What is better U of Calgary or U of C- Medicine HAT?

[monikah]

I know they provide the same education in terms of classes im asking more in terms of clinical experience. I do not know a lot about Alberta so I was hoping for some input. I know calgary is better so I am assuming you would have a more broad clinical experience in a bigger hospital but does the medicine hat program prepare you for actual work after having clinicals in a smaller town? Would not all the intense cases be sent to the hospital in Calgary so the patients can be netter taken care of meaning most things you would see in a medicine hat school rotation be common sicknesS?

I am from a small city so anything that is major get sent out right away on a helicopter to a hospital more equipped. from what i see i like the look of both schools.

[petethecanuck]

How do you "know" Calgary is better? Just curious, as I find that to be an odd statement considering (as you stated) you don't know a lot about Alberta. :)

I can't speak to the 'Hat, but far as clinical experience is concerned, I would recommend you take a look at Mount Royal University (MRU). The U of C is my alma mater and although I went through the accelerated track program, my clinical training was very similar to that of the regular 4 year program.

It was an OK experience but I would have liked more clinical hours, I believe MRU has more clnicial hours/training in their program. Also, from my direct experience having students from both schools on my unit doing their clincials, it seems MRU does a good job training their students as their cliinical skillset/critical thinking seem to be a tad beter the the U of C's.

As for the notion of Calgary being a bigger city so you will see cooler stuff in clincials. That may be true for your final focus ( if you are placed in ICU, Emerge etc) but you wouldn't be missing out on anything significant by going to a smaller city/hospital.

In fact, I bet you would see a lot more interesting cases in a smaller city because there are no big hospitals.

Good luck!

[Fiona59]

Medicine Hat is actually quite interesting from what a friend has told me. BATUS is nearby, so a lot of military accidents wind up in the Hat. Some good traumas.

[monikah]

oh wow thanks guys that was really helpful! what i meant by calgary is better is that to get into the calgary program you need a higher gpa (which i know isnt a good indicator of what schol is better but its all i got) than the calgary-hat program. I think im just going to apply to both no point in being picky if i have even been accepted yet hah.thanks!

[Fiona59]

Nah, the higher gpa just means there are more people applying for limited seats. I've known people get into smaller programmes with the bare minimum of marks. It's far easier to to get into the BsCN programme in Red Deer than it is in Edmonton. (I know someone who graduated there and someone who is looking into it).

Don't judge a programme by how hard it is to get into.