1. Medical Schools in Canada & USA UWO Pre-Medical Society Nov 30, 2009
Academic Information Session #2 Sung Ho Um

2. 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

3. 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)

4. Western Canada University of British Columbia University of Alberta
University of Calgary
University of Saskatchewan
University of Manitoba

5. University of British Columbia
Apply through Online Application System at
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)

6. University of British Columbia
Class of 2013 stats:
Mean overall average: 84.06%
Mean last 60 credits: %
60 credit hours = 10 credits at Western (ie. 2 years)
Mean Prerequisites: %
Mean MCAT:
VR: 9.68
PS: 10.71
WS: Q
BS: 11.42
12/256 OOP

7. 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?)

8. University of Alberta Interview format: MMI Class of 2013 stats:
Mean GPA: 3.80 (4th year), 3.95 (2nd+3rd years)
Mean MCAT: Q (4th year), 35.16R (2nd+3rd years)

9. 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) (MCAT,VR) (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

10. University of Saskatchewan
Apply at -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

11. University of Manitoba
Apply at 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.

12. University of Manitoba
# of credits completed
# of credits dropped
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
20+
5.0
Note: 1.0 credit of Biochemistry cannot be dropped
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
Grade
GPA
100-90
4.5
89-80
4.0
79-75
3.5
74-70
3.0

13. Eastern Canada OMSAS McGill University \\ University of Montreal
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

14. 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)

15. 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)

16. 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”)

17. 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

18. 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)

19. 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%).

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

21. 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

22. 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).

23. McGill University
Apply at
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

24. 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
Average MCAT = 33Q
12BS, 11PS, 10VR

25. 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 )

26. 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

27. USA Schools that accept Canadians *
Albany Albert Einstein Baylor Boston Brown Case Western Columbia Cornell Dartmouth Duke University Einstein Emory EVMS Georgetown George Washington Harvard Hawaii Jefferson John Hopkins Kentucky Loma Linda Maryland Mayo Medical School Meharry Medical College of Wisconsin Michigan State University Minnesota Mt. Sinai Northwestern NYMC NYU U of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Penn State Rosalind Franklin University Saint Louis University Stanford Stonybrook SUNY Upstate Tufts Tulane UCLA UCSF University of Connecticut University of Chicago University of Pennsylvania UT Southwestern (TMDSAS) UT Medical Branch Galveston (TMDSAS) Vanderbilt Virginia Commonwealth University Wake Forest Washington University (St. Louis) Wayne State Yale University Green: Financial aid and/or scholarship offered to Canadians Red: undergrad in USA is required

28. 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% medically- related work, >70% community service/volunteer.
Apply EARLY. Applications are reviewed as they come in.
Expect interview dates earlier than Canadian schools.

29. USA Medical Schools MSAR 09-10 stats: GPA scale for Western:
Median oGPA (includes all undergrad courses) for top tiers are , mid tier
Median MCAT for top tier are 36Q/R, mid tier 33P/Q
Class size typically <200, matriculated international <10
Grade
GPA
80-100
4.0
70-79
3.0
60-69
2.0
50-59
1.0

30. 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.

31. Thank you
Questions?
me at with any questions.