Canadian Physiotherapy Student - Looking to Apply for US MD/DO

[nfnc]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently doing my master's in physiotherapy at a university in Ontario, but realized that medicine is ultimately what I want to be doing for the rest of my life. I haven't yet taken the MCAT and I'm missing prerequisites to apply, but I am going to finish my last year of physiotherapy school (graduate August 2025) before I start my whole journey to applying.

MCAT:
Obviously since I have not taken the MCAT, it is hard to determine what I would be competitive for. Is it worth waiting to finish all my prerequisite courses before taking it so I would have better foundational knowledge?

Missing prerequisites:
Physics I and II, ORGO I and II, biochemistry, English I and II.
- As I am Canadian I am forced to do a DIY post-bacc. I definitely would love to take some advice on the best way to go about taking all these prerequisites.

Undergrad: Health Sciences
3.77 cGPA - Canadian GPA (2nd, 3rd, and 4th year all had GPAs of 3.9 and above, 1st year grades are horrendous).
3.86 cGPA when converted to AMCAS grading scale.

Clinical experience:
I will have about 450 ish hrs of clinical experience as a PT student in acute care ICU/inpatient neuro rehab settings - but this is done through my physiotherapy program. Am I allowed to list this as clinical experience on my AMCAS app? My other 675 hours of clinical placements done through the program will probably be outpatient PT clinics.

Research:
I am involved with a research project once again through my physiotherapy program that will likely become published and will be listed as an author. Unsure if this is valid and if it counts as a proper research experience.

I guess my questions are:
1. Any advice on taking prereqs as a nontraditional student in Canada (as there are not really any formal post-bacc programs)
2. Does the clinical experience and research experience I've accumulated as part of a course/physio program count towards experience that I could speak about on my AMCAS?
3. Should I look to apply for Canadian schools first? Or if my stats are not quite valid enough for Canada, what schools should I be aiming for in the states? MD/DO?
4. Should I wait to finish to prerequisite courses before I take the MCAT to have a better science fundamentals?

Thank you all so much in advance and I appreciate any advice given.

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[gyngyn]

I'll take the easy one first.(#4). I strongly recommend that you take all the courses necessary to do well on the MCAT. Medical schools in the states will see every MCAT that you do not void. It is extremely important to do well enough on the first try! Apparently, Canadian schools see things differently so it is not uncommon the see Canadian applicants with several scores. That will work against you here.

For #3: There are only 56 US MD schools that consider Canadians. Most of them matriculate very few (or none). When it's time to apply, identify those schools in the MSAR where your MCAT is at or near the median. Eliminate those that matriculated 2 or fewer internationals, as this indicates the likelihood that these were internal candidates. Apply to the rest. Make sure that you check on financial requirements at those schools. You may need to fund an escrow account for any number of years' cost of attendance.
There are 18 DO schools that consider internationals the last time I checked.

#2: Your PT clinical experiences could reasonably be classified as such on AMCAS.

Here are some articles from the AAMC: Applying to Medical School as an International Applicant

As a non-U.S. citizen, I faced hurdles applying to U.S. medical schools. Now that I’ve made it, I want to help others like me

I started F-1 Doctors to help international students like me find mentorship when applying to U.S. medical schools.

www.aamc.org