medic77

Alot of people discuss the CCFP-EM +1 program but few mention the +1 anesthesia program. I'm currently applying to it cross country and know several colleagues that have went through it. If you don't enjoy OR anesthesia at all, understandably, don't do it but I would argue it's far more useful than the +1 EM program. This is also pending your primary care program has a decent amount of ER exposure. The reason I find it so enticing is that is gives you far better critical skills in airway and resuscitation than EM and if you have decent rural EM exposure already, it's only a period of time before you 'catch-up' to your +1 colleagues in other ER skills. It also allows you more diversity in your day to day. This is the first year it's being done through CaRMS. I should mention it is very competitive.

The way the panel worked for me was there were 3 interviewers and each one took turns asking a series of questions. About half the questions seemed to be actually quite similar to MMI style questions with the added disadvantage of not having 2 minutes to think about them which I found particularly challenging. Additionally it's more if a 'get to know you' style interview. It's been quite a while but I think I recall them asking things like why medicine? Why not nurse vs paramedic? Why Manitoba? And why do you think you'd qualify for the aboriginal pool? They didnt ask me much about my community involvement but they doesn't mean they won't. Also it's been 4 years since then so I can't say how or if the panel has evolved since then. All around I actually found it much more challenging than the MMI but I would likely attribute that to not spending as much time preparing for it. Hope this helps!

I got in with MCAT 28 (504 equivalent) and GPA 4.0. I practiced a TON for the interview, have a diverse background making interview easier and had full rural attributes though.

Accepted/Waitlisted/Regrets: Accepted (Almost puked opening my application portal) In Province (IP)/ Out of Province (OOP): IP + Aboriginal Pool GPA (x.xx/4.5): 4.00/4.5 MCAT (xx.xx/15): 9.125 Rural/Non-Rural: 2/3 Rural and checked off a fair amount from the Socioeconomic Diversity Section. Advanced Academics (PhD, pubs, academic appointment): n/a Accepting Offer/Declining Offer: Accepted and paid deposit First application and first interview but prepped a TON! I'm pretty far below the curve for what they usually accept in terms of MCAT scores so don't lose hope if your score is on the low side! Ahhhh can't wait to meet everyone in August!

(15%AGPA + 40%MCAT + 45%MMI) X (rural co-efficient if >0) X (academic co-efficient if >0) X (socioeconomic and cultural diversity co-efficient if >0) "Some components are valued more than others, which is reflected in the relative weights assigned to each component. However, the patterns of dispersal of individual components have the potential to alter the assigned relative weights. Components with larger variances can have greater influences on composite scores than intended. Such unintended altered weighting can be avoided through standardization." This essentially means they take each component and standardize it via a 'z-score' before mathematically combining them to create the final composite score used for official ranking. There's also the other multiplier coefficients to consider. Here's a great article on how they introduced and implemented the rural coefficient http://www.rrh.org.au/articles/subviewnew.asp?ArticleID=1646 (Note that the values assigned in this article and the statistical data they based it off of have are likely very different today as they are constantly adjusting things) I haven't been able to find any information on how the academic multiplier works but probably in a similar fashion. The socioeconomic and cultural diversity co-efficient is new to this year and there's no information on how the scoring works aside from what I've seen in this article: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/U-of-M-looking-to-make-changes-to-medical-school-admission-in-2016-303522391.html Don't bother trying to independently add up your values from this (if you even met any of the criteria) because the way they incorporate it is confidential. As is the data they use to implement both other coefficients and the z-scoring. Trust me when I say combing through all of this stuff will just give you a headache because only the admissions office has the exact formulas for ranking. If you're done your interview there's nothing more you can do to influence your score so try and focus on anything else. If not - put this stuff aside and use the time you have left to hammer down some last minute practice.

Also late to the party, Invited (Panel + MMI) IP AGPA: 4.00 MCAT: 9.125 Aboriginal w/ fairly high rural + socioeconomic attribute coefficients

Hey guys. Hoping some of you can offer any thoughts on my shot at Umanitoba for the 2016/2017 cycle. Can't seem to find much solid info on chances at getting in via the Aboriginal Pool. AGPA: 4.00/4.50 Operative MCAT: 9.15 Just finished general science degree with micro focus and did a summer of bio-research via an NSERC award. About 2 years of hospital volunteering (wards, emergency, surgery). Applying as IP with very high rurality coefficient. Plan on hopefully returning back home up north to work in rural setting. I also fit some criteria for the new socioeconomic diversity multiplier. Worked for a private contract EMS company as a primary care paramedic all over northern rural Manitoba and Winnipeg for a year. Any feedback would be great. Thanks!

I agree. Even taking into account Ontario's high preference for VR scores this is an all around lazy post. There may be a drawback dpx if you're looking particularly at getting in McMaster but you really didn't give much information.

Ah thanks so much. I know U of M relies heavily on the MCAT so I'm really concerned if being in the Aboriginal Pool + having rural background is going to be be enough to offset it. I'll dig deeper into NOSM and thanks for the tip on Ottawa! Really appreciate it.

(xpost from 'What are my chances?') Very conflicted about whether I should re-write the MCAT (dreading this idea as it'd be the new one) and chase down a 4th year Micro major degree. Hopefully someone can offer some advice! Here's what I got goin on: - 2 MCAT writes - 1st = 26 (VR 6, PS 10, BS 10), 2nd = 27 (VR 8, PS 8, BS 11) - cGPA = 3.80 / 4.5 , AGPA = 4.30 / 4.5 (some old schooling that's crippling me) - 300+ volunteer hours in hospital - ex primary care paramedic (all sorts of certificates that came with this - ACLS, CPR for HCP's,etc as well as some decent experience) - volunteer fire fighter for 2 years - Doing synthetic bio/biochem research this summer and possibly next - 3 year general science degree (just finishing and unsure if I want to pursue 4th year micro major) - 2 year chemical engineering tech diploma (didn't really do anything with it) I should mention I'm primarily interested in Umanitoba as I realize my GPA + MCAT put an axe on going OOP but I'll apply wherever I can regardless. I'll be almost 29 when I apply if that means anything. I am Metis and grew up in a northern rural community that I'd most likely return to after I finished med. I've nailed down 3 pretty good references for recommendation letters so far. Was so busy taking full course loads (right through summers as well) that I haven't been as active in the University as I'd hoped but I'm going to change that soon. If anyone has any tips on whether re-taking the MCAT is in my best interest or if chasing down a 4th year degree would be more beneficial that padding up my resume in other ways for a year I'd love to hear!

Very conflicted about whether I should re-write the MCAT (dreading this idea as it'd be the new one) and chase down a 4th year Micro major degree. Hopefully someone can offer some advice! Here's what I got goin on: - 2 MCAT writes - 1st = 26 (VR 6, PS 10, BS 10), 2nd = 27 (VR 8, PS 8, BS 11) - cGPA = 3.80 / 4.5 , AGPA = 4.30 / 4.5 (some old schooling that's crippling me) - 300+ volunteer hours in hospital - ex primary care paramedic (all sorts of certificates that came with this - ACLS, CPR for HCP's,etc as well as some decent experience) - volunteer fire fighter for 2 years - Doing synthetic bio/biochem research this summer and possibly next - 3 year general science degree (just finishing and unsure if I want to pursue 4th year micro major) - 2 year chemical engineering tech diploma (didn't really do anything with it) I should mention I'm primarily interested in Umanitoba as I realize my GPA + MCAT put an axe on going OOP but I'll apply wherever I can regardless. I'll be almost 29 when I apply if that means anything. I am Metis and grew up in a northern rural community that I'd most likely return to after I finished med. I've nailed down 3 pretty good references for recommendation letters so far. Was so busy taking full course loads (right through summers as well) that I haven't been as active in the University as I'd hoped but I'm going to change that soon. If anyone has any tips on whether re-taking the MCAT is in my best interest or if chasing down a 4th year degree would be more beneficial that padding up my resume in other ways for a year I'd love to hear!