Acceptance Letter!

So on the 15th, I finally worked up the courage to check my email at 930. It had been waiting for me for almost an hour; short and sweet. "Offer of Admission - McMaster University MD Program" and that there's a package in the mail. The package arrived a few days later. You know you've finally made it when there's real signatures =D

With the package came a quite-extensive list of requirements to get done before you can start. There's the usual Police check with Vulnerable Sector Screening. There was also a whole bunch of blood-tests done to ensure I don't have Mumps, Measles, Rubella, Varicella, Hepatitis B and TB. An upgrade to CPR-HCP (Health Care Provider) was also required. Lastly I needed to send in 2 registration forms, confirm my acceptance, and then a nice big fat cheque for them. Tuition is pretty equal to the other medical schools, so I figure I'm saving ~$18k by not doing a 4th year, plus living expenses, plus I start earning sooner. A win-win situation!


Also they gave me a brief overview of what the next 3 years would consist of (since I really didn't worry about the details of med school before I got the acceptance).
It's kind of hard to fathom the amount of material I'm expected to learn by next Nov 19 when I finish all 5 of my medical foundations (i.e. major units). But I love a challenge, so I'm up for it! As you can see from the schedule, my "Summer Break" spans all of 1 week which is a bit of a shock, but it's worth it.

So what would you do when you get the good news? I decided to only work until the end of May, spend time with my friends that I'm now leaving behind, and then travelling Europe in July/early August. This past month has been probably the best of university so far; no responsibilities and just lots of good memories. I worked really hard in 1st and 2nd year, and never quite let myself relax. If I have spare time you'll find me in the gym working out.

Convocated on June 11th; if you do get in early, I would definitely suggest waiting the year to convocate with your class. It felt a bit hollow without my friends there. I graduated in shorts, but nobody was from my class and understood my year-round shorts policy, so perhaps they just thought I was streaking :/

The Application Process: OMSAS

So to apply to medical schools in Ontario, you have to apply through OMSAS . Each school has its own requirements (GPA, MCAT, 3 vs. 4 yrs post-secondary school min.) etc. Each school also may set its own bunch of personal questions; University of Toronto (UofT) wanted a long written statement about yourself, whereas McMaster had 5 short questions with a max of 700chars. There is also an autobiographical sketch where you list 48 items from the age of 16+; everything from extracurricular involvement, to sports, awards, employment, research etc.


MCAT: Worthy of a paragraph in itself. It is not computerized, and the test takes ~4.5 hours. 4 Sections; Physical Sciences (Physics and Chem) Verbal Reasoning, Biological Sciences (Biology and Organic Chemistry) and Written Section (Two 30 min essays). I spent 6 weeks just studying from the Princeton Review Books. I never practiced the written section, made up my examples on the MCAT (i.e. I made up a Chinese province to make some point about politics) and still got a Q. I managed to get in the top percentile in PS and BS just by studying those books, however Verbal Reasoning got me (and quite a few other friends). The 8 cut me out of Queen's, and likely UofT. If I were to do it again, I'd spend more time studying Verbal using the Exam Krackers 101 VR book that I didn't buy.

So you send off all this info to OMSAS (and please do it more than 4 minutes before the deadline like someone I know;) ) at the start of October, and then you find out about interviews late Jan-Feb. As a 3rd year, I only applied to UofT, Ottawa, and McMaster. I managed to get an interview at McMaster; most of my friends from 3rd year applying had mid 3.9s and got an interview as well. This was before Verbal Reasoning counted, or I likely wouldn't get an interview. My interview was Sun March 29th. My prep involved just reading their 10 example questions, and a fair bit more reading of their website about their values, fundamentals etc. This was very useful since pretty much all the interview stations were looking for a specific quality that I could usually identify. I.e. they might put you in a situation to see how you empathize, or how you value communication vs. knowledge. Many people suggested reading 'Doing Good' which is about ethics, but I just couldn't get through even 10 pages lol.

The marking rubric for interviews is here . I only found that afterwards, but it is definitely useful. Also the admission page has alot of other info for applying. I can't say what my questions were because of the NDA I signed, but post a comment if you want clarification on something. You have 2 minutes to read the prompt, then 8 minutes in the room with a community member/faculty/med student. I had a great time since I love meeting and talking with random people, so I think I was quite comfortable. In quite a few stations we ended up laughing for a fair bit, and once I got the Dr. chatting for over half the time before she remembered to bring up the prompt! Smooth talking is key here and remember to play to their learning styles at Mac in your answers. Never did a panel interview, so I'm no help for those applying at most other schools.

After the interview, you get to wait the most excruciatingly long time until May 15th when acceptances to all schools are sent out electronically via email around 9am.

Intro

Growing up, I always knew that I wanted to pursue medicine. Along the way, I've been figuring out where my interests lie. Now I'm finally ready to begin formal medical training. I know there's many books out there explaining how to apply and what to expect but I think that a blog of the entire process from a student's perspective might be very interesting. So that's what I'm setting out to do. Feel free to ask for clarification/more details; I love to ramble (as you shall soon see!)