June 2007:
I'm a Canadian resident and this is my first time applying to medicine. I did a half-bachelor before coming to Canada, however, I started over when I moved to Canada in order to take the prerequisites in Canada, this would strengthen your application if you have overseas education. I really did not insist to stay in Canada. That's why I decided to apply once and get into anywhere I could since I can't wait anymore to start medical school. But, unfortunately it did not happen and I decided to take a year off, study for the MCAT and apply for 2010 cycle.
June 2007:
AMCAS application: submitted 28/June ( I had sent my transcript at the beginning of June and it was received by the time of submission)
29/June/2007: Received email from George Washington university to fill out the secondary application. They send secondaries to everybody and I don't fill it up for now because they ask that all the prerequisities have to be done in US or Canadian schools. I have done some of the prerequisites at a foreign school. Also, the application fee is quite expensive (125$). The questions on the secondary application is very straightforward.
10/July/2007: AMCAS verified.
The secondaries are coming. For now from Dartmouth, Wisconsin, Cornell and Case Western.
April 2008:
I wrote the MCAT in September, that is a stupid mistake. If you write your MCAT at september, the result is out only by mid October and you diminish your chances since most US schools are on rolling admission. 'It's not a joke', send your apps as soon as possible and don't sit MCAT after July if you're applying for the upcoming round of application, especially if you're Canadian. Having an MCAT of 29 in July is more valuable than an MCAT of 31 in September, TRUST ME.
An advice to Canadians: if you really wanna go to medicine and this is your passion, don't waste your time by reapplying to Canada. The fact is that Canada has many more qualified applicants than its mere 17 med schools can accept. Do Not discourage yourself, apply to other places and be optimistic about that. You get two advantages, at leate, when you leave Canada. First, you get rid of the brutal winters, this winter was horrible. I can't wait to get out of here. Second, You have much higher salary when you practice somewhere else, I'm talking about the US and Australia. These are the two most popular destination Canadians go for med school. The US includes the US schools or Caribbean route to US specially the three big ones. The biggest disadvantage is that you got to spend much higher for your four year of med school, however, in the long run it's not a problem since at the end your salary is much higher and who cares if you put more money into your education. Be strong and take this risk to achieve your goal especially aftre you have exhausted your chances after applying 2 or 3 times to Canada and US.
A GENERAL ADVICE: Medicine is medicine and no other degrees enable you to get this medical experience as a practitioner. Don't fool yourself by studying a masters or a PhD and then after a few years realize that medicine was what you really wanted and you feel like a hole in your personality that never gone be filled by any PhD or any research experience. When I was doing my honours project my supervisor asked me to do a direct PhD with him at McGill. I was determined enough to tell him that practising medicine is what I want to do and even research on Alzheimer would not fulfill my hunger to practice medicine. Realize that med is med and research is research, make up your mind and go for it and make sure you never regret it later in your life.
August 2008:
I got rejected by almsot all US schools I've applied and one more to hear from (I suppose it's a rejection)
I got rejected by all 3 Canadian schools that I applied to.
I got accepted to Wollongong University, School of Medicine, Australia (May 2008)
I was interviewed in Flinders University School of Medicine, Australia (May 2008)
I got accepted to St.George's University School of Medicine in Grenada with scholarship.
I will be trying another cycle for 2010 entry in Canada and US. If accepted good for me and if not I will be heading overseas (Australia most probably)
I will not do a PhD unless I hold an MD or DO degree before.
We help students become doctors. TM
