They will pull up your transcript from every university you've attended. It's important to note that some medical schools don't accept summer school courses. I know Western doesn't for sure.

just wondering what exactly is a writing course? Does it have to be an English course or can it be a humanities that has essay components? Also I've tried looking at some of the course requirements for Ontario Medical school and I can't seem to find one that requires this.

If it only says writing course I would try and contact the university with that requirement and ask them what they mean. It usually is an english course that has essays involved.

hey mitch, congrats on getting into medicine. which med school are you going to? if you don't mind telling, but what would be a good gpa to aim for? i'm in kin as well, and i did well in the first year courses, especially in anatomy and physiology, are there more upper year kin courses geared towards the "anatomy/ physiology" aspect of the human body?

Thanks Sunny,

I had interviews in Canada, but I am actually going to my next best option, Cork in Ireland. It's a bit disappointing but I'm sure it'll be a fun adventure. You should aim for at least a 3.8/4 gpa, preferrably 3.85. I know for a fact that UOttawa needs at least 3.85 minimum to get an interview. The mcmaster equivalents are 12=4.0, 11=3.9, 10=3.7, 9=3.3, 8=3.0

As for the upper year courses, yes, there are many courses geared toward physology and anatomy. Courses such as neuromuscular control of human movement , growth and maturation, paediatric exercise science and coronary heart disease.I would also suggest taking some biology electives which are really interesting, such as animal histology, vertebrate anatomy, and regultory systems.

Hope that helps and good luck!

if i never take bio, am i screwing myself over for the mcat, or will the kin courses give me enough background for the biological sciences part?

Amir,

As long as you have taken grade 12 biology, you have enough background knowledge. However, you will need to either take an mcat course or buy the mcat books and study from that material. Grade 12 bio should be enough to allow you to study all the material from the books. However, taking university bio would reaffirm the knowledge and help keep it fresh. Kin courses don't really prepare you for the mcat bio section. Not much anyway. A lot of the stuff comes from other topics. There's even one section I remember, formation of a baby, that's not covered at all in first year university.

I was wondering that if courses such as Organic Chemistry and Biology are taken during the summer at another university, how are those looked at by med school's? Do they care about the gpa scores from summer school courses, or are they just simply counted as credit/completion?

Each university has different policies on summer courses and if they include them in your gpa or not.

just wondering what exactly is a writing course? Does it have to be an English course or can it be a humanities that has essay components? Also I've tried looking at some of the course requirements for Ontario Medical school and I can't seem to find one that requires this.

Same thing goes for the writing courses. I would suggest just taking an English course to fulfill the english requirement for many universities and just to be safe.

Hey mitch,

if you dont mind me asking, how come you didnt apply to med schools in the states. Is it becuase of the excessive requirements (courses)?

Haha, if you noticed, I mentioned somewhere that I never took university physics. Thus, I could not apply to pretty much all the schools in the US. I would have liked apply to the US, but in the end I just felt that my chances were too slim. This was an assumption that I've kind of regretted, as I know a friend of mine in kin with a lower gpa and lower mcat score got an interview to Wayne State med. It's all good though, cause Ireland medical schools are one of the most respected international schools in the world. I have a bunch of ireland doctor contacts. However, for anyone trying to get into med, I suggest keeping every option open and applying everywhere.

Originally Posted by mitch

There's even one section I remember, formation of a baby, that's not covered at all in first year university.

Ironically, I remember doing embryology in first year Anatomy (Kin 1A06), and not in bio 1A03/1AA3...though this may vary from year to year. In this one simple way, Kin prepared me better for the topics covered on the MCAT.

In almost every other way however, I found myself studying frantically for the MCAT. I luckily took a lot of math and physics, so I didn't study physics very much...chemistry was my weak point, since I didn't take any, and I found myself studying for that more than anything else.


I can definitely say: If you take physics 1B03 and 1BB3, you will be more than prepared for the physics covered on the MCAT. I don't know about Chemistry/Orgo because I never took them, haha.

LoL, formation of a baby=embryology (my bad for forgetting the official term)

I don't remember learning about blastulas and morulas in first year kin, but i guess the material could have changed. But I agree doing the university courses aren't required per se for the mcat, but they do help a great deal.

Hey!!

I'm totally on the same boat. I just finished my first year of kin @ Mac and it was awesome. Starting september 2009 kin will be part of the faculty of science where you will get the B.Sc.Kin (A science degree rather than a soci sci). When i entered it was the last year where you got to choose if you want faculty of sci or soci sci. I, with the intention of applying to med school, obviously went with faculty of science. Its pretty good for fulfulling the requirements for med school (courses needed to take the mcat). I took 2 bios during the year and i just finished the first chem in summer school. So its totally doable.

Med schools do not care what program you are in as long as your marks are good and if the school requires the MCAT. For the MCAT you will need to take first year bio, chem, physics, and sometimes orgo. So you can take these as electives or as summer school.

I would probably advise you to take the science course you think you can do better in during the year and finish the others in summer school. For example, in high school i was better in bio so i took bio during school and chem in summer school, also i plan on taking physics next summer.

Its a lot of work but I would much rather be in kin (which is btw extremely interesting) than in life science which is very broad. Kin is more specified with health care and I think is probably the best program at mac. Also kin at mac is better than any other school in Canada!

Good luck!

hey Mitch,

what are requirements like for international med schools?? And which ones did you consider when applying?

hey Mitch,

what are requirements like for international med schools?? And which ones did you consider when applying?

I tend to group international med schools into three categories: Ireland, Australian, and Caribbean. Of course there are schools in England and the odd one in Israel or Hungary, but they don't advertise very well for international students and I felt that it would be best to ignore them (although I do know someone who go into one in England). There are many factors to consider for international schools: money, tuition costs, and requirements.

Ireland seems to be the most respected schools of the three, and the best shot of coming back to Canada afterwards. BTW, it is extremely difficult for international medical graduates to come back to Canada even though there is a doctor shortage here. As quoted by an IMG on studentdoctornet, if you go to med school internationally, you shouldn't plan on coming back to Canada. Although it does happen, I've heard that in Ireland alone, there are hundreds of graduates competing for a very small amount of spots in Canada. If you want to come back, the best shot is to become a specialist. Back on track now...Ireland has the highest tuition, and many students find it hard to pay, something around 40,000 Euros per year. The actual schools can be found on the Atlantic Bridge Website. I don't think there are any specific courses or mcat scores...I would say 3.8 gpa and 30mcat are competitive.

Australia is a good mix. It is a much sunnier place to live than Ireland and the tution is less. It is MUCH easier to get in...minimum scores are 24M mcat and 2.7? 3.0? gpa I believe for most schools. However coming back to Canada would be a much more difficult task with Australia. On the other hand, if you're planning on working where you do your schooling, some places in Australia are very leniant with that. You see, Ireland has a law that doesn't allow Canadian born students to practice in Ireland. The medical school accpetance letter states that you are given a visa for 4 years and you must leave right after. Unless you get married to someone who lives there, you'll need to find somewhere else to work. Australia medical schools require the normal courses you'd expect...bio, chem, etc. Check Oztrekk website for details about each school's requirements.

Finally there's the beautiful Caribbean. Some schools in the Caribbean are shady and have gone bankrupt while students were in the middle of their programs, leaving many in trouble and in debt. However, making sure you find an accredited school like Ross or Saba, they can be quite good...for getting back into the US after. If you go to the Caribbean you can pretty much kiss coming back to Canada goodbye. It has happened, but in reality, you shouldn't count on it. The Canadian government has a hard time accepting Caribbean degrees as full MD degrees, even after all the extra tests and costs. If someone managed to get back in somehow, their working job would never go higher than a general practioner working under someone else. Like the nurse I met at Mount Sinai Hospital who had been working in Canada for many years but was never allowed to practice medicine from his international degree. However, Caribbean schools are extremely usefull for getting back to the US. They specifically cater to US programs, and you're pretty much guarenteed a US residency with their program. So if the US is what you want, the Caribbean is a good option. The requirements are similar to Australian schools...It's really easy to get in if you're a decent student. Tution is much less and easier on the wallet.

So that's a lot of what I know. Sorry for the long answer.

Remember, if you want to be a doctor and everything else fails....you can always turn to batman!

Good luck.

thanks so much for all the info. Mitch

if ever I need help, I will remember to put the bat signal and hopefully batman will get me in any med school i want..lol

Thanks a lot Mitch, very helpful post
Oh I didn't say yet, but congrats on getting into med school
I'm curious, what actually made you decide that you wanted to apply to med school? Was it volunteering/courses/etc? I'm trying to find out some way to make sure that I want to apply for the right reasons or if I have what it takes lol