Canadian Applying to UK medical school

[jtoor]

Hi sweet_lilly, I was just browsing through the posts with the word "Canadians" in them and saw your post so I thought maybe I could tell you about my own experience with applying to UK schools. I am starting the 5 year program at UEA this fall and I am super excited. I know that the philosophy of the program is perfect for me, and I am hopeful that this school will be a place where I'll bloom. Well, let me get to the point... last October I applied to the University of East Anglia, Newcastle, Dundee and Aberdeen. Only after I had sent the online application via UCAS (which by the way cost only 15 pounds as opposed to the 450 dollars for only 3 ontario schools!) I emailed them and asked them if they needed my transcripts (duh?) because unlike OMSAS there is no automatic way of sending it to the schools. So they said, "sure, send them"... . They later requested my high school transcripts as well and because I was not expecting them to request that and because it was going to take forever for the Toronto School Board to release the official transcripts I ended up just sending a copy of my final report cards -thank goodness that the geek in me made me keep them- and they accepted it just like that.

This is my story: I completed a BSc with Honours in Nursing, and have been a RN for the past 3 years. It's a fascinating contradiction that being a RN was actually one of my biggest assets in my UK application and one of my biggest downfalls in the Canadian applications. I purposely completed an undergrad in Nursing with the goal of going into Medicine later on, and I can't emphasize enough what a wise decision that has been. I've learned so much that is relevant to Medicine, not only in terms of scientific knowledge and clinical skills but most importantly from a patient's perspective. Nurses are privileged to spend much more time with patients and their families, and they often get the opportunity to clarify medical information that is confusing and overwhelming... but this is a whole new topic for discussion. I am extremely happy with UEA primarily because it has a very Humanistic philosophy, it uses PBL throughout the course, it also has clinical placements that start right away and it focuses on interdisciplinary team work from the start.

I also want to comment on UCAS, which I found to be an extremely good and affordable service. One can update their file and receive messages on the status of one's application on a consistent basis. For instance, I moved to a new place in November and quickly updated my address online, UCAS then sent me a letter in the mail confirming the change and consequently all of the schools received an update from them. OMSAS on the other hand, despite the 450 dollars I spent, didn't update my address on their file, even though they confirmed to have done so twice, first over the phone and then via email (a bit of OCD from my part). I wasn't getting any of the letters from the schools... 450 dollars!!

By mid December both UEA and Dundee had send me invites for interviews, the best part of it was that UEA, which was my preferred school, was offering interviews in Toronto! I later got an invite from Aberdeen as well, but ended up withdrawing my application. I did put all of my eggs in UEA's basket and in the end it paid off.

After graduation I plan on staying in the UK or in Europe. I don't really know where life will take me but I've always wanted to travel around and experience different cultures first hand, and as a physician I will the skills and the knowledge to make that so much easier because it is such a portable profession.

Bottom line is, in 5 years who knows what will have happened. What I am absolutely certain of is that there is no way that a UK trained physician would end up driving a cab or delivering pizza in a major North American city unless there is a serious change of heart there. I have no idea of what the competition for work visas in the UK is like, but surely if you are good at what you do, and depending on the area of medicine you've chosen then getting one should be no problem. You first get an offer for a job, and then you get the visa through your employer... as far as I know.

pm me or email me if there is anything you think I will be able to help you with.

Cheers and good luck!

Hi,

I'm also applying from Canada. What were your UKCAT marks like? I just sat my UKCAT and got:

Verbal 580
Quantitative 790
Abstract 690
Decision Analysis 650

Average 678

I'm thinking of applying to Dundee, Aberdeen, Southampton and Sheffield.

[jdlee93]

that should be fine, but dont u have to be 21 and over to apply to southhampton??
and btw does KCL accept Canadian highschool leavers??

[Laura_K]

and btw does KCL accept Canadian highschool leavers??

I am a Canadian highschool leaver and I'm going to KCL, but of course, double check to make sure they haven't changed that (they probably haven't).

[eul87]

that should be fine, but dont u have to be 21 and over to apply to southhampton??
and btw does KCL accept Canadian highschool leavers??

A friend got into southampton this year, and she's 17 turning 18. And yea, I'm a highschool leaver from Toronto, and am going to KCL. So it should be okay.

[jdlee93]

o good for u guys, may I know what marks did u guys get in with?

[Laura_K]

My grade 10 and 11 averages were 96%, gr 12 was 94%.

[eul87]

Um... I think overall was 94-95, but I got in with a conditional offer for my APs :S

[jdlee93]

do i have to show them that i took aps?? cause if i do they need like a lot of 5'ss on the exam.

[eul87]

do i have to show them that i took aps?? cause if i do they need like a lot of 5'ss on the exam.

I dunno. I gave them everything I have...

[jdlee93]

which ap's courses did u take n what did u get??