McMaster Nursing? Is it worth it?

so if you dont have high marks, you can never be an NICU nurse for example because you've never had those ICU placements?

Not true. You might not be able to have a clinical placement in NICU while in school if you don't have high marks, but there are lots and lots of NICU nurses who didn't do a clinical placement in NICU during school. And there are lots too who weren't the shiniest stars in their schools.

^ oh, THANKS. I'm starting a 2-year fast track nursing program this Sept09 so I am kinda clueless about these things for now :P

I just graduated from Mac Nursing. Maybe I can help a little.

McMaster Nursing is a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) program. That means, unlike other schools where there are "nursing classes" that teach you about, for example, pediatric nursing - we do PBL. This is a class, 3 hours once a week, where you are in a small group and you discuss clinical case scenarios. You brainstorm and try to solve the problem. The problems and solutions get more complex as you move through the year. Now, some people hate PBL, others love it. It depends on your personality. If you're outgoing, you'll probably have an easier time with it.

In first year...
You have PBL and clinical in a combined course. When I did it, we had this class twice a week - one of the days was PBL and the other was clinical. At this point clinical is NOT in a hospital (you don't have a placement). You learn your basic assessment skills in the classroom and the Clinical Learning Centre. There's also "standardized patients" which are basically actors that you practice your assessment skills on. It helps you gain confidence before you have to do it in "real life"...but it's difficult for some people to get over the fact that they're not real patients.

In terms of science courses, you have to take anatomy and physiology 1 and 2. These consist of lectures, labs and tutorials. You do see cadavers and dissect animals part. It's a very hard course. You take it with 2nd year health sciences students, third year biomedical engineers and midwifery students. Also, human biochemistry 1 and 2 and psychology.

In second year...
You start your clinical in the hospital. You are in small groups and you have a clinical tutor. You do a medical placement on semester and a surgical placement in the other. PBL continues. You also have Pharmacology and Microbiology. These courses are also difficult.

There's also 2 different population health courses. One of them you are assigned a "population" and you do a profile of that community. It's a huge project that you work on with your group. Some people hate it, some people love it.

In third year...
Your clinical is assigned via a "lottery". You can pick from a wide variety of placements and there are also "specialized" placements which you can apply to be considered for if you had an average of B+ (I think) in your science courses. This is where you can do placements like Medical, Surgical, Pediatrics, Postpartum, etc...You are still in small groups in PBL...and clinical is also small groups where you have a tutor and you are assigned a patient and you work with the nurse who has that patient.

Your sciences are pathophysiology. And there's also a statistics-like course called critical appraisal. It teaches you how to appraise articles. Most people hate this course. It's also done in a small group.

In fourth year...
Clinical placements are done by lottery. You pick for a wide variety of placements. Some that I remember from my year include NICU, ICU, MED/SURG, CCU, PACU, Neurosurgery, ER, etc... This year you are assigned a preceptor which is an RN at the setting you end up placed at. You also have a tutor who you meet with and hand some assignments in to. PBL continues. There's a research practicum in this year as well - you act as a "junior research assistant" on a research project. This can be interesting or tedious depending on the placement you get - which is done by lottery.


Overall...the positives about the McMaster program, I think, is the small groups (if you are outgoing). The science courses are very comprehensive and give you a very good knowledge base. The clinical placements you get to choose from are interesting, and the lottery system, I find is pretty effective.

The negatives...a lot of the courses like PBL and the population health courses are very dependant on the tutor. If you have a good tutor, you'll love it. Also, there is a grey area in terms of grading - because of the small classes, different tutors grade differently...so if you get a tough tutor you may end up being graded tougher than another student with an easier tutor. Also, it's a difficult program - the sciences are very tough and in-depth. This can also be a positive if you enjoy medicine and sciences (like I do).

The program is challenging and rewarding. I'm very happy with the time I spent at Mac. I feel like I've learned a lot.

Good luck!

^ what exactly do you mean by "unlike other schools where there are "nursing classes" that teach you about, for example, pediatric nursing - we do PBL"? So Mac doesn't teach you the what and how of nursing (ie. they don't lecture on what it means to be a nurse and what your responsibilities are and how to perform the tasks that nurses must do?).

No, that's exactly right. We are not "lectured" about anything related to nursing. We have small groups and "discussions" about nursing responsibilities, and all the other things "nursing". We are not taught these things in lecture. We are taught them in small group sessions.

We are taught these things, just not lectured on them. We work through cases and problem solve and look at which issues are critical and how we would approach them and we explore the way these issues can be dealt with. Which many people would argue is the "better way". The nursing world is not a black and white one - what is the "right way" today is not necessarily going to be the "right way" in a year from now. McMaster doesn't drill the "right way" into your head, instead, it teaches you how to think about things and why things are being done the way they are, etc etc etc...

Tasks we learn in clinical.