The Path to Medical School

There are hundreds of career options out there in the world, and yet you end up becoming passionate about medicine — by far the toughest field to get into! As much as we yearn to achieve our goals to our convenience, the path to medical school is not particularly a linear one. Fortunately, it is not an impossible mission by any means and this blog post will help put those long years of education into perspective. Despite the pursuit of medicine being a backbreaking process, it only becomes more rewarding once it is eventually achieved. Essentially, once you are in medical school, you are set for the rest of your journey.

What is Required to Apply to Medical School?

In Ontario, there are six medical schools out of the seventeen in Canada. Typically, medical students will study for three or four years depending on the school. Each school has its own specific set of requirements, but all of them have basic needs that every applicant must complete.

• The student must have at least three years of undergraduate studies, and the minimum GPA requirement is approximately 3.8.
• Some schools will also have specific course prerequisites that must be taken during university.
• The MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) is the standard examination that analyzes a student’s ability to reason and problem solve. Out of the entire test, there is a scoring scale that ranges from the lowest to highest score a student can attain, with 472 being the lowest and the highest being 528. However, there are four separate sections and each section is scored individually.
• Along with the MCAT being the most vital part of the application process, medical schools will ask for interviews once they review an applicant’s resume and personal statement if they are satisfied with your score.
• Nowadays, many schools are also adding the CASPer test, which is the Computer-based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics. It assesses how well a student can communicate and react in social situations which is a key quality to work on in becoming a doctor. So far in Ontario, the DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster is the only medical school that requires students to complete the CASPer test.

Misconceptions about Medical School

You’ve probably heard of a few myths here and there, and for a while we seem to believe them. An important thing to always do is thoroughly understand and debunk any misunderstandings about going into medical school, in order to not compromise any decisions along the way. Here are a few common ones that people should be aware of:

• You do not need a 4.0 GPA to get into medical school. It is still possible to get in with a 3.8 GPA which is not the end of the world, however the higher it is, the better. Just make sure to emphasize the stronger areas of your application more to compensate for a competitive GPA, and to add balance to show that you are still a well-rounded student.
• There is no specific undergraduate degree that students need to major in to get into medical school. It could range from biomedical sciences to music, as long as the prerequisites of the school are met. It is still a good idea to enroll in some science courses for better understanding of MCAT material, though.
• At the end of the day, medical schools couldn’t care less about which so called “pre-med” program is more favourable than the other. Whether you are a part of McMaster Health Sciences or University of Toronto Life Science, in their eyes they care about a great GPA, MCAT score, and most importantly, your personality and passion for medicine.

How can you prepare during high school?

It is never a bad idea to start planning early, it only maximizes your opportunities. Although there is not a vast amount of freedom to explore in high school, there are definitely some great places to start exploring the field of medicine. My advice is to take Co-op either in the summer or grade twelve. I received a placement at a clinic called Monark Medical Centre, and although I was just a medical office assistant, just being in the setting of a physician’s office for the whole day exposed me to the reality of working as a doctor and made me learn about the healthcare sector and health policies of Ontario to a much greater extent. It even made me familiarize myself with common medical terminologies, learn how to deal and communicate with patients, but most importantly, confirmed my interest in medicine. This was not just a side effect of being a Grey’s Anatomy and biology fan, I genuinely felt happy in this setting and realized that if I can make someone’s day just by helping them settle into the clinic, it would be even more rewarding to make someone literally feel better from being in pain or dealing with sickness. Sometimes, the doctor would let me view how he assesses a patient in the exam room and that would be the most exciting part of my day.

Speaking of shadowing, there may be very limited chances to do so, however sometimes high school students can manage to volunteer as a shadow for a doctor which no doubt is an even better learning experience to get exposed to medicine first-hand. A tip I learned is to apply through private clinics since they have more time and resources to allocate potential students, rather than hospitals or bigger institutions.

Another way to start preparing is to definitely not miss out on core science classes. Building a foundation in science is extremely important and lots of the topics will be covered on the MCAT.

Other than finding opportunities within the healthcare field, it is a very good idea to volunteer at all sorts of places, and if possible, getting a part-time job. Experiences like these help build your character so much more and help you gain skills that would not be regularly attained, like working under pressure. While having your best foot forward during high school, another thing to stress is to still genuinely have time to relax and take care of yourself by doing things you enjoy and not be busy. One tends to get burnt out and overwhelmed from trying to complete different activities at an unbalanced pace. Getting to medical school should not be drastically exhausting, especially as early as high school.

How can I prepare during university?

There are a ton more ways to build your resume in university. One way to impress the admissions committee is to participate in a research position. These positions will allow you to gain a deeper and more complex sense of understanding of a particular area of medical research you are interested in. More importantly, getting your name as an author on a publication (preferably the second or third on the list) will be more apparent to the admissions committee and shows that you were a significant contribution to this research project. These positions are not hard to come by, many students ask and apply through faculty members at their university to aid them in their research. Just make sure to express interest in their work and hand them a resume ensuring to stay keen on helping them out, they would be more than willing to have students aid them in their research. Most universities actually offer paid research positions as well! The trick is to get familiar with your student account, as sometimes there are particular resources available that navigate students towards career opportunities that include research, all within reasonable hours.

Final Thoughts

The hardest part of a medical school admission is to create a unique personal statement. You want to woo the admissions committee to select you among thousands of students, but how can you ensure that your response is not as despised as the iconic “I want to help people?”. One thing for sure is to learn from your volunteer experiences, as they love someone who serves their community. As with any interview, people love to see growth, character development, and the difference you make within your community or towards others. The trick to also doing this is to make sure you create time to explore various disciplines and electives in university, which can help open you to new perspectives and also help you get to know yourself better, to truly stand out among applicants.

About the Author

Iffah Shaikh is currently in her first year at McMaster university, enrolled in the health sciences program. She lives in Cambridge, ON, but grew up in Oakville and Milton. She aspires to go to medical school, and become an ER doctor or a specialist of some sort in the future. Her past-times are going outside and playing sports or bike riding, watching Netflix, reading books, and making videos and memes of her friends. Some new hobbies she wants to try and start doing more of is trying out new makeup looks, cooking new dishes, and drawing.