Why U of T Medicine?

There are so many reasons to choose U of T medicine. Here are just a few...

10) Concentration of research: Toronto is one of the only metropolises in North America with only one medical school. As a result, there is incomparable concentration of research and clinical opportunities at U of T. Within a 6km squared area in downtown Toronto you can find more hospitals and research facilities than entire medical schools and universities combined. U of T medicine is fully affiliated with 15 research institutes of hospitals, and just down the road from MaRS and the research facilities of other healthcare faculties at U of T.

9) Concentration of teaching: U of T sends students across 9 teaching hospitals and 18 community hospitals and healthcare sites. This is more than what some entire provinces have.

8) Concentration of culture: In Toronto you will find lots of theatre shows, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Canadian Opera Company, the National Ballet, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Ripley's Aquarium.

7) Unique medical curriculum: From its brand new preclerkship curriculum to your third year rotations (U of T students rotate through all the mandatory clerkship blocks in third year, so you will be well prepared when you're finally on your electives and ready to impress), U of T offers a curriculum delivered like no other school in Canada.

6) Unique humanistic curriculum: Arts & Humanities at the Faculty of Medicine runs a wide-ranging number of initiatives to help medical students engage with Oslerian parts of medicine. Chief among them are ArtBeat (http://utmedshumanities.wordpress.com/), the online home of the Arts & Humanities at U of T, and the Humanities Companion Curriculum. The Humanities Companion Curriculum is the first of its kind in North America. Each week, students receive readings from literature and medical humanities related to the medical content they are covering that week. This one-to-one mapping occurs throughout the first and second year, while the third year students are offered block readings depending on the rotation they are on.

5) Unique personal curriculum: The number of students at U of T combined with the diverse community groups in Toronto and cornucopia of resources in Toronto makes for a very large selection of interest groups and electives. From the Aboriginal Health Elective (the majority of First Nations in Ontario live in the urban GTA!) to the AGO Medicine in Art elective, to Surgical simulation interest groups to physician-investigator mentorship initiatives, you can always find something (the problem is usually too much) to pique your interest.

4) Life of activity: From High Park to the Sunnybrook Estates/Don River trails to the Humber and Credit river trails to the cycling roads of Milton, the Toronto-Mississauga area has lots of offer for a healthy, active lifestyle. When we're not running fundraising 5ks and 10ks, we can be found in the gym and on the field, playing sports both varsity and intramural, and challenging each other, Harry Potter-style, for the Academy Challenge Cup (kind of like the House Cup, to continue with the analogy).

3) Life of talent: Daffydil, U of T's historical-revue-turned-modern-day-musical, has been entertaining students, faculty, community members, for over 100 years. The monetary proceeds are donated to cancer research. For those with other artistic talents, we also host a benefit concert, Earthtones, each year, as well as an art exhibition, Synesthesia. For those more printing-inclined, consider joining the staff of the University of Toronto Medical Journal, the oldest student-run medical publication in Canada (since 1923!) or lending your sharp wit and shameless-punning to the Droopy Lid, our humour magazine.

2) Life of giving: U of T med students spend a lot of their time giving back to the community. From IMAGINE, our free clinic run in conjunction with staff supervisors and other health faculties to teaching leadership and science in Adventures in Science to teaching swimming to special needs children with Making Waves, there is no shortage of personally fulfilling and communally effective programs to lend a helping hand with.

1) The people! Click that accept button on your admission offer and soon you'll know exactly what we mean!

Article by Yang Lei