All Posts Tagged With: "med school"

What you need to know about MD-PhD programs

Thousands of students apply to medical school across Canada every year, and the vast majority of them will never even make it to an interview. The chances of success improve for repeat applicants, but the fact remains: even with high marks and stellar extracurricular activities, applying to a Canadian med school is an uphill battle against discouraging statistics. After completing their undergraduate degree and receiving a rejection letter, the big question facing these students is: now what?

Mike Saccone, a fourth-year Health Studies Co-op student, already has a plan B.

“My back-up plan is research based. I will pursue a Masters in Health Research Methodology from McMaster University,” he says. The Masters degree could even hit two birds with one stone.

“Hopefully, this will improve the chances of me getting into medical school, along with fulfilling a degree requirement that I will eventually pursue.”

Saccone says he was exposed to both sides of medicine- research and patient care- while working with a research-focused orthopaedic surgeon, and then working with a surgeon whose primary focus was on patient care.

Colleen Shortt, a fourth year Health Studies and Gerontology student, isn’t considering research as a backup plan to med school. She recently applied to graduate school programs at the University of Toronto, the University of Western Ontario, and McMaster, and is hoping to pursue a career in cancer or HIV/AIDS research. Shortt says that once she’s through grad school she may be interested in applying to med school.

“I thought about applying to med school and originally it was my plan A. But once I started looking into research opportunities I found that this may be a more effective way of reaching more people.”

Khuram Bhatti, a fourth year arts and science student, says he has considered numerous programs and careers, including optometry or pharmacy, and even programs in the States.

“I am considering schools such as the osteopathy programs in the United States, or other types of up and coming schools which have a schooling regiment which is sort of ‘newer,’ comparatively to something such as the MD career field.”

For med school hopefuls who don’t make the cut, pursuing a grad school program is a win-win: it improves their chances on a second application, and at the same time, they’re developing the skills for a different career path. Many med schools look for research or medically-related experience, and some even award additional points to applicants who have completed a graduate degree. McMaster gives an additional 1% to the pre-interview score of MSc students, and an additional 4% for PhD students. Others, such as the University of Toronto, lower the GPA cutoff for graduate students.

Keith Colaco, a third year Biomedical Sciences student, says that although he has always wanted to attend med school and become a physician, in high school he considered becoming an optometrist because of the challenges of pursuing a career in medicine.

“As I started taking more medically-related courses in university, volunteering in hospitals and speaking to medical students, I quickly changed my mind because I was so intrigued by the field and strongly felt the need to help those with medical problems.”

This summer Colaco will be working at the Holland Orthopaedic and Arthritic Centre in Toronto, where he hopes to gain insight into pursuing a medical career. Ultimately, he may combine his passion for medicine and research.

“I am very interested in clinical research rather than focusing on just research in the lab because I have always enjoyed interacting with patients in past volunteer experiences,” he says. “By working in a patient-care setting, it allows me to evaluate patients and conduct research at their bedside.”

Students like Colaco, who want to combine research with patient interaction, are in luck: an MD-PhD program offers the best of both worlds, allowing students to complete the MD curriculum while pursuing a PhD, training them for careers ranging from medical research to the design of healthcare delivery systems. Most of the programs describe their graduates as ‘clinician-scientists,’ with the curriculum juggling between academic course work, training in basic sciences and research, and clinical rotation. Dr. Norman Rosenblum, Director of the MD/PhD Program at the University of Toronto, says that applicants should have “considerable background with some area of science” in addition to experience that “demonstrates an interest in medicine and a knowledge of the clinician-scientist role.”

Some programs, such as the “MD Plus” Leaders in Medicine program at the University of Calgary, go beyond the basic sciences and allow students to pursue any graduate-level field of interest, including a Masters in philosophy or business.

Most med schools across Canada offer the MD-PhD program, with many being created in the past several years. The only drawback? Getting in is even tougher than med school. The program requires students to be accepted into both a medical and a Masters program (or in some cases, a graduate program) and enrollment is extremely limited, with most MD-PhD programs only having enough spots for a handful of students. For example, there are only five spots available in the University of Toronto MD-PhD program, while the University of Ottawa program only has room for four.

New programs for medical and law students are about getting professionals where they’re needed, not student aid

This summer, Dawson City, the second largest community in the Yukon, lost half its doctors when one of them decided to take a year-long sabbatical. The territorial government is currently building a hospital in the town, since the 1960s anyone who has to be held overnight for medical treatment has to be airlifted to Whitehorse, but many in the community question who’s actually going to work there.

Whitehorse, home to the territory’s only hospital, is facing a severe and growing doctor shortage and specialists only pass through a few times a year. Serious cases requiring emergency specialist care must be sent south, usually to Vancouver.

Throughout Northern Canada the story is the same: shortages of doctors and other professionals, like lawyers.

Certainly, there is a shortage of doctors throughout much of the country but not having a family doctor is one thing when there are hospitals and walk-in clinics nearby; it’s a whole different story when the nearest doctor–of any sort–is a several hundred kilometre flight away.

Manitoba recently introduced programs designed to encourage graduates of medicine and law to work in the province’s North, by giving them tuition refunds in exchange for work in isolated communities.

This isn’t about student aid, it’s about providing incentives to encourage grads to work in places that need their skills.

Some have criticized these programs on the basis that they put pressure on poorer students to work in the North, rather than pursue specialties. While I understand that some people have a sort of moral objection to student debt, if there are any graduates who can handle debt it’s medical specialists who will graduate to high salaries.

Medical students, just by the virtue of being medical students, have access to large loans and lines of credit. Banks are willing to lend because medical students are essentially guaranteed high salaries on graduation.

This new program doesn’t pressure students from poorer backgrounds into choosing the North over a specialty, it gives students a choice between paying off their debt by pursuing higher paying positions or working off their debt by practicing in areas where there is a great need.

If we want to talk about inequality, let’s talk about the fact that the far majority of medical students come from well-off backgrounds. At the Université de Montréal a full 45 per cent of medical students have backgrounds in the richest 20 per cent of the population, only five per cent come from poor backgrounds. The problem isn’t how medical students from poor backgrounds choose to pay off their debts, it’s about getting them in to medical school in the first place.

Or we can talk about the fact that Northern Canadians–a large percentage of whom are Aboriginal–are denied essential government services provided to southerners because few people want to provide them.

Let’s remember that medical education, while it may be expensive, is still funded by society, there’s nothing wrong with the state encouraging doctors to do the right thing and provide medical care to Canadians whose access to proper treatment is severely limited.

Other provinces with large northern regions would be wise to imitate these programs and the federal government should do the same for the territories.

The top three things I don’t want for Christmas

3) A Wii Fit

Video games aren’t meant to be a work out. When you have a remote control in your hand, you’re not supposed to break into a sweat or even have to stand up. Video games are supposed to transform you into an amorphous blob with a pasty complexion and underdeveloped social skills.

2) A ‘Giant Microbes’ plush toy

Ever wanted the cuddly teddy-bear version of an infectious disease? Then you should check out Giant Microbes plush toys.

Personally, I don’t really understand the appeal of stuffed toys that were featured on my Microbiology exam. When I first saw them at the University of Waterloo bookstore, I thought, “Who the hell would want one of those?”

A second later, I heard my sister say from behind me, “OHMYGODTHOSEARESOCUTE!”

1) A graphing calculator

A friend of mine is actually hoping to find a graphing calculator under the Christmas tree. If someone gave me a graphing calculator as a gift, I’d probably think it’s some kind of sick joke. And yes, it probably means she’s one of those replicants from Blade Runner.

Then again, her name is “Emma,” so she was kind of destined to ask for boring gifts. Of course, the whole graphing calculator thing is exactly why she’s going to make it into med school on her first application.

If I make it into med school, I’ll probably be sending her postcards from Grenada.

-Photo courtesy of Andres Rueda

Here’s what you need to know

If you’re in high school and thinking about one day applying to med school, here’s what you need to know right now.

It all starts with choosing your undergraduate degree. The first thing to consider: you don’t necessarily have to go into the sciences. Although a degree in the health sciences is the traditional route to med school , it’s certainly not your only option. Most med schools across Canada treat every undergraduate degree equally, and embrace “well-rounded applicants.” Meaning, a degree in music or sociology might actually give you an advantage in terms of standing out from the crowd.

However, there’s a huge barrier facing non-science students: the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), an exam that assesses problem solving, critical thinking, writing skills, and scientific knowledge. In order to score well on the MCAT, med school hopefuls should have at least a basic background in the sciences, something that a music or sociology degree doesn’t exactly cover. Further, many med schools have prerequisite science courses, such as organic chemistry or physics.  A more traditional pre-med program- such as the Biomedical Sciences- has the prerequisite science courses automatically built-in, which also has the helpful side-effect of preparing you for the MCAT.

Of course, a music or sociology student can still take these science courses as electives and prepare for the MCAT. Not to mention, some med schools don’t require the MCAT, such as the Faculty of Medicine at McGill and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. The bottom line: although there is no “right” undergraduate degree, when pursuing a non-traditional degree, you have to chase down those science prerequisites and keep the MCAT in mind.

Secondly, pay attention to the details. Specific admissions requirements vary between particular schools, and you don’t want to ruin your chances by missing something minor. For instance, to be considered at the University of Western Ontario’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, each year of undergraduate study must contain at least 3 full course equivalents whose published academic level is at or above the year of study. This means in your second year of study, 3 of 5 full course equivalents must be at the second year or above, and in your third year of study, 3 of 5 full course equivalents must be at the third year or above (in your fourth year, a mix of third and fourth year courses is acceptable).

There are plenty of other details that vary from school to school: Western considers an applicant’s two best years of study (the whole “3 full course equivalents” rule only applies to these two years), whereas McMaster’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine considers every single undergraduate course ever taken. Other med schools consider your two most recent years of study, while others let you drop a certain number of low marks.

Most importantly: although high marks will help your chances of success at any med school, they’re only one part of your application. Most med schools consider extracurricular experience and hobbies, volunteer work, medically-related experience, research experience, and so on.

-Photo courtesy of The National Guard

Ontario government announces 75 new residency positions

Canada is in the middle of a doctor shortage, but reinforcements are on the way. The Ontario government recently announced that 75 specialty residence positions will be created over the course of the next five years, starting in the summer of 2011.

According to the Government of Ontario news release, since 2003 there’s been an 80 per cent increase in the number of postgraduate specialty training positions, and by 2014 more than twice as many doctors will be graduating from Ontario’s medical schools than in 2003.

-photo courtesy of  Klobetime

High marks aren’t enough

Even with high marks and impressive extracurricular experience, there are no guarantees when it comes to getting into med school. At least, not in Canada. The harsh reality is, there are far more highly qualified applicants than there are available seats.

The statistics vary from province to province, but as a med school hopeful living in Ontario, my chances are about 19 per cent (or 1 in 5). Yes, this is just a raw number–it doesn’t take grades, extracurricular activities, or MCAT scores into account. For applicants with high (or low) marks, or applicants who are involved in some sort of incredible medical research, the chance of success isn’t 19 per cent. But there are lots of students with impressive GPA’s, great MCAT scores, and plenty of medically-related volunteer work, and they’re all competing for the same number of limited spots.

How can an applicant stand out?

A few years ago when I interviewed Dr. Evelyn Sutton, assistant dean of admissions and student affairs at Dalhousie University, in an article for Maclean’s Professional schools issue, she remembered one successful applicant whose “unique” extracurricular activity made her stand out from the pack: she was a champion skip-rope jumper.

Some med schools, including Dalhousie, still want to see medically related experience on an applicant’s transcript. The important thing to remember: med schools are looking for “well-rounded” applicants.

I’m not suggesting that a med school hopeful should volunteer or suddenly develop a “passion” simply because it might improve their chances of getting in. After all, the admissions board can see right through that kind of act. Trying to be a good Samaritan just because you think it’ll make you look good will probably have the opposite effect.

What does this mean for the rest of us? How can applicants present themselves in the best possible light?

“Don’t be just a computer geek,” advises Dr. Barry Ziola, of the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine, “because computer geeks do not make good physicians.”

-photo courtesy of RambergMediaImages

U of C might have the solution

The University of Calgary has found a way to bring more family doctors into Alberta.

According to an article from the Calgary Herald, Alberta needs hundreds of family physicians in both urban and rural areas. With an estimated 200,000 Calgarians without a family doctor, the city needs at least 150 new doctors, along with another 150 rural doctors.

It’s sort of a doctor shortage within a doctor shortage: we need more doctors, but we especially need more family physicians.

In the past, there weren’t nearly enough family doctors coming out of the U of C. In 2007, the department of family medicine accounted for 18 per cent of the school’s total graduating class, much lower than the national average of 33 per cent. At the time, the U of C held the second-lowest rate in the country. “The only school that had fewer students choosing family medicine was McGill (University in Montreal),” said Cathy MacLean, the head of family medicine at the U of C, in an interview with the Herald. MacLean said it was an alarming situation, considering the fact that the U of C’s medical school was founded to train more family doctors.

Fortunately, things are changing. This year, 24 per cent of the U of C’s medical graduates are on the way to becoming family physicians.

The article from the Herald describes some of the changes that lead to this turnaround. Dr. John Keegan was hired as undergraduate director of family medicine to promote and oversee the program, and the clerkship for family medicine was increased to six weeks (it was originally four). The department hopes this extended hands-on experience will translate into an increased interest in family medicine, as students gain more exposure to the field. Additionally, the department increased the number of family doctor teachers.

Despite the extra family doctors on the way, there’s still room for improvement. “We have a large number of people in the Calgary area without family physicians,” Dr. Valerie Congdon, AHS’s acting head of family medicine and the head of rural medicine for the Calgary zone, told the Herald.

The U of C is on the right track, but officials want even more students to choose family medicine. They hope that by 2013, half of all graduating medical students will become family doctors.

More med school news:

McGill eliminates MCAT requirements

Does the MCAT discriminate against francophones?

McGill wants ‘non-traditional’ medical students

Claims the exam creates unequal access for Francophone applicants

McGill’s Faculty of Medicine has announced that the MCAT will no longer be a requirement for Canadian applicants.

Many med schools across Canada claim to treat every undergraduate degree equally. For these schools, the context of your GPA supposedly doesn’t matter: a 3.8 in Health Sciences, Philosophy or Social Work are all equivalent.

Some schools hedge their bets, encouraging students from a variety of backgrounds to apply, while noting that “the difficulty of the program” is taken into consideration.

The whole ‘every undergraduate degree is born equal’ policy is somewhat misleading. In addition to some schools having science prerequisites (including organic chemistry and biology courses), the MCAT has always been an Arts Degree Killer. The majority of Canadian med schools (11 out of 17) and almost every school in the U.S. require the MCAT, a multiple choice exam that assesses “problem-solving, critical thinking, writing skills and knowledge of science concepts.”

A degree in a traditional pre-med program, such as the Health Sciences or Biomedical Sciences, prepares students for the exam (and usually fulfills the prerequisite course requirement for most med schools).

Getting through the Verbal Reasoning and Writing Sample might not require any advanced scientific knowledge, but the physical sciences and biological sciences sections can pose a serious barrier to arts students with dreams of med school.

Fortunately for non-traditional pre-med students, the MCAT is becoming a thing of the past.

At least, it is at McGill.

Applicants from Canadian universities are no longer required to write the exam.

“I feel what we’ve put in place is very acceptable and will allow us to properly evaluate candidates,” Dr. Saleem Razack, assistant dean of admissions for medicine at McGill, said in an interview with the Montreal Gazette. Dr. Razack says McGill would have kept the MCAT requirement if there was a French equivalent. “But we want to make sure there’s no barrier for a major segment of our population.” According to Razack, the regular med school class from undergraduate programs doesn’t have as many francophones as McGill would like.

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine, the University of Ottawa, and Francophone medical schools in Quebec don’t require the MCAT. After meeting with MCAT representatives about translating the exam- but ultimately finding it was “too complicated”- McGill is joining their ranks (some schools that require the exam actually make certain qualifications- such as McMaster University, which only uses the Verbal Reasoning section to determine interview eligibility and admission rank).

Interestingly enough, if you check out McGill’s Faculty of Medicine website, you’ll note that candidates who are not required to write the MCAT can still submit their scores, and the overall score will be evaluated by the Admissions Committee.

Related: McGill wants ‘non-traditional’ students

-photo courtesy of comedy nose

In response to society’s “evolving needs”

Medical schools across Canada are making drastic changes to their teaching philosophy, according to a 48-page report just released by the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada.

The Future of Medical Education in Canada project outlines 10 recommendations for undergraduate medical education in response to “society’s evolving needs.”

According to a press release from the AFMC, the report is the first comprehensive study of the Canadian system of medical education in the last 100 years.

That’s not to say Canadian medicine hasn’t evolved and improved over the past century. Image-guided and robotic surgery weren’t exactly standard procedure in 1910. But as Dr. Nick Busing, President and CEO of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada, mentions in the press release:

“This is a watershed moment for medical education in Canada. The recommendations contained in this report are forward-thinking, ambitious, and broad-based; their implementation on a national scale will have a definite impact on how physicians are trained and how care is delivered in this country.”

The recommendations outlined in the report include an emphasis on community medicine, as well as promoting generalism, such as “comprehensive family medicine.” The report also includes five ‘enabling’ recommendations, which are supposed to “facilitate the implementation” of the 10 FMEC recommendations. Dr. James Rourke, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and Chair of the Board of Directors of AFMC, notes that the report has received “unanimous approval” from Canada’s faculties of medicine.

-photo courtesy of ernstl

Government caps set limits on seats

Hoping to get into med school? Great marks, tons of unique extracurricular experience, volunteer work, and high MCAT scores aren’t necessarily enough.

I recently read an article in the Globe and Mail (I happen to know the writer) that gave an overview of the whole application process. For med school hopefuls like me, it didn’t paint a very optimistic picture for Canadians. According to the article, due to government caps on med school seats, only a fraction of the qualified applicants to Canadian med schools are actually getting in.

If you were unlucky enough to be born in Ontario, your chances of getting in are the lowest in the country. The article mentions that in 2009, there were almost 5,000 qualified applicants to the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, with only 194 accepted. Given the fact that Ontario has more med school applicants than any other province, there’s a disproportionately low number of seats in the province’s med schools. In-province applicants to the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Medicine, class of 2013, had about a 33% success rate, with 295 applicants and 98 students enrolled. The success rate for Ontario applicants to the Northern Ontario School of Medicine? Only 4.3%, with 1,845 applicants and 64 seats in 2006/2007.

It’s not much better anywhere else in Ontario. Applicants to the School of Medicine at Queen’s University had an 8% in-province success rate in 2006/2007, and applicants to the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto had an 11.4% in-province success rate. As the article from the Globe and Mail points out, it’s the opposite of what you’d expect: Ontario has more med schools than any other province. But it has the lowest applicant success rate in the country, at 19%. Keep in mind, these are all excellent applicants, with high GPA’s and the qualifications each med school demands as a minimum to even apply.

It’s a little scary. For students working towards med school, the course of your future is riding on that application. But regardless of how hard you work to earn and maintain a high GPA, volunteer countless hours towards a worthy cause, and want to have a career one day in medicine, at this stage, so much is beyond your control.

Well, unless you move to Grenada. Or Manitoba.

-photo courtesy of salimfadhley