Transcript Slide 1

Medical Schools in Canada & USA
UWO Pre-Medical Society
Nov 30, 2009
Academic Information Session #2
Sung Ho Um
Objectives

Outline schools in Canada and the States

Academic + non-Academic requirements

Pre-interview and Post-interview formulas

Admission Statistics (ex. GPA + MCAT averages)

USA schools in general
Before moving on…

Note: some information are from unofficial sources such as
online forums and/or blogs (ie. Premed101).

I will denote such information with a (*)

All schools reserve majority of the seats for the applicants
from their province or state.

Some schools use “credit hour” system for counting courses. 6
credit hour = 1 credit at Western

If I did not mention prerequisites for a school, either no
prerequisites or very standard courses. (ie. Biology, O chem)
Western Canada





University of British Columbia
University of Alberta
University of Calgary
University of Saskatchewan
University of Manitoba
University of British Columbia








Apply through Online Application System at www.med.ubc.ca
3 years of undergrad required
Minimum overall average is 70% but < 80% for OOP is not
competitive
Most recent 60 credit hours and prerequisite averages are also
evaluated
Pre-interview: 50% (overall + recent 60 credit hours avg) +
50% non-academic. (MCAT + prereq avg are not evaluated at
this stage.)
Prerequisites: 1 credit of English, Biology, G Chem, O Chem
and Biochemistry
Post-interview: Full file review.
Interview format: Multiple Mini-interview (MMI)
University of British Columbia

Class of 2013 stats:


Mean overall average: 84.06%
Mean last 60 credits: 86.25%



Mean Prerequisites: 81.86%
Mean MCAT:





60 credit hours = 10 credits at Western (ie. 2 years)
VR: 9.68
PS: 10.71
WS: Q
BS: 11.42
12/256 OOP
University of Alberta










Apply at www.registrar.ualberta.ca
2 years of undergrad required
Minimum 3.5 for 4th years and 3.7 for 2nd or 3rd years
Minimum MCAT: >7 in each section
Pre-interview: GPA (no summer but prerequisites are included)
Post-interview: 30% GPA + 20% MCAT + 20% Sketch + 25%
interview + 5% Reference
15% seats for OOP
Prerequisites: 1 credit of English, Physics, Biology, O chem, G
chem, ½ credit of stats and Biochem.
If in 4th year or more, lowest year is dropped.
Official GPA scale is unknown (*Similar to Calgary or OMSAS?)
University of Alberta


Interview format: MMI
Class of 2013 stats:


Mean GPA: 3.80 (4th year), 3.95 (2nd+3rd years)
Mean MCAT: 32.13Q (4th year), 35.16R (2nd+3rd years)
University of Calgary





Apply at https://ucan.ucalgary.ca/
2 years of undergrad required
Best 2 years for GPA for the initial file review
Minimum 3.6 GPA for OOP
Initial rank with the “Academic score” (top 250 OOP move on)





62.517(GPA) + 12.122(MCAT,VR) + 6.757(MCAT,BS)
Pre-interview: 50% Academic (entire undergrad record) + 25%
Sketch + 15% MCAT + 10% Reference
Post-interview: 40% Pre-interview + 50% MMI Verbal + 10% MMI
Written
No prerequisite courses
GPA scale and Admission stats can be found on their App. Manual
http://www.ucalgary.ca/mdprogram/prospective/admissions
University of Saskatchewan









Apply at
http://www.medicine.usask.ca/education/admissions/application
-form
2 years of undergrad required
Best 2 year average. (No summer/part-time)
Minimum of 80% for OOP, cutoff for interview has been > 90%
in recent years. (92.4% in 2009)
For OOP, No prerequisites + MCAT minimum 26N (> 8)
Pre-interview: 100% 2 year average (OOP)
Post-interview: 100% Interview (OOP)
Interview format: MMI
Up to 8 spots (10%) for OOP
University of Manitoba









Apply at
http://www.umanitoba.ca/student/admissions/application/deadli
nes/medicine/
Complete Bachelor’s by the end of application year.
Prerequisites: 1 credit of Biochemistry, 2 credits of
humanities/social sci if 4-year Honours (if not, 3 credits).
MCAT: min. 7 or M in each section. (WS: T=14, M=7)
Operative MCAT score = .3(VR) + .2(PS) + .3(BS) + .2(WS)
Pre-interview: GPA + MCAT
Post-interview: 15% GPA + 40% MCAT + 45% non-academic
4.5 GPA scale (successful applicants with > 4.0)
All undergrad courses are taken into account with the lowest
credits being dropped.
University of Manitoba
# of credits completed
# of credits dropped
15-15.5
2.5
16-16.5
3.0
17-17.5
3.5
18-18.5
4.0
19-19.5
4.5
20+
5.0
Note: 1.0 credit of Biochemistry cannot be dropped
Grade
GPA
100-90
4.5
89-80
4.0
79-75
3.5
74-70
3.0
OOP offered admission:
Mean GPA = 4.23
Mean operative MCAT
score = 12.14
OOP accepted offer:
Mean GPA = 4.04
Mean operative MCAT
score = 11.72
Eastern Canada

OMSAS












University of Western Ontario
University of Toronto
Queen’s University
McMaster University
University of Ottawa
Northern Ontario School of Medicine
McGill University
\\ University of Montreal
\\ University of Sherbrooke
\\ Laval University
Dalhousie University
Memorial University
\\: Francophone schools  not covered in this presentation
University of Western Ontario





4 year undergrad (Honours) required
No prerequisites
Best 2 full-time year (each year must be >3.75)
1 of the years must be an upper year and have >60%
courses correlating to the year of your study.
MCAT cutoff:


non-SWOMEN:VR:10, PS: 9, BS: 11, WS: Q
SWOMEN: 8,8,8, O (total >30)
University of Western Ontario



Pre-interview: meet the GPA + MCAT cutoffs
Post-interview: 50% interview + 25% GPA + 25% MCAT
SWOMEN bonus post-interview(?) *


In 2008, they interviewed 89 SWOMEN, 69 offered admission,
40% class were SWOMEN. (Dean’s report)
Interview format: traditional (1 faculty, 1 senior med
student, 1 community member)
University of Toronto




3 years of undergrad required
Prerequitsites:1 credit of social sci/humanities; 2 credit of
life sciences
Min. GPA 3.6/4.0
Drops lowest 3 credits if in 4th year



Must have carried 5 credits every year to be eligible
No summer courses are included
Min. MCAT: 9,9,9, N.

one score below in one section is still eligible for file review.
(“flagged”)
University of Toronto





Pre-interview: 40% non-academic (statement, sketch,
reference) + 60% academic
Post-interview: 60% non-academic (statement, sketch,
reference, interview) + 40% academic
Academic score includes GPA, academic rigour and
coherence
Interview format: traditional (1 faculty, 1 med student)
Average accepted GPA: 3.89
Queen’s University

3 years of undergrad required

Prerequitsites: 1 credit of Biology, Physics, Humanities or
Social Sci
cGPA of all courses (cutoff: 3.68*)
If cGPA does not make cut, recent 2 full-time years (cutoff:
3.78*)
MCAT cutoff varies every year.








Last year: PS: 9,VR:10, BS:9, WS: Q, Overall: 31 *
2 years ago: 9/9/9 R (overall: 30) *
Interview invite once you meet the cutoffs
Post-interview: 100% interview
Interview format: traditional (1 faculty, 1 med student, 1
community)
McMaster University










3 years of undergrad required
3 year medical program
No prerequisites
Min. GPA 3.0; min. MCAT 6 VR
Pre-interview: 32% cGPA + 32% MCAT VR + 32%
Autobiographical submission + 4% Graduate degree (1% for
Masters, 4% phD)
Post-interview: 70% MMI + 15% cGPA + 15% MCAT VR
Interview format: MMI
Class of 2012: mean GPA = 3.89
Mean GPA projected to decrease due to the introduction of
VR *
Number of applicants decreased by ~1000 this year (20%).
University of Ottawa






3 years of undergrad required
MCAT is not required
Prerequisites: 1 credit of Biology, Humanities or Social sci,
and 2 credit from G Chem, O Chem or Biochem
The years with 4 credits or more count towards your
wGPA (no summers/part time).
wGPA = (1 x 1st year + 2 x 2nd year + 3 x 3rd year) / 6
Cutoff determined by the application pool
University of Ottawa

Different cutoffs for different categories:










Applicants to the French program
(OOP and IP (Ontario/Quebec) separate pool)
Canadian Forces
Aboriginals
Champlain district
Ottawa-region residents
Ontario
OOP
wGPA cutoff for “Ontario” category was ~3.85* last year
Pre-interview: 1st cut: wGPA then 2nd cut: Sketch
Post-interview: Interview + wGPA
Northern Ontario School of Medicine





4 year undergrad degree required
Joint program of Lakehead and Laurentian Universities
No Prerequisites, No MCAT
Min. 3.0 GPA (includes all undergrad courses)
Program mandate:





“Applicants from within Northern Ontario, rural and remote areas in the
rest of Canada, and Aboriginal and Francophone applicants will have an
advantage in the admissions process.”
Pre-interview: GPA + application score
Post-interivew: Pre-interivew + interview score
2009 accepted mean GPA = 3.66
Everyone accepted are from Northern Ontario or rural areas
of Ontario since the program started (2005).
McGill University





Apply at
http://www.mcgill.ca/medicine/admissions/applying/online/
4 year undergrad required
8/173 positions for OOP
Min. GPA 3.5 is recommended (all undergrad courses)
Min. MCAT 30 is recommended (BS,PS > 9,VS > 8)






write the MCAT no more than 3 times to be competitive
WS is still reviewed but no specific cut
Prerequisites: 1 credit of bio, chem, physics, 0.5 credit of O
chem
Pre-interview formula?? (full file review but unknown
breakdown)
* Post-interview: 20% GPA + 20% MCAT + 20% Autobio/CV +
40% Interview
Interview format: MMI
McGill University
Grade
GPA
85-100
4.0
80-84
3.7
75-79
3.3
70-74
3.0
Average admitted GPA = 3.83
2/3 of the students range 3.67-3.98
Average MCAT = 33Q
12BS, 11PS, 10VR
Dalhousie University











Apply at http://admissions.medicine.dal.ca/
4 year undergrad required
9/90 OOP spots
Min. GPA for OOP is 3.7 in each of last two full time years
Min. MCAT for OOP is 30 with >10, one 9 is allowed
OMSAS GPA scale is used
Pre-interview: full file review
Interview format: MMI
*Post-interview: 15% GPA + 10% MCAT + 5% discretionary points (grad
degree, high WS score >R)+ 40% interview + 10% personal statement + 20% sketch
(5% each: Interests; medically related experience; volunteer work; jobs)
MCAT average score = 30 (range 24 – 40)
GPA average score = 3.8 (range 3.3-4.0)
Memorial University









Apply at https://www.med.mun.ca/admissionline/
4 year undergrad required
Prerequisite: 1 credit of English
4/64 seats of OOP
All undergrad courses are included for GPA. (GPA scale??)
No specific MCAT or GPA cut, depends on the
application pool.
Average accepted MCAT: 10 in each section and Q
Average GPA: 3.7
Pre-interview + post-interview: full file review
USA Schools that accept Canadians *
Albany
Kentucky
Tufts
Albert Einstein
Loma Linda
Tulane
Baylor
Maryland
UCLA
Boston
Mayo Medical School
UCSF
Brown
Meharry
University of Connecticut
Case Western
Medical College of Wisconsin
University of Chicago
Columbia
Michigan State University
University of Pennsylvania
Cornell
Minnesota
UT Southwestern (TMDSAS)
Dartmouth
Mt. Sinai
UT Medical Branch Galveston (TMDSAS)
Duke University
Northwestern
Vanderbilt
Einstein
NYMC
Virginia Commonwealth University
Emory
NYU
Wake Forest
EVMS
U of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
Washington University (St. Louis)
Georgetown
Penn State
Wayne State
George Washington
Rosalind Franklin University
Yale University
Harvard
Saint Louis University
------------------------------------------------------
Hawaii
Stanford
Jefferson
Stonybrook
Green: Financial aid and/or scholarship
offered to Canadians
John Hopkins
SUNY Upstate
Red: undergrad in USA is required
USA Medical Schools




AMCAS: 130 schools, TMDSAS: 8 schools
For the most accurate/official information, purchase
MSAR book at AMCAS.
MCAT is very important; GPA not so much.
Common Prerequisites: Biochem (w/ lab), English, Calc, Bio, O
Chem, Phys (w/ lab), Math



At majority of the top-mid tier schools, >90% accepted
applicants had research experience, >80% medicallyrelated work, >70% community service/volunteer.
Apply EARLY. Applications are reviewed as they come in.
Expect interview dates earlier than Canadian schools.
USA Medical Schools

GPA scale for Western:
Grade
GPA
80-100
4.0
70-79
3.0
60-69
2.0
50-59
1.0

MSAR 09-10 stats:

Median oGPA (includes all undergrad courses) for top
tiers are 3.8-3.9, mid tier 3.7-3.8
Median MCAT for top tier are 36Q/R, mid tier 33P/Q
Class size typically <200, matriculated international <10


Summary




There is a broad range of application processing methods
in Canada – there is a school for every type of
candidates.
Consider options in the States. With a strong MCAT,
opportunities are there. (GPA scale for Western is very
favourable.)
Plan early to meet prerequisites and keep as many doors
open as possible.
Do some research on your own as well! Find your fit.
Thank you

Questions?

Email me at [email protected] with any questions.