All Posts Tagged With: "McMaster"
Knife fight injures six near McMaster
Party-goers came from club outlawed by McMaster
Four people went to hospital and at least two others were cut during a knife fight at a party near McMaster University. Police entered the party at 69 Mount Royal Ave. at 4:30 Friday morning.
Earlier in the night, police arrested two people at an event called ACADEMIX 101, which was taking place at Club 77 in downtown Hamilton. The event was advertised by Next Level Entertainment (NLE), which calls itself “McMaster’s official entertainment and talent group” on Facebook. Last year, McMaster University banned all events that take place at Club 77 from being advertised on its campus.*
Police entered Club 77 after hearing about fights inside. Two 20-year-old men, one from Brampton and the other from Mississauga, were arrested. Later, police contended with a crowd of roughly 400 people outside of the club. Some of those people ended up at the party on Royal Ave., police said.
No victim or witness has co-operated with police so far. The house has a smashed front door, a slashed window screen and metal bars from a railing on the front porch are bent or missing.
Next Level Entertainment’s Facebook page appears to be administered by Kisanath WooDz and Pratheeb K’mar. “AT MCMASTER STUDENT CENTER SELLING TICKETS,” WooDz posted to the page on Thursday around 4 p.m. Earlier in the day, someone listed as a student at York University, wrote that 900 tickets had been sold. Before that, someone else posted that “…the Waterloo/Laurier bus is officially SOLD OUT, only bus left is the York bus.”
*This story originally repeated an incorrect fact that the Hamilton Spectator had attributed to a McMaster spokesperson. Gord Arbeau of Community and Public Relations at McMaster clarified on Monday that Next Level Entertainment was not banned from campus. It was the promotion of events at Club 77 that McMaster University had banned. Maclean’s On Campus regrets the error.
Meet McMaster’s first male midwife
Men are attracted to obstetrics, so why not midwifery?
When Otis Kryzanauskas was four years old, he didn’t want to be an astronaut, a police officer or a firefighter.
After witnessing his younger brother’s birth at home — and cutting the cord — he decided he would one day be a midwife.
Next spring, he’ll be the first male graduate of the Bachelor of Midwifery program at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
Kryzanauskas, who has participated in almost 100 births already, believes that he may be the first male midwife to graduate anywhere in Canada — ever.
Why are there so few men in this fast-growing field?
Midwives provide primary care to women and their babies during pregnancy, labour, birth and the postpartum period. According to the Canadian Women’s Health Network, midwives spend an average of 20 to 30 minutes more per appointment with their patients than other medical professionals do. That could explain why demand for midwifery services is increasing. Rare two decades ago, over the course of 2010, there were 14,000 midwife-attended births in Canada.
Grad school: not just a plan B for med school applicants
What you need to know about MD-PhD programs
Thousands of students apply to medical school across Canada every year, and the vast majority of them will never even make it to an interview. The chances of success improve for repeat applicants, but the fact remains: even with high marks and stellar extracurricular activities, applying to a Canadian med school is an uphill battle against discouraging statistics. After completing their undergraduate degree and receiving a rejection letter, the big question facing these students is: now what?
Mike Saccone, a fourth-year Health Studies Co-op student, already has a plan B.
“My back-up plan is research based. I will pursue a Masters in Health Research Methodology from McMaster University,” he says. The Masters degree could even hit two birds with one stone.
“Hopefully, this will improve the chances of me getting into medical school, along with fulfilling a degree requirement that I will eventually pursue.”
Saccone says he was exposed to both sides of medicine- research and patient care- while working with a research-focused orthopaedic surgeon, and then working with a surgeon whose primary focus was on patient care.
Colleen Shortt, a fourth year Health Studies and Gerontology student, isn’t considering research as a backup plan to med school. She recently applied to graduate school programs at the University of Toronto, the University of Western Ontario, and McMaster, and is hoping to pursue a career in cancer or HIV/AIDS research. Shortt says that once she’s through grad school she may be interested in applying to med school.
“I thought about applying to med school and originally it was my plan A. But once I started looking into research opportunities I found that this may be a more effective way of reaching more people.”
Khuram Bhatti, a fourth year arts and science student, says he has considered numerous programs and careers, including optometry or pharmacy, and even programs in the States.
“I am considering schools such as the osteopathy programs in the United States, or other types of up and coming schools which have a schooling regiment which is sort of ‘newer,’ comparatively to something such as the MD career field.”
For med school hopefuls who don’t make the cut, pursuing a grad school program is a win-win: it improves their chances on a second application, and at the same time, they’re developing the skills for a different career path. Many med schools look for research or medically-related experience, and some even award additional points to applicants who have completed a graduate degree. McMaster gives an additional 1% to the pre-interview score of MSc students, and an additional 4% for PhD students. Others, such as the University of Toronto, lower the GPA cutoff for graduate students.
Keith Colaco, a third year Biomedical Sciences student, says that although he has always wanted to attend med school and become a physician, in high school he considered becoming an optometrist because of the challenges of pursuing a career in medicine.
“As I started taking more medically-related courses in university, volunteering in hospitals and speaking to medical students, I quickly changed my mind because I was so intrigued by the field and strongly felt the need to help those with medical problems.”
This summer Colaco will be working at the Holland Orthopaedic and Arthritic Centre in Toronto, where he hopes to gain insight into pursuing a medical career. Ultimately, he may combine his passion for medicine and research.
“I am very interested in clinical research rather than focusing on just research in the lab because I have always enjoyed interacting with patients in past volunteer experiences,” he says. “By working in a patient-care setting, it allows me to evaluate patients and conduct research at their bedside.”
Students like Colaco, who want to combine research with patient interaction, are in luck: an MD-PhD program offers the best of both worlds, allowing students to complete the MD curriculum while pursuing a PhD, training them for careers ranging from medical research to the design of healthcare delivery systems. Most of the programs describe their graduates as ‘clinician-scientists,’ with the curriculum juggling between academic course work, training in basic sciences and research, and clinical rotation. Dr. Norman Rosenblum, Director of the MD/PhD Program at the University of Toronto, says that applicants should have “considerable background with some area of science” in addition to experience that “demonstrates an interest in medicine and a knowledge of the clinician-scientist role.”
Some programs, such as the “MD Plus” Leaders in Medicine program at the University of Calgary, go beyond the basic sciences and allow students to pursue any graduate-level field of interest, including a Masters in philosophy or business.
Most med schools across Canada offer the MD-PhD program, with many being created in the past several years. The only drawback? Getting in is even tougher than med school. The program requires students to be accepted into both a medical and a Masters program (or in some cases, a graduate program) and enrollment is extremely limited, with most MD-PhD programs only having enough spots for a handful of students. For example, there are only five spots available in the University of Toronto MD-PhD program, while the University of Ottawa program only has room for four.
McMaster students have little interest in Hamilton
Survey shows many students wouldn’t even look for work in the city
McMaster University students are not keen on staying in Hamilton after graduation, according to a new survey conducted by the students’ union. Of the 800 students polled, 40 per cent said they would not even consider living in Hamilton after they complete their studies, 24 per cent said they would not look for employment in the city and 34 per cent would live in Hamilton only as a last resort. “McMaster is known as a top-rated institution, but everyone hears that Hamilton is the disgusting, smelly Steel City of 50 years ago,” student vice-president Joe Finkle told the Spectator. “It’s not like that anymore.” Other reasons why students are skeptical of Hamilton include the hassle of leaving the student “bubble” to go downtown, and a lack of awareness of cultural activities that take place in the city.
McMaster is watching you
…and your keyboard.
Cheating your way into med school just got a little more difficult.
Instead of the traditional autobiographical sketch, all applicants to McMaster’s medical school must complete the computer-based ‘CASPer’ test, which is defined on their website as a 12 part assessment of “interpersonal skills and decision-making.”
But get this: unlike the autobiographical sketch, McMaster can actually tell if you had someone else write it for you.
When an applicant takes the test, their typing signatures are recorded. And if they make it to an interview, they might have to type short-answer responses for “signature comparison.” Apparently, a person’s typing signature is so unique that it can actually be used to sort out the cheaters from the non-cheaters.
Of course, even if they have to type the answers themselves, an applicant can still have someone stand behind them and help out with the test. But according to McMaster’s website, “Research has demonstrated that working in tandem with others does not improve average CASPer scores.”
-Photo courtesy of r3v || cls
So long med school essays
McMaster switches to web-based ‘test’ for choosing applicants
McMaster University says it has found a more reliable way to predict how well a med school applicant will perform in med school. Instead of the traditional autobiographical essay submission that most med schools application across North America still require, McMaster is implementing a new recruitment tool called “CASPer,” a Computer-based Assessment for Sampling Personal characteristics.
All applicants are required to complete the computer-based test, which is divided into 12 five-minute long sections. Eight of the sections include video clips that present applicants with “situational challenges,” and the other four involve “self-descriptive questions.”
The 2010/2011 application cycle was the first to use this new system. Although applicants were also required to submit an autobiographical sketch, they were only used as a “back-up plan” in the event that some sort of problem occurred.
McMaster states on its website that this web-based evaluation of an applicant’s interpersonal skills and decision-making is “significantly more reliable” compared to the autobiographical submissions.
A demo of the system and sample video of what to expect from the on-line evaluation is available here.
Why you might not get into med school
Government caps set limits on seats
Hoping to get into med school? Great marks, tons of unique extracurricular experience, volunteer work, and high MCAT scores aren’t necessarily enough.
I recently read an article in the Globe and Mail (I happen to know the writer) that gave an overview of the whole application process. For med school hopefuls like me, it didn’t paint a very optimistic picture for Canadians. According to the article, due to government caps on med school seats, only a fraction of the qualified applicants to Canadian med schools are actually getting in.
If you were unlucky enough to be born in Ontario, your chances of getting in are the lowest in the country. The article mentions that in 2009, there were almost 5,000 qualified applicants to the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, with only 194 accepted. Given the fact that Ontario has more med school applicants than any other province, there’s a disproportionately low number of seats in the province’s med schools. In-province applicants to the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Medicine, class of 2013, had about a 33% success rate, with 295 applicants and 98 students enrolled. The success rate for Ontario applicants to the Northern Ontario School of Medicine? Only 4.3%, with 1,845 applicants and 64 seats in 2006/2007.
It’s not much better anywhere else in Ontario. Applicants to the School of Medicine at Queen’s University had an 8% in-province success rate in 2006/2007, and applicants to the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto had an 11.4% in-province success rate. As the article from the Globe and Mail points out, it’s the opposite of what you’d expect: Ontario has more med schools than any other province. But it has the lowest applicant success rate in the country, at 19%. Keep in mind, these are all excellent applicants, with high GPA’s and the qualifications each med school demands as a minimum to even apply.
It’s a little scary. For students working towards med school, the course of your future is riding on that application. But regardless of how hard you work to earn and maintain a high GPA, volunteer countless hours towards a worthy cause, and want to have a career one day in medicine, at this stage, so much is beyond your control.
Well, unless you move to Grenada. Or Manitoba.
-photo courtesy of salimfadhley
Research, teaching assistants walk out at McMaster
Union rejects university’s “best offer”; administration says classes will continue
Up to 2,700 teaching and research assistants at Hamilton’s McMaster University have walked off the job.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees says pickets will be stationed at two of the school’s entrances this morning. Contract talks fell apart early Saturday after the union rejected McMaster’s latest offer.
McMaster official Andrea Farquhar says the university has offered to meet today, provided there was no strike while talks are ongoing. She says classes will continue but could not say how the walkout might affect tutorials and labs.
The university says the union also rejected a request to take the offer to the union membership for a vote.
What the university called it’s “best offer” included increased pay rates for graduate teaching assistants and research assistants to $39.40 an hour over the two-year term of the contract.
The university says the union’s refusal to put the offer to a membership vote isn’t fair to union members or students who will be impacted by a strike.
The union’s move to strike followed almost 24 hours of non-stop bargaining and it was in a legal strike position as of 12:01 Saturday morning.
- The Canadian Press
Hoping to get into med school?
Don’t be born in Ontario
For med school hopefuls, Ontario might seem like the perfect province to live in.
There are 17 med schools in the country. Six of those are in Ontario, more than any other province. But as I recently discovered, being born in Ontario is actually a huge handicap.
Most med schools prefer applicants from their own province. It makes sense: if you train local doctors, you produce local doctors. It’s not unusual to reserve 85 percent or even 90 percent of the available seats for in-province applicants. Most med schools even have higher entrance requirements for out-of-province applicants.
Everyone likes their own brand.
Except for Ontario. Not a single med school in Ontario reserves spots for Ontario applicants.
On the surface, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario might seem like exceptions to the rule. On it’s website, Northern says that it encourages applications from “students who are from Northern Ontario and/or students who have a strong interest in and aptitude for practicing medicine in northern urban, rural and remote communities.” Western Ontario gives special consideration to applicants from “rural/regional communities in Southwestern Ontario.”
But neither of these med schools actually reserve spots for in-province applicants. Not to mention, those “rural and remote” communities that Northern Ontario mentions could actually be anywhere across Canada.
McMaster’s policy is a bit more complicated. They don’t actually reserve med school spots for in-province applicants. Instead, they award 90 percent of interview positions for Ontario residents.
Yeah, I know. I had to read that twice, too.
It means that once you reach the interview stage, it doesn’t matter which province you’re from.
Even if McMaster offered a genuine advantage to in-province applicants, it wouldn’t make much of a difference anyway. With over 4500 applicants and a success rate of 4.9 per cent in 2006/2007, getting into McMaster is like winning the med school lottery.
How I almost made the biggest mistake of my life (Part 2)
Med school checklist: undergrad degree, prerequisites and a ridiculously high GPA
This time last year, I was playing the waiting game. I had chosen my top three programs. The applications were done, and it was all riding on one letter. The letter from the Registrar’s Office of McMaster.
Finally, it arrived.
I had applied to McMaster’s Health Sciences undergraduate program, and was hoping this was the letter. The one officially welcoming me into my top-choice undergraduate program.
Eventually, I want to apply to med school, so I needed a program that could bring me closer towards that goal. I had considered (and applied to) several other programs at U of T and the University of Waterloo, including biology and biomedical sciences.
But then I discovered Health Sciences at McMaster.
It instantly became my top choice. I wanted to be on the most efficient path to med school. An undergraduate program with all the prerequisites built-in, but also one that focused on a subject area I find fascinating: biology. The Health Sciences program seemed like a perfect fit.
By the end of the four-year program, I would have all of the prerequisites necessary for every med school across Canada. Acceptance into the program doesn’t come with any guarantees of a future spot in med school later, of course. But I knew it would be the perfect pre-med program for me. I wanted in.
But I knew getting in wouldn’t be easy.
The few select spots are reserved for students with GPAs of at least 90 per cent. In order to be competitive, however, McMaster makes it clear you need something in the low 90s. Minimum. My GPA was in the low 90s. Would it be enough? The lengthy application process also includes answering some really challenging personal questions.
Including, “Please describe a non-academic aspect of your life that you feel is important to your sense of self and explain why.”
So, was this where I could brag about building an 800 piece 3D puzzle in less than an hour? Maybe not. Instead, I explained how important my artwork is to me. How much I enjoy creating large works of art on canvas using oil paints. Of course, the minute I laid claim to considering art an important non-academic aspect of my life, one that is also important to my sense of self, I felt pretentious and somehow exposed. But since we can’t ever be certain about what the ‘right’ answer might be, or worse, the ‘wrong’ answer, all I could do was answer the questions as honestly as possible.
The next question was the one question I think should never be asked. “If there were one question that shouldn’t be asked, what would it be and why?” I’m not kidding. That really was one of the questions.
Despite my search for the perfect pre-med program, most Canadian med schools claim there is no ideal program, that they view all undergraduate degrees equally. Just as long as you also have the required prerequisites. Such as organic chemistry, physics, several specific biology courses, and lab experience. Oh, and also a ridiculously high GPA.
Of the 2008 accepted applicants to McMaster’s med school, for example, more than half are science or health sciences students. But law, divinity, and engineering students, just to name a few, also got in. Just not as many. And they still had to chase after those prerequisites, of course.
The thing is, not all undergraduate degrees help you get the best marks, and your GPA is one of the most important considerations when applying to med school. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should choose a program just because you think it will give you some advantage.
Because chances are, you might not even get in.
So that morning last May, when I held the letter in my hand, I was afraid to open it. So much was riding on that first sentence. What if they said no? I ripped open the envelope and began to read. Then I read it again. And again.
“Unfortunately, after careful consideration, we are not able to offer you admission at this time. ”
I hadn’t made it in.
I’d been accepted into the biology programs at McMaster and U of T, and the Health studies, biology, and Biomedical Sciences programs at Waterloo. But that didn’t matter. I hadn’t been accepted into my top choice. I was devastated.
Well, for about 10 minutes. Then I felt relieved that I’d been accepted into my second-choice, the Biomedical Sciences honours program at the University of Waterloo. The core classes built into the biomedical sciences program are prerequisites common to almost every med school in North America. Exactly what I need for my goal of one day attending med school. Somewhere. Anywhere. Please.
Plus, Waterloo has the added bonus of being just a 45-minute bus ride from my home in Kitchener. It even makes me centrally located for about a dozen friends from high school who are going to Guelph, Brock and McMaster. And although none of my old friends from high school are in Biomedical Science with me at Waterloo, three are in other programs at the school so I still get to see them for coffee and study breaks.
I’ve now completed my first year of the biomedical sciences program. I’m learning about genes and mutations, cells and cancer. And that’s only first year.
Biomedical sciences at Waterloo allows students to tailor their program using lots of electives to meet the admission requirements for many different graduate programs. Or I can just take more biology courses.
Versatile, but structured. Perfect.
But if you don’t eventually make it into the professional program of your dreams, like med school, doesn’t that make your undergraduate degree useless?
Absolutely not. Most programs list what past grads are doing now, so you can get a sense of what you could be doing later. For my program, it lists possible careers such as respiratory therapist, dentist, forensic scientist and speech pathologist. And yes, physician. Yay.
So even if I don’t get into med school one day, my degree will not have been for nothing.
My program works for me. And it’s not just a means to an end.
Mac reactor gets $22m to boost isotope production
Chalk River reactor will be offline for months, despite global need for medical isotopes
The money from the federal and provincial governments will go to upgrading Mac’s nuclear reactor – with a portion going toward medical isotope production.
The Chalk River, Ont., nuclear facility produces up to half the global supply of medical isotopes used to detect cancer and heart ailments.
But a heavy-water leak shut down the 52-year-old reactor two weeks ago and the company says it will be out of action for at least three months.
The McMaster reactor is the only Canadian one outside of Chalk River capable of producing the isotopes.
The funding will also help pay for upgrades to McMaster’s Nuclear Research Building and to accommodate and support new labs and research.
- The Canadian Press
How I almost made the biggest mistake of my life (Part 1)
I didn’t want to make teeny robots for doctors. I wanted to be the doctor
During my last couple years of high school, I started thinking about possible undergraduate degrees. Something that could work towards my dream of one day attending medical school. Maybe microbiology? Health studies? Biology?
I definitely had some decisions to make. But then I learned about some of the harsh realities of getting into med school. Out of the thousands and thousands of qualified hopefuls with high GPAs and diverse extracurricular activities who apply each year, only a handful make it in.
It’s not that these rejected applicants wouldn’t make good doctors. It’s strictly a numbers game. In Canada, government funding of med school spots means restrictions on how many doctors we can graduate each year.
Meaning, most people who apply to medical school in Canada won’t ever get in. No matter how smart, determined, or dedicated they are.
I knew the stats were working against me. In grade 12, I decided it was time to start thinking about Plan B.
Engineering?
It instantly clicked with me. Engineers solve problems using math and science. They apply their knowledge to a system, with a specific goal in mind.
Okay: so what type of engineering, and where?
Choosing a program comes before choosing a university. Once I had decided that, the University of Waterloo, renowned for its school of engineering, went straight to the top of my list.
UW was also a great fit because I lived in Kitchener and knew I couldn’t afford to go too far from home. U of T, York, Guelph, McMaster, Brock, and Western were also added to the list since all were within a doable commuting distance. I had a lot of great schools to choose from.
I looked through the different engineering programs each school offered. Mechanical, electrical, civil… then I saw it: Nanotechnology.
It sounded absolutely perfect to me. A program being offered for the first time in Canada, and best of all, at the University of Waterloo. The school’s website boasts, “you’ll apply mathematics, science, and engineering to model, design, and fabricate nanoengineered structures for sensors, electronics, biosystems, or advanced materials.”
An engineering program with biological applications in which “you’ll design nanostructures that may interact with cells.” Math and biology. Together. I was thrilled. It was like the program was speaking to me directly.
I had dreams of making tiny robots for doctors to use to kill cancer cells.
But two days before my university applications were due, I suddenly had a moment of, “What the hell am I thinking?!”
Engineering? Me? Why?
Overnight, I totally revamped everything I was about to do after realizing I was making a huge mistake. You can’t start compromising a dream before you’ve even taken a first step. Hell, of course I’d never get into med school. If I didn’t even try.
I didn’t want to make teeny robots for doctors. I wanted to be the doctor.
McMaster grad and millionaire not worried about job market
Biochemistry student Poorya Nazari recently won $3 million in a Bahamas poker tournament
Recent biochemistry graduate Poorya Nazari isn’t too worried about landing a job in today’s tough market. Why? The Toronto-area man knows how to play poker.
The 22-year-old, who still lives at home with his parents, recently returned home from a poker tournament in the Bahamas US$3 million richer. He spent about $700 to gain entry into the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, and his investment paid off big time.
“It was pretty surreal, I just couldn’t believe it was happening,” said Nazari, who graduated from McMaster University last week but has long considered playing poker to be his future full-time job.
“I dreamt about doing something like that for a really long time, so it was absolutely amazing.”
Nazari, who had previously won about $80,000 in another big poker payday, said he doesn’t consider his success at the game similar to winning a lottery since poker requires a lot of skill and practice.
Winning the Bahamas tournament was the culmination of days of tough play and not just a few quick hands of poker, he said.
“We played pretty gruelling hours, about 12 hours a day (for) about four or five days,” he said. “It was just absolutely tough.”
Nazari said it wasn’t until the last day of the tournament that he began thinking he could win the multimillion-dollar prize.
While Nazari is still living with his parents at their home in Richmond Hill, Ont., north of Toronto, he plans on getting his own place soon.
Other than that, he said he doesn’t know what he’ll do with his new-found riches.
“Right now I’m just trying to take it all in,” he said. “I really don’t know what I’m going to do and what my plans are for all the money.
“I never thought what I would do if I came across this much money, so I’m going to have to take some time and think things through.”
Nazari will have a chance to earn more cash at a tournament he’s been invited to in Monte Carlo in April.
- The Canadian Press
President’s $1.4-million golden handshake
Retiring McMaster prez to get $99,999/year for 14 years—$1 less than disclosure rules
After nearly two years of fighting against public disclosure, McMaster University released the contract of its president Peter George to The Hamilton Spectator today.
The contract — posted by The Spectator on it’s website — reveals that George will receive a golden handshake of nearly $1.4 million after his scheduled July 2010 retirement.
The money will be paid over 14 years at a rate of $99,999 a year. (George will have served 15 years as president upon his retirement)
This figure is significant as it is the maximum full-dollar amount the university could, under the rules of disclosure in place when the contract was signed in 2005, pay George without revealing the payment.
Until 2006, Ontario universities were exempt from freedom of information. They have been covered by the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act (PSSDA) since it’s implementation in 1996. PSSDA requires universities to disclosure the names of all employees paid $100,000 or more in a calendar year. If George were paid one dollar more each year after retirement, the university would be required to report it publicly.
Other perks in the contract include two life-insurance policies, $30,000 over the five-year contract for “financial estate planning, including legal counsel, in respect of his personal affairs,” memberships in local clubs, a nearly $11,000 per year car allowance (which is declared as a taxable benefit in his yearly salary disclosure), a $20,000-a-year “Health Care Spending Account” to be used for expenses not covered by the university’s regular staff benefits, and provision for “business-class” air travel on flights longer than four hours.
The contract does not include a salary scale for the president. “The President’s salary shall be subject to annual review on or before June 30 of each contract year,” the contract states.
Last year, George was Ontario’s highest paid university president, with total income and taxable benefits of nearly $505,000.
