Weird Question

[SHAFTED]

Hi,

 

This might possibly be the most questionable question asked on this forum, but... My goal in life is to live on Long lake in Sudbury. Is there any possible way that I can convey this in my NOSM application? I have been a big city dweller all my life, but I have visited Sudbury many times.

 

Do you guys think that they even read the questions from out of town, non-rural applicants?

 

Cheers.

[rogerroger]

Meh, good question...

 

Who knows. I lived for a while in the NWT and that didn't get me an interview last year.

[Tango Charlie]

Out of curiosity, why do you want to live on Long Lake?

[SHAFTED]

Out of curiosity, why do you want to live on Long Lake?

 

AHAHA, because I fell in love with the place after canoeing and kyaking on it. I would give you my other reasons, but I am suspicious that you might have an interview and use them for your own benefit, LOL! I am paranoid...

 

Cheers.

[hike]

Wanting to live on Long Lake seems like an awfully shallow reason to attend NOSM. The first thing that springs to my mind is that you want to live in one of those nice big houses on the lake and are not terribly interested in the medical care of the people of Northern Ontario - there is a lot more going on up here than the south-end of Sudbury. Perhaps you should focus on the reasons that you enjoy Long Lake - outdoor opportunities, nature, work-life balance, etc...

[HappyEnough]

This note isn't directly at any particular person, whoever, if you were rejected, consider the following information if you plan on re-trying next year.

 

We read and review every word you put on your application, sometimes many times over. However, you need to also realise that we are looking for well rounded people with a socially minded CV, not people who have such a narrow focus that they can't see the world around them or interact with it.

 

Expressing yourself well is so important, actually answering the question asked is even more important. Having a list of extracurriculars and volunteer work that lasted for only as little as a day or even as long as a month is highly suspicious as to your motive, especially when all the activities seemed to start appearing (date wise) around the them the application would be filled out. Quality activities that weren't one-ups are what should be at the top of your list of volunteer work or extracurriculars.

 

Wanting to live more northernly because of a specific geographical area that calls to you is not what is going to earn points. Describe what you understand about the area, the people, the culture, the range of activities that interest you, and what it means or would mean to you to be a part of it.

 

And it can't be said enough times...HAVE SOMEONE PROOF READ YOUR APPLICATION and take the time to sit down and discuss it with them!! You'd be surprised at what someone else percieves to be your intent in your personal letters, even though you thought the info was perfectly clear. Having someone tell you their honest impression on what they are reading is important in order to make approriate ammendments.

 

Sometimes its painfully clear when people have just thrown together an application without taking much care. Start early on your application, and revisit the work you have done frequently. Sometimes you will see whole paragraphs in your essay writing that really don't make sense (conseptual clarity, grammatically) at the end of the day and need to be tossed or completely rewritten.

[Halcyon]

Thanks for the great input, HappyEnough! Will we get to meet you at the interview sessions?

[SHAFTED]

Wanting to live on Long Lake seems like an awfully shallow reason to attend NOSM. The first thing that springs to my mind is that you want to live in one of those nice big houses on the lake and are not terribly interested in the medical care of the people of Northern Ontario - there is a lot more going on up here than the south-end of Sudbury. Perhaps you should focus on the reasons that you enjoy Long Lake - outdoor opportunities, nature, work-life balance, etc...

 

Your language is quite harsh for an innocent comment. It is funny that you are automatically assuming my reasons to be shallow. I understand NOSM to be a school that prefers applicants who are from Northern Ontario, and I was merely trying to ask someone how I could convey my interest in living somewhere in Sudbury (I picked long lake for fun). I was merely entertaining the idea and providing some hypothetical reasons for my interest. In no way shape or form was I hinting that this was my only reason for wanting to attend NOSM. I have much better reasons than those aforementioned.

 

If you're worried about me taking your spot...don't. I found it rather enjoying to read Happyenough's comment claiming that they review every aspect of our application (Horse SH^T). The NOSM admissions process is fashioned such that >95% of applicants who are admitted to the school are from Northern Ontario. I have seen the stats of people that are getting accepted for interviews at NOSM, people with 3.5 gpa's etc. I found it quite interesting that NOSM would opt to give these people interviews as opposed to the hundreds of other Ontario students who are much more qualified. Upon further reflection it occurred to me that all of these people were from Northern Ontario. We are being judged not by the merit of our essays or grades but by where we have lived.

 

I just want to finish by saying that all of my arguments are based merely on my own observations. I have seen absolutely brilliant and stellar applicants getting interviews everywhere they applied except for NOSM. This year we will see the first graduating class from NOSM and I regret saying this, but hopefully they will shatter this idea that applicants from Northern Ontario will have a higher propensity to stay. I am also looking forward to seeing how they perform on their MLE's given the low admissions gpa. I want all Ontario medical schools to be fair game for all Ontario applicants. This idea of a school only for Northern Ontarians is not fair, because all of our tax money goes into producing your doctors as well. And I'll be so bold as to say that most tax revenue is generated by the southern (more populated) cities anyways. Northern is not the only school with this regional crap: Western also has the SWOMEN area stuff going on as well.

 

Please forgive my frustration and I don't mean to offend anyone, but I think somethings fishy when Non-Northern Ontarian IP applicants have a higher success rate getting into OOP schools than they do at NOSM.

 

Oh and btw, my interest is in Emergency and/or Rural Medicine. My focus is not money (in reference to your big house on long lake notion), my focus is a challenge.

 

Please don't take offense to what I have said.

 

Cheers.

[Hopeful Med]

There is nothing fishy going on at all. NOSM will pick a strong candidate from Northern Ontario before a somewhat stronger urban southern candidate. How else is the North going to have any chance of keeping doctors up here?

 

Are you saying that we people in Northern Ontario should pay taxes to support NOSM only to see almost every new doctor move elsewhere? That is not fair either.

 

BTW, not all of us are not competitive. I myself received three ON interviews and NOSM is my first choice. From my understanding you need 3.7-3.8 to make it in.

 

When the MLE results are out we can talk again.

[Halcyon]

And I'll be so bold as to say that most tax revenue is generated by the southern (more populated) cities anyways

 

Shafted,

 

If it makes you feel better, your federal income taxes also get delegated to the provinces, which could then go to IP medical school seats that are mostly limited to students IP (insert name of province other than ON).

 

As we've learned along the way, no med admissions process is fair for everyone. There's no point wasting your time and energy on being bitter.

 

Further, NOSM was created and is funded to address the chronic physician shortages in N.ON. It's only 56 seats out of the 800+ in ON. If you don't think you have a chance at NOSM, apply elsewhere and then (if successful), choose to do your residency in Sudbury.

 

Good luck!

H

[SHAFTED]

There is nothing fishy going on at all. NOSM will pick a strong candidate from Northern Ontario before a somewhat stronger urban southern candidate. How else is the North going to have any chance of keeping doctors up here?

 

Are you saying that we people in Northern Ontario should pay taxes to support NOSM only to see almost every new doctor move elsewhere? That is not fair either.

 

BTW, not all of us are not competitive. I myself received three ON interviews and NOSM is my first choice. From my understanding you need 3.7-3.8 to make it in.

 

When the MLE results are out we can talk again.

 

I just want to clarify something. I said something was fishy in reference to HappyEnough's comment that NOSM: reads every single word of each application several times. My comment was directed at him.

 

I understand what you mean about NOSM being created for Northern students. However, there are better strategies than regional selectivity to keep doctors in Northern Ontario if it is truly created for the North. For example: Medical students could have a binding contract when they enter to stay in the North as a doctor for x number of years, or come back for x number of years when their residency is finished etc.

 

What you said earlier about people in the North paying taxes to support NOSM. That statement gives me the idea that you don't believe that selecting people from the North will help keep doctors there? Please clarify this...

 

That being said I should stop being so bitter . As I don't have support even from the people around me on this. However, I will agree with you that "at the moment" this regional selectivity is a viable strategy, and I won't argue on that topic anymore.

 

We will see what happens when the MLE's come out... The same admission gpa mistake has already been made by Mcmaster and Ottawa, which is why the average admission GPA at these schools is now upwards of 3.9.

 

Hopefully someday we will be colleagues, if you plan on staying in Northern Ontario, and we can argue about this again.

 

Cheers.

[Hopeful Med]

 

I understand what you mean about NOSM being created for Northern students. However, there are better strategies than regional selectivity to keep doctors in Northern Ontario if it is truly created for the North. For example: Medical students could have a binding contract when they enter to stay in the North as a doctor for x number of years, or come back for x number of years when their residency is finished etc.

 

What you said earlier about people in the North paying taxes to support NOSM. That statement gives me the idea that you don't believe that selecting people from the North will help keep doctors there? Please clarify this...

 

Hopefully someday we will be colleagues, if you plan on staying in Northern Ontario, and we can argue about this again.

 

Cheers.

 

A contract would only give the people up in Northern Ontario a doctor for x number of years then the process starts all over again.

 

Clarification: I do believe that if we choose people who truly want to stay in the North and are from the North our taxes will be well spent. It would be ridiculous to open those 56 spots to everyone.

 

I hope NOSM can indeed pick out the people who want to stay or at least practice here for many years but no process is perfect.

 

I do plan on staying in Northern Ontario and I love a good argument.

[Halcyon]

Shafted,

 

What do you mean by this?

 

We will see what happens when the MLE's come out... The same admission gpa mistake has already been made by Mcmaster and Ottawa, which is why the average admission GPA at these schools is now upwards of 3.9.

 

It is my understanding that GPA cut off's are currently high at these schools b/c of the large pool of applicants (which pushes up the GPA cut-offs). Plus, this cycle both of these school did not require the MCAT, so they had to rely on GPA (for a quantitative measure).

 

Are you suggesting a med student that had a 3.7-3.8 undegrad cGPA won't succeed or do as well on the MLEs as a med student that had a 3.9+ undergrad cGPA?

 

H

[SHAFTED]

A contract would only give the people up in Northern Ontario a doctor for x number of years then the process starts all over again.

 

Clarification: I do believe that if we choose people who truly want to stay in the North and are from the North our taxes will be well spent. It would be ridiculous to open those 56 spots to everyone.

 

I hope NOSM can indeed pick out the people who want to stay or at least practice here for many years but no process is perfect.

 

I do plan on staying in Northern Ontario and I love a good argument.

 

I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I think you might have overlooked something. A binding contract would be applied to every graduating class (not just one class, as in your assumption). Each graduating class at Northern would be bound to stay a certain number of years, so every year there will be a buffer, and whose to say that at the end of the x number of years everyone is going to leave? Also, by the end of the x number of years term most people will be older and have probably started a family (less likelihood of relocation). And if less people are likely to leave then that means that the number of doctors will be increasing... NOSM is a great idea, but they are trying to solve the problem with an odd approach and one that cannot, with certainty, ensure that doctors will stay. With a binding contract method we would be able to ensure this with a higher degree of certainty.

 

Look, my problem is not that we are wasting tax dollars on Northern doctors, it is that I am paying for a NOSM seat that I don't even have a chance at getting (that's where the problem is). And I do have a greater chance at getting an OOP seat than I do at Northern, so my Federal tax dollars are well spent .

 

You're right, it would be ridiculous to open up the seats to all Ontario applicants, but I am not saying that NOSM should do that with their current policy. The policy needs to change (ex. binding contract) and then the seats need to be opened.

 

About marks. I would value Competency over numeracy anyday...

 

Favouritism of Northern applicants is a logical approach but it is naive in assuming that each graduating class is going to stay; afterall, you're competing with oil-rich provinces such as Alberta for doctors...

 

That being said, you are an intelligent person and I appreciate your honesty. If you have an interview at NOSM, I hope you get in.

 

Cheers.

[Hopeful Med]

I believe he is suggesting that someone with a 3.5 GPA (see one of his first posts on this tread) cannot do well on the MLEs. I don't believe that to be true but regardless NOSM admitted GPAs are somewhere in the 3.7 from what I understand.

 

S, thank you as I do have an interview. Was not suggesting that only one class would have that contract.

 

You are right about tax dollars but then for years my parents were paying high taxes and we do not have a doctor in our community.

[SHAFTED]

Shafted,

 

What do you mean by this?

 

We will see what happens when the MLE's come out... The same admission gpa mistake has already been made by Mcmaster and Ottawa, which is why the average admission GPA at these schools is now upwards of 3.9.

 

It is my understanding that GPA cut off's are currently high at these schools b/c of the large pool of applicants (which pushes up the GPA cut-offs). Plus, this cycle both of these school did not require the MCAT, so they had to rely on GPA (for a quantitative measure).

 

Are you suggesting a med student that had a 3.7-3.8 undegrad cGPA won't succeed or do as well on the MLEs as a med student that had a 3.9+ undergrad cGPA?

 

H

 

The high gpa cut-off was created in part by the size of the application pool but mainly in response to the MLE's that students were performing poorly on.

 

I believe your question is more asking me if I am insinuating that an applicant with a gpa of 3.7-3.8 is stupid compared to a 3.9+ applicant. That's not what I am saying. What I am saying is that medical schools use this as a measure of a students intelligence and their ability to be a competent doctor (and pass their MLE's). To a Medical School your undergrad gpa is the only quantitative measure of your ability to absorb and put information down on a piece of paper (i.e. MLE exams).

 

Deans were getting in trouble because students at both of these schools were doing poorly on the MLE's and they had to go back and be more stringent in their acceptance cut-offs. In previous years you would have seen someone with a 3.7-3.8 gpa getting an interview at these NON-MCAT schools, but now that is almost un heard of. The only person I can think of has a PhD and a first author publication in Nature (very rare case).

 

I hope this helps clarify a few things. My beef is also with this policy as well, but I can't really say anythign about it, because how else are they supposed to measure a person?

 

Cheers.

[SHAFTED]

I believe he is suggesting that someone with a 3.5 GPA (see one of his first posts on this tread) cannot do well on the MLEs. I don't believe that to be true but regardless NOSM admitted GPAs are somewhere in the 3.7 from what I understand.

 

S, thank you as I do have an interview. Was not suggesting that only one class would have that contract.

 

You are right about tax dollars but then for years my parents were paying high taxes and we do not have a doctor in our community.

 

When did I indicate that I was a man? And read my previous post to Halycon's question.

 

Cheers.

[Halcyon]

The high gpa cut-off was created in part by the size of the application pool but mainly in response to the MLE's that students were performing poorly on.

 

I believe your question is more asking me if I am insinuating that an applicant with a gpa of 3.7-3.8 is stupid compared to a 3.9+ applicant. That's not what I am saying. What I am saying is that medical schools use this as a measure of a students intelligence and their ability to be a competent doctor (and pass their MLE's). To a Medical School your undergrad gpa is the only quantitative measure of your ability to absorb and put information down on a piece of paper (i.e. MLE exams).

 

Deans were getting in trouble because students at both of these schools were doing poorly on the MLE's and they had to go back and be more stringent in their acceptance cut-offs. In previous years you would have seen someone with a 3.7-3.8 gpa getting an interview at these NON-MCAT schools, but now that is almost un heard of. The only person I can think of has a PhD and a first author publication in Nature (very rare case).

 

I hope this helps clarify a few things. My beef is also with this policy as well, but I can't really say anythign about it, because how else are they supposed to measure a person?

 

Cheers.

 

 

Hello there,

 

How do you know that "deans were getting in trouble" at the non-MCAT schools?

 

H

[SHAFTED]

Hello there,

 

How do you know that "deans were getting in trouble" at the non-MCAT schools?

 

H

 

I spoke to them .

 

Cheers.

[NorthernDude]

Wow. Where to start. lol. Loaded thread for sure.

 

First off, if someone wants to apply because they like Long Lake, go ahead. It's a nice place. .

 

Second, in terms of the admissions process, NOSM is not just arbitrarily saying that they want more N. On students and running with that. NOSM was CREATED specifically to address a shortage of Northern, Rural and Remote physicians in Northern Ontario and throughout Canada. That is built into NOSM's mandate and will never change. The funding from the provincial and federal governments were provided specifically for that reason. Research that has been done shows that people who are from, or have spent a significant amount of time in an area are more likely to return there and practice. That is the reason for the context score in NOSM's admission process. That being said, HappyEnough wasn't talking out of their ass about the fact that the applications are read multiple times and carefully considered. Due to confidentiality requirements I can't comment more specifically, however, I guarantee to you that that is a fact. The applications are treated equally in the process regardless of where you are from, short of the context score which is applied separately.

Contracts generally work in the short-term but not the long. If people don't want to practice somewhere, they stay long enough to pay off their debt and then take off.

 

Third, in regards to the "low" admission averages: NOSM is not a traditional medical school. Rote memorization and lecture-attending skills, which are often measured in most undergraduate programs don't really serve you as well. To say that students with a "low" average are going to be lesser doctors or fail their MLE's is offensive. If anything, the feedback received by the fourth year students at NOSM during their electives (done throughout the province and nationally), stated that students in our program have excellent clinical skills, which as far as I'm concerned, is the true measure of a doctor (research has shown that a well-done interview and physical examination leads to a diagnosis in the vast majority of cases). In addition, as someone within the program, I know of many, many people (including myself) who interviewed at other medical schools. One only has to look around a premed class to see that averages are not everything. Any monkey can look something up in UpToDate or memorize a chart. It's the integration of the science and the art that is the important thing. In the current medical environment and in a small-group based curriculum, a respect for various backgrounds and different experiences, as well as having social skills, empathy and communication skills are of much value, and are not measured within a GPA.

 

Good luck on your interviews everyone!

[Mei_Mei_girl]

Wow. Where to start. lol. Loaded thread for sure.

 

First off, if someone wants to apply because they like Long Lake, go ahead. It's a nice place. .

 

Second, in terms of the admissions process, NOSM is not just arbitrarily saying that they want more N. On students and running with that. NOSM was CREATED specifically to address a shortage of Northern, Rural and Remote physicians in Northern Ontario and throughout Canada. That is built into NOSM's mandate and will never change. The funding from the provincial and federal governments were provided specifically for that reason. Research that has been done shows that people who are from, or have spent a significant amount of time in an area are more likely to return there and practice. That is the reason for the context score in NOSM's admission process. That being said, HappyEnough wasn't talking out of their ass about the fact that the applications are read multiple times and carefully considered. Due to confidentiality requirements I can't comment more specifically, however, I guarantee to you that that is a fact. The applications are treated equally in the process regardless of where you are from, short of the context score which is applied separately.

Contracts generally work in the short-term but not the long. If people don't want to practice somewhere, they stay long enough to pay off their debt and then take off.

 

Third, in regards to the "low" admission averages: NOSM is not a traditional medical school. Rote memorization and lecture-attending skills, which are often measured in most undergraduate programs don't really serve you as well. To say that students with a "low" average are going to be lesser doctors or fail their MLE's is offensive. If anything, the feedback received by the fourth year students at NOSM during their electives (done throughout the province and nationally), stated that students in our program have excellent clinical skills, which as far as I'm concerned, is the true measure of a doctor (research has shown that a well-done interview and physical examination leads to a diagnosis in the vast majority of cases). In addition, as someone within the program, I know of many, many people (including myself) who interviewed at other medical schools. One only has to look around a premed class to see that averages are not everything. Any monkey can look something up in UpToDate or memorize a chart. It's the integration of the science and the art that is the important thing. In the current medical environment and in a small-group based curriculum, a respect for various backgrounds and different experiences, as well as having social skills, empathy and communication skills are of much value, and are not measured within a GPA.

 

Good luck on your interviews everyone!

 

Wow. I cannot agree with you more. It is the great fallacy that GPA correlates to success as a doctor. First of all, I know a number of people who have a great GPA because their short-term memory is outstanding (study night before test, etc.) and then after a month or so the knowledge is gone. Just one example.

 

Also, study after study shows that the most effective physicians are those with excellent clinical skills. You can know everything in the world, but if you can't relay info back and forth with the patient, all that info is USELESS.

 

Shafted, do you feel bitter because you were shafted or something? Unfortunately other schools have to rely on GPA because there are so many darn applicants. I think it harms the system but its the easiest way to quickly lower the applicant pool

[Halcyon]

Thanks for a great post, NorthernDude.

 

Too bad they couldn't double the seats at NOSM Are they still only offering 56 seats this year? I thought I read somewhere on pm101 that last year's class had 58?

 

Great to hear the first class are getting excellent reviews too!

 

H

[Guest soaring_eagle]

The high gpa cut-off was created in part by the size of the application pool but mainly in response to the MLE's that students were performing poorly on.

 

I believe your question is more asking me if I am insinuating that an applicant with a gpa of 3.7-3.8 is stupid compared to a 3.9+ applicant. That's not what I am saying. What I am saying is that medical schools use this as a measure of a students intelligence and their ability to be a competent doctor (and pass their MLE's). To a Medical School your undergrad gpa is the only quantitative measure of your ability to absorb and put information down on a piece of paper (i.e. MLE exams).

 

Deans were getting in trouble because students at both of these schools were doing poorly on the MLE's and they had to go back and be more stringent in their acceptance cut-offs. In previous years you would have seen someone with a 3.7-3.8 gpa getting an interview at these NON-MCAT schools, but now that is almost un heard of. The only person I can think of has a PhD and a first author publication in Nature (very rare case).

 

I hope this helps clarify a few things. My beef is also with this policy as well, but I can't really say anythign about it, because how else are they supposed to measure a person?

 

Cheers.

 

I find your comments rude and insensitive to reality. "Deans were getting in trouble because students at both of these schools were doing poorly on MLE's"... It is hardly realistic to correlate that with undergrad GPA. Perhaps a nice scapegoat, but the Dean's should look at HOW their program is structured and what/how students are learning in that context.

 

Okay, lets take in students with higher GPAs and that will fix all the problems. Yeah right. I know a girl in med school who got in with a 3.91 cGPA because she was pushed by her parents to get in. Now she's in med school and party's like mad away from her parents tight control. In fact, I don't even think she studies 1/2 as much as she used to.

 

Shafted, if you know anything about Canadian medicine, you will know that currently remote/rural and Aboriginal communities are sadly underserviced (much more so that urban centres). I am so happy to see spots reserved and opening up for these students, students who are from the areas, know the areas, and can connect with the residents as physicians and community members.

 

My friend is from an Aboriginal community and got into med school. I think his GPA was around 3.49 or something along that boat. I was so happy that he got in and a seat was reserved to recognize the need for people like him. I truly beleive he will service his community ten times over better than someone who would get into med school with a 4.0GPA and zero association with the community, being forced to go there (as you suggest "forced contracts"). GPA only measures one type of knowledge, which is also quite variable, but it does not measure the knowledge and ability one has to go into a community and make the impacts needed.

 

I really hope you aren't seriously thinking that reserved seats for areas of need (remote, rural, Aboriginal) should be taken away from people who are well familiar with those areas, for a counter-intuitive reason like GPA.

 

Really think about what you wrote. And I have a hard time beleiving the Dean's are naive enough to correlate GPA the way you suggest they do.

[SHAFTED]

I find your comments rude and insensitive to reality. "Deans were getting in trouble because students at both of these schools were doing poorly on MLE's"... It is hardly realistic to correlate that with undergrad GPA. Perhaps a nice scapegoat, but the Dean's should look at HOW their program is structured and what/how students are learning in that context.

 

Okay, lets take in students with higher GPAs and that will fix all the problems. Yeah right. I know a girl in med school who got in with a 3.91 cGPA because she was pushed by her parents to get in. Now she's in med school and party's like mad away from her parents tight control. In fact, I don't even think she studies 1/2 as much as she used to.

 

Shafted, if you know anything about Canadian medicine, you will know that currently remote/rural and Aboriginal communities are sadly underserviced (much more so that urban centres). I am so happy to see spots reserved and opening up for these students, students who are from the areas, know the areas, and can connect with the residents as physicians and community members.

 

My friend is from an Aboriginal community and got into med school. I think his GPA was around 3.49 or something along that boat. I was so happy that he got in and a seat was reserved to recognize the need for people like him. I truly beleive he will service his community ten times over better than someone who would get into med school with a 4.0GPA and zero association with the community, being forced to go there (as you suggest "forced contracts"). GPA only measures one type of knowledge, which is also quite variable, but it does not measure the knowledge and ability one has to go into a community and make the impacts needed.

 

I really hope you aren't seriously thinking that reserved seats for areas of need (remote, rural, Aboriginal) should be taken away from people who are well familiar with those areas, for a counter-intuitive reason like GPA.

 

Really think about what you wrote. And I have a hard time beleiving the Dean's are naive enough to correlate GPA the way you suggest they do.

 

This is exactly what I was afraid of, people getting upset. There is no point in discussion if you are going to get offended and upset. You made quite a lot of assumptions about what I said. You are preaching to the wrong crowd. I agree with you about the marks thing. It is really ****ty, and we miss out on tons of great medical school candidates because of it. But let's be honest to ourselves, it is a reality that undergrad marks are the only solid numbers a medical school can use to measure your academic smarts over a period of time. They should look into program improvements.

 

NorthernDude, I don't mean to offend about the MLE's but that was told to me by the Dean's. I am not trying to curse anyone either, I hope you all do well on the MLE's. Those were just statistics that were guiding my writing, not my opinion. You were also making quite a lot of assumptions about the way a contract system would work. I don't have the skills to come up with the logistics of the system, but understand that applicants would be aware of a commitment to the North. Also, the system hasn't been tried yet, so for you to go out on a limb and denounce it is kind of like telling the tinkering Wright Brothers that they can't fly...

 

Soaring Eagle, I really liked the important cultural point that you brought up. That is definitely a very important advantage that Northern applicants have. That being said, Culture is not something that people cannot learn. My family GP is from Ottawa and was educated at the University of Ottawa, but worked in a reserve in Northern Ontario. Canada is a Multicultural country...get over it.

 

I am sorry that you feel offended about what I suggested (making the seats open to everyone). I think your hething for me might be rooted in your misconstruing of my words. You indicated that I said "seats should be taken away from people." I never said that... I suggested that the spots be open to everyone and there be no regional preference. I also said that this should be done only if the commitment to the North idea was in place.

 

You suggested that I really think about what I say, and you questioned my understanding of Canadian Medicine. I don't really know where you obtained the justification for these comments, but we are having a discussion here and I think you might have misinterpreted a few things that I said...

 

Mei Mei, I was a little bitter before, but have now cooled down . I agree with you totally about the gpa thing, but can you propose a different ideology for Medical Schools to use? Also, I was SHAFTED...on my MCAT score. I was originally supposed to score a 38R but ended up with a 34R, all my points were lost on Verbal reasoning, for some reason it just didn't work out for me that day.

 

Cheers.

[Hopeful Med]

Wow, a 34R is still very good and should get you into med school. I received interviews with scores lower than that.

 

The idea of a contract scares me. Many people just don't like the isolation up here. I see it in the teachers who come up here all the time. Very few last the year and of course even fewer stay two.