goal to match in Canada..confused about SGU and AUA

[Sailor_moon16]

Hey guys!
So I'm 2nd yr undergrad from Ontario,Canada I do not plan on completing my undergrad here due to personal reasons,I'm not stupid, I wish I could stay but my hands are tied 🙁 , completed all the preqs for med school with 3.5 gpa applying to a bunch of Caribbean schools. Thing is, I'm primarily looking at SGU ,UMHS and AUA. Now SGU is offering me a 5 year program ( 1 year in 3rd yr premed+4 year med)that gives me a bachelor +MD and AUA is offering a 4 year program that includes a includes a bachelors degree +MD. UMHS is only offering a 4 year MD, so no bachelor. Now I'm no stranger to Caribbean failure cases( my cousin has yet to match, went to MUA ) . I'm very aware of how hard it is, how competitive you need to be, and how it's basically the hunger games with the winner having the best usmle score+awesome LORS and research. My problem is mostly financial. I'm not sure which program is more worth while, plus I have family pressure telling me to complete my MD asap( cause I'm a girl ugh ) desi problems for those of you who understand. If anyone who has been to any of these schools could give me some advice I would really appreciate it! I am willing to work my butt off , and get scholarships (hopefully if I'm eligible) also I'm hoping my mcat will be 500+ , results will be out soon !
Also,all the schools will require a student line of credit of approx $250k+ depending on an individual basis of how I perform, I plan on dedicating time to TA'ing at all the schools and applying for as many scholarships as possible , plus all schools are Osap approved as far as I recall.

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[Sailor_moon16]

Just to add to the drama, my parents are convinced sending me to a reputed school in Pakistan is the ideal scenario , getting an MBBS, with no core rotations in NORTH AMERICA. And it takes a total of 6 years to do all the exams and stuff (most ppl do a 5 year program graduate, take a year off-road study, then do the step 1 )! Oh and being an FMG. This would be SLIGHTLY ok if I wanted to do internal med in the states( would have to score 250+ on usmle to get an interview) but for canada, I'm pretty certain there is no chance that I would match unless I decided Nunavut and Newfoundland are my favourite places to live for 5+ years of my 20's if I'm wrong please correct me. I'm assuming this is the situation for 2020/2021

 

[torontopharm]

If you wanna give Caribbean schools a try, i'd only stick to the big 4 (SGU,Ross,AUC,SABA). Now if money is a concern, i'd go with SABA, being that it's the cheapest out of the big 4.
I haven't gone to any of these schools but 3 of my friends went to SGU, and they're all doing residency now in the states (Internal med and Family med). As soon as you step out of Canada, your goal should be to match in the states. It's ridiculously hard to come back here from foreign schools, unless you're going to Irish schools. Speaking from experience, desi parents wouldn't be thrilled with the cost for Irish med schools either. In other words, i'd only go to foreign schools as a Canadian if you're comfortable with the idea that you might have to do residency in the states first before coming back to Canada.

I wouldn't go to the pakistan school (AGA Khan or whatever else) just due to the fact that a lot of the residency programs require 1 year or more clinical rotations done in the states. This immediately limits your option significantly when it comes to matching. I'm sure the quality of education is great, but i wouldn't risk it.

Of course the best thing to do is stick it out and finish your undergrad, go MD/DO before anything else 🙂 Some Ontario schools will take you if your best 2 years is ~3.9! But i understand that's not an option for you.

Good luck!

 

[Sailor_moon16]

Hey torontopharm!
Thanks for your reply, Saba isn't an option cause they require a bachelors I believe. I was already leaning on SGU, I think it's my best bet even tho it's 5 years long. Thanks for the info. Are you sure AKU grads don't match? I saw a match list where some of the top kids got into mayo for internal med

 

[torontopharm]

Hey torontopharm!
Thanks for your reply, Saba isn't an option cause they require a bachelors I believe. I was already leaning on SGU, I think it's my best bet even tho it's 5 years long. Thanks for the info. Are you sure AKU grads don't match? I saw a match list where some of the top kids got into mayo for internal med

Hey perhaps you'll match if you kick butt in your steps, get great LOR's etc. There are people matching every year from South Asian schools.
I just wanted to tell you that there are actually a lot of residency programs that explicitly require US clinical experience, to give you a better picture of what your odds might be 5 years down the road. Check out the "NRMP charting outcomes" to get a better idea. Looking at family med (one of the most IMG friendly specialists), 10 out of 66 non-US IMG matched in 2013 coming from a school in Pakistan. Note these 66 applicants include recent grads AND people who apply every year. I'd highly recommend going through that file so you have some hard numbers, rather than anecdotes 🙂.

This is the link for the charting outcomes:
http://www.ecfmg.org/resources/NRMP...atch-International-Medical-Graduates-2014.pdf

 

[Sailor_moon16]

Hey perhaps you'll match if you kick butt in your steps, get great LOR's etc. There are people matching every year from South Asian schools.
I just wanted to tell you that there are actually a lot of residency programs that explicitly require US clinical experience, to give you a better picture of what your odds might be 5 years down the road. Check out the "NRMP charting outcomes" to get a better idea. Looking at family med (one of the most IMG friendly specialists), 10 out of 66 non-US IMG matched in 2013 coming from a school in Pakistan. Note these 66 applicants include recent grads AND people who apply every year. I'd highly recommend going through that file so you have some hard numbers, rather than anecdotes 🙂.

This is the link for the charting outcomes:
http://www.ecfmg.org/resources/NRMP...atch-International-Medical-Graduates-2014.pdf

Thanks! I saved the ecfmg report, definitely my biggest asset to convince my parents SGU is worth the money

 

[Medstart108]

Hey torontopharm!
Thanks for your reply, Saba isn't an option cause they require a bachelors I believe. I was already leaning on SGU, I think it's my best bet even tho it's 5 years long. Thanks for the info. Are you sure AKU grads don't match? I saw a match list where some of the top kids got into mayo for internal med

People from AKU or others who match are probably the creme de la creme of their own countries. They are smart enough that they probably destroyed the USMLE gotten multiple pubs, whereas you are much less likely to do so. So yeah sure they matched but that doesn't mean you or others will.

 

[Sailor_moon16]

Thanks everyone, one last thing. I am deciding between AUA and Sgu, the difference in price aside, the length of the program is my biggest concern. Both give the same credentials (BS+MD) , AUA is 4 years while SGU is 5. Which one is better? I want to know if sgu will be worth the hefty price tag ...

 

[Medstart108]

Thanks everyone, one last thing. I am deciding between AUA and Sgu, the difference in price aside, the length of the program is my biggest concern. Both give the same credentials (BS+MD) , AUA is 4 years while SGU is 5. Which one is better? I want to know if sgu will be worth the hefty price tag ...

SGU is worth it. Its probably considered the best and most reputable.

 

[Sailor_moon16]

Thanks! Now I'm just nervous whether this decision will come down to a bank approving the cost of attendance.apparently the total cost of SGU goes up to 350k$.. Whereas AUA is under 250$

 

[Over9000]

I have no idea why your hands are tied with not being able to finish your degree. Your best bet is to untie your hands and get back to your degree and finish it with a better GPA than 3.5. I'd suggest at least 3.8. Transfer to a bird school like Mac if you have to.

Going abroad is a huge mistake, especially if you're trying to get back into Canada. You'll have to do rural return of service too and you don't seem too happy about that.

Going to a Pakistani school is a death warrant for your hopes of going to Canada, and potentially also the USA.

Tell your parents to lay off! Do it the right way, or not, at your peril.

 

[torontopharm]

Thanks everyone, one last thing. I am deciding between AUA and Sgu, the difference in price aside, the length of the program is my biggest concern. Both give the same credentials (BS+MD) , AUA is 4 years while SGU is 5. Which one is better? I want to know if sgu will be worth the hefty price tag ...

SGU.
Always pick big 4 over the rest in my opinion. Whether or not it gets harder to match down the road (there are countless threads speculating this), i think it's a safer bet to go to schools that already have a proven track record of placing residents. But then again, my opinion might be skewed because i personally know people who matched from SGU, and i don't know too much about AUA. So take it for what it's worth!

 

[Sailor_moon16]

Thanks! I definitely appreciate that about sgu, and as long as my mcat goes well that's where I hope to go. I just registered for the Princeton mcat prep course ( it's online) anybody have any experience with them? I'm Hoping it's worth it. I tend to do best with structured learning so that's why I got it. I'm using all the latest books from Kaplan, Exam krackers, TBR, and Tpr. Is there anything else I could possibly do? Also Over9000 I appreciate your opinion, but sometimes life happens and you have to just move forward. So that's what I'm doing. SGU is the way to go for me , and I'm realistic in the sense that I won't be sad if I don't match in Canada. I'm good with being in the states, but canada is home 🙂

 

[torontopharm]

You'll get info about what the best resource is etc. in the MCAT forum. Check out posts by @mcatjelly and you'll find ALL the info you need.
Don't get bogged down by what resource is the best etc. Just pick one, follow through the AAMC topic list to make sure you go over everything, and do a LOT of practice problems. I'm using the Kaplan books + Khan Academy videos. I think the general consensus is that Examkrackers are the best. But really, pick the one you're most comfortable with/helps you retain the most info..and go with it. The key is to practice, practice, practice.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

To re-iterate what over9000 said/asked, if you go to SGU you'll be living away from home and spending lots of money. Why not stay in school in Canada even if your parents need to move? Seems like the end result (you will be living away from your parents for most of the year, return once in a while to visit) would be exactly the same but it would be much, much cheaper.

But SGU now is a guarantee of medical school, vs continuing to work in UG in Canada for a chance at a Canadian or US school later.

 

[AnesthAnon]

Getting a residency in the US as a Canadian citizen (i.e. non-US citizen) and a FMG is not as easy as it once was. You don't want to spend 4-5 years and >250K only to find out that you are unable to secure a residency spot.

I would urge to you to carefully consider your decision. If your ultimate goal is to practice in the Canada. The route would be Canadian MD > US MD > US DO >>>>> SGU.