Everything You Need to Know About Western Med Sci | Western University Bachelor of Medical Sciences 

Me 😅 I am super nervous about it so far i got accepted for science program but I am still waiting for my Med Sci offer

@@roroalll6429 Congrats on the acceptance and best of luck with Med Sci. Are you set on Western or still considering your options?

I have gotten accepted, still considering other options though

@@Bobbert_the_third Congrats!! I remember deciding between programs. It was honestly such a difficult decision, but I suppose I'll never know where I would be now if I made a different decision

I got accepted to both general science and medical science. Could you do a video explaining the difference?

Thank you Kareem! How are you liking Med Sci?

1. It’s definitely not a perfect measure, and I think it’s difficult to say which direction it’s exaggerated in. I actually left the program after my third year to start med school, so many of my classmates haven’t graduated yet (they graduate this spring). I know a few other students who also got accepted to med after 3rd year, so like myself they won’t be in that survey either. I think the main thing you can use it for is an approximation, but take it with a grain of salt. 2. Some modules can be harder than others for different people. The nice thing about med sci is that you can choose to do what you enjoy and thus what you’ll likely be strong at. The competitiveness of different modules didn’t play much of a role in the choice I made to go into the One Health module, but for some people they will choose whichever one they can get into. I’m not sure I can comment from personal experience on whether Phys-Pharm is truly an easier module, but from what I’ve seen from my friends in Phys-Pharm, it seemed relatively similar in difficulty to my module which wasn’t difficult, it just requires lots of work. 3. Honours specialization essentially gives you a chance to do a thesis project, which depending on your department can be a good experience and one where you can maintain a reasonable GPA. My department was good in that sense so I was planning on doing a thesis project in my fourth year. Plus, research is a good experience to include on applications to med schools. Double majors avoid the thesis project, and the difficulty will vary based on how well you can perform in the courses you take. General science isn’t necessarily easier, the content is just different. There are a lot of options within general science as well, that you could consider individually. 4. The one health module is all about interdisciplinary solutions to health problems involving humans, animals and the environment. You get a lot of choice in terms of the courses you take, where you can take courses related to health from a variety of departments including environmental science, sociology, geography, epidemiology... It’s also under the pathology department so we take two semesters of general pathology, a semester of environmental pathology and a semester of comparative pathology (a veterinarian teaches this course!). There are also One Health specific classes where we learn about situations where One Health is already being applied such as antimicrobial resistance, and then are given a project to work on developing our own One Health solution to an existing problem (mine was on Malaria in the Democratic Republic of the Congo). For the One Health specific courses class averages were in the mid to high 80s. I’m not too sure what they were for the courses in other departments which didn’t share the class average with us Thanks for watching my videos!! Glad to hear you’re finding them helpful

This is a great idea! I know some students at Mac Health Sci that might be interested. What programs would you like to see?

I did High School in Alberta, so I took Math 20-1 (Grade 11), Math 30-1 (Grade 12) and Math 31 (Calculus).

Hey, I’m in my 4th year in Med Sci and have applied to medical school. Only a few (like 3) schools really take in 3rd year applicants in Canada, and that is the earliest you can apply (meaning you cannot be a 2nd year applicant. In Canada, you can take any major you want, as long as you fulfill all the pre-requisite courses that is asked of by each school, which also vary. That means you can definitely major in a humanities program, do well in the courses you love, make sure you do the pre-requisite courses for med school (for example, 1 year of biology) and still be a valid applicant. Medical science is not the only way that leads to med school. Ideally, you want to aim for 90s+ to be competitive here. This takes a lot of effort and hard work but it’s the unfortunate truth given the increasingly competitive pool of applicants each year. No university is “easiest” to get into in Canada, they’re all incredibly difficult because there are so many high-achieving applicants and very few seats. However, if you are from a particular province, you will have in-province priority above applicants from out of province, in the sense that the academic expectations are slightly lower for in province applicants. This mostly applies to province outside of Ontario as McMaster is the only med school that has in province priority for all Ontarian applicants. This case varies if you are applying to Western as a Southwestern Ontario applicant (SWOMEN), and if you are applying to NOSM. All other provinces generally like residents of that province more as they try to invest in students who are likely to stay in that province post-medical school graduation to supply the physician pool there.

@@charisl667 Thank you very much for your clarification, this was very helpful. Furthermore about the humanities program, which university do you advise one to apply to? And thank you so much again. Best regards

@@thelastdiamond9618 No worries. That is up to you, do your research and find a program at a university that suits you (and ideally doesn't make it too difficult to get good grades).

Hi Kathleen. I don't recall meeting many mature students from medical sciences specifically however I did know some in my first year science/math classes. I don't think there is anything stopping you from entering the program as a mature student though. Once you're a third year student and you've declared a particular module a good amount of your schedule will be within the module you've selected. With your elective courses though, you can pick courses from other modules, but you'll have to through some possible restrictions with pre-requisite courses. Another thing to note is that many courses have a limited number of spots allocated towards students from outside that module. Both of those factors caused issues for me as a student enrolled in One Health trying to take courses in epidemiology. I even tried to get special permission to get priority for enrolling in the course (because it was an optional course in my degree) and they wouldn't grant it to me. This actually happened to me on numerous occasions and the academic counsellors would never budge... I think this is definitely one of the weaknesses of Western's course selection system

If you did a double major, I think you might fare a bit better in course selection if you're interested in a couple modules. The downside here is that you'll miss out on a thesis research project (which is only available in specializations)

@@DaniKilani Thank-you very much for your response! This is helpful to know!

Hello! I was in a similar boat to you when I was going into medical sciences actually. I only heard about the scholars elective program once the deadline had passed, and I was honestly quite upset about it at the time. Scholars elective is most certainly not the only way to get involved in research, although it is one way and it definitely opens up some doors to make that process a bit easier. I got involved in research over the summers, which you can do if you send out some emails to professors asking for a chance to work in their lab over the summer. You can also volunteer in a lab to get experience with research during the school year, however that will definitely take time away from academics. You also don't need scholars elective to get involved in any volunteering or clubs, in fact scholars elective doesn't give you an advantage in getting involved in those types of extracurriculars. I hope this is helpful and takes some pressure off about not being in scholars elective. Also, I think you might also find this video I made about how to get involved in research interesting for your next step forward: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-02MhuRRTJRg.html

@@DaniKilani YOO that was fast, thanks for the answer bro. I got accepted to med sci but i legit almost went to another uni cuz i thought it was over for me interms of EC. Also one very last thing, is it competitive to get research oppirtunity or voulenteering in labs or was it pretty easy/straightforward/ very accessable.

@@limbbar1381 Haha good to hear I was able to get back to you before you made that decision. In terms of how competitive it is to get a position, I think it entirely depends on three factors: your experiences/resume, your grades and what labs you're applying to. You'll definitely want to have some experiences that can show that you're interested in the work being done by the lab, it isn't a necessity but it certainly helps show that you're passionate. Your grades from high school (when you're in your first semester) or university GPA should be high enough to show that you're able to learn and are passionate about learning science. Then in terms of the labs you're applying to, some of them will be very well known and be difficult to land a spot in and others will be eager to take on students. If you send out a good volume of emails to different labs, your chances of finding some opportunities will be good. You also don't need prior experience with working in a lab, just be able to show that you're willing to learn and are passionate about the general theme of research being done by the lab

@@DaniKilani i did not expect for you to respond to me again o.O. I left comments on so many yt videos, so many online fourms, etc but I never gotten any responses. Thanks for the answer!! (tbh i thought applying to EC or labs would be much more limited lol but ig not which is good )

@@limbbar1381 No worries!! Feel feel to ask me more questions if they come up later on 🙂

Congrats on getting into Med Sci! I took psychology as my first year elective as well. When I took it, the course was divided into four exams (three midterms and one final) over the course of a full year. The exams weren't cumulative, so despite there being a decent amount of content to learn it can be quite manageable. The content itself isn't difficult, but rather it's important that you're able to memorize it. I think if you put in the necessary work and optimize your study strategies (I suggest using flashcards) you should be able to do well

Hi Kay! I don't think it would necessarily be a waste, but it definitely depends on what you value. You're right, it would be harder to switch from Health Sci into Med Sci given the structure of the program. You can always switch into Health Sci. I'm not sure if that would add an extra year onto your studies though. But as long as you're aware of that, it sounds like a well thought out decision to me

I don’t know much about USask’s program, but the programs themselves probably aren’t all that different from an academic perspective. It’s going to be difficult to find a good comparison across the two since very few people have experienced both programs. When I was choosing between similar programs, one factor I really considered was my fit with the university in terms of things like student life, accommodations/residence, scholarships, opportunities for research (e.g. undergraduate student grants), clubs, volunteer opportunities, the city… Keep in mind gpa is not the only thing that matters. Also consider whether having family/friends nearby is a necessity since becoming homesick happens to a lot of people who go away for university although it is manageable once you settle into things. Hope this helps!!

Hey Josh, the medical biophysics module is definitely more of a niche one. From the impressions I got from my classmates, most were not that interested in physics or disliked it. The teaching faculty for physics didn’t do much to draw me into learning more physics either (in fact they may have done the opposite haha). I’ve also heard the perspective of students who did choose medical biophysics and they were very happy with their choice. Those students tended to be the ones who actually enjoyed physics. The professors in that department are great and the professor to student ratio is excellent as well (so they have more access to mentors than most other modules). I’ve also heard that the class difficulty is fair in medical biophysics. If it’s something you’re interested in, I think this module could be a great place for you to pursue that interest

@@DaniKilani thanks for the reply Dani, that was very helpful!!

@@Josh-ns4dl No problem, happy it helps!

Thank you Michael!! I'm glad to hear you liked it 😃

Hey! At Canadian medical schools, students come from a whole variety of academic backgrounds, and the curriculum is accommodated to fit that. One of the faculty at the start of medical school said that medical school takes you from having a layman's understanding of medicine to that of a physician, and it certainly is true. While I don't know the exact comparison between the two programs, I do know students from Western health sciences who have ended up in medical school. It's also worth considering the Health Sciences with Biology program, since you might get a stronger science background (if that is your concern). I also think that feeling comfortable at the university is quite important since you'll feel more inclined to be involved and more supported academically. Hope this helps!

Hi Mofe, thanks for the question. If you put in the work and are able to develop some good study strategies that work for your specific courses you should do well. Most of the courses have good professors that will teach you well. It's a good idea to do your research into which courses (ratemyprof is useful for this) to take so that you guarantee yourself the best experience possible. I wouldn't say anything was insanely difficult, the courses tend to be very reasonable.

The science courses weren’t what I would consider unfair in any way. My experience was that if I was able to understand/memorize what was tasked of me, I was able to achieve a 4.0 in the course. The only science courses where that was not the case was physics. I haven’t really heard many comparisons of Western and Mac tbh, so I’m not too sure how they stack up. I imagine health sci at mac would be easier than Med Sci at Western based on differences in examination methods. I have heard that Western is easier than U of T which I can believe haha

Hey Rhea, Med Sci isn’t really catered exclusively to premeds, I think it would be a good option for a career in research/pharmacology. On the other hand, Health Sci doesn’t really cover the hard sciences (biology, organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics…) enough, so I wouldn’t recommend it for what you’re interested in 🙂

@@DaniKilani this is super helpful to know! thank you so much!!

Hi Jason! Out of curiosity, when did you send your application in? Since the only thing Western is really using for admissions decisions is your average grades, I think that you'll likely be offered admission soon (this is just my guess, I don't have any insider information). I think you could probably accept the initial offer from the other university if you don't hear anything by May 1st and then you can always go back on your decision if you end up getting an offer from Western later. Here is the relevant OUAC page: www.ouac.on.ca/faq/accept-offer-change-mind-later/

@@DaniKilani Thank you so much for your input. It’s really helpful. I applied at around late December but I got an email in February telling me that I got deferred and the next round was in March.

Hello, congrats on getting accepted to both programs! I’m not sure I can really comment on either of those careers that well. I can say though that med sci has a huge variety of science courses that you can choose from, so you can definitely customize the degree to suite your interests / better prepare you for either career. As long as you’re able to get the appropriate pre-reqs for the other programs you want to apply for, your choice of specialization should be large. You don’t have to choose your specialization till the end of 2nd year, so I recommend taking your time to figure out what you might be interested in and able to excel at. Wishing you all the best ☺️

@@DaniKilani Thanks for your reply, i appreciate it!

The major difference between them is the courses you end up taking, let me give you an idea of what that looks like. Medical Science courses in first year mainly involve science courses like intro biology, chemistry, physics, calculus. However, in your second year you begin to take courses like biochemistry, organic chemistry, cell biology, biostatistics... All of these are quite helpful for preparing for the MCAT if that’s what you’re planning on doing. In the last two years of medical sciences you can go on to specialize in an area of medical sciences like Microbiology, Physiology, Pharmacology, and many others. Health science is quite different in that it looks at human health from more of a social studies point of view. It looks at topics like ethics, social determinants of health and others. Generally, students in health science don't take as many hard science courses. Either could be a good choice, depending on what you like learning about and what you hope to accomplish with your degree.

The major difference between them is the courses you end up taking, let me give you an idea of what that looks like. Medical Science and General Science are quite similar for the first year. Both mainly involve science courses like intro biology, chemistry, physics, calculus. However, in your second year you begin to take courses that are required for a specific degree. For medical sciences, these courses include things like biochemistry, organic chemistry, cell biology, biostatistics... While for general sciences, there is a lot of variety since there are so many possible majors you could do (biology, chemistry, physics, computer science...). In the last two years of medical sciences you can go on to specialize in an area of medical sciences like Microbiology, Physiology, Pharmacology, and many others. While for general sciences, the courses you take in third and fourth year depends on your major. Health science is quite different in that it looks at human health from more of a social studies point of view. It looks at topics like ethics, social determinants of health and others. Generally, students in health science don't take as many true science courses. I think each of the degrees you mentioned are good choices, depending on what you like learning about and what you hope to accomplish with your degree.

Hi, I just wanted to give you some more intel that I feel was missed in this video about western med sci. On paper, it seems like a great program where 30% of the people get into med school. But in reality the number is far lower. Western accepts over a thousand people in the program and during the first 2 years, they rule out more than half the students. The 30% acceptance rate is calculated after hundreds of people dropped out. In reality its less than 10% of the med sci students who get accepted to med school. Western also tanks your GPA in the first 2 years, meaning it is very difficult to apply to any med schools besides western med school (which only looks at 2 years instead of 4). 10% acceptance rate is still pretty good compared to other programs, but its something that most students don't know until they are in the program.

@@kindnessisalie5411 thank you for pointing that out! yeah, the 30% seems really high till you realize they kick out like.. 500 people. i comitted western last night but im acc planning to switch to mac now even though it's last second 💀

@@artloverrarts hey how's mac life sci going? im a current gr12 student lol

@@ataulhaye5801 hey! honestly i'm chilling, 1st year went pretty well. i was able to balance straight A+'s, 2 involved clubs (4h/week each), and a part time research job (starting 2nd sem). v happy with how it went, not sure about 2nd year but so far it's not bad either. the community at mac is pretty great, there are always events going on on campus which I like. only annoyance is that libraries are always packed lol. in 1st year, class avgs were in the 60s. i did IB in highschool so i had pretty solid study habits. for those who didn't, they might've found it harder. but that goes for any program, whether western medsci or mac life sci. im kindaaa glad i get to specialize in 2nd year, cuz i dont have to take stuff like physics anymore. buuuut i think med sci's specs do sound more interesting. i dont think it matters that much tho, long as u get good grades lmk if u have any more q's and u can DM me on reddit @artloverr !

I’ve met a few students in Medical Sciences who are international students. I don’t think it should be a significant hurdle to getting in for you, but you can definitely email the admissions office to get some more specific information about applying as an international student

@@DaniKilaniThank you for the input! I'll actually be getting my PR right before the start of fall/winter, so would that be able to change my tuition fees?

@@sunwoopark6748 No problem! That's a little beyond what I know, I would recommend sending an email about that specifically: welcome.uwo.ca/contact_us.html

It’s essentially the way Western divides their courses into 1st year, 2nd year... Courses with a 1st year level of content, they are 1000 level. If they have a 2nd year level of content, they are termed 2000 level. And so on up to 4000 level. The only differences between the levels are really that they’re more specialized, not necessarily more difficult

If you don't meet the standards then you'll have to switch into another program with more relaxed requirements typically in the general sciences. The numbers may change year to year, but generally they take 750 students in for first year. Then 500 students are taken in for year 3 medical sciences, some of them are from medical sciences year 2 and some are from the competitive pool

@@DaniKilani Thanks for your quick reply. Also were you able to find time for extracurricular and clinical hours amidst all the MCAT prep and the competitive course work?

@@Joshua-zj3id There was definitely time to get in some extracurriculars. I actually didn't need any clinical hours as Canadian Medical Schools don't place any value on shadowing or clinical work. If you want a better idea of what I was able to accomplish as a student here is a video I did on my Journey from high school to med school: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-J9quy5eqMzo.html

Hi Kay, congrats on the acceptances!! If you’re looking to become a nurse directly, I would recommend doing one of the degrees listed on the website of the Canadian Nurses Association: www.cna-aiic.ca/en/nursing-practice/the-practice-of-nursing/education/nursing-programs-in-canada Alternatively, you could also do two years in another degree before going into an accelerated BScN degree. My understanding of this career path is fairly limited, but it seems like at least some of the accelerated degree programs (e.g at Western and McMaster) require some pre-requisite courses in things like anatomy and physiology. Taking all the necessary courses could be a bit more difficult to fit in health sci compared to med sci, but it would be possible in either. This PDF has a list of the accelerated BScN programs for your reference: www.science.mcmaster.ca/scce/images/pdf/AcceleratedNursing.pdf

Hey Anuveer! I personally found the difficulty of the program in the first and second year to be manageable. Of course, I had to make some changes to the way I study to adapt to the more independent nature of university course work. I don't have much of a standard to compare it to, but I found that it was definitely possible to attain a 3.9+ in the vast majority of my courses. I find that the sciences are personally what I am strong at, which made getting a good GPA possible for me. I didnt' take grade 11 or 12 physics, so you're definitely ahead of the game relative to where I was at. I still managed to get decent grades in physics (3.7 and 3.9) despite that but it was probably the most difficult set of courses I took. For myself the issue was more the process of learning and solving problems in physics as opposed to the content, so having taken some physics should set you up well for that. Other than medical school, graduates from medical sciences go off to do a whole variety of things. Some will work in different industries such as pharma/biotech, consulting, food sciences. Others will pursue further education in many different areas like physiotherapy, medical research, public health and many other things. The data that Western collects about this from grads is worth taking a look at too: www.schulich.uwo.ca/bmsc/current_students/after_grad/career_survey.html I hope this is helpful, best of luck!

@@DaniKilani Could I ask what your average was in high school (grade 12)??

@@Baldess64 I was admitted with a 92% average as an out of province applicant (Alberta)

@@DaniKilani thanks for replying. could I also ask, how did you study for the MCAT, and how much time do you think you spent studying?

@@Baldess64 No worries! I’ve actually made a playlist on how I studied for the MCAT: ru-vid.com/group/PL7TtKFKRi_cNZwH1KxpfFXvHIIvOELkTW

Hi Arshia, thanks for watching!! You definitely have a shot with a 93 average, the program typically has an acceptance average in the low 90s. I was accepted in 2017 with a 92% average. My take would be to get a feel for the differences between the programs and choose the one that fits you best. If you're interested in taking predominantly science courses, and you tend to do well in the sciences, then this may be the way to go for you. On the other hand, health sciences is mainly about the bigger picture of health and health systems. You could do a health sci with biology degree if you want a bit more science exposure. You would definitely be taking fewer courses in the sciences, and would not be able to take some of the med sci courses because of pre-requisite courses. It is possible to get a high GPA in either program, but your choice should be made (in my opinion) based on your interest in the course content and your potential to do well in your courses

@@DaniKilani I I wanna get into med school like u so thanks for your help Dan

@@arshiarezaei9638 best of luck! Let me know if you have other questions 😁

@@DaniKilani Can I study medical sciences and also a minor in psychology?

@@arshiarezaei9638 You can! It's good that you have an idea that a minor is something you're interested in this early. I say this because taking minors with medical science tends to require planning early, since with a minor on top of med sci you may not have very much space for electives. I actually considered taking a minor a few times in my undergraduate career, but I ultimately decided against it since it doesn't show up on your degree. An alternative would be to take which ever psychology courses you're interested in as electives

I think you definitely could take Med Sci if you’re interested in dentistry. I know a few people that have gone from med sci to dentistry, so it’s certainly possible. I’m not the most familiar with dental school requirements, but if there are pre-requisite courses in the sciences you’ll definitely be able to meet them. I think what you need to consider is whether you’re interested in the content of the degree enough to perform well in your undergrad, and get admission to a dental school. In 4th year you do reapply to your specialization although the stakes are way lower since the spots in 4th year are equal to the spots in 3rd year. So potential reasons for not advancing would be not meeting minimum grade requirements (these often exist for certain courses), or losing your spot to someone with a higher average switching between modules (this is not very common)

@@DaniKilani thank you!!

That’s great to hear, I’m sure you’ll love Western. I took Psychology for my elective. The nice thing about taking it first year is that it fulfils the pre-requisite for taking second year psych courses which tend to be relatively easy and interesting. You do have all 4 years to meet the essay requirements, and if you do a thesis that will give you 1.5 of the 2.0 required credits. I took Philosophy 2715 (Healthcare ethics) in my second year, which was an interesting course that filled 0.5 of my required essay credits. You can also check out the “Must Knows at UWO” facebook group, where students discuss courses among other things 🙂

@@DaniKilani thank you so much!!