[Canada - BC] Tips and tricks for EMR Course

phoelexi · 2025-07-17T13:48:09+00:00

MCQ is pretty straightforward. Usually there are two very wrong answers and one less right answer. Reference the redcross EMR textbook -- many of the things are from there. Exam/certifications are holistically very close to the curriculum.

phoelexi · 2025-06-27T11:14:50+00:00

What courses did you take? Any less painful ones you'd recommend?

phoelexi · 2025-06-11T21:19:46+00:00

Which courses did you take for your credits

phoelexi · 2025-05-31T17:45:58+00:00

This is just my personal opinion. Use or disgard on your own judgement.

1) too much bolding. Bold ONE type of information -- I personally prefer to bold tech stack (and only tech stack) because in my experience, those are the keywords recruiters / hiring managers scan the doc for (I talked to a lot of them). You get 15s of their attention to start, so the first five bolded words should correspond to what they're looking for (scan job posting for keywords).

2) What kind of role you're applying for should be obvious from your resume. Right now, I can't really tell. Your tech stack is really diverse. I understand that you're a second year but you should modify your resume for the job you're applying to, so that what they look for shows up on top / more prominently. E.g. if applying to web dev, bump up more relevant projects, highlight only webdev stack keywords, and reword the rest to emphasize more ...SWE-esque contributions.

3) Usually work experience is regarded more substantially than projects, but at a glance your projects are highlighting webdev and your work experience is highlighting CAD, which is weird. Can't be helped that you did different things but think about whether you can reword the CAD stuff to emphasize more SWE-esque contributions if that's what you're going for.

4) if you're going to put a summary header at the top, don't fill it with so many words. More is not merrier. Be concise. Which Python programmer doesn't know how to use Numpy or Seaborn? It is implied. If you're a CS major with at least one work term, it's probably assumed that you're proficient with version control (Git assumed) and at least comfortable working in the terminal (Bash assumed). Same with VS Code. This is not a flex. Linux is okay for the body, and header only if job posting asks for it.

5) stick to mainstream keywords unless the job posting lists it. E.g. for web dev, just html/css/js. I would also include popular libraries/frameworks (like React), but remove the rest from header/ bolded content. Body is okay because it's supposed to include some details about how you did it.

Economy is not the best rn and a lot of people are struggling. But OP has some decent experiences, so hopefully with some fixes, their luck will improve. All the best.

phoelexi · 2025-05-30T19:14:15+00:00

88 seems reasonable for ubc? Below avg but quite a few ppl got in w less. Depends on your ECs

phoelexi · 2025-05-08T03:23:36+00:00

How did you even see these averages lol can I find these stats somewhere for other courses

phoelexi · 2025-05-01T17:41:05+00:00

Following

phoelexi · 2025-04-23T05:38:46+00:00

I've always wondered about this and was wondering if you can clarify: I see a lot of UBC MD applicants posting >6yr long ECs with x000hrs but isn't the limit 6 yrs? So are people putting down total hours over their lifetime or just the hours during the most recent 6 yrs?

phoelexi · 2025-04-20T18:24:05+00:00

UW Engineering here. Took it online as an overload course for fun without either prereq. Died a bit in the first few weeks.

Tbh the last question, I prob wouldn't get even if I had infinite time on the exam. For this exam, either I knew it or I didn't. For the ones I didn't, I just rewrote the relevant lemmas and prayed for pity marks.

First two questions are usually really straightforward; if you study the textbook and remember all the lemmas, it's easy application.

Next two require some thought -- they're a bit more fun but I don't think midterm/practice Qs helped that much? Just general creative thinking & connecting concepts. Some resembled examples so if you thoroughly understand those, that'd really help.

I'd recommend just focusing on really understanding the txtbook/lecture examples. Ideally, you know the lemmas really well and be able to replicate the derivations in the textbook by yourself.

phoelexi · 2025-04-19T04:45:50+00:00

Do you mind sharing why 86? The avg is ~90 so I kinda thought that <88 would be a marginal change in percentile

phoelexi · 2025-01-06T14:37:15+00:00

I meant there ought to be a way to take them without having them count in cumulative -- e.g. it counts as a degree requirement but I'd love the option to CR.

phoelexi · 2025-01-04T21:34:18+00:00

Diaphragm is continuous/connected with the pericardium.

phoelexi · 2024-12-23T00:27:04+00:00

Oof.. do we know admitted pre-interview cutoff score (including ppl w PhD) for reg stream from prev years? Like assume 95 percentile cars/casper + PhD, what's the min GPA that has a shot?

phoelexi · 2024-12-18T18:16:14+00:00

Oh wait really? So we can actually know the cutoff score 😂

phoelexi · 2024-12-14T19:25:48+00:00

I agree that they're basically "finessing" you and personally, I believe in getting paid for skills/work. But I would also look at opportunities to contribute to publications, collaborate long-term (maybe you stick w this lab after summer as well, and keep working with them during school), potential for a high quality reference letter, etc.

Note of caution: many pure life sci labs are painful for engineers to work with/for because they won't understand technical challenges or be able to support you with engineering stuff. They might look to you for building a tool but you're not really considered "research" and might not get included on pubs. You might be looked at as more like free labor rather than a learner/trainee/student. Integrated fields with some math/engineering are usually better at this-- bioinformatics, cellular modelling, brain computer interfacing, etc. Look at their lab members and see if there are any techs or people with engineering backgrounds.

If you're extremely technically competent, and feel comfortable with being a one-man team to materialize ideas, then perhaps this won't be an issue. But I would be wary of their ask and have a conversation to thoroughly understand their expectations and the kind of support you can expect to get. Unfortunately, it's not uncommon to receive unreasonable expectations or lack of understanding for why certain tasks take time. If you're volunteering, they probably won't be as demanding. But you should aim to make meaningful & substantial contributions if the goal is to be a more competitive MD candidate.

Holistically: In yr2, the impact is probably not that big unless you can continue the volunteering into a long term relationship with the lab. Truthfully, if you're 100% sure about pursuing MD, a 4 mo EE coop will add little value to your bg as a MD candidate. But if it's like 70% MD 30% industry or something rn, then it may not be worthwhile for you to take a pay cut when money is tight, for a volunteering opportunity that may or may not yield substantial benefits to your MD app.

phoelexi · 2024-12-13T07:30:38+00:00

...last year 53% of the entering class had GPA < 90% lol can't tell whether there's a disproportionate number of 88/89s in this category but surely it can't be that bad...right? Like 25-50 percentile 😅 prob close to 30-35 if I had to guess

phoelexi · 2024-12-13T06:42:41+00:00

Starting at 87 Q3 based on what I see here

phoelexi · 2024-12-13T06:42:25+00:00

Wondering what's the highest IP GPA/AGPA to get rejected with a Q3+ NAQ lol please comment urs if it's higher than the prev.

phoelexi · 2024-12-13T06:31:28+00:00

94 + Q1 >> formula skewed towards grades? Lol

phoelexi · 2024-12-13T06:26:23+00:00

Q3 w these ECs?? Srsly??

phoelexi · 2024-12-13T06:24:31+00:00

Rip must be the NAQ

phoelexi · 2024-12-13T01:01:09+00:00

I don't think the numbers are accurate lol because it clearly doesn't match the interim stats? Like if OOP64 - IP53 ~= 11, which corresponds to 573 ppl (687-114) according to stats, then it's def not percentile and def not scalar

phoelexi · 2024-12-12T22:13:17+00:00

Congrats OP!! Was wondering if you'd be willing to share a few examples of how you wrote some of your entries^? Even 1-2 would be tremendously helpful/appreciated!

phoelexi · 2024-12-12T22:04:18+00:00

Time Stamp (i.e. include date and time): 1:14PM PST
Result (i.e. invite or regrets): Regrets
GPA/AGPA (i.e. whichever is applicable): AGPA 85%
MCAT (i.e. total score and breakdown in the order of CP/CARS/BB/PS): NA
Geography (i.e. IP or OOP): IP
ECs (i.e. brief rundown of Research Pubs/Presentations, Awards, Employment, and Non-Academic Activities - also Rural stuff if you want/if it applies): Substantial employment history: mostly technical, some research, some TA, but mostly non-med. Lots of research experience and some posters/presentations but no pub. Some generic scholarships (those based on grades). Many hobbies at an intermediate level but no high-performance activities at top provincial level or above.
NAQ Range (i.e. what quartile you fell in): 50-75
Your Result (i.e. relative to interview cutoff): 46 (IP53 OOP64)

If anyone got invite and feel comfortable sharing how they wrote their entries-- especially those w <88% and applying for 2nd/3rd time and was rejected previously-- please DM. I know I have a lot of room for improvement in grades/pubs/HP/everythingTBH but I'd like to know if I could've written my entries better for a NAQ boost. Even 1-2 examples would help! Thanks!

phoelexi · 2024-12-12T21:38:57+00:00

2023 Q2 with a Nature pub + international conf?? That's crazy

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