Dear applicants,
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and diligently working on their application (s). We understand how stressful this can be. Unfortunately stress sometimes leads to inappropriate or questionable behaviour.
The challenge for an admissions office is to try to decipher whether these types of behaviours are indeed due to the stress related to applying to medical school or truly indicative of characteristics of an individual who has no place in serving the public. This is particularly relevant when there are hundreds of applicants whom likely rightly deserve to be admitted who are not.
Frankly, if you described a physician as a liar, cheater, irresponsible, self-centred
to name a few, I hope we all agree that this is not who you want taking care of you and/or be a colleague.
So at the file review stage how does this play out and when are files flagged and closed.
1.Including things in your top 10 that frankly don’r exist or are greatly exaggerated or embellished. This happens annually, we identify a handful early on, and some later in the process.
2.Including items in your publication section that don’t adhere to our policies. I’ve already flagged one of the first twelve submitted applications. PLEASE READ the blog posted August 11th.
3.Using AI software to complete your Top 10 or any part of the application. This will be a big one this year.
We have included a statement in the manual:
“The information contained within an application reflects the applicant. It is our expectation that applicants alone are completing their applications. Applications and the text they contain will be reviewed using anti-AI software. Further, any evidence of entry of false data or misrepresentation on
the application will be considered an area of significant concern and will affect the review of the file for the current year and possibly subsequent years.
4.Misrepresentation of Grades. Omitting grades, only including the highest grade for a course taken more than once, not including grades from a former institution.
5.Applying as an Albertan when you don’t meet our criteria.
When you are unsure of something contact the office to avoid having your file flagged.
In addition, matriculated students will have their application re-reviewed during the undergraduate program as per our policy in the Applicant Manual:
“In addition, the applicant’s file may be randomly selected for review during their time in the undergraduate medical program at the Cumming School of Medicine. Any evidence of misrepresentation, misleading information, or other irregularities or concerns will be brought forward to the Associate Dean of UME and may result in a formal review in front of the Student Academic Review Committee and appropriate recommendations made which may include withdrawal from the MD Program.”
So getting in under false pretense is not the end of the review and may lead to undesired consequences.
In the end, this unfortunately is a competition, and everyone should play fair to be respectful to all applicants.
Remo
