apply to SGU or Australia?

[the_samrat]

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Hey Everyone

I'm sure similar questions were asked before, but I could not still decide which one to attend.

I'm a Canadian, applied to few US schools last year.

My GPA is 3.4 (1.8 first year, changed to different program and have a GPA of 3.9 for last 3 years), in my last year right now

MCAT: 30S (11 BS, 9 PS, 9 VR)

No interview invites from US schools.

I have lots of EC's/volunteering work, worked as a research assistant for several months and won few student awards at university.

Medicine has always been my goal and i'm very serious about it.

My dilemma is, should I apply to SGU or go to Australian med school instead.

Ideally, I'd like to settle/practice in the US. I'm not aiming for the challenging residency spots. I'm interested in doing an internal med with fellowship in medical oncology or endocrinology.

As a Canadian citizen, is SGU a better option or Australia, for residency spots in the US?

Your insight is very valuable
Thank You

 

[leviathan]

Hey Everyone

I'm sure similar questions were asked before, but I could not still decide which one to attend.

I'm a Canadian, applied to few US schools last year.

My GPA is 3.4 (1.8 first year, changed to different program and have a GPA of 3.9 for last 3 years), in my last year right now

MCAT: 30S (11 BS, 9 PS, 9 VR)

No interview invites from US schools.

I have lots of EC's/volunteering work, worked as a research assistant for several months and won few student awards at university.

Medicine has always been my goal and i'm very serious about it.

My dilemma is, should I apply to SGU or go to Australian med school instead.

Ideally, I'd like to settle/practice in the US. I'm not aiming for the challenging residency spots. I'm interested in doing an internal med with fellowship in medical oncology or endocrinology.

As a Canadian citizen, is SGU a better option or Australia, for residency spots in the US?

Your insight is very valuable
Thank You

If you get yout MCAT up a bit you should be able to get into many Canadian schools. Most have academic review policeis that will drop your worst year or only look at your best 2 years of grades.

 

[bambi]

Surely Australia would be better? Not wanting to offend but don't most people that go to Carib schools only go because they weren't able to get into US schools? Australian schools aren't like that, people go because that's where they want to go! Plus lifestyle-wise surely Australia would be a lot nicer and Australian schools are more respected.

 

[dragonfly99]

samrat,
I don't know much about Canadian med schools' admissions policies, except that it's very hard to get in.

I think if you could pull up the MCAT score you might have a shot even at some US schools. I think it is worth a shot to study like hell and try for as high of a score as you can get, especially if you've only taken the test once. If that fails, then you can bail for the Caribbean, UK or Australia. I have met several house staff and a cardiology attending in the US who went to somewhere called Trinity in Ireland, but I don't know what the match rates are from there --> US. It might be worth investigating.

 

[gzahalan]

Hey there,
I read your question and I am very informed on this topic, as I have consulted many international schools and even the Medical Council of Canada (MCC) and the Residency matching services in Canada and the USA.

I am a Canadian, as well. Your question is a little bit of an enigma because you're considering going to SGU or Australia and want to match in America. Although this seems good, it is MUCH harder on paper.

For one, being a CANADIAN, matching in American is a little difficult due to VISA and landed status issues. Student visas (J-1, etc.) are difficult to get if you're a Canadian and wanting to match or even do clinical (undergraduate) rotations in the USA. The process is very long and time consuming; and, as a result, you might miss deadlines for the US residency matching service (ERAS I think it's called). Going to SGU or Australia would not make a difference for matching because both are going to be DIFFICULT for you. However, it is possible and some have done it. It's easier if you're an American citizen and want to match in the USA. But being Canadian, as always (for everything!), it is much more difficult.

Put bluntly, SGU has more American matches than Australia. So whatever comment I read saying that Australia is more respected/credible than Australia or whatever is absolutely false. In going to the Caribbean, you want to make sure you go to 1 of the big 4... The big 4 = SGU, SABA, ROSS, and AUC. Graduates from there always get matched in American (~100%!). But, again, being Canadian is more difficult because American student visas are headaches.

If you want to match in Canada, it really doesn't matter where you go because this is a different situation altogether. It is VERY VERY VERY VERY difficult to match in Canada as an IMG (International Medical Graduate). However, for whatever reason, SABA university (one of the big four Caribbean schools) seems to match a lot in Canada, for family and ER medicine. Specialties are virtually impossible, but if you look on the SABA site, they have their 2008 match list where almost 20 of their students matched in Canada for almost all disciplines. I asked them (SABA) why this is, and they said that it's because the MCC actually went down and did an evaluation of SABA, upon request by SABA. But don't get the wrong idea... It's still difficult.

From personal experience and from professional advice, it seems your best bet is to go to 1 of the big 4 OR boost your MCAT scores and possibly your GPA and go to America. But, again, the VISA is a headache but if American schools see you're going to their institutions as opposed to coming from the Caribbean, they might make it easier for you.

Good luck,
Best of Wishes.

-gzahalan.

 

[gzahalan]

I meant to say*:

So whatever comment I read saying that Australia is more respected/credible than the Caribbean or whatever is absolutely false.

--> I am saying, here, that the big four Caribbean schools are actually more credible for matching purposes. This is because they are designed for the American medical system and the Australian ones are not (they are based on the Australian medical system and their respective licensing exams).