Someone I know is stressed as they are in the pre-med track. Does anyone have an insight into how covid will change the pre-med process? Make it more or less competitive?
Pre-med changes info ?
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I don't think it's the best place to ask this. Since it's meant to share information about sp et cetera. But you can always Google about it?
I found this Canadian medical association (CMA): EAIaIQobChMIvPbIoqi37AIVTNbACh2xrANfEAAYASAAEgLRdfD_BwE
Good luck.
P. S. If I recall from what I read from the newspaper, at the moment MCAT is cancel until further notice. So, mostly CMA or other medical government agencies are still thinking about the future too.
There is no such thing as "pre-med" in Canada.
In Canada, if you want to be a doctor, you get an undergraduate degree (and earn really high marks) and then you write the MCAT (and get really high marks) and then apply to medical schools. (In the past, you typically wanted to have an undergraduate degree in sciences, however, there were universities like McMaster which would take you out of any undergrad program. I don't know if that has caught on elsewhere. But given the scientific nature of medical school, you'd be best to have a degree in the natural sciences or engineering. Best to have a resume full of saving the world volunteering as well when you apply.
In Canada, if you want to be a doctor, you get an undergraduate degree (and earn really high marks) and then you write the MCAT (and get really high marks) and then apply to medical schools. (In the past, you typically wanted to have an undergraduate degree in sciences, however, there were universities like McMaster which would take you out of any undergrad program. I don't know if that has caught on elsewhere. But given the scientific nature of medical school, you'd be best to have a degree in the natural sciences or engineering. Best to have a resume full of saving the world volunteering as well when you apply.
This is NOT the platform to be asking this question. (edit sorry I thought ur asking for ur self lol and thought its an odd place to ask at first, il edit my answer to be more helpful)
There are literally forums that are similar to this for what you cal; "pre med" students you should start asking there... Any serious pre med student usually are aware of those (http://forums.premed101.com/ )
But in practicality nothing has changed. Medical school will remain competitive and the same metrics used before to filter the competition are there with COVID. Grades, MCAT, research activity, volunteer work and work history for interview offers. The extra curricular activities are essential, med schools more and more are going for more diverse skill sets and even for those who are academic super stars require evidence of balance outside of school.
Grades are arguably the most important factor to get interview offers. If someone did not have stellar grades in university you are in an uphill battle and should have a very good explanation as to why and also evidence that you have changed. Not sure what situation your friend is in but I have a strong suspicion this person is what its referred to as an unconventional applicant. Those are the applicants who werent the super gunners in their undergrad that transitioned straight to med from UG. For those unconventional applicants they have to prove they are as hard working and reliable as the rest. If their grades werent as good before they HAVE to show they can still comepete
The bigger change of COVID is to residency from medical school as that has higher reliance on in person tasks and evalutations and also travell accross the country for electives
Edit: average accepted GPA for 2018 was 3.96. 70% of students came straight from undergrad. I also would bet that most of those had atleast one published peer reviewed publication and extensive hours in volunteering or work experience to demonstrate balance in academics and work
applymd.utoronto.ca
There are literally forums that are similar to this for what you cal; "pre med" students you should start asking there... Any serious pre med student usually are aware of those (http://forums.premed101.com/ )
But in practicality nothing has changed. Medical school will remain competitive and the same metrics used before to filter the competition are there with COVID. Grades, MCAT, research activity, volunteer work and work history for interview offers. The extra curricular activities are essential, med schools more and more are going for more diverse skill sets and even for those who are academic super stars require evidence of balance outside of school.
Grades are arguably the most important factor to get interview offers. If someone did not have stellar grades in university you are in an uphill battle and should have a very good explanation as to why and also evidence that you have changed. Not sure what situation your friend is in but I have a strong suspicion this person is what its referred to as an unconventional applicant. Those are the applicants who werent the super gunners in their undergrad that transitioned straight to med from UG. For those unconventional applicants they have to prove they are as hard working and reliable as the rest. If their grades werent as good before they HAVE to show they can still comepete
The bigger change of COVID is to residency from medical school as that has higher reliance on in person tasks and evalutations and also travell accross the country for electives
Edit: average accepted GPA for 2018 was 3.96. 70% of students came straight from undergrad. I also would bet that most of those had atleast one published peer reviewed publication and extensive hours in volunteering or work experience to demonstrate balance in academics and work
Admission Stats
Explore admission statistics for the University of Toronto MD Program, including applicant numbers, acceptance rates, and average academic metrics. Gain insights to strengthen your application.
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This is NOT the platform to be asking this question. (edit sorry I thought ur asking for ur self lol and thought its an odd place to ask at first, il edit my answer to be more helpful)
There are literally forums that are similar to this for what you cal; "pre med" students you should start asking there... Any serious pre med student usually are aware of those (http://forums.premed101.com/ )
But in practicality nothing has changed. Medical school will remain competitive and the same metrics used before to filter the competition are there with COVID. Grades, MCAT, research activity, volunteer work and work history for interview offers. The extra curricular activities are essential, med schools more and more are going for more diverse skill sets and even for those who are academic super stars require evidence of balance outside of school.
Grades are arguably the most important factor to get interview offers. If someone did not have stellar grades in university you are in an uphill battle and should have a very good explanation as to why and also evidence that you have changed. Not sure what situation your friend is in but I have a strong suspicion this person is what its referred to as an unconventional applicant. Those are the applicants who werent the super gunners in their undergrad that transitioned straight to med from UG. For those unconventional applicants they have to prove they are as hard working and reliable as the rest. If their grades werent as good before they HAVE to show they can still comepete
The bigger change of COVID is to residency from medical school as that has higher reliance on in person tasks and evalutations and also travell accross the country for electives
Edit: average accepted GPA for 2018 was 3.96. 70% of students came straight from undergrad. I also would bet that most of those had atleast one published peer reviewed publication and extensive hours in volunteering or work experience to demonstrate balance in academics and work
Admission Stats
Explore admission statistics for the University of Toronto MD Program, including applicant numbers, acceptance rates, and average academic metrics. Gain insights to strengthen your application.
First "pre-med" in the Canadian context is, as you say, planing to go to medical school, geting around perfect marks or a bit less, and doing the stuff needed.
And things have changed. The MCAT test for one. Grades are now automatic in most courses because of reduced standards of Covids, so grade inflation I suspect will be huge. In UK for example they just gave studentthe marks that in theory they might have earned via an algorithum. Its not possible to work closely with medical professionals for many students , again because of covid reducing volunteer opportunities.
However the number of peer reviewed papers is insightful. She is working on her first paper and that does not sound like it will be enough anymore to stand out, its just standard.
Grades will be a problem as grade inflation will make many students get 4.0 during the pandemic period. And it sounds like the culture is to pretend everything is the same, which is helpful.
Anyway an bit of insight is helpful - the Covid situation creates uncertainity and stress for everyone.
And why this question when Killer whale attacks, Best dog movies and what not are dicusses is not approiate in the the general area - this question is more sp related by far than those.
Well the thing about medical school admission is that its a competition and everything is relative. COVID impacts everyone. There may be certain populations that have benefited or suffered greater as a cause of it but for the most part when it comes to the MAJORITY of medical school applicants which are those doing a canadian based undergrad and applying at their 4th year they all in the same boat. THey also dont just look at your grades for one year, actually most have a policy where they take your worst year out (or they used to not sure how it is now) so the past NON covid era also still is into play. No medical school in Canada is gonna take someone based off 1 year of data.
Grade inflation has always been an issue. It is even a bigger issue after they made it so people can apply from any degree. So people stacked up on GPA boosters, while that comes into play in the pre interview post interview they do a full application review so things like that get flagged. MCAT was never a big part of Canadian medical school admissions processes. For the most part it was used as a cutoff and something to help boost the application of unconventional applicants. Unlike the USA and other places most applicants for the medical schools here come from a limited number of universities. The medical schools have a very good idea of how to interpret the grades from those and hence the standardization of the MCAT becomes less of an importance. Not sure how it is now but before there were even talks of removing it all together for some schools.
My best advice to any keen pre med is to inflate their grades, be diverse hitting all key parts of the application while playing to their strengths. Part of that is also gearing towards schools as each have slightly different admission criteria. FOr example, UofT has historically been heavy on the acadamics and reserach while some of the schools out west have historically given greater importance to extracurriculars such as atheletics, volunter and work experience. Looking at schools detailed admission statistics is critical. It also helps you to realize if you even have a shot and what you need to work on.
Peer reviewed publications are easy points on the application so that is always helpful. Also FYI these "consulting" services for medical school admission are largely scams. People running them are just mds after quick $ and have 0 involvement in the actual admission process.
Every year the admissions get harder and harder. If you look at the detailed stasticis things are getting pretty ridiculous. These schools have more people applying with 4.0 GPAs than they have spots available lol
Grade inflation has always been an issue. It is even a bigger issue after they made it so people can apply from any degree. So people stacked up on GPA boosters, while that comes into play in the pre interview post interview they do a full application review so things like that get flagged. MCAT was never a big part of Canadian medical school admissions processes. For the most part it was used as a cutoff and something to help boost the application of unconventional applicants. Unlike the USA and other places most applicants for the medical schools here come from a limited number of universities. The medical schools have a very good idea of how to interpret the grades from those and hence the standardization of the MCAT becomes less of an importance. Not sure how it is now but before there were even talks of removing it all together for some schools.
My best advice to any keen pre med is to inflate their grades, be diverse hitting all key parts of the application while playing to their strengths. Part of that is also gearing towards schools as each have slightly different admission criteria. FOr example, UofT has historically been heavy on the acadamics and reserach while some of the schools out west have historically given greater importance to extracurriculars such as atheletics, volunter and work experience. Looking at schools detailed admission statistics is critical. It also helps you to realize if you even have a shot and what you need to work on.
Peer reviewed publications are easy points on the application so that is always helpful. Also FYI these "consulting" services for medical school admission are largely scams. People running them are just mds after quick $ and have 0 involvement in the actual admission process.
Every year the admissions get harder and harder. If you look at the detailed stasticis things are getting pretty ridiculous. These schools have more people applying with 4.0 GPAs than they have spots available lol
Well more info is always better than less, hence this forum. Ya, 4.0 GPA is unfortuenty for some many reasons, which is why CASPER has been added to the testing to compensate.
True. More data points can be helpful
But put your self in the shoes of Ad comm member for Med school. What are you picking ? Are you just picking the next medical students or are you trying pick who will be the best doctor ? What makes a good doctor ? How do you even measure how good a doctor is ? How do you predict whose a good doctor ? Do the qualities that make a pathologist great or a neurosurgeon great the same as those that make a psychiatrist or pediatrician great ?
you see it’s hard. The easiest goal is picking someone who won’t fail medical school. That they have done Ans is easy to do with such high academics of the applicants. Med school is pass and fail now a days and very few If no one fails because of academics. Iwill argue most cases of someone failing school was Due to an ethical or personality issue. Like doing cocaine off an escorts butt in between cases will get you kicked immediately lol
the same also applies after Med school. It’s easier to get people to learn things during residency and practice than to change their personality
because of these things schools have really tried to push for things like Casper but more importantly the MMI. The MMI actually is quite insightful. As someone whose been on both ends of it I can tell you you get to learn a lot about people. Theonly thing is some people are really really good at faking empathy and they know exactly what the right words to say are. You can’t really screen against those but some have even argued if you even should cause these people end up faking empathy even in practice and their patients won’t even know lol
They should be stressed out no matter what as most schools in Canada have 10 good candidates for a single spot that they can choose from. Some of the things that people will do extra to get in will simply blow you away (volunteering etc.). I can already see that some will have "volunteered at hospital to fight COVID-19 pandemic" on their resume/cv, if your friend is not doing that he/she is missing out already (some people will risk dying to get in 
). If he/she wants some certainty I would recommend looking at a place like England/Europe where placement is guaranteed once you are enrolled (no need to waste 4 years of your life pursuing something that won't work out in the end), these days they have amazing youth mobility programmes which will allow you to stay and work without any issues.
). If he/she wants some certainty I would recommend looking at a place like England/Europe where placement is guaranteed once you are enrolled (no need to waste 4 years of your life pursuing something that won't work out in the end), these days they have amazing youth mobility programmes which will allow you to stay and work without any issues.
