I'm entering Life Sci 1 this year and I want to get into the Biochem program with biomed specialization second year, but I ultimately want to go to med school.

Right now the courses I've laid out are

Bio - 1A03, 1B03
Math - IA03 OR ILS3 (havent decided)
Physics - 1LS3
CHEM - 1A03, 1AA0
PHYSCOLOGY - 1X03, 1XX3

I still have to choose 2 electives and it was recommended that I take some english, social science/humanities & orgo chem courses for med school

I have three questions.

1. What english courses do you recommend
2. Do my psych courses count as social science?
3. Should I take orgo chem 1st or 2nd year?

any help would be greatly appreciated :(

Majority of medical schools don't have prereqs. Few do but if you think these courses would harm your GPA significantly don't bother taking them (thats my opinion - many would argue it). Orgo you'd have to take second year upon completion of chem 1A03 and 1AA3.

1. What english courses do you recommend

You need literature based english courses to satisfy most med school english requirments
so you need:
English 1A03 and 1AA3
Example: English 1CS3 DOES NOT SATISFY ENGLISH REQUIREMENT FOR UBC Medicine and Dentistry

"Linguistics will not satisfy the requirement. In addition, courses in cultural studies or media studies (e.g. English 1CS3 from McMaster), even if offered by the English department, are not acceptable to satisfy the English prerequisite requirement." - Source

2. Do my psych courses count as social science?

No. Psychology is a Science.
Economics 1B03 and 1BB3 can count as a Social Science
Sociology 1A06 can count as a Social Science

3. Should I take orgo chem 1st or 2nd year?

You can only take Organic Chem after finishing first year
The two courses that people take are CHEM 2OA3 and CHEM 2OB3

Btw. always keep a plan B in case you don't get into med school just so you don't get screwed after. Keep your options open.

Gl.

Just take easy courses to get into medical school. Avoid English/Orgo Chem as the large majority of schools don't require them, or you can take them in another year than your first (imo, the hardest year).

As a bit of advice, a serious applicant to medical school will know the requirements of all of the different schools in Canada, have a solid plan to achieve those requirements/ stand out from the crowd, and recognize whether or not they have the talent to do so. The large majority of first years never accomplish this.

Idk where people are getting the you need english from. You don't.

Take courses that interest you!

Originally Posted by L'Étoile

2. Do my psych courses count as social science?

No. Psychology is a Science.
Economics 1B03 and 1BB3 can count as a Social Science
Sociology 1A06 can count as a Social Science

But isn't Psychology under the Faculty of Social Science as well?

Originally Posted by Kaiwen Song

But isn't Psychology under the Faculty of Social Science as well?

Not all schools view all psych courses the same way. Some will accept psych as a social science and some won't...I've also seen some programs that accept first-year psych as a social science but not upper-year psych courses.

As always, you should look at the specific requirements of the school that you are applying to.

Thank you very much! I will clarify this later as well!

Originally Posted by Lois

Idk where people are getting the you need english from. You don't.

Take courses that interest you!

English IS a requirement for professional programs at some schools. I do not believe any Ontario med school requires it, but UBC definitely does (and some others in Canada too require it or say it's recommended I think? Not sure on that one so look into it). Also, some schools in Canada require a full year of Biochemistry too (I believe 2EE3 and 3G03 would count as a full year of biochem at those schools).

Also, if you are considering the States as well, many of them require a full year of physics and english, so be aware of that (i.e. Physics 1B03 and 1BB3).

Originally Posted by PockyWarrior

English IS a requirement for professional programs at some schools. I do not believe any Ontario med school requires it, but UBC definitely does (and some others in Canada too require it or say it's recommended I think? Not sure on that one so look into it). Also, some schools in Canada require a full year of Biochemistry too (I believe 2EE3 and 3G03 would count as a full year of biochem at those schools).

Also, if you are considering the States as well, many of them require a full year of physics and english, so be aware of that (i.e. Physics 1B03 and 1BB3).

No thanks.

If people can't get in at Ontario schools where in many cases you have a 1/3 or 1/2 chance of getting in at the interview stage, then it's very unlikely that they will get into OOP schools. A few years ago there was a ~1/10 chance for OOP students at Dal at the interview stage.

The only reason for bothering to go stateside is if questionable international schools (anything non Canadian nor US) are your only bet and you have money to spare.