Applications to International Medical Schools

[TearsOfLenin]

What are the chances of a prospective U.S. applicant with an undergraduate BSc. degree to medical school in:

1. UK (via UCAS) 2. Canada 3. France 4. Belgium 5. Netherlands 6. Spain 7. Republic of Ireland 8. Switzerland 9. Denmark 10. Sweden 11. Norway 12. Finland

Any additional requirements for applying to said countries?

Many thanks

[attheend]

I would think that you would have a pretty good shot at the UK schools. I'm doing my undergrad at a Canadian university right now and managed to receive offers from three of the four schools I applied to. Just look into which UK schools accept internationals and how many spots they have and what requirements there are for those with degrees (i.e. a particular GPA, B.Sc etc.) Also, you should look into which UK schools require the UKCAT too.

As for Canada - again you might have a good shot there too. If you have a good GPA and MCAT score, then you might get an interview. But again, I would look at the international spots for schools. I could be wrong, but I think that some schools won't even consider you if you're not a permanent resident or Canadian citizen.

Hope that helped! I don't know much about the requirements for other countries you listed though.

[Vancouver Girl]

1. There are very few schools for medicine in Canada compared to the UK, most of them are province based. Canada is divided up into roughly 10 provinces +2 territories.

There are medical schools in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia

Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba only take from their own province generally, NS takes mostly from Atlantic Canada, Ontario and BC take a few out of province and a few international (I believe) and Quebec is mostly quebec and its taught in french. Each provinces' medical schools generally accept over 90% of their medical class from their own province, the remaining 10% are made up of students from underserviced provinces and internationals. For internationals, that calculates to maybe 2-3 positions per university that does accept internationals

The medical schools in UK are larger and accept more internationals than any school in Canada.

I'm a CBC, Chinese born Canadian, with decent grades A average, 80% percentile MCAT, and all the extra curriculars they could want. I couldn't even get an interview from my own province university (not that it isn't possible, almost all my friends got in eventually over 3 years of continually applying...I only applied once)...

I've got unconditional to St Andrews...

Just to keep your head grounded...many Canadians are leaving Canada for medical school just because competition to get in in getting insane, they're splitting decimal points now ...

[Vancouver Girl]

There are so many applicants out there now, that you need to make your application stand out any way possible, academically everyone hits a personal best ceiling...so make your extracurriculars, your references and your essay different and unique so you stick out in the minds of the application gnomes =)

[attheend]

Good info, Vancouver Girl!

Just a note though - there are 3 territories in Canada. Not 2! Northwest, Yukon and Nunavut

[TearsOfLenin]

Are applications to Canadian medical schools direct to each school separately and do not go through a universal school application, such as UCAS in the UK (where one has to apply to an organisation that allows the applicant a choice of only four schools to apply)?

I heard McGill, T.O., Queen, and Waterloo are pretty good, but extremely difficult to get into.

[attheend]

Waterloo doesn't actually have a med school. Just a note!

In Ontario (which has the most med schools - 6: Queens, Toronto, Western, Northern, Ottawa, McMaster), you apply through OMSAS (Ontario Medical School Application Service). It is like UCAS, and through it you can apply to all six.

For other provinces, they each have their own application that you do straight to the school.

All med schools in Canada are good. But I think Toronto tends to top the rankings. They're not crazy to get into - most of us have heard the horror stories about getting into Canadian med schools, but it is possible. You just need to be prepared for what they expect: great ECs, top marks, top MCAT scores. Plus, if you want to be successful you may need to reapply more than once.

Also, something that I forgot to mention is that to gain entry to an Irish medical school, North Americans can apply through the Atlantic Bridge Program. It has its own website, so you can find out plenty of information through that.

[TearsOfLenin]

Is it true that non-Canadian citizens or permanent residents are only allowed to apply ot McMaster or Toronto?

[Vancouver Girl]

Hey...*blush* yea, I tend to forget poor Nunavut..unless they are in the news...that really dates me back to learning Canadian Geo before Nunavut was included. And I just recently found out pluto was demoted and is not a planet anymore.

And to add to the centralized system, BC has technically 3 medical schools, one at Uni Northern BC, UBC and UVictoria however, UBC has one application for all three since it does all the placement/curriculum for the three schools, you can rank which one you want, I'm not sure if internationals are allowed to choose UVic or UNBC

[Kam14]

Is it true that non-Canadian citizens or permanent residents are only allowed to apply ot McMaster or Toronto?

I believe there are a few (maybe 1 or 2) more schools that accept internationals (which I'm assuming you qualify as), but yes those are 2 schools that accept internationals. It's hard enough to gain entry for locals, for internationals it must be even worse. I know UofT took in 2 international students for 2008 entry according to MSAR. One thing that really helps for canadian schools is to have a masters degree

EDIT: ok so i just checked the MSAR... it turns out there are more schools than I thought that accept apps from internationals... on top of mac, UT there is; MUN, Dalhousie and all the Quebec schools. However all these schools except McGill matriculate about 1-2 internationals (interview around 4). McGill is your best bet with 151 apps, 41 interviews and 7 matriculants for internationals