We encourage you to review answers to the most frequently asked questions received by the MD Admissions team.
General
For more information, please see the Information Sessions and Admission Statistics pages.
We do not provide any one-on-one advising sessions. This includes scheduled advising appointments as well as informal drop-in advising. However, we do offer small-group information sessions. They follow a question-and-answer format and are free on a first come, first served basis.
If you have an admissions-related question that cannot be answered by reviewing our website, we recommend contacting the Admissions office by email. If you are a current applicant, please email the office through the online application system.
Please see the Information Sessions page.
Please view our Statistics to compare your academic standing with the averages of successful applicants and also review information on Minimum Academic Standing.
UBC does not have a pre-med program. Please see our Admissions Requirements for information on all prerequisites necessary for application.
Interim statistics for the current application cycle are posted in mid- to late fall. Final statistics are posted in early fall.
For more information on this topic, please see the Selection and Post-Acceptance Conditions pages.
The MD Undergraduate program is a four-year program. This is followed by a residency in a chosen or assigned specialization, which may take between two and seven years to complete.
In 2024/2025, 328 seats will be available – 208 seats for the Vancouver Fraser Medical Program (UBC-Vancouver), with 48 of those seats being designated for the Vancouver Fraser Medical Program - Fraser Medical Cohort, 40 seats for the Island Medical Program (U of Victoria), 40 seats for the Northern Medical Program (UNBC), and 40 seats for the Southern Medical Program (UBC-Okanagan).
In partnership with UBC-Vancouver, the University of Victoria, University of Northern BC and UBC-Okanagan are a part of a provincial program to increase the number of physicians in underserved areas of the province. Please see the websites of the University of Victoria’s Island Medical Program, University of Northern BC’s Northern Medical Program, and UBC-Okanagan’s Southern Medical Program for more information on those sites.
All sites are part of the UBC MD Undergraduate Program and there is only one application for the program. During the interview stage, applicants invited to interview have the opportunity to learn about each site and are asked to indicate their preferred site(s).
The Fraser Medical Cohort is a cohort of students in the Vancouver Fraser Medical Program (VFMP) who will undertake their Year 3 clinical clerkship rotations exclusively in the Fraser region. If invited to interview, applicants will have 5 distributed sites to choose from on their binding Site Preference Form, including the Fraser Medical Cohort. Students who are admitted into the VFMP-Fraser Medical Cohort will remain with the other VFMP students for Years 1 and 2 in Vancouver but will undertake their Year 3 Clinical Clerkship training in the Fraser region. Assignments for specific clinical clerkship locations within this region will be based on capacity.
Up to 10% of seats (33 total in 2024/2025) are reserved for out-of-province applicants.
Please see the Visiting Student Elective Program page for more information.
For more information on this topic, please see the following pages: Eligibility, Graduate Students, Selection, and Post-Acceptance Conditions.
No. Only permanent residents of Canada are eligible to apply, either as Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
We will accept applications from persons with refugee status in Canada. Admission will be contingent on attaining permanent residency in Canada and providing proof of this status to the MD Admissions Office two weeks prior to the start of classes. A one year deferral can be requested if a refugee status applicant is unable to provide proof of permanent residency within the above stated time frame. All deferrals are made at the discretion of the MD Admissions Office.
On interview day, all applicants are required to submit official proof (original government-issued documentation) of one of the following: citizenship, permanent residency, or refugee status.
We are not currently accepting transfers into the UBC MD Undergraduate Program.
You can apply as long as you were/are enrolled in a foreign medical school and you did not withdraw from the other medical school due to academic reasons. When you apply, please write a short paragraph explaining the details of your attendance in the appropriate box on the application. Note that if accepted to our program, you will start in Year 1 with the rest of the entering class. If you are currently attending or withdrew from a Canadian medical school, please contact the MD Admissions office before applying, as applications from students in these circumstances are not usually considered.
There is no preference given to applicants in Honours, Graduate, or Science programs. Keep in mind graduate students must agree to these terms at the time of application.
Yes. Please see Graduate Students eligibility information.
Indigenous applicants are encouraged to review information on the Indigenous Admissions Pathway and/or to contact the Indigenous Student Initiatives Manager for information about the Indigenous admissions process and specific requirements. Please contact indigenous.md@ubc.ca.
No, you do not have to disclose this information to the Admissions Office.
You do not need to disclose, but we do want to be able to make any necessary accommodations during the application cycle. The Centre for Accessibility coordinates accommodations for disabilities, and can be reached at 604-822-5844. For more information on requesting accommodations, please see the Applicants with Disabilities section.
If you have further questions about disclosing your disability you may also contact the Associate Dean, Equity.
If you have any questions that might affect your ability to study or practice medicine in BC, you should contact the College of Physicians & Surgeons of BC (see Educational Licensure under Post-Acceptance Conditions). Applicants should do this before undertaking the lengthy and possibly expensive application and evaluation process, especially if travel is required to attend an interview.
There are no age limitations to apply or enter the program.
Documents and Deadlines
For more information on this topic, please see the Admission Requirements page.
Please send your transcripts to:
MD Undergraduate Program Admissions Office
Faculty of Medicine
University of British Columbia
317 – 2194 Health Sciences Mall
Vancouver BC V6T 1Z3
If your institution issues official electronic transcripts, we accept E-transcripts sent in the following manner:
- Sent directly by your Registrar's office to admissions.md@ubc.ca.
- Sent through a transcript ordering service (e.g. Parchment, MyCreds). On Parchment, we are listed as "The University of British Columbia - MD Undergraduate Admissions"; On MyCreds, we are listed as "UBC - Faculty of Medicine | MD Undergraduate admissions."
- E-transcripts forwarded by applicants are not accepted.
We will accept transcripts mailed from applicants as long as the transcripts arrive in their official, original, sealed envelopes. Electronic transcripts must be sent directly by the Registrar to admissions.md@ubc.ca or through a transcript ordering service your institution uses. Please see the Applicant Guide for more information on transcript delivery.
Applicants who submitted an application, transcripts, and paid the application fee for the 2023/2024 application cycle can request that their transcripts be carried forward to their new file. Only transcripts from the 2023/2024 application cycle can be brought forward to the 2024/2025 application cycle. We cannot bring forward transcripts from any application cycles prior to 2023/2024. Individuals who created an account but did not submit an application during the 2023/2024 application cycle cannot have their transcripts carried forward.
It is the applicant's responsibility to check the appropriate box on the Online Application System form if you would like to have your previously submitted transcripts transferred to your new file. We will bring forward your transcripts only if you have not taken any further coursework since the transcripts were submitted. It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that there were no courses in progress, grades awarded or changed, or other changes to the transcript since it was last submitted. If in doubt, another transcript should be submitted by the application deadline. On your Application Status tab, please check the month and year your transcripts were received to ensure we have the most recently submitted copies.
No, we do not return documents.
No, we will use the one we received by the application deadline.
Yes. All students who have attended UBC must submit a hard-copy or electronic UBC transcript. UBC students must also submit AP/IB/A Level/Cambridge Pre-U/CAPE transcripts if using to satisfy the English requirement. Please see the Admission Requirements page for more information on submitting AP/IB transcripts. Please note that in late summer the processing and mailing times for AP/IB transcripts can become quite long, so we recommend ordering AP/IB transcripts two months in advance of the application deadline.
For more information about this topic, please see the Application Timelines page.
Please see the Application Timelines page.
Academics
For more information on this topic, please see the Admission Requirements page and the Evaluation Criteria page.
Generally, half-year courses are worth 3 credits, and full-year courses are worth 6 credits. "Credits with grades" refers to course credits that are assigned a percentage and/or letter grade on your transcript (not courses that are graded as pass/fail, credit received, satisfactory, completed, etc.).
Pass/Fail or CR/NCR credits do not count toward the 90-credit minimum requirement, including pass/fail or CR/NCR credits taken in Term 2 of the 2019-2020 academic year (or equivalent term). Only credits with grades count toward the 90-credit minimum requirement. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, grades from Term 2 of the 2019-2020 academic year (or equivalent term) will not be included in the calculation of GPA, but credits with grades from that term will count toward the 90-credit minimum requirement.
No, credits given for AP or IB courses do not count toward the 90-credit minimum requirement.
Our Application Timeline lists all important dates in the application cycle. As noted, your 90 credits with grades must be completed by the April 30 deadline in the year of entry.
You do not need a degree to apply or enter the program. However, we require that 90 university credits with grades be completed by April 30 of the year of entry into medical school. For most people, this means you can apply in your third year of university as long as you will have completed at least 90 credits with grades by the end of the spring semester.
We consider a full course load to be approximately 10 courses/30 credits taken over the fall and spring semesters.
A full course load is not necessary for application to the program, and we recognize that there are many reasons why applicants may have taken less than a full course load. However, applicants must display an ability to handle the demands of medical school and may be required to explain the reasons behind a part-time course load.
Graded pre-university CEGEP courses are considered post-secondary courses and count towards the 90-credit minimum requirement. Generally, 3 or 4 CEGEP courses are equivalent to 6 credits at UBC.
Generally, diploma courses do not count toward the 90 credit requirement and grades from diploma courses are not included in GPA calculations. This includes diplomas in most trades and clinical health services. However, there are some exceptions to this rule, so if you would like confirmation on whether your particular diploma courses will be accepted, please email the Admissions Office at admissions.md@ubc.ca.
The diploma courses do not count toward the 90-credit minimum requirement and are not included in GPA calculations.
Applicants with a BSc in Nursing (conferred or in progress) will have their graded courses applied to their GPA and 90-credit minimum requirement. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, grades from Winter 2019/2020 Term 2 are not included in the calculation of the overall or adjusted GPA. Nursing diplomas are not considered.
Credits from non-university-transferable courses cannot be counted towards the 90 minimum credits or included in the academic evaluation. If you would like confirmation on your specific program, please contact the Admissions Office at admissions.md@ubc.ca.
For more information on this topic, please see the Admission Requirements page.
We require 6 credits (two semesters) of English coursework. Courses in general biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry are recommended but not required. Please see the Admission Requirements page for more information.
Prerequisite English courses must be completed by April 30 of the year of entry into medical school (April 30, 2025 for the 2024/2025 application cycle).
Please see the English Courses Chart for a list of some acceptable English courses. More information about our criteria for acceptable English prerequisites can be found under the Prerequisites section of the Admission Requirements page. If you have a question about a course not listed on the chart, please email us at admissions.md@ubc.ca.
Please see the AP, IB and Other Exam Results section of the Admission Requirements page. English proficiency exams such as TOEFL or IELTS are not accepted.
Yes, four "603" CEGEP courses can be used to fill the English requirement.
English prerequisites taken under the Credit/D/Fail option will be accepted toward the English requirement. However, keep in mind that applicants are required to demonstrate their academic ability to determine if they are suited for the rigorous MD curriculum. Taking required courses under the Credit/D/Fail option may not be a helpful indicator in the selection process and could potentially jeopardize your application to the program.
Yes, we will. English courses do not have an 'expiration date.'
For more information on this topic, please see the Admission Requirements page and the Evaluation Criteria page.
Please see the Admission Requirements page.
It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that all MCAT results are sent to UBC and received by the Admissions Office. MCAT scores must be released every application cycle after the application opens.
UBC is not a part of the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS). You must therefore specify that you want your test results sent to UBC. This can only be done through the MCAT Score Reporting System, and only after your results have been released to you. We encourage applicants to check the “Scores Sent to Institutions” screen on their AAMC accounts to confirm that results have been successfully released to UBC.
You must release all results. We will evaluate the exam with the highest score, as long as that exam 1) meets our date requirements and 2) has a score of at least 124 in each section (CARS, BBFL, CPBS and PSBB). If any of the section scores are below 124, the exam is not eligible for evaluation.
As long as minimum score and date requirements are met, the MCAT is not a factor in determining who is invited to interview. MCAT scores are evaluated post-interview, but further information on how they are evaluated is confidential.
Information provided by MCAT shows that the concepts tested in the four sections: (Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems; Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems; Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behaviour; Critical Analysis and Reasoning) are taught in the courses most applicants take at post-secondary institutions. However, examinees prepare in different ways. Please refer to the AAMC website for information on the exam and suggestions on how to prepare. The Admissions Office does not endorse and cannot provide advice on any third-party MCAT study guides or prep courses.
For more information on this topic, please see the Evaluation Criteria page.
The overall grade point average (OGPA) calculation includes all completed courses taken at accredited post- secondary institutions. For applicants who meet the criteria, an adjusted grade point average (AGPA) is also calculated, in which the academic year with the lowest academic average is removed from the OGPA calculation. Fails, duplicates and repeat courses are included in both calculations. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, grades from Term 2 of the 2019-2020 academic year (or equivalent term) will not be included in the calculation of GPA. See the Evaluation Criteria page for more information on OGPA and AGPA calculations.
When applicants enter their grades and credits (as used by their institution) in the online application system, each letter grade will convert to the same percentage grade as per the appropriate table. Grades from schools already using percentage grades will not be converted.
They are based on research of the schemes used by schools across Canada and the US, as well as comparison with scales used by other institutions.
No, they are not.
Summer courses from the year of application are not included in the academic evaluation. Courses from previous summers are included in the applicable average calculations.
Graduate courses are included in the grade average calculations and are treated the same as undergraduate courses.
Generally, we do not recommend repeating courses to improve your overall GPA. Students who enroll in unclassified, non-degree programs for the sole purpose of improving their academic qualifications are advised that only a small proportion of such candidates gain admission.
All courses, including failures, are included in the overall GPA calculation.
We do note course withdrawals, but in the context of an entire application withdrawal from one course is unlikely to have a significant negative impact. Applicants who withdrew from multiple courses or who withdrew from their academic program should provide an explanation on the application.
We evaluate grades from courses taken during the current application cycle only for applicants who receive an offer to the program or who are placed on the waitlist. For applicants who receive an offer, we recalculate the overall GPA or adjusted GPA (if applicable) with the new coursework added in. If the resulting GPA has dropped 5% or more from the overall or adjusted GPA we calculated during our file evaluation in the fall, the Admissions Selection Committee reserves the right to revoke the offer of admission.
Non-Academics
For more information on this topic, please see the Evaluation Criteria page.
UBC’s MD Undergraduate Program prides itself on the diverse student body. Academic scores are critical, but we believe that a strong non-academic background is equally important to demonstrate an applicant’s suitability to be a doctor. Applicants will be assessed based on the non-academic experiences included in the application.
There is not a specific volunteer model that enhances an applicant’s profile. Successful applicants in the past have included not only medical volunteers, but athletes and artists. Generally, those who demonstrate a commitment to their community and service ethic are valued; all of this must be documented in the non-academic experiences section for evaluation.
In accordance with the guidelines put forward by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC, the MD Undergraduate Program discourages individuals not enrolled as students of health professions regulated by the Health Professions Act or Emergency Health Services Act from participating in physician shadowing. Such activities pose significant concerns to patient privacy and confidentiality, and will not result in an increased NAQ score or improved chances of admission.
For more information on this topic, please see the Eligibility page.
Students at every site will undergo some rural practice training. In addition, the Northern Medical Program, Southern Medical Program, and Island Medical Program provide opportunities to complete undergraduate medical training in regional centres that serve rural, remote, and northern communities.
The Rural and Remote Suitability Score (RRSS) is calculated to determine the suitability of an applicant for the Northern Medical Program and the rural positions in the Southern Medical Program and Island Medical Program. An applicant’s experiences in rural/remote/northern/Indigenous settings, along with community ties and activities, factor into this assessment.
References are not required until the interview stage, and we do not accept unsolicited reference letters. All reference providers must complete a specific online form. More information about references is given to applicants who are invited to interview.
Reference criteria may change from year to year, but recently we have required one academic reference and one service/professional reference. Applicants invited to interview are given further information about references during the interview stage. All reference providers are required to submit a specific online form.