New and returning students of the Vancouver-Fraser Medical Program reveal what attracted them to the field of medicine and where they see themselves in 5 years.

This post was sent via email to current applicants. If you are planning to apply this year and did not receive this email because you have not yet started your application, please start your application as soon as you can. The deadline is less than a week away!

Document Status Updates

a. Transcripts received in the mail – We are normally able to update transcript statuses within 24 hours of the transcript arriving at our physical location. At least one entry for each institution must be started on the Transcripts page of the application in order for us to update the status of your transcript.

Please note that there is an approximate two-day delay between our mailing address and our physical location, but transcripts are on time if they arrive at the mailing address by the deadline.

If your transcript says “Not Received” – We finish updating transcripts in the afternoon. If your transcript status still says “Not Received” at around 5:00 p.m., it means your transcript did not arrive that day. More generally, it means that we have not received your transcript yet. It may be in transit, or it may have been lost before arriving at our office. Either way, it is not in our office, so we cannot provide any further information beyond what you can see on your Application Status page. For this reason we will not be able to answer inquiries regarding the status of transcripts that were sent by regular mail. You must make the decision to send another transcript (preferably via courier) or wait and see if your transcript arrives. As a reminder, all transcripts must arrive at our mailing address by Thursday, September 15 at noon Pacific time or your application may become ineligible.

If you sent your transcript by courier and have proof that your transcript has been delivered to our mailing address, please email us with the tracking information.

Please note that having proof that you submitted a transcript request on a certain date or having proof that the transcript was sent from your institution on a certain date does not mean the transcript has arrived yet.

Some transcripts arrived before the applicant began his or her application. We go through these transcripts and update them on a daily basis.

b. Transcripts carried forward from your 2015/2016 file– These are updated daily, but as long as you have marked the box on the Additional Information page asking us to transfer your transcripts to your new file, you can consider your carried-forward transcripts received by the deadline even if the status for these transcripts says “Not Received.” You must submit a new copy of any transcript that has changed since you last submitted it.   

c. UBC Transcripts– These are updated daily, but as long as you have marked the box on the Other Information page to authorize us to access your UBC transcript electronically, you can consider your UBC transcript received by the deadline even if your UBC transcript status says “Not Received.”

d. BC Residency– As long as you have uploaded your currently valid BC Care Card or BC Services Card by the September 15 deadline, you can consider your proof of BC residency to be received on time, even if your BC residency status says “Not Received.” As a reminder, proof of BC residency will not be carried forward to your new file.

e. MCAT – Please complete the MCAT page of your application and release your scores to UBC using the MCAT Score Reporting System by October 1 (please release your scores now if they are available). It is not enough to complete the MCAT page of your application – you must also send your scores to UBC using the MCAT Score Reporting System. UBC is not part of the AMCAS system. We are currently updating MCAT scores once per day.

Dr. Allan Jones, Regional Associate Dean, Interior with SMP Kamloops students (L-R) Justin Lambert, Karan D’Souza, Sarah Miller, Rouzbeh Ghadiry-Tavi, and Colby Finney outside the new UBC education space at Royal Inland Hospital.

UBC medical students and residents have an expansive new learning space in the Clinical Services Building (CSB) at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH). The new space was unveiled as part of the official opening of the CSB on Sept 16, 2016 by Health Minister Terry Lake, Dr. Allan Jones, Regional Associate Dean, Interior, Interior Health representatives, and members from the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc.

With approximately 5200 square feet, the new accommodations provide two clinical skills rooms, five videoconference/seminar rooms, five on-call rooms, washroom and shower facilities, a student/resident lounge, and administrative space. Right outside the doors, a new lecture theatre and simulation space will be shared with Interior Health and hospital administration.

Third-year Southern Medical Program (SMP) students will benefit immensely during their training at RIH as they complete clerkship rotations in surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, orthopedics, psychiatry, emergency medicine, internal medicine, dermatology, ophthalmology, and anesthesiology.

Residents from the Kamloops family practice residency site, which opened in the summer of 2014, and other visiting UBC residents will also be housed within the new facilities. It’s expected that students and residents will have more opportunity to collaborate and train with other health professional students at the hospital.

Lastly, the over 140 health professionals in Kamloops engaged with teaching will have dedicated teaching space and more professional development opportunities in-person and via videoconference with education sites across the province.
The development and operation of the new space exemplifies the ongoing partnership with Interior Health to effectively support the expansion of medical undergraduate and postgraduate education in the region.

Deirdré Fang trains healthy people to play the role of patients with medical conditions as part of UBC’s Standardized Patient program.

When you visit a doctor, you might not expect to be the first patient they’ve ever treated.

Yet a scenario like this is no cause for alarm for UBC’s Deirdré Fang, or the over 500 patient actors she coordinates for the Faculty of Medicine’s Standardized Patient program. In fact, it’s all part of the job.

“We train healthy people, usually professional actors, to play the role of patients with medical conditions,” explains Deirdré, who has been a trainer and project manager with the program since 2011. The goal is to simulate a medical examination as realistically as possible to help teach and assess medical students.

Often, it’s the first time these future doctors will have met with a live patient.

“The medical students love interacting with standardized patients because it’s such a great learning tool,” says Deirdré. “Sometimes the students don’t even know the standardized patients are acting, because they play the role so well.”

Computers or medical mannequins can be used to simulate patients, but there is a lot of value in practicing clinical skills on a real human being, says Deirdré.

Seeing the standardized patients succeed as performers is a source of pride for Deirdré, whose background is in theatre. After graduating from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, she returned to Vancouver to be close to her family and joined UBC soon afterward.

“My theatre background really helps me in this work,” explains Deirdré. “I really enjoy getting to use it for something that I feel is so worthwhile.”

Indeed, the program is an important part of student learning. While computers or medical mannequins can be used to simulate patients, there is a lot of value in practicing clinical skills on a real human being.

“A mannequin can’t really react if a medical student is presenting poor communication skills, but a person can respond like a real patient would,” Deirdré notes.

Faculty and students agree, telling Deirdré that interacting with people is something that a textbook, computer, or mannequin simply can’t replicate. For Deirdré, knowing that she’s helping students learn is part of why she enjoys her work so much. “It’s also just a lot of fun,” she adds.

However, the role does not come without challenges. “If you have a theatre background, this type of work isn’t likely something you ever thought you’d be doing,” Deirdré acknowledges, noting the learning curve for new trainers who must quickly learn unfamiliar medical terminology and cases. Consistency is also critical, and it’s Deirdré’s job to ensure that all standardized patients perform their role accurately.

Knowing that she’s helping students learn is part of why Deirdré enjoys her work so much.

“But our team is really well supported by physicians in the Faculty who train us,” Deirdré goes on to say. “They help show us the ropes.”

Along with the rigor and standardization involved, Deirdré sees that the strength of the program also comes from the creative, human side of her work. “I sometimes meet doctors who have graduated from UBC’s medical program out in the real world, and they say that they still remember how much their first interview with a standardized patient impacted them, and that they carried it through their career.”

“That makes me really proud to work here, and I love my job and my team,” Deirdré adds. “The only thing that’s missing is that I don’t get to sing and dance!”

Program: MD Undergraduate Program, Vancouver-Fraser Medical Program
Class of 2020

Hometown: North Vancouver

What attracted you to your field of study or research?
Medicine is an amazing field that requires a vast array of skills and knowledge, which is perfect for my temperament. To be a great physician, it requires that you are always striving to improve in all areas of your life. A career in medicine will allow me to blend my interests in sports, science, wellness, and spirituality in an interactive and personal manner to ease suffering and positively impact the lives of others.

What excites you about the upcoming year?
I am excited for the life-long friendships I will develop, the challenges of medical school, and the hands-on experience I will gain to learn and better understand human anatomy. A career in medicine requires an obsession with life-long learning and improving your tool-kit to heal others. You never know what piece of knowledge or skill you will need to save someone’s life.

What’s one thing we might be surprised to learn about you?
I have started my own small business, Sustainable Athletics, to help support athletes achieve sustainable peak performance.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I see myself just finishing my first year of residency, having the opportunity to truly impact the lives of my patients, as well as work with athletes to allow them to be the best they can be (pain free), while playing a big role in the community sharing information about wellness.

Best piece of advice: “Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”

This does not mean that we blindly follow a path and do not plan for the future. Instead, it is the realization that the best way to prepare for the future is to remain 100% focused on doing whatever you are doing right now to the best of your abilities. That is the only effective way to prepare for the future and it’s the only way that will allow you to remain peaceful, no matter what.

Last vacation destination: My last vacation destination was San Francisco, where my family and I had the privilege to watch the Cleveland Cavaliers versus the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day. My whole family is fanatical about hoops.

Program: MD Undergraduate Program, Vancouver-Fraser Medical Program
Class of 2020

Hometown: Vancouver

What attracted you to your field of study or research?
Medicine is a field that integrates both science and art. As a physician, understanding the science behind treatments, causes of illness, and learning more about new treatments is something you are obligated to know. But, the art component of it comes in as being able to share that feeling of compassion with your patients and developing trust, and maintaining a personal and emotionally sincere relationship with your patients in order to serve them and help better their lives without making any judgments or prejudice.

What excites you about the upcoming year?
With the upcoming year being my first year as a medical student, and the start of a whole new chapter in my life, it really feels like going back to Grade 1, where one is about to embark on a new beginning and a fresh new journey that will shape my life in the future. The most exciting part of it all is definitely being able to meet all these amazing classmates who all have big goals and objectives, and whom I share a similar passion with.

What’s one thing we might be surprised to learn about you?
I actually started school a year early and skipped Grade 3 in elementary school, which led me into always being younger than my classmates throughout elementary school, high school, and also university.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In 5 years I hope to be able to pursue my medical studies in a residency program here at home in Vancouver. I have not yet decided what exactly I would like to specialize in, but I really hope that whatever I’ll be specializing in, it will be something that I love and feel happy about.

Best piece of advice: My best piece of advice to all pre-meds is to pursue things based on the joy and pleasure you get out of doing them, not just to stack-up your application. As long as they show that they are passionate about something, they are in good hands!

Last vacation destination: I travelled throughout Europe for most of summer 2016. My Eurotrip started from Copenhagen and ended in Lisbon, Portugal, where I stayed for 4 days and absolutely enjoyed every minute of it. I will definitely go back again one day!

UBC medical student Daniel Raff (MD 2018) is a recipient of the 2016 Canadian Medical Hall of Fame (CMHF) Award. The award recognizes students completing their second year of medical school, who demonstrate leadership through community involvement, superior interpersonal and communication skills, academic excellence and an established interest in advancing knowledge.

Born and raised in Edmonton, Daniel completed his Bachelor of Science with a focus in Microbiology and Immunology at UBC. As an undergraduate he was the president of the Microbiology Student Association and was chosen as the student representative to address his faculty and peers at their science faculty graduation ceremony.

As a UBC medical student, Daniel has been an active member of the Global Health Initiative, where he straddled both the engineering and medical teams, formulating a clean water and health assessment of a remote village with the goals of research deployment in India. During his career, Daniel intends to bridge the gap between those with deep understandings of medical problems, and those with the capacity to help solve them.

Jennifer McCormack, UBC Faculty of Medicine Vancouver Fraser Medical Program and former Trail Integrated Community Clerkship (ICC) student, has been recognized with the inaugural Undergraduate Narrative Award for Palliative Medicine by the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians. The national award is designed to stimulate undergraduate medical students to think and reflect creatively about the multifaceted aspects of palliative medicine and caring at the end of life.

McCormack’s winning narrative was based on her own emotional struggle encountering a young woman with a terminal cancer diagnosis. She wrote about her experiences during a fourth-year palliative medicine elective in Winnipeg and her struggle facing the realities of medicine’s limitations.

“There are so many diseases and social determinants of health that we do not have the power change,” say McCormack. “Over the course of my clerkship year, I realized I would need to build my resilience so that I would be able to support my patients through tragedy without feeling burdened and burnt out myself. I sought support from mentors and counsellors, as well as exploring the role of palliative care through clinical electives. I drew on both my patient encounters and the words of wisdom from my mentors when composing my submission.”

Now in her fourth year, McCormack plans to purse a career in rural family medicine with a practice she describes as ‘full service, cradle-to-grave.’ Her top choice for residency is with the Kelowna rural family medicine site allowing her to continue her medical training in the BC Interior.

This year’s applicants have demonstrated impressive academic and non-academic achievements, and as always, we are sorry that we must limit the number of applicants we can invite to interview. Those of you not invited to interview may want more feedback on your application. We cannot provide individual feedback, but we hope this explanation of scores can help to answer some of your questions. There are some FAQs below as well.

OGPA = Overall GPA in UBC percentage

AGPA = Adjusted GPA in UBC percentage

AQ Score = OGPA (if not eligible for AGPA) or AGPA, converted to a number out of 50 (50 is the maximum score). The AQ score is just your OGPA or AGPA, automatically converted to a number out of 50 by our application system. The exact conversion mechanism is confidential. It is important to emphasize that the calculation is automatically determined. This means if your OGPA/AGPA is correct, your AQ score is also correct. If you are a reapplicant and your AQ score is different from last year, that’s ok; the scores are standardized against the current applicant pool, which changes from year to year. This means your AQ score can change even if your OGPA/AGPA stayed the same.

NAQ Score = The score given for the non-academic portions of the application, converted to a number out of 50. In order to make sure applicants receive a fair score for this section, all file reviewers are carefully trained, there are various checks throughout the process to ensure consistency in marking, and the NAQ score is standardized to make up for any scoring variations between reviewers. Due to these safeguards we do not accept requests for re-evaluation of the non-academic section.

Please note that while we look for the same aptitudes and qualities each year, we periodically revise how we evaluate and score these qualities. Additionally, every year there are changes in the applicant pool which affect the scoring of the non-academic section. These include the competiveness of the pool, the addition or deletion of activities from an individual’s application, and adjustments made to the average candidate profile that reviewers use to help evaluate the non-academic sections. Therefore, NAQ scores may fluctuate from year to year.

TFR Score = AQ Score + NAQ Score. Your TFR score might be really close to the cutoff. We have double-checked these files for accuracy, so unfortunately you might just be one of the unlucky ones whose score is really close but not quite high enough to get an interview this year.

FAQs

Feedback

I was not invited for an interview; can I talk/meet with someone to discuss my application? I would like some more feedback.
Due to limited resources, we regret that we are not able to offer any feedback advising to applicants who were not granted an interview, nor can we provide any further information about the evaluation of your file. More information about scoring can be found on our Evaluation Criteria page. Reviewing the Interim Statistics on our Statistics page may also help you to identify some potential areas of improvement in your application.

I can tell why I didn’t get an interview, but how can I improve my scores?
Unfortunately, we cannot give you individual feedback about improving your scores – each person’s situation and application is unique and we do not have the resources to offer this type of advising to applicants.

In general terms, improving one’s AQ score seems fairly straightforward, in that the only way to improve a GPA is by taking more classes and achieving higher grades in those classes. It’s the related if/how/when/why/is it worth it type of questions that are much more complicated. You know your situation, capacities, future plans, and personal resources the best, and you are the best person to make this kind of decision. We cannot tell you what impact improving your GPA would have on your ultimate chances of acceptance.

For NAQ, we look for several things when we evaluate the non-academic portions of the application: longstanding, meaningful commitments; leadership; service ethic and altruism; ability to work with others, especially people outside of your peer group; and diverse interests and experiences. We also recognize exceptional achievements in some areas. With NAQ it is important to remember that the applicant pool isn’t made up of the same people you might normally compare yourself against, like your classmates or coworkers – it is made up of highly accomplished individuals just like you. Unfortunately we cannot offer specific ways to improve your NAQ score.

AQ

My AQ score seems too low for my GPA.
The AQ score can look really low sometimes. This is a result of the conversion mechanism we use (which is confidential). The AQ score is a number that is meant to be compared to other AQ scores only; it doesn’t have much meaning on its own. Sometimes applicants will see an AQ score of 10 or something similar and will think we are giving them a 10% (an F). We’re not! Please try to use your AQ score for comparative purposes only. The GPAs published on the interim stats may be a useful comparison tool as well. Finally, as a reminder, as long as your OGPA or AGPA (if applicable) is correct, your AQ score is correct.

I think that there has been a mistake in the academic evaluation of my file.
The academic evaluation was based on the credits and grades entered by applicants. If you believe that there has been a specific error, please send an email via the application system detailing what you believe the mistake to be. Please note that some applicants entered wrong information – eg. did not include all courses, excluded failed courses or used letter grades instead of percentages. In these instances the Admissions Office had to correct these mistakes by verifying courses and grades on official transcripts. Therefore, there may be a discrepancy between averages calculated by an applicant and the grades as they appear on the Application Status page of his/her application.

The calculation of the AQ Score is automatically performed by the application system, so as long as your OGPA or AGPA (if applicable) is correct, your AQ Score is also correct.

I am a re-applicant. I have not taken any further coursework so my OGPA/AGPA is the same (or I have taken further coursework and my OGPA/AGPA is higher than last year), but my scores have gone down. Why?
For the academic section of the application the actual evaluation criteria remained the same and there were no changes to the grade conversion tables used. However, academic scores, like non-academic scores, are standardized against the current applicant pool. You can check your AQ score by looking at your OGPA or AGPA (if applicable): if your OGPA/AGPA is correct, your AQ score is also correct. 

I thought I should have been eligible for the AGPA to determine my academic score, but it does not seem to have been used.
The AGPA was calculated based on the courses and grades entered by applicants. The application system automatically determined (a) the lowest academic year which could be eliminated and (b) if this year could be dropped (i.e. if there were still 90 remaining credits with grades at the time of application, excluding summer 2016 courses). The Admissions Office verified that grades had been entered accurately by comparison with the official transcripts. 

My overall GPA (or adjusted GPA if applicable) is slightly below the 75%/85% cut-off but I still feel my non-academic experiences are very strong and should have been reviewed.
Although we look for excellent non-academic qualities, these must also be accompanied by very good academic qualities to demonstrate an applicant’s ability to successfully handle the rigorous MD Undergraduate curriculum. It was determined that a lower AQ score (below 75% for BC and below 85% for OOP) cannot be offset by a strong NAQ score; hence these files were not reviewed.

I attended a university that did not use percentages for its grading scheme. How did UBC calculate averages from universities with different grading schemes?
Information on grade conversions, including our grade conversion tables, can be found on the Evaluation Criteria page of our website.

NAQ

I am not happy with the non-academic score I received. Can I request another review?  
We understand that you may be dissatisfied with the scoring of the non-academic portion of your file, but would like to assure you that the non-academic portion of your application was reviewed and evaluated fairly and consistently. We will not re-evaluate the non-academic section of your file. At the beginning of each cycle, with guidelines provided by the Admissions Policy Committee, we establish a profile of an average applicant as a benchmark and points are allotted accordingly. Reviewers are trained and files are cross-checked. Although there cannot help but be a degree of subjectivity involved, we feel the standardized process keeps this to a minimum. 

I am a re-applicant. I feel I have more activities, volunteer, and employment experiences than last year, but my NAQ score has not increased. Why?
Each year, the applicant pool is different, as is the average applicant profile used by non-academic evaluators. In addition, while we look for the same aptitudes and qualities each year, we periodically revise how we evaluate and score these qualities. All of these may contribute to a lower-than-expected NAQ score. 

General

I was not invited for an interview and would like to appeal the decision.
We realize the importance of your application and appreciate that the results may be disappointing. Please be aware that we do our best to ensure that our evaluation practices are fair and consistent. Files are often double and sometimes triple checked to ensure accuracy. While we are unable to discuss your application over the phone, you may email Admissions through the application system if you have any specific concerns regarding your file evaluation. Please note that we will not re-evaluate the non-academic section of your file. We will not make appointments with the Dean, Associate Dean, or Admissions staff to discuss your application.

I’m not sure if I am seeing the right thing under the scores line on my Application Status page.
This is what you should see, depending on your application status:

Ineligible: no scores
Regrets, Partial File Review: OGPA, AGPA (if applicable)
Regrets, No Interview: OGPA, AGPA (if applicable), AQ, NAQ and TFR
Invited to Interview: no scores

All of the interview notifications have been sent and everyone has been updated on their application status. Regardless of what that status is, we acknowledge and appreciate the substantial amount of time and effort you have put into your application, your education, and your activities. We wish you all the best in 2017.

Speaking of the new year, the Admissions Office will be closed from December 23 at noon until January 2 (we will reopen January 3). During the closure, we will not be available to answer emails or phone calls.

The 2017 Pre-Medical Diversity Symposium has been scheduled! It will be held on Saturday, March 4. This event is organized and hosted by UBC medical students and is geared toward prospective applicants who consider themselves “non-traditional.” These applicants may be a bit older, may have experienced certain challenges in their life, or may simply come from an academic or personal background that seems different from that of a “typical” medical school applicant.

More details to come, including time and locations.

Starting with the upcoming 2017/2018 application cycle, only the current version of the MCAT will be accepted. This is the MCAT version that launched in April 2015 with the sections BBFL, CPBS, PSBB and CARS. Many applicants will need to take the MCAT in 2017, either for the first time, or because their old scores will no longer be accepted. This means that test dates in BC may be in particular demand this year (even more than usual, that is!). If you can arrange your study time and work/school/life schedule to accommodate one of the earlier exam dates, we would strongly recommend doing so for a couple of reasons.

The first reason is that the latest test dates do not allow you to receive your scores before the application deadline. We recently posted the interim stats, and as you can see, there were a lot of ineligible applications this year. Many of these were ineligible due MCAT scores. Applying without having your MCAT scores first means you are taking a chance that your application will become ineligible as soon as the scores are released. That would be such a waste of time and money! If you receive your scores before the deadline and they don’t meet the minimum, at least you can save yourself the application fee.

The second reason we recommend taking the MCAT early is because, at least anecdotally, applicants seem to be experiencing more computer problems during the exam. This could perhaps be due to the longer duration of the current exam. Whatever the reason, the earlier you write the exam, the better chance you have of rescheduling a retake on a date we can accommodate if any testing difficulties do arise. Even if there are no testing issues, if you take the exam early and it does not go as well as you had hoped, you might have time to take it again before the end of August.

We understand that writing an earlier exam won’t work for everyone, and in terms of your application, results from an August 24 exam are treated exactly the same as results from a June 1 exam. However, if you can wrap up your preparation a bit earlier and write on an earlier date, it might save you from a disappointing situation later on.

The schedule of MCAT exam dates and release dates can be found here. Good luck to all 2017 test-takers!

UBC medical students are set to take to the stage for this year’s production of MedPlay, running February 2-4 and 9-11.

When the lights are dimmed, the theatre curtains are drawn, and a hush falls over the crowd, Shandel Riedlinger feels right at home.

“I fell in love with theatre at a young age. From the long dress rehearsals and multiple costume changes to the adrenaline rush just before the curtains are raised, I loved every minute,” says Riedlinger, who began performing with a local theatre company in her hometown back in 2001.

Riedlinger’s love of the theatre has followed her well into her university career, and now, as a UBC medical student, she’s putting her theatrical talents to use as one of the producers of this year’s MedPlay — an annual theatre production that has become a tradition among medical students at UBC.

“What I love about MedPlay is that we get students joining with a huge range of experience — from those who have never been on stage before to those with university-level training. Everyone has the opportunity to grow as a performer and learn new skills, regardless of their previous experience,” says Riedlinger, who decided to return as a producer after having such a positive experience performing in last year’s play.

UBC medical student Shandel Riedlinger

But growing as a performer is just a small part of why students, like Riedlinger, get involved.

With 100 percent of the proceeds from MedPlay going to charity, the annual production has become a way for UBC medical students to make an indirect, but early difference in the lives of patients across B.C. This year, the production is supporting Hope Air, a national charity that arranges free flights to those who need specialized medical care not available in their home community.

“We’re hoping to raise several thousand dollars through ticket sales,” says Riedlinger.

Now in its 16th year of production, MedPlay has continued to be a popular avenue for medical students looking to explore their creative side and build friendships with their fellow colleagues.

“MedPlay has enhanced my experience at medical school in so many ways,” says Riedlinger. “I’ve created lifelong friends and found a community I connect with. MedPlay provided balance in my life as I navigated my first year of medical school by providing a safe space to explore my creativity.”

Over the past several months, Riedlinger has teamed up with fellow producers and UBC medical students — Katie Zhu, Collin Pryma, and Naoya Shatani — to coordinate various aspects of this year’s show, including costume and set design through to sponsorship, promotion and ticket sales. They also recruited a professional director from the community, Jake Foy, to direct the show.

“With the amount of time we spend together, it’s easy to see how we call each other our MedPlay family,” says Riedlinger.

In addition to giving medical students the opportunity to build friendships, explore their creative side, and recharge from their studies, MedPlay also provides participants the chance to develop skills that they may look to use in the operating theatre one day.

“Theatre teaches you how to think on your feet and problem solve. It also helps you develop strong teamwork and leadership skills, and, as future doctors, these are skills we will need to continue strengthening over the course of our career,” says Riedlinger.

Performance Dates: February 2, 3, and 4 and February 9, 10, and 11
Performance Time: 8pm, doors at 7pm
Venue: Medical Student & Alumni Centre (MSAC), 2750 Heather Street, Vancouver
Tickets: $15 Email medplayatubc@gmail.com for your ticket today.

Play Synopsis
Boeing-BOEING! centres around a bachelor, Bernard, living in Paris in the 1960s. He claims to have the good life figured out: three different airline hostesses he calls fiancés, each unknowing of the others; what could go wrong? With the arrival of an old friend from Wisconsin and the invention of the new Boeing aircraft, hilarity and chaos ensues as the women’s schedules overlap and the men struggle to keep a consistent story.

UBC’s Faculty of Medicine, the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC), the Canadian Federation of Medical Students (CFMS) and the Fédération médicale étudiante du Québec (FMEQ) are pleased to announce that UBC is now accepting applications for visiting electives through the AFMC Student Portal, an online service that allows medical students to search and apply for medical electives across Canada.

“We are pleased to partner with the AFMC to help streamline the application process for UBC visiting medical electives,” says UBC’s Dr. Roger Wong, Executive Associate Dean, Education. “By moving to the centralized, national portal, we are helping medical students to easily explore and apply to the wide range of rich UBC medical elective opportunities based in communities across British Columbia.”

“The AFMC is thrilled that UBC will join the other 13 Canadian faculties and that students will have access to UBC electives through the AFMC Student Portal,” says Dr. Geneviève Moineau, President and CEO, AFMC.

“The expansion of the AFMC Student Portal to include UBC is a step towards the modernization of Canadian medical education,” says Tavis Apramian, VP Education, CFMS. “The CFMS is pleased that the largest medical school in Western Canada is now accepting applications through the centralized Portal. We thank the AFMC and UBC for making a Canada-wide electives Portal an approaching reality.”

UBC Visiting Electives information, including details on how to apply, student eligibility, application fees, deadlines and required documentation, are available at www.afmcstudentportal.ca/institution/UBC#/.

The AFMC Student Portal, a bilingual information hub and centralized application service, provides a one-stop-shop for medical students looking for electives in Canada. Visiting Canadian and International undergraduate medical students will now be able to visit the AFMC Student Portal to learn more about UBC visiting elective offerings. Students can search the Visiting Elective Guide at no charge and at any time without having to register or submit an application.