S.

Which path is harder, longer or more expensive.

Let's break it down one category at a time.

Doctor job, all medical insiders dot com If you want to become a fully trained physician in either Canada or the United States, there are at least three stages you must go through.

In both cases, the first one is pre men done in university or college.

That's when students learn basic sciences like biology, genetics and chemistry.

The second stage is medical school itself, which is generally divided into pre clinical and clinical years.

And finally there is residency, which is when newly minted doctors, specialists and work towards their board certification.

You'll start as a pre med in college or university in both Canada and the US, American medical schools require a bachelor's degree prior to matriculating, which generally takes at least four years.

The good news is you can major in whatever you want, as long as you fulfill the prerequisite requirements such as biology, chemistry, physics and the like.

Technically, Canadian medical schools allow you to enter medical school without a bachelor's degree.

However, most students do complete all four years and get a bachelor's degree prior to matriculating to medical school.

Unlike their American counterparts, Canadian pre meds are not required to complete the same two year set of prerequisite courses.

The University of Ottawa requires organic chemistry, for example.

But Queens University has no prerequisites.

And just like in the U.

S, you can major in any subject you'd like.

Tuition cost also varies between these two countries, and that's mostly because Canada heavily subsidizes higher education.

In the U.

S.

Public medical school, tuition averages nearly $37,000 per year, whereas private medical schools average at $58,000 per year.

That's before living expenses, which are highly variable and based on the city you're living in.

In Canada, the costs are quite different.

The average tuition is around $13,000 for Canadian students and $23,000 if you're international.

Completing your pre med requirements doesn't guarantee admission to medical school.

You still have to face the M cat and a competitive admission process.

Getting into medical school in Canada is considered more competitive compared to getting into medical school in the U.

S.

Based on average SAT scores and admission rates.

The Medical College Admission Test, or M Cat, is the standardized exam for both Canadian and American students applying to medical school.

All those students from both countries take the same test.

There are some key differences you should be aware of.

First Canadian Schools Way M Cat section scores differently than their U.

S counterparts in the U.

S.

Schools give each section approximately equal weighting, although there is some variation between programs.

However, in Canada, MK assessment varies significantly by program.

The critical analysis and reasoning section of the M Cat, also known as cars, is generally more heavily weighted.

The University of Toronto has an M cat cut off such that if you're above a 1 25 in each section, with one section allowed a 1 20 for your M cat isn't evaluated competitively at McMaster.

The M cat accounts for 32% of your final admissions decision, and the only section they look at is cars.

Queens looks at all sections, while Ottawa doesn't use the M cat as an evaluation criterion at Western.

They evaluate all sections with different cutoffs each year and cars generally having the hardest cut off.

Second Canadian Medical School matriculate have a slightly higher average M cat score.

In 2019, The Mean M Cat score from matriculate in the U.

S was 5.

11.2, compared to 5 12.54 Canadian students.

The competitive process for medical school admissions doesn't end with the M cat.

Comparing admission rates highlights the fact that competition is fierce in Canada.

Recently, approximately 53,000 students applied to 22,000 medical school seats in the U.

S.

In comparison, about 14,500 students applied to 2500 Canadian medical school positions.

That results in 5.65 applicants per seat in Canada versus 2.38 in the US This may seem strange, after all, is in Canada short on doctors?

Shouldn't more applicants be able to gain admission and ultimately help fill the gap?

While Canada presents the 19th highest GDP per capita globally, it only ranks 76th on physicians density.

Canada has relatively fewer doctors than countries like Uzbekistan and Jordan.

When speaking with my Canadian colleagues about these issues.

Two hypotheses arose to explain this phenomenon.

The first and more politically correct one is that there are simply not enough financial resources.

Canadian higher education is highly subsidized by the government, which obviously represents significant expenses.

The second possibility, which is just a theory, revolves around medical lobbyists in Canada.

The idea being there is incentive to keep the supply of physicians low to maintain practicing doctors.

High pay Canadian medical schools give preferential treatment to students who are from the same province.

After all, these students are more likely to stay after graduating, thus serving the local population.

There are some exceptions in Ontario, where they treat all Canadians equally, meaning.

If you live in Ontario, you may not get as much of a home province advantage.

The University of British Columbia, for example, officially requires a greater minimum g p A.

For out of province applicants.

There are noteworthy differences and similarities between applying in the U.

S and Canada.

Except for nine medical schools, US universities use a common application system called the American Medical College Application Service, or AM casts the equivalent of AM cast to D O schools is the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service, or double A commas.

On the other hand, most Canadian medical schools use their own independent application systems, Ontario being the exception, all six Ontario medical schools use a common application system called the Ontario Medical Schools Application System, or O.

M.

S A s.

There is no, um, SAS equivalent for osteopathic medical schools, since Canada doesn't offer any D O programs.

Although the exact systems differ between countries, the core of your application will be very similar in both America and Canada.

Programs seek a holistic understanding of an applicant rather than basing their competitiveness purely off scores.

While your M cat and G p A are important, The soft components of your application, such as letters of recommendation, personal statement, working activities and other factors, are important considerations.

Prior to being offered an interview.

Casper, a video and text based application created at McMaster University, has increasingly become a larger component in assessing candidacy at several Canadian medical schools, and now some in the US are following suit.

And, of course, how you perform on the interview is critical in determining whether you'll receive an acceptance offer.

What about life after medical school acceptance?

Medical schools operate similarly between the two countries at almost all schools the first two years.

Our preclinical and the last two are clinical.

In the first two years, or preclinical or pre clerkship years, you'll learn the foundational sciences of medicine like anatomy, physiology and the various organ systems.

These two years, emphasis is on understanding the physiology and path of physiology through textbooks and classroom didactic, since the latter half or clinical years is when you spend most of your time in a hospital or clinic instead of a classroom, these years are divided into rotations, each lasting between two and eight weeks.

During each rotation, you'll be on a particular service, such as pediatrics or general surgery.

Your grades are based on an exam at the end of each rotation.

In addition to evaluations from your supervising physicians, most Canadian medical schools have passed failed for all four years of medical school in the US it's more common to have passed, failed during the preclinical years, but a graded system with honors, high pass, pass and fail during the clinical years, US medical students also have to face the dreaded US Emily Step one and Step two CK, while Canadian counterparts have nothing of the sort to worry aboot.

Instead, Canadian medical students take the MCC QE there us Emily Equivalent for licensing after they match.

This translates to a lower stress environment for the most part, amongst Canadian medical students.

They don't have to worry about getting honors in all their clinical rotations, like their American counterparts do.

Instead, they simply need to excel in the rotation for which they are going to apply into the residency application process for US and Canadian students very starkly, primarily due to differences in medical school objective measurements in the U.

S.

U.

S.

Emily Step one is taken after the second year of medical school and has been the single most heavily weighted objective factor in residency matching.

For that reason, it causes a great deal of stress and anxiety for many medical students.

In 2022 it's transitioning to pass fail, which will likely place greater emphasis on US.

Emily Step two CK, which is generally taken after the third year of medical school in September of your final year of medical school.

You'll submit your application through the electronic residency application service, or eras.

For most specialties, there are a few specialties that have their own separate match outside the system, Just like applying to medical school, you'll need to submit your test scores, transcripts, personal statement, letters of recommendation and activities list and the subsequent months.

Interviews are offered, and in February, candidates submit their rank list.

Matchday occurs in March, where you open up your envelope and find out where you'll be attending residency.

Because Canadian medical students don't have grades and don't have a standardized test like the US Emily that is factored into their residency application, their candidacy is primarily a function of their letters of recommendation, personal statement and CV.

If you're applying into a highly competitive specialty, research becomes more important to residencies.

May also give preference to students who have completed an elective rotation at their program.

The licensing exam for Canadian medical students.

The MCC QE Part one is taken at the end of medical school after match.

Therefore, it has no bearing on one's residency application.

If you made it this four congratulations.

You're officially a doctor and are now in the final stage of your training to get board certified.

The exact duration of each specialty varies in each country.

Internal medicine is three years in both, but family medicine is two years in Canada and three years in the US, whereas anesthesiology is five in Canada but four in the US In terms of pay, you'll be making roughly 50,000 to $60,000 per year, depending on your year.

In training in both countries after residency is when you take a significant raise as an attending.

As for the lifestyle, residency in both countries is grueling.

In the United States, the A C G M E has mandated an 80 hour work week restriction, although certain specialties often the surgical ones, are known to violate this and exceed sometimes over 100 hours per week in Canada current duty.

Our restrictions allow residents to work 70 hours per week on average and up to 100 hours per week during peak periods.

Regardless of whether you're training to become a doctor in the US or Canada, our insiders at medical insiders have extensive experience in helping our students succeed, whether it's crushing the M cat, finessing a personal statement, honing your interview skills or anything else related to excelling as a pre med or medical student, we've got you covered.

We've had close to 3000 customers so far and have an industry leading 99% customer satisfaction rating.

That's not an accident.

We've obsessed and invested heavily over the past few years in creating our proprietary systems that allow us to consistently provide excellent service and deliver stellar results.

That is the med school insiders difference.

Learn more about why our customers love us at med school insiders dot com If you enjoyed this video, check out my video on MD versus Diode versus Caribbean medical schools or my video on How to choose a specialty, Much love and I'll see you guys there.