DMD Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 I heard people say that UBC medicine doesn't like to take applicants who are still enrolling in another professional degree such as pharmacy or dentistry.. is it true? does anyone know of someone who got into UBC medicine while they are still in pharmacy (1st-3rd year)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liz001 Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 I know of someone in Pharmacy who applied during her 2nd and 3rd years and got rejected post-interview both times. I won't be surprised if UBC med tends not to take these applicants as professional programs already invested so much time and money into their students already. Also, I don't think it gives a good impression that someone wants to leave in the middle of a professional program to enter medicine... he/she might do the same thing in the med program! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricCartman Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 I know of someone in Pharmacy who applied during her 2nd and 3rd years and got rejected post-interview both times. I won't be surprised if UBC med tends not to take these applicants as professional programs already invested so much time and money into their students already. Also, I don't think it gives a good impression that someone wants to leave in the middle of a professional program to enter medicine... he/she might do the same thing in the med program! well, if UBC has a policy of not accepting students already enrolled in other professional schools, why would they even bother interviewing you in the first place? If you call them, they will tell you that they don't care what your major (biology, dentistry, pharmacy, etc..) is as long as you finish the pre-requisites. Also, it would be a good idea if you justified in your autobiographical essay why you think medicine would be better for you than pharmacy or any other professional school or your motivations for pursuing medicine rather than your current profession. oh, I should also mention that getting in UBC med sometimes takes 3 or 4 or 5 attempts. Just don't give up, keep trying! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlatan Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 well, if UBC has a policy of not accepting students already enrolled in other professional schools, why would they even bother interviewing you in the first place? If you call them, they will tell you that they don't care what your major (biology, dentistry, pharmacy, etc..) is as long as you finish the pre-requisites. Also, it would be a good idea if you justified in your autobiographical essay why you think medicine would be better for you than pharmacy or any other professional school or your motivations for pursuing medicine rather than your current profession. oh, I should also mention that getting in UBC med sometimes takes 3 or 4 or 5 attempts. Just don't give up, keep trying! UBC interviews students from other professions, because they understand that some students are sincerely motivated to change professions (eg. nursing, engineering, pharmacy, dentistry, business) upon discovering medicine to be a more rewarding career. These people also have valuable attributes to contribute to a more diverse class. That said, the admission committee is probably also aware that there are many students who choose to enter pharmacy as a "stepping stone" and/or "back-up" career. I personally know some current and prospective (ie. applicant) UBC pharmacy students who blatantly admitted that they and the majority of their classmates have little to no interest in the pharmacy profession and are only using it as a "stepping stone" to gain clincial experience to become a competitive MD applicant or as a "back-up" in case they don't get into medicine. This is a self-serving act that nobody wants in a doctor - not only would someone else's dream of becoming a pharmacist shattered, but there would be one less pharmacist around helping patients such that they would receive a lower quality of care. Being in another profession will not prevent you from obtaining a medical program interview, but it means that your autobiographical essay will be scrutinzed much more closely for your motivation to become a doctor over pharmacy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liz001 Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 That said, the admission committee is probably also aware that there are many students who choose to enter pharmacy as a "stepping stone" and/or "back-up" career. I personally know some current and prospective (ie. applicant) UBC pharmacy students who blatantly admitted that they and the majority of their classmates have little to no interest in the pharmacy profession and are only using it as a "stepping stone" to gain clincial experience to become a competitive MD applicant or as a "back-up" in case they don't get into medicine. This is a self-serving act that nobody wants in a doctor - not only would someone else's dream of becoming a pharmacist. I know!!! This annoys me sooo much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAdlCruz Posted June 28, 2008 Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 I know!!! This annoys me sooo much. I feel differently about this one. If someone enters a profession to take advantage of the opportunity to develop good patient rapport/clinical skills in order to become a better doctor - and does a very good job at it - I don't think it would impoverish either the interim profession or medicine. That person would benefit from knowing if patient care is really what he/she wants early on instead of finding out after medical residency. In the mean time, pharmacy (or the interim profession) will benefit from having a well-motivated individual who will serve others to the best of his/her capacity and even mentor others, and medicine will be enriched by a mature, well-rounded person who will know what it means to be part of a profession and to be part of others' care right from day one in medicine. This, of course, is the best possible situation. I can imagine that there are some who will not care what they do in the meantime so long as they get what they need... I would like to think that this is the minority of people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regular Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 I personally know some current and prospective (ie. applicant) UBC pharmacy students who blatantly admitted that they and the majority of their classmates have little to no interest in the pharmacy profession and are only using it as a "stepping stone" to gain clincial experience to become a competitive MD applicant or as a "back-up" in case they don't get into medicine. This is a self-serving act that nobody wants in a doctor - not only would someone else's dream of becoming a pharmacist shattered, but there would be one less pharmacist around helping patients such that they would receive a lower quality of care. First of all having done pharmacy, no one dreams of being a pharmacist when they're a kid. Second, there's nothing wrong with using it as a backup as long as you are interested in health care. Medicine isn't easy to get into and for most people; putting all your eggs in one basket (ie. Med) is not a good idea. The pharmacist candidate who didn't get in should work harder instead of blaming those that are interested in pursuing fields beyond pharmacy but do like enjoy its aspects as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlatan Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 I agree that the above is indeed an alternative perspective on this issue, which I see as logical and legitimate. But I guess nobody really knows what the adcoms think or perceive of applicants who belong to this category, or how much (if at all) they take this into account during the selection process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FMX Posted July 10, 2008 Report Share Posted July 10, 2008 First of all having done pharmacy, no one dreams of being a pharmacist when they're a kid. Second, there's nothing wrong with using it as a backup as long as you are interested in health care. Medicine isn't easy to get into and for most people; putting all your eggs in one basket (ie. Med) is not a good idea. The pharmacist candidate who didn't get in should work harder instead of blaming those that are interested in pursuing fields beyond pharmacy but do like enjoy its aspects as well. Haha, you would be surprised.. we have a HUGE pharmacy buff in my class (not me). But apparently he's dreamed of being a pharmacist and opening his own pharmacy ever since he was a little kid because he saw how nice his uncles cars are (who owns his own pharmacy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey799 Posted July 19, 2008 Report Share Posted July 19, 2008 not true at all. my class has lots of pharmacy students (counting 8 from my head now). being a pharmacy student doesn't make you any more or any less competitive than other professional student such as computer science or engineering or business or dietetics or law imho, there is no need to discriminate pharmacy student because pharmacy isn't any better or worse than other professional programs which ubc med routinely admits to its program Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jelly31 Posted August 4, 2008 Report Share Posted August 4, 2008 This is a little OT but a med student @ UBC told me that probably the undergrad degree that helps the MOST in med is pharmacy, because pharmacists already have knowledge of many different drugs, how they work and their contraindications. I also know a pharmacist and engineer who both got into UBC Med. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviathan Posted August 4, 2008 Report Share Posted August 4, 2008 apparently he's dreamed of being a pharmacist and opening his own pharmacy ever since he was a little kid because he saw how nice his uncles cars are (who owns his own pharmacy). How noble of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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