McGill Versus "American School"?

[kattyboomboom]

As an American trying to choose between McGill and other American medical schools, I was hoping people could post any perspectives they have on why it may be good/bad to go to McGill rather than a US school. Cost is not a factor that is weighing on my decision. I am thinking about how it could affect matching for residency, whether I'll have a very different clinical experience, whether I can still be active in American med school groups like AMSA...etc. Any thoughts, especially from anyone who's also making/made this decision?

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[EndSong]

McGill is looked at very favorably for American Residencies. I think an M.D. from McGill is probably looked as favorably as graduating from a US top 10 or even top 5 school.

 

[jcg]

Hey Kattyboomboom,

I'm an undergrad at McGill and am going to be applying to McGill Med this fall. McGill is rated the top medical school in Canada and I believe the recognition is favorable in the US. Clinical experience I heard is also excellent as the McGill University health center network is among the largest in North America. If you are ever in the Montreal area and need a tour of some sort I would be willing to provide one. So far undergrad at McGill has been excellent and my friends in Med say they are enjoying it... Hope this helps!

Jordan

 

[notdeadyet]

I'd have no problems going there. It has a fantastic reputation. It would definitely be considered a top 10 or so school.

 

[moinmoin]

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[tulane06]

McGill is looked at very favorably for American Residencies. I think an M.D. from McGill is probably looked as favorably as graduating from a US top 10 or even top 5 school.

McGill is definetly on par with American Med Schools, but I don't think it is looked upon as being a top 5 or 10.

 

[PHECT]

I'm looking at the residency listing match listing for the U.S. match from 2005 :

Of 18 students who went for the American Residency Match -

1 Pediatrics at Yale-New Haven Hospital
2 Internal Medicine at UCSFs
1 Anesthesia at NYU
1 Pediatrics at Mayo
1 Internal Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital


Those are all top residencies, so whether or not its in the "Top 10" doesn't really matter. What matters is that apparently you can get the residency you want coming out...

I'm trying to decide to got there now also....

 

[Acherona]

As an American trying to choose between McGill and other American medical schools, I was hoping people could post any perspectives they have on why it may be good/bad to go to McGill rather than a US school. Cost is not a factor that is weighing on my decision. I am thinking about how it could affect matching for residency, whether I'll have a very different clinical experience, whether I can still be active in American med school groups like AMSA...etc. Any thoughts, especially from anyone who's also making/made this decision?

Hi,
The main disadvantage for residency as fas as I can tell is that you may not benefit from the personal-connections factor as much, since the doctors/professors you meet may not have as close professional ties with American schools. Clearly this may be more or less relevant depending on your particular situation, and luck will play a big role.

The main advantage is that you get way better clinical training (much more responsibility/autonomy during clerkships), and this will help you perform well in your away rotations in the US and to do well on Step II (and who knows make you a better clinician).

There is an active AMSA chapter at McGill, and there are other american socities that have chapters at McGill. Honestly though this really isn't going to make much difference ultimately in terms of residency.

There are probably 5-10 name-brand schools in the US that will provide an advantage in terms of residency over mcgill due to prestige (and over any other US school). Still, obviously there are people at McGill and in the US who turned down these schools for whatever reason. And despite what people on this board have posted, I'm pretty confidet the quality of pre-clinical education is identical to that of US schools.

Hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about my sources or want more specific info.

 

[gwiddlebones]

Hey Jordan,

I'm an undergrad at a university in the States as well but I'm classified as an international student here. Do you know how tough it is for an international student attending university in the U.S. to get into McGill Med? I have a 3.8 GPA and a 29 MCAT score.

Thanks!!

Hey Kattyboomboom,

I'm an undergrad at McGill and am going to be applying to McGill Med this fall. McGill is rated the top medical school in Canada and I believe the recognition is favorable in the US. Clinical experience I heard is also excellent as the McGill University health center network is among the largest in North America. If you are ever in the Montreal area and need a tour of some sort I would be willing to provide one. So far undergrad at McGill has been excellent and my friends in Med say they are enjoying it... Hope this helps!

Jordan

 

[emack]

Hey Jordan,

I'm an undergrad at a university in the States as well but I'm classified as an international student here. Do you know how tough it is for an international student attending university in the U.S. to get into McGill Med? I have a 3.8 GPA and a 29 MCAT score.

Thanks!!

It's hard to get into any Quebec school if you're not Quebecois, especially McGill Med. They have an extremely limited number of spots for out-of-province students; you have to be a pretty impressive candidate to be competitive.

I'm a Canadian student with a near-perfect GPA and 41 MCAT. Applied to McGill on a whim. Didn't even get an interview. Good luck.

PS- Check this out: in-province tuition at McGill Med is 3,300 CAD/year. That's practically free! 😱

Edit: According to their admissions page, you probably have a better chance as an American/International student than I did as a Canadian: http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/admissions/appnonquebec.htm Go figure.