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Health sci at mac or bs/md?


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Depends how bad you want a Canadian MD. I turned down US BS and BA/MD combined programs because I wanted to do my MD in Canada and not at a not-so-great US school. If you just want an MD from somewhere, go for the combined program. But I have never regretted holding out for a better experience.

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An important thing to look into for American Schools is how much will this cost, and can you (as in your family) afford it. US tuition as an international student can be expensive without scholarships even in undergrad, and their med school tuition for the four years is quite steep as well. Something to look into.

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I want to get in to medicine. would you recommend mcmaster's health sci program or bs/md in the states?

 

You will enjoy life so much more with a BS/MD because you won't be so stressed out trying to maintain max GPA, high MCAT, lots of ECs. You can just experience university and chuckle while your friends are stressed out. If you can get into a BS/MD program as an int'l you probably can get into a Canadian MD, but the peace of mind could just be worth the price.

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But if you want to come back to Canada for residency, it might be tougher depending on your specialty.

 

If you stay in the US for residency, it will be difficult to get into the top programs. And after finishing US residency, depending on your specialty, there might be complications trying to practice in Canada.

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But if you want to come back to Canada for residency, it might be tougher depending on your specialty.

 

If you stay in the US for residency, it will be difficult to get into the top programs. And after finishing US residency, depending on your specialty, there might be complications trying to practice in Canada.

 

US medical schools are not all about your medical school reputation. In fact, the PIs will say that your medical school reputation is not an important factor in admissions. The US has many ways to judge applicants: They judge based on USMLE scores, which is a standardized test taken by all US med students. They also judge based on research done, AOA status, interviews. Going to a bad med school just means you are in a bad medical school nothing else.

 

Canada and the US are both LCME accredited so there is no problem applying back. Getting into a BS/MD program as a Canadian is more difficult in many ways than Health sciences. Few of these programs consider Canadians, and the ones that do consider Americans before Canadians. In addition, these programs accept between 12-15 students with PLME being the most at 50 every year (PLME accepts only 1-2 internationals a year).

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US medical schools are not all about your medical school reputation. In fact, the PIs will say that your medical school reputation is not an important factor in admissions. The US has many ways to judge applicants: They judge based on USMLE scores, which is a standardized test taken by all US med students. They also judge based on research done, AOA status, interviews. Going to a bad med school just means you are in a bad medical school nothing else.

 

Canada and the US are both LCME accredited so there is no problem applying back. Getting into a BS/MD program as a Canadian is more difficult in many ways than Health sciences. Few of these programs consider Canadians, and the ones that do consider Americans before Canadians. In addition, these programs accept between 12-15 students with PLME being the most at 50 every year (PLME accepts only 1-2 internationals a year).

 

It is difficult to get residency because you are not an American permanent resident. There are different types of visas medical schools can give out - some schools will not even give out the one you want, and they only have limited numbers of the other one. So there are fewer spots available for internationals (e.g. canadians), less options, and more competition.

 

Coming back depends on your specialty. Some specialties take less time in the US compared to Canada, and then you will have to do extra training when you come back.

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