Thoughts - Canadian Non-Trad

[F_Steve]

Hi folks,

I'm a 31 year old, male Canadian who is looking to change careers and study medicine, and I was hoping for some feedback/thoughts from the members on the forum. I am currently a CPA/Senior Manager at a Big 4 accounting firm, focusing on audit. My career is relatively successful, but it's always been my dream to be a physician, and I figure that if I don't try it now, then I'll never try it.

I graduated from a Canadian university with a Bachelor of Commerce in 2006 (3.56/4.0 GPA) and a Master's in economics from a top UK university (think Oxbridge) in 2007 with about a 70% average.

I haven't taken any science courses since high school, so I'd be starting out fresh with the Biology/Chemistry requirements (I have good grades from advanced Math courses in undergrad, plus English composition). I'm okay with leaving my job because I now have some financial stability, and I want to pursue my dream of being a doctor.

To sum it up, here are the stats:

1) GPA - about 3.5/4.0 undergrad and 70% grad school (unrelated to science)
2 ) Extracurricular - little to none. All my spare time outside of work (which is already a very time consuming profession) was spent managing my small portfolio of properties (recently sold for a modest windfall, so I'm ok with leaving the job), and I didn't really pursue any EC activities since undergrad.
3) Shadowing - Nope...never did anything like this

As I mentioned, if I go down this path then I will have to take all the science pre-requisites, write the MCAT and probably look to applying at a DO school (which is fine by me) or even an Israeli MD program (I speak the language fairly well and I am familiar with the country - not sure how competitive it is to get into one of these programs).

Do you guys have any advice for me? Am I crazy to be looking into this, or is it feasible? Being a Canadian means I'm already given the short end of the stick when applying to US schools (except Michigan State College of Osteopathic Medicine?), but I'll take any advice, no matter how brutally honest.

I'd also be open to attending a post-bacc program in the US, if this could help.

Thanks in advance for the comments and advice.

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[Kikara]

You're not crazy for looking into medicine but you really need ECs, especially ECs that demonstrate you can serve others. You'll need to get LORs from faculty members that are in science and outside. I'm curious so I want to ask, why do you want to go into medicine? What exposure do you have to the field minus TV shows (unrealistic)?

 

[futuremdforme]

Are you in Canada now or the US? If you're still in Canada, it's hard to shadow, but it's easy in the US. If you are in the US and have the option of working while your employer sponsors a green card, I would strongly recommend doing this! It could make the difference of getting into an MD school instead of DO, or DO instead of nothing. There are definitely some Canada-friendly schools but you're right that it's a big disadvantage.

How have you calculated your GPA? It's not necessarily what you see on your transcript.

Where do you want to practice when you finish med school? If it's Canada, you need to consider the rights of DOs in various provinces (it's not the same across Canada). An Israeli MD would put you in the 2nd match, I'm not sure about DO. I know a fair amount of people who did overseas MD/MBBS and they've all matched, but it's not the same for everyone. (I'd say people who can't get into med school due to a low MCAT would be extra at risk. The Canadians I know who have succeeded all applied later with a good MCAT, but it was too late to make up GPA damage.)

Hope this helps!

 

[Kikara]

Where do you want to practice when you finish med school? If it's Canada, you need to consider the rights of DOs in various provinces (it's not the same across Canada).

DO physicians have unlimited scope of practice (pretty much) in all of the provinces of Canada but provinces can have different requirements for licensure.