bpa1995 Posted January 21, 2018 Report Share Posted January 21, 2018 hi im new here and i just made an account, so in case im posting in the wrong section i apologize ahead of time. so i am the first in my family (divorced) to go to university and i ended my first year with an amcas gpa of 3.0 (3.09 omsas). yes i know, not good. second year began very well however, half way through first semester my father was going through serious financial issues and my mother was mislead to of had ovarian cancer. having no other family in the country, the emotional stress just threw my mind off school and i fell into a deep depression finishing with a 2.75 (2.7 omsas) in that year. however, since then i finished my third year with a 3.71 amcas gpa (3.66 omsas) and currently in my fourth year i have a 4.0 amcas (3.92 omsas). i do know the MCAT will be a big factor especially for someone with my earlier poor performance. while i do realize my cumm.GPA wont be high, but will this sharp incline in grades have an effect? i appreciate any feedback. thank you -Country/state of residence: canada -Schools to which you are applying: mcmaster, michigan state, central michigan and others (still not determined) -MCAT Scores: writing in the summer -Research – ~330 hours, no publications, volunteer based -Volunteering (clinical) – 2 months at medical centre which led to my employment -Physician shadowing – 200 hours/8 months, family dr -Non-clinical volunteering: 60 hours internship at cardiac rehab centre working with elders in a fitness centre. ethnic community: as music set-up, cook, party set up, watched kids -Extracurricular activities: music production, carpentry, men's hairstyling/beard grooming, provide free haircuts to elders and youth in cultural community and residential community, tutor highschool and university students. -Employment history:2 months(summer job) metal fabrication factory, 4 months(summer job) subway, 2.5-3 years medical centre, 4 months (to this day) pharm assistant/tech in shoppers pharmacy. -Immediate family members in medicine? non -Specialty of interest: family medicine -Shadowing experience: 150 hours shadowing pharmacist, 70 hours DDS. not exactly medical drs, but i believe that health must be learned from all angles to really work to better it. -Graduate degrees: will be obtaining b.sc honors in medical sciences -Interest in rural health Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted January 22, 2018 Report Share Posted January 22, 2018 Do a 5th year, and get another 4.0; do the MCAT this summer or next and then apply broadly USMD and USDO. Make sure you satisfy all the pre-req classes that US programs require. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpa1995 Posted January 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2018 Thanks @JohnGrisham for the reply. Another question I have is that I've been doing cars passages lately and I've been getting almost all questions correct. Being that mcmaster has a 3.0 requirement if I get a 130+ on cars how does change the cards for me (while I choose not to take the 5th year)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted January 23, 2018 Report Share Posted January 23, 2018 14 hours ago, bpa1995 said: Thanks @JohnGrisham for the reply. Another question I have is that I've been doing cars passages lately and I've been getting almost all questions correct. Being that mcmaster has a 3.0 requirement if I get a 130+ on cars how does change the cards for me (while I choose not to take the 5th year)? A 5th year would still be advantageous. Even a 130+ CARS is no gaurantee of even an interview at McMaster given weighting of GPA and Casper. Besides, you need to actually get the 130 first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meridian Posted January 23, 2018 Report Share Posted January 23, 2018 Interview at MAC is equal weighting GPA/CARS/CASPER. You would need to absolutely destroy both CARS and CASPER to get an interview. Possible yes -- Statistically not to likely - your cGPA of ~3.35 is too hard to overcome. I would vote for a 5th year and apply early. If you can do well, it could open up Queens and Western potentially. (Are you in Ontario?) MAC Stats: http://mdprogram.mcmaster.ca/docs/default-source/admissions/classof2020.pdf?sfvrsn=2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearpuppy Posted March 14, 2018 Report Share Posted March 14, 2018 MCAT *really* matters at US schools, more than GPA... so you need to ace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpa1995 Posted March 17, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 Appreciate the replies from everyone. I met with an old prof who specializes In textual analysis and she gave advice on cars. Since then I'm getting at most 1 wrong per passage. And I've also decided to take the fifth year as a grade booster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aconitase Posted March 17, 2018 Report Share Posted March 17, 2018 On 2018-01-21 at 6:40 PM, bpa1995 said: hi im new here and i just made an account, so in case im posting in the wrong section i apologize ahead of time. so i am the first in my family (divorced) to go to university and i ended my first year with an amcas gpa of 3.0 (3.09 omsas). yes i know, not good. second year began very well however, half way through first semester my father was going through serious financial issues and my mother was mislead to of had ovarian cancer. having no other family in the country, the emotional stress just threw my mind off school and i fell into a deep depression finishing with a 2.75 (2.7 omsas) in that year. however, since then i finished my third year with a 3.71 amcas gpa (3.66 omsas) and currently in my fourth year i have a 4.0 amcas (3.92 omsas). i do know the MCAT will be a big factor especially for someone with my earlier poor performance. while i do realize my cumm.GPA wont be high, but will this sharp incline in grades have an effect? i appreciate any feedback. thank you -Country/state of residence: canada -Schools to which you are applying: mcmaster, michigan state, central michigan and others (still not determined) -MCAT Scores: writing in the summer -Research – ~330 hours, no publications, volunteer based -Volunteering (clinical) – 2 months at medical centre which led to my employment -Physician shadowing – 200 hours/8 months, family dr -Non-clinical volunteering: 60 hours internship at cardiac rehab centre working with elders in a fitness centre. ethnic community: as music set-up, cook, party set up, watched kids -Extracurricular activities: music production, carpentry, men's hairstyling/beard grooming, provide free haircuts to elders and youth in cultural community and residential community, tutor highschool and university students. -Employment history:2 months(summer job) metal fabrication factory, 4 months(summer job) subway, 2.5-3 years medical centre, 4 months (to this day) pharm assistant/tech in shoppers pharmacy. -Immediate family members in medicine? non -Specialty of interest: family medicine -Shadowing experience: 150 hours shadowing pharmacist, 70 hours DDS. not exactly medical drs, but i believe that health must be learned from all angles to really work to better it. -Graduate degrees: will be obtaining b.sc honors in medical sciences -Interest in rural health Yes Have you considered Ireland or the Carribean Med schools? Lots of docs in and around the GTA from there making serious money and lots of residency spots now for them to come back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearded frog Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 On 3/17/2018 at 9:26 AM, Aconitase said: Have you considered Ireland or the Carribean Med schools? Lots of docs in and around the GTA from there making serious money and lots of residency spots now for them to come back This is terrible advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aconitase Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 37 minutes ago, bearded frog said: This is terrible advice. Why? Lots of colleagues from this part of world in the community Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edict Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 4 hours ago, Aconitase said: Why? Lots of colleagues from this part of world in the community You are seeing only the ones who "made it". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 23 hours ago, Aconitase said: Why? Lots of colleagues from this part of world in the community From a sea of many more who never made it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aconitase Posted March 19, 2018 Report Share Posted March 19, 2018 4 hours ago, JohnGrisham said: From a sea of many more who never made it. I’ve seen a ton make it now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edict Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 On 3/19/2018 at 7:36 PM, Aconitase said: I’ve seen a ton make it now I've actually seen a ton who haven't made it and a few who have. I've heard of one caribbean grad who sees patients under a family doctor, essentially working as a physician's assistant but without the official title. There are options out, but it can be a long, difficult road and certainly not something I recommend to someone who could improve their app and reapply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aconitase Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 10 minutes ago, Edict said: I've actually seen a ton who haven't made it and a few who have. I've heard of one caribbean grad who sees patients under a family doctor, essentially working as a physician's assistant but without the official title. There are options out, but it can be a long, difficult road and certainly not something I recommend to someone who could improve their app and reapply. There are literally 5-6 of them On staff at major hospitals in the GTA doing GIM. I would say that more than half of some GIM groups in the larger GTA hospitals are full of them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 11 hours ago, Aconitase said: There are literally 5-6 of them On staff at major hospitals in the GTA doing GIM. I would say that more than half of some GIM groups in the larger GTA hospitals are full of them 20-25% of the workforce are FMGs/imgs. Yes there are alot. Doesn't negate the fact that nowadays it is much harder to make it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearded frog Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 There are many great physicians working in Canada who studied abroad, but for every one you see there are ~4 who didn't make it (Only 1 in 5 IMGs matched in 2017). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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