Why is it hard to get into med school if u have a co-op prog

[Guest krnboy]

I'm considering whether or not I should go to Waterloo Health Studies Co-op because of its co-op program. It'll be easier to get good research related job experiences this way. I heard from some people that med school generally dont like people in co-op programs.

Also because of the co-op program, the schedule will be like this for me:

year 1

fall: school spring: co-op job summer: school

year 2

fall: co-op job spring: school summer: co-op job

and etc

 

this means I'm taking school courses during summer...not my choice... and i heard med school dont like people taking summer schools...

 

I really want to go to health studies co-op in order to gain experiences, but I'm afraid that it'll prevent me from my goal of getting into med school...

 

is this true for co-op programs?

 

oh yea my friend just said that 1 person from UW goes to med school every year. I don't know how reliable his info is though.

 

statistics for 2001:

3 people out of 30 people in health studies co-op program got into medicine

....is this good or bad? :x

[Guest everyoneloveschem]

I am not in Med school, but I did get an interview at Mac, and I did Coop Chem at Waterloo. I think when the Med schools say they don't like people taking summer courses they mean one or two over the summer, instead of a full five course load during the regular year. With coop its different, you're not taking one or two over the summer, you're doing your term during the summer, instead of say fall or winter. In terms of people from Waterloo going to Med School, it will be a bit different from schools that have med schools, where people go there initially because they think it will make it easier to get into the affiliated med school. Remember you have not even started yet, you might find by year 3-4 that you couldn't care less about med school, and want to pursue a grad degree or health policy or an MBa. Don't make your decision for your undergrad solely on concern that you won't get into med school. You have to live in the chosen city for 4 years, eight months of the year, spending a lot of time at the university. If you are really worried, just make sure you fulfill all the course requirements for the various med schools during whichever undergrad you choose, and take a full 5 course load. If you hate the city/program/university you won't do as well and that will greatly affect your med school prospects.

[Guest macdaddyeh]

I too interviewed at Mac (but have yet to find out if I got accepted) AND I am in an applicant from a co-op program at the U of T.

 

I concur with everyoneloveschem in that *some* schools will discourage summer courses, but co-op is an entirely different animal so the summer rules/restrictions often don't apply.

 

I for example had co-op throughout last summer. In fact I believe that co-op can enhance your application because you can include what you learned etc. into your admissions essay. Moreover, *many* co-op programs are very competitive to get into and this shows even more about your academic dilligence and dedication.

 

So bottomline is no worries as co-op can only be advantageous to your future career/med school prospects!

[Guest krnboy]

ok thanks |I

I'm still deciding where to go though...

Haven't made up my mind yet.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

I don't think there's any bias against Co-op students with the med schools. At least, not here at UWO as we have some former Co-opers in the class.

 

I think the statistics you saw could reflect three things:

 

1) Co-op programs are designed to specifically attract people interested in working for industry, not medicine.

 

2) Co-op students often graduate with contacts and possibly even job offers. The thought of paying $15,000 for the privelege of sitting-in-a-lecture-hall-for-two-years-then running-around-for-another-year-and-a-half-as-someone's-biatch-as-a-clerk-only-to-land-a-residency-for-2-to-5-years-where-you're-still-someone's-biatch-but-at-least-you're-almost-making-minimum-wage-now-and-you-can-now-take-it-out-on-the-clerk might not seem so tempting if you've just been offered a career at $40,000.

 

3) Medicine is pretty hard to get into out of EVERY program, and despite people saying every person in a science program is interested in meds. . . that's blatantly untrue. My biochem class was about 40-50 people and often considered a "premed" program. I think myself and MAYBE one or two others got into meds right out of undergrad. . . I think a few more were taking a year off, and I think two of them are at Dal meds now. A few others are doing a Master's first. Does that mean it was a bad program for getting into Meds? No. It just means some people changed their mind over the course of undergrad, or never wanted medicine in the first place.

[Guest Sil]

no worries about co-op a classmate of mine from Waterloo co-op got into the 2 schools that she interviewed at (U of T and Ottawa).

[Guest babytiger]

hey krnboy,

thinking of waterloo coop now ehh??

lol. me thinking too.. might apply for coop second year though since i applied to pre-health/pre-opt

 

as far as i think, coop is certainly way more work, yet i think it would be all worth it at the end.

 

i'lll talk to you later. byee

[Guest aneliz]

3/30 (10%) getting into meds isn't that bad....when you consider that there are about 17 applications for every seat at UWO (8% chance)....

 

I have yet to find an undergrad program that can claim that "100% (or even 50%) of all applicants to med school from this program got in"....med is hard to get into from every program! Do what you want, get the best grades that you can and be happy....you can get into medicine from absolutely anything....including religious studies (there is one in my class!)

[Guest mirrille]

I did co-op in undergrad and I don't think it hurt me when applying to med school. Some schools do have requirements that a certain number of courses be taken in the regular winter session, but all the schools I applied to did make an exception for me. They get lots of applicants from various co-op programs and they know what it is and how it works. You just have to make sure you tell them your circumstances so they can make the necessary adjustments in their calculations.

As for 3/30 students from the program getting into med, i have no idea how to interpret that. I have no idea how many wanted to apply. And besides, plenty of people might do a grad degree, or travel, or work before applying. Remember that science co-ops generally gear you towards a career in research and development, so alot of people there are the ones who are considering grad school. Of course, research/work/life experience is usually a plus when it comes to med applications, provided you can show that you learned something. I found also that it helped me with making contacts and getting references. However, do not go into co-op if you have no interest in the work. You will be miserable and your performance will suffer.

[Guest Head Dawg]

I Did coop in Science and Business at the University of Waterloo, and it in no way slowed my progress towards med-school. Rather, I would say the experience coop gave me (team-work, project management, working with profs, networking, lab/clinical skills) certianly helped me in my pursuit.

I have been accepted to Mac on my first try (after 3 years at UW) and I believe coop helped play a part.

About only 1 student getting in to med schools each year from UW, I find this really hard to believe. I know of around 10 people who are my age and who I absolutely believe will be at one of the schools next year. The Science and Health Sciences faculties do a great job.

My two cents anyways.

Take it easy everyone!

[Guest EMHC]

One question about what Everyoneloveschem said. Does Med school favour against applicants who did pre-req courses or even regular courses in the summer session. I'm in this situation here, need some help.

[Guest UWOMED2005]

It might depend on the School, but the ones I checked out didn't care when you took the prereqs.

[Guest krnboy]

thanks everybody for your replies. I guess it doesn't really matter if you're in co-op and it may even increase your chance of getting into med.

 

babytiger, I still haven't made my decision yet

ttyl

[Guest EMHC]

Which schools did you apply to UWOMED2005?

 

EMHC

[Guest UWOMED2005]

I only applied to UWO, Queen's and U of T. Why? I'm from Ontario and didn't like my chances as an OOP elsewhere, thought Mac would be a crapshoot and while I respect Mac's program I'm not sure that would have been a $75 well-spent. As for Ottawa. . . I'm from Ottawa, and while I love that city I wanted to explore somewhere else for a few years. . . and wasn't sure I wanted to live somewhere my parents would be breathing down my neck. Besides, I kinda felt that was a test run. . . not having access to an information resource such as this one, I'm not sure my GPA (3.75) was good enough for even an interview, or let alone to be accepted. I was fully prepared to not get in, take the year off and have some fun working abroad, and then reapply the next year to ALL the schools.

 

To answer your question, I think the key for the Ontario schools is just to have the prereqs, not to have them in the regular year. One of my prereqs (1st year biology) was taken in the summer, so I'm pretty sure UWO, U of T and Queen's were OK with that. . . or I wouldn't have applied to those three.

 

Hope that helps.

[Guest EMHC]

Cool, same here. These are the exact same schools I'm planning on applying to after I get all my pre-reqs (or atleast until I'm doing my last pre-req). On top of that I'm also thinking of UBC....well, cause I'm BC. What did you do for your undergrad degree?

[Guest UWOMED2005]

I did a Combined Honours degree in Biochemistry and Immunology. I thought those give me the best foundation for medicine. . . turns out a degree in anatomy and physiology might have been better!

 

I would have definitely applied to UBC if I had a decent shot of getting in. I love the west coast, have some family out there, and the combination of lower tuition and pay during clerkship would have meant I could have afforded food during med school.