Dual Citizen Applying to Medical School

[nsimon54]

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[Medstart108]

Hi guys,

So I have been looking around SDN for a while and I can't seem to find a straightforward answer to my questions.

Here is my background: I am a dual citizen of USA and Canada (although I have lived in USA my entire life). I am currently an undergrad in the USA at a competitive school and applying this June. I have a 3.98 (4.00 science) and a 37 MCAT. I am also a resident of California. I am probably interested in going into a competitive residency like surgery.

I am highly considering applying to Canadian medical schools because they are significantly cheaper than US schools.

1. Let's assume I want to return back to USA for my residency. How difficult will this be? I get the sense that Canadian graduates are treated as 2nd tier in the matching program but I am not sure. What additional steps do I need to take while in Medical school to enable myself to apply to US residencies?
2. If it is indeed difficult to match into a USA program, and therefore I need to do my residency in Canada, how hard is it to then come practice in the USA afterwards?
3. After answering the above questions, what pathway would you recommend I follow?

Thanks!

Unless you have a really good reason for applying to Canada for example you want to set up your career in Canada I wouldn't.

There shouldn't be any discrimination when you apply to US residencies as a US citizen unless there is a personal PD bias. Now I can't speak for the reputation of Canadian schools in the US, I highly doubt you'll have any trouble matching to a good program.

With that being said your stats look outstanding and you have a very good chance at Canadian schools.

With that being said, you should be able to get some form of scholarship at US schools with your stats.

I believe Canadian residencies are recognized by the US so you could do residency in Canada as well and then move to the US.

Overall I don't think you can go wrong with either option staying in the US or going to Canada. It won't hinder your career either way. With dual citizenship it really makes both countries your oyster.

 

[MontereyMD]

"I am highly considering applying to Canadian medical schools because they are significantly cheaper than US schools"

I hope you have better reasons than that to attend a medical school in Canada....remember that Canadians are very sensitive and can smell insincerity a mile away.....hope you had some other reason like 'helping the poor, inner city Canadian aboriginals', 'taking care of those living in rural areas' .....also remember that applications are based on your residence......just being a Canadian citizen is not worth anything as there are roughly about 5 million people with Canadian passports residing outside Canada....so don't be surprised if you're rejected because you can't produce a Provincial driver's licence or you don't know what a 'loonie' 'toonie' or a 'double-double' is.

 

[Medstart108]

"I am highly considering applying to Canadian medical schools because they are significantly cheaper than US schools"

I hope you have better reasons than that to attend a medical school in Canada....remember that Canadians are very sensitive and can smell insincerity a mile away.....hope you had some other reason like 'helping the poor, inner city Canadian aboriginals', 'taking care of those living in rural areas' .....also remember that applications are based on your residence......just being a Canadian citizen is not worth anything as there are roughly about 5 million people with Canadian passports residing outside Canada....so don't be surprised if you're rejected because you can't produce a Provincial driver's licence or you don't know what a 'loonie' 'toonie' or a 'double-double' is.

Not sure if joke or serious...

 

[ConfusedChemist]

Not sure if joke or serious...

likely serious
only 5-10% of seats are reserved for out-of-province applicants at each school
usually there is 500-1000 applications for 10 OOP seats
and the 37 MCAT won't help them anymore than a 34 would in Canada

 

[Medstart108]

likely serious
only 5-10% of seats are reserved for out-of-province applicants at each school
usually there is 500-1000 applications for 10 OOP seats
and the 37 MCAT won't help them anymore than a 34 would in Canada

Well there are plenty of schools that don't have OOP restrictions like UofT, Queens, Western (apart from SWOMEN but again OP would likely have a guaranteed interview). A 37 MCAT would help are you kidding. First it makes it pretty likely he'll meet Western MCAT cutoffs (9/11/12) and likely to go up this year and he has already met Western GPA cutoffs which means a very likely interview. Second, schools do recognize that there is a difference between a 37 MCAT and a 34 MCAT. We are talking about someone here who has perfect stats and wants to come to Canada, he can come and he doesn't need to want to help the inner city aboriginal kids in order to do so.

As a Canadian citizen its already helped him greatly because otherwise he would only really be eligible for McGill and UofT, but as a Canadian he can apply to Queens, Western, UofT without restriction and other schools with OOP status. A 3.98 GPA and a 37 MCAT are dream stats and with some good ECs they will get in.

 

[ConfusedChemist]

Well there are plenty of schools that don't have OOP restrictions like UofT, Queens, Western (apart from SWOMEN but again OP would likely have a guaranteed interview). A 37 MCAT would help are you kidding. First it makes it pretty likely he'll meet Western MCAT cutoffs (9/11/12) and likely to go up this year and he has already met Western GPA cutoffs which means a very likely interview. Second, schools do recognize that there is a difference between a 37 MCAT and a 34 MCAT. We are talking about someone here who has perfect stats and wants to come to Canada, he can come and he doesn't need to want to help the inner city aboriginal kids in order to do so.

As a Canadian citizen its already helped him greatly because otherwise he would only really be eligible for McGill and UofT, but as a Canadian he can apply to Queens, Western, UofT without restriction and other schools with OOP status. A 3.98 GPA and a 37 MCAT are dream stats and with some good ECs they will get in.

Western, maybe
But they also have OOP restrictions
And U of T only flag's the MCAT at 9/9/9, and there average GPA is 3.94 or something so they're only around what most have
I'm not saying they won't get in, but like the other person mentioned, it's actually going to be difficult
Queens doesn't give much preference to grades over 3.8 and a mid/low 30's MCAT either (trust me, I know many many people with his stats who never got interviews, Queen's has ~5000 applications for 100 seats) http://forums.premed101.com/index.php?/topic/75655-queens-interview-invitesregrets-2014/page-2

 

[Medstart108]

Western, maybe
But they also have OOP restrictions
And U of T only flag's the MCAT at 9/9/9, and there average GPA is 3.94 or something so they're only around what most have
I'm not saying they won't get in, but like the other person mentioned, it's actually going to be difficult
Queens doesn't give much preference to grades over 3.8 and a mid/low 30's MCAT either (trust me, I know many many people with his stats who never got interviews, Queen's has ~5000 applications for 100 seats) http://forums.premed101.com/index.php?/topic/75655-queens-interview-invitesregrets-2014/page-2

Thats good enough, UofT says its only flag is the MCAT at 9/9/9 but that does not mean they won't prefer someone with higher scores.

Western we can agree he has a guaranteed interview, they don't have OOP restrictions they have SWOMEN and non SWOMEN they don't require you be from Ontario or anything and SWOMEN just has lower requirements. Once you pass the cutoffs for non-SWOMEN u get an interview.

Queens can be a crapshoot and to be honest we aren't talking about his chances of getting into a specific school we are talking about his chances of getting into medical school in Canada. That is very high assuming he also has ECs and can perform well during an interview.

Honestly if you applied widely and broadly you will definitely get in somewhere. Even for OOP these stats are above average accepted, these stats are above average accepted everywhere.