Advice needed, any help appreciated

[BlueJaysFan]

Hi
I am looking for some advice. I recently completed undergrad from the University of Western Ontario in Canada and am torn over my options for proceeding towards a career in medicine. I have currently been accepted to SGU and am waiting on 2 Australian Universities. My GPA is 3.9 but my MCAT (second try) is 26.

Option 1
Try to write the MCAT again this summer and try again in Canada/US

Option 2
Leave for SGU in August 2009

Option 3
Leave for Australia (if accepted) in Feb 2010

Option 4
Try to write the MCAT again and if unsuccessful go to SGU Jan 2010 (but will lose one year)

Please shed some light into my situation

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[tripledogdare]

hi BlueJaysFan!

ultimately it depends on what you want to do and where you want to live.

for eg, if you're thinking of a difficult speciality like surgery or radiology and also want to live in the states, then i'd think it'd be best to reapply to an american med school. also you might consider applying to a DO school if you want to end up in the us.

but if you're open to primary care and not sure where you want to live, like if you wouldn't mind living in australia/nz, then it'd be worth going to a med school down under.

i'm currently an australian med student, so if you have any other q's, i'd be happy to try and answer.

 

[shan564]

With a 26 on the MCAT, you'd have trouble getting into an Australian school. If you crank out a great interview, your GPA might make up for it at Flinders or Monash. If UQ has a very small entering class, you might get in there.

If you do get into Australia, I'd choose Option 3 (actually, I did choose Option 3 myself). The reasons are complicated and have been discussed on this forum several times.

If you're 100% sure that you want to end up in the US/Canada, then SGU will do the job. You'll probably pass the USMLE and you'll probably get into an American residency program. At this year's CaRMS info session at USyd, the rep specifically said that Australian grads are better than Caribbean grads (and that we're more likely to match in Canada, which is much more difficult than the US).

I think you're better off going to SGU than waiting a year. If you just want to wait a year, you coul dalways start at SGU and re-apply to American schools after that. Also, some people do manage to transfer from the Caribbean schools to the American schools.

Part of the reason why I chose Aus is because I really wouldn't mind living here. Also, I care about more than just "being a doctor." I wanted to go to med school in a vibrant country that actually has substantial culture and activity. In my short 3 months here, I've run across a variety of intangibles that I'd never see in the Caribbean - cultural events, networking, learning opportunities, etc. Of course, it'd be impossible for me to revisit the entire Australia vs. Caribbean debate - but in short, I think there's something fundamentally wrong with a medical school that exists primarily to make a profit rather than to educate a country's own medical workforce.

 

[JPR22]

I'd take option 1. Australia provides a great quality of education, but post-grad opportunities may be limited. Nevertheless, if youve got some cash australia's a great place. Ive seen some real disasters recently with canadians in the carribean.

 

[PistolPete]

You may try to defer your acceptance and apply again. You may not want to hear this, but my advice would be: take the MCAT again. If you managed a 3.9 GPA, you should manage a 30 on the MCAT

Get a 30 on the MCAT, and with that GPA, you should be in good shape to get into either Canadian or US medical schools.

An Australian medical education would also be solid, but staying in Canada or the US will give you better chances at residency in Canada or the US.

 

[BlueJaysFan]

Hey everyone thanks for the advice. I was just wondering 1) How easy is it to come back to Canada from Australia (aka what percent of Cdns to study in Australia and want to come back are able to-a rough percentage would be great!), 2) it was mentioned that students in the carribean who are Cdn can potentially have disasterous results. What are these potential results?

Anyways thanks for the advice thus far and if anyone else would like to weight in please feel free to do so

 

[Peter59]

With your high GPA I would definitely choose option 1. The other options are for <3.5 GPA. Go for a 30 on the MCAT and even a 28-9 will land you somewhere in CAN/US.
From SGU/ Aus you may come back to Canada after jumping through hoops but it means= family/psych/pediatrics for 90% of the time.
BUT DEFINITELY EXHAUST YOUR CHANCES HERE BEFORE GOING ABROAD NO MATTER LOSING 1-2 YEARS. In the long run it comes to the same.

 

[redshifteffect]

Hey everyone thanks for the advice. I was just wondering 1) How easy is it to come back to Canada from Australia (aka what percent of Cdns to study in Australia and want to come back are able to-a rough percentage would be great!), 2) it was mentioned that students in the carribean who are Cdn can potentially have disasterous results. What are these potential results?

Anyways thanks for the advice thus far and if anyone else would like to weight in please feel free to do so

There are essentially two ways to get back to Canada from Oz, the first is directly after graduation which is probably the most difficult way. I think most of the figures we could provide you with are merely speculative because there really isn't hard data that I've come across yet. However if you look at the CaRMs website you can see for yourself that the match rate for overseas trained graduates is fairly low. Also it's mainly in fields that you may not want to do (Family med, and a few IM or Psych spots, but mainly FM).

The other way is to complete post-grad training in Oz, but you're looking at 8+ years of time from when you leave Canada. I have yet to meet a Canadian that has gone back after completing their training here, but it's not that it's impossible. It's just that by that stage you've likely set up some sort of life in Oz so the motivation to go back might be less. There isn't any hard stats for that either.

However I have posted a few "profiles" in another thread of people who've gone to Canada after Australian training (none of them Canadian) so you can start by contacting them and finding out for yourself.

 

[BlueJaysFan]

Hey everyone,
If a student studies and completes the MBBS in Australia and writes the Cdn Liscencing exam, is that equivalant to the USMLE Step 2. Also due to the Feb to December Cycle in Australia, how feasible is USMLE studying with that academic cycle?

Thanks again for any insight

 

[shan564]

The Canadian exams aren't equivalent to the American ones - you'd have to take both separately. I've heard that they cover similar material, except that the Canadian exam is more difficult... but I'm not sure about that.

I don't see why you couldn't schedule your USMLE studying the same way as any American would - just adjust your schedule by six months. Instead of taking Step 1 in June after the end of your 2nd year, you could take it in December after the end of your 2nd year. That's just one way to do it; some people prefer to wait a bit longer and take it 6 months (or a year) later.

 

[iDream]

However I have posted a few "profiles" in another thread of people who've gone to Canada after Australian training (none of them Canadian) so you can start by contacting them and finding out for yourself.

Hi redshifteffect,

Could you direct me to which thread you have posted these profiles in? I haven't come across them in the ones I have seen so far. They should be an interesting read!

Thanks,
iDream

 

[jaketheory]

With a 26 on the MCAT, you'd have trouble getting into an Australian school. If you crank out a great interview, your GPA might make up for it at Flinders or Monash. If UQ has a very small entering class, you might get in there.

When i visited Flinders in 2006 they said i'd need a 30 to be pretty confident of getting an interview. granted i did not have a 3.9, but they do rank applicants both for interview and final offers using GPA.

As for UQ, you are unlikely get in with a 26. they admit 100% on test score now (no interview and GPA is only a hurdle).

And regarding if UQ were to have a small entering class: hah! Further, they will be increasing the international quota by another 80 this upcoming year to accomodate the new Ocshner program. They will now have a class size totalling 550 students!

 

[redshifteffect]

Hi redshifteffect,

Could you direct me to which thread you have posted these profiles in? I haven't come across them in the ones I have seen so far. They should be an interesting read!

Thanks,
iDream

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=620772

 

[shan564]

When i visited Flinders in 2006 they said i'd need a 30 to be pretty confident of getting an interview. granted i did not have a 3.9, but they do rank applicants both for interview and final offers using GPA.

I had a 2.9 and a 35 on the MCAT, and the person at Flinders told me that if I had an average interview score, I would have just barely gotten into the previous year's class. I think their admissions are 1/3 MCAT, 1/3 GPA, and 1/3 interview... so a 3.9 and a good interview might be good enough to make up for a low MCAT. Of course, that's if they give you an interview... again, your GPA might make up for your MCAT.

As for UQ, you are unlikely get in with a 26. they admit 100% on test score now (no interview and GPA is only a hurdle).

I think some people last year got in with a 26-27-28, I don't remember the exact number.

And regarding if UQ were to have a small entering class: hah! Further, they will be increasing the international quota by another 80 this upcoming year to accomodate the new Ocshner program. They will now have a class size totalling 550 students!

Sorry, I mistyped what I meant to say... I meant that he might have a chance if they have a small applicant pool, not a small entering class. They have a big entering class, so if they don't get a lot of applicants, then admissions might be easier this year.

 

[Daemos]

UQ is rolling admissions, you will most likely get in if you applied early enough.