Bambi

It's sad! The healthcare system is in terrible shape. The politicians are only interested in appearances to the public as their interest is in gaining votes, not in really improving the system for the betterment of our population. And Trudeau on the heels of an election is pushing free dental care and providing a tiny band aid for the lack of affordable rental housing and the unaffordable price of homes. In all the above, the governments are doing too little, too late and going in the wrong directions. Short term solutions are no solutions at all,, rather they make things worse.

I guess its a random lottery where there are no real rules.

Good Luck!

Congrats to all those recently accepted!

K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid. I have not the slightest idea why you would want to do your undergrad in the US and whether or not there is a clear disadvantage in so doing. I assume your parents have money to burn as the expense would be considerable compared to undergrad in Canada for a Canadian resident. My simple advice would be to stay in Canada for undergrad unless there is a very compelling reason to do otherwise, e.g., a grandparent is immobile and lives close to the US university. You mention this appears to be a guaranteed pathway to med school in US, which qualifies as a compelling reason. s

The major hit for the vast majority of people to be affected by the effective increase in capital gains tax, aside from the sale of 2nd or 3rd homes, will be on death when significant capital gains tax will come to roost. Until then, for most of us, the capital gains in any given year will not likely reach the level where increased taxes apply.

May all your wishes come true!

Capital gains: I believe the hit is slightly higher than an extra 8% tax. And to think, back in 1971, capital gains tax did not exist in Canada, lol. I am young in the practice, less than 5 years, so the capital gains tax does not affect me - yet. No real investments other than a small RRSP and no need for a professional corporation at this stage as all my money, my after tax money, which is my only money, has gone on aggressively paying off my large LOC, my mortgage, family cars, normal living expenses, vacations. I understand but disagree on delaying children, especially being female where age is an important factor. This is a balancing act that requires good judgment and good timing and once you start, you do not want to space the children too far apart for many reasons. As for fellowships, shikimate is 100% correct. Moreover, if I had done a fellowship in my surgical specialty, I would be doing the same assembly line job for decades, constant monotonous repitition

PT, OT, kin, exercise science, audiologist, NP, there asre too many professions in the healthcare field to mention, there is teaching, business, law - one can be on a 2 track path and actually practice one profession while seeking entry into medicine. Life should not stop if an applicant does not make it after more than one try or ever. To answer your question, my grades were too low to apply in Cegep. I then went to undergrad as a highly motivated, focused and disciplined person, worked until exhaustion every semester, lost my every friend in the process as my whole life centered around academics, I applied to 4 med schools, was interviewed by 3, put on the Wait List by one and was accepted in August. The most important ingredient in my acceptance was not my hard work in undergrad although that was absolutely necessary but rather pure luck! It just so happened that the WL moved more than any previous year, otherwise I would not have made it and might have applied for many years. For y residency spot, once again the most important ingredient was pure luck in my selection for a competitive surgical specialty, where I was the least qualified applicant but had great soft skills, friendly, team player, hard worker, compassionate and not one gunner was selected.

Everybody should have a Plan B from the beginning, so that the undergrad degree is not just for the goal to obtain a high GPA, but rather to lay the foundation for a potential other career be in within the healthcare field or otherwise. It is a fact of life that in this game of musical chairs where there are less seats available than there are competitive applicants, that excellent candidates will always be turned down during any application cycle. Many people apply as much as 8 times until accepted. This process often requires perseverance and nobody's life should just stand still, rather one should be preparing for another career at the same time. After all, lightning may never strike.

Meanwhile, Ontario is opening new medical schools. The Canadian healthcare system is out of whack.

radd speaks with wisdom and truth! You likely will do best in the program of greater interest to you. If that is UdeM, fine. Otherwise, you alone must make the final decision and do not let your parents persuade you otherwise. After all, you alone will live with the results. I took a program what interested me tremendously, I was highly motivated and as I studied hard throughout my studies, I received top grades and was accepted into medical school. However, this came with self-sacrifice. My life stopped for 3 years during undergrad as all I did was study to the point of exhaustion. My program was not difficult but the material was voluminous and whereas I could have floated by on a B average, I had to wrok hard to attain A+ status. During this time, I lost every friend that I had as I had no time for my friends and my s.o., who was supportive of my ambitions, only saw me once a week for a few hours as otherwise, I was studying always. Remember, there are more competitive applicants than there are seats in med school. Its like a game of musical chairs where there are more applicants than seats available. It becomes somewhat of a lottery amongst competitive applicants.

I agree with all that radd said - except for the last sentence that I made a separate last paragraph and put in italics. I do not know the breakdown of how each component of consideration factors in for each med school in making their final decisions. I do know based upon my experience - in addition to being a competitive applicant who is able to make good strategic decisions along their path at each crossroads - that "luck" plays a critical was accepted. role, be it for med school application/acceptance, residency and career path. Certainly, creating and/or seeing opportunities, networking, being likeable and a team player, timing helps to create an atmosphere in which your chances are maximized. As a small example, I was on the Wait List for med school and only was accepted in August. However, that year the Wait List moved more than it had in the previous several years and as a result, I was accepted. Had I applied the previous year, I would not have been accepted. I could present many other examples where pure luck played a role in molding my future.

NO. Your chances to get into med school for UdeM are based upon your competitive advantage, if any, including the boost. You go through the process, MEMFI, Casper, CRU, Z score, whatever. If somebody did their undergrad at Concordia, McGill, Laval, UdeM wherever scorses betrter than you in this lottery of musical chairs, then tough luck.

Hi Sarah, To answer your question, I don't think it really matters - but there is a caveat! If you go to UdeM, you will be entitled to a boost which won't be available otherwise. I don't understand the meaning or context or your last sentence, "some people told me since udem med program is bigger i should go to udem" - as this makes absolutely no sense to me! You do not have today the slightest idea where (or when) lightning with strike, that is to say, presumably you will apply to all Quebec medical schools in due course and likely, to Ottawa as well. You will have a slight advantage in your application at UdeM b/c you took your undergrad studies there, but that is it. The number of medical students at any of these med schools is not a meaningful factor for you in the slightest as I see it. When you do finally apply to med school, contact me and I will give you some advice then. I did my undergrad and then went to a Franco med school.