re-do medical school??? better chances than carms???

[Guest abunoah1]

I will be a permanent resident and living in Halifax, Canada. I graduated from Suez Canal University (it is on the WHO list) in Egypt. It was a 6 year program. I feel that applying for residency throught CaRMS is a waste of time and also would like the Canadian experience and knowledge I would gain from re-doing medical school there. I will list my experience and qualifications below and I hope someone can tell me what my chances are and even if they allow that type of entry to Dalhousie Medical School.

 

About Me:

25 years old

6 year degree in Medicine and Surgery, Egypt ( 82.6%) 2nd in class, year 2

4th in class year 4, 28th in class year 6 (got married, had baby)

1 year manager of Al-Borg Laboratory (also a sample doctor there)

1 year health upgrading consultant to the United Nations Development Program in Egypt (designing and conducting health campaigns in slum areas including being the one to introduce the idea of screening poor areas for avian flu in Ismailia)

1 year Pharmacist assistant at local pharmacy

level C CPR/FIRST AID

Certificate of emergency medicine and first aid

research for UNDP on prevelant diseases in slum areas

research leader of a group of 239 students in field of community medicine

research on occupational effects on hearing

1 year clinical observership in general and hepatic surgery hospital

just started masters in Medical Education ( a new program here and the only one in the middle east)

National rowing champion of Egypt 3 consecutive years

references from Harvard and Brown graduate doctors who were my professors and know me personally

Student Council president in high school

100% average from high school

willing to take the MCAT whenever

 

please help me figure out my best plan, I really want to go to Dalhousie...am I competitive?

Another question, if accepted to dalmed, would I be guarunteed a residency position when I graduate?

Last question is am I eligible for a full Canada/NS student loan if I enter medicine and have very low income with a wife and a child who are both citizens? (me being a permanent resident freshly landed at the time of application)

 

I know this is exhaustive but I cant seem to find anything to answer my specific questions, Dal just referred me to their website, which was no help.

 

All help is greatly appreciated

 

AbuNoah

[Guest cactus]

Hi,

 

Who did you contact at dal because you should be able to set-up an interview with the student affairs office?

I think you would just have to apply as a non-Maritime applicant (9 seats) unless you are a Canadian citizen.

Also, you can write the MCAT this April or August.

 

I can see why you may want to go through the Canadian school system if you plan to practice medicine in Canada but there has been a far amount of talk in the media, etc. in the last couple of years about making it easier for international doctors to come to Canada. You should check out the CARMS website at:

 

http://www.carms.ca/jsp/main.jsp?path=../content/applying/eligibility

 

for further information. On the website it says you would be eligible if you are a permanent resident and pass the Medical Council of Canada Evaluating exam. It could be very advantageous for you to not have to pay for four years of school again but I think you are right, it says international graduates are only eligible for the second iterations in NS. I am not sure what that means. If you haven't contacted CARMS you may wish to do so.

 

According to the following website http://www.campusaccess.com/campus_weB/educ/e3fin_fed.htm, you only need to be a permanent resident of Canada to be eligible for a student loan.

 

I hope this was of some help as I am no where near an expert on this. I am actually still waiting to hear about whether or not I will be accepted at Dalhousie this year.

 

Best of luck

[Guest JewelLeigh]

You need to get in touch with someone in Admissions at Dal to ask these questions. They will be able to provide the most correct information and are happy to meet with potential applicants.

 

This is the office you should be contacting:

 

Room C-132

CRC Building

5849 University Avenue

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

B3H 4H7

 

Phone: (902) 494-1874

Fax: (902) 494-6369

E-mail: medicine.admissions@dal.ca

 

However, there is a guy in my class (2nd year Dal Med) who came to Canada after finishing his undergrad and 4 or so years of med school in his home country. (I think. However, he MAY have come from a country that starts med school right from high school, and thus he might not have had an undergrad. I'll find out from him on Monday and edit this accordingly.) Anyway, in order to gain acceptance, he had to complete an entire undergraduate degree here in Canada. I am not sure about the details though and couldn't find this info on the Dal admissions site - so again, best to contact Dal Admissions directly.

 

As to what Cactus said above about you being required to apply as a Non-Maritime applicant, this is what it says on the Dal Admissions site:

 

Applicants who are residents of Canada but not Canadian citizens or landed immigrants and international applicants, must apply in the non-Maritime pool.

 

There are only 9 spots for Non-Maritimers, and typically 150-200 applicants. Given your already extensive medical experience, I would imagine you would still stand a fair chance of being accepted, but obviously not as good as if you were applying in the Maritime pool. I am not sure what pool the guy in my class was able to enter as I am not sure if he was a permanent resident or landed immigrant.

 

You are not "guaranteed" a residency spot after graduation from a Canadian medical school, but if you are not picky with what residency program you want (ie. you'd be happy with Family Med) then I would venture a guess that you would be essentially guaranteed a spot. Other specialties are more competitive, but still you would have a significantly better chance as a Canadian graduate as you would enter the first iteration of the CaRMS match. Check out the CaRMS site for more statistics about previous matches.

 

Hope this helps

Good luck.

[Guest abunoah1]

i would not be considered out of province applicant because i would be a nova scotia resident, that part im sure of because its my province of landing, and my wife's permanent home since birth. i did go directly from high school to a 6 year med program so what u posted above about that guy who had to do undegrad scares me wow! i did contact dal, who in turn referred me to their website which i had read a hundred times

so no help there to my specific case. i am grateful to all of u who take the time to reply..it helps a bunch. thx

i really read everything about carms ... but still refer to re-study the canadian way...

[Guest JewelLeigh]

Call admissions again and explain your situation. They will meet with you as long as they know you have viewed the website and still have questions that cannot be answered by it.

 

As well, regardless of whether NS is your home, if you are not a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant, the requirements stipulate that you cannot be considered in the Maritime pool.

 

It is somewhat understandable that North American Medical schools would require a North American undergrad degree simply for comparison. It would be very tough to compare two applicants who have come from a totally different system. But...it's definitely something I'm not sure about whatsoever, so again - call admissions (or drop in at the office) and they'll help you out

[Guest abunoah1]

permanent resident IS a landed immigrant ...landed immigrant is the old name for the PR. and i would be in the maritime pool , that im certain about. as i mentioned earlier i cannot meet with anyone at dal because i am not in canada right now and wont be there till next year. im a PR due to my being married to my canadian wife. the website says u need a 4 year degree, i think they would consider a six year bachelor of medicine to be satisfactory according to what i read elsewhere but im just not sure if i need other quals?

[Guest JewelLeigh]

Ah...PR = landed immigrant! Ya learn something new every day

[Guest happy2bme]

You might want to look into Alberta, as they are increasing their international grads residency postitions from 28 to around 50 or so. So then you can do a residency here (I imagine that they are all fam practice) and have your equilivent MD status more quickly.

 

After all it seems that half the Maritimes is working in the oil patch right now anyways, it might just be like living there LOL!

[Guest abunoah1]

i really need to be in halifax for my wife's sake, but i really feel that going to med school again in canada would be better for me and my future patients...u cant imagine what ive seen going on in my hospital surgical rooms here in egypt...scary to say the least, so i want to learn the right way, not the way ive been seeing here, no ethics, no cleanliness and general corruption. im just afraid to spend all the money from my pocket which would be difficult..not rich... to get mccee/q1 and for me that involves travelling outside my country cuz im not in canada now, pay for carms and whatever else and not get matched, the chances are sooo slim ya know? id take a student loan if i went back to med school so its a bit different.

think my wife would feel lost in alberta with no family there. she has a family in yellowknife NWT but there is no med school there i dont think... a tad bit chilly tho id say.

[Guest abunoah1]

well, i emailed the director of admissions, Sharon, and she replied saying that YES I am eligible to apply to dal MD program...think that is what I will do.

[Guest darrenhfx]

Ah good news!

 

Good luck next year