1991/1992 - Office of the Registrar - McMaster University

FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES
ducts the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Ex.amination which
candidates may write, upon completion of the M.D. degree. After having
passed this examination the graduate must provide evidence of having
completed one year (two years for those graduating in May 1993 or
later) of acceptable postgraduate experience in a hospital approved by
the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario before being licenced
to practise in this province.
Canadian Intern Matching Service
The Matching Service is a clearing-how~e designed to help final year
Canadian medical students obtain the firSt post-M.D. year programme
of their chOice, and to help programme directors obtain the students of
their choice. It provides an orderly method for studenfs to decide where
to train and for programme directors, to decide which applicants they
wish to enrol. For both students and directors, it removes the factors that
generate unfair pressures and premature decisions.
Further information is available from the Office of the Associate Registrar
(Health Sciences).
ADMISSION POLICY FOR THE MEDICAL PROGRAMME
The following are the requirements for admission in September
1992. Please note that the .admission policy is reviewed
annually, and the admission requirements from previous year
may not apply.
Because of the nature of the selection procedures. deadlines
are enforced strictly. All relevant documentation must be provided
by the specified deadlines. Applicants must follow the
instructions precisely.
Selection Procedure
The intention of the McMaster Undergraduate Medical Programme is to
prepare students to become physicians who have the capacity and flexibility
to select any area in the broad field of medicine. The applicant is
selected with this goal in mind. Faculty, medical students and members
of the community are normally involved in the review of applications.
Application to the medical programme implies acceptance by the
applicant ofthe admission policies and procedures, and the methods by
which candidates are chosen for the programme.
Applications must be submitted by November 1, 1991, 12:00 noon
E.S.T .. Aproximately 400 applicants will be invited for interviews in
Hamilton in March or April Invitations for interview are determined 'on
the basis of applicants' academic performance, and an assessment of
their preparedness for a career in medicine and SUitability for the
McMaster Undergraduate Medical Programme. From this group a class
of 100 is selected.
Application Procedure
By November 1, 1991, 12:00 noon E.S.T. the applicant must submit
to the Ontario Medical School Application Service (OMSAS):
1. a completed application and the application fee, and
2. the Autobiographic Sketch on page 4 of the OMSAS Application (the
original·and 3 copies), and
3. the Autobiographical Submission (the original and 3 copies) as
described in this Admission Policy Statemerit under Autobiographical
Submission. . ,
Early in the fall, applicants should order two transcripts from all postsecondary
institutions that have been attended. One must be sent by the
institution directly to and be received by OMSAS by December 13,
1991. The second copy should be sent to the applicant, to ensure that
the request has been fulfilled. If the university programme required work
terms, the employers' evaluation of work terms must be included with
the transcripts.
The applicant must also ensure that the three Confidential Assessment
Forms from the referees are received at OMSAS by December 13,1991.
Failure by the applicant to comply with the instructions or to
meet the deadlines will resultin cancellation of the application.
Academic Eligibility
Applicants must report on the Academic Record Form {pages 2 and 3
of the OMSAS Application) all grades r~ceived in the degree credit
courses in which they have ever registere& Failure to report courses,
programmes·or grades on the Academic Record Form will result in the
cancellation of the application. All grades are converted by the applicant
on the Academic Record Form to a 4.0 scale according to the OMSAS
Undergraduate Grading System Conversion Table. (The Conversion
Table is proVided with the OMSAS Application.)
All applicants must fulfill the requirements described below in both (a)
and (b).
a) By September 1, 1992 applicants must have completed a minimum
of 3 years undergraduate work. Only degree credit courses taken at
an accredited post-secondary institution will be considered.
Two of the three years must be above leveVyear one. A "year" is
the full block of work speCified for a year or level of the programme
in the appropriate university calendar. If requested, applicants must
proVide evidence that the requirement has been met.
An applicant who has completed a diploma at a CEGEP must have
completed by September 1, 1992 at least 2 additional years of degree
credit work at an accredited post-secondary institution. One of those
years must be a full programme of CQurses above leveVyear one.
Applicants who have satisfactorily completed th~ requirements for
a baccalaureate degree in less than three years by November 1,1991
are also eligible.
b) By November 1, 1991 applicants must have achieved an overall
simple average of at least second-class ("B") standing in their academic
work to date.
Graduate work will be used to establish eligibility in the following circumstance.
If an applicant has not achieved the overall "B" standing in
the OMSAS converted average, but has completed a graduate degree,
the graduate degree will be taken into account to establish eligibility. In
this case, McMaster will apply the median grade point average of the
eligible applicant pool for the graduate degree, and the overall average
will be recalculated.
Academic Assessment
Applicants must report on the Academic Record Form (pages 2 and 3
of the OMSAS Application) all grades received in the degree credit
courses in which they have ever registered. Failure to report courses,
programmes or grades on the Academic Record Form will result in cancellation
of the application.
Two averages will be considered for purposes of Academic Assessment.
The higher of the two averages will be used. The averages are
calculated as follows:
1. a simple average in which the work of different years is treated
equally. (This average is calculated by the applicant on the Academic
, Record Form and verified on the OMSAS VemGation Report which
is sent to applicants.)
2. a weighted average in which the last reported undergra9uate academic
year is given a weight of three, the next to last reported under:­
graduate academic year is given a weight of two, and all other years
are given a weight of one.
The calculation of the weighted average and the other calculations
which follow are made by the Office of the Associate Registrar (Health
Sciences) on receipt of the applicant's transcript package· from OMSAS.
Supplementary courses will be included in the average of the academic
level at which the work was taken. Both the simple and the
weighted overall averages will be recalculated.
Academic work which cannot be converted to the OMSAS values by
using the OMSAS Conversion Table will be examined individually.
Applicants who have completed satisfactorily the requirements for a
graduate degree will be. assigned the median grade point average of the
eligible applicant pool for this work. A second set of simple and
weighted averages including the completed graduate work will be calculated.
The best of the four averages will be used for academic
assessement.
Autobiographical Submission
Applicants must provide an Autobiographical Submission which is a a
description about their preparedness for medicine and SUitability for the
McMaster Undergr,aduate Medical Programme.
The form for the Autobiographical Submission is available on request
directly from McMaster University, Admissions and Records Office, HSC
Room 1B7.
/ The description must be completed exactly as described on the front
page of the Autobiographical Submission form and is in addition to
the OMSAS Application. Only Autobiographical Submissions prepared
on this form will be accepted.
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