Seeing as the OP is only getting a negative opinion of Health Sci (as usual), I would like to say that it is a good program if you are looking at medical school because you have the opportunity in 2nd 3rd and 4th years to take courses that you would be taking in med school like immunology, pathology and anatomy. There's also good resources and the staff is very helpful in regards to planning your future. If you are interested in medicine it's the right program for you, because of the courses it offers (not the prestige or whatever).

You can get into med school with any undergraduate degree, as long as you fulfill the necessary prerequisites that each school is looking for. As for health science, the structure of learning affords you more opportunities to interact with professors and students, as the student-instructor ratio is quite low compared to a program such as life science, where a typical class may consist of 400-500 students. As opposed to science, health science students have more group-based learning in first year, and most of the people I know only have around 2 exams to study for, while students in science will usually have 5 exams. So if you prefer more structured, traditional academic learning, choose life science. If you are looking for more of a non-traditional, tutorial style learning environment, choose health science.

Originally Posted by exuberant888

So if you prefer more structured, traditional academic learning, choose life science. If you are looking for more of a non-traditional, tutorial style learning environment, choose health science.

This.

Though you will still get classes that are 'traditional' as well.

Originally Posted by L'Étoile

Watch your mouth boyeehh ... before I knock your teeth out.

Dear, I graduated from biology . They wouldn't let us take a lot of the Kin courses that were muscle-anatomy-physiology based even though we were physiology majors. We tried applying for waivers, but they pretty much told us that they didn't think we could "handle" the material even though we were in one of the most relevant specializations.

My plans are to go to medical school which is my reason for choosing health sciences

You can get into medical school from any program (Engineering, music, political science, economic, science, etc) I didn't take health sciences, but I felt incredibly prepared during my first year. Technically you can take immunology and anatomy (I think it was a 1st year kin) from a non-health sci program. And really, the pre-clerkship years of medicine aren't difficult they teach you everything you need to know so it doesn't matter what you take as long as you enjoy what you're learning.

Originally Posted by Chandlerowns

Seeing as the OP is only getting a negative opinion of Health Sci (as usual).

Uhh...really? Where's this 'negativity'? The only negativity I see is in the reaction to the fact that the OP is going into health sci only because they want to go to medical school.

Health sci gives you the biggest advantage when applying to MCMASTERS medical program. There are some great courses offered in later years but its quite overrated. Some difficult courses such as psychobio (neuroscience) teach some complex pathways but with no fundamentals so you don't have a great foundation, and you also get some relaxed "social" courses...deffinately less scientific than a science program so dont get the impression you'll be better prepared. Take what you enjoy and wait until upper years...

I agree with the person who said you need to think about the option you might not get into Health Sci, would you rather be in Kin or Life Sci? Life Sci is more strictly chem, bio, math, physic, psych, in Kin you also need to take two science courses before 3rd year I think so that includes like chem, bio or whatever you want. In Kin you also have to take two anatomy classes first year, a stats, nutrition and epidemiology. I know most Kin students and life sci students take the same calculus first year. I took both first year anatomy classes cause they are also available for non-kin students and I loved them! So the feeling I get from the two programs is that yes they are both fine for med school but Life Science is suited better for research more on the chemical or molecular level whereas Kin suited better for research of the human body and different systems. This is just the impression I got and also listening to the type of research the professors did, they fell into those separate fields. I'm just saying this for ideas other than med school just so you know whats ahead for the two different fields. And also obviously Kin is well suited for physiotherapy and sports medicine if that interests you. Also for life sci there are many things you go can into second year in case you don't get into Health Sci. Just from personal experience I think Life Sci provides a heavier workload especially with chemistry and stuff, but that might prepare you better for the craziness of med school.

hmm, someone recently told me that the kin program might be better at western than mac... is this true?
D:

Originally Posted by heewoni

hmm, someone recently told me that the kin program might be better at western than mac... is this true?
D:

It depends on the person. Everyone looks for something different in a school. You may like some aspects of the program at Mac better and some aspects of the program at Western better.

Western = more practical courses (i.e. the typical "gym class" style courses) and is more suited for people who want to pursue health-related fields (PT/OT/AT) or teaching

McMaster = more theoretical courses (your physiology, biomechanics, anatomy style courses) with not as much emphasis on the teaching aspects

Take from that what you will...

I don't know if this is still true, but about 4 years ago Mac's Kin program was consistently rated the best Kin program in Canada.

Originally Posted by Mowicz

I don't know if this is still true, but about 4 years ago Mac's Kin program was consistently rated the best Kin program in Canada.

I was gonna say I laughed a little when I heard Western > Mac.

But seriously for Health Professions or Research Mac Kin is probably one of the best kin programs in the country.

On the other hand if you want to do education, I'd probably suggest somewhere else might be more suited programwise. (Disclaimer: That's not to discourage you if you want to come here. There's a number of Mac Kin students that have gone into, or are planning to go into teaching. We just really don't have Phys Ed here so to speak)