OMSA Student of the Month of January 2014 - Amanda Kelsall
Amanda Lee Kelsall (February 16th, 1991 – January 5th, 2014), from Horseshoe Valley, Ontario was a second year medical student (Class of 2016) at the University of Ottawa.
Amanda Lee Kelsall (February 16th, 1991 – January 5th, 2014), from Horseshoe Valley, Ontario was a second year medical student (Class of 2016) at the University of Ottawa.
I think medical schools should be using a lottery to select their students for admission. Not a weighted lottery (i.e. better grades/MCAT scores give you a higher chance of being selected), but a pure, unadulterated, Lotto 6/49 type lottery. To get your ticket, all you need is to meet the academic requirements of the medical school you're applying to. This is not a popular view. I have been called an idiot – and worse – for believing this. But I'm not an idiot, let me tell you why.
Thinking back on my observerships in first year, one that sticks out as different than I expected was when I went to follow a pediatrician over the winter holidays. We had met him in the hospital after the birth of our daughter and he was friendly older gentleman from Latin America. We had both attended our daughter's appointments and he knew I was studying medicine, thus when I asked about shadowing him he was happy to oblige.