
• The medical school is nice, it looks new and modern. It's also attached to a major hospital.
• Travel between Calgary and Vancouver is fast (~1 hr flight), convenient, and cheap. Thank you WestJet.

Cons:

• I didn't get a very good vibe from the student body. I don't know what it is. As a point of comparison, the med students at U of Manitoba were much friendlier. Then again, Calgary goes through a lot of interviews compared to, say, Manitoba, so that might be a factor.

Unsure:

• Calgary is an innovative school. Their medical curriculum is taught according to the 100 or so different ways a patient can present to physicians. Traditional anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and pathophysiology are integrated throughout. However, I'm not totally sure if this is a good thing. Traditional medical education has worked well for a very long time--it has a well tested track record.
• The undergraduate MD program is only 3 years long, instead of the typical 4 years. On the plus side, that means I finish school and get into residency a whole year sooner. However, that also means I only get 4 weeks of vacation a year, instead of 3 months. This limits my possibility to do a research project, or to gain extra clinical experience outside of my formal training.

That's it for Calgary, check back soon for the next installment of my "national tour".

Cowtown - Saturday (Day 1)

As some of you know, I have been invited for a number of interviews at out-of-province medical schools. My first stop along my 'national tour' took me to Calgary (don't worry, I don't plan to run for politics).



I left Vancouver soon after sunrise on Saturday morning. I was somewhat paranoid about how strict pre-boarding security would be with my 'Gels, Liquids, and Aerosols'. They weren't. I was within all the legal limits - everything was travel sized and in a clear, resealable, bag. I thought they would have at least looked at it. But I went through security without a single question. It makes me wonder what the hell the strict rules are for - do they even check?

My hotel in Calgary was the Sandman in downtown. It was decent for the price: nothing spectacular, nor any glaring faults. I decided to spend my afternoon walking around downtown. It's no Vancouver, that's for sure. The whole trip took 3 hours...including 1 hour sitting in a chair eating lunch. But, there are some highlights.



Calgary Tower was probably the best part. For those that don't know, Calgary Tower is, well, a tower. You pay a disproportionately large sum of money and get whisked to the top by windowless elevator. The observation deck at the top has a great view of the city. Although, I suppose that isn't much to say considering it is right in the middle of the city, and the city is completely flat. Nonetheless, it was nice! I liked the 3 or 4 glass panels you could stand on and look down from. The first time I stepped on to them was rather unnerving, but I got used to it quickly. I only wish that they would have had a glass floor all the way around the observation deck, not just in a single, 2 meter wide patch.







I went as far as the Olympic park before deciding to call it a trip and head back to my hotel. Conveniently, Calgary has a tram system that runs through downtown and stops right in front of my hotel! Oh, did I say, the tram is free in the downtown core. Sweet deal. So I hopped on for the 3 minute ride back home. Total time spent: 3 hours.





I spent the rest of the afternoon cuddled in my (uncomfortable) bed. You know, those beds where you can feel the springs whenever you dare migrate towards the center of the mattress. Lack of sleep, combined with lack of entertainment, led to a wonderfully long snooze. I ate dinner at the restaurant in the hotel lobby, and retired to my room for the rest of Saturday.





My attempt to fall asleep at 11 failed. I was too anxious looking forward to the next day - and my medical school interview. But, thank god, I eventually fell asleep - sometime after 12.

To be continued...