[3] Medical students Generally begin their studies after receiving a bachelor's degree in another field, often one of the biological sciences.
However, unlike their American counterparts, many Canadian medical schools such as McMaster have no science prerequisite courses.
[4] As a practical matter, nearly all successful applicants have completed one or more degrees before admission to a Canadian medical school, although despite this the M.D.
[6] For example, Quebec's medical schools accept applicants after a two-year CEGEP diploma, which is the equivalent of other provinces' grade 12 plus the first year of university.
Admission offers are made by individual medical schools, generally on the basis of a personal statement, autobiographical sketch, undergraduate record (GPA), scores on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT),[8] and interviews.
[11][12] Other schools, such as the University of Western Ontario, give increasing preference to higher performance.
McGill University and Université de Montréal in the province of Quebec both offer a five-year program that includes a medical preparatory year to entering CEGEP graduates.
The first half of the medical curriculum is dedicated mostly to teaching the fundamentals of, or basic subjects relevant to, medicine, such as anatomy, histology, physiology, pharmacology, genetics, microbiology, ethics, and epidemiology.
Often this research training is undertaken during elective time and between the basic science and clinical clerkship halves of the curriculum.
Students enter into the Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) in the fall of their final year.
Each group's preferences are entered into a computerized matching system to determine placement for residency positions.
All other medical specialty residencies are accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada; most are 5 years long.
Both Canadian specialty colleges participate in mandatory continuing medical education (CME) schemes.
Examples of CME activities include attendance at conferences, participating in practice-based small group learning, and taking courses such as advanced cardiac life support.
There are different classes of credits depending on whether the CME activity is considered accredited (e.g., attending accredited workshops or conferences) or non-accredited (e.g., teaching medical students, preparing research papers for publication, reading scholarly journals).
[21] The framework of CPD options includes a broad spectrum of learning activities linked to a credit system.
Part 2 of the MCCQE, an Objective Structured Clinical Examination, was taken following completion of 12 months of residency training.
[23] Prior to June 2021, both parts of the MCCQE were required to be successfully completed for the resident to become a Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada (LMCC).