Posts under Preclerkship

OMSA Lobby Day is A-Coming!

  • Posted on: 26 February 2014
  • By: OMSA Admin

Last year I had the opportunity to attend OMSA's annual Lobby day. This day is actually part of an entire weekend where OMSA not only lobbies for an important issue in healthcare, but gives medical students a crash course in leadership and political advocacy.

Why Medical School Admissions Should be Changed to a Lottery

  • Posted on: 20 January 2014
  • By: OMSA Admin

I think medical schools should be using a lottery to select their students for admission. Not a weighted lottery (i.e. better grades/MCAT scores give you a higher chance of being selected), but a pure, unadulterated, Lotto 6/49 type lottery. To get your ticket, all you need is to meet the academic requirements of the medical school you're applying to. This is not a popular view. I have been called an idiot – and worse – for believing this. But I'm not an idiot, let me tell you why.

Expectations

  • Posted on: 6 January 2014
  • By: OMSA Admin

Thinking back on my observerships in first year, one that sticks out as different than I expected was when I went to follow a pediatrician over the winter holidays. We had met him in the hospital after the birth of our daughter and he was friendly older gentleman from Latin America. We had both attended our daughter's appointments and he knew I was studying medicine, thus when I asked about shadowing him he was happy to oblige. 

Eve of the Eleventh Hour

  • Posted on: 17 December 2013
  • By: OMSA Admin

The first thing to know about Labour & Delivery is that there is no guarantee of when a child will be born.

When I step onto the ward for my first L&D observership, I am greeted by the sounds of howling mothers and mewling infants. Twenty minutes early and two births in process. Beginner’s luck, it would seem. I rush to switch from street clothes to scrubs.

Ten minutes later and it’s ten minutes too late.

What a Papaya Taught Me

  • Posted on: 21 November 2013
  • By: OMSA Admin

The CN Tower, mighty and tall, greeted me when I stepped off the ferry. The small town girl that I am was completely taken aback by the endless avenues, the towering skyscrapers, and the multilingual crowd. OMSW Toronto, the event that brought me to Ontario, already promised to be unique: hundreds of medical students from all across the province were to gather in downtown Toronto for a weekend.

Close Rank

  • Posted on: 18 November 2013
  • By: OMSA Admin

"They probably had good reasons…"
"Most likely they thought that…"
"Based on the statistics…"

I wanted to talk a bit about something I have experienced as a patient and encountered in conversations with peers; the tendency to become apologists for the medical system at the first sign of criticism. 

Fall Back

  • Posted on: 3 November 2013
  • By: OMSA Admin

I used to get so excited for the start of Daylight Savings Time. Similarly I would hate the end of it each fall. 

Afterall, the addition of an extra hour to each day meant longer nights out with friends and warmer weather overall. And the shorter and darker days seemed to clamp down on fun like a frigid fist. 

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