On elective in Montreal

Drazen Pulanic gains medical knowledge and has fun in French speaking Canada

Montreal has an allure no other Canadian city can match; it is a vital, cosmopolitan city, a beautiful mixture of European and North American tradition, with lots to see and do. With a population of close to 3 000 000 it is Quebec's largest city and has undergone many rebirths in its long history. It began as an Iroquois village on an island that, in the 17th century, was a large centre of the fur trade. It became a base for Roman Catholic missionaries in 1642. In 1760, the British conquered New France and created an intense juxtaposition of language and culture that has never faded. In each of its incarnations, Montreal's location near the St Lawrence River has made it a natural centre for communication and commerce. The city celebrated its 350th anniversary in 1992. Throughout Quebec's sovereignty debates, language questions, and cultural revolutions Montreal has lost none of its joie de vivre.

 

REX FEATURES

McGill University

There are four universities in Montreal: McGill University, University Concordia, Université de Montréal, and Université du Québec à Montréal. McGill University, where I spent my elective, was once the estate of a Scottish immigrant, James McGill (1744-1813), who came to Canada from Scotland in 1766 and made a fortune in the fur trade. A graduate of Glasgow university, McGill believed strongly in education, and willed his land for the express purpose of building a university. Sixteen years after his death, the McGill School of Medicine--Canada's first medical school--opened.

On elective at St Mary's

I spent four weeks working at St Mary's Hospital in Montreal, one of five teaching hospitals affiliated with the McGill University. Approximately 4000 babies are delivered annually at the hospital, making it the largest obstetric centre on the island of Montreal and the second in Quebec province. Although obstetrics was an attractive option, I worked in the department of gastroenterology. There were several other foreign and domestic medical students in the other hospital departments, and almost every morning we had lectures about different medical subjects. Each student was expected to listen carefully and then participate in the discussions that took place afterwards. After the discussions had finished I worked as an assistant to the attending physician and spent time in the afternoons with another. This meant that there were many opportunities for individual and practical work with patients. The range of presentations and the one to one teaching meant I learnt a lot about common as well as rare diseases in the fields of gastroenterology and internal medicine.

Above all, I was surprised by the warm and friendly welcome I received. Doctors and nurses in the department worked together to achieve a great atmosphere, and I was made to feel a valued member of the team and not treated as an unwelcome stranger. I was given freedom in how I spent my time and was given the opportunity to visit other departments and spend time in the hospital library--well provided with medical books and computers with access to the world wide web, which was very useful to prevent homesickness--but I had the feeling I was constantly supervised, to the extent that people knew precisely where I was, what I did, and where they could find me at any given time. That impression and the awareness that my performance was being constantly evaluated made me think that I was being looked after and provided impetus for me to perform as well as I could, rather than creating a feeling that "Big Brother" was watching me.

Integration of clinical work and research

The relationship between the clinical medicine and medical research at the McGill Faculty of Medicine is close: most clinical programmes have strong research units, many with longstanding international reputations, such as Montreal Neurological Institute. Medical education is also integrated well across all disciplines. To stimulate this integration of clinical work and research the medical faculty offers scholarships to medical students interested in doing medical research. There is also a special MD-PhD programme and for the past few years also a MD-MBA programme.

A multicultural and active population

Montreal has a large elderly population. Every day I had the opportunity to take histories from and examine patients older than 85 years. People aged 65 years consider themselves as middle aged and eagerly seize new opportunities after their retirement. Many enrol in courses at universities, where they are not charged tuition fees, and taking on a part time or voluntary job is common. I was amazed by how multicultural the society of Montreal was--almost every patient had immigrated from a different part of the world. Although Montreal is predominantly a French speaking city (the second largest French speaking city after Paris), many people are bilingual and many trilingual. It seemed to me, however, that most older people use French more fluently than any other language.

Conclusion

Spending my elective in Montreal, and at McGill University, was a fantastic experience. While being incredibly beneficial for improving my medical knowledge, it was also great fun. Weekend trips to Toronto in Ontario province, to historic Quebec City, the capital of Quebec province, or even to beautiful Boston in the United States are easy to organise and not very expensive. An elective at the McGill Medical School is a unique professional and personal experience that can I recommend to every medical student in the world.

Drazen Pulanic, medical student, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia


studentBMJ 2000;08:45-88 March ISSN 0966-6494