LOANS & GADGETS

LOANS

Imagine the above image with Canadian bills :P

The past few months I have been figuring out what equipment I need and how I will pay for my school.

Tuition at the University of Manitoba runs at about $15,000 a year plus equipment, books and costs associated with clinical placements.

I applied for a government student loan which you apply for from your own province. In Manitoba it is the My SAO (My Student Aid Online) website.  They ask for your income pre-study period (4 months before you start school) and study period which for me will be $0. I applied with no luck “Your assessed need is $0”.

I then applied to RBC for a student professional designation line of credit. I sent an online application and then called them to make sure that I did it correctly. I asked them if Physician Assistant was under the professional designation. The rep flat out said “No”. She told me to wait until they processed my application. This was really quick. I received an e-mail that same afternoon and was told to call back. I was able to receive the amount I requested with no co-signer. YEY! I did need to meet with a RBC rep in person. The RBC rep was really strict on finding proof of registration. (If you are going to the University of Manitoba make sure you print the accepted portion in aurora which is under applications to graduate studies.) I spent about 15 minutes searching my IPhone for what satisfied them as registration proof. As a Physician Assistant student you are able to get $60,000 max from the RBC student loan.

It was settled, I will be using my line of credit for tuition :D

STETHOSCOPE

There wasn’t much information given to us but to buy a stethoscope. I found this great discussion at mypatraining.

I ended up buying the Littman Cardiology III – Brass – Yes it looks Gold & Black – just my style :D

LAPTOP vs. IPAD vs. TABLET

Okay after some research and talking to current students, their advice was to get or use an electronic device. After much debate, mainly from my husband who doesn’t want me to get an IPAD because it is basically an enlarged IPHONE which I already have, I decided to buy an Asus Transformer TF300T. It’s a great price which includes 32GB and a keyboard that has a USB port and adds 5 extra hours of battery life. I will be downloading Supernote to organize my notes and buying the DAGI stylus. I will wait till August to purchase it :) Maybe it will be a birthday gift :D or maybe I'll change my mind again.... :P