Ph.D. Applicants

[Guest Spritzer5]

Of the medical students enrolled at U of T with graduate degrees, are Ph.D. applicants looked at favourably, or are they considered too old?

[Guest sally2001]

I don't believe it's legal for med schools to actively discriminate based on age, however i'm not sure what the general tendency is.

but i believe i read some posts on this forum of ph.d graduates that got into u of t (i recall a "beaver" and there might be some others)

[Guest therealcrackers]

I did a PhD at U of T, and didn't even get an interview there... however, I think they insist that the degree be completed before the bulk of the application process is completed. I got into Western, tho...

[Guest Spritzer5]

Congrats on your acceptance to Western! After completing your Ph.D and then continuing with medicine -now that's commitment.

 

Any idea how the selection committees score graduate students for research productivity? How do they compare accepted papers to submitted papers, or authorship order, or abstract presentations at international meetings vs. local gigs.

[Guest Biochem10]

I personally know two people who did PhDs before entering into meds at U of T. One of these people had applied to medicine after undergrad, but didn't get in and the other decided during grad school that she wanted to do medicine. I think that U of T looks favourably on these candidates, however, I don't think that there is too many of them applying. Apparently, it's a little easier (in terms of GPA) to get in after a PhD then after undergrad. One thing is certain, you are definetly NOT too old after a PhD. Just check out some of the candidates applying to Mac and you'll see that you are never to old to apply to meds. Good luck.

[Guest Spritzer5]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Biochem10.

[Guest therealcrackers]

U of T considers a graduate pool of applicants separately from the rest of the applicant pool. While I was in grad school, I heard that up to 1/3 of the class was composed of post-graduate students, although I have no clue what the numbers are like now. Emphasis is given to your productivity in terms of abstracts, papers, meetings, and at least one of your letters must be from a thesis committee member (your supervisor) and often others as well. Some people suggested getting the graduate coordinator of the program to write a letter as well, but in some programs that person may not know you well enough to give you the kind of in-depth letter that will sparkle in the eyes of the admissions committee.

Having teaching experience will be an asset to medical school (although not all grad students have it), but I'm not sure how that is factored into the application, if at all.

 

Compared to a biomedical grad school program, the volume of material is considerably denser, but until you get into clerkship and senior electives, the level at which it is presented is not as difficult.

 

Good luck!

[Guest cheech10]

I think the stats we were given were 1/4 after 3rd year, 1/2 after 4th year, and 1/4 after grad school (or thereabouts). Many students took a year off after 4th year, and there are a lot of PhD students in our class. There are also students that are well above these ages, so they have no qualms about accepting older students.

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi there,

 

Regarding UT and its leanings, part of the school's mandate is to differentiate itself based on its research capabilities. That extends well into to the medical school and is heartily supported by Dean Naylor given his comments identifying his belief that all medical students should have, at least, a Masters-level degree in a field of research. It would be no surprise then, that UT would be sympathetic towards graduate applicants, and indeed, unlike other schools in Ontario, they devoutly are.

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen