Applying To US DO Med Schools - FAQs, Guidance & Canadian Friendly Schools

[Morinphen]

this looks awesome, definitely want to attend but I've got a midterm that day =S I'm still a few years away from applying but I've read through this entire thread and I'm really interested in the DO path, hope there's another seminar next year

[Mashmetoo]

this looks awesome, definitely want to attend but I've got a midterm that day =S I'm still a few years away from applying but I've read through this entire thread and I'm really interested in the DO path, hope there's another seminar next year

 

Cool! NP, this will be an annual event. We also have seminars planned for McGill, UofWindsor, UBC, and SFU All annual events - dates to be announced later.

[penandpencil]

hi

 

i'm so worried about admissions cuz i have really low average. I'm in honours biomed program but won't be graduating with honours due to my GPA. I have about 3.05 cGPA right now, but as I do my last year right now i think i can bring it up to 3.3 or even 3.4 cGPA. I know this is extremely low.

 

For MCAT goes, I never written a MCAT yet. I expect it to be just an average mark.

 

But I done lots of research domestic and international. 1 non-SCI publication, 2 poster presentation, 2 oral presenation. And i done some volunteering throughout my years too.

 

If it matters at all, I had a death in my direct family member. I really don't want to blame my marks on it but it sure changed few things in my work ethics. Well, anyways I'm trying to get back on track.

 

Are there any DO schools that would take me? I don't care how small it is.. just as long as it's not a doubinous school which will go bankrupt before I graduate

 

or should I just forget about it all and go grad school or do nursing instead..

[advair250]

hi

 

i'm so worried about admissions cuz i have really low average. I'm in honours biomed program but won't be graduating with honours due to my GPA. I have about 3.05 cGPA right now, but as I do my last year right now i think i can bring it up to 3.3 or even 3.4 cGPA. I know this is extremely low.

 

For MCAT goes, I never written a MCAT yet. I expect it to be just an average mark.

 

But I done lots of research domestic and international. 1 non-SCI publication, 2 poster presentation, 2 oral presenation. And i done some volunteering throughout my years too.

 

If it matters at all, I had a death in my direct family member. I really don't want to blame my marks on it but it sure changed few things in my work ethics. Well, anyways I'm trying to get back on track.

 

Are there any DO schools that would take me? I don't care how small it is.. just as long as it's not a doubinous school which will go bankrupt before I graduate

 

or should I just forget about it all and go grad school or do nursing instead..

 

Hard to say, best thing is to bring it up and do well on the MCAT. Also your extracurriculars factor in as well. DO school is not as "easy" as it used to be, and stats are creeping up higher, so higher numbers the better..

[Slashsev]

dont let the numbers fool you...

 

DO is hard for Canadians, simple bc most dont wanna take them

 

bring the gpa up mcat up

 

...andd being at the bottom..i recommend you find a DO, and get good letter from him...

[penandpencil]

Thanks for the input.

Yea the low gpa and just ordinary other things worries me that i won't get into any of them. I wish I can find out what the Canadian DO admission stats were

[advair250]

The admitted stats for Canadians are relatively higher than us counterparts. Try and bring it up to 3.5, and you have a better chance it's with unique ECs. Lot more Canadians are applying as backup etc, so they have strong stats.

[Slashsev]

its been around +3.5 and a +26-27 mcat..generally

[Mashmetoo]

 

 

Hey everyone, we will be having another presentation this fall. It will be held at the University of Toronto, on Friday October 18. Everyone is welcome to attend!

 

Also, if you're a U of T student please sign up for the event through the career centre http://www.careers.utoronto.ca/ so we can track expected numbers. Non UT students are welcome as well though!

 

Reminder! This event is next Friday, mark your calendars, everyone is welcome!

[Mashmetoo]

 

 

Hey everyone, we will be having another presentation this fall. It will be held at the University of Toronto, on Friday October 18. Everyone is welcome to attend!

 

Also, if you're a U of T student please sign up for the event through the career centre http://www.careers.utoronto.ca/ so we can track expected numbers. Non UT students are welcome as well though!

 

FINAL reminder guys! This seminar is THIS FRIDAY. Hope to see you all there!!

[Mashmetoo]

 

Bonjour! We will be having our next seminar at McGill University on Nov 15. You don't have to be a McGill student to attend, all are welcome! One of the presenters is a McGill Alumni.

[COMSA-premed]

For specific information, please refer to the beginning of this thread and studentdo.ca ; for any remaining inquiries feel free to send a PM to this account. This account will serve as a go to point on PM101 and SDN for Canadians applying to DO schools.

 

If after using the above resources and checking the AACOMAS CIB, do not hesitate to PM me

[Mashmetoo]

Update:

 

Hi everyone,

 

It has been 5 years since I applied to medical school. The information I have pertaining to pre-medical application are out of date at this point. If I don't answer your PM, it's because either 1) I'm out on interviews, or simply too busy at the moment, or read your PM but forgot to respond (so try PMing me again!), or 2) I simply don't have an answer for you (so instead of telling you something that was wrong, or out of date, I'd rather remain silent so that you can try to find the answer yourself). I still frequent this forum and update this sticky as frequently as I can. I am still well versed in medical school related issues like studying for your boards, visas, returning home to Canada, or staying in the US, so feel free to ask me those questions. I still look out for pre-meds, and try to offer them the best advise possible for matriculation in the US. I even applied for a moderator position with tooty, so we'll see how that goes.

 

COMSA has recently recruited someone who is very familiar with pre-med issues and who will be very active on these forums when pre-med questions arise. If you are a pre-med and have specific question regarding your chances of acceptance, MCAT question, or generally any pre-med related questions, please refer to the username "COMSA-premed", or post a reply on this sticky, and "COMSA-premed" will respond ASAP.

 

Also, we hope to see you at our McGill seminar next Friday!

 

[COMSA-premed]

Great post Mashmetoo, and the introduction! You summed things up nicely, and for those that have more personal questions, feel free to PM me. I can try my best to answer your questions, provide links and sources and if need be direct contacts.

[Hackintosh]

I am finishing my WesternU application just now. Looks like they require a physician shadowing letter which I don't have. I have a letter from an MD/PhD, but she is not a physician. How should I go about mentioning this and is this something they are open to? Do you guys know? Should I apply or save my secondary money?

[COMSA-premed]

Given that the MD/PhD is by definition still a physician (albeit they may be trained as a physician scientist) I think it would still work. If its some form of clinical research, just have them mention any potential interactions with patients etc.

 

It should work, I believe there have been a few people use MD/PhD. It shouldn't be a problem, but if it is, they will tell you.

 

Apply away.

[hopefuldr10]

Really hoping someone can help me here. I did my undergrad at York University which uses a system of 3 credits for a 1 semester course (half year) and 6 credits for a 2 semester course (Full year). Those of you applying to AACOMAS know that they transfer these to 3 and 6 semester hours respectfully and 4 and 8 hours respectfully if they have a lab component.

 

I did everything as I was supposed to on the application, inputted values as seen on my transcript and included "with lab" in the course names for those that had lab components.

 

Upon AACOMAS verification, they refused to transfer any course (unless in-progress) to 4 or 8 semester hours. Oddly enough even a signed and notarized letter from the university stating that these courses did indeed have lab components wouldn't be suffice for them to change their values. What do I do?

[Der Kaiser]

Really hoping someone can help me here. I did my undergrad at York University which uses a system of 3 credits for a 1 semester course (half year) and 6 credits for a 2 semester course (Full year). Those of you applying to AACOMAS know that they transfer these to 3 and 6 semester hours respectfully and 4 and 8 hours respectfully if they have a lab component.

 

I did everything as I was supposed to on the application, inputted values as seen on my transcript and included "with lab" in the course names for those that had lab components.

 

Upon AACOMAS verification, they refused to transfer any course to 4 or 8 semester hours. Oddly enough even a signed and notarized letter from the university stating that these courses did indeed have lab components wouldn't be suffice for them to change their values. What do I do?

 

This is a relatively new thing for AACOMAS to do, but they will not put down a different number of credit hours than is stated on your transcript. AFAIK the schools you are applying to should know the difference. As long as you put (with lab) beside each course with a lab you can explain to the actual school the whole Canadian thing. So far, I have only heard of Western giving students a hassle about it, but even then simply contacting admissions and explaining cleared things up.

 

I have had two interview invites so far and I do not have the extra credit hours for labs, but I did put (with lab) beside every title. I may get some hassle at acceptance time (if it comes) but most schools are pretty reasonable and understand that Canada has a different way of doing things.

[hopefuldr10]

Thanks! Yeah they weren't exactly the most friendly on the phone either. My current year in progress had the proper numbers and one of the courses is a repeat. When I pointed out that the current course has the proper conversion (8 hours) and the exact same course in the past has 6 hours, they actually changed the 8 to 6. Definitely not a pleasant experience.

[COMSA-premed]

Really hoping someone can help me here. I did my undergrad at York University which uses a system of 3 credits for a 1 semester course (half year) and 6 credits for a 2 semester course (Full year). Those of you applying to AACOMAS know that they transfer these to 3 and 6 semester hours respectfully and 4 and 8 hours respectfully if they have a lab component.

 

I did everything as I was supposed to on the application, inputted values as seen on my transcript and included "with lab" in the course names for those that had lab components.

 

Upon AACOMAS verification, they refused to transfer any course (unless in-progress) to 4 or 8 semester hours. Oddly enough even a signed and notarized letter from the university stating that these courses did indeed have lab components wouldn't be suffice for them to change their values. What do I do?

 

 

AACOMAS never has converted credit values on your application. It is up to the individual schools you apply to, to confirm that your pre-requisite course work is sufficient. Most schools realize this, and it is generally fine.

 

They only put what is on your transcript as the credit values, no adjustments are made.

 

No reason to fuss

[Mashmetoo]

 

Hello everyone, I am proud to announce our next seminar at UBC and SFU! You do not need to be a SFU or UBC student to attend the seminar and everyone is welcome. We hope to see you there!

[s5260205]

How did everyone get a reference letter from a physician (or even a DO)? I find it hard to get the reference outside of research. And even the clinical research position I had I never really had any contact with the physician.

 

Also, I know there is a DO in Toronto but not in private practice. Is it possible for me to just email him about my interests in DO schools? And how should I go about doing that?

[COMSA-premed]

Hi s5260205,

 

A letter from an MD/PhD you did research with is fine, as well you can approach your own family physician for a LOR. Both have been perfectly fine to get students in this current cycle, as they know there aren't very many DO's in Canada and that clinical exposure at the level of Americans is hard to come by.

[Hackintosh]

Does COMSA have any information on Canadian students' residency matching (i.e. specialties, AOA vs ACGME, etc.)? Have you guys tried reaching out to past Canadian grads to gather such data?

[COMSA-premed]

You can see near the beginning of the thread I believe, it was stated the handful of Canadian grads who have matched back in Canada (3-4). There isn't much data, as not many Canadians have applied to match back, and it has only been until recently years that there have been a large amount of Canadians attending the schools. It will be in the next 2 years that there will be larger cohorts of Canadians applying for residency.