Non Traditional Applicant: Do I stand a chance?

[TraderMGP7]

Hi there,

I really want to pursue a career as a doctor. However, I'm struggling to know if I would be competitive against other applicants. Some quick info on me:

Age:29

Location: Ontario

I am from a fairly rural town (I've read that can help if applying to NOMS?)

Undergrad in Mechanical Engineering (~3.56GPA)

5 years industry experience in manufacturing facilities (working as a supervisor of small groups for 3 years)

Have started and ran a few small businesses

Extensive ECs in high school (top student award, top athlete award, etc.)... but not much during university. 

In University was part of one of 2 teams from Canada that was selected to present in an international conference in Denmark (on smart cities)

After University I was selected to take part in a 4 month Entrepreneurial program/ incubator. 

For the last 2 years I've been fairly involved in volunteering in my community with The United Way- including Chairing a committee targeting professionals in their 20s and 30s. I also sit on other committees and commit time to volunteering at events as well. 

I acted as a youth mentor for 6 months for an at risk youth and helped my mentee get accepted to college (first in his family). I will be mentoring another youth starting in a couple months.

No medical experience.

No bio courses

I have not written the MCAT

 

How likely is it that I would get accepted to an Ontario medical school? 

Is it a bad idea to go to the Caribbean or Europe to study? (I definitely want to get back to Ontario to practice)

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated... I am very interested in doing this- even willing to take a year off work to facilitate activities that would make my application stronger. 

 

Thanks!

 

 

[3rdtimesthecharm]

Your ECs look good (although it's best not to use ECs more than 5 yrs old or as far back as high school since they arent very reflective of who you are + what you do now) but the biggest concern is the pre-reqs. Pretty much all the med schools have pre-req science courses (bio, chem, etc) that you need to have completed (see websites for details) so you'll have to take those before they even consider you. So take those science courses, write the MCAT, get some healthcare experience to see if you even like the field, and see where you are after all that.

And yes if you intend on coming back to practice in Canada it is not a good idea to go abroad, its incredibly difficult to match as an IMG vs home. 

[frenchpress]

I disagree that pre reqs are your biggest issue. Taking a few courses part-time or online is doable, and there are several schools in Canada that don’t require anything but English. And you can self study for the MCAT. 

Your ECs are fine. Work experience is always helpful, and usually valued. I would argue that you want to include anything and everything you can on the app - older activities dating back to high school can be valuable if you have space after adding more recent activities. (I included things that were more than a decade old on my app, and I think it only helped me).

I would say GPA is likely to be the biggest hurdle for you, especially if you’re in Ontario and want to stay there. Whats the break down of your undergrad GPA per year?

[takasugi]

You said your from a rural town. Check out NOSM, they give preference to rural people. Also where is your rural town? Is it in southwestern Ontario? Check if you qualify for SWOMEN at Western