Pass/Fail?

[Guest Scholastica]

Hello,

 

Has UoA adopted a Pass/Fail system, or does it still have "Honors" like University of Toronto?

[Guest summervirus]

Hi, it's still Pass/Fail/Honours. Honours is determined at the end of each academic year and the top 15% of the class receives it. I don't think anyone knows who has honours and who doesn't though. So, it really doesn't make that big of a difference.

[Guest Scholastica]

summervirus,

 

Thanks a lot. I'm really grateful to get accepted to Alberta but the fact that only top 15% of the class gets Honors kind of concerns me... At UofT, people get Honors if they get 80% or above. Please don't get me wrong because my intention is NOT to go to an "easy" med school. I do love challenges. However, *if* I happen to have a bad year or bad semester in the future and fail to receive this "Honors", then will this jeopardize my chance of getting admitted to residency? In Alberta, is it possible that a student gets an 80 or above and still not receive Honors?

 

How important is Honors in applying for a residency program?

 

Thanks!

[Guest MDmmmsure]

Hi Scholastica,

 

Congrat's on your acceptance to the UofA, its a great school! I just finished my first year here, so perhaps I can shed some light on this topic. As mentioned previously, the top 15% get honors, and that is determined by the years performance, and not per block/course (like the UofT I believe). To answer your question, yes it is possible to get above an 80 and still not get honors, in fact, many will have an above 80 average for the year and not get honors. Our class averages have ranged anywhere from 74-89 for specific blocks, and there are people getting into the mid to high 90's on exams. (some 100's). As you can see, it can be quite difficult to get honors, and you can do very well (read: high 80 average) and still not get honors for the year.

 

Now the Golden Question asked by every medical student: Do first and second year marks matter? Many will tell you no, some will say yes, utlimately you must realize that every residency program is different, and therefore, use different criteria to rate their applicants. However, the general consensus, and indeed, my experience so far suggests that the marks DO NOT matter. I have conversed with many residency directors (ENT, general surgery, cardiac surgery, etc.) so far and all have told me that they do not consider pre-clinical marks as being an important factor in the decision process. You have to understand that it is difficult for them to use marks because some schools are pass/fail only, others are honors, and even the honors system differs between some schools. For instance, is someone coming from UofA with honors better than someone coming from UofT with honors since UofA requires that applicant be in the top 15% of his/her class while UofT only requires that applicant be above 80%, or is it harder to get above 80% at the UofT than be in the top 15% at the UofA and thus the UofT applicant is better. How do they both compare to someone from Calgary who just has a pass but is from a pass/fail system? It can be quite confusing, and therefore I personally believe that marks play a small role, if any at all, in determining the best applicant for the residency position.

 

What every residency director and staff physician I have shadowed so far has told me is that the most important factors in determining competitiveness for a residency are:

1) Electives

2)Performance on Electives

3)Letters of Reference

4)Research (although this is particularly for the more competitive specialities, and even then is not an absolute)

 

Ultimately, they have to like you!!! If they can't see you fitting into their program (read: can't stand working with you), you can have all the honors, research, and recommendations you want, they won't select you!!!!

 

Good luck with your decision and feel free to ask more questions: I have enjoyed my time at the UofA so far!

[Guest summervirus]

I agree with MDmmmsure. Just to emphasize a little bit to the already very thorough answer above, many of my classmates that matched into the (traditionally) competitive specialties did not have honours. I know of a few people that matched into programs like ophthamology, radiology, radiation oncology, and several subspecialty surgeries that openly say that they never had honours. So, I don't think it really matters. As for myself, I had honours every year, but I honestly don't think it really made much of a difference in my application to residency. It neither helped nor hurt me when it came to matching.