Colleagues,
You are likely aware of the recent article published in the Gazette Aug. 10 regarding our Faculty’s medical admissions process, as well as the various letters submitted to the paper over the course of last week. In addition to the letters, we received a few e-mails, some of which were positive, and others which conveyed misconceptions.
In order to address the misconceptions and inaccuracies, Dr. Saleem Razack, Assistant Dean of Admissions, Equity and Diversity of our medical school, submitted the article at the following link, which appeared in the Gazette this weekend:http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Opinion+McGill+seeks+best+medical+school/8798256/story.html. We are also responding to individual emails directly.
It should be noted that medical schools across North America are increasing the diversity of their classes, and our admissions process is considered a benchmark in this regard. At McGill, our approach has been to ensure that students from many different backgrounds are welcomed to submit their candidacies to medicine. We aim to create an open and inclusive space for our applicants to put forth their candidacies, which includes a commitment to a bilingual process. These measures have assured us a wide pool of applicants from which to select the most meritorious students for our medical class. The diverse applicants who apply to our programs are assessed fairly and on a level playing field with other applicants within their cohort. We apply no internal quotas in the assessment of excellence in our candidates – we seek the best ones within the pool of applicants, using current best practices and psychometrically valid tools.
By widening our pool of medical school applicants to attract the very best, including those in rural, economically disadvantaged and First Nations communities, we are building on our excellence, as demonstrated by the very high quality of students we continue to welcome into our Faculty.
If you would like to know more about McGill’s medical school admissions process, I encourage you to read the article at the link above. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Razack (saleem.razack@mcgill.ca) or me.
Sincerely,
David Eidelman, MDCM
Vice-Principal (Health Affairs)
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
August 19, 2013