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No MCAT Required?


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By that logic, applicants should be forced to jump through burning hoops since it shows dedication. According to the evidence, the MCAT is not much better than a burning hoop, and the application process entails quite a bit of short and long-term dedication as it is.

 

Application requirements should be predictors of success, not arbitrary or simply because of tradition; otherwise I go to a frat house and not a professional school.

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I agree that MCAT may discriminate against minorities and there is no correlational between high MCAT scores and becoming a successful doctor

but in my honest opinion, even if it seems unfair, I think that schools that use the MCAT for different purposes, for example weed out the bad. What I mean by weed out is get rid of students who are not really dedicated to medicine. If you truly want to enter the field of medicine then it is up to you to study hard for the MCATs and get good grades. Of course there are other factors but I think all schools do a good job of looking at the other factors through the interview process and through the application process.

 

As silly as it sounds sometimes I feel discriminated against because I live in the city (reverse-discrimination). I feel as though if you are fighting for another group's rights but at the same time disadvantaging another group then it really defeats the purpose

 

I understand the NOSM is trying to provide opportunities to individuals in the northern areas of Ontario and but even though they don't say it explicitly, they want individuals who have spent most of their life in rural communities

 

However, I find it offensive that because of where I grew up I am at a disadvantage from having the opportunity in studying medicine at NOSM. I don't see uoft giving priviledges to people specifically from Toronto.

 

I know someone is going to bash what I'm saying, it's a given and I hear over and over again that you can still get in but the chances are low.

 

What if I'm genuinely interested in rural medicine, why should geography determine whether I am or not? I'm trying to prove this through my volunteer experience, by trying to get involved in various rural groups dedicated to bettering the lives of rural residents, but from what I hear that isn't enough

 

is there evidence that people from the city will not practice rural medicine and the rural residents are more likely to??

 

Overall, I just feel just like the MCAT may disadvantage people who may be francophones or lives in rural communities , NOSM is discriminating against people who live in cities (i'm not trying to say that nobody from the city can get into the NOSM... that is not my point, it's just that it is more difficult...i'd just like to emphasize that)

:)

 

thanks

-wisdom_tooth

 

So, you are saying the MCAT is used to weed out the bad? First, what is bad? Is doing poorly on the MCAT even after repeated attempts bad? If so, let me give you this example. A couple years ago, a student who got a 6VR was rejected from a medical school in the west and was forced to go to McGill medical school because they don't have cut-offs. Mind you, she was OOP in Quebec, so I am sure you understand just exactly how competitve her application must have been. Also, she went on to become a Rhodes Scholar and is currently studying at Oxford University for her Ph.D. So, because the MCAT was successful in eliminating that applicant, that particular medical school was able to rid themselves of a "bad" applicant. The MCAT is bogus and is flawed in the way medical use it to accept and reject people. Its not just the MCAT, its standardized tests.

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So, you are saying the MCAT is used to weed out the bad? First, what is bad? Is doing poorly on the MCAT even after repeated attempts bad? If so, let me give you this example. A couple years ago, a student who got a 6VR was rejected from a medical school in the west and was forced to go to McGill medical school because they don't have cut-offs. Mind you, she was OOP in Quebec, so I am sure you understand just exactly how competitve her application must have been. Also, she went on to become a Rhodes Scholar and is currently studying at Oxford University for her Ph.D. So, because the MCAT was successful in eliminating that applicant, that particular medical school was able to rid themselves of a "bad" applicant. The MCAT is bogus and is flawed in the way medical use it to accept and reject people. Its not just the MCAT, its standardized tests.

Well said Kuantum!:)

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So, you are saying the MCAT is used to weed out the bad? First, what is bad? Is doing poorly on the MCAT even after repeated attempts bad? If so, let me give you this example. A couple years ago, a student who got a 6VR was rejected from a medical school in the west and was forced to go to McGill medical school because they don't have cut-offs. Mind you, she was OOP in Quebec, so I am sure you understand just exactly how competitve her application must have been. Also, she went on to become a Rhodes Scholar and is currently studying at Oxford University for her Ph.D. So, because the MCAT was successful in eliminating that applicant, that particular medical school was able to rid themselves of a "bad" applicant. The MCAT is bogus and is flawed in the way medical use it to accept and reject people. Its not just the MCAT, its standardized tests.

the key word is STANDARDIZED

we need a way to standardize applicants

there are thousands who apply and as mentioned by someone else the MCAT is one way to get through all the applicants

and I don't agree with this whole "the MCAT doesn't predict how well of a doctor you'll be in the future"

you could say the same thing about MARKS

hypothetically speaking, someone could be cut out to be a great doctor; good interpersonal skills, able to listen, works well with others, enjoys learning etc yet they're just not good at taking tests and thus get lousy marks

so should we just totally get rid of marks as a pre-req for getting into med school??

i'm sure there is still some reason why the MCAT is still implemented, i'm sure through years of regressional analyses it has been shown that to some extent MCAT scores do predict how well you'll do as a doctor in the future...the system isn't out there to intentially get us and make our lives miserable (but unfortunately it does lol)

 

hey don't get me wrong Kuantum I understand where you're coming from

i'm all for the MCAT being eliminated (down with the MCAT...down with all standardize tests...down with tests all together) but the reality is that we need some sort of standardization...that's the bottom line

 

I'm glad we're having this discussion, the more people discuss it the more word gets around...and that's how change is initiated

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hey don't get me wrong Kuantum I understand where you're coming from

i'm all for the MCAT being eliminated (down with the MCAT...down with all standardize tests...down with tests all together) but the reality is that we need some sort of standardization...that's the bottom line

 

Well said. This is how I look at the MCAT as well. When you have thousands of applicants for very few spots, and limited interview time to go around, you need a means of objectively looking at applicants. Now I am not suggesting that any programs are better or worse, but some are no doubt harder to do well in mark wise, and therefore it's nice to have something to help weed through the large number of applicants. After a certain number are done, then you can move on to stuff like sketches, submissions, and interviews.

 

I know the ideal is to look at the applicant as a whole, but this simply isn't feasible. I was just reading parts of the Accreditation report at Queen's (where I am now), and one of the areas that it spoke about was the desire to expand admissions to include more factors that weren't mark/MCAT related, but that it wasn't feasible for them since they don't have the resources to do so (volunteers for interviews amongst faculty, time, etc.) I can only imagine this is the case for many of the mid to small-sized medical schools in the country. NOSM is a small school (and fragmented as well), and no doubt could experience this problem in the future as well. This is where other measures for applicant selection, such as the MCAT have merit.

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