Our holistic review process is designed to consider all experiences of the applicant, and we seek applicants with rich histories to ensure our matriculating class is reflective of the population it will ultimately serve.  It is vital that applicants demonstrate the academic aptitude to be successful in medical school, and a strong non-academic background is equally important in demonstrating an applicant’s readiness for a career in medicine. Applicants will be assessed based on the non-academic experiences included in the application. 

You should volunteer with a group or organization that you have a sincere interest in supporting; this may be the health industry or another organization in your community.

If you have personal connections to arranging these opportunities, you can pursue them to educate yourself on specific careers in medicine. Such opportunities are not required, and the Admissions Office does arrange them due to patient and physician privacy.

If you have limited volunteering and other extracurricular activities due to atypical obligations, you will be able to explain such in your application. Applicants are reviewed holistically in the context of their lived experience.

Yes. Learning opportunities in rural regions of the province are integrated throughout the Doctor of Medicine degree. For more information, please see the UGME website.

You can request reference letters as soon as the application system opens at the end of June and are encouraged to do so to provide your referees with adequate time to complete your request.

The closer you get to the application deadline without officially requesting references in the application, the less time your referee has to respond and extensions are not given due to poor planning by applicants. Many applicants often have incomplete applications due to failure to request reference letters in a timely manner from their referees. We encourage you to avoid this situation completely by giving your referees at least 4 weeks to complete your request. 

Reference letters are submitted directly by referees to the application portal and are due on or before the application deadline. References do not have to be received in advance of submitting your application and we encourage you to NOT wait for this to occur.  References submitted in advance of applications will be held in the system and then matched to the appropriate application when it is submitted by the applicant.

You must submit two references, one of which must be academic (unless you are a mature applicant and have been granted an exemption for such, see Reference Letters).  You should seek references from people who can comment on your academic and professional attributes and know you well enough to add value to your application. Referees must satisfy the Reference Criteria on our website to be acceptable.