This Canadian Premed Has Been Applying to Med School for 4+ Years | Application Renovation (S2 E12)

[@saysHotdogs]

I wonder if she got in. I hope she did. Going through the cycle 4 times must tell someone she really wants to be a doctor. I'd love to have her as mine tbh.

[@themedtrek1160]

I just got into medical school in Canada, and I’ve been following you for years. It’s awesome to see a Canadian being featured here!

[@sua6887]

lucky!!!! Pray for me

[@viditpatel1211]

Hey can u share your insta id?

[@MehDragon99]

When I saw the word "Canadian" in the title, my face lit up! As a Canadian student myself (fun fact: same university as this applicant), your videos have been EXTREMELY helpful+informative during my application and it's hard to find advice online that applies to international applicants like myself. I've been following your multiple podcasts and watching your videos, which truly are a GODSEND. I'm sure I speak for all international students when I say THANK YOU DR GRAY! PS: I retook a 511 MCAT and people looked at me like I'm crazy too...we're not crazy just a Canadian applicant competing with high stats :P

[@dalalmahir3190]

Hey, I'm a Canadian student as well! What university are you attending?

[@MehDragon99]

@@dalalmahir3190 I graduate from UofToronto next month! It's an online ceremony lol, hby?

[@dalalmahir3190]

@@MehDragon99 I thought I recognized the course codes lol, so am I but I just finished first year. And really they made it online?

[@MehDragon99]

@@dalalmahir3190 It's great you're watching these videos now, I only discovered him 4 months ago They might have an in-person ceremony later

[@dalalmahir3190]

@@MehDragon99 thanks lol. Did you apply for med school for fall of 2020?

[@Sam-oy1bc]

Getting into Canadian Medschool is the HARDEST in the world both based on the years required and the GPA/MCAT scores. Good luck!

[@THEVIBEbyChristelleK]

Oh Lord, I feel so bad for you. I know that all medschool here in Canada ask for a minimum GPA of 3,5 but you will be considered as competitive student with GPA above 3.8. Being said, it's ridiculous; it's not about being smart, it takes more than that to be a good doctor. my actual GPA is 3.8 but this is because at my first year of undergrad I had a baby, my new life as mom had an impact in my GPA, but still I've been working hard (in my 4th year now in molecular medicine) If everything is going great, my final GPA will e around 3.9, that's a huge realization being a mom and compared to my classmates who are not parents lol. BUT GUESS WHAT? nobody cares, they don't even try to see in what circumstances you've been studying. Anyways, DON'T LOSE FAITH, you'll be accepted.

[@雪底下]

Really? Not a single med school in Canada is holistic? That’s disappointing to hear.

[@C7y323]

@@雪底下 Nope, GPA is king here. You could 5 years in healthcare experience, a masters, 2 pubications as second authors, thousands of hours in ECs, starter of two non-profits, be a NP in primary health care for 6 years, and score 518 on the MCAT and still not get in cause you have a 3.5 in undergrad (kill me)

[@johndowning642]

As someone who navigated the application process as a Canada/US dual citizen who did my undergrad (and lives) in Canada there are also things that I had to be weary of when applying. ie. Many schools might require a transcript equivalency certification (WES) prior to marking your application complete (despite your undergraduate degree being Canadian and AACOMAS AMCAS accepting it. Also how those "number" grades convert is also a pleasant surprise for Canadians applying DO, in fact AACOMAS turned my low 80s into a solid A (4.0) and 70-79 is a B. However, being an applicant from Canada will often give you reasons to get in touch with admissions committees and I'm sure they get familiar with your name, etc. I also reccomend going the extra mile (or kilometre) to go to the USA and shadow a physician, it is worth it. It helps you start understanding the differences between healthcare systems and gives you something interesting to talk about in interviews - which will almost assuredly come up for you.

[@Rpere387]

For the personal statement I like to tell students to SHOW not tell. Describe your experiences in detail and how they impacted your decision to pursue medicine.

[@AK98BeAsT]

OMG THANK YOU. As a canadian whos applying this cycle, this was so helpful!

[@crystalmcleod2651]

Thanks for the Canadian love Dr. Gray! As a Canadian entering my fourth application cycle here in the north I feel this applicants pain! Good luck girl!

[@AlR-db2mm]

Canadian schools are crazy.

[@hapachew4600]

@@certifiedbeauty6434 that's what makes them crazy tough.

[@schmingusss]

And yet four black women, all got into the University of Calgary med school (all four of them good friends) because, y'know, systemic racisn ha been keeping blacks out, ....what a joke. Let in because of racial background. Meanwhile people that have better qualifications are turned down.

[@kimduruaku9386]

@@schmingusss why do you assume that they didn't deserve to get it?

[@elijahmccallister5802]

@@schmingusss I don't think affirmative action will favor those with significantly worse scores than other applicants. It's not like they *only* got in because of their minority status, they still had to prove themselves to the ADCOMs just as much as everyone else.

[@luc-i-guess]

Goorie Henkel fuck off racist. I’m Canadian and you make me sick with your hate.

[@saifdababneh6689]

I've been waiting for this for too long

[@jays5926]

bruh, you went off on her personal statement :o!

[@oreo4cheez]

Thanks for having a Canadian Premed on :)

[@valeriefigueroacruz3906]

I am a non-traditional and I moved from the Caribbean to the Pacific North West. I didnt know anyone or had any friends or a community. I had to work really hard to build any type or relationship from scratch. What really worked for me was getting out of my comfort zone despite language barriers and going to medical conferences, seminars and anything medical related that was free for the most part. I would constantly be searching on google for these types of events close to me and start networking. I met different physicians and asked with respect if they will be willing to give me a shadowing opportunity. Thank God, I was able to shadow 3 different physician in hospital setting and once Family physician in outpatient setting. I was able to be in surgeries in the OR and shadow in the Pediatric ICU. It took a lot of guts to just show to this seminars without knowing anyone and just meeting medical students, Doctors or anyone that could open doors for me! Making at least 1 or 2 connections you should be good, you can always ask them if some of their colleagues are open to let you shadow. Most of the time this works really well! I wish you the best of success and don’t give up if your heart is set on becoming a physician.

[@Dai_rui]

please feature more canadian applicants

[@DR-fc1ey]

Its hard getting good info on canadian med schools, i want to be going to u of c because i dont have the luxury of going cross country, so i really need to get in. But i have made tremendous progress as i graduated high-school with an actual 1 GPA in the lowest classes i could get into. Currently i am upgrading all my classes, doing highschool all over again and 25% of the way through and been maintaining a pretty solid 3.7 to 4.0 gpa on the highest classes which 3 years ago i never thought i was capable of. But getting any kind of experience i need is really difficult, the only experience i have is so far being 20 with 15000+ hours as working as a cook with half the time working as an unofficial leader. Just really hard to find any other experience, hopefully when i make it into my undergrad i can find many opportunities.

[@peachesasmr9366]

may I ask why you did not just take some college courses then get into a university instead of doing HS for 4 whole years. Good for you either way!!

[@DR-fc1ey]

@@peachesasmr9366 well because when i graduated high-school i had the worst grades you could ever get, and to even get into a university i need good grades, so im about now a quarter of the way though my upgrading, it should take no longer than a year and a half, and by 2022 i should be able to apply to university

[@user-s4k9s399]

Hey -- thought this comment was interesting. Curious how you're doing 2 years later? Still pursuing the med school dream?

[@Vazcov1609]

"I don't like to say American cause you're American too" - literally the whole Americas continents.

[@Julia-rc2mc]

So happy to see another Global Health student! Greetings from Maastricht! ❤️

[@JKarstadt]

14:01 PERFECT quote to take the mickey out of the ridiculous Canadian system😂

[@jays5926]

i peeped those kaplan books in the back

[@CutieNails365]

Im sorry, this comment does not focus on the video but I honestly do not know who else to ask XD. I just finished my freshman year at my university and I was planning on doing a lot of clinical volunteer work and shadowing this summer but with Covid-19, the majority of my plans have been canceled. I am not sure what to do as I wanted to get involved this summer but I do not know how to approach physicians anymore to ask if I can shadow or volunteer give the current circumstances. I am worried I will be a liability by exposing myself to patients in their office or hospital and needing to use their masks and other possible protective equipment, especially with the recent shortages in masks and gloves. How should I approach a physician to ask to shadow them during COVID or should I find some other way to stay medically involved during my summer. Thank you for taking the time to read my question!

[@netanyaf9094]

SierraJanai M. Hi! I’m a incoming senior:) Considering you are an incoming sophomore, I think you have plenty of time to do shadowing when this is all over. Shadowing right now in general might not be the best as you listed out with using PPE and risking yourself. If you can, invest your time in taking a summer class, taking an EMT class to get that clinical training to be used later, online volunteering like tutoring or Crisis text volunteer etc, don’t try to focus on what you CANNOT do and things you possibly can do

[@CutieNails365]

Netanya Flores thank you!

[@ameliarosenthal5390]

As a Canadian student, I was curious about your thought on Irish med schools? It is a big risk financially so I want to be 100% sure. The Atlantic bridge website says that the match rate was 90% in 2020 back into Canada and the use ( my goal is getting into the us for residency but yeah just curious to hear your thoughts!

[@user-s4k9s399]

I have a few friends doing med school in Ireland. They really like it and were telling me about some of the schools having a connected program with Canadian hospitals to secure residents.

[@jodiedelacruz3466]

Can you pls interview more Canadians

[@ryannavarro2967]

I’m wondering if the Canadian percentages convert differently to American letter grades and gpa? In Canada an 85 can be a 3.9 where as an 85 in the states is a 3.0-3.3...

[@myaschmidt1489]

Huh? Here at UAlberta, an 85 would be a B+ or 3.3.

[@ryannavarro2967]

Mya Schmidt At u of t for example, an 80-84 is a 3.7 and a 85 + is a 4.0

[@ryannavarro2967]

Mya Schmidt Or western is more like what I said where a 85-89 is a 3.9 and a 90+ is a 4.0

[@maxgranger6506]

If you get your Canadian transcripts evaluated by WES and you have course grades that are 80+, those courses are given the letter grade A. 70-79, gets you a B. 60-69, gets you a C, and so on. Don't worry about the states GPA conversion. Go with what WES calculates.

[@jorgesolis7897]

Was she applying to US medical schools as an international applicant? Because if she was, that is the sole reason why she couldn't get in. It wasn't her "wording" on her application, it wasn't her mcat, it wasn't her GPA, or her extra curriculars... she didn't get in because of all the medical schools in the US, only a small number of them accept international students, and only about 5 spots are reserved per class! This means you have thousands and thousands of applicants fighting over 5 spots for the few medical schools that accept international students.

[@YouYouREACTS]

Poor girl, her time will come eventually!

[@johnpaulsaquing3182]

Medicine and youtube at the same time? Why not. Lets make it possible. New sub here 😊

[@sarahdevoe5270]

As a Canadian Nursing student, do you think including the various clinical experiences from my undergrad is valuable? Or is it obvious to admissions committees that I would have this experience?

[@THEVIBEbyChristelleK]

Don't let them guess, put everything in their table

[@ecos5554]

One thing that I NEVER see discussed but is great experience for those who like childbirth/women's health is doula work! The training is 4 days and it would be great for a Canadian who can't shadow directly! I am a doula and love it :)

[@suad2889]

Do you think you can elaborate more on this? I’m literally so interested but I haven’t heard of anything like that in Alberta (where I am)

[@lifewithadabekee]

I am a doula and that is also how I got most of my clinical experience

[@reginasarweh1673]

Thank you so much for this video!! ❤️🇨🇦

[@anatusatinsky224]

Hi Dr Gray! I am also a Canadian student and I was wondering your opinion on retaking first year courses. My Chemistry 2 and physics 2 are the only grades on my transcript under a B. Do you think not retaking those courses will hold me back because they are foundational courses?

[@adeebakhavan1354]

Hey, I figured id send you a response as I had a similar situation as you. It depends on which university you go to. You need to check what will show up on your transcript if you retake a course at your school. at the University of Victoria (and a few other canadian universities), for example, unless you failed the course, if you want to retake a course, they don't remove the lower grade from your transcript or take the average of the two. All they do is add the retake onto your transcript. so for example, if you got 60% in chem 2, then re-took it and got 90%, that 60% will still be on your transcript (AND, you dont get any credits for the retake) that being said, your best option would be to just forget about it and take another class (preferably something that would be easy to get a high grade in) so that at least you can get some credits as well. I say this because at canadian universities, they don't check your "science" or "prerequisite" gpa, they just check your total gpa, so it makes no difference which courses you do good or bad in as long as you can keep your total gpa up (as far as I know)

[@anatusatinsky224]

@@adeebakhavan1354 thank you! In My university they would completely substitute the new grade when calculating GPA, however, both attempts are on the transcript. As far as I know McGill looks at science GPA separately from cGPA. My cGPA is a 3.5 so its not that great but I still have 1 year left so I am hoping to keep the upward trend I have been seeing so far.

[@syedhashimi6465]

@@adeebakhavan1354 i contacted UBC to find out how they look at or evaluate repeated courses. Do you think they do the same thing, i am also in the same boat.

[@Dai_rui]

@@syedhashimi6465 they will have both your grades on your transcripts, in other words, it will be the average of the two grades.

[@nualaharrington3384]

Lord bless you and your days work keep safe good luck take care

[@andrewbartell8962]

We put Canadian applications in the shredder with Obamacare plans....lol

[@katherine6206]

Lol it's not just about stats though. 100% wrong that "if you're smart, it doesn't matter why you want to be a doctor, we'll just teach you to be one" 😂😂. It's so competitive here... everyone has 4.0 GPAs like how can it possibly just be stats??? It's all about your story and journey and why medicine and why you'll be the best doctor => must have tons of experience but unlike US, outside of medicine/"clinical" because they don't let undergrads/people with no certifications do any kind of scribing, technician, shadowing, etc. Forging your story without "medicine" but using nonmedicine experiences to show you're perfect for medicine + the best stats + the insane competition is why it's so hard over here.

[@ifeomaezeonyeka2569]

Thankyou Dr Gray..Does an applicant's contact email for extracurricular activities have to be company email and not regular emails like yahoo, gmail, outlook, etc?

[@googleboogle5120]

They are asking for an experience that is illegal to get. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@catpet9201]

Does the Canadian government regulate medical schools given that medicine is socialized there

[@MedicalSchoolHQ]

Good question. I don’t think so, at least not in the way you’re describing it. Also, they don’t have true “socialized” medicine. They do have a single payer system but the healthcare system is still mostly private. It’s similar to how our Medicare/Medicaid system works. The UK has true socialized medicine where the majority of care is delivered and paid for by the government, similar to our VA system. Lots of nuances with all of it.

[@catpet9201]

Medical School Headquarters oh wow a reply from the doctor himself 🤩. I know Uk and Canada still have private insurance, but m4a makes private it illegal. You should do a video about the future of medical admissions and eduction if m4a is passed. Maybe it would get less competitive? And maybe the government could regulate it somehow?

[@johnnyk4115]

Quick question, if I have some EC activities from other countries, would that be fine?

[@weiv6229]

wait what's the max amount of times you can apply

[@humphryshan9494]

infinity

[@bobsmith4819]

i dont get it she has 9000 hours of activities how is that possible -_-

[@jacksimi]

Was she born in Canada or came to Canada on a student visa ?

[@TheEkeys]

She's a Canadian citizen. That's all that matters.

[@carmenlajoie2719]

OECD healthcare to GDP rates Canada low for medical seats

[@andrewbartell8962]

Here's some advice... study economics and political science...lol

[@catpet9201]

Wow her face is so... perfect looking 😍 idk what it is about it but she looks like a model

[@hapachew4600]

Idda thought she'd have a shot at Queen's. Also, if she aces cars next rewrite, she could have a shot at Western (?)

[@JKarstadt]

@@certifiedbeauty6434 absolutely ruthless damn. "She sucks" errr yes, unfortunately for a Canadian applicant she indeed sucks. But she seems like a nice person :(((((

[@JKarstadt]

@@certifiedbeauty6434 Yeah it truly is sad. People with so much passion can go through 4 years of premed-focused undergrad, get involved in a wealth of ECs, bust their ass to get as close to a 4.0 as possible... and then find out they're completely fucked cus they can't get a 129 CARS. Tough

[@43nostromo]

Jesus. I'm a doctor and hate my life. Give it up already. Ya ain't missing ANYTHING!...unless you enjoy pain, misery and alcoholism. On the other hand, I look forward, at the end of every shift, to come home and drink vodka alone in my basement while staring at a brick wall. I recommend Skyy. Stoli is okay too.

[@jsaikris]

Where do you go to school if you do not mind me asking?

[@chrisr.6638]

bro you think any other job is better? Spoiler alert, it's not. Any high paying job will suck. At least with medicine you get the chance to cut your hours and work part time. Obviously after residency and probably not if you're a cardio surgeon lol

[@C7y323]

@@chrisr.6638 no. i agree, healthcare is a whole different level of soul-crushing. I've worked 6 years as a line cook and in retail and I would still prefer that job wise (but not money wise). I keep working in this damn industry cause i need the money and have nothing else I can think of doing.

[@xCarbonRed]

Mia Khalifa applying to med school?