Daily News

Posted on July 18: Filming begins for second season of Med Students

McMaster medical students are being job shadowed by a film crew. Filming has begun for the second season of a highly acclaimed television reality show based on their lives and learning. The Med Students series is produced by Breakthrough Productions of Toronto in conjunction with the Faculty of Health Sciences and Hamilton Health Sciences. The first season, 13 episodes of Med Students was broadcast last year on the Life Network and Discovery Health to great acclaim. The first season showcased the excellent education and patient care provided at McMaster and its partner hospitals. The show enjoyed significant popularity and positive feedback from viewers, including fan mail to some students. Second-year internal medicine resident Jamie Newman was recently filmed during his first shift at St. Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton as a senior medical resident, taking responsibility for incoming patients. "I thought it would be fun," he said. "I also feel that my story is pretty common to people in and outside of medicine, therefore easy to relate to."

Posted on July 17: McMaster chefs clean up in cooking competition

Hungry? How does Asian smoked tuna loin paired with a crispy Szechuan barbequed shrimp roll, and a salad of sea asparagus and braised fennel sound? What it doesn't sound like is a traditional campus meal, but these delicious dishes were actually part of the grand prize-winning meal prepared by a team of chefs from McMaster University at the recent Canadian College & University Food Services Association (CCUFSA) conference. McMaster University Hospitality Services hosted the 2003 conference from June 25 to 29. Now in its 25th year, this event drew 180 Canadian and international delegates to McMaster for four days of workshops, presentations, and collaboration. One of the highlights of the conference was the fourth annual Culinary Challenge. Five teams, including McMaster University, University of Waterloo, University of Massachusetts, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) and Chartwells, participated in this ultimate test of culinary prowess and skill. Each team prepared an appetizer, entrie, and dessert, which were judged both individually and as complete meals. The McMaster team, consisting of Stephen Lee, John French and Nathan Evans, took grand prize for their meal.

Posted on July 16: McMaster’s residences popular with students

McMaster has experienced strong demand this year for residence space so Housing & Conference Services is advising students who are on the waiting list to investigate other possibilities for housing. Traditionally, this is the time of year when students are changing their minds about attending university so the number of people who want a space in residence does fluctuate. Last year during the month of July more than 100 students changed their minds about attending McMaster or living in residence. Phil Wood, associate vice-president student affairs, says that trend is continuing this year but the 400 or so students on the waiting list should be considering other alternatives. "The situation is pretty fluid at this point," he said, "but we encourage students on the waiting list to plan accordingly and ensure they are looking at other arrangements."

Posted on July 15: McMaster student helps send mail to space

McMaster student Michael Kinsner is helping develop a relatively inexpensive means of mailing material back to Earth from the international space station. The fourth-year computer engineering and management student is working with an international scientific team in France, conducting experiments in weightless conditions in an aircraft over France and Belgium -- the so-called "vomit comet" used in astronaut training. The team, led by Kinsner's dad and McMaster alumnus Witold Kinsner '74 (University of Manitoba director of research), includes University of Manitoba master's students Neil Gadhok and Stephen Dueck. The students left for France this past weekend, where they will experience up to 30 episodes each trip of weightless conditions lasting about 30 seconds. The aircraft flies a lengthy parabolic trajectory that's been likened to a roller coaster, producing brief weightless conditions.