Orientation Week 2024
Welcome Class of 2028!
Class of 2027
Congratulations on your acceptance to the University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry! You've got an exciting year ahead, and the class of 2027 can't wait to meet you!
As the Orientation Committee for 2024, our role is to make sure the Class of 2028 is received with the warmest welcome! We have an exciting week of events planned, designed to make you all feel at home at the University of Alberta, and give you endless opportunities to meet your classmates (and future colleagues)!
Contact info: msaorien@ualberta.ca
Meet Your O-Week 2024 Team!
Brandon
Hometown: Calgary, AB
Previous Degree: BScH @ University of Calgary, Cellular, Molecular, and Microbial Biology
About Me: Hey there, I’m Brandon and I’m excited to meet you all! When I’m not studying, you can find me in the Tims line for another iced coffee, hitting the gym at VVC (make sure to join the MedFit club!), or vibing to some Bardcore and playing board games with friends!
Advice for First Year: First of all, a huge congratulations to the class of 2028!!! You’re in for an exciting journey ahead of you. My biggest piece of advice would be to make sure you’re taking the time to make new friends, create positive memories, and embrace new experiences throughout your medical education. Four years of medical school might sound like a long time, but it flies by really fast!
If you’re ever in need of advice or support, you have an incredible community here for you and you’re never alone. You’re going to do amazing things so keep your head high and don’t forget how much you’ve already accomplished! See you in O-Week!
Dennis
Hometown: Edmonton, AB
Previous Degree: PharmD, BSc Biochemistry @ University of Alberta
About Me: Hello class of 2028, I am so excited to meet you all! My name is Dennis and I like to dabble in a bit of everything. Recently picked up pickleball and bouldering during med school but I also golf and play badminton. I also enjoy playing various instruments including piano and flute. I am a huge anime nerd so come hit me up if you would like a debate on the best anime ever (hint, AoT).
Advice for First Year: Everyone is going to find Med school different, some will find it easy, others will be struggling. Remember, at the end of the day, it’s just another shared life experience. A decade down the road, you will be laughing and reminiscing at the beautiful memories you made in these 4 years. Med school is not about the destination (everyone will get there) but the friends you make along the way.
Cindy
Hometown: Calgary, AB
Previous Degree: Health Sciences @ McMaster University, Master of Public Health @ University of Toronto
About Me: Hey everyone! Congrats on your acceptance to the MD program! I’m Cindy and I am looking forward to meeting you all. A little bit about myself, I’m from Calgary, and I did all my schooling in the East Coast. I love to swim, I was part of McMaster’s dragon boating team and like trying new sports like rowing here in Edmonton!
Advice for First Year: Keep up your old hobbies and try new ones! Med school can be busy, so it’s good to take time to keep up interests/hobbies outside of school so you don’t feel burnt out. There are also plenty of opportunities to shadow different specialties to see what you are interested in early on! 🙂
Henry
Hometown: Vancouver, BC
Previous Degree: BScH @ Simon Fraser University, Behavioural Neuroscience & Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology Co-Operative Education
About Me: Hello/Bonjour everyone. Congrats on your acceptance into the UofA MD program!! My name is Henry and I’m ecstatic to meet all of you during O-Week!! A little bit about me: I like to exercise, cook, travel, go to orchestras, play video games, and play with my dog, Stella. When I’m not studying for medicine, you can find me working/stressing out on my Master’s thesis :O
Advice for First Year: Really take the summer before medical school to travel/spend time with your friends/family because medical school can get busy really quick! Also remember “P=MD,” so don’t take it too hard if you don’t score 90%+ on exams. Use this opportunity to spend some time on yourself instead of studying all the time, such as finding new hobbies, continuing activities you’re passionate about, etcetera. Also, if you ever feel lost or overwhelmed, don’t feel afraid to reach out to your Big-O for advice as well as the Office of Advocacy and Wellbeing. Getting into medicine was the hard part, now just enjoy the ride and try to make as much as you can out of these 4 years (they go by really fast).
Jason
Hometown: Edmonton, AB
Previous Degree: BSc Biological Sciences @ University of Alberta
About Me: Hey everyone, my name is Jason and I’m from Edmonton, Alberta. People typically describe me as someone calm, mature, and great at listening. But when it comes to things that I am passionate about, I am also someone who loves speaking Yappanese; whether it’s in front of the camera making videos about wristwatches for my YouTube channel (Subscribe to “A Channel About Watches”), in front of a classroom giving presentations about medicine as an MD Ambassador, or at the Edmonton Public Library Teaching Seniors about the wonders of ChatGPT, I love speaking about things that are important to me.
Outside of my extracurriculars, I have my introverted side where I enjoy spending time in nature by camping or hiking. I also spend a lot of personal time with my girlfriend and try to convince her to do her residency in Edmonton instead of Vancouver (although I love both cities). My biggest pet peeve is when I travel internationally and try to explain to people what/where is Edmonton, they usually give me a blank stare unless I say that Edmonton is *basically* beside Vancouver (ignoring that they’re 1000 km apart).
Advice for First Year: My one advice for the incoming first years is to get to know your classmates as best you can, as you’ll need their support over the next 4 years!
C2027 Legacy Video
View the Survival Guide here!