Selkirk College and University of Calgary team up to combat doctor shortage
University of Calgary will relax its admission standards for Selkirk College rural pre-medicine students
Students taking pre-medicine at Selkirk College in B.C.'s West Kootenays, will have an easier time continuing their education at the University of Calgary thanks to an endorsement by the U of C.
Students applying to the program from outside Alberta usually have higher admission requirements. But this endorsement changes that.
"They'll be able to apply to U of C with that same criteria as in-province students and they'll have a much better chance of being accepted," said Elizabeth Lund, Selkirk College's rural pre-medicine program coordinator.
Out-of-province students need a 3.8 GPA and an MCAT score of 128 before being eligible to apply, Lund said, whereas Alberta residents only need a GPA of 3.2 and no minimum MCAT score.
Changes made to deal with doctor shortage
Selkirk College's pre-medicine program was first started in 2014 in an effort to curb a shortage of rural doctors.
"We take seriously our mandate to train physicians who will meet the needs of the populations we serve," Dr. Ian Walker, director of admissions at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine said in a statement.
"We know that rural students are significantly under-represented [relative to the general population] in our applicant pool, and that individuals from a rural background are more likely to work in a rural location after they graduate."