Intro + help/advice?

[chenoa]

Hello PM101!

 

I just wanted to say I am SO glad I found this forum, it's amazing! Been lurking for awhile and have decided to post . . .

 

I'm an Ontario BScN student, just finishing up 4th year- writing the CRNE in June

Since pretty early in uni (although I do enjoy nursing alot and am really looking forward to working as a nurse, at least for a bit) I've been interested in pursuing medicine afterwards. But life (and clinicals!) caught up to me and I didn't give the whole "applying to medicine" thing as much thought as I probably should have . . . and now all of a sudden I find myself done nursing school and being asked "So . . .what do you plan to do after grad?"

 

I'm just glad to have found a place to 'rant' about the mess that seems to med school admissions but if anyone has answers to my queries, help is appreciated. I'm mostly just confused about the whole approach to pass/fail courses, and eligibility, etc. . .

 

Some background though: I got a solid GPA out of my undergrad, I tried to calculate it according to the FAQ on OMSAS GPAs (very helpful, thanks) and came out with a 3.96 over the 4 years. I hope I did it correctly- with the pass/fail courses it was kind of confusing. I divided each year's points total by 8 instead of 10 because each semester of school (years 1-3) I have had 1 (0.5 credit) pass/fail clinical course. But my fourth year had a bunch of pass/fail clinicals which I hope won't screw me over too badly

I also had two courses I took in between (summer school) 1st and 2nd year but I didn't really know how to calculate them either.

 

In terms of involvement I kind of feel I lack in this area: I did a couple years hospital volunteering in high school (which prompted me to do nursing). I've helped in children's church/ Sunday school for about 6 years, worked 3 summers in a kid's day camp including one as director, and worked as a 'peer advisor' for nursing students for 1.5 years (ie/ helping students practice basic nursing skills). I do martial arts but only occasionally help with the kids classes . . . .would that even count?

Back in high school I went on a 2 week overseas missions trip but it wasn't particularly health related- would this count, especially since I likely wouldn't be applying until I was out of uni and working as a nurse?

No research to speak of, no university clubs or anything either.

 

I haven't written the MCAT yet. I'm hoping to get my nursing board exam out of the way first and then may write it next spring/summer (?). Browsing the forums has given me hope that it is possible to self-study for the MCAT- but not sure how that's going to go because haven't taken physics/chem/bio since high school . . .

 

So basically from what I understand, I'm eligible at Mac and maybe Western, Toronto, and Dal. If I had taken one more 'physical science' I'd be eligible at Queens too, grr.

 

PS- Say I wanted to make myself eligible at Queens- if I took that extra physical science, would I then be good? Or do the prerequisites have to be completed during your degree?

 

Does anyone understand the policies towards pass/fail courses Western, Dal, or Toronto? I've read that Western allows one full pass/fail per year- but does that refer to just the two years they are calculating your GPA from, or from all four years?

 

Phew. Thanks in advance for any advice

Boy, this is all very confusing . ..

 

aikigirl

[thehumanmacbook]

1) welcome, this question belongs to "general premed" where more people can help you out there.

2) i hope you're calculating your OMSAS cGPA correctly...I know that nursing has a lot of pass/fail courses and they're included a bit differently when calculating cGPA or weighted GPA. But otherwise it is a solid academic score.

3) Need to make sure you have met pre-reqs at ONT universities or OOP if you're interested

4) ECs are a bit weak, but can be improved upon. GPA and MCAT matter more...but ECs can also help separate you from the pack.

5) MCAT can be self-studied, but if you haven't been doing orgo/physics/physical chem I would recommend a prep course just to help review

6) I don't know how they calculate courses after you graduate...I think it's "special student" status...this will have to be answered by someone else.

7) There are limits on the number of pass/fail courses specifically to each med school when they look at your wGPA, check accordingly.

8) Be prepared to effectively answer why you want to become a physician instead of a nurse.

[chenoa]

Thanks for your reply, humanmacbook!

 

To the best of my understanding, courses I have completed during my BScN have fulfilled the prereqs for Toronto (I did some micro, some human phys and a couple social sci options). . . and then Western, Mac, and Dal do not have prereq courses.

 

Yeah, I hope I'm calculating the GPA right . . . my cGPA out of 4 without using the OMSAS chart, just the raw number is 3.89/4.

Do any nursing/allied health students know how you might include your clinical placement experiences on an application (are they "ECs"?)

 

Hmm . . . I didn't know about special student status or anything. Don't most people have their bachelors degree completed and graduated before entering med school anyways?

 

Again, if anyone has an understanding of Toronto or Dal's policies towards pass/fail, I'd appreciate it!