Canadian Applying to UK medical school

**doctorM** · 28-08-2007, 04:28 AM

I currently studying sciences at the Univeristy of British Columbia, and I would like to apply to Uk medical schools. I am aware that there are many UK medical schools that will accept you straight out of high school, provided your marks are very good. I graduated high school with an average of 95%, however my marks have dropped since I started going to university. Do you think this puts me at a disadvantage compared to students who apply to UK medical schools directly out of High school without having completed any post-secondary education? I would really appricate some insight!

**Dr Julius Hibbert** · 29-08-2007, 09:12 PM

First, US and Canadian High Schools are not sufficient as entry requirement to most UK Medical Schools. You would have to have a degree in Sciences (covering Chem. and Biol modules). Minimum: 3.6 GPA, but you would have to contact medical schools directly as they have different requirements for US and Canadian students. Also, you would have to apply via UCAS (deadline 15 October), see www.ucas.ac.uk. You will also have to sit UKCAT or BMAT depending on medical school. (www.ukcat.ac.uk or www.bmat.org.uk) Some graduate-entry medicine courses require GAMSAT (www.gamsat.co.uk). e.g. Nottingham Medical School
Leicester Medical School do not consider applicants from US or Canadian High School.
http://www.le.ac.uk/sm/le/faq/faq.htm

"American and Candian qualifications.
USA - We DO NOT consider applicants from High School. A college GPA of 3.6 is required.

Canada - We consider Ontario Academic Credits (OACs). We require 6 subjects (including Chemistry and Biology) with a minimum of 80% in each. We also consider applicants offering a degree with a GPA of 3.6 which is equivalent to the US system."

But,also check this out:

http://medicine.st-andrews.ac.uk/pro...ry.aspx#Canada

**Isaac** · 30-08-2007, 03:56 PM

There is no such thing as Ontario Academic Credits (OACs) anymore. They were phased out years ago.

**Melissa10** · 28-09-2007, 08:20 PM

check with each school because there is a wide range of GPA scores accepted for Canadian students, ranging from 3.0-3.6. So best bet is to contact each school. I've been doing lots of research myself.

I'll be graduating this year from Ottawa U with a BSc in psych. From what I've found as long as you meet the GPA cut off and have your basic premed science classes, they suggest Bio and Chem a lot (but every school is diff) you stand a chance.

You prob have lots of work experience or volunteer seeing as thats crucial for applications to canadian med schools. Some schools in the UK seem to acknowledge extra curriculars more...but def if you are applying into graduate med courses A101 you need work experience in medically related fields. Some colleges won't accept international students for A101 only the standard A100. So all things to check out.

Feel free to msg me if you have anymore questions.

**dentistwannabe** · 02-10-2007, 09:47 AM

Hi Melissa,

I am also a graduate (Masters) from Ottawa U and I want to apply to Dental Schools in the UK. I was wondering if I can get your email and ask you some questions if you don't mind....

I'm so excited that I found someone nearby, I am not totally lost but I haven't had the time to email schools and find out what the minimum GPA is. Do you know if we have to send our highschool marks as well as undergrad??? I sent you a msg with my email address.

**Deltoid** · 02-11-2007, 10:21 PM

Hey guys,

Don't know if you're still reading this thread or not but just in case you are:

Stay in Canada if you plan to work there!!

Seriously, I'm a Canadian citizen studying medicine in the UK. If only I knew how difficult it would be for me to go back to Canada after graduation, I totally would've stayed in Canada.

I cannot warn you enough: unless you want to a) sit some very expensive equivalency exams (the MCCEE), b) apply for some extremely competitive and limited residency programs that largely work against internationally trained doctors (even those who are Canadian citizens), and c) get stuck working in some remote part of a province for ~5 years before you have free reign to move back to the big city, then study your medicine in Canada. It'll save you a whole lotta trouble in the future.

**hogwarts10** · 02-11-2007, 10:42 PM

Hi deltoid,

Being Canadian, that has been my major concern since I applied to UK universities for medicine. However, the laws have changed, effective July 2007. The matching process includes canadian citizens and landed immigrnats trained abroad in the same category as Canadian trained doctors. Some provinces include all canadian students (foreign or domstically trained) in the same pool. Others have seperate streams, but it certainly isnt as commpetitive as it used to be...

**dentistwannabe** · 02-11-2007, 11:03 PM

What if I want to stay in the UK. Do you recommend that? You had some experience, would you want to settle in the UK???

**hogwarts10** · 02-11-2007, 11:15 PM

Hello people,

Here are some statistics from CaRMS (Canadian resident matching service)...The following link takes you to a PDF file for all the internationally trained medical students and the percent matched to their first and second choices...
http://www.carms.ca/pdfs/2007MatchRe...cipline_en.pdf

However, keep in mind that these numbers will change with the recent policy changes

**Deltoid** · 04-11-2007, 10:08 PM

Originally Posted by hogwarts10

Hi deltoid,

Being Canadian, that has been my major concern since I applied to UK universities for medicine. However, the laws have changed, effective July 2007. The matching process includes canadian citizens and landed immigrnats trained abroad in the same category as Canadian trained doctors. Some provinces include all canadian students (foreign or domstically trained) in the same pool. Others have seperate streams, but it certainly isnt as commpetitive as it used to be...

Hey hogwarts,

This is huge news to me. I do remember reading a bit about how IMG's now can apply for residency spots in the first iteration, but I was under the impression that it's still difficult for IMG's to get those spots.

Also, do you know which provinces class all Canadians (IMG or not) in the same pool? That would be really helpful for me. Thanks.

Originally Posted by dentistwannabe

What if I want to stay in the UK. Do you recommend that? You had some experience, would you want to settle in the UK???

Hey dentistwannabe, I take it then that you're a current dental student in the UK? I'm not sure how the whole system works for dentistry, but my guess is that the whole UK-Canada transition process would be somewhat similar for dentists too.

Unlike medicine though, dentistry in the UK is still in high demand. The UK have now managed for the first time to create a surplus of junior doctors, but I think there's still a large shortage of dentists.

Whether you should stay in the UK depends on a lot of factors though, a big one being whether you intend stay in the UK for the rest of your life, or move back to Canada at some point in time. You'll need to look into how easy either option will be for you.