Nyscol Posted June 1, 2015 Report Share Posted June 1, 2015 Hi all, I am looking to get in touch with someone who currently attends NOSM and who entered with an arts background as opposed to the hard sciences. I have a degree in Indigenous Studies with a few electives in biology and and am thinking of applying for the 2016 intake. I have a few questions. 1. With having a very unique admissions criteria with no prerequisites, how does NOSM bring students with a non-science background up to speed with the rest of the group? 2. Was attending NOSM with minimal science education a major shock? Was it manageable? At what point did you feel confident in your abilities? 3. Did you do anything to prepare? (i.e summer courses prior to starting in the fall.) 4. How are arts students perceived at NOSM? Do they mesh well with the NOSM community? Thanks in advance for any suggestions or insights! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy92 Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 I dont know how unique it is to apply with an Arts degree, these days people apply with various disciplines since there are no prerequisites/required degrees. schools are moving away from required courses and more so towards academically well rounded students. having a couple of elective from different subject areas shows that you can tackle anything that comes your way which is important for the challenging road a head (which you have done because you have some bio). I wouldnt take any courses in the summer (i dont know how admissions will like that). many take the summer before to relax, work, do research or do what ever.... Medical school is designed to give you all the tools you need, so I wouldnt worry about it. not sure about the NOSM community, good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernnurse Posted December 3, 2015 Report Share Posted December 3, 2015 Hi all, I am looking to get in touch with someone who currently attends NOSM and who entered with an arts background as opposed to the hard sciences. I have a degree in Indigenous Studies with a few electives in biology and and am thinking of applying for the 2016 intake. I have a few questions. 1. With having a very unique admissions criteria with no prerequisites, how does NOSM bring students with a non-science background up to speed with the rest of the group? 2. Was attending NOSM with minimal science education a major shock? Was it manageable? At what point did you feel confident in your abilities? 3. Did you do anything to prepare? (i.e summer courses prior to starting in the fall.) 4. How are arts students perceived at NOSM? Do they mesh well with the NOSM community? Thanks in advance for any suggestions or insights! To give you a very general answer. NOSM has done a lot of research in regards to this and they have found that with their current curriculum by third year, for the most part, everyone is on a level playing field regardless of their background. Depending on your undergraduate degree, you may have certain advantages than other science or arts background students and therefore you may have to work harder if you are faced with a lot of unfamiliar material, but this is to be expected. DO NOT DO ANYTHING TO PREPARE! In first and second year, I was much more aware of who in my class had an arts background. I found that these students offered awesome perspectives and promoted fruitful discussions in case based learning classes. In my last two years, I no longer find myself thinking of what background people came from, we're all on the same page and working towards the same goal. The faculty often comment on how NOSM students are incredible collaborators and I think this is largely in part to the diverse backgrounds. Each class seems to find out what every member's strengths are and uses them to their advantage to promote better learning for the rest of the class. Lastly, good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anesthete Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Totes possible Exceptionally difficult initially. Minimal support. Vast majority of peers will have a ton more science knowledge than you You won't feel on top of your game for a while. Then it will click. And life will be awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anesthete Posted April 23, 2016 Report Share Posted April 23, 2016 Also I would argue, you should do something to prepare. Watch khan academy videos over the summer. Read Tortora (intro A&P book) for the modules you'll do from Sept till Dec at least. Skim through. Don't study per se but rather "familiarize yourself". I know the non science students this year (the very few of us) felt quite behind and stupid at times. Summer prep would have helped us be more confident in the early stages of this new journey. Now it doesnt seem to matter all that much we are more or less all on the same page. My $0.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernnurse Posted May 10, 2016 Report Share Posted May 10, 2016 I'm happy to put you in touch with someone who is graduating this year who entered NOSM with an arts background. I would say the biggest thing administration has commented on being a hurdle is basic science, such as not having the background to recognize that Cl- means chloride or what an anion is etc. Send me a PM with your email and I'll put you in contact with my classmate I am looking to get in touch with someone who currently attends NOSM and who entered with an arts background as opposed to the hard sciences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob338 Posted May 15, 2016 Report Share Posted May 15, 2016 Wasn't sure if I should start a new thread or not, but I have a question along these lines. The OMSAS Instruction Booklet entry for NOSM ( http://www.ouac.on.ca/docs/omsas/b_omsas_e.pdf ) says While there are no course requirements, NOSM values applicants who present evidence of a broad undergraduate education. [...] If you pursue majors in arts, social sciences and/or humanities, you are expected to have completed at least two full course equivalents in science within your degree program Is this a requirement or a suggestion? I have an arts background but did not complete any full course equivalents in science according to their definition. I have been out of undergrad for 5 years now and also have a professional degree (not health- or science-related) so I would definitely call myself a non-trad. I studied enough science to do passably well on the MCAT (which I know NOSM doesn't consider). Does the fact that I didn't take any science in undergrad 5 years ago really mean that I have to forget about NOSM, or would I still be considered if I applied next year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDwannabe02 Posted May 15, 2016 Report Share Posted May 15, 2016 Wasn't sure if I should start a new thread or not, but I have a question along these lines. The OMSAS Instruction Booklet entry for NOSM ( http://www.ouac.on.ca/docs/omsas/b_omsas_e.pdf ) says Is this a requirement or a suggestion? I have an arts background but did not complete any full course equivalents in science according to their definition. I have been out of undergrad for 5 years now and also have a professional degree (not health- or science-related) so I would definitely call myself a non-trad. I studied enough science to do passably well on the MCAT (which I know NOSM doesn't consider). Does the fact that I didn't take any science in undergrad 5 years ago really mean that I have to forget about NOSM, or would I still be considered if I applied next year? I'm not sure about this one. I know NOSM really values breadth in applicants' post-secondary education. My guess would be that an arts and science degree would probably be their ideal degree for people to have, lol. That being said, I wouldn't let this keep me from applying if I were you. There are other ways you can show breadth in life experience and education other than what it says on your transcript. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northernnurse Posted May 22, 2016 Report Share Posted May 22, 2016 I do know that there has been recent discussion amongst administration regarding the requirement of sciences entering medicine, so I think your best bet is to contact admissions and ask them whether it is a requirement or a suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underpressure Posted June 8, 2016 Report Share Posted June 8, 2016 Hi everyone,I am looking to apply with an arts/health degree as well.I'm born and raised in NWO. I have HBA in Psych/Gero and my Masters in Public Health. I have a strong research background, solid community involvement, and high GPA (3.9 with the 0.2 boost). However, the science part is what is stressing me out a bit. I didn't take any science courses in University beyond what you get in psych with chemical brain changes.It's nice to know that with a little extra hard work you can be on par with the hard science people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anesthete Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 Science courses are suggested as far as I know and not required. Breadth can only help but there are no firm cut offs or prereqs as there are at other schools. One can always explain at the interview how their unabashed love of medieval poetry is not necessarily mutually exclusive with a fascination with human biology. This may be changing and prereqs may become a thing not this coming application but perhaps the following year's. And for the better, I firmly argue, as a decidely non-traditional student myself. In all likelihood though (to my mind) admission requirements will not change and y'all will be fine. Be your awesome selves and bring your interesting backgrounds to our school. Be prepared to work hard and you will succeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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