Potential Dal Admission Changes in the Future

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Here are some recommendations from the admissions review committee.

 

The Committee recommends:

1. That a minimum threshold for GPA and MCAT marks be set with no scaling of scores that exceed the threshold levels.

2. That the Terms of Reference and composition of the Admissions Committee be amended to mandatorily include representatives of the African-Canadian and Aboriginal communities and to reflect gender equity;

3. That the criteria for eligibility as an African-Canadian or Aboriginal candidate be determined by a process of ongoing collaboration with the African-Canadian and Aboriginal communities. The Committee saw no evidence that self-identification alone has been endorsed by either the African-Canadian or Aboriginal communities. The Committee specifically recommends that criteria for eligibility as an Aboriginal Candidate be developed in collaboration with the Aboriginal Health Sciences Advisory Committee;

4. That the Terms of Reference and composition of the Admissions Committee be amended to increase the number of public members to no less than three;

5. That the Admissions Committee consider developing a bespoke approach, perhaps through specific subcommittees, for the assessment of the applications of Aboriginal and AfricanCanadian candidates. This approach should involve the Aboriginal and African-Canadian representatives of the Admissions Committee;

6. That the Admissions Committee be required to incorporate training in Cultural Competence in its orientation of members;

7. That the Admissions Committee develop and implement a formal approach for the declaring and management of Conflicts of Interest for its members and all admissions evaluators;

8. That the evaluation of applications be done in consideration of the overall mandate of the admissions process. Scoring of each component of the application should be based on the extent to which the information supports the candidate’s likelihood of:

a) successfully completing the curriculum;

meeting a high standard of practice;

c) meeting a high standard of professionalism; and d) providing service to the profession and our communities.

9. That the essay component of the supplemental application be eliminated. If the Faculty of Medicine considers an essay to be necessary, the Committee recommends that candidates write an essay in a witnessed or invigilated setting;

10. That the four domains mandatorily evaluated on the supplemental, specifically volunteerism, employment, involvement in medicine and extra-curricular, be eliminated. In their place, the Committee recommends that candidates be offered to address any four of the following domains drawn from the CanMEDS framework:

 Scholar

 Professionalism

 Health advocate

 Collaborator

 Communicator

 Manager

11. That the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) be maintained. Evaluators are to be encouraged to red flag applications for discussion when concerns about a candidate arise outside the scoring rubric of the MMI itself. The Committee supports the approach adopted by the University of Toronto in this regard;

12. That the ability for evaluators to give up to five discretionary points to a candidate be eliminated. In its place, candidates will be asked to address one of the remaining CanMEDS domains, a field of their own choosing not necessarily addressed by the CanMEDs framework, or to provide evidence of community engagement or social commitment. 

 

FULL DOCUMENT: https://medicine.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/faculty/medicine/FINAL Dalhousie Admissions Review Recommendations August 25 2016.pdf