really need an advice

[MyNameIsAlex]

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hey,
my situation is a little weird,

i posted here before but didnt really get an advice... so im trying this again 🙂

im about to graduate...with a degree in Information Technology from a decent Canadian school with approximately 2.8-2.9 CGPA.
My first year was really bad - 1.5GPA ...very low course load (only 4 half year courses)
Second Year was 2.2 (4 full year courses)

during Third year+summer school was 3.1 + some scholarship (completed more courses than first and 2nd year combined..., in terms of full year courses i took 7.5 full year courses)

this is my last year (4th)...im taking 6 full year courses, and so far my GPA is hanging around 3.6-3.8 (80% or A is only 3.8 in Canada, according to ACMAS ... :/ ).

I moved to canada from europe, and I was an ESL student... until the end of my 2nd year pretty much, even had to take some ESL english course, but thats not an excuse.

so at the end ... because of my poor year 1,2 grades my camulative GPA will only be 2.8-2.9.

i understood that this is obviously no enaugh for an american medical school.

this upcoming summer and next year i will be taking premed courses (bio, chem, physics, organic chem). i calcualted that even if i get a 3.8 (A) in all of them, my GPA will still only be 3.15. and to my understanding this is not enaugh either. my question is what to do? i was thinking of completing a 2nd degree in psychology next year because it will only take me one year since i already have a whole buncha courses that will count towards my degree, but i think that taking a whole bunch of psych courses along with the science courses may hurt me... in terms of marks, so it may not be worth it...evne though it will be more credits.

im trying to stay away from the caribbean schools.

i have 2 years of expirience working part time as a clinical research student in a hospital that is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, im doing it during my studies....

does anyone have any idea what is the best thing to do in my case?

 

[williamChenry]

i'm in the same boat,..been in college 2 years and had no idea what i wanted to do, so i did poorly, even worse GPA than yuors...over the next few years, I'm planning on re-taking the courses I did poorly in and the pre-req classes and hopefully ace them....

I know ALL the grades get looked at(original grade as well as the re-take) , but re-taking it and getting a better grade than the original does bring up your GPA, right?

 

[USAFdoc2be]

If you can't help your undergrad grades, possibly get your masters in public health, anatomy or something medically related and try to get as high of a GPA as possible, kick butt on your MCATs and then see where you stand. You may want to look into DO schools as some have averages that are slightly lower. You can also think about PA school.

 

[medicalbound]

hey,
my situation is a little weird,

i posted here before but didnt really get an advice... so im trying this again 🙂

im about to graduate...with a degree in Information Technology from a decent Canadian school with approximately 2.8-2.9 CGPA.
My first year was really bad - 1.5GPA ...very low course load (only 4 half year courses)
Second Year was 2.2 (4 full year courses)

during Third year+summer school was 3.1 + some scholarship (completed more courses than first and 2nd year combined..., in terms of full year courses i took 7.5 full year courses)

this is my last year (4th)...im taking 6 full year courses, and so far my GPA is hanging around 3.6-3.8 (80% or A is only 3.8 in Canada, according to ACMAS ... :/ ).

I moved to canada from europe, and I was an ESL student... until the end of my 2nd year pretty much, even had to take some ESL english course, but thats not an excuse.

so at the end ... because of my poor year 1,2 grades my camulative GPA will only be 2.8-2.9.

i understood that this is obviously no enaugh for an american medical school.

this upcoming summer and next year i will be taking premed courses (bio, chem, physics, organic chem). i calcualted that even if i get a 3.8 (A) in all of them, my GPA will still only be 3.15. and to my understanding this is not enaugh either. my question is what to do? i was thinking of completing a 2nd degree in psychology next year because it will only take me one year since i already have a whole buncha courses that will count towards my degree, but i think that taking a whole bunch of psych courses along with the science courses may hurt me... in terms of marks, so it may not be worth it...evne though it will be more credits.

im trying to stay away from the caribbean schools.

i have 2 years of expirience working part time as a clinical research student in a hospital that is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, im doing it during my studies....

does anyone have any idea what is the best thing to do in my case?

Your GPA is not your friend right now, but that does not mean that it is impossible. There are many of us that are/have been in the same boat and are still in the running. Acing your post-baccalaureate courses and your MCAT is a must and ensuring you get top notch LORs as well (of course) can put you back in the game. Also, the AACOMAS application for DO schools does not count your GPA the same way as AMCAS. Yes, all of your classes are listed, but if you retake a class, only the last grade counts -- a great benefit to those of us with some academic anomalies from years past.

 

[MyNameIsAlex]

not really intersted in D.O 🙂

 

[rocketman]

not really intersted in D.O 🙂

Alrighty then.

I don't want to pre-judge you, so I'm just going to ask why you were so quick to dismiss D.O.?

 

[MyNameIsAlex]

because its not recognized in canada :/

 

[rocketman]

because its not recognized in canada :/

I don't claim to know everything about osteopathic medicine, but it is my understanding that there are D.O. schools in Canada and that plenty of osteopathic doctors do their residency and practice there. Am I incorrect? What exactly do you mean when you say it is not recognized?

 

[MyNameIsAlex]

there are no D.O schools in Canada, and US D.O graduates aren't allowed to practice in Canada

 

[Jaguar]

Hey Rocketman,

MyNameisAlex is right - there is no comparable program in Canada to the DO programs in the USA. We ONLY have MD schools here. I'm not positive about the possibilities of DOs trained in the US working here... but I'm pretty sure it would be next to impossible to gain a residency position here with that background. Our residency programs are already very full with our MD grads.

MyNameisAlex, if you want to practice in Canada, you really should try to do MD in the US or in Canada (or maybe Ireland). Some schools in Canada are more forgiving than others regarding gpa and mcat, and put more stock in varied backgrounds and interesting life experience. But that said, it is about twice as difficult (if my memory serves me correctly) to gain admittance in Canada than in the US.

Have you sought out info from the Canadian premed forums? Here is the link:

http://p090.ezboard.com/bpremed101

Good luck on your journey! 😎

 

[MyNameIsAlex]

Hey Jaguar thanks for the reply

question

why ireland ? whats so good about it?

Hey Rocketman,

MyNameisAlex is right - there is no comparable program in Canada to the DO programs in the USA. We ONLY have MD schools here. I'm not positive about the possibilities of DOs trained in the US working here... but I'm pretty sure it would be next to impossible to gain a residency position here with that background. Our residency programs are already very full with our MD grads.

MyNameisAlex, if you want to practice in Canada, you really should try to do MD in the US or in Canada (or maybe Ireland). Some schools in Canada are more forgiving than others regarding gpa and mcat, and put more stock in varied backgrounds and interesting life experience. But that said, it is about twice as difficult (if my memory serves me correctly) to gain admittance in Canada than in the US.

Have you sought out info from the Canadian premed forums? Here is the link:

http://p090.ezboard.com/bpremed101

Good luck on your journey! 😎

 

[Jaguar]

Hey Jaguar thanks for the reply

question

why ireland ? whats so good about it?

Very good question.... I guess I threw that in there without giving it alot of thought.

I guess I just know of several people who are or have gone that route. My general feeling is that that is not a bad option... that the chances of getting back into Canada are relatively good from Ireland - but that is TOTALLY unsubstantiated by any kind of data 😳 . I would actually post on the Canadian forums at the site above to see what others in the Canadian sytem know about getting back to Canada from Ireland, Caribbean, and other foreign medschool.

Sorry I am so unprepared.

 

[MyNameIsAlex]

the thing bout ireland

i dont think its any better than caribs... and in fact worse

except of course for the living conditions 🙂

 

[Anastasis]

The Royal College of Surgeons - Dublin is no better than a Carrib school? What in the world do you base that on? Do you know how hard it is to get into med school in Ireland? It's basically a British system school - from way back in the day - so you're basically saying a British school is no better than the Carribean? That's so insanely ethnocentric I don't even know where to start.

(reading back on that, it sounds a bit harsh, but seriously educate yourself: http://www.rcsi.ie/ Just because a school isn't in the US or Canada doesn't mean it's a bad school)

 

[MyNameIsAlex]

im not saying that

what im saying

if you wanna practice in the states or canada after

carib would be better i think

 

[Anastasis]

I think you're seriously over-estimating the carib route buddy. Sure you can practice but...

Plus British/Irish graduates get US residencies all the time. I just really don't get where you're getting this.

For the record, yes I'm biased, I'm thinking about applying to UCD just to see if I can get in - because it's damn hard for Americans to get in. I'd love to move back, the country is wonderful. So you can tell I've done alot of research into this. On top of that I'm pretty biased against Carib schools. I honestly doubt the education you would get from one of them.

If anyone is interested in applying to Irish med schools: http://www.atlanticbridge.com/med/index.htm
It's an interesting programme.

 

[MyNameIsAlex]

do you do rotations in ireland?