Questions needing to be answered

[dannypants911]

Hi, I am currently an Ontario, Canadian high school student who is looking for some answers to some curious questions which need to be answered. I'm in the 10th grade and I'm taking AP Bio, Chem and Physics next year along with AP Calculus and Functions.
My dream for the future is to become a doctor at a general hospital, but I'm not exactly sure how to get there, and the information my guidance counselors are giving me are very limited and not helping as much as I'd like the to be.
I've been reading up on many hospitals with pre-MD undergraduate programs but I'm not sure which ones are better.

Based on a generalized opinion, what universities do you think I should be looking at?
Any suggestions for less than 8-year MD programs near/around Canada?
If I continue AP, should I be skipping first year and going straight to second?

Sorry if they are in the wrong forum, but this was the closest thing I could find. ;P

[TheDoctor]

Hi, I am currently an Ontario, Canadian high school student who is looking for some answers to some curious questions which need to be answered. I'm in the 10th grade and I'm taking AP Bio, Chem and Physics next year along with AP Calculus and Functions.
My dream for the future is to become a doctor at a general hospital, but I'm not exactly sure how to get there, and the information my guidance counselors are giving me are very limited and not helping as much as I'd like the to be.
I've been reading up on many hospitals with pre-MD undergraduate programs but I'm not sure which ones are better.

Based on a generalized opinion, what universities do you think I should be looking at?
Any suggestions for less than 8-year MD programs near/around Canada?
If I continue AP, should I be skipping first year and going straight to second?

Sorry if they are in the wrong forum, but this was the closest thing I could find. ;P

Go to a Canadian Undergraduate Institution, get about 100%, crush your Medical College Admissions test, then reevaluate at that time. Don't run away from Canada until you have to because it's hard to get back in when you're done. Seriously.

[tenordoc]

The Doc is right, your life will be considerably simpler if you go the conventional route: perfect undergrad gpa, awesome MCAT, lots of volunteering, well-rounded extracurriculars, and good reference letters leading to studying in a Canadian school. Going offshore, even if it's to a reputable school, will make your life more difficult (often considerably so, not to mention costing you probably close to 3 or 4 times as much money). And doing an undergrad degree will be good for your soul, and good for growing up a little, before starting med school and holding people's lives in your hands. And often, students who were set on going to med school realize halfway through their undergrad degree that instead of being really passionate about sick people they are actually passionate about Russian History (or some other completely unrelated field) and end up studying something that they are really passionate about. This extra time to find out more about your self and interests can help stop you from investing a ton of time and money in 6 years of study, only for you to get to 25 and decide you hate your life, and have you end up heading to Moscow to study Russian History anyway.

That being said, getting into med school in Canada is difficult, even if you have a perfect application. So it's good to be aware of options. And if you are absolutely convinced that being a doctor is the only thing you could possibly consider doing, there are some options for 6 year programs straight out of high school. Look into five and six year programs in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the UK, designed for students straight out of high school (or the equivalent). Google is your friend.

There are other six year programs out there (in eastern Europe and the Caribbean), but I would only recommend them as a last resort because they don't have nearly the same sort of reputation. This may be undeserved, but it's the way it is.

Good luck!