WAMC Canadian Applicant/Dentist for DO programs

[jdioasi123]

Hey everyone! I'm looking to apply to DO programs this year. I was accepted to an Australian MD program last year, but didn't accept as I would like to stay closer to Canada. Aus MD is still my backup though. Looking for suggestions on how to improve my app (I'm working 50hours/week so time is certainly a constraint) and which schools I should focus on as a Canadian.

27M non-trad

Education:
BSc: cGPA of 3.98/4.00
Dental school (DMD): cGPA 3.78/4.00
Master of Education: Completed with A average
MCAT: 510

Non-clinical:

• cancer research at hospital for 3 summers and final year thesis in undergrad (have reference from MD PI)
  • one publication (not first/second author)
• 4 month internship at environment canada (federal government)
• teaching assistant for one semester in undergrad
• 4 months working for registrar's office undergrad

Clinical experience:

• 1.5 years so far working full time as a general dentist (>4000 hours)
• Do not have MD/DO shadowing

Volunteering:

• 150 hours as undergrad chemistry tutor
• 50 hours as volunteer student clinician in a dental office providing free dental care

Leadership

• one year as exec in dental student society

Awards:

• Multiple scholarships related to academic performance in undergrad
• Clinical award in dental school

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[ClashRoyaleKing]

Assuming you are applying to US MD/DO schools, you need to accumulate medical/clinical experience outside of being a dentist. What exactly led you to medicine? You also need shadowing, that is a MUST. You also need to accumulate non-clinical volunteering hours, think food bank, soup kitchen, homeless shelter, etc.

 

[Faha]

You could try these schools as a Canadian applicant:
AZCOM
CCOM
KCU-COM
MSUCOM
LUCOM
NSU-KPCOM
UNECOM
Touro-NY
LMU-DCOM
WCU-COM
WESTERN
There are several newer schools and you can check with each one to see if they accept applications from Canadians( ICOM, Touro-Montana, RVU-Montana, Noorda-COM, KHSC-COM, DUQCOM, BUCOM)

 

[candbgirl]

Are you a dentist in Canada? Why are you switching to medicine now?

 

[jdioasi123]

You could try these schools as a Canadian applicant:
AZCOM
CCOM
KCU-COM
MSUCOM
LUCOM
NSU-KPCOM
UNECOM
Touro-NY
LMU-DCOM
WCU-COM
WESTERN
There are several newer schools and you can check with each one to see if they accept applications from Canadians( ICOM, Touro-Montana, RVU-Montana, Noorda-COM, KHSC-COM, DUQCOM, BUCOM)

Thank you for the list.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

1.5 years so far working full time as a general dentist (>4000 hours)

Just to clarify... absolutely no interest in OMFS or ENT?

You must shadow (MD's or DO's) though I don't know what is available around you in Canada. Shadowing is challenging for regular Canadian applicants, so you need to leverage your professional networks to see if anyone allows you to shadow or do a little more. Your dental school coursework is unfortunately not going to help you as much as a most recent MCAT score and a clear realization of why you are shifting to Medicine, what you appreciate about osteopathic philosophy for the DO schools, and what you intend to do for residency and future practice.

What you have done since graduating dental school will also matter much more than what you did in undergrad.

Reach out to the schools @Faha suggested about your situation. You need to know if it's worth the additional hassle and hoop-jumping versus getting started sooner with your Australian MD spot. Again, what is your endgame?