Was just wondering if there anyone know what the Canadian med school rankings are like. I know for sure U of T and UBC are probably at the top, but was just wondering specifically about Dalhousie and Memorial. How they compare against each other? Tried getting the rankings from McLean's but, Memorial is not listed under medical-doctoral degrees. Probably cos' of the small intake? But pls do shoot your views. thanks a lot!
Canadian med school rankings
- Thread starter undecide
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2005
- Messages
- 288
- Reaction score
- 0
Usually it's Toronto and McGill splitting the top two spots with everyone else close behind. I would say the difference in medical school rankings is very small so I wouldn't worry about it. The difference in quality of med schools is much higher in the US than Canada. In terms of research $$$ and publications, I believe Toronto takes the lead but in terms of education quality, it is about the same as other medical schools. I don't know specifically anything abut Memorial or Dalhousie.
In addition, from what I recall the McLean's rankings are not being done anymore because the universities didn't feel they could accurately rank universities. So my point is just apply to the school you want to go to, on interview ask the students how they feel about their school, and decide whether you would like to go there. Don't worry about rankings. You will get an MD from anywhere you graduate.
In addition, from what I recall the McLean's rankings are not being done anymore because the universities didn't feel they could accurately rank universities. So my point is just apply to the school you want to go to, on interview ask the students how they feel about their school, and decide whether you would like to go there. Don't worry about rankings. You will get an MD from anywhere you graduate.
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2003
- Messages
- 133
- Reaction score
- 3
Really? Toronto and McGill eh? I don't really think you know anything "specifically" about any Canadian medical school....
You guys know that the Mclean's rankings don't actually have anything to do with the medical schools, right?
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2005
- Messages
- 221
- Reaction score
- 2
The mcleans rankings did have a medical doctoral section I beleive, but it included schools that actually had no medical school. Just because of its size and location Toronto would win most statistical measures. I would argue that with the exception of mac and calgary undergrad education is pretty similar.
Hi guys,
Sorry to be the intruder in the discussion...but i am a Canadian medical student, and McGill/Toronto are definitely not the top med schools in Canada.
In the past 3 years, Sherbrooke University (In Quebec) has ranked first in the teaching programme (based on APP: Apprentissage Par Probleme, which means, Problem based learning) and in the LMCC exam results ranking (our equivalent of the American board examination)...however, Toronto/McGill have kept their great reputation and high fees (the fees in Quebec are much smaller, the quality of life is much better but it's is much harder to get into med school)
So, i hope this answers some of your questions
Sorry to be the intruder in the discussion...but i am a Canadian medical student, and McGill/Toronto are definitely not the top med schools in Canada.
In the past 3 years, Sherbrooke University (In Quebec) has ranked first in the teaching programme (based on APP: Apprentissage Par Probleme, which means, Problem based learning) and in the LMCC exam results ranking (our equivalent of the American board examination)...however, Toronto/McGill have kept their great reputation and high fees (the fees in Quebec are much smaller, the quality of life is much better but it's is much harder to get into med school)
So, i hope this answers some of your questions
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2005
- Messages
- 221
- Reaction score
- 2
Hi guys,
Sorry to be the intruder in the discussion...but i am a Canadian medical student, and McGill/Toronto are definitely not the top med schools in Canada.
In the past 3 years, Sherbrooke University (In Quebec) has ranked first in the teaching programme (based on APP: Apprentissage Par Probleme, which means, Problem based learning) and in the LMCC exam results ranking (our equivalent of the American board examination)...however, Toronto/McGill have kept their great reputation and high fees (the fees in Quebec are much smaller, the quality of life is much better but it's is much harder to get into med school)
So, i hope this answers some of your questions
Im sure sherbrooke is a fine school, no doubt the fees are less. Using the LMCC as a ranking tool isnt the best idea, since it is such a poorly written and scored examination, and is done in 2 languages.
Im not sure everyone would agree that the quality of life is better in sherbrooke...unless you're french, and love bowling and drinking.
Cost of living is way lower there though.
Im sure sherbrooke is a fine school, no doubt the fees are less. Using the LMCC as a ranking tool isnt the best idea, since it is such a poorly written and scored examination, and is done in 2 languages.
Im not sure everyone would agree that the quality of life is better in sherbrooke...unless you're french, and love bowling and drinking.
Cost of living is way lower there though.
Hi..
Oh no, i agree, but when i spoke about the quality of life, i didnt mean Sherbrooke city..i was talking about Montreal really...(sorry for the misunderstanding) as i agree with u..here in sherbrooke, apart frm the hospital and the forest around us...there is absolutely nth else! and the city is just dead (something like DEdmonton where i lived a bit too)...so my only social activities are when i go back to my home in Montreal...
For the ranking...i understand LMCC isnt the best way..but there must be a way to rank universities..and this is one of them
...also, if you are speaking about the quality of studying...well Sherbrooke had very good results with the APP program (Problem Based Learning) much more than with the traditionnal lecture based education...and other universities in north america are now implementing this (Uni of Montreal is already using it, with contracts with U of Sherby as it has a 20 years experience in this)..McGill soon apparently, and some other US unies..As i personaly studied in a diff programme before (Engineering..) in a traditional uni (in the UK), it was very hard for me to keep up at the beginning..not having many classes and having to work as if i was working for an exam every single day to prepare for the problem tutorials...etc.. so it is definitely not an option for those who cant manage their time and who must be forced to go to a lecture theatre in order to study...
Our learning is very quick too...but to be honnest, efficiency is all what i care about, if this method is as good as the others and if i can be a decent doctor in the future, then this is all what matters.
Hope i ansewered some of your questions
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2003
- Messages
- 133
- Reaction score
- 3
Just curious, do you guys actually study for the LMCC at Sherbrooke? I know in English Canada the LMCC is a joke and most people don't do much to prepare. As mentioned, above, using the LMCC as any sort of a measure of the quality of a medical school is sketchy at best.
Hello,
I think we are getting into a quite degrading conversation here...as professional people..(with morals).. we are not supposed to demean each other's education...the LMCC is a national medical exam, that all medical students have to pass in order to practice. It is a serious matter, just as the US board examinations, Les examens de pratique in France, the UK medical licencing exams...even the Chinese medical exams!...and trust me, it is definitely not a joke for all canadians (English or French), everyone has to work hard for it, and only pretencious people would pretend they have succeeded without working that much. We even hear in our side of the border that the US board examinations are so easy that people who study for our LMCC dont even spend time revising for the US board exams...it's such a piece of cake!! lol
Let's not get into these stupide rumors, shall we?..i was trying to give u guys a little idea about our education, which is recognised in French Canada, English Canada, the US and the entire world, just as your education in the US. When i was studying in the UK, i had to put up with the same old story, which unies are better, Cambridge, Oxford, London...etc! i mean...after i graduated, every1 had a different future and some people who graduated from less famous unies were more competent and had better jobs!..It is all a propaganda that universities use to recruit more students who will pay more. At the end, i would say, let's not be used by the system, let's do our best, with any challenge we have been given because our aim is not to tell every patient that we graduated from the BEST university in the univers! but to save someone's life when needed.
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2003
- Messages
- 133
- Reaction score
- 3
Thanks, I know what the LMCC is-I've written it. Most people in my med school class did very little to prepare for it. Those that did more to prepare, in general, are honest that they probably could have done much less.
Nobody fails-it is a joke and I would challenge you to find a significant number of medical students in English speaking Canada who disagree. I have no idea how it is in Quebec as I've had no contact with people from the Quebec medical schools (with the exception of McGill).
Get off your high horse.
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2007
- Messages
- 21
- Reaction score
- 0
I agree that the LMCC is a poor indicator of the quality of Med school...
I interviewed at Sherbrooke, Montreal and ULaval, and each school boasted that they always scored the highest in the country on the LMCC.
They never specified if this was based on performance or percentage of students who passed the exam. In the latter case, I remember seeing somewhere that there wasn't even a 2% percent difference between the highest and lowest school.
At Sherbrooke, we get a full month of self study with some lectures just before the LMCC. I think it's more than enough preparation to pass the exam, even though we were told (sternly) that we needed to start studying for the LMCC on january 5 (start of clerkship).
As for the ranking in Canada, there is a relative parity between all the schools. You'll get a very good education wherever you go. Reputation is not always the better indicator. I think it's the work you do as a student that makes you a better doctor not which school you attend. Going outside the objectives or syllabus is what makes you a better doctor and this is student dependant not school dependant.
I interviewed at Sherbrooke, Montreal and ULaval, and each school boasted that they always scored the highest in the country on the LMCC.
They never specified if this was based on performance or percentage of students who passed the exam. In the latter case, I remember seeing somewhere that there wasn't even a 2% percent difference between the highest and lowest school.
At Sherbrooke, we get a full month of self study with some lectures just before the LMCC. I think it's more than enough preparation to pass the exam, even though we were told (sternly) that we needed to start studying for the LMCC on january 5 (start of clerkship).
As for the ranking in Canada, there is a relative parity between all the schools. You'll get a very good education wherever you go. Reputation is not always the better indicator. I think it's the work you do as a student that makes you a better doctor not which school you attend. Going outside the objectives or syllabus is what makes you a better doctor and this is student dependant not school dependant.
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2009
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
I'm sorry, but I just had to join this forum only to reply to this post. It seems that most contributors to the post have a certain respect for each other and for where they studied medicine etcetera. I'm in agreement that it is more about who you are then what medical school you went to. I have done electives in the States (Mayo, NIH) and in Canada (McGill and others), including Quebec. I have written Canadian and American boards. I can assure you that all medical students, regardless of language, take their boards seriously, and, that there ARE failures in English and French Canada, and the US on their respective boards. I must agree with previous posts that to label any regulatory medical exam of being "a joke" is insulting, and worse, to accuse someone trying to promote respect across borders of being on a "high horse" is just plain immature.
To get back to the initial question of ranking of medical schools in Canada, I can say the following. The Maclean's ranking is, like any ranking system, imperfect. However it is the only real ranking system there is, and of course is heavily based on the research productivity of the different medical schools. (By the way it is specific to universities with medical schools and isn't just some random list). The rankings usually show McGill, Toronto, UBC, Queen's, Alberta in the top five. What this means for the individual student is questionable. There are certain med schools that publicly disagree with the ranking process. One of these is McMaster (the birthplace of evidence based medicine and problem based learning - now the basis of medical education in most medical schools across North America).
As for post-grad residency training in Canada, all is hearsay really, and you have to go and see for yourself. They are pretty standard across the board, with no one school standing out as having poorer outcomes on boards etc. Even from the small schools like Queen's, many residents get fellowships in places of repute like MD Anderson or Brigham and Women's Hospital. McGill somehow has a name in the US, but I can assure you that it is by no means a better school than any of the other med schools in Canada. Much smaller schools like Memorial, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Sherbrooke might not be the best places to choose if you plan on being in academic medicine, not because your training will be inferior, but simply because they are less known.
Hope this helps
Last edited:
Similar threads
