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The Back-up Plan
What do you do when your application does not result in an interview, or an interview does not result in an admission? You need a back up plan. In fact, you should be working on your back up plan and your medical school admission simultaneously. Many people need to apply to medical school more than once before they get in, and they make just as good doctors as those that got in on the first try. You should be applying to medical school with the goal to re-apply if you don't get in. During your time in between application cycles you have the opportunity to better yourself, reflect, and re-prepare. Your back up plan can include: reapplying, grad school, working, international medical schools and trying other health care careers.
Re-applying:
As stated before, it is not unusual to apply more than once before an admission offer is made. Use this time examine your application and look for areas you may need to improve in. Call the schools you applied to and ask if it is possible to receive feed-back on your application or interview. Meet with an academic advisor at your university and go over your application, finding out if there is an area that you can improve in. Perhaps you need more health-care related experiences, need to re-write the MCAT or take more courses you can succeed in to increase your GPA. If you applied to medical school after 3 years of university, you can continue your degree at the honours level, working towards a 4 year degree. This gives you the opportunity to include another year of grades in your GPA (don't slack off during your third year if you are applying at that time!). If you are in a program that has a 4th year thesis option, take it. You may then have the opportunity to work with an MD doing research, which will improve your application and may lead to a great reference letter. If you have graduated already and intend on applying again, make use of this year. It would tragic if you did get an interview in the next cycle, and were unable to state anything interesting that you had done with your time since graduating.
Grad school:
Many people chose to apply for a Masters Degree at the same time as applying to medical school. It gives you a chance to show your ability to do research, perhaps work with an MD, get a great reference letter, and spend your time fairly independently while making a little bit of money. Many medical schools will add a few extra points to your application if you have a Masters Degree. But be advised, some schools will not accept your application if you are in the middle of your program without a letter of release from your supervisor. So taking a masters degree may cause you to wait 2 years before you are able to apply again, but your application could potentially be much stronger. You should call the schools and read their policy carefully to see which require a letter of release or a completed Masters Degree.
Working:
You may have the opportunity to work in an interesting environment that allows you to stay financially afloat and also helps you work towards re-applying. Working during the day gives you the opportunity to study at night if you plan on re-writing the MCAT, and the weekends are available if you want to do volunteer work. You may consider working abroad, such as teaching English overseas, or finding a job where you interact with health care providers.
International schools:
There are many medical schools internationally that accept Canadian students. England, Ireland, Australia and the USA accept Canadians, as do a number of medical schools based in the Caribbean. Be aware that it is quite difficult for people trained in foreign medical schools to ever practice medicine in Canada, even if you are a Canadian citizen. There are very few Canadian residency positions available for international graduates, and these are the spots left over after the Canadian students have applied for them. You usually need to have completed a Canadian residency program to practice in Canada. Applications can be expensive, and if you are applying to Canadian schools at the same time be advised that the international schools may want a deposit on your acceptance even before you find out about interviews in Canada. However, applying to both gives you the best chance of becoming a doctor, but not the best chance of becoming a doctor in Canada. A hint: if you apply to and accept an international medical school spot, you can still re-apply to Canadian schools during your first year abroad. For example, lets say you are accepted into a 5 year medical program in Ireland. During your first year of Irish medical school you re-apply to Canadian schools. You fly home for the interview. If you get the Canadian spot, you can withdraw from the Irish program and start year one of Canadian medical school. If you do not get accepted, you return to Ireland and continue medical school there. Either way, you end up with a medical degree, albeit, one of which may prevent you from working in Canada.
Other health care careers:
There are many, many health care careers that allow you to use your brains to help others. They involve patient contact and dealing with medical issues. You may find that one of these careers actually suits you more than medicine does. Click here to find out about other health care careers. By applying to one of these professional programs, you 1) get a chance to increase your grades 2) Get exposure to patients and the health care environment 3) Develop interpersonal skills that will be valued when you are a physician 4) Get a chance to interact with physicians to better understand their role, and maybe even get a letter of recommendation 5) You may discover that you would rather be a physiotherapist/dietician/clinical geneticist/occupational therapist, and are now graduating with a fantastic professional degree!