TMU Medical School Requirements

Ontario’s healthcare system is set to benefit from a new medical school at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) in 2025, joining the existing 17 medical schools in Canada. TMU’s proposed MD program aims to address the critical shortage of primary care doctors in the province, particularly in underserved communities. As the school prepares to welcome its first cohort, prospective students are eager to learn more about the requirements for admission.

Although the exact requirements for TMU’s medical school have still not yet been released, there are hints from their various update posts, in combination with current Canadian medical school requirements, that can give us an idea of what it might look like.

Academic

  1. Pre-requisite courses
  2. Minimum number of years of undergraduate study required
  3. GPA

Non-Academic 

  1. Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)
  2. CASPer Test
  3. Supplementary Application
  4. Letter of Reference
  5. Interview

Prerequisite Courses

All medical schools in Canada require at least 3 years of undergraduate study to be completed before an applicant can matriculate into their school. Some even require 4 years of undergraduate study to be completed. However, current trends indicate a movement toward 3 years of undergraduate study. Combined with the accelerated nature of the TMU program to produce family physicians, it is our guess that TMU medical school will require three years of undergraduate study to apply

Most medical schools in Canada have little to no requirements for prerequisite courses, contrary to their American counterparts. This allows Canadian medical schools to have a wide depth and breadth of students from different backgrounds who become physicians. We expect TMU to follow this trend and have no prerequisite course requirements as they have publically stated that “Admission will be based on academic performance, progress towards an undergraduate degree in any discipline, and academic, extracurricular and professional experience.”

GPA Calculation and Requirements

Most Ontario Medical Schools have no bias toward in-province (IP) over out-of-province (OOP) applicants. However, Premier Doug Ford has stated that he intends for newer medical schools to prioritize “taking care of our students, our kids first.” This statement was made in relation to another new Ontario medical school, York University. This leads us to believe that there will be in-province bias for Ontario applicants. In fact, there are even rumours that TMU will be biased specifically toward residents of the Peel region. This is because the university wants students who graduate from their program to serve the communities they studied in.

Minimum GPA to ApplyAverage Grade of accepted applicantsLowest GPA Admitted
UnknownEstimated 3.9 cGPANot Released

Cumulative GPA, or the total GPA of all years of study, being used as an admission factor has been the trend for all Canadian Universities. In fact, many universities have begun phasing out weighted GPAs from their admissions. This is confirmed in TMU’s decision to accept only cumulative GPAs.

MCAT and CASPer 

MCAT and CASPer Overview:

The CASPer test has become increasingly more heavily weighted at Canadian medical schools, while the MCAT has been rumoured to begin phasing out of the admission process at many schools. This has been confirmed by TMUs recent announcement that the MCAT is not required for admission

CASPer RequiredMCAT RequiredMCAT Scores Considered
Most LikelyNoN/R

CASPer Test: The Canadian Professional Health Sciences test must be taken in August of the year of application submission. Both the 90-minute situational judgement test and the snapshot are usually required. The CASPer SnapShot is required within 10 days of completing the CASPer exam.

Supplementary Application

Most medical schools in Canada require applicants to fill out a supplementary application. In Ontario universities, most applicants must follow the OMSAS autobiographical sketches (ABS). The purpose of the ABS is to get a brief understanding of who the applicant is as a person and what they have learned from their experiences that would make them a better physician. TMU will most likely look at all 32 activities submitted to the ABS, completed since the age of 16, in the following categories:

  • Employment
  • Volunteering
  • Extracuricular Activites
  • Awards/Accomplishments
  • Research
  • Other

Quality is more important than quantity in this section of your application.

You will be required to provide verifiers for all activities. They may be contacted.

Reference Letters:

Most Ontario universities require three letters of recommendation from applicants. Applicants are not allowed to use family members, friends/colleagues of family members, neighbours, or someone who may be perceived as their peer as a referee. Additionally, the references must meet the following criteria:

  • One academic/employment-related reference
  • One non-academic reference
  • One reference of your choosing

Your references will be asked the following questions:

  1. Would this applicant make a good physician?
  2. Rate the applicant on their communication skills
  3. Rate the applicant on their problem-solving skills
  4. Rate the applicant on their professionalism (e.g., commitment to ethical practice, standards of behaviour and accountability to others)
  5. Rate the applicant on their empathy (e.g., demonstrating consideration of others’ perspectives)
  6. Identify and comment on 1 area of improvement for the applicant
  7. Share any other information you feel may be relevant to a medical school’s admissions committee.

Medical School Interview:

MandatoryBy InvitationNumber of Applicants InvitedEntering Class Size
UsuallyAlwaysUnknownEstimated: 88

Shortlisted candidates are required to interview at all Canadian medical schools. Interview format usually takes one of two forms:

  1. Multiple Mini-Interview: During the MMI, applicants will move between interview “stations” in a circuit. This interview assesses the non-cognitive qualities of an applicant, which could include empathy, critical thinking, ethical decision making and communication skills.
  2. Panel Interview: Designed to personally get to know the candidate via topics like decision making, life experiences, interactions with others, and future goals, and;

If you are looking for interview practice, check out our posts on both MMI Practice Questions and Standard Interview Practice Questions.

Offers of Admission Decision:

Offers for admission are usually based upon a mix of academic achievement, supplemental application, and results of the interview process. Most medical schools do not disclose any information about how each of the admission requirements is combined in the decision-making process.

TMU has stated their proposed MD program will use a distinctive holistic admissions process in which principles of anti-racism, accessibility, EDI and Reconciliation are embedded throughout. It will be designed to purposefully admit equity-deserving students and to identify and select applicants who are interested in primary care practice, particularly in medically underserved communities.

Requirements for other Medical Schools in Canada:

If you would like an in-depth analysis of the medical school requirements for other universities in Canada click here. Or if you want information on a specific university click on any of the following links:

Leave a Reply