Some verifiers are easy to choose: your current supervisor, your former coach, your guitar teacher. Others are more problematic. Because the Admissions Office has a responsibility to verify the accuracy of applications in order to ensure fairness for all applicants, we require a verifier for all non-academic, employment, and rural training experiences. However, we recognize that it can be hard to find a verifier for some entries. We hope these questions can help if you are struggling with a difficult verifier situation.
- I worked somewhere/did something a long time ago and have lost touch with my supervisor.
This is a common problem. Sometimes the organization will keep records, so you might be able to put down the current HR person. Remember, the verifier only needs to be able to confirm the details you list on the application – they don’t have to know you personally or comment on your performance. Alternatively, you might be able to reach out through social media to get in touch with your former supervisor. The ‘last resort’ is to use a coworker. You may do this at your discretion, but please note that in some cases we may contact you to ask for a different verifier. We do not accept things like certificates, newspaper articles, or other non-human forms of verification.
- I have a hobby I usually do on my own. You say not to put yourself down as a verifier, so who should I put?
For solo hobbies, you may choose a friend or family member who knows about your hobby.
- I own my own business and work by myself. Since I cannot put myself down as a verifier, who should I pick?
A business is more formal than a hobby, so we prefer that you not use a friend or family member. You might consider using someone like an accountant or lawyer who can confirm the basic details of your business. Clients are a bit trickier because they may not know the total number of hours you work or the start and end dates of your business.
- I work for a family business. You say not to use friends or family members as verifiers, so who should I choose?
Ideally, you could pick a non-family member who supervised you, but we understand that many family businesses are small and are staffed only by family members. In this case, if there is no one else, you may use the family member who supervised you.
- The only people who can verify my activity are also applying to the MD program.
Sorry, applicants should not verify activities for other applicants. Please try to find someone else.
- What happens if the Admissions Office thinks I put down an inappropriate verifier? Will the activity be automatically disregarded?
We will not automatically disregard an activity unless you put yourself down as a verifier or enter something like “no verifier”. As long as you have made an honest attempt to list a suitable verifier, we will contact you if we need to verify the activity and we have concerns about the verifier. We are not looking for ways to disregard activities or withhold points – we really want to reward your accomplishments and experiences. We just need to make sure the entries listed are accurate.
Ultimately, verifier choice is your decision. The Admissions Office cannot give you permission to list a particular verifier on your application or help you if you are trying to decide between two or more potential verifiers. Please use your best judgement to work within the guidelines provided.
This question is partly related to verifiers. I did a health Science career preparation program at my school consisting of roughly 500-600 hours worth of activities. These activities could include things for example like physiotherapy aide (50 hrs), ambulance aide (150 hrs), and several workshops/conferences/ leadership/ training activities. Would it make sense to list each activity separately or just lump it together in one entry? With respect to verifiers, my program supervisor could account for all hours, as opposed to individual activity verifiers who could speak to only one activity, but not my overall aptitude for health science. Which one would I pick?
Thanks
You know the most about your activities, so you are the best person to decide how to enter them. Regarding verifiers, please keep in mind that the verifier only needs to be able to confirm the details listed on your application. They do not have to comment on your performance.
In my diversity of experiences section, I spoke of caring for my ill grandparent, which not only required a significant portion of my time (from a few hours a day to 13+ hour overnight care), but taught me a lot about palliative care, etc. They did not have a nurse or doctor that frequently visited that I might use as a verifier- myself and my parents were taking care of them until only 2 days before they passed when they were put in hospice. Is this an example where it is appropriate to use my parent as a verifier for the time I put spent and activities I did for their care? I understand the potential conflict of interest, however there is no-one else that would have any knowledge of this information.
It’s not exactly the same, but please review the information in the post about working for a family business. You may need to use your discretion when making verifier selections like this one.
Thank you for the helpful guidance!
I understand that a co-worker/co-volunteer is last resort, but what about if you are already using your supervisor as a verifier for a different activity? Would it be better to use the supervisor as the verifier for both activities, or to use the verifier only once and the co-worker once?
Many thanks for your time!
We discourage applicants from using the same verifier for multiple activities, but using your supervisor for two activities is acceptable.
If I tutored a student, not through an organization, can I use him as a verifier?
Yes.
You say you discourage applicants from using the same verifier for multiple activities, but would it be acceptable in the case where you worked in several positions (as a result of promotions) for the same employer and under the same supervisor?
That’s fine.
This is slightly unrelated, but for travel experiences (eg travelling for 5 months around the world), what should I do for total hours? Obviously if you’re travelling it’s 24/7 but it doesn’t seem appropriate to list the total hours you were out of the country. As well, for multiple travel experiences, is it okay to list the same verifier (my travel partner) for multiple trips?
Please do not include sleeping time in your travel hours. If your partner was your only travel companion, you may use him or her as a verifier for multiple trips.
if ubc didnot approached my verifier means it is an indication that i will not be contacted for interview.
Not necessarily – that particular activity may not have been selected for verification. For privacy reasons we do not tell applicants if/which/how many verifiers have been contacted, and verifier responses are kept confidential as well.
Hello,
I have worked at my current job for 2 years. My previous employer, who has known me over a year retired and my new employer has only known me for 7 months. Neither will know my complete hours till date, so in this case how do I pick which verifier to use? the recent one or the one who has known me longer?
Unfortunately, we cannot tell you who to choose as your verifiers. You will just have to use your best judgement. If needed please refer to our help guide for guidance.