j-man

Hi, my experience has been quite positive. The coursework can be challenge if you load yourself up with too many classes, but all things considered, I am completely satisfied with the program as a whole. As for living conditions, I live on campus and the building where all my classes are held is only a 10 min walk away. For those colder days I found a route where I only need to walk outside for 5 min! It's a gorgeous building too, just built last year. Living in the Vancouver area my whole life I wouldn't say I'm used to the snow, but the snow this year hasn't been bad. Edmonton isn't as city-like as Toronto, I like big cities and I've lived in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, but you don't have the same city culture as with the other big Canadian cities. If you live on campus, there are some great restaurants nearby! Everyone is friendly in the city too. Besides the Edmontonians, the next largest represented city in our program is Toronto. I'm not sure if I can answer the difference in specialization question, but I can speculate. It looks as though the UBC program has the option where you can take more epi courses with your MPH if you wanted, but of course there's no extra designation for that. The only time where it may matter is if a certain job requires that you have and MPH in Epi, or that you can show you've taken many epi courses with your MPH at UBC. On the other hand, a potential employer who looks at my degree will see my specialization in epi and won't have to ask to see my transcripts. I'm not sure if that will impact you, it may be something minuscule, but still something to consider. Besides that, I don't think it's a big deal. Most of the job postings I've seen accept MPH or MSc so I believe there's some wiggle room. I will say that if you don't want to get screwed over in that situation, then take a good number of epidemiology courses (as much as a MPH Epi student would have to take at a different school, then you'll be safe). I hope that addresses your question. Send me a msg if you have any more questions, I don't always scroll through this blog to see if someone has asked me something. All the best!

Hey everyone, I am a first year MSc student studying clinical epidemiology at the U of A. Best of luck to everyone applying into the world of public health. I know this is a nerve-racking time for those applying and I can remember coming on this blog last year and checking out everyone's stats to see how they compare to mine...that didn't help my anxiety levels much. I was accepted in mid-late April last year, so give the application process some time if you haven't heard from the school(s) that you applied to. Here were my stats going in: cgpa = 3.3 undergrad: exercise physiologist/kinesiology experience: about 3 years in the field, which some would consider "public health" experience since it was all clinical work applied to: U of A MPH epi and MSc Epi (originally from the Vancouver area) My cgpa obviously isn't the greatest but that didn't stop me from applying to only one school, luckily I was probably accepted based on my work experience. No need to become anxious just because people in this thread have 3.8s and 3.9s. Grades might help you in grad school (and getting in to grad school), but if you plan to work outside of academia after graduation then you should know that nobody cares about your gpa - mostly personality, work experience, and sometimes publications. What should also be stated is the importance of the TYPE of experience that you have...not simply the fact that you have public health experience, if that is the case. This was beneficial for me because my supervisor has a background in physiotherapy and much of my work experience was working in physiotherapy clinics. This was a likely the driving factor for why I was accepted into the program. It's a great program, and I've taken some very interesting courses. I begin my thesis work at the end of April. *For those accepted into the U of A MPH/MSc epi program* The SPH at the U of A doesn't have the greatest track-record for communicating to students before going in to the program, and there is usually a huge sense of confusion leaving you with feelings of "what now?" (Actually, I'm sure most public health programs are like that in the country). I was completely lost when I arrived to Edmonton and wasn't sure who to talk to for information regarding the program, thesis work, and expectations of grad school. I had lots of questions and you probably will too. To help alleviate some of the confusion you can send me a private message and I will do my best to answer your questions. What's it like to live in Edmonton? How difficult are my classes? Publications? Is the U of A SPH a good school? What is the campus like? Ask me anything! Classes are a bit chaotic at the moment, to say the least, so I may not be able to response immediately. I haven't used the PM function on here, so in the event it's lame/weak, we can communicate via email or facebook. Congrats to those who have been accepted! To those who have been rejected, don't give up!