After You Apply
The Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine selects candidates who demonstrate the potential to become Canada’s future healthcare leaders. Each year, we accept students into our program based on our selection formulae which includes assessments of both cognitive and non-cognitive skills.
Faculty, medical students, and members of the community are involved in the review of applications.
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Formula 1: Invitation to Interview
All applicants are screened and scored based on the composite score which weighs:
Approximately 570 applicants will be invited for an interview in March-April of the year of entry.
Formula 2: Advancement to Collation (File Review) and Offer of Admission
The final selection of applicants advancing to file review and offer of admission is based on the composite score which weighs:
McMaster uses geographic status when selecting applicants for interviews:
- 90% of interview seats are for applicants who are residents of Ontario
- To be considered an Ontario applicant, you must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada by the application deadline and have lived in Ontario for at least 3 years since the age of 14 (by the date possible entry into the program).
- If you are a Canadian out-of-province applicant who has attended university in Ontario for at least 3 years (by June of the year of possible entry into the program) you meet our criteria to apply as an Ontario applicant.
- 10% of interview seats are for applicants who are out-of-province Canadian applicants or international applicants (combined)
What is the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI)?
McMaster University has always been an innovator in the field of medical education. The MMI is one example of how McMaster University has approached an accepted process, like the traditional interview, and revolutionized it. Researchers at McMaster University hypothesized that increasing the number of encounters for each interviewed applicant would lead to a more reliable assessment of the individual. This proved exactly to be the case. The MMI increases the overall reliability of the interview in judging an applicant’s merits. Pioneered at McMaster University, the MMI has been adopted at other schools across Canada, the United States, and internationally.
What can I expect from the MMI?
During the MMI, applicants will move between interview “stations” in a circuit. The stations deal with a variety of issues, which may include but are not limited to:
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Critical Thinking
- Ethical Decision Making
- Awareness of Social Health Issues in Canada, and
- Personal Qualities
Please note: Applicants are not assessed on their scientific knowledge.
Interview Dates
2025 MD/PhD Virtual MMI Date:
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- TBA
2025 MD Virtual MMI Dates:
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- Saturday, March 1, 2025
- Sunday, March 2, 2025
- Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Accommodations for the MMI
Any applicants requiring accommodation for a documented disability for the MMI must notify the MD Admissions Office in writing at least one month prior to the first interview date. Complete documentation must be provided to support the request.
Offers of Admission
Applicants who completed the MMI will be notified via email of their results (offer of admission, waitlist for offer of admission, declined) on the second Tuesday in May of the entry year. We are unable to release this information over the phone.
Accepting Your Offer
Acceptance is conditional upon fulfilment of all requirements outlined in your offer letter including:
- Final Transcript
- Health Regulation
- Basic Life Support Training for Health Care Providers
- Police Record Check
Please note: These conditions are for offers of admission and do not need to be completed at the application stage.
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If you receive an offer conditional upon completion of your 3 years of undergraduate education, you will need to provide a final undergraduate transcript to OMSAS by June 30th of the year of application, showing completion of at least 30 half-year courses and a third-year average of at least 3.0 on the OMSAS 4.0 scale.
As a condition of your offer of admission, incoming students must complete the Year One Health Screening Record form and be cleared by the Health Screening Office.
Each subsequent year registered in the program, students must provide Updated Health Screening requirements for continued participation in clinical activities.
For more information, visit FHS Health Screening
As a condition of the offer, incoming students are required to take a Basic Life Support Training for Health Care Providers course within the calendar year of the year of admission, and provide evidence of this to the MD Admission Office in early summer. Specific deadline date will be provided to those receiving an offer of admission.
Incoming Students
As a condition of the offer, all incoming students must provide an original copy of their Police Records Vulnerable Sector Check (VSC). An original copy dated after May 1st of your incoming year must be received by the FHS Professionalism Office by July 31 before the start of the program.
Returning Students
As a condition of continued registration, you must provide an original copy of your Police Records Vulnerable Sector Check (VSC) to the FHS Professionalism Office on an annual basis and prior to your current check expiring. Failure to submit will result in removal of participation in clinical activities.
For submission instructions and additional information, please visit the FHS Police Records Check.
For more information about obtaining a Police Information Check with Vulnerable Sector, please contact your local police agency.
The Ontario Faculties of Medicine are responsible to society to provide a program of study that graduates Doctors of Medicine with the knowledge, skills, professional behaviours and attitudes necessary for postgraduate medical training and independent medical practice in Canada. Graduates must be able to diagnose and manage health problems and provide comprehensive, compassionate care to their patients which ensures patient safety. For this reason, students admitted into the MD Program must demonstrate – with or without the use of reasonable accommodation and/or assistive technology – functional abilities in the domains of: learning and assessment of learning; communication; knowledge integration; patient safety and quality and professionalism.
All applicants are encouraged to review the document “Functional Abilities for Students Entering Medical School”
If you require accommodation for the medical program, please connect with Student Accessibility Services (SAS) as soon as possible after acceptance to identify appropriate accommodations.
Deferred registration may be granted only under exceptional circumstances. The request for deferral must be submitted in writing within two weeks of the offer of admission by those who have accepted the offer. Deferral requests will be considered by the UGME Deferral Board. Deferral for parental, illness or other personal/compassionate reasons may be considered if received after this deadline where circumstances did not allow the applicant to meet the deadline.
For more information about deferral guidelines and procedures, please review the Deferral of Admission Policy.
No appeal procedure shall be available for decisions on admission to the McMaster University, Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, Undergraduate Medical Education program.
However, an applicant to the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, Undergraduate Medical Education program who believes that the admission decision is incorrect, may, within one week of receiving the decision, request a review by writing to the MD Admission Office, stating why they think the decision is incorrect. This review will be undertaken by the Chair, UGME Admissions.
Please note: Meeting the minimum admissions requirements does not guarantee admission to the program as the number of qualified applicants significantly exceeds the number of available seats. Due to the significant competition and limits on the class size, not all qualified applicants will be offered admission to the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine UGME program. Qualified applicants who are not admitted are welcome to reapply in the next application cycle.
Due to the large number of applications we receive, we regret that we are unable to provide individualized feedback regarding the assessment of your file. Admissions decisions are final.
UGME Program Start Date
**PLEASE NOTE: IN 2024, THE UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION PROGRAM WILL HOLD THE FIRST FULL DAY OF CLASSES ON MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 2024.**
As a result of the early start-date, students will immediately have a more substantial opportunity to transition into the McMaster University’s problem-based learning (PBL) environment, to understand the competencies learners develop during their undergraduate medical education training, and to begin exploring the breadth that their professional role will encompass. Later in the curriculum, this planned change in start date enables students to benefit in learning and to focus on their residency interviews and clerkship rotations sequentially rather than concurrently.
Taken collectively, the curricular changes aim to help medical students more effectively build, consolidate, and integrate their knowledge and skills, thus offering an opportunity to enhance students’ clinical transfer, increase student readiness for clerkship, and improve student performance on licensure examinations. Graduates will embark on their professional journey with greater capability to provide responsive and dynamic patient-centred care.
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For your interest, statistics on the background of our current classes are made available to you”
Class of 2027
Class of 2026
Class of 2025
For your interest, statistics on the CaRMs Match Day Results of our graduating class: