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This blog post was written by our medical student in Bratislava, Isabella Raber.
For many, studying medicine in Canada is a dream come true, because besides the friendly people, Canada has beautiful landscapes and large cities with modern hospitals. The North American country covers 9.98 billion square kilometres with just 17 medical schools.
But how is medical school in Canada structured?
Unlike in Germany or Austria, medical studies in Canada are divided into an "undergraduate" and "graduate" programme. The "undergrad" programme, also called "pre-med", lasts about three to five years and is completed with a Bachelor's degree. Here, subjects such as biology, chemistry or genetics are mostly covered in order to build up a good scientific foundation, which is important for the later study of medicine.
The requirements are not always the same
Since the allocation of study places is not centralised as in Germany, but is handled individually by each university, it should be noted that not every university in Canada has the same requirements with regard to the choice of subjects for the Bachelor's degree or undergraduate studies. While the University of Ottawa requires the completion of organic chemistry in order to be accepted to medical school, Queen's University in Kingston does not. The information for the universities' requirements and the assessment system can be found on the website of the respective university.
The MCAT as a Canadian TMS
In addition to the completed Bachelor's degree, the so-called "medical college admission test", MCAT for short, is important. It is roughly comparable to the TMS ("Test for Medical Studies") and consists of physics, chemistry, biology and language comprehension. It lasts four hours and five minutes and can be repeated up to three times within 12 months if the result is not satisfactory. Again, it should be noted that the MCAT is weighted differently at different universities, and some even do not include it at all.
Graduate programme: Now the medicine really gets going
If the Bachelor's programme has been successfully completed, one can now apply for a graduate programme, which is completed with the title "M.D.", short for Medical Doctor. This lasts four years and is now divided into a pre-clinical section and a clinical section. Here the focus is on the medical aspect and research. The pre-clinical section includes the subjects of anatomy, histology, microbiology, physiology, ethics, genetics and epidemiology and provides the basis for the clinical section, which includes the subjects of internal medicine, family medicine (also called family medicine), psychiatry, surgery, emergency medicine, paediatrics (paediatric medicine) and gynaecology.
The Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) begins in the autumn of the final year of study. Medical students list their desired residency training and the respective hospital they want to work in, according to preference. The same happens for the hospitals. They also discreetly list the medical students they want to accept into their specialist programme. Ultimately, a match day programme will decide which medical student will start working in which hospital and in which specialty. Becoming a doctor in Canada is also a long road with some hurdles and a lot of competition for places. However, once you have made it into the medical programme, you will have a good quality education with exciting experiences and a great time that will certainly not stop with your studies, but will continue in the hospital.
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