The recent discussion around certain Canadian medical schools using a lottery to send out acceptances brings to light how much luck goes into getting in to med school. 1/5
Having the means to go through the med admissions process itself involves a lot of luck. Paying for flights, clothes, hotels, books, exams, etc all require financial stability, which is very much affected by luck. So why aren’t we outraged about that too? 2/5
Being in good mental and physical health involves an element of luck. The whole process is biased towards those who were privileged enough to have the means to apply. I’m not saying I agree with randomly sending out acceptances but there is a conversation to be had here 3/5
Two years ago around this time, I was working four jobs to frantically save money for my applications. I have very gifted friends who don’t have the money to complete their degrees so even having those jobs was a stroke of sheer luck. 4/5
I worked hard to get into medical school but I also got very, very lucky along the way. I hope this conversation around what we value in our admissions process carries beyond the pandemic because it is so important. 5/5