Chances of getting in from high school to 6 year Ireland MD program...

[yozzdi]

---

Members do not see this ad.

What are the chances of getting in from high school to 6 year Ireland MD program...

 

[asd979]

Let me be the first to tell you right now, DO NOT APPLY TO THE IRISH SCHOOLS WITHOUT GOING TO UNIVERSITY FIRST!!!! Staying in Canada to do your medical training is a much better option in terms of residency and other headaches. You are better off doing two or more years in a Canadian university and applying to medical school here. Only apply to the Irish schools if you have difficulty being accepted here. You do not want to put yourself into massive debt unless you absolutely have to.

 

[md2be17]

Let me be the first to tell you right now, DO NOT APPLY TO THE IRISH SCHOOLS WITHOUT GOING TO UNIVERSITY FIRST!!!! Staying in Canada to do your medical training is a much better option in terms of residency and other headaches. You are better off doing two or more years in a Canadian university and applying to medical school here. Only apply to the Irish schools if you have difficulty being accepted here. You do not want to put yourself into massive debt unless you absolutely have to.

Fair enough, but as someone who has been through the Canadian university system and NOW is contemplating Irish medical schools (along with many of my colleagues), I would say that it is an important option to consider.

I would agree with asd979 in that there is significant value to pursuing undergraduate education prior to medical school. However, I disagree with him/her for the reasons why. I believe that undergraduate education teaches you things (maturity, responsibility) that are essential for the practice of medicine, and that could greatly aid your progress once you do enter a medical program.

Agreed, there could potentially be a greater barrier to pursuing residency in Canada, however as far as international schools go, the Irish schools have excellent matching rates. Long story short - it is possible to come back and do residency in Canada. It may be more difficult, but not impossible.

Secondly, it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to do two years of undergraduate education and then get into a Canadian medical school. Most medical schools in Canada won't accept your application until third year. Additionally, it is unbelievably competitive in Canada. Depending on which province you are from, there are significant (SIGNIFICANT) barriers that prevent many extremely intelligent people from obtaining a medical education.

If you do decide to stay in Canada to pursue medicine, take my advice and go to the easiest undergraduate school you can go to. Stay far far away from U of T St. George. Take a balanced course load. There is no need to overload in science courses - take what is absolutely necessary, and then take easy courses as options. The key for a premedical education in Canada is not only getting a 4.0, but getting a 4.0 and being well-rounded, and even then...getting into medical school is not guaranteed.

If you're from Ontario, the approximately 18% of applicants get into medical school each year. If you're from Alberta, the numbers go up to 30(something) %. It all depends where you're from...but coming from someone who has spent the last nine years working towards medicine in Canada and NOW is deciding to go to Ireland...it is an option to seriously consider.

My two cents. Good luck!

 

[asd979]

Fair enough, but as someone who has been through the Canadian university system and NOW is contemplating Irish medical schools (along with many of my colleagues), I would say that it is an important option to consider.

I would agree with asd979 in that there is significant value to pursuing undergraduate education prior to medical school. However, I disagree with him/her for the reasons why. I believe that undergraduate education teaches you things (maturity, responsibility) that are essential for the practice of medicine, and that could greatly aid your progress once you do enter a medical program.

Agreed, there could potentially be a greater barrier to pursuing residency in Canada, however as far as international schools go, the Irish schools have excellent matching rates. Long story short - it is possible to come back and do residency in Canada. It may be more difficult, but not impossible.

Secondly, it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to do two years of undergraduate education and then get into a Canadian medical school. Most medical schools in Canada won't accept your application until third year. Additionally, it is unbelievably competitive in Canada. Depending on which province you are from, there are significant (SIGNIFICANT) barriers that prevent many extremely intelligent people from obtaining a medical education.

If you do decide to stay in Canada to pursue medicine, take my advice and go to the easiest undergraduate school you can go to. Stay far far away from U of T St. George. Take a balanced course load. There is no need to overload in science courses - take what is absolutely necessary, and then take easy courses as options. The key for a premedical education in Canada is not only getting a 4.0, but getting a 4.0 and being well-rounded, and even then...getting into medical school is not guaranteed.

If you're from Ontario, the approximately 18% of applicants get into medical school each year. If you're from Alberta, the numbers go up to 30(something) %. It all depends where you're from...but coming from someone who has spent the last nine years working towards medicine in Canada and NOW is deciding to go to Ireland...it is an option to seriously consider.

My two cents. Good luck!

Yes it is difficult to be accepted to a canadian medical school, but ruling yourself out without even making an attempt isn't a good idea. If you are willing to put in the time and make the sacrifices that I never did, then getting into a school is much easier. I wasted my second year of school partying and lost focus and I've been paying for it ever since. As a result of my poor grades that one year, I never meet the requirements for out of province schools (any school outside of Saskatchewan), and it's taken 6 years of university to even be considered for an interview here at the U of S. So my advice is go to a Canadian university, get as good grades as possible, write the MCAT and see if you can be accepted after 2-4 years. Only after you decide that you likely won't get in, go to the Irish route.

I'm not putting down the Irish schools at all, from what I researched and from people I know who are currently attending, the quality of education is quite high. But you will have a lot of debt if you attend, especially if you go for the 6 year route. Yes the Irish schools have good matching rates for residencies, but for the more competitive specialties it becomes very difficult for an international medical graduate. If you want to do something competitive such as plastics, getting into a Canadian school improves your chances immensely.

My point is basically don't just head to Ireland without trying Canada first. You may even realize that you don't want to do medicine and that something else is your calling, who knows.

 

[iwantajob]

The previous two posters made excellent points on why you should attend university first. I think it ultimately depends on you and your educational background. Asian and European doctors enter medical school right after high school and they are on the same level as Canadian and American doctors once they begin practice (if not better). Speaking for myself, I think my Bachelors degree was a complete waste of time and I think I could have gone straight to medical school right after high school. As an 11th grader, I strongly suggest that you look into International Baccalaureate programs (IB) as opposed to Advanced Placement (AP). The IB program is a European system and is MUCH tougher at a level comparable to A levels that you may hear your British friends complain about. I think its definitely worthwhile applying to ABP right after highschool, but I don't know what your chances are seeing as many students in university or even applicants with a Bachelors degree apply to the 5-6 year program just so they can apply without the MCAT. If you can get in straight out of highschool, I say go for it. If you know that you can get into a Canadian medical school, that should be your first goal because you will save a lot of money and a lot of time and headache when applying for residency spots. The only reason I am telling you to opt for the Irish schools is that I know Canadian medical schools are EXTREMELY competitive and you may have to forget about medicine altogether if you opt for that route. You may get a position in Canadian hospitals with an Irish education but you may not get your top choice (if you want to be an anesthesiologist in Toronto, you might have to forget about it and opt for internal or family medicine elsewhere for instance..). If you are in a province with a high acceptance rate (e.g. Alberta as the previous poster has mentioned), I think you should stay there and focus on getting into that school. You have NO idea how often I looked back and wished I grew up in AB or the Maritimes. There are a lot of students who have high MCAT scores, GPA, lots of extracurriculars in music, sports, yet still can't get into medical school because of their residency status.

 

[yozzdi]

Many thanks for the helpful replies.

 

[HMed]

Heyy peeps, so I'm gona be applying to all Irish med schools this year, I'm a senior in high school. I'm doing the IB program (yes IWantaJob, it's a pretty intense program indeed!) Anyways I'm applying through CAO, what are my chances??
Like I meet all the requirements but I'm not Thatt competitive.. Soo I dunno what do u guys think?

Anyone else applying from high school?

 

[futuresurgeon00]

Heyy peeps, so I'm gona be applying to all Irish med schools this year, I'm a senior in high school. I'm doing the IB program (yes IWantaJob, it's a pretty intense program indeed!) Anyways I'm applying through CAO, what are my chances??
Like I meet all the requirements but I'm not Thatt competitive.. Soo I dunno what do u guys think?

Anyone else applying from high school?

Currently, I'm in grade 11, and I have been researching and contemplating applying to University of Medicines (such as Antigua, Xavier, UMED, Manipal, St.George's) and going the usual path and going to University and then Med School. I am a Canadian student, so I know it is extremely difficult to get into medical schools and residencies in Canada. However, I want to complete my residency in the US. I am going to open houses for the Universities of Med's, but I want to know whether it will be worth doing it the "short cut" way, or going the longer way.

 

[Medstart108]

Hey futuresurgeon00. I was also a highschool student who decided to skip undergrad in canada and apply abroad for direct overseas medical training 6 years. I'm currently in the UK at the university of st. andrews and after 3 years i will go to the university of edinburgh with a bsc and a mbchb in 6 years. The program i'm in also guarantees a 16 week medical elective at the university of alberta with 8 weeks in your final year. I hate to advocate my own program but here is the website: http://medicine.st-andrews.ac.uk/pro/alberta/

Its not exactly the cheapest but we've had visits from the vice dean of medicine from the u of a so i have some faith in the program. Its for canadian citizens only and they try and help you apply back to canada.