Reflecting on second year

Ahh...the summer.  The breeze, the warmth, the kicking and screaming children.  I had almost forgotten this part of life existed!  

Normal Childbearing is done - all 16 weeks, assignments, and exams.  We're done!  I am officially halfway through the program - although, given how much of a challenge the program was and knowing the rest of school is placements - I kind of still feel like I just finished the introduction.

I fully intended to have a new blog post out the second I finished placement.  But just before I finished placement, I had a string of 8 days where I went to ....oh gosh... I cant even remember now, something like 10 births?!  Needless to say, once I finished my last day of placement (and some very interesting detours getting home thanks to my GPS), I fell into recovery mode, and 3-4 weeks later I'm starting to get my head back on straight. That being said, I'm out of midwife mode for the next little while and totally forget what questions most people have been dying to know about the placement, even though I know there are many.  So please dont hesitate to ask away!  

There is so much to share about what these last four months have been like for my classmates and I.  All of us have had such diverse experiences from one another, though, that I can only really speak for my own experience.    I'll probably make a number of posts over the summer in little bits and pieces.  I'm also planning to post a couple of the papers I wrote, as they're in pretty understandable language and I think they're pretty darn interesting (I try not to write a paper about boring things, generally).

For today's post, I wanted to follow up on where my learning is at now, compared to where it was when I was only two weeks into my first midwifery placement.  At that point, I was already being directly involved in all aspects of almost all clients care, from prenatal visits, to birth and postpartum visits.  I felt awkward, didn't know what to say often, fumbled, made lots of mistakes. I also was undergoing a humongous adjustment to the midwifery lifestyle.  The scale of change for me was so big - easily as big of a change in life as the birth of my first child.  And for anyone who's got kids, you might imagine that means every aspect of your entire life is different.  My family had a major adjustment to go through as well, especially my partner, who had to give up a great deal of his work and identity to be only Dad.  For a man as passionate about his music as I am about midwifery, this was a huge challenge for him.  Musicians often get gigs at night. (no childcare) Midwives often go to births at night. (no way to predict which night)  You get the picture.

Amazingly, when you do it every single day, you start to get better at things quickly. We managed to figure out how to get through it at home with a lot of practice.  As for teh clinic, because I was the only student at the practice I was placed in, I had an open door to participate in basically anything and everything that I wanted to.  This meant that the only births I missed out of all that occurred in a practice of 6 midwives were the ones that happened on my days off (or when I was already at one).  In this way, being placed at a rural practice was a huge advantage.  While many of the students who were placed in busy Toronto practices were struggling to meet their minimums for birth numbers (18), I was grappling with the idea soon before the end of my placement that I was going to surpass the maximum (30) - - - which I did.  This meant tremendous learning for me.  All of these experiences meant that by my last two weeks of placement (two of the busiest and funnest of the whole term), I was *doing* almost all of what I had been timidly watching my preceptors do in the beginning: leading clinic discussions (oftentimes by myself with no other midwife in the room for the first part of the appointment); responding directly to client pages about pregnancy, labour, and postpartum concerns; doing all labour and immediate postpartum assessments and procedures within the scope of midwifery care including catching the baby (hopefully with minimal assistance from our preceptors)....the list could go on for 10 pages (it does in our course outline, actually).  

Everything that we are learning and capable of handling with minimal assistance is within the scope of Normal Childbearing - normal, common, or variations of normal.  Obviously, though, we can't always predict when that'll be, so most of us were exposed to a hearty share of not-so-normal situations as well.  I mentioned in my last post that my faith in the process had gotten seriously put to the test in my first few weeks of placement after a string of situations that I had never viewed from the care providers perspective before.  Thank goodness (for myself and my future clients!) that faith got restored with many, many positive, straightforward beautiful strong women and their births to show me that birth is a normal life event.  

Of course, the focus of our later courses will be on managing and consulting for some of the various complications that came up over the course of our learning.  By the end of the term, I found myself REALLY curious about those complications.  This, to me, is a sign that I'm comfortable with the "normal" stuff.  

Seriously, I feel like I've said absolutely nothing.  But there's so much more to say!  Since I got into recovery mode, my writing hasn't been as strong as usual!  Please post unanswered questions in the comments.  I just might make another post about it!

What my first two weeks of Normal Childbearing looked like

Okay, so I've been facing lots of pressure to get some blog posts up  here!  Sorry to anyone who may have been  itching to know what placement was like...I was too, until a couple weeks ago when it started.  But suffice to say that my absense in posting is because placement is VERY BUSY!  I am going to try and make this post as thorough as possible but please know I might not post again until close to the end of term.  This is the one-stop shop, "Heres what a couple of weeks in placement looks like"

Disclaimer:  As I'm sure you understand, I have to maintain full confidentiality of all clients.  I can't give any details that might reveal dates, names or any form of detail that could identify someone.  Therefore I'm trying to remain extremely vague about my experiences.

In our Normal Childbearing placement, which is 16 weeks in duration, we must attend a minimum of 18 births and a maximum of 30.  There is variation due to the nature of the clinic workings, but also  because we need to act as primary midwife for some of those births, second midwife for some, and are allowed only a small number of observed births (2).  Since all women who need oxytocin IV or epidurals are transferred out of our care and we can't conduct the birth (to a certain extent), there will inevitably be more than two observed births.  Therefore I anticipate nobody could really make all their other necessary numbers with only 18 births.  We're expected to be on call for these births at all times, aside from 4 days per month and every Friday morning for tutorial. 

Anyway, on top of the births, we are supposed to attend 15 pre- or post-natal visits per week.  This is also something very variable, since some practices have 15-30 minute appointments and can get 15 clinic visits into one or two days.  My practice's appointment times are 45 minutes - *such* a treat to have the time to spend with the women, but definitely a bigger challenge to get those numbers in.  I've only successfully gotten an entire 15 visits in one of the three weeks I've been there, and I've attended every single visit I could, unless I've been at a birth. 

In addition to the clinical duties, we have tutorial duties.  The PBL format that I hopefully described about Repro from last semester is used for the rest of the duration of the programming at the MEP - so we're given a situation and we have to extract issues from the situation and go out and learn about them to teach eachother at the next tutorial.  Therefore, we need to prepare each week a presentation to share what we learned about the topic that we were to work on for that week.  In addition to that, we have to present an informed choice discussion on a basic pregnancy intervention (testing, etc), write a couple of papers about learning issues, create learning plans, write midterm and final exams, and probably some other things that I'm not aware of yet.  Realistically, it doesn't look THAT heavy to me at this point.  The academic load seems similar to that of ONE course - which is very fortunate since the clinical side of things feels equivalent to 7 or 8.  We are also required to have a reserved half-day each week during business hours to work on our assignments.  So far, I've been able to keep my assignment obligations within that half day, but I'm sure there'll be weeks where its not enough.

By the end of the term, we are expected to have attended our required births and clinic visits, and to have exhibited basic skill in all areas of caring for normal, healthy pregnant women and their babies.  This is a very diverse thing to accomplish, I have learned.  Midwifery is a dynamic profession that requires creativity and an open mind at all times.  This was probably my first lesson. 

My first day in placement was lovely - an orientation of sorts.  I joined the group for their practice meeting and got to meet a lovely set of women who work together to create the web of midwifery care that this clinic provides.  This particular practice is split into two teams - the team I'm working with has approximately 22 births from the time I started until the end of my placement, but they also back-up the other team, which probably has an equal number of births planned.  Before I realized that my team attends all the births in the clinic (and I would be expected to do the same), I was concerned that if I missed any on my day off, I might not make my numbers.  Now I'm starting to wonder if I might need to taper the numbers down close to the end of the term as I might hit my maximum.

My first weeks have been busy. I live a good distance from my practice, which is in a pretty rural setting.  This means that it takes me at least 45 minutes to get to clinic every day, and the home and hospital visits we do for our new mothers after birth can involve one heck of a commute, since this practice serves an enormous catchment area.  Not one word of a lie, I have had days where I've covered almost 600km.  And please, let me allow you to think about what it is like to drive the hour to get home, and then get paged right back (especially if its right after a long birth).  I also can't begin to describe how hard it is to come home at 1am and leave again at 6am, only to return home at 10pm.  I've gone days without seeing my kids or partner.  Ladies anticipating placement or considering the program, let it be known that there is blood, sweat, and tears involved in this profession, and they're not only coming from birthing mothers.  I could NOT get through days like those without rock solid support (and I mean it, undending, unconditional support), good nutrition available at all times, and a plan to make sure I get sleep at some point in the next day or two.  ALL of those things wouldn't be anywhere near within my reach if it weren't for the fact that my partner is pretty much putting his career on hold and acting as stay at home dad.  He's cooked almost every day, taken the kids away when its necessary, put them to bed almost every night, washed most of the dishes and laundry, gotten our daughter off to school every morning, and cared for our son on his days home as well.  There is no way I'd be able to do this without him. 



So really, I shouldn't complain.  I knew what I was getting myself into when I signed up for a practice so far away from me, but I also knew the philosophies of these midwives and I wanted very much to be influenced by their practices.  I can't say enough good things about my preceptors.  Its definitely a challenge having two who have two different teaching styles, schedules, and expectations for me, but its an awesome privilege to glean the best from both of these wonderful, caring midwives. 

 There's so much learning to be done in the clinic days.  I feel so awkward in those visits.  Its such a privilege to be sitting in on them.  The fact that these midwives are opening their clients up to me, and that these clients are opening themselves up for my learning, is a real gift.  I definitely feel pretty stupid most of the time though.  I know most of what is being said in the visits, but I almost never remember it when everyone turns to me and says "Do you have anything to add?".  I usually remember lots to say AFTER, though, so at least its coming at some point.  I need to start writing out scripts for various discussions that take place so that eventually I can take over the midwife's side of the conversation and begin teaching and learning from the client more directly.  That process, here in my third week of placement, is starting.  Very slowly, but its starting.

So what do we do with women aside from talking?  Everything I learned in clinical skills has been put to the test aside from one or two that I've chickened out on so far (I chickened out on IV insertion, and I havent' had a chance to do a Pap).  I've already had ample opportunities to feel bellies, measure fundal height, take blood pressure, listen to the babies heart, draw blood, do injections, perform cervical exams, break membranes in labor, catch babies (!! with the help of my preceptors), catch placentas, suture, assess the newborn, administer vitamin K and erythromycin to the newborn, provide breastfeeding support (or rather, mostly observe my awesome preceptor giving her breastfeeding support), and probably a hundred more things that I can't even think of.  I've also been witness to a number of complications in labor and birth.    As I said - very diverse!!  Never a dull day. 

Bearing in mind that this has all been within the 17 days that I have been in placement - - lots of clinic days, and SIX births already.


The last thing that I mentioned in the list were pretty hard to swallow.  As much as I have learned from some of these complicated  births, they weren't exactly typical examples of "Normal Childbearing".  I have to admit that, just as I had feared might happen, my faith in the process has definitely been put to the test and I've found myself wondering at a birth what will go wrong at this one.  I used to loathe this in birth professionals when I was a mother.  I wanted someone with utmost confidence in me.  And I still have utmost confidence in women.  But now that I've been on the other side of the fence, I've begun to understand that by putting your utmost faith into your midwife or attending physician, the mother (or the doula, in my case) is able to release most of the fear of complications that surround childbirth.  But those risks don't go away just because you let go of the fear - you've just got someone well equipped to handle them if they come along.  Stepping into the place of someone who is learning how to be responsible for handing those risks is a heavy burden and an enormous privilege.  It brings me a new sense of purpose to the profession.  It also, sadly, makes me realize that I cannot prevent every unnecessary intervention put upon a mother or her baby, because sometimes we don't know if an intervention is necessary or not, but only that it lowers risk.

ANYWAY!  As you might be able to tell, my thoughts are scattered and my brain is tired.  The last couple of days there have been no births, and I have been thankful for the chance to catch up on sleep and gain my brain back. 

And now, its 10pm, and I'm probably committing suicide by staying up so late!

The final semester of academic-only learning

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Winter Break is finally upon us, and I have finally breathed.  I think its been a couple of months since I've had a moment of guilt-free relaxation!  Needless to say, this semester was very busy.  Also needless to say, its going to get busier as I gear into placement first thing after New Years day. Between a demanding placement, the commuting issues that will accompany it, and my family, I don't anticipate many blogging opportunities during my placement.  So perhaps I'll give it my best go and give you a big long one now that I have time to do it by summing up my third semester in school.

According to the Ryerson schedule, full-timers are to take Clinical Skills, Pharmacology, Reproduction & Physiology, and two elective social science courses.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again - this is impossible.  Nobody in their right mind can handle this kind of a course load and do well at any of it (as far as I can see, anyway).  If you can get those electives out of the way (or even Pharm or Repro) in first year, during the summer break, or before you enter the program, do it!!!  You will thank yourself later! 

To sum them up fairly briefly:
Clinical Skills: Is a 3-credit course taught by two midwives with many guest instructors that come throughout the semester.  Because its three credits, and there is an absolute TON of material to cover, class time is a full day plus a half day per week.  This year it was Monday afternoons and all day Tuesdays - but sometimes we needed to do full days on Mondays as well. Assignments were simple and no stress.  A few quizzes and a final exam - I didn't find any of the evaluations in this course to be a major challenge.  The material, though, was overwhelming.  This course covered just about everything that we will encounter in everyday clinic, home visits, and births.....

.... That's prenatal forms, breastfeeding, nutrition, physical assessment, prenatal screening, ultrasound, vitals, mechanisms of labor, telephone assessments, labor support, baby-catching, fetal monitoring, cervical exams, pap smears, suturing, newborn resusitation, newborn physical exam, IVs, administering meds, phlebotomy, infection control, and a million other things I can't think of off the top of my head....

 As you can imagine, thats a LOT to cover in one semester.  And a ton of reading to go along with it.  Most topics only got a 3-hour lecture or workshop.  Its a real glossing over of the whole thing, which I think was scary to many of us who want to walk into our first placement as competent students, but it turns out they dont really expect us to be competent when we begin placement.  They only expect that we've seen the equipment before and have an idea of how to use it.   For me, having had the experience both as a client of midwifery care and as a doula who is familiar with much of what I listed above, I found the course to be enjoyable, but a bit of a repeat on things that I already knew.  I didn't miss a class and I definitely leared at every class, but the lecture portions were often a review.  I really found myself feeling for those who have less experience in the field coming into the program, as it was a lot to absorb at once. Pretty much nobody could actually do all of the assigned readings, as some weeks were upward of 300-400 pages (only a couple were like that though).  My challenge with this course was the hands-on skills - particularly IVs and suturing.  I've got lots of hands on experience at things like labor support, but hand me a needle and I'm a bumbling idiot.  Luckily we got rubber arms for IVs and  beautiful little plush vaginas to practice suturing on.  There were definitely lots of good times in this class!

Pharmacotherapy: I found my arch nemesis in this class.  Not the instructor, who's been teaching this class since its inception 14 some odd years ago, but my brain.  This course introduced all of the drugs that midwives can administer and prescribe as well as all the drugs we may encounter our clients taking, and the concepts of how they actually work at the cellular level.  Really, really fascinating stuff.  But really, really hard for a concept-based kinesthetic learner like me to memorize a gazillion drug names that sound the same and know the subtle differences.  I think I made a come-back at the final exam (grades aren't up yet though), but the midterm knocked me on my butt-hocks (as Willow says). 

Reproduction and Physiology: A great and fascinating class.  This class introduces us to the method of learning we'll be using for the rest of our career as students: situation-based learning.  So, the instructor (a scientist who also has been teaching this course since its inception many moons ago) gives us a situation at the end of class and we decide what we need to learn from it.  Then we go out for the week and research it, and come together at the next class and teach eachother.  There's very little teaching that the instructor does, mostly just mediating - its us that do the teaching.  Its really interesting.  Preparingn for this class was definitely my biggest time commitment, I'd say easily a full day of research to prepare for this class each week, but it was fascinating.  It covered the ovarian and uterine cycles, embryological genital differentiation, embryogenesis, fertilization, implantation, placentation, maternal adaptations to pregnancy, fetal adaptations to extrauterine life, and the initiation of labor (parturition).  Overall a great course (in my humble opinion). 

There you have it!  My novel for the semester.  Thanks for tuning in!


p.s.   I've had questions from a few people about applications and interviews into the program - to those of you asking, and others wondering - I'm so sorry I haven't had the opportunity to respond as I would like.  I've been grabbing life by the horns and trailing behind trying to make sure I'm holding on tight!  In a nutshell, my friends, the wait is stressful but show your true colours and keep your heart pure and that is the best that anyone can do.

Wow, this semester is flying by!  Midterms are done, and our placement notices came into our emails very shortly after we finished the last midterm (I have a feeling it was planned that way).  I'm happy to report that I got my first choice!  I'm excited to have the opportunity to work with the midwife group that took care of my own most recent pregnancy and birth.  But, my head is swimming with the details.  Placement feels very real now.  The grand "you get four days a month off call" is hanging over my head and childcare details are far from being finalized.  There are definitely drawbacks to following your dreams, when you have a partner whose schedule is almost as wacky and unpredictable as a midwife's *and* two children  (he is a musician).  The practice that I'll be going to is also quite a distance from my home - more than what is typically allowable by the school (50 minutes away) - and the catchment area is even larger. I am far from most midwifery practices, though, because I live rurally, and I don't intend to relocate for this placement.  My mom lives well within their catchment area and I know I can fall back on being there if I know I need to be available on short notice sometimes (or know I can't drive home *afterwards!*) 

But those are details that only my head should swim with!  I really am SO excited to embark on the next stage of the journey, and can't wait for the "real" experiences.  In the meantime, we're being prepped by our clinical skills classes in all sorts of skills that we'll be learning more about in placement - some of those experiences have been INCREDIBLE. 

More to come when I have time to breathe!  (So, maybe Christmas at this rate!?)

The placement lottery decisions begin

Wow, this last month has been so busy! Although I'm only working on three courses right now (repro, pharm, and clinical skills) the latter is worth three credits and is very heavy. I haven't been able to keep up with my readings let along updating blog posts.

Yesterday, though, we finally received "the list" - that list we've been waiting to see, that tells us which regions have placements available for this first clinical placement we are preparing to go into. We've got a little over a week to decide what our top 4 choices are, and then a maximum of a month to hear what the verdict is. Wow, what a feeling of foreboding! The options available are about what I expected..but it's definitely complicated by my intentions for summertime (and the possibility of having to take a placement in summer vs winter) and my distance from, well, anything substantial aside from one practice. Here is hopIng that it will all work out for the better!!!!

Ready, set, go!

Well, another official school year has begun.  My first day back in classes was also my daughter's first day of Grade 1.  I have to admit I was pretty sad to not be able to see her off on her first day of "the real thing" school.  She's been really nervous about the workload!


So have I, for my own classes!  Thankfully we got a bit of a slow start and only half of our classes started the first week, so I eased into it fairly well this time around. Since my electives are now out of the way, I can focus only on core courses this semester: Clinical Skills, Reproduction/Physiology, and Pharmacotherapy.  Don't be deceived by seeing only three courses though!  The weight for Clinical Skills is equivalent to three courses (and the class time is the same or more if you factor in the extra workshops we have to do).  Hence why I'm so glad I got those electives out of the way.  There's no WAY I could handle a 7-credit course load with kids and a long commute!

What a privilege I always feel it is to be taught by such incredible, knowledgeable people.  What I'm *most* excited about is that most of the grading this term is on exams and participation!  So I get a bit of a "break" from writing essays (thank goodness, since I think I wrote 17 of them this summer!), and get to flex my "study" muscles. 

Clinical Skills is a great class that I've been looking forward to since I got accepted into the program.It makes the first year's backgrounder type content much more real.  Tomorrow we start doing/learning physical assessment!  I can't wait to finally learn how to do all of these basic little things that will become part of every day. 

I'm sure there will be lots more to post over the course (ha!) of the term, but for now, I need to lay my head down for a few short hours before I start my early morning treck to the big city again! : )

Ryerson Midwifery 101

Disclaimer: This description consists only of my observations and personal experiences of the MEP and by no means should it take precedence over the current or listed practices that are currently happening through the MEP. 

So, with the beginning of first year coming in, I've been inundated with questions lately about "What its going to be like" - both by students who will be starting in the fall, and by others contemplating the journey.  Of course, since I'm only beginning second year, many of these questions I can only speculate on myself, and I often find myself asking students further along in placements the very same questions.  That being said, I can speak for what first year is like, and explain some of what we understand the rest of the program to be like. 

Beginning the program is a difficult process.  Once you've been accepted, you get very little communication directly from the program.  You're left with a million questions and nobody to ask until you make contact with administration and receive your second package with some more details.  Still, none of that tells you what your schedule will be like, who your teachers will be, how much tuition and books will cost, etc.  Its a time of lots of questions.  What is the point of the courses we're taking?  Whats the content?  What's the schedule?

I won't speak to the schedules, because they will inevitably change over time.  What won't change, though, is that they're all 3-hour blocks, with the exception of Working Across Difference, which I will describe below, along (briefly) with the other core first-year courses and some FAQ's I've been getting lately.

So, the courses:
Anatomy and Physiology (full year):  This course is usually shared with the nursing students in a large auditorium.   Its a two-credit course, and goes all year.  The textbook that we used last year was Marieb's Anatomy and Physiology.  This course can get transfer credits through various means.  Some people thinking about entering the program take this course to get it out of the way.  This is a pretty good idea, although I found some strengths in taking this in combination with some of the other courses and personally think getting rid of your electives to be more important before entering the program (if you can!).  This course has two sets of concept maps for assignments, one in each semester, and a midterm and final exam in each semester.  Beware: the concept maps *will* become your worst nightmare and you will probably hate them, but you will also learn the material so well you might not need to study it later!

With Woman (first semester): A favourite of mine.  As a doula, getting to sit down and talk about birth with a midwife is just about the greatest thing in the world to do.  In this course, we learned about labor support, the *basic* physiology of birth, professional behavior, and lots of fun introductory issues in midwifery including legislation.  There's no exam for this course, but lots of other commitments.  We're assigned at least one woman to follow through the end of her pregnancy and birth (some of us were assigned 3 or 4); and we attend a midwifery clinic for a half day to sit in on prenatal appointments and observe.  These are great opportunities, especially for those less experienced with birth, but I gained a lot from them as well.  There's no exam for the course, however there are I think 3x500 word reflections throughout the semester, a With Woman paper (I think that was about 2000 words) and a final literature review that was 1500 words (but dont be fooled - that paper took a lot more than your typical 1500 word paper).  As far as I know, nobody can get transfer credits for this course.

Working Across Differences (full year): Hands down, my favourite course in first year. Nadya Burton is a blessing to midwives everywhere. This course is also mandatory - nobody can get transfer credits, no matter how many anthro/sosc/psych/womens studies credits you've got under your belt, and you'll understand why after a while.  Although its introducing new concepts to many of the students, everything is presented in the context of midwifery - what do you do as a midwife when you are faced with differences?  This covers a really broad spectrum of different issues that face women but to gloss over it, important focuses are issues concerning poverty, abuse, genital cutting, immigrants, different sexualities and gender identities, aboriginals, and differing views and facts about breastfeeding.  I benefitted so much from this course.  It really transformed the way I look at the world.  Also, since this is the only first year course that every first year takes, this is your opportunity to get to know the classmates that you started with.  You'll be seeing them every Thursday (or whatever day) for both semesters of the school year.  You'll love them; midwifery students are swell!  And so are you!  The assignment portion of the course is challenging but interesting.  Six critical reflections, three per semester.  Readings are pretty heavy sometimes - the 1000pg + text is compiled by Nadya and sold through McMaster University bookstore.  The final assignment is a 20 page paper on whatever issue about difference that you'd like to write about.  This is HUGE!  And an incredible opportunity to become an expert on whatever difference you decide to work on.  For an example of what this paper looks like, check out my own, which I wrote on the intersections between Unassisted Childbirth and midwives.  You will love this course, and it will probably, at some point,  also make you cry.  Its okay.  I think it's supposed to.   :) 

Life Sciences (second semester):  This course deals with some physiological processes that are also covered in A&P, and then the second half of the course is devoted to infectious disease (particularly those affecting pregnancy, such as STDs), bacterial and viral structure, modes of transmission, vaccines, etc etc. The last few classes were devoted to various prenatal tests - both how they're done in the lab and how midwives read them and what they do with the information.   I did learn the material from this course, really I did.  But I didn't like it. As for assignments, I"ve put it all out of my head.  You'll have to find out when you get there! There was no assigned text that we had to buy but I suspect that might be changing, as I gather they are still tweaking the finer points of this course. 

Critical Appraisal of Research Literature (first semester): This course was an interesting learning experience.  We got to learn about different research methods and how they're done - and no, we didn't have to do statistics!  Yay!  The textbook is based, again, on midwifery research so at the same time as you're learning research approaches, you're also learning about studies relevant to midwives.  This course is very important, even though the name of the course sounds really bland, and the teacher (that we had) is very enthusiastic about research and can teach you a lot.  Assignments are a bit blurry in my head, but I'm pretty sure there was a midterm and a final, as well as a group project where you critique a piece of research, and a question/answer assignment.

OK!  So there's your first year (except for electives).  I can't speak for electives because there are so many.  Just know that the above should be your focus for the year!

Once I understand the second year courses a little more fully, I'll be able to speak to them more.  Just know that Clinical Skills is actually a three-credit course that involves lots of testing and 1.5 full days per week of instruction (as well as some other engagements).  Reproduction and Physiology and Pharmacotherapy have been graciously scheduled on the same day (at least for us, and last year) for those commuting and concerned about it.  But that's about all I know now, until I'm actually doing them!

SO - the FAQ's I've been getting lately...

Can you work and do the program?
Yes - but only to a certain extent.  Ryerson offers 4, 5, or 6 year programming.  This means, essentially, that the first portion of the program is either condensed or spread out, but the second portion will be the same no matter what.  When you're accepted, you are TOLD which stream you get into (and, like me, it might not be the one you applied for!).   There is flexibility though if you want to slow down or speed up.  The courses described above are what someone in a 4 year stream will be doing.  Those in the part time streams probably wont take all of those at once.  If you are doing the 4 year stream, the academic portion of the program is condensed into 3 semesters - whereby you need to obtain (with or without transfer credits) 16 credits.  This is very very full time!  5 year part-timers get an extra year to do the same number of courses; 6 years get another year.  There's no way I could have combined commuting 5 hrs/day, 4-6 courses a week, and parenting with any kind of work (especially since my "work" is unpredictable doula work!).  Many many can do it with a lighter course load, though, including doulas and many who continued working full time.  We are allowed one absence per term per core course without it affecting our grades, and we must be present for exams - so you'll need backup if you're working as a doula, but it can be done!    When it comes to placement, which is full time and lasts 2.5 years for people in all streams - no, you can't work.  See below.

What is placement like?
As I mentioned earlier, I am not yet in placement.  However, there has been enough talk to us about it (it, being second year placement - third year is much different but I dont understand it at all yet!) that I have a general understanding of the process. Basically, we are given a list of regions in Octoberish, with which we have to choose our top three preferences.  All of the students from all three university locations in Ontario are then put into a computer system and the computer attempts to randomize as many first, second, and third choices as possible.  No priority is made for any particular circumstances that I am aware of, aside from francophones (to the best of my understanding).  This has been explained to us as an attempt to equalize students, since nobody can really say whose reasons for wanting "x" placement are more important.  Inevitably, some people won't get any of their choices.  These people will be contacted before the final results are posted so they can choose from the remaining locations.  The end results, to the best of my knowledge, are given to us mid-to-late November.  This is an extreme source of stress for me.  I don't live in Toronto, and am thus quite a distance from most midwifery practices in the province aside from 2 or 3!  The threat of moving is great.
While we are in placement, we are on call 24/7.  We follow our preceptor in clinic and to births and home visits, as well as attend weekly virtual classes online and write exams and do assignments.  I believe the amount of time we are given off call is something like 4 days per month.  So, basically, its really intense.

Can I get transfer credits?
By far, the majority of the people in the program already have some university education and can get some transfer credits.  I think in our starting year there were only three of us (out of 32) that didn't have at least some. As I mentioned above, you can't get transfer credits for With Woman and Working Across Difference.  It's also very hard to get transfer credits for Life Sciences.  Many have gotten them for Critical Appraisal of Research Literature and A&P, and many more have gotten them for the electives.  Remember, you've got 2 professionally related (anything goes basically) electives, 2 Social science electives (which must involve a major paper and discuss women's issues), and 2 women's studies electives.  I only wound up doing two of my electives through Ryerson.  Everything else, I took this past summer through Athabasca and will be transferring them over in the fall.  This makes the rest of the academic portion much more liveable! 

Please let me know if you've got other questions (that I can answer!) and I'll update as needed.