Yes, you need to have good grades to enter medicine. But beyond the sacrosanct R rating of 33 or more, medical schools have other tools to choose future doctors, and ensure a certain diversity.
“Just because you have a very high R rating does not necessarily make you a good health professional,” says Patrick Cossette, dean of the faculty of medicine at the University of Montreal. Our criteria have evolved over the years to be more inclusive. »
Just a few years ago, we would never have heard these words from the mouth of a dean of medicine. But the world is changing and faculties have also had to adapt.
Of course, there is a requirement to enter medicine, a limited program that accepts approximately 1 in 10 students. The criteria are roughly the same in the province’s four medical faculties.
The first selection is made on the basis of grades and the Casper test, set up in 2010 to assess transversal skills such as empathy, communication or leadership. McGill University is the only one to allocate 10% of the weighting to the candidate’s CV.
But what is the Casper test worth when we know that the majority of students resort to the help of a coach to prepare for it? “It’s true that there are coachesrecognizes the Dr Cossette. But this is what exists as standardized tools at the moment. »
Candidates called for an interview must then undergo a series of scenarios evaluated by committees made up, depending on the faculties, of professors, patient-partners and people from diverse backgrounds. Please note that the student has only one interview which will count for all their admission applications.
Is it possible to detect, upon admission, candidates who would make good family doctors?
“At 19, it’s difficult to say, unless the student has been immersed in this and arrives with the idea of becoming a family doctor,” explains Dr.r Cossette.
It’s the student experience and clinical exposure during training that makes the difference. This is the part that I control as dean: encouraging vocations.
Patrick Cossette, dean of the faculty of medicine at the University of Montreal
More diversity
Medical faculties have often been criticized, with good reason, for being homogeneous environments. Privileged environments that did not reflect society.
The faculties took note of this. “We have a social responsibility to ensure a diversity of origins and experiences,” says the dean of the faculty of medicine at Laval University, Julien Poitras.
Since 2008, the First Nations and Inuit Medical School Program in Quebec has reserved places for students from Indigenous communities in the four medical schools. Several faculties also have programs that allow medical students to meet young Aboriginal people to interest them in health sciences. The University of Sherbrooke also offers programs intended for students from remote regions and French speakers outside Quebec.
All faculties also offer access programs for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
Since 2021, the universities of Montreal and McGill have had an access program for black students that guarantees them a place at the interview, provided they meet the admission requirements.
At McGill University, two-thirds of students admitted to medicine already have a university degree. At Laval University, the proportion is 45%. “I, for example, come from the visual arts,” says dean Julien Poitras. It’s another form of diversity. »
“We are at the start of a process and we are listening to suggestions,” he continues.
All these measures have been put in place to break the image that sticks to medical students: that of a young person from a family of doctors who grew up in an upscale neighborhood.
An image that no longer has much to do with reality.
A fifth medical school in Quebec?
Should we create a new medical school to train family doctors?
This is the proposal from Alexandre Cloutier, president of the University of Quebec (UQ) network, who wishes to involve his 10 establishments.
“With 100,000 students spread across Quebec, we are the largest university in the country,” he says. We have an exceptional strike force. »
Mr. Cloutier recalls that the mission of UQ is different from those of other universities. “We train the greatest number of first-generation students to pursue higher education,” he emphasizes. We have a social responsibility to meet the specific needs of Quebec. And we are well established in the regions. »
The plan: develop 225 places in family medicine across the different components of UQ by involving TELUQ (for distance education), as well as ETS and INRS (for the research component).
PHOTO MARTIN TREMBLAY, THE PRESS
Alexandre Cloutier, president of the University of Quebec network
After Laval and Montreal universities, we train the most health professionals. We want to train doctors close to community environments, indigenous and rural realities.
Alexandre Cloutier, president of the University of Quebec network
To those who consider it a little crazy to create a fifth medical school, the former PQ minister cites the example of Ontario. “They have never invested so much in the creation of new medical programs,” he says. York University has just received $9 million to create a project office. Ontario is working hard even though access to a family doctor is better than in Quebec. »
Mr. Cloutier recalls that there are currently five projects for new medical faculties in the country.
“We don’t want to harm the current offer, we want to improve it. »
The president of UQ is aware that other universities risk opposing his project. “Every time we wanted to offer new programs, whether in engineering or law, we faced opposition. Today, we open our game, we offer a dialogue to find ways of passage. The status quo seems untenable to me. »
Next step: set up a project office and launch consultations. And agree with the Minister of Health Christian Dubé on a road map. To be continued, therefore.
Read our article “Should we mourn “their” family doctor? »
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