compare to other countries?

Let’s talk about it.

Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com

When discussing how competitive getting into medical school is in a particular country,

it’s not so simple as looking at acceptance rates.

There are many other aspects of medical school admissions like GPA, test scores, prerequisites,

and even the steps leading up to applying that need to be considered.

Here’s how the U.S. compares to other countries.

Make sure to stick around until the end when we’ll rank each country from most to least

competitive.

To get an idea of how the U.S. compares to other countries, we must first set our baseline.

According to data from the AAMC, AACOM, and TMDSAS, only 36% of students that apply to

U.S. MD and DO schools matriculate and only 25% of students that apply to Texas schools

matriculate.

With these statistics, it is not uncommon to hear of premeds applying multiple times,

only to be met with rejection.

So, what makes getting into medical school in the U.S. so difficult?

It starts with the structure of medical education.

Unlike many other countries where you begin your medical training after high school, getting

into medical school in the U.S. requires you to complete a four-year bachelor’s degree

first.

This adds to the difficulty as there are now two points in the process where aspiring physicians

are screened - once during the transition from high school to college and again during

the transition from college to medical school.

Let’s say you have 100 high school students interested in going into medicine.

Out of those 100 students, maybe only 75 of them will get into college and become premeds.

Now, out of those 75 students, maybe only 20 of them will complete all their prerequisites,

take their MCAT, and apply to medical school.

And, out of those 20 students, maybe only 8 will get in.

If you only look at the last part of this example, you might see a matriculation rate

of 40%.

After all, 20 students applied and 8 got in; however, this doesn’t tell the full story.

It doesn’t account for all the students that were “weeded out” along the way.

So, when you look at the figure that only about 35-40% of premeds in the United States

matriculate into MD schools, you also need to consider that there are many more premeds

that dropped it altogether and never made it to the stage of applying to medical school.

It should be noted that there are also combined seven- to eight-year BS/MD programs in the

U.S. that grant both a bachelor’s and an MD; however, they are often considered even

more competitive than the traditional 4+4 model.

Another factor to consider is that applicants are self-selecting.

Medicine is known for being a long and intellectually demanding career path.

As such, the students that tend to pursue careers in medicine tend to be those at the

top of their class already.

So, if you are one of 50 students fighting for a spot in a particular medical school,

you’re not just competing against 49 other average students – you’re often competing

against 49 other high-achieving students.

Don’t forget the classes that premeds take either.

U.S. medical schools generally require 1 year of biology with lab, 1 year of general chemistry

with lab, 1 year of organic chemistry with lab, 1 year of physics with lab, and some

math, generally some level of calculus and/or statistics.

Although there are subjects such as rocket surgery that are much more intellectually

challenging, the amount of time and effort needed to get an “A” in these classes

is often higher than in most other subjects.

It’s not enough to just make it through these classes either, you also have to excel

in them.

The average GPA for matriculants into allopathic MD programs is 3.74, osteopathic DO programs

is 3.64, and Texas medical programs is 3.81.

In addition, the average MCAT scores for matriculants are 512, 504, and 511 respectively.

This means that to be reasonably competitive for U.S. medical schools, you should aim for

at least the 58th percentile for DO schools and between 80 to 84th percentile for US MD

and Texas schools.

Hard metrics aren’t the only thing considered in medical school applications either.

There are also various extracurriculars needed to make one a competitive applicant.

More specifically, it’s recommended to accrue around 150-200 hours of volunteer work, 50-75

hours of physician shadowing, 30-40 hours of patient exposure, around 200 hours of research

experience, and multiple examples of leadership experience on top of attaining a high GPA

and MCAT score.

As such, finding the balance between extracurriculars and academics can be incredibly difficult

for many premeds.

With that as our baseline, let’s see how difficult it is to get into medical school

in other countries.

The process of getting into medical school in Canada is very similar to the U.S.

Although some programs do not require the completion of a 4-year degree, most premeds

in Canada will complete their bachelor’s degree before applying to medical school.

The difference, however, is that medical school matriculation rates are even lower than in

the U.S. at around 20% nationally.

The average GPA and MCAT score for Canadian medical school matriculants also tend to be

higher on average than in the U.S.

The average GPA for matriculants is between 3.7 and 3.95 depending on the school and the

average MCAT for students with at least one offer is 512.5 which is around the 85th percentile.

One reason that medical school is so competitive in Canada comes down to the number of applicants

per first-year medical school spot.

In Canada, there are approximately 15,000 applicants competing for 3,000 medical school

spots in any given year compared to the U.S. which has 62,000 applicants competing for

23,000 spots.

That comes out to approximately 5 applicants for each spot in Canada versus 2.7 applicants

per spot in the U.S.

Additionally, prerequisite coursework in Canada can vary widely between schools, so premeds

need to pay more attention to the requirements for each program.

The most common requirements are 2 semesters of biology, 2 semesters of chemistry, 2 semesters

of physics, 1 semester of math, and 2 semesters of English; however, some schools require

coursework in biochemistry, anatomy and physiology, psychology, and/or social sciences as well.

Around 70% of medical schools in Canada also require applicants to take the Casper exam

as a part of the admissions process.

In comparison, only about 30% of medical schools in the U.S. require Casper.

While this doesn’t necessarily influence competitiveness, it is another hurdle to jump

through.

For a comprehensive list of which U.S. medical schools require Casper check out our blog

post - link in the description.

Extracurriculars for Canadian medical schools are also similar to U.S. medical schools with

research, volunteer work, leadership, and clinical experience being an important part

of one’s application.

In the United Kingdom, getting to medical school is quite different from the United

States and Canada.

Although you can complete a 4-year bachelor’s degree and then apply for a 4-year medical

school program through the graduate pathway, this is not the norm.

The standard pathway to becoming a doctor in the UK is to apply for a 5-year medical

school program right after secondary school, the equivalent of high school.

After that, you’ll complete a two-year foundation program with the National Health System followed

by either 3 years of general practitioner training or 5-8 years of more specialized

training.

So, despite UK medical students starting their medical training earlier, the total amount

of time from high school to practicing physician is similar to that of the U.S. or Canada.

Now let’s talk about admissions data.

In 2021, there were around 29,000 applicants competing for around 9,500 medical school

spots.

This gives us a matriculation rate of around 33% - which is less than that of the U.S.

but greater than that of Canada.

That being said, acceptance rates can vary widely between schools with some schools reporting

rates below 9% and others exceeding as high as 30%.

One important caveat to note, however, is that UK students are limited to 4 medical

schools on their application, so they are often much more particular with which schools

they apply to.

This is very different from the U.S. where it is generally recommended that premeds apply

to as many schools as possible – often 20 or more – to maximize their chances of a

medical school acceptance.

In terms of the average GPA for matriculants, the UK follows a different grading scale than

the U.S. and Canada which makes comparison difficult.

In secondary school when students are around age 16, they will take their General Certificate

of Secondary Education courses.

These are the basic qualifications in the UK and cover a broad range of topics like

Math, English, and Science.

Towards the end of secondary school, around ages 16-18, students choose their “A-level”

courses which are more focused.

Students generally take at least three A-level courses; however, some will take an extra

A-level to try to make themselves more competitive.

Most medical schools have specific requirements for what A-levels a student must take - generally

biology, chemistry, and one other science-related subject - as well as the grades that students

must achieve.

Most programs require at least three A’s, or 70% or above, in your A-levels to be considered

for their medical school with some requiring A-star grades, 80% or above, in one or more

of your A-level classes.

According to Statista, approximately 19% of students achieved A* grades on their A-levels

in 2021 and over a quarter received A grades.

In terms of test scores, most medical schools in the UK require students to take the University

Clinical Aptitude Test, or UCAT.

The average UCAT score for low-tier schools is generally between 2400-2500 which is a

50th percentile score and the average UCAT for higher-tier schools is generally above

2700 which is an 80th percentile score.

Now that we’ve gone through each country in detail, which one is the most competitive?

Based on the data, Canada is the most competitive.

The process and requirements of getting into medical school are very similar to the U.S.;

however, more students are competing for each medical school spot.

This means that medical schools can be more selective with whom they choose to accept,

which is evident in the slightly higher average GPA and MCAT score.

Between the U.S. and the UK, the U.S. is substantially more competitive.

Not only because the average matriculants’ MCAT percentile is substantially higher than

the average matriculants’ UCAT, but also the fact you first go to college and then

apply to medical school in the U.S.

The premed years are cutthroat and highly competitive, and the overwhelming majority

of premeds on the first day of college are no longer premed by the time they graduate.

Whether it’s organic chemistry, physics, or the MCAT, there are many tough hurdles

to overcome during college that stop premeds from applying to medical school.

The MCAT in particular has stopped many hopeful premeds in their tracks; however, it doesn’t

have to be this way.

Doing well on the MCAT isn’t a matter of how smart you are or how long you study.

It comes down to spending your time wisely and studying effectively.

The goal is to maximize information acquisition and minimize forgetting – and one of the

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If your MCAT is coming up in the next year, learn more about our course at MedSchoolInsiders.com/MCAT

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any updates and upgrades in the future will be included free of charge.

With that said, which country do you guys think is most competitive?

Let me know with a comment down below.

Thank you all so much for watching.

If you enjoyed this video, be sure to check out 5 Reasons Premeds Fail to Get Into Medical

School or this other video.

Much love, and I’ll see you guys there.