Application Requirements

All applicants to the Doctor of Medicine Program must be registered in a baccalaureate degree from a program recognized by the University of Alberta and obtain their degree the year admission is sought or already have completed their degree program. We have no preference for which institution you attend nor which degree program you complete, provided that the institution and program you choose is recognized by the University of Alberta; you should be pursuing your own interests while fulfilling the requirements of your degree program. Applicants must have a minimum of 60 transferable units of course weight (ucw). We require that our applicants complete one academic year (September 1 through April 30) with a full course load prior to being admitted; the definition of full course load as ascertained by your accredited home institution must also be recognized by the University of Alberta. For example, the University of Alberta recognizes a full course load as 30 transferable ucw, equivalent to 10 half-year courses. The purpose behind this requirement is to assess whether students will be able to handle the course load in the Doctor of Medicine Program.

Courses from external institutions are converted to University of Alberta ucw. Labs that are co-requisites for lectures and are reported as separate courses on external transcripts will not be included in the total ucw; at the University of Alberta a course with a lab component is reported singularly as 3 or 6 ucw.

IB/AP credits received towards your baccalaureate degree are not considered part of post-secondary coursework and will not be used towards your application.

cGPA Calculation for 2022/2023 Application Cycle

Meeting the minimum cGPA for application does not guarantee admission to the Doctor of Medicine Program. We encourage our applicants to have an alternate career path in mind as the number of qualified applicants exceeds the number of positions we have available in our program.

Non-Albertans

Applicants must send official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions ever attended directly from the issuing institution to the Office of the Registrar. Photocopies, hand-delivered copies, unofficial copies, and WES evaluations will not be accepted. Students who have attended an international institution may be required to provide further supporting documentation, such as course descriptions. Please refer to your UAlberta Launchpad for required checklist items and forms. Required supporting documentation must be received by the Office of the Registrar before they are able to evaluate your file. Failure to provide these may result in your application being deemed incomplete, resulting in the closure of your file.

For concerns regarding your transcripts and supporting documentation please contact the Office of the Registrar directly.

Unofficial interim transcripts can be uploaded via your UAlberta Launchpad.

Official electronic transcripts can be sent to transcripts@ualberta.ca.

Transcript Mailing Address:

Note: Students do not need to request University of Alberta transcripts; we have access to them through the Office of the Registrar.

ApplyAlberta

The University of Alberta may be able to obtain transcripts from participating Alberta post-secondary institutions on the applicant's behalf via ApplyAlberta. You will have agreed to this process when completing the Application for Admission. Please check your UAlberta Launchpad for details of which transcripts the Office of the Registrar has requested on your behalf. Please be aware that there are instances where your institution may refuse to send transcripts to us, typically due to unpaid fees or if there is a discrepancy in your identifying information. If this occurs you must settle your account with that institution and request a transcript be sent to us yourself.

All applicants are subject to the same application requirements.

Applicants who have obtained a Masters or PhD are eligible to receive additional points towards their rank score. For those nearing completion of their program who wish to have these points added to their score, please have your supervisor provide a letter as proof of successful completion once you have defended your thesis with no required revisions.

For those completing a Masters by coursework we will require a letter from your faculty indicating that you have completed the required coursework and have applied for and been approved to graduate.

Applicants accepted to the University of Alberta MD Program who are presently enrolled in an academic program (graduate or other) that is ongoing at the time of acceptance to the MD Program, are asked to advise the Associate Dean of the University of Alberta MD Program of their enrollment in the other program.  Students are not permitted to be registered in two programs simultaneously unless they have informed the Deans of both programs and have obtained both Deans' explicit written permission.

All applicants must complete the MCAT and meet the minimum requirements for each section in a single test sitting to be eligible to apply to the Doctor of Medicine Program.

Meeting the minimum MCAT scores for application does not guarantee admission to the Doctor of Medicine Program. We encourage our applicants to have an alternate career path in mind as the number of qualified applicants exceeds the number of positions we have available in our program.

MCAT scores must be released and verified in your UAlberta Launchpad by the October 1, 2022 11:59:59PM MT deadline. As such, the last testing date we will accept for the 2022/2023 application cycle is August 27, 2022.

For the 2023/2024 application cycle the last MCAT testing date we will accept is tentatively August 27, 2023. MCAT test scores must be released and verified in your UAlberta Launchpad by the application deadline, which is tentatively set as October 1, 2023 at 11:59:59PM MT.

When choosing your MCAT test date you should keep in mind that test results must be released to us, entered into your application, and verified in the UAlberta Launchpad prior to the application deadline. As such, you should be reviewing the test score release dates when choosing your test date.

You must release your scores to us via the THx system on the AAMC website prior to this deadline. The MCAT must have been written within the last five years prior to application deadline. As such, for the 2022/2023 application cycle, we will not be accepting scores from test dates prior to October 1, 2017. For the 2023/2024 application cycle, we will not be accepting scores from test dates prior to October 1, 2018.

If there is a discrepancy between the information you provide to us and that available from AAMC we will contact you through your UAlberta.ca email account to correct this prior to the October 1 deadline. Should you fail to have a discrepant MCAT score corrected and verified prior to the application deadline your application will be considered incomplete, resulting in the closure of your file.

Should you enter, save, and have your test scores verified in the UAlberta Launchpad and later wish to have them changed to a more recent set of scores that still fit our criteria please contact us immediately. The single set of test scores that you submit with your application are the only set of scores we will use.

The MCAT is comprised of four sections:

For course recommendations to complete the MCAT, please refer to the AAMC website.

Note

The University of Alberta MD Program is making a change to our MCAT requirement. Commencing July 2022, we will take a threshold approach to the MCAT as applicants’ MCAT scores will no longer be used competitively. Once applicants meet our MCAT eligibility requirements (see below), their scores will not be used to assess their application.

The Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry welcomes applications from qualified individuals who:

1. Are residents of Canada, either as a Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident
2. Meet the eligibility criteria
3. Believe they would be competitive in the selection criteria

We regret that we are unable to admit international students. Review the following links to the Study in Canada and the International Undergraduate Admissions pages should you wish to attend another program at our institution.

Please refer to the University of Alberta Calendar for the residency definition. If you feel that this definition reflects your current and expected residence, you may claim Alberta residency on your application. We reserve the right to correct your residency claim should we feel that the information in your application does not support your claim and would refer the applicant to the Code of Applicant Behaviour. Any inquiries related to residency will be directed to the above statement.

The Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta values diversity in our entering medical class. To this end, the Personal Activities section gives you the opportunity to highlight your life experiences that you feel will enhance your application. The Personal Activities section is comprised of five subsections:

For Employment, Teamwork, Collaboration, & Leadership, Volunteer Work, and Life Experiences & Achievements: you should be selective and concise in the activities you choose to include. A minimum of one entry, to a maximum of four, is required per section. By not including any items in these any of these sections you are accepting a 0 for that section. Details about each activity are required, description of time commitment, number of verifiable hours committed, and description of activity. For example, when calculating the number of hours committed to an activity, please do not include hours dedicated to sleep. We strongly recommend that you discuss the information you are choosing to include with your verifier and notify them that they will be contacted. For employment activities we recommend that you confer with your payroll department to confirm hours of employment.

As all activities are verified, you must provide us with the contact information for someone who can confirm the details you have provided for each activity. You should not be using yourself as a verifier. When possible, avoid using family members or close friends as verifiers. Should we have any issues during this process we will add a checklist item in your UAlberta Launchpad for you to complete. If you do not hear from us, assume that everything is fine.

For application to the Doctor of Medicine Program you will submit the contact information for two referees, or recommenders, as part of the Application for Admission. Please only select individuals (ie. coach, co-worker, employer, leader of volunteer organization or club, professor, supervisor, research supervisor, teacher, etc.) who know you in a supervisory or professional capacity and who presently know you well enough to speak to your moral and ethical character.

When filling out the recommender portion of the AFA please keep the following in mind:

1. Once you save your recommender's information the application immediately sends them the request via email.
2. You must fill out the text box otherwise your recommender will not know what the email is regarding. We recommend filling referencing the Doctor of Medicine Program at the University of Alberta and indicating the deadline of October 1, 2022 at 11:59:59PM MT.

Your referees, or recommenders, will complete their reference letters in the form of a series of standardized questions; this must be submitted to us by October 1, 2022 at 11:59:59PM MT. We will not be accepting formal written letters.

Referees absolutely cannot be relatives, family members, friends, close family friends, or personal physicians.

All applicants who successfully complete and submit their Application for Admission will be required to do additional testing in Fall 2022. The online assessment (CASPer), provided by Altus Assessments, will cost approximately $60. Successful completion of CASPer is mandatory in order to maintain admission eligibility. In order to take CASPer, you will be responsible for securing access to a computer with audio capabilities, a webcam, and a reliable internet connection on your selected test date. We do not require that you do the CASPer Snapshot for the 2022/2023 application cycle.

Please go to www.TakeAltus.com to sign up and reserve a test using your U of A Student ID Number and a piece of government-issued photo ID.

CASPer test results are valid for one application cycle. Applicants who have already taken the test in previous years will, therefore, be expected to re-take it. Applicants who will be taking the CASPer at an earlier testing date than those mentioned on our website will not need to retake the test. The testing dates listed below are specifically for students who will not have written it at any point prior for any other institution.

Please note that these are the current dates and times as we know them to be true. CASPer test dates after October 20, 2022 will not be accepted. You can begin registering for the CASPer when fall dates become available. If you are already completing the CASPer on a date not listed above for a different Canadian institution we will accept the score from that test date. Direct any inquiries on the test to support@TakeAltus.com. Alternatively, you may use the chat bubble in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen on the TakeAltus website.

CASPer test results must be released to us by December 1, 2022.

For the 2022/2023 application cycle we will again be hosting our interview process virtually. Interview notifications are sent in early to mid February. Applicants who receive an interview invitation will find out more information about the weekend, including social events, on the Candidate Information website. Please note that anything you have included in your application may be discussed with you during the interview process. We recommend that you review your application prior to arrival. We understand and respect that you may choose to share highly sensitive personal information either on your application or during the interview process; this information is kept in the strictest confidence and is unlikely to negatively impact your application. We do appreciate the strength that is required to discuss these topics.

2022/2023 Application Cycle Interview Dates