Expert: Christine Fader - 3/5/2010

Question
Hello
I am currently a high school student in the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme.  I am a Canadian and am working towards becoming a doctor in Canada.  However, I'm confused about undergraduate programmes.  What are considered good degrees to later get into medical school with?  Should I get an undergraduate degree in biology or chemistry?  Which courses should I take?
Thanks for your help!
Taylor

Answer
Hi Taylor,

At the moment, there is no specific undergraduate degree program required to get into medical school in Canada.  Of course, because most people interested in becoming a doctor like to learn about health and science, many are enrolled in undergraduate programs related to health or science (e.g. life sciences, health sciences, chemistry, biology, biomedical engineering, psychology, etc.) however, you can take whatever undergraduate degree you like. If you are choosing between bio and chem, pick the one you like best and can do the best in.  But also know that there is no advantage in the application process to taking a science degree (although generally speaking, if you did a science undergrad degree, once you're in medical school, you may find that you don't have to "catch up" on the science as much as students coming out of other programs may need to).  Medical schools take students from all kinds of undergrad programs (even art history, philosophy...things that seem to have nothing to do with science!)

To give yourself the maximum number of medical schools to apply to (because it's very, very competitive), you may want to include some of the following courses in whatever degree program you do.  This is because while medical schools don't ask for any particular degree programs, some do ask for specific pre-requisite courses including:  Biology, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, a Humanities course (sociology, geography, english, etc.) and a couple of schools want one English course as well.  Check the following link for an overview of what each school in Canada requires:  http://www.afmc.ca/pdf/2005AdBk.pdf   As long as you have the pre-requisite courses, you can do ANY degree that fits your skills and interests and still apply to medical school.

In thinking about your choice, my best advice is take the program that you really want to study, that allows you the most flexibility to add in the electives you need to collect for medical school admission requirements (those courses I mentioned earlier) and that allows you to do the best academically.  The career options from bio and chem are fairly similar so you wouldn't be radically changing your career options by choosing one over the other.  A large part of the initial screening for medical school is all about marks and almost all the marks you get in university (right from day 1) will count very much toward that evaluation.  

Once you're in university, your campus career centre should have workshops, books and advice about the medical school application, MCAT, and interview process.  Seek them out early and they can help you get going.

Good luck!

Christine
-------------------
Christine Fader
Career Counsellor
Author, "Career Cupid:  Your Guide to Landing and Loving Your Dream Job"
www.careercupid.com