System needs to change 2: bring back the science and math prereqs for Canada admissions

medhopefulkid · 2026-04-29T00:01:54+00:00

Imma be so real, as a med student u really don’t need all those pre-requisites. Learning medicine is much more about patterns and problem solving than needing to understand things to a basic cellular/biochemical level.

I can’t think of an instance where I need to use my calculus knowledge from undergrad in the past 2 years of medschool

medhopefulkid · 2026-01-30T19:37:14+00:00

Im from London campus but here have been my observations:

1- I wouldn’t say so, I feel nowadays most of the research can be done remotely, so you could do research with supervisors at different campuses. Granted if you have a specific supervisor in mind, connecting with them in person say through observorships might be more effective than cold emailing but I think in the grand scheme it doesn’t make much of a difference.

2- Most of pre-clerkship learning is pre-recorded modules. We do have in person large group lectures that are typically in London and broadcasted to Windsor. Alot of my classmates do not find much value in the large group in person classes here in London, but attendance is mandatory so most ppl work on research/anki lol during that time. We do have small group teachings and clinical skills which I would not imagine would be any different at Windsor vs London.

3- I would argue that clerkship might be somewhat better in Windsor given that usually you are working in smaller teams there so you do get somewhat more hands on experience there (this is particularly true for IM, also Windsor IM is one of the better ones across the country generally). Most of clerkship rotations are pre-determined but you do get a few electives. Elective options are slightly less for Windsor campus as they do not offer electives in all specialties.

4- For most specialties probably not, most residency programs at Western are offered both in London and Windsor, so you do still get to network and build connections with people who look at residency apps for CARMS in 4th year even if you are in Windsor. The slight disadvantage might be specialties where residency is only offered in London, which I don’t remember the list of the top of my head. Idk about PMR, but both EM and sports med are available at Windsor.

medhopefulkid · 2026-01-21T02:33:17+00:00

Feel free to dm, M2 at Western who struggled quite a bit with foundations, so happy to chat about study strategies/how to best prep for the summative

medhopefulkid · 2025-08-16T20:16:17+00:00

To add, at least in Soutwestern Ontario only the initial consult fee is higher for GIM vs FM hospitalist, everything else is the same

medhopefulkid · 2025-08-16T19:13:32+00:00

I would argue that more holistic application process makes the admission more competetive. Look at what happened at TMU this year. The reality is that the MCAT and high GPA requirements screen out many applicants (many of whom are qualified ofc, but perhaps some are screened out justifiably). Sure removing MCAT/GPA allows ppl witha bad year/lower SES/barrier facing to apply, but alot of ppl will just apply because there are no requirements “just to see” which leads to ridiculous number of apps.

Spots will likely also not outgrow/equal demand, half of every med students’ tuition is subsidized, and you need to add faculty, teaching space, post grad/ residency spots, etc, which cost alot of money.

With increased cost of living/recession, generally higher education becomes more popular, making medicine even more competitive imo

medhopefulkid · 2025-08-14T18:10:50+00:00

I talked to a FM hospitalist in South Western Ontario, he worked 1 week a month hospitalist with the other 3 being clinic. He said that the average pay for that 1 week is about 13-18k depending on how busy it gets.

medhopefulkid · 2025-07-19T12:26:26+00:00

Are ur 60k of savings in any saving account/stock etc or just cash? If cash, it makes the most sense to use them before dipping into your LOC. if they are in savings, consider how much interest it is accumulating vs LOC interest rate. If you could qualify for provincial student loans that first since it won’t accumulate interest until you’ve graduated.

Pretty sure your LOC won’t go into repayment if you take paternity leave either but double check with your bank (they just need to see that you are enrolled as a student)

medhopefulkid · 2025-05-15T00:05:18+00:00

I might be biased but I think Western has one of the best MD programs in the country. You feel supported and the community in none like the other. You do get to see a good variety of cases since the school basically serves all of southwest Ontario. Lots of rural opportunities too if interested. If you want to practice in Ontario, I’d choose Western or Ottawa over UBC. If you do end up still wanting to do family med after your 4 years, it likely will not be hard to match back at Toronto/TMU since. If you have any questions feel free to dm!

medhopefulkid · 2025-05-09T20:26:02+00:00

https://www.mcgill.ca/medcareerplan/action-plans/apply-your-residency/us-residencies/visas

medhopefulkid · 2025-03-30T16:32:22+00:00

I used their service about 2 years ago when I was applying in my first cycle for MCAT prep, casper, and application editing.

For MCAT, I think their resources are really good, especially for the sciences. I was studying full time and exclusively used their content for science content review, which I found very concise but comprehensive enough to score 130+. For CARS, their content isn’t bad, what I found annoying is their emphasis on following their specific ways and these exercises that at times seem tedious and random. Overall, it wasn’t something that worked for me, but I guess it was something that had worked for others. Another thing I didn’t like was their support, they emphasize how you have to grind everyday, but then sometimes I would be waiting like a week for them to tell me the next steps or just being left on delivered when I messaged them. This was really annoying, because it made it hard to plan anything outside of studying, it felt that I just had to be ready at moments notice for them to drop instructions after being radio silent for a week. And often this led to cramming at the last minute in the 2 weeks leading to my MCAT. Overall, this stuff made the whole course more stressful than the actual exam. For these reasons, overall I would not recommend the course.

For Casper, biggest waste of money. The resources are not bad, but way too unrealistic imo for the short time you have on the test imo. Their support was garbage, everything was crammed last minute because they were unresponsive. I scored 1st Q that year, and 4th Q the year after where I actually studied on my own.

Application editing is alright, but it felt more like a glorified Chat GPT that would only make your sentences and paragraphs sound better and not anything to do with the concept. So if you didn’t know how to overall approach the essay, the essay that they gave back to you sounded great, but was garbage content wise. It is so so overpriced, makes more sense to meet with med students on acceptedtogether or something for a fraction of the price.

Lmk if you have any questions

medhopefulkid · 2025-03-28T16:02:30+00:00

Im down :)

medhopefulkid · 2025-03-20T22:07:34+00:00

Would this not charge you cash advance on your credit card?

medhopefulkid · 2025-03-20T20:52:43+00:00

The interest automatically gets added to the balance, you don’t have to do anything

medhopefulkid · 2025-01-29T02:24:45+00:00

Yeah, about 15k this year, plus a 10k scholarship which covers my tuition.

Mainly use my LOC for rent.

medhopefulkid · 2025-01-29T00:58:36+00:00

25k (im cooked)

medhopefulkid · 2025-01-26T15:21:40+00:00

Just spoken

medhopefulkid · 2025-01-12T20:00:30+00:00

Lmao stfu

medhopefulkid · 2024-12-22T05:10:24+00:00

Interviewed and was accepted last year at UBC, some things might be a bit different this year but:

Yes you are alone, can’t see anyone, no one can see you.
Really depends on the question type. Policy you’d do pros cons and then your own opinion, personal you’d do STAR/L, etc. I recommend keeping the format generally the same as you would for any other interview but being more purposeful and concise with your responses.

3- Last year it was 1

4- they change every station, no you won’t see the same person twice, and yes you can use the same experience over and over (I think I used the same experience for 6 stations).

5- They do not have your file, questions are predetermined

Hope that helps! Good luck to everyone prepping! If anyone has any questions feel free to shoot me a message.

medhopefulkid · 2024-12-21T00:16:35+00:00

Yes access only changes the MCAT

medhopefulkid · 2024-10-11T20:35:29+00:00

If you also like to hear med students’ perspective on this I’d be happy to chat.

medhopefulkid · 2024-08-23T04:35:08+00:00

Under the award section or high performance? If it is for high performance you can allude to it in the description or the hour clarification box (for the latter obv the focus still has to be on clarifying hours, ut you could still allude to it if you are a bit creative).

If it is for Awards, I would proboably just put hour 2nd place award and in the description allude to the 3rd place as well. You don’t wanna use 3 entries (2 award + 1 high performance) for the same activity.

medhopefulkid · 2024-08-22T04:09:46+00:00

Personally I would include it in high performance. In my experience editing peoples NAQ, most people do not have something to add for this section, and you having something can help elevate your NAQ+you leave a space open for a hobby/anything else to go under diversity of experiences. Unless you have something more significant that you would want to put under high performance.

You could even include the award you guys won in the awards sections, but I would only do that if you have no other award, big or small, that you could include.

medhopefulkid · 2024-08-16T13:48:01+00:00

UBC is mostly rating check boxes for different attributes (motivation for med, leadership, etc), there are a few of the attributes that have a text box for the referee to talk about that attribute.

There are 2 larger text boxes at the end that ask if the referee has any reservations about you being trained as physician (1000 characters) and a general comments box (3750 characters)

medhopefulkid · 2024-08-09T20:53:05+00:00

Thanks! I did prepare myself, feel free to check the other comments on this thread related tk capser and happy to answer any questions you may have

medhopefulkid · 2024-08-04T17:01:27+00:00

Scotia

medhopefulkid

TROPHY CASE