r/premedcanada

All it takes is to have a sibling or family member on the admissions committee. They tell you exactly what you need to do beyond the vague instructions given by the schools themselves. This is why you see patterns in each program of people getting in. Often it’s usually entire friend groups, rarely ppl picked out. I’m so sick and tired of lower SES students being at such a disadvantage in this process. Especially since schools love to advertise that they’re “progressive” but continue to enforce policies and continue practices that actively disadvantage underprivileged students.

Sup guys, I’m currently an Army reservist and university student. My plan has always been to finish my degree and switch over to reg force/full time as a combat or combat support role until retirement. Recently I’ve noticed that I’m actually doing pretty well at school and my personal profile is pretty good as well, which made me consider medical school. I’ve never really wanted to be a doctor, but I’m considering it now. Is there any real downside to doing med school as a mature student coming out of the military? Sure I can try and go to med school right out of my undergrad, but I don’t think I would be satisfied with my military career if I had to spend it all in a clinic or doing surgeries in the rear. If I go to med school now with the army paying for it, I would owe them 6-8 years of service as a medical officer, meaning I wouldn’t be doing any more raids, sections attacks, patrols/recces, no more cool shit like that which would suck.

I want to apply to med school in Ontario, but I will be around 28 years old if I get accepted in the 1st round. However, my one concern is my 3.8 undergrad GPA (this will be my GPA for all schools that I plan on applying to). Otherwise, I'm confident in my resume and the rest.

Here are my two questions:

- Is 28 years old a bit too... old? Or, let's say I don't get in till 3rd or 4th try (if I do get in), is 30 or 31 or 32 an odd age to start med school? I know this seems like a dumb question to ask, but I'm comparing myself to students who enrol right after their undergrad. Or does it really make no difference?

- Be 100% honest with me. Should I even apply with this GPA? I already know UofT is not an option because of the internal cutoff. And so (other than TMU and York, which don't need MCATs), I can only really apply to McMaster, Western, and Queen's. Do I even have a chance at any of these 3 schools with this GPA? I am afraid to invest in all these fees (MCAT, books, CASPER, applications, etc.) if I truly have a very, very low chance.

Thank you!

I have been looking at applying to medical school internationally but I am unsure about the financial aspect of it all. My GPA (3.8) may be a bit low here, so I think I have better chances elsewhere.

If I do get accepted into any of these places, it is not a priority of mine to match back to Canada. If I do decide to return to Canada, I would likely choose FM, which is easier to match back with.

I can pay $300,000 out of pocket for tuition and expenses, which is all my savings, really. With that, if you were me, would you choose to study abroad if you could not get into medical school in Canada? Considering it can be 400-500k in total (is it more?), what are my options to cover the rest of the money? Is getting some OSAP possible?

I'd love to hear about the experiences of anyone who studied in these places, or if you studied somewhere else in Europe.

im currently a uoft student and was wondering has anyone applied to med school intentionally like in australia?

Before the 95% mandate in Ontario, without a doubt it was the most competitive, despite it having the most seats overall. Would you say that this is still the case? Or has Ontario caught up with other provinces?

Since stats aren't published... How many students who interviewed but weren't accepted to UofT's MD-PhD program receive MD offers from UofT instead, and how many are flat-out rejected?

I’ve wanted to pursue medicine for a while now, but now that I’m finishing my first year at university I’m a little conflicted. There’s a lot of commitment involved and I’m nervous I’ll never get stats that would get me into a Canadian med school.

Assuming my current GPA is maintained (3.95), and I score competitively on the MCAT next year, what are my odds?

Here is a list of ECs I aim to obtain:

ECS

End of First Year:

- preschool instructor/camp counselor/drama teacher (continued, been doing this for a year now)

- become LC (manages camp staff) probably next year

- volunteer this summer

- with children, either tutoring or work w disabled kids

Second Year:

- CLUBS

- join 2-3 (EFRT, tcf, etc.)

- obtain an exec role, maybe presidency later on?

- Start Applying for Research Positions!!

- Hospital Volunteering if possible, if not find some sort of meaningful volunteering throughout the year (ideally with kids)

- Take MCAT at the end of the year

- Maintain preschool job by taking relief shifts and work at camp in the summer

Third Year:

- Research

- LC the summer before maybe

- TA at least one course

- Keep participating in clubs, try to go up higher

- Maintain preschool job by taking relief shifts and work at camp in the summer

- Try to make a meaningful impact on campus

im making this post bc ik that i cant be the only one struggling between choosing whether to study nursing or to go down the traditional pre med path of healthsci/kin

considering how near impossible med is and how the money investment in it is so risky... im not sure if future me will be very pleased with my decision if i choose to pursue a degree that requires me to be in this seemingly never ending doom of 'what if i dont get into med school'.

i know many of us are tackling with making this same decision as well. cuz me included, many of us want med as our first option ideally, but seeing how unrealistic it is in canada and how expensive it is to pursue outside of canada, it just feels extremely stupid to go down this route. personally, i am alright with nursing, its definitely not my passion but it is something i can see myself doing bc i have a general passion for healthcare as a whole. nursing is the safe option since as long as i pass and complete the nclex after getting my nursing degree, i can start working as an RN. but at the same time, pursing nursing reduces my chances of med since my gpa will inevitably be much lower and all those 'pre-med' things i need to do in order to apply to med will become a lot more difficult to achieve.

does anyone have any advice for me and other ppl struggling w this decision? anyone who can relate? or maybe anyone who was in my shoes and is willing to share whether they regret their decision or not?

Bonjour tout le monde,

J’aimerais avoir vos avis sur le métier d’inhalothérapie,

La technique ce fais à Ahuntsic, le programme n’est pas contingenté je sens que y’a un truc qui ne vas pas mais j’arrive pas a comprendre c’est quoi.

Est-ce que c’est un bon domaine en termes de débouchés et de salaire ? Est-ce que la formation est difficile ? Et surtout, quels sont les principaux inconvénients du métier (horaires, stress, conditions de travail, etc.) ?

J’hésite à m’orienter vers ce programme, donc tous vos retours d’expérience (positifs ou négatifs) seraient vraiment utiles 🙏

Merci d’avance !

Hi all,

Doing some last minute prep here. Anyone got any tips for MMI (UofC) med school interviews??