by Haydn Liang

Graduate Research in Sunnybrook vs. Downtown

Almost all graduate programs in the faculty of medicine are research-based. Most of this work is carried out in hospital research centres or at research facilities on the University of Toronto campus. While most hospital laboratories are close to the university in downtown Toronto, there is also a major hub of research located uptown at Sunnybrook Research Institute. This creates considerable problems for students looking to work with a professor with a project of their interest as significant cutting edge research is conducted at Sunnybrook, notably in the field of medical imaging.

With all these choices available to graduate students, where should you choose to do your graduate work? On one hand working in downtown puts students close to where they might want to take courses and pursue extracurricular endeavours and join student unions; on the other hand many projects at Sunnybrook are at the leading edge of scientific innovation. To make this decision more balanced, Sunnybrook also offers students a free shuttle bus between the hospital and downtown. It runs from 6am to 6pm and takes about 30 minutes to bring you Women’s College, 1 block east of Queen’s park station.

At the end of the day, it’s really all about what you feel is important though personally: the thought of working on a project that you are not really interested in for no less than a few years makes for a very painful graduate school experience.

(Haydn Liang is a PhD candidate in MBP in the biology stream who conducts his research at Sunnybrook Hospital, if you have questions for him you can contact him at Haydn.Liang at utoronto ca - Ed. Samuel Oduneye)