saks21 Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 So here is where I stand, and any advice, comments, opinions would be appreciated I tried for medicine in Canada for 3 years, at U of A and U of C. My MCAT score is really ****ty (25P)...wrote it twice and nothing changed, hopefully plan on writing it again this summer and pray that God is on my side. Cumulative GPA is 3.55 and I have lots of EC's 2 summers of research, and volunteering in Africa. I was rejected both time pre interview and I know its probably because of the MCAT... I applied to a school in the Asia and received admission and have already started my education. The intention was to start and keep trying to get into Medicine in Canada. The school that I am currently in however is not that great so I am looking for another school. I am married and my husband lives in Africa, so I am applying to a medical school there and if I receive admission I will switch and start again there while at the same time giving Canadian schools a last shot. My question is how will it look on my application that I have switched from one medical school already, and I am re applying to start again if I receive admission (Meaning if I got into Canadian med school, I would have done first year of med 3 times)...call me crazy i know.. Opinions, Ideas?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpanishFly Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 Just out of curiosity...is your primary goal to live and practice in Canada...with your husband living in Africa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saks21 Posted May 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 Yes...my husband got his permanent residence in December and so the two of us would like to live in Canada..... The reason I am hoping to get into a Canadian medical school is because I don't want to go through the applyin for residency as an international medical graduate and having to compete against a much larger pool of people. Unless its not that difficult to obtain a residency position as an international medical graduate after passing the Canadian Board exams...but I am not too sure about htat...when I checked into it several people have told me that once u leave Canada for medicine....coming back to practice is nearly impossible...but i don't know how true that is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w8kg6 Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 If your goal is to practice meds in Canada, I'd seriously look at stopping your involvement in the programs abroad. From what I've gathered on this site and on SDN, Asian schools and African schools are the archetypical schools of 'money grabbing' institutions, which it sounds like you've already seen. If I were you, I'd get directly involved in the health care systems in whatever country you're in, since this will put you head and shoulders above the rest (actual health care administrator >> regular volunteering all us premeds have done). Also, from what I've gathered, the academic requirements of getting a job in health care are lower in African countries than they are here in North America. And yeah, rewrite the MCAT. It's a quick and dirty way to strengthen the academic side of your app. It looks like you've decided against taking a second UG to boost your cGPA, which is fine, but I think you stand a lot to gain by rewriting your MCAT. Fortunately, there's no maximum on the times you can write it anymore, so just keep trying. Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted May 23, 2009 Report Share Posted May 23, 2009 Well, if you can attend a South African school, you might not be in that much of a hole - there's a ton of South African docs practicing FM here in AB. Every doc I've had since I moved here 3 years ago was African (2 SA's, one Nigerian). Obviously, their education is recognized here to some extent. Now, whether you're better off attending a SA school over, say, Caribbean (which is another option with your stats) - I don't know, so it's for you to research. I'm not sure how expensive it is to attend med school in South Africa if you're a foreigner. I hear the practice of medicine there is very different from here. My current doc (who I happen to work with, as well) performed open-book surgeries all the time at his small town hospital by Botswana. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwh333 Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 yeah, South Africa schools are actually not bad from what i hear... here in Vancouver, we have quite a few doctors who have graduated from SA schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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