Admission Requirements Saskatchewan Residents Out-Of Province Residents Academic Requirements Criteria For Selection Counselling Of Applicants To Medical School Chances For Admission Applicants With Disabilities And Admission To Medicine Application Forms Admission Of Aboriginal Students

Admission Requirements

RESIDENCY AND CITIZENSHIP

Saskatchewan Residents

Qualified applicants must be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants at the time of application.

Applicants normally must have resided in Saskatchewan for three years prior to September 1 of the year in which admission is being sought. However, applicants who have left the province but have previously lived in Saskatchewan for an accumulated period of 15 years (permanent residency) will be treated as residents. Applicants who have previously lived in Saskatchewan for an accumulated period of less than 15 years and do not qualify under the three year condition will receive credit of one year toward the three-year requirement for every five years residency in the province.

An exception to the three-year ruling may be made for members of the Armed Forces of Canada or RCMP or for an applicant whose spouse, parent, or guardian has moved to Saskatchewan for reasons of employment or training. In these cases, the applicant must have resided in Saskatchewan for at least 12 consecutive months directly preceding the time of application.

In support of claim to qualify as a resident of Saskatchewan (as noted above), the Admissions Committee will take into account:

Place of residence of parents, guardian or breadwinner; Reasons for any break in continuity of residence, which will include attendance at an out-of-province educational institution, summer employment where applicable, and any other reason deemed to be relevant by the Committee; Filing of income tax return as a resident of Saskatchewan (where applicable)Driver's License, Hospitalization; Residency will date from when Driver's License and Hospitalization have been changed. Residency in the Northwest, Nunavut or Yukon Territories.

Out-Of Province Residents

Up to five positions of a total of 60 may be offered to out of province applicants.

Applicants must be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants and have lived in Canada at least three years at the time of application.

An overall average of 70% is required for the prerequisite courses.

An overall average of 80% for the two best full under-graduate years is required for out-of-province students. The two full years must be completed at the time of application. Those invited for an interview usually have an average of 87% or higher.

All applicants must meet the academic requirements outlined in this document. No exceptions are made.

All the prerequisites, or their equivalents, must be completed by April of the year in which the application is made. The prerequisite courses are as listed in the University of Saskatchewan Calendar.

Ontario applicants - Grade 13 or OAC English is not considered the equivalent of ENG 110.6. Introductory university level English is required.

Transcripts * - Copies of transcripts from all universities attended other than Saskatchewan universities must be attached to the application. In addition, official transcripts must be forwarded by the issuing university directly to the College of Medicine. Transcripts in a language other than English must have an official translation attached.

Calendar * - A calendar from the university attended (if non-Canadian) must be included with the application, if in the English language.

Applicants who have attended universities outside of Saskatchewan * are encouraged to check with the Office of the Registrar before applying to determine whether credit will be granted for the courses taken. In cases where interpretation of marks of a student with at least two years of study from an international university is not possible, the individual will be required to complete one full year of study at an approved university with at least an 85% or the required two full years.

Deadline for out-of-province applicants is December 1 of the year prior to admission. Please note this differs from the Saskatchewan residents' deadline of January 15.

* Saskatchewan residents who have attended universities outside of Saskatchewan must also follow these rules.

Academic Requirements

The academic requirements for the College of Medicine are as follows:

Admission to the Arts and Science pre-medical program, i.e. graduation from Grade 12 in Saskatchewan with credit for English A30 and B30, Mathematics B30 and C30 (or Algebra 30 and Geometry-Trigonometry 30), Biology 30, Chemistry 30 and Physics 30. A minimum admission average on the required subjects is 65%.

Prerequisites. Students must have completed a number of required courses in the College of Arts and Science before entering the College of Medicine. If students intend to complete a prerequisite course at Spring Session of the year of admission, they must notify the Admissions Office at the time of application. At the University of Saskatchewan, the required courses are:

BIOCH 200.3 and 211.3

BIOL 110.6 (general)

CHEM 112.3 (general)

CHEM 250.3 (organic)

ENG 110.6 or any two of ENG 111.3, 112.3, 113.3, 114.3

PHYS 111.6 (general)

A full course equivalent (6 credit units) in the social sciences or humanities

The Standard First Aid Certificate must be obtained by June 15 of the year of entry. If accepted, a copy of this certificate is required. This certificate must remain current throughout the entire first year.

Students may schedule their prerequisite courses (listed above) as they wish but they must attain an overall academic average of 70% in them to be considered for admission. If the average is below 70%, students may improve their average in the prerequisite courses by taking higher level courses in the same subject areas.

The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). All applicants are required to write the MCAT prior to the application deadline. The MCAT is offered twice a year, April and August. A minimum score of 8 will be required in the sciences and verbal reasoning sections, and N in writing skills; however, one 7 will be accepted.

Scores must be available by the application deadline. The best MCAT scores obtained at any one sitting in the last five years will be used. (Earliest acceptable scores to apply for admission in 2003, will be April 1998).

Registration packages should be picked up from the Dean's Office by early February.

Average for Admission. To establish an academic average for consideration by the Admissions Committee, applicants must complete two full undergraduate years of study, taken between September and April. Sixty credit units (30 per year) at the University of Saskatchewan and The University of Regina, is considered a full load. Applicants must attain a minimum of 78% in the two-year average to be considered for admission (80% or higher for out of province). Courses taken at Spring Session are not considered in the two-year average.

Applicants may improve their average for admission by taking an additional full year(s) of university study. However, all programs must lead to a degree or, where students already have (an) undergraduate degree(s), to a certificate** or to a degree in another discipline. It is not acceptable for students who have spent several years at university to take largely 100 level courses to improve their average, nor is it acceptable for students to repeat a course they have already taken and use the new grade for competitive purposes. If in doubt, students are advised to consult the Admissions Office.

**See the College of Arts and Science section of the Calendar, under Advanced and Honours Certificates.

All applicants must fulfill all the academic requirements. No exceptions are made.

During the university year, an applicant may file an application for admission to Medicine assuming he/she will satisfactorily complete the April examinations of the year for which application is made.

Graduate Students. In considering graduate students who have completed a graduate degree, their average will be based either on their total academic record in their undergraduate program plus their formal courses in their graduate program or their two best full undergraduate years, whichever works to their advantage.

Special Cases. The Admissions Committee may consider up to two special case entrants per year (Saskatchewan residents only). An example would be a single parent whose family responsibilities prevent them from attending university full time. Such applicants must still meet all other academic requirements.

Deferrals. Applicants admitted to first year Medicine may be allowed to defer entry for up to two years. This is normally granted only to postgraduate students to allow them to complete a Masters or Ph.D. degree. Request for deferral must be submitted at the time of acceptance (Saskatchewan residents only). Two deferrals may be granted each year.

Criteria For Selection

Criteria for selection are academic performance and personal qualities.

Academic performance is based on applicants' two best full undergraduate years of study given that performance has been reasonably consistent or has improved. At the University of Saskatchewan, five full course equivalents taken between September and April are considered to be one full academic year

Personal qualities are assessed primarily by interview. Three applicants will be interviewed for each position, chosen on the basis of their academic performance in their best full year. However, for the final decision in June, the average of the best two full years will be used. Interviews are approximately 45 minutes and occur during a weekend in March. The applicant is interviewed by a team of four; a medical doctor (who may be a faculty member), a full-time faculty member, a current medical student, a non-medical lay person from the community at large. The interview team is not given any information about the candidate prior to the interview. Interview scores (24 possible points) are calculated by totalling individual interviewers' assessments (scale 1-6).

Three letters of reference are also considered.

The weighting of academic performance to personal qualities is approximately 3:1.

Candidates for Medicine are selected by the Admissions Committee of the College of Medicine on the basis of rank order of competitiveness and consideration of information pertinent to individual applicants. The Committee treats applicants anonymously, i.e. Committee members are provided appropriate information about applicants but without their names.

All candidates are notified of their acceptance by the end of June.

Counselling Of Applicants To Medical School

The Admission's Office is available to assist all applicants who seek counselling regarding admission to Medicine. It is policy, however, not to instruct applicants as to a specific course of action they should follow but to provide the information needed for them to make their own choice with respect to the alternatives available. The following points require special attention:

* No official of the College of Medicine can guarantee the admission of any applicant. Admission is determined by the Admissions Committee on the basis of an annual competition.

* All applicants are advised to supplement any personal inquiries with written inquiries so that an official response can be made. It is only these written responses which will be considered as evidence of the official advice given.

* Applicants are encouraged to discuss their plans to apply for entrance to Medicine with those who can usefully advise them, but they should be aware that second and third hand information about admissions policies is often incorrect and should not be relied upon.

Students should select their courses with a goal in mind. There should be largely upper level courses in their second year and subsequent years, not simply "easy courses" in order to achieve a good mark.

Since many applicants are not accepted into the College of Medicine, students should choose courses in their pre-medical program that could lead to a satisfactory alternative career.

Chances For Admission

The number of positions available in first year Medicine is limited to 60. Approximately 100 applications (in-province) are received, as well as approximately 200 applications from out of province. Realistically, to be competitive academically, an overall two-year average of over 80% (87% for out of province applicants) is required.

Applicants With Disabilities And Admission To Medicine

While a disability should not preclude an applicant from consideration for admission, the disability must not prevent the applicant from communicating with patients and colleagues, from making observations and analyzing clinical data, and from making the medical judgements expected of a physician who has completed the educational program leading to the M.D. degree at this university.

Application Forms

Application forms may be obtained from the Admissions Secretary, College of Medicine, in July of the year preceding entry or from the web site at http://www.usask.ca/medicine

The application deadline for Saskatchewan residents is January 15 of the year of entry. There is a non-refundable application fee of $40. For out-of-province applicants, the application deadline is December 1 of the year preceding entry and the non-refundable application fee is $75. Enquiries concerning admissions should be directed to the Admissions Secretary, College of Medicine, (306)966-8554 or e-mail med.admissions@usask.ca

Admission Of Aboriginal Students

(Saskatchewan Residents only)

Three first year spaces are reserved for persons of Canadian Aboriginal descent. Applicants will require an average of 78% or higher assessed on their two best 30-credit unit pre-medicine years and at least 16/24 on the interview. Applicants of Aboriginal descent will compete within this category, not against the entire applicant pool. Applicants should identify themselves on the application for admission.