Realistic options for medical school

[neuroeats]

Hi everyone,

Over the past month I've been doing some research into different Canadian and USA medical schools when I stumbled upon a forum post here titled "Medical School Graduate Student Policies" with some great info regarding the different criteria available to people who hold graduate degrees. My first question is there a similar post pertaining to USA medical schools? My second question is for the Canadian Medical schools is statistical info regarding GPA and etc for strictly graduate applicants? 

I recently finished my PhD last year and started a post doc. I have really enjoyed research however, in my field the majority of the research is dominated by clinicians. Although not a requirement it would be highly beneficial for me to obtain an MD.

I'm trying to figure out if it is realistically worth considering any Canadian medical schools. From my initial research the only Canadian university I meet cutoffs for would be McMaster, U of S and UofT (which has a 3.0 cut off for graduate students). I don't have any valid MCAT scores as I wrote the old one over 5 years ago however if anyone has any input regarding other universities based on my potential application it would be appreciated. 

Undergrad:

cGPA: 3.23; total average 82% for UofS and UBC (out of province so I'm below the 83% cut off)

Best year (for UofS) 86%

My best 2 years for cGPA is still below 3.5 I had a few courses each year that I wasn't interested in and did poorly in as I wasn't mature enough at the time to take those classes seriously; as my goal was always to pursue research.

UofT wGPA 3.33

PhD (4 years plus 1 year into a postdoc)

GPA 4.0

Over 40 publications, several of which are in journals with an impact factor over 10; majority are above an impact factor of 5. I have 16 first author publications. Not sure how relevant these metrics are to med school but my H-index is 14 and I have one paper that is approaching 100 citations. I've presented posters and given oral talks at international conferences. I've also won several scholarships and awards. However, outside of my research/studies I have 0 extracurricular experience. Which is something I know medical school's value highly.

I suppose realistically I was wondering if anyone would know how competitive I would be in terms of the current Canadian medical school admission process? I don't foresee myself going back to take any undergraduate courses to upgrade my GPA.

[bearded frog]

While some schools will take the fact you have a graduate degree into consideration, and almost all will consider your publications/experience. None will overlook such a low undergrad GPA. Unfortunately graduate GPA is not considered. You're also out of luck for most US MD schools (can't comment on DO). That being said, depending on how many credits you have, you could theoretically get your GPA up with 1-2 additional years of 4.0 undergrad.

[Médicomage]

33 minutes ago, bearded frog said:

While some schools will take the fact you have a graduate degree into consideration, and almost all will consider your publications/experience. None will overlook such a low undergrad GPA. Unfortunately graduate GPA is not considered. You're also out of luck for most US MD schools (can't comment on DO). That being said, depending on how many credits you have, you could theoretically get your GPA up with 1-2 additional years of 4.0 undergrad.

Actually, some do consider graduate GPAs, and even grades obtained in an Exchange semeste. I had to add my MSc's and my semester abroad's grades to my excel sheet for one of the canadian med schools. But I think it was UBC though.

[Meridian]

I think the only potential in Canada would be UofT Graduate stream.  Your undergrad GPA is very low,  but your PhD and publication history may get you an interview.    You will need to write the MCAT, but UofT has relatively low cut offs.

[bearded frog]

3 hours ago, Médicomage said:

Actually, some do consider graduate GPAs, and even grades obtained in an Exchange semeste. I had to add my MSc's and my semester abroad's grades to my excel sheet for one of the canadian med schools. But I think it was UBC though.

Sorry, to clarify, you have to report your graduate transcripts to everyone, however, they all use undergraduate GPA for ranking and cut-offs.

[Médicomage]

7 hours ago, bearded frog said:

Sorry, to clarify, you have to report your graduate transcripts to everyone, however, they all use undergraduate GPA for ranking and cut-offs.

So it was uCalgary and that’s what I read. But maybe I misread it (english is not my first language after all): « Applicants with a graduate degree in addition to at least two full-time years of undergraduate studies will have their overall GPA from their graduate program used as equivalent to one year of undergraduate GPA for the purposes of this calculation. In the event that an applicant has multiple years with graded courses within their graduate program, the graduate degree GPA will be calculated using the weights of the individual courses. In order for the Admissions Committee to consider graduate school marks in the overall GPA, the degree in question must be completed and conferred by June 30th, 2020. If the degree is still in progress, but in its final year, the grades will be used in the calculated GPA as described above. »

 

What’s your interpretation of this paragraph? :/

[bearded frog]

oh nice, i stand corrected, that's a new policy since I applied, i guess calgary does use graduate gpa to boost your undergraudate GPA, similar to how Mac will give you a +1% or +4% overall application score boost

worth doing the math to see if this brings your undergrad gpa into compeditive range, OP