Hey everyone~
I'm a prospective student and I got an early acceptance to this program. I am really interested, but I am unsure of what I really want after an undergrad. I applied to business programs and kin. too

I am specifically interested in the ultrasound option. For the upper years, can you guys fill me in with any information about this program and specialization? and according to someone from the program, employment rate is 100% ... now is this true?

and for the clinical practicums, are there hospitals in the GTA? (how did you guys arrange your transportation?)

and lastly, what advancements (jobs wise) could you do after getting ARDMS?

Thank you!

According to my research and what I have heard from recent grads, radiation therapy and nuclear med is oversaturated.

There's a lawsuit filed against the Michener program in Toronto in regards to their Nuclear Medicine program. They stopped taking applicants this year. See this thread for proof :

http://www.indeed.com/forum/job/nucl...ise/t107934/p3

Radiation Therapy grads have it even worse. Try doing a search for positions for either of these professions. I've personally never seen a radiation therapist position for a recent grad.

ooh thanks for the quick replies!
What about the ultrasound profession? :S

Originally Posted by aw07

According to my research and what I have heard from recent grads, radiation therapy and nuclear med is oversaturated.

Oversaturated? Yes. Absolutely nothing out there? Not true. It's how willing one would move for their first job.

if only i knew about med rad in high school....

Originally Posted by Xchocolate

ooh thanks for the quick replies!
What about the ultrasound profession? :S

Plenty of jobs around for ultrasound and radiography. (Nuclear medicine is a separate program.) Check any job board of a decent sized city and there are openings.

Same! I never knew about the program in high school either. I did two years life sci, and now I've switched to medrad, finishing my first year now. lol

Hi I am in my first year of med rad right now and I am hoping to go into ultrasound next year
From what I have heard there are a lot of job opportunities for ultrasound. Also about the placements, there are clinical placements in the GTA as well as all over ontario, like Ottawa, London, Kitchener/Cambridge, Guelph, Windsor, etc.
and about advancements, after you are done this program there is also a program that mohawk-mcmaster offers on cardiac ultrasound that would be more specific so that is an extra option that you could do after this program
Also, if you have any questions about the first year of the program I would love to answer them!

oh nice!are you enjoying the program? and is there any chemistry involved or is it mainly physics and bio?

yes i love it so far! and no you don't have to take chemistry
in first year you take a cell biology class, which is similar to grade 12 bio and then you also take physics, it is not the same as high school physics though because it is all about the physics of xrays, ultrasound, rad therapy, and then you also take physics in upper years that is more focuses on which speciality you are in

first year the classes are:
biology, physics, math, pathology, intro to professional practice, 2 anatomy classes, intro to med rad sci, and 2 electives (unless you didn't take calculus and gr 12 physics in high school then you have to take courses to make up for them and dont have an electives)

ooh darn now the physics sound intimidating... how is the work load for med rads? I saw an example of the schedule and it looks quite intense!

Another question: Is there an advantage of getting the bachelors degree and diploma?
and what made you choose med rad?
I also looked up the cardiac sonography at mohawk, it seems to be canceled?? :(

file:///Users/alyssahugill/Documents/Term%202%20Correct%20 Timetable%20.webarchi ve

This is my current timetable
I think that med rad workload is similar to other programs from what I have noticed, there is a lot of memorizing for anatomy and pathology, but it is interesting so it makes it easier.

I think that there is an advantage of getting a degree and a diploma vs just a diploma, because if you are applying for a job and have both and someone else only has a diploma im hoping you look better
I chose med rad because I went to the ultrasound clinic in my town and it looked really cool and I like anatomy and wanted to do something health care related so I thought med rad would fit lots of my interests!

and I dont know why it would be cancelled :(

I dont think the physics is too bad and I did not like physics in high school haha, it is more interesting than regular physics since it applies to the specializations. a lot of people in the program are worried about physics and dont like it and the prof knows that so he tries to make it simpler for us

I'm a 2nd year radiography student. I chose Medrad because the prospect of finding work after grad is high. I also wanted to work in the healthcare field, but I didn't want to become a nurse. So far it's a great program, though I have to say that it could be organized a little better. First year Medrad was a little boring because we mostly had to take general science courses. Second year is where things really start to kick off.

In terms of clinical placements, they vary every year.

For ultrasound, there are only 1 clinical spot per site. The placements were available in Hamilton, Brantford, Cambridge, Waterloo, Guelph, Oakville, Mississauga, Toronto, Etobicoke, Brampton, Niagara, St. Catharines, Sarnia, Chatham, Owen Sound, London, Wingham, Nepean, Palmerston, Welland, Kitchener, Woodstock, Newmarket, Ottawa.

For rad therapy, there were 4 clinical sites in Hamilton, Kitchener, London, and Windsor. Each hospital takes a varying amount of students.

For radiography, the available sites were Hamilton, Burlington, Brantford, Mississauga, Kitchener, Guelph, Belleville, Newmarket, Brampton, Toronto, St. Catharines, Niagara, and Etobicoke. Like rad therapy, each hospital takes a varying amount of students.

In terms of overall workload, it is definitely manageable. In 2nd year, you have a skills course which is probably the most challenging; you have to pass with a mark above 70% overall in this course in order to proceed to 2nd semester and clinical. When testing comes around, it is definitely stressful. For ultrasound specifically, many of my friends thought that first semester of 2nd year was very difficult and that many were struggling to get the marks they wanted.

I hope this gives you a little bit more perspective on the program!

Thanks Alyssa and Emerentia! The information has been so useful How many spots in ultrasound are there and is it hard to get your first choice in terms of specialization?

And what job boards did you search up for sonographers? (haha I'm pretty noob at this...)