Canadian vs US medical schools

[Star2008]

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hi,

For those of you from Canada who are applying to US med schools, can you please tell me what are the differences between US and Canadian med schools?

I'm thinking about applying to Canadian schools and am studying in the US.

How hard is it to get into Canadian med schools as an US applicant? Is the application process the same except not with AAMC?

How hard will it be to come back to the US to practice medicine?

Thanks!

 

[TheRealMD]

hi,

For those of you from Canada who are applying to US med schools, can you please tell me what are the differences between US and Canadian med schools?

I'm thinking about applying to Canadian schools and am studying in the US.

How hard is it to get into Canadian med schools as an US applicant? Is the application process the same except not with AAMC?

How hard will it be to come back to the US to practice medicine?

Thanks!

There's a reason why Canadians flock to US schools and not vice versa. If you're not Canadian, it is VERY unlikely you'll get into a Canadian med school. Strict MCAT cutoffs and I also hear a few of them are French-speaking only!

 

[jochi1543]

Yeah, Canadian schools are harder to get into. Do you hold Canadian permanent residency or citizenship? That'd make it slightly easier for you, as you'd have more schools to pick from. From what I remember, not a whole lot of schools accept international applicants. If you are not fluent in French, you have 14 medical schools you can apply to if you are a PR/citizen.

If you tell me about your status in Canada, I can tell you a little more about the schools you can consider.

 

[MadHopsMD]

Mcgill is probably your best bet. but you require 11/11/11 and 3.7+ to get an interview there as an international student.

 

[jochi1543]

Mcgill is probably your best bet. but you require 11/11/11 and 3.7+ to get an interview there as an international student.

I've heard that 3.9 and 35+ are more like the actual numbers to be competitive. Besides, look at their OOP standards, they are out of control.

 

[allthaticanbe]

Unless your a really strong applicant you might as well cancel out Canadian schools. Although if you are a strong app. there are several benefits to canadian schools the biggest is CHEAP.
Try McGill they love Americans and American money.

 

[jochi1543]

Unless your a really strong applicant you might as well cancel out Canadian schools. Although if you are a strong app. there are several benefits to canadian schools the biggest is CHEAP.
Try McGill they love Americans and American money.

I think tuition for internationals is way up there, it's only cheap for us. I think McMaster's international tuition is something like $45,000? That'd be same as some of the pricier US schools.

 

[jochi1543]

Haha, I checked....

Year 1 $91,137.00
Year 2 $46,837.37 (for students in Year 2 in 2007/8 only)
Year 3 $46,837.37 (for students in Year 3 in 2007/8 only)


Um, YEAH.🙄

 

[TheRealMD]

Haha, I checked....

Year 1 $91,137.00
Year 2 $46,837.37 (for students in Year 2 in 2007/8 only)
Year 3 $46,837.37 (for students in Year 3 in 2007/8 only)


Um, YEAH.🙄

Somehow, I don't really consider that cheap. Heck, the first year alone is more than I expect in actual debt after 4 years hopefully if I get some scholarships....

 

[allthaticanbe]

It may be up there be its cheaper then most american schools. But Mcgills tution for International for med is not that Jochi

International Students 1: 30,792.66 2: 25,897.06 3: 24,348.66 4;13,725.61

 

[jochi1543]

Somehow, I don't really consider that cheap. Heck, the first year alone is more than I expect in actual debt after 4 years hopefully if I get some scholarships....

Exactly my point. Funny thing is, Canadians are charged about the same amount for all 3 years, while internationals pay double for the 1st year (91K). I wonder what the deal is. I mean, it's a 3-year curriculum, and each year is a full year (no summer off), so no real reason to charge more for one year than the other, especially by 2x the amount.

Their website also said "international pool currently on hold," but still talked about the requirements, so it wasn't very clear if they are not accepting internationals right now or if they are just being vague.

 

[MNIkid87]

the reason seems pretty clear to me:

they have a shorter curriculum but still want to make the same amount that other med schools make


Concerning Canadian schools (as mentioned): McGill is rpobably the best (I admit I am slightly biased but meh 😛 )

U Toronto is pretty good,too. Many of the other good English speaking schools don't accept people who are not Canadian residents (eg. UBC)

 

[jochi1543]

the reason seems pretty clear to me:

they have a shorter curriculum but still want to make the same amount that other med schools make

But they don't do the same thing for Canadian students! U of C also has a 3-year curriculum, and their tuition for each year is more or less the same.

 

[MNIkid87]

hmm, maybe Canadian students don't bring enough money in, so they are trying to rip off the students who come from abroad?

Furthermore Canada has like an insane shortage of physicians. Maybe they hope that this way they will have as many Canadian students as possible that hopefully don't leave for the states where they get a better salary

 

[jochi1543]

Furthermore Canada has like an insane shortage of physicians. Maybe they hope that this way they will have as many Canadian students as possible that hopefully don't leave for the states where they get a better salary

That's a good point. With the problem of Canadians flocking to the US - successfully, despite not having PR/citizenship status there, which complicates things - it'd be somewhat illogical to educate an American who'll 90% leave. If you had major family ties in Canada, that'd be a different deal, but otherwise, it does fall out of line with their efforts.

 

[hp540]

hi,

For those of you from Canada who are applying to US med schools, can you please tell me what are the differences between US and Canadian med schools?

I'm thinking about applying to Canadian schools and am studying in the US.

How hard is it to get into Canadian med schools as an US applicant? Is the application process the same except not with AAMC?

How hard will it be to come back to the US to practice medicine?

Thanks!

Like the others have said, don't waste your time with Canadian applications. McGill is your best bet if you *really* want to come up north. Otherwise, the Canadian system is next to impossible because the competition is insanely cut-throat and many Canadian applicants, who would otherwise be very very strong candidates in the US, are rejected pre-interview. There's something very broken about our admissions process (or maybe it's just the lack of funding for our healthcare system...but that's the problem with just about everything in Canada)