This Strike has Triggered an Unsettling Event…

Posted on January 7, 2009 by in Life


This afternoon a friend of mine from York messaged me, asking if I got an email from Queen’s Medical School (and yes, York’s union is still on strike).

I actually hadn’t checked my normal email account today, so I hastily logged in, only to find some unsettling news.

An admissions officer sent an email to third year York University applicants basically saying that even if we are offered an interview, if we don’t make alternate arrangements to get this year’s credits completed by June 30, 2008, we will not be allowed into their medical school. The email then ends asking me to reply saying whether or not I have made alternate arrangements to complete my credits.

If you don’t know, Queen’s medical school requires at least three full years worth of course credits completed by the time you enter their program. So if I don’t have those completed this year, I wouldn’t be allowed in.

The problem with the email is that it seems to suggest either that they believe we are definitely going to lose the year at York (since it never considered the possibility that I would still be able to complete my credits this year), or that even if classes resume at York, that I wouldn’t be able to complete my credits by June 30 (which I guess is possible, depending on how long the strike goes for). So the whole thing is a bit weird but also scary.

In addition, the reality is that I simply can’t make worthwhile re-arrangements. I cannot transfer to another university and ask to complete an entire year’s worth of credits in half a year – that would never be allowed. My only shot at finishing my credits on time this year is staying at York. Which is why I’m confused I got this email in the first place.

I’m going to discuss this with my dad tonight, and come up with the best possible plan for approaching this. At this point, I think most likely scenario is I’m going to call them tomorrow to clarify the whole issue. I really don’t like replying by email for important stuff like this because getting responses for clarification is so much faster and easier via phone.

This first event also worries me because it may or may not be the first in a line of other responses from other medical schools I applied to. I would be very upset if I was automatically rejected from medical schools this year because of this instance. It’s not just the fact that I would’ve wasted several hundred dollars and hours of my time putting the application together.

I feel like I’m ready for medical school right now, and I’d be pretty upset if I am disqualified because of something random out of my control.

Hopefully I’ll have some good news to present tomorrow…

About Joshua

Joshua Liu is a York University alumni (Bsc 2009) and 4th year medical student at the University of Toronto. Joshua founded SMARTS: Youth Science Canada’s national youth science network and previously sat on Shad Valley’s Board of Directors. Joshua has received numerous scholarships and awards, including the TD Canada Trust Scholarship for Community Leadership and being named as one of Canada’s “Top 20 Under 20″. Most recently, he was the co-lead of a project at UHN’s Centre for Innovation in Complex Care to map out the current state of avoidable hospitalization for complex patients in Ontario.
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