Your question is fine.

It's just the whole "it's easy!/no its not!" debate, that always gets stirred up when Health Sci comes up.

Lotta misconceptions and hearsay get thrown around, and things can sometimes get....testy.


Uh, as for the program. It is what it is/what you make of it. If you dislike group work...think twice. I spent...some obscene amount of hours in meetings last year....well over 300 hours in second semester alone....it kinda sucks sometimes.

The courses though, are super cool (epi, anatomy, transfer inquiry). And you get a good amount of leeway to explore your interests.

Ah, I see. That would annoy me too. Sorry if I offended you, by the way.

The one thing infuriating about group work is everything basically depends on other people, and that you have very limited control (hence me automatically going for the leader-type position). It can be brilliant or horrendous. There's nothing compare to the synergy of a well-run group, with everyone doing what they had to, covering each other, etc, but there is also nothing quite as sad as a group drama.

The courses really do interest me, I'm so jealous that you guys get to take immunology, viruology, (insert other health-ish ologies) all the interesting stuff, while I get Bio A and Bio B. Not that anything is wrong with Bio, but ecology is kinda boring, if you know what I mean and plants just kinda of sit there.

Originally Posted by britb

while I get Bio A and Bio B. Not that anything is wrong with Bio, but ecology is kinda boring, if you know what I mean and plants just kinda of sit there.

Lol, I agree.

But in regards to this life sci-health sci debate, life sci gives you a greater range of choices for future careers. If you're in H.sci and decide later on that you don't want to get into the medical field you're preety much screwed and have to do your undergrad all over again. I've heard quite a few stories about H.sci students doing their undergrad again beacuse they don't want to get into health care. With life sci. it's nice to have that safety net-also in case you don't get into med school etc.

GOO SCIENCE..haha..i'm a bit biased...but seriously if you want to take health sci thats really a personal question...all programs mac offers are great..you will be competitive professional schools no matter which program you take..as long as you stay focused and work hard...as for this health sci being easier than other courses who cares?....its what YOU make of your education that matters...the journey is always better than the destination..i have no regrets going into science..and im sure any health sci will tell you the same..thats my bit..now back to work

Originally Posted by Scrub

GOO SCIENCE..haha..i'm a bit biased...but seriously if you want to take health sci thats really a personal question...all programs mac offers are great..you will be competitive professional schools no matter which program you take..as long as you stay focused and work hard...as for this health sci being easier than other courses who cares?....its what YOU make of your education that matters...the journey is always better than the destination..i have no regrets going into science..and im sure any health sci will tell you the same..thats my bit..now back to work

+1



"But, taking a shot in the dark, how are major group projects usually assessed? I know it'll vary, but let's say for this semester, do you have more with one big mark or one with some individual components? "

I'm taking this to mean does the group project itself have individual marks within it? From what we've done so far...no. It's one big group mark. (this judging from the one major group project we've been assigned so far lol).

As for not liking group work...I know what you mean about taking leadership, people failing at life etc. Honestly I was terrified I was going to hate the group work in health sci, but I decided to go for it (as in the program) anyway. And the little we've done so far has made me optimistic lol.
Thing is...no one wants to do badly lol

Originally Posted by britb

The courses really do interest me, I'm so jealous that you guys get to take immunology, viruology, (insert other health-ish ologies) all the interesting stuff, while I get Bio A and Bio B. Not that anything is wrong with Bio, but ecology is kinda boring, if you know what I mean and plants just kinda of sit there.

Virology and Immunology are open to non hth sci students.

Biology isn't all about ecology. It's all about the choices that you make in terms of course selection.

I was talking to one of my health sci volunteers and she was kind of complaining that health sci doesn't really offer students the chance to do lab work. Whereas some disciplines from science are quite lab intensive, such as biochemistry.

It all depends on what you're interested in and what skills you find important. There's also group work in life sciences, but less of an emphasis on it.

Also, in life sciences you may have 4-5 midterms in a single week (plus labs). On the other hand, I knew a health science girl who was complaining that she had two midterms (one on Monday and Wednesday). I just kind of laughed it off.

Both programs have their perks and have different skills to offer.

Originally Posted by Alchemist11

" higher marks (and thus, usually more hard working) "

WRONG.

They get higher marks because the program is easier, not because they're harder working.

And Life Science is a much better pre-med than Health Science. Why? Because you learn to study hard straight away instead of doing nothing for 4 years and then jumping into med school.

Health Science may have more "med-based" courses, but undergrad moves so slowly that you probably don't even cover much that you'll see again in med school.

In order to get into the Health science program you need to have a minimum 90, (but I believe they only accept people with 93+) so yes, I assume that people going IN to the health science program are smart and/or are able to retain and apply knowledge.

Otherwise, I agree in that life sci may be a better pre-med program for those serious and willing to take the extra effort for med school. Those who put less thought into their classes would benefit more in a program where a lot of the classes have been prechosen for you and are health-related. But it really does depend on the student - those in health sci who put less effort into their courses but still end up with higher marks may get into med and not be able to retain their position.

However, mac med accepted a very large number of students from health sci in relation to the size of the program. So yeah, your chances of getting in are higher statistically.

Originally Posted by Duarch

In order to get into the Health science program you need to have a minimum 90, (but I believe they only accept people with 93+) so yes, I assume that people going IN to the health science program are smart and/or are able to retain and apply knowledge.

nuh uh. I had a 91% average

Originally Posted by Jay

I was talking to one of my health sci volunteers and she was kind of complaining that health sci doesn't really offer students the chance to do lab work. Whereas some disciplines from science are quite lab intensive, such as biochemistry.

this is why they started the biomedical sciences specialization, which has you doing inquiry in biochem lab, take regular biochem courses, etc.
also, there are many opportunities for students in upper year hth sci courses to get involved in lab work, especially when thesis projects come up...

-reads again- Silly computer. Maybe it only sends one message per thread per day?

Anyway, again thanks for all this posting, I'm faving this so I can really go through it another time. I'm definitely going to have to answer some tough questions about myself.

The safety-net idea (whoever said it) about not getting into med school is probably the single biggest reason why I'm unsure about switching - I have absolutely nothing going for me - no one in my family has ever been involved with anything science-related (let alone medical -aka, I have to figure it out on my own, no inside tricks), I have no contacts in the field, have no experience in a hospital yet(I'm waiting to get my immunization records so I can apply to volunteer at mac), high school marks that got screwed by IB exams (and considering how nasty MCAT can get, no much help on that front either), no job (been trying for like a year - no replies)...

Yes, I have four years, but my point is that there is a very big chance that I'll never make it in - then what happens? If I do apply and make it into Health Sci and never make it in, then I'm really in trouble, aren't I? With a science degree I have a lot more options, but statistcally I'm at a further disadvantage. I'm going to look into Pharmacy and Dentisty when I get some free time, see if those options will be open later on. (I know you guys aren't in med school, and most of you are probably not apply right now, but I like to type while I think)

But, moving back to a less-depressing/frigthening topic;
It really is mostly PBL, eh? I've never really had a PBL class, so how's it different? I know how it's supposed to work, but how does mac do it?

Originally Posted by britb

-reads again- Silly computer. Maybe it only sends one message per thread per day?

Anyway, again thanks for all this posting, I'm faving this so I can really go through it another time. I'm definitely going to have to answer some tough questions about myself.

The safety-net idea (whoever said it) about not getting into med school is probably the single biggest reason why I'm unsure about switching - I have absolutely nothing going for me - no one in my family has ever been involved with anything science-related (let alone medical -aka, I have to figure it out on my own, no inside tricks), I have no contacts in the field, have no experience in a hospital yet(I'm waiting to get my immunization records so I can apply to volunteer at mac), high school marks that got screwed by IB exams (and considering how nasty MCAT can get, no much help on that front either), no job (been trying for like a year - no replies)...

Yes, I have four years, but my point is that there is a very big chance that I'll never make it in - then what happens? If I do apply and make it into Health Sci and never make it in, then I'm really in trouble, aren't I? With a science degree I have a lot more options, but statistcally I'm at a further disadvantage. I'm going to look into Pharmacy and Dentisty when I get some free time, see if those options will be open later on. (I know you guys aren't in med school, and most of you are probably not apply right now, but I like to type while I think)

But, moving back to a less-depressing/frigthening topic;
It really is mostly PBL, eh? I've never really had a PBL class, so how's it different? I know how it's supposed to work, but how does mac do it?

Look, you're only in first year. Stop worrying so much =p.

Medical schools accept students from all different faculties. Even if you don't get into health sciences, you'll still have the chance a good future as long as you work hard. I don't see how science students are at a statistical disadvantage except that our courses can get quite difficult.

Your high school marks don't matter. The MCAT is doable.

PBL = problem based learning. In Bio 1AA3/1M03, you'll get experience with PBL : )

Take things one step at a time. You have many options available to you whatever program you choose to go into (life sci or health sci), you just have to work for them.

LOL, I know I sound like I'm on the edge of a nervous breakdown, but I get really anxious if i don't have things planned out nice and easy - I feel like I'm further behind than I already am - everyone else seems to know someone who's already been to a university. The orientation lady said like 30% of people are first gen, but she didn't mention that most of those 30 have friends or cousins or someone that they can talk to anyway. I don't. We do see my non-nuclear family much and I don't have any close friends at mac - my best friend went to toronto. Sure, i have people I know, mostly for highschool, but it's not the kind of relationship where I'll rattle them with questions. Basically, I feel I have to work a little harder to keep up. Not in terms of the actual courses, but all the other things that go along with uni.

Anyway, I have my four years of Bio on a sheet in front of me, along with a Health Sci and Bio with the Phys spec plan. I have to revise them a bit, actually, add in the alts that I didn't write in last time. Sure, I'll probably scrap them all in a few months, but I like having them around and having at least some clue about what is going to happen. I'm just one of those people who likes to keep things organized and have records - you should see my agenda!

About the stats, I was talking about the 41 and 72 admissions. Assuming all Hth Sci people of that year applied to mac, 41 of 160-ish got accepted. That's way better odds than Science - way more than that must have applied for there. That's all I mean by disadvantage. It probably would have been better if I said advantage to health sci. It's not a real one, as in hth sci is prefered, but it's stil there. Every little thing helps, especially for someone in my position.

I didn't know you did PBL in the Bios...that'll definitely be a learning experience. That's good, I'll at least have some idea about whether I hate it or not when it comes time to apply. Could make my decision easier.

I'm probably go to that office in BSB (I forgot the name/number) on the first floor once I work up the moxy to do it. It's got a bunch of professional school stuff.

In first year, I made a plan of the courses I planned on taking over my four years at university.

Three program changes later and my course list looks a hell of a lot different than when I was in first year.

Plans can be important but there's no way of telling how future experiences are going to shape what you want. A lot of first years (and older students too) change their mind about what they want to do. You're at a time right now where you can explore what interests you, don't feel the need to focus all your energy on what happens four years from now.

About the stats, I was talking about the 41 and 72 admissions. Assuming all Hth Sci people of that year applied to mac, 41 of 160-ish got accepted. That's way better odds than Science - way more than that must have applied for there. That's all I mean by disadvantage. It probably would have been better if I said advantage to health sci. It's not a real one, as in hth sci is prefered, but it's stil there. Every little thing helps, especially for someone in my position.

That would be because health sciences students tend to have higher averages (see thread on the Provost List) and Mac uses GPA to determine interviews - the last GPA cut off was fairly high. I don't really want to debate as to why, we all have our own reasons.

The debate becomes pretty mute amongst upper years though. Most health scis will admit to the fishy nature of many of their courses.