As far as I know, the volunteering requirement is
there to make sure you've contributed towards
community service, and more importantly, *to ensure
that you understand the rigors and demands of being a
health care professional.* Admissions committees hate
it when they interview someone, and receive the following dialogue:
"So, why do you think that you would make a good doctor?"
"Well, I enjoy helping people and interacting with them."
"Well, what experiences have you had that led you to
this conclusion? Have you worked or volunteered in a health care setting?"
"Uh... no."
I think you should emphasize your work in your
application. Many pre-med students, myself included,
worked in Emerg which makes that type of volunteering
neither very unique, nor memorable. Your experiences
might help set you apart from the rest of the crowd,
in addition to your rather unconventional major. I should emphasize that your course of study won't lead to any sort of bias by the admissions committee, although your interviewers
might ask you a question or two about it.
As for your second question, I would certainly be
concerned about it, enough so that I would start
contacting schools that I was interested in attending.
The reality is that other med schools are likely
unaware of the intricacies of UBC Med's entrance
requirements. As a result, when you send in your
transcripts to the other universities, one of the
first things each school will do is ensure that you
have fulfilled all of THAT university's medical
application requirements. If it isn't evident on your
UBC transcript that you have completed a full years
worth of Biology + lab, your application might very
well be rejected on the spot. I'd try to look at your
schedule one last time to try to fit another half year
of Bio, whether a first year course, or a higher-level course.
You also might want to inquire to other schools as to
whether UBC Biochem 300 can be used to satisfy the Bio
requirement, although I don't know if UBC's Bioc 300
also includes a lab; I did my undergrad at UVic.
A similar situation occurred with me back in first
year when I was considering applying to UBC's Pharmacy
program. I had taken AP English Lit, and received a
4, which gave me first year English credits at UVic.
Unfortunately for me, UBC only grants English credits
if you received a score of 5 in your AP exam. Net
result was that I had to re-take first year English to meet UBC's requirements.
The moral of the story is that a credit requirement
that is granted at one university is not necessarily
transferable to another university. So in your case,
I think it would be very desirable to get that second
half year Bio course.
I also think you should contact
the medical schools you're interested in, and ask them
personally, and I would make that my first course of
action. I'd also simultaneously register for that Bio
course, and drop it later if it wasn't necessary.
Regarding the graduate level courses, I think as long as you are an undergraduate student,
any courses you take for credit are reflected in your
GPA. Personally, unless you are sure you will do well
in those grad courses, I wouldn't take them. There's
no sense in being a hero; UBC med has no idea whether
a BasketWeaving 500 course is any more difficult than a BasketWeaving
400 course. Take the courses that both interest you,
and you can get solid marks in. If it comes down to
choosing between those two characteristics, and you
really want to go to med school, take the course that
you will academically perform best in.
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