Mission impossible: the quest for medical school

Joel Warsh

doi:10.1503/cmaj.109-3041

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Re: Medical school admissions
Nishant J Fozdar

Posted on: 24 December 2009
Medical school admissions
Mark Otto Baerlocher

Posted on: 14 October 2009

Posted on: (24 December 2009)

Re: Medical school admissions
Nishant J Fozdar
In response to Mark Baerlocher's comment, I feel the author of the article does not intend to compare Torontonian and non-GTA applicants to the two schools in question, but is indirectly comparing the students getting accepted in other Ontario schools.
While applicants from U of T or McMaster University may have high credentials, they may be unable to attain admissions in other Ontario universities due to the...
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In response to Mark Baerlocher's comment, I feel the author of the article does not intend to compare Torontonian and non-GTA applicants to the two schools in question, but is indirectly comparing the students getting accepted in other Ontario schools.
While applicants from U of T or McMaster University may have high credentials, they may be unable to attain admissions in other Ontario universities due to the preferential basis of admissions. With such a preferential approach in place, a certain applicant with relatively lower credentials may attain admission to a medical school partly because they attended that particular university for their undergraduate degree, while a more suitable candidate from U of T or McMaster may be turned away.
However, at U of T and McMaster University, the non-preferential consideration ensures all students from Ontario are treated equally on the basis of their credentials. The author hopes other Ontario universities adopt a similar approach towards all provincial students, regardless of the institution they attended for their undergraduate degree, in order to recruit quality applicants and retain them in Canada.
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.
Posted on: (14 October 2009)

Medical school admissions
Mark Otto Baerlocher
Asserting that successful non-Torontonian applicants to either McMaster or University of Toronto's medical schools have 'lower grades and MCAT scores' is a much different argument than noting that neither school reserves spots for Torontonians while some other schools do.
If the author is suggesting that more medical student slots are required, I would agree. If the author is suggesting that successful non-GT...
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Asserting that successful non-Torontonian applicants to either McMaster or University of Toronto's medical schools have 'lower grades and MCAT scores' is a much different argument than noting that neither school reserves spots for Torontonians while some other schools do.
If the author is suggesting that more medical student slots are required, I would agree. If the author is suggesting that successful non-GTA applicants to these 2 medical schools are not as 'bright' as unsuccessful applicants from the GTA, I would like to see some evidence to support his claim (other than his own apparently unsuccessful application).
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.