Closing the File

So the news is in, I am indeed going to become a doctor some day. I have also decided which wonderful Canadian city will have the unfortunate task of training me over the next few years. I'm going to Calgary.

So how did this whole application experience go? Although hindsight would say "not too shabby", it was full of ups and downs along the way.

Rejected - No Interview
University of British Columbia
University of Alberta (Missing prerequisite)
Northern Ontario School of Medicine
University of Ottawa
McMaster University
University of Toronto
Dalhousie University

Interview Granted..Waitlisted
Queen's University

Interview Granted...Admission Offered!
University of Calgary
University of Manitoba
University of Western Ontario

Overall, I applied to most of the English speaking medical schools in Canada - 11 in total. I only got 4 interviews. I think the biggest setback for me was not getting an interview at UBC, my home school. When I found out why, I was quite frustrated at myself. This was compounded by the realization that I might be leaving the city which was my home all these years.

I learned something about applying to medical school: patience is key. One does a lot of waiting during the application process. First, applications start around October; around February, interview offers and rejection letters are mailed out. After interviews, it's another anxiety filled two months until admission offers are released. All in all, there is a lot of waiting. Come to grips with that reality before starting the whole application process.

Fortunately, my anxiety was unnecessary, as I ended up doing just fine. Before the 15th of May, which is when admission and waitlist notices are sent, I had already made predictions. I figured that, if I got into medicine at all, then I'd definitely get into Manitoba and Western. I knew based on their admissions criteria that they were my best shots. Not to mention, my Manitoba and Western interviews went quite well. I also knew that Queen's was highly unlikely to offer me a seat. Not only was I weak based on their final admissions criteria, but I also felt like I bombed that interview.

Calgary, however, threw me off. I felt like I had a solid interview (well, interviews). Despite this, I wasn't putting much hope in Calgary because of my preinterview score. I felt like I was at the low end of the interview pool, especially for out-of-province applicants. For me to then get one of the original out-of-province admission offers on the 15th was a hell of a surprise. I wasn't even thinking about moving to Calgary. In fact, I told people time after time that I'd never go there! My oh my how things change when circumstances are different.

So then, why Calgary? After I received my admission offers, the decision came down to Calgary or Western. Manitoba has a great school and program, but I did not want to live in Winnipeg if I could avoid it. The city isn't very nice, the neighbourhood of the medical school isn't very safe, and the weather is terrible. My pros and cons lists really helped out with my decision making... with one major difference.

I learned two things about Canadian medical schools that I didn't know during my interviews. First, school prestige isn't a major factor in Canadian medicine. All the Canadian schools are excellent, and all put out exceptionally qualified doctors. Second, residency matching statistics for Calgary and Western show little difference. Six years worth of residency matching statistics are available on the CaRMS website. The differences between schools in the specialties I'm interested in are small and insignificant. In other words, no school is obviously better at pumping out surgeons and neurologists. Having these two fears of mine silenced altered my decision making process.

Whereas I would have selected Western unequivocally, I became less settled with that choice. I had thought Western was a better school; the two things I learned nullified my assumption. Furthermore, I was attracted more and more to the program at Calgary.

In summary form, the following is why I ultimately decided to go to Calgary:

• Calgary is a nicer city to live in. It's urban, modern, growing, and wealthy. Of all the places I went to, it most resembles Vancouver's urban feel. You know what they say: once a city boy, always a city boy. And the fact of the matter is, deciding on medical schools is just as much about the city as it is about the school. I spend most of the week at the school, but I spend all my life in the city. When thought of that way, Calgary is clearly superior.
• Calgary has a three year program. Most medical schools have four year programs, giving students 3 months of vacation in the pre-clerkship summers. Students can spend the summer doing research, observerships, working, or traveling. It's free time. Calgary's three year program gives us four weeks of vacation a year: two weeks christmas and two weeks summer. The way I think about it: Calgary gets me to a real paycheque one year sooner. That's one year less tuition, one year less loaning. As someone who is aiming to become a specialist, I have a lot of training left after medical school, so every year counts.
• The program at Calgary is innovative and modern. Calgary seems to be a leader in medical education. They have pioneered the use of clinical presentations to guide and direct their pre-clerkship coursework. I'm really excited about this approach, and I think it will be a great way to learn.
• The facilities at Calgary are excellent. The medical school is located at Foothills Hospital, which is separate from the main University of Calgary campus. This is something I want (at least at this point), as I don't want to spend another 3 years on a massive, sprawling, campus. The health sciences building is also very impressive. Thus, in terms of facilities, Calgary is top of my list. Not to mention, the financial situation of the province hopefully trickles down to the health industry.

So, Cowtown, see you in a few weeks!

The Ontario Trip: A Postscript

I just realized that I never posted my pros/cons list from my Ontario trip to Queen's and Western. For the sake of completeness, as well as my own personal records, I'll go ahead and publish them. Who knows, maybe these lists will help someone else with their decision making someday.

Queen's University
Pros:

• Strong clinical skills program
• Small class size: very tight knit class
• The medical school is highly integrated into the community. All the physicians in Kingston are extended members of the teaching staff, and they are all willing to take on medical students in observerships.

Cons:

• Inconvenient campus: There isn't much food close to the medical sciences building, thus requiring a bit of a walk to the student building.
• Medical school facilities are on the same campus as everyone else.
• Very small, dinky, regional airport.
• Clerkship starts midway through third year, a little late!

Unsure:

• Kingston's population is mostly Queen's students, faculty, and staff. Thus, diversity is a little limited. Moreover, the city is also quite small - in both size and feel.
  

University of Western Ontario
Pros:

• Small class size makes it easier to get to know your class well.
• Convenient layout: everything to do with the medical school is in the same building complex.
• Clerkship structure: All core clerkship rotations are completed in 3rd year, leaving 4th year free to pick electives that you want to pursue. Knowing what you like in 3rd year is a major bonus when deciding upon electives. This clerkship layout is great for those who need help making a career decision.
• End of 4th year has a unique back to school component where you go back into the classroom environment and take advanced courses in areas of specialty.
• Many areas in the medical school building are key-carded for medical students only. The lounge is great! It has a nice TV, pool table, sofas. There is also quiet study space and a large computer lab.
• Local doctors seem willing to take on medical students in observership roles.
• Summer online forum is available to find roommates.

Cons:

• Medical school is on the main university campus, and thus shared with all other undergraduate and graduate programs.
• The medical school building doesn't look or feel new. Labyrinth like hallways. It isn't a very open feel.
• London isn't a large, modern, urban centre.

Unsure:

• Curriculum stresses independent, self-directed learning. However, the schedule seems to include equal lecture/small group time to any other medical program. Generally, mornings from 8:30am to 12:30pm are spent in lecture. One afternoon a week is community health lecture; two other afternoons are spent in small groups or doing clinical skills.

The Good News

Victory!

I've been accepted into medical school!


More details to follow...

Flown Out

I did a fair bit of flying during my medical school interviews. Here's the final tally.

Time period: 4 weeks
# of days: 7
# of airports visited: 6
# of individual flights: 11

Aircraft I've been during the 4 week timespan:
Boeing 737
Boeing 767-300
Embraer 190
Canadair CRJ 705
Canadair CRJ 100
De Havilland Dash 8-100
Beech 1900D

Why didn't I collect frequent flyer points? Stupid me...

Interviews Three and Four: The Ontario Trip

Finally, the last leg of my 'national tour'! This one would take me off to the less-than-stellar cities of Kingston and London in Ontario. I woke up at 4:30 AM on Friday - a cruel and horrible form of punishment. Flights at seven in the morning should be outlawed. I also tend to play it safe, rather than sorry, and end up waiting for an hour at the gate because I'm early. It's worth the cost to me, missing my flight is not something I want to go through just now.

This trip wasn't my first to the province of Ontario. I went to Ottawa in August for Dan's wedding. However, this was my first time in Toronto. Unfortunately, since I was connecting, I didn't have a chance to actually go out into the city. From the air, the city is huge. The CN tower is quite nice too. The smog on the other hand, not so attractive.

Toronto airport.

Toronto smog.

From Toronto, I took the world's smallest airline plane to Kingston. I'm not kidding. The plane sat like 14 people: two per row with an aisle down the middle. It's so small that the co-pilot had to give the preflight briefing! Yeah, not kidding. Turbulence in these things is nothing short of exhilarating. On a positive note, it was the first flight I remember where my pilot was female. Actually, both the pilots were female! Makes you wonder, how come women never get to fly the big Boeing and Airbus jets?

That thing got me to Kingston and back. I think my boat is bigger than this plane.

I arrived in Kingston late in the afternoon. It was my first time in a small regional airport. If you've never been to an airport such as this - well, your not missing out on much. When I say small, I mean the whole terminal is about the size of my house. Small plane, small terminal, I suppose it all matches in some fundamental way.

The city of Kingston lives up to its airport. It's a pretty small city (population 120,000), with a large proportion of its population being students at Queen's University. The taxi ride to my hotel took me past infamous Kingston Penitentiary, and the adjacent jail for Women. Very attractive. I also got a glimpse of the Queen's campus, but I'll hold off on that for just a sec. My hotel was right on the water: Radisson Hotel. This was perhaps the best sight in the whole city. Believe it or not, my room had a king size bed. Yes, king size. It was one of those adjustable firmness beds too. Wow! I had a great view of the lake and part of the city; the room was very spacious and the furniture was excellent. I highly recommend it to anyone who may be traveling into Kingston. I was quite tired that Friday, so I spent the rest of the night in my room. Thank God for complimentary internet access - and an accessible girlfriend! (Mad props)

What a room...check out the king size bed.

My view at sunset.

Same view, twelve hours later.

The next day, I arrived at the Queen's campus just after 11 AM. The campus is architecturally very nice, with old stone/brick style buildings. I joined an impromptu tour of the campus with a first year medical student and some interviewees from McMaster. Suffice it to say, there's a lot of walking involved in studying at Queen's.

Queen's architecture.

Another building on the Queen's campus.

Nice library on the Queen's campus.

At noon, there was an orientation and welcome session for interviewees. This included the usual "what's so great about our school" schpeel. The highlight, however, was the video. That was worth a lot of laughs. Following the orientation, I made my way to the adjacent clinical education centre where the actual interviews were held. I sat around in the waiting room and chatted with other interviewees and some first year students. It was quite relaxing. Oddly, Queen's is the only medical school interview where I wasn't made to sign a confidentiality agreement. Maybe I forgot to, or somehow magically did without knowing. If that's the case, I wasn't properly informed and thus any agreement is void. Long story short, I can talk about the interview!

Of all the interviews I did this year, I felt the most uncomfortable at the Queen's one. I'm not sure why, I think it got off to a weird start. You see, they always give you water right at the beginning of the interview. Like usual, when they started their introductions, I went for a sip of water. Normally, this is perfect timing: they're talking, and you can hear; you don't need to talk, so you can drink. But my perfectly planned water maneuver took an unexpected twist - they stopped talking and watched me drink my water. It was eerie. Was I shaking with anxiety? Were they watching my cup wondering if I'd spill. I have no idea. That threw me off for a good minute while I went into damage control mode and tried to de-weirdify the interview. It didn't take long to feel back at ease, but that weird start still haunts me.

After the interview, I made me way back to the airport to wait for my flight(s) to London. I met a fellow interviewee from SFU who was also at Queen's that day. It was nice having some company, and we finally parted ways after dinner in Toronto. Lo and behold, the same two female pilots on the same dinky little plane got us back to Toronto. It's like these poor pilots fly circles between Kingston and Toronto all day. After a short stay in Toronto, I took a respectable prop (Dash 8) down to London. Arrival time, almost midnight.

I stayed at the Spencer Leadership Centre in London. This was a conference & hotel affiliated with the Business school at the University of Western Ontario. The price was good, and the room was nice. Not as big as the Radisson in Kingston, but nice nonetheless. After some phone calls and unpacking, I collapsed into a heap of sleeping cells at about 1 AM.

My room in London. Cozy but nice.

The Spencer Leadership Centre in London had a great sitting room.

Waking up at 7 AM was brutal. I could really feel the lack of sleep getting to me. I got to the Western campus at around 10 AM in line for my 11 AM interview. After signing in, I was led into the waiting room to wait it out till my interview. The nice thing was, the number of 1st year medical students pretty much outnumbered interviewees. I spent some time chatting with students and interviewees alike.

A largely uninformative shot of the Western medical building.

Looking at part of the Western campus.

The interview itself went well, for the most part - except for the one time I caught myself staring into blank space with nothing further to say. That was kind of awkward, ahaha. But the start of the interview was great, as one of the panel members made a small slip up during the introduction and we all had a great laugh. I really think the first few minutes of the interview are crucial. First impressions, anyone?

Following the interview, I went to yet another welcome session. If I thought the Queen's video was nice, Western's was just amazing. I laughed pretty hard. Following the orientation, I asked a first year med student to show me around - which he was pleased to do. I thought that was a great touch, the first year students were really there to help us interviewees. Not to mention, this was the only school where the first years were actually dressed up too - and not walking around in slack jeans. Nice, professional, touch.

Finally, I was done! My interviews for this year's application cycle came to an end. What a feeling of relief. But, alas, karma caught up to me. My flight home had a connection in Winnipeg. On the approach and landing into Winnipeg airport, I noticed how low and thick the fog was. And it was covering everything - fog as far as the eye could see. And the eye can see plenty at thirty thousand feet. That pesky fog kept us in Winnipeg an extra two hours. Mind you, we already had to wait a few hours for our connecting flight, so any delay only added insult to injury. And the worst part was that other planes were able to land. Unfortunately, the plane that was supposed to get us to Vancouver was not certified to land in the fog. I think that fly I swatted tried to get back at me. Karma. Fortunately, I was traveling with a fellow UBC student who was also interviewing at Western. Again, traveling with someone makes the whole processes just a little bit more bearable.

The fog in Winnipeg. You can see the shadow of our plane. See the landing gear - yeah, we're that low.

Touching down in Vancouver was such an amazing feeling. I enjoy traveling and flying - but not like this. Going a different place every other week for a day or two at a time is really taxing. I was drained, and very pleased to be finished. Our plane landed at around 12 AM. My total travel time that day was a full 12 hours. All that just to cross the country. I wish I connected in Toronto.

I hope you've enjoyed my 'national tour'. I've seen a bit of Canada now, taken a few pictures, and ate a lot of room service. Let's hope I don't have to do this again till CaRMS.

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...

Happy New Yea..Uh..Happy February

It's been a while, hasn't it. I haven't posted since-oh my-last year.

Hum, where to begin...

Christmas break was a great time to relax. Quite low key: some family, some friends. Nothing spectacular. I must say, I enjoyed my new computer.

After some initial juggling about, I've ended up with four courses for my last semester at UBC! Wow, this feels good. I haven't had a courseload this nice for a while. On top of that, I work 10 hours a week, volunteer for 2, and dance for another 2. Nonetheless, life is much better than last semester.



How about medical school applications? Well, I'm going to remain purposely vague for the next few months, until my fate is decided. All I will say for now: some disappointments mixed in with nice surprises. Oh, and I'll be doing a bit of flying/busing/taxiing/hoteling over the next couple month. I'm off to Calgary in a couple weeks; in March, I'll be dropping into Winnipeg and Toronto/Kingston. Thank God for WestJet!

As for this coming summer, I have applied for an NSERC grant to do research with one of my professors. NSERC grants are federal grants available to undergraduate science and engineering students to allow them to gain summer research experience. My professor's research field is spinal cord injury. With my GPA, I feel 75% confident that I'll be approved. Not to mention my prof has had an NSERC funded student several years in a row now. More details if I actually get approved.

I also have a few ideas for posts circulating in between my ears. I hope to get back to semi-regular blogging. So cross your fingers and check back in a few days!

Paradox: Darwin vs. Hippocrates

A paradox has been tugging at my mind these past months. It's all rather vague and abstract, but I'll try to present it nonetheless. It goes something like this.

Life on this earth has been driven by natural selection. Every organism alive today is only here because it, and it's many ancestors, have made it through nature's brutal selective hand. They are the ones most capable of breeding and surviving in the specific environment that they inhabit. If an organism carries a gene which makes them weak or feeble, they will die. They will not spread that gene. That's the point. That's natural selection. But more so, that species as a whole is better off with the weak individual dying. It keeps harmful genes out of the gene pool.

And such is the world of Darwin.

But we humans are odd. We defy Darwin's world - we defy nature itself. Our technology and medicine allows weakness and disease to survive. Our health industry allows weak and sick individuals to survive, reproduce, and nurture offspring - a possibility nearly impossible to every other species on this planet. We have been able to overcome natural selection. Its heavy hand no longer controls our fate. Our doctors, drugs and scientists do that now.

And I confess, I am one of those who wants to take on nature. I do, after all, want to become a Physician. It would be my sworn duty to heal others. This is my dream.

This is the world of Hippocrates.

What would Darwin and Hippocrates have to say to one another? Are physicians in some way harming humankind? Doctors are bound to do good and no harm - that is their oath. Every human life is precious. Every human life is equal. Every condition will receive the full treatment available. Pharmaceutical companies labour long and hard at designing and producing drugs. They do it for the dollar, but intentions aside, patients receive treatment. However, the unintentional consequence of health care is that bad genes might make it through, they might get passed on.

And herein lies my paradox. In defying natural selection--the very branch upon which the human species stands--are we only making our species weaker? By fighting against the weeding hand of nature, are we only doing more harm in the long run?

I for one know, if I ever make it into medicine, I would do good and no harm.

Besides, I've always had a thing for the Greeks.

Where'd You Go

Yes, I've disappeared lately, I know. I am in fact still alive. I don't have time or motivation to say anything of significance, so I will post one of those "this is what I've been up to" blog posts.

***

Medical school applications are almost over. So far I've completed:

UBC
University of Manitoba
University of Toronto
Queens University
University of Western Ontario
McMaster University
University of Ottawa
Northern Ontario Medical School

I still have to do:

University of Alberta
University of Calgary
Dalhousie University
University of Saskatchewan

And yes, I'm applying to almost every medical school in Canada.

Chances are I'll get 12 letters of rejection. But maybe, just maybe, one school is brilliant enough to let me in. Hah!

***
A good boss makes a big difference!

My boss has kindly allowed me to drop down to 5 hours of work per week instead of 9. This may seem insignificant, but it's the difference between getting home at 3pm or 9:30pm.

***

I'm going to be volunteering at the Dr. Peter Centre. This is a residence and day centre for AIDS infected individuals. Those inside are also dealing with issues such as poverty, homelessness, drug addiction, and mental problems. I'm going to be volunteering in the live-in residence, which has 24 private single-room dwellings. I'll be doing things like one-on-one chats, games, reading aloud, and taking residents to local medical appointments.

This is going to be very challenging. I've never done anything like this before. But I'm excited. This is going to give me some really valuable experiences, and probably bust a lot of my naivety.

***

I thought October would be busy, followed by a relatively low key November.

The way it looks...no chance in hell...

The Last Leg

Once again, blogging is on a hold for the week. I'm in last leg of studying and preparing for the MCAT exam this Saturday. I've done one full length, timed, practice exam. I did quite well. I surprised myself. I also found some weak areas which I will work on tomorrow.

Moreover, the MCAT exam includes 2x30 min essay sections. Each of the two sections is essentially identical. You are presented with a prompt - some statement that is sorta-true-sorta-not. Then you are given three tasks to write about in a coherent essay. First, explain what the statement means; second, provide a counterexample of the statement; and third, determine what decides whether the statement or the counterexample is true. It really is quite formulaic. The tasks, for example, are always the same (with appropriate modification for each of the two prompts).

So anyways, I will be doing plenty of (hand)writing over the next few days. I'm not sure if I'll have anything left for (blog)writing.

A Night in the ER

Spent last night in the Emergency Room at Lions Gate Hospital. I was shadowing one of the ER doctors there, he's a family friend of ours. So I spent seven hours there just watching, talking, learning - real fun. I got to learn about the setup of the ER at LGH. The first section is the resuscitation room. These two beds are for critical patients. The second section is the emergency room. These twelve beds are for patients which aren't critical, but are emergencies nonetheless. The emergency room also has a seperate section for paediatrics, with a few beds there. The third and final section is the first aid section. These dozen or so beds are for non emergencies. Patients here may wait over two hours to have a chance to see a doctor. A shift for an ER doctor is split about 4 hours in emergency and 4 hours in first aid. I got to experience both last night.

So what kind of stuff did I see? Well, there were no critical traumas while I was there. I was kinda hoping to see something critical, but at the same time I'm happy that no people (and families) have to go through major trauma on Thanksgiving. There was one trauma, and that was a crushed lumbar vertebra of someone who fell from a height, but besides that the patient (as far as I heard) was stable. There were a number of TIA's last night (Transient Ischemic Attack), also known as mini strokes. This gave me a chance to see the examination done when there is a possible stroke or TIA, and I got to look at a bunch of CT scans. I sure got to see a lot of tests last night: CT scans, X-Rays, blood tests, urine tests. And my, those tests seem very useful. There were few pregnant patients with bleeding and/or abdominal pain. We had a couple of kids who had bonked their heads, but nothing too serious came out of that. A few patients were feeling sick - nausia, vomitting, etc... On the first aid side, most the people there had abdominal/chest pain of some sort.

All in all, an excellent night, and a great experience.

Cheers,
Kev

Kev in the ER - Monday Night

I am so psyched!

Dr. Watson called back tonight. All the paperwork is done, the hoops have been jumped through, so I'll be in the ER Monday (Thanksgiving) night. I'll be at Lions Gate Hospital from 6PM to around 1AM.

I'm told it is probably going to be busy in there. That's going to be great experience for me. But the flip side is, everyone coming in is hurt - some seriously - and on Thanksgiving of all days. So I have that torn feeling inside: experience for me at the expense of people in pain.

So I'll have a lab coat on, but I was told to dress professionally. Pants and shirt, with a tie? I'm not really sure what to wear under the coat.

Man I'm pumped. Yes yes yes!

Cheers,
Kev

Job Shadow - ER Physician at Lions Gate Hospital

I heard back from one of our family friends who is a trauma physician at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver. I'm so excited! He said it's possible for me to come and shadow him in the ER for a night. The administration has changed some things, so there may be a few hoops to jump through, but he said that they shouldn't be a problem. He's on shift next weekend, Sunday and Monday. I know it's Thanksgiving weekend, but my family will gladly push our Thanksgiving meal one night over to let me have this experience. He also recommended the night (6pm-12pm) as the most exciting.

I'm psyched.

Hopefully the administration won't jack this up.

Bubye for now,
Kev

PBL Tutor Training - Playing Med-Student

Today I had my first of two PBL Tutor Training workshops. What are PBL tutor training workshops you might ask? Well, the Med school at UBC teaches their undergraduate med students using PBL (problem based learning). The students are put into PBL groups (around 7 students), and they are given a tutor whose job is to facilitate the learning process of the students in the PBL group. The tutor's role is not to teach, but to give direction - to aid the student's own learning. These PBL tutors may be physicians, instructors, or researchers, and they need to be trained on how to tutor the PBL tutorial. In order to train these tutors, they need mock med-school students. That's where I came in. They asked students in the pre-med/pre-dental club to come and help the Faculty of Medicine train their PBL tutors. It involes 1 hr of training, 6 hrs of tutorial (split over two sessions), and approximately 1-2hrs of independent study between tutorial one and two. For all this I get $100. Not too shabby, if I can say so myself.
So, as I mentioned, today I had my first session. The problem we were given was about a man in the ER who had just been in a motor vehicle accident. He was having trouble breathing, and the problem seemed to be focused on his left chest. All we did was work through the problem, taking the information we were given, trying to figure out what the learning issues were (things which we needed to go and learn/research), formulating a hypothesis, and asking what further information could we use. We made it half way through the case (page 2 of 3). So now we've been sent off to study up for the Thursday session. I really like this PBL system of learning: whenever I take responsibility for my own learning, I find that I actually learn and understand material, as opposed to passive listening in lectures or passive reading. This is also a nice taste of what preclerkship at most med schools will be like; as far as I know all the major Canadian medical schools have gone to the problem-based learning method. All in all, well worth it. And did I say a hundred bucks=]

Oh, and my money is down on pneumothorax - collapsed lung. However, as the training told us, the point of these PBL sessions is to lead students to study the physiology and anatomy of the system(s) involved. The clinical aspect is nice, but not the real focus. But still, my money is down.

Cheers for now,
Afra