Frequently Asked Questions

We encourage you to select character references who know you well from an educational, professional or extracurricular perspective. They may not be relatives, friends or family friends.

The status of your reference check will be available in your ApplyMD portal. When your verifier/reference has submitted the required information, ApplyMD will be updated to reflect this.

If it is close to the deadline, we would recommend following up with your verifier/reference to ensure they complete the required information on time. Applications that are missing reference verifications by the application/document deadline will be removed from consideration.

Reference requests will be sent from med_mdadmissions@sfu.ca. You may wish to suggest that your verifiers and references add this email address to their safelist to ensure requests are received.

You will need to be conversationally fluent with enough proficiency to participate in everyday conversations on a range of topics, including work, education, or social settings, without significant difficulty. This implies a comfortable ability to understand and communicate in spoken interactions.

If you say you have conversational fluency in a language, you may be asked to complete a portion of the multiple mini-interview (MMI) in that language. Do not list fluency in any languages you would feel uncomfortable answering an MMI station in.

The SFU School of Medicine considers residency as marked through current enrolment in the provincial or territorial health insurance plan. For BC applicants, this means enrolment in the BC Medical Services Plan as signified by possession of a valid photo version of the BC Services Card.

During the submission of your application, you will be asked to upload a file containing both the front and back of your BC Services Card or territorial equivalent.

The SFU SoM Admissions Office may request further information or documentation regarding an applicant’s BC or territorial residency at any point during the application process. Holistic file review will consider the applicant’s demonstrated connection to BC or territorial communities.

Note: Falsely claiming BC or territorial residency status may negatively impact your application to the SFU SoM MD Program.  

Currently, there are no medical schools in the territories. Because residents of these territories have no local option for medical education, we join many other medical schools in considering territorial residents as “in province” applicants. Healthcare access can be challenging in many parts of the territories and we welcome the opportunity to improve healthcare access by training territorial residents.  

We anticipate that a small number of seats will be made available to out-of-province applicants in the future, as our cohort increases.  

Yes, if you are enrolled in the BC Medical Services Plan (with possession of a valid photo BC Services Card) you are eligible to apply.  

Open Admissions Stream: If you are not actively enrolled in the provincial/territorial healthinsurance plan in BC, Nunavut, Yukon or Northwest Territories at the time of application, you are not eligible to apply.

Indigenous Admissions Stream: We welcome applications from qualified Indigenous applicants (First Nations, Metis and Inuit) from across Canada. Applicants in this stream must provide documentation of Indigenous background via the SFU Welcoming Procedure.  

We require proof of Canadian citizenship or permanent residency by December 8, 2025. If you are a refugee applicant who will not have permanent residency granted by this date, we would encourage you to apply in a future admission cycle.  

As long as you can demonstrate residency is through current enrolment in the provincial or territorial health insurance plan. For BC applicants, this means enrolment in the BC Medical Services Plan and possession of a valid photo BC Services Card.

During the submission of your application, you will be asked to upload a file containing both the front and back of your photo BC Services Card (or territorial equivalent).  

Our application is designed to elicit information about your experiences. We recognize that applicants come from diverse backgrounds and life circumstances, and that meaningful contributions can take many forms.

In the application, you may include up to five employment experiences and up to three community involvement experiences. It is not mandatory to complete all of these sections. Please use the spaces that best reflect your personal journey and commitments.  

This is a difficult question to answer without specific information. Community involvement recognizes belonging and contributions to an identifiable community. The verifier listed for each entry will need to verify all contributions described in that entry. For some constellations of involvement this may be possible; others may need to be entered separately. We encourage you to prioritize quality and meaningful engagements over quantity or many hours of engagement. The limit of 0-3 communities is our way of encouraging you to tell us something about yourself by highlighting the most meaningful communities you belong to.  

We are looking for formal employment or work experience. If your contract-based or self-employment work was formalized to the extent that appropriate tax documentation exists (e.g. a T2125, T5018, T1204), these activities would be eligible.

Informal activities that are paid in cash without a formal employment structure are ineligible for the employment experience category.

Activities which occurred outside of Canada and did not receive Canadian tax documentation are also eligible, provided that they were formal employment experiences of the type that would receive tax documentation in the country they were performed.  

Yes, there is the option to input an End Date for your community entry to indicate when you were actively involved with this community.

No. The application form is designed to prevent applicants from editing information that has already been verified. The reason that we ask for verifiers to view and confirm employment and community involvement information is to attest to the veracity and completeness of that information. A form which allows the applicant to change the information after it has been verified would defeat the purpose of verification. Please finalize the information you wish to enter before sending it to your verifiers.

Please send an email to welcoming_procedure@sfu.ca to get the process started.  

Our admissions process is holistic, which means we’re interested in understanding who you are beyond your academics. While some applicants may have formal work experience, others gain meaningful experience through volunteering, community involvement, or other activities.

We value the depth of your engagement, the impact of your contributions, and what you’ve learned from those experiences. Be sure to include experiences that best demonstrate your commitment and growth.
 

Yes. For this first year, the Indigenous Studies course must be completed prior to enrollment (August 2026) rather than prior to application. Going forward, the Indigenous Studies pre-requisite will be a requirement at the time of application.  

There is no disadvantage to having the same person serve as both a verifier and a reference, as long as they can speak accurately to the information required in each section. However, applicants are encouraged to choose individuals who can best represent different aspects of their experiences and character, as a variety of perspectives helps provide a fuller picture of your background and strengths.
Please note that references are asked to provide different information than employment or community involvement verifiers.
 

There is also no time limit to these activities, so if you feel you are still recognized as a member or contributor to those communities you could list older activities.

Only grades achieved in an undergraduate bachelor’s degree or undergraduate courses taken to fulfill pre-requisites will be considered in the assessment of academic eligibility via GPA. Any post-graduate work will not be included in the evaluation of GPA, although when reviewers holistically assess your file, they will consider information included in these transcripts. If you are applying for admission through the MCAT option, you may be permitted to use some of your post-graduate course work to fulfill course pre-requisites requirements. Final determinations will be made during the file review process.

If you are currently enrolled in a post-graduate program, you must complete these studies before starting medical school. Please be prepared to send documentation of successful completion of your studies by June 30 of the year you will begin medical school. A letter from your program director or department chair is sufficient until final transcripts are available.

No, once you have submitted your application you can no longer edit your GPA calculation.

We recommend you begin your application as soon as possible to allow time for entering your courses and selecting which courses will be used for your adjusted GPA calculation.

The grade conversion and your evaluation will be based on the percentage or letter grade you received from your post-secondary institution. No complex conversion from a 4.00 to 4.33 grading scale is required, you just need to enter the percentage or letter grade that appears on your transcript.

Within the transcript entry section of the application, you will be asked to input both the letter and percentage grades you were awarded.

SFU does not offer retroactive accommodation for GPA. Applicants should address their concerns with the institution granting the grade, score or credential they wish to appeal. In pursuit of an accessible admissions process, we have created three options to demonstrate your academic eligibility. If you experienced hardship during your undergraduate studies to the extent you are not able to meet the GPA threshold, you may consider applying via the MCAT option.

Rather than looking at a cumulative GPA, the SFU School of Medicine will have applicants construct an Adjusted GPA for their evaluation from one undergraduate degree. This allows some flexibility for applicants to select the courses they wish to be used for their evaluation.

Please see Section 4.2.5 of the Applicant Manual for details on how to construct an Adjusted GPA.  

Courses that do not receive a numeric or letter grade convertible to a 4.33 grade scale cannot be used in GPA calculation. This includes courses graded as pass/fail* or complete/incomplete.

*2020 Pass/Fail courses: As an exception to pass/fail grading during the COVID-19 pandemic, pass (P) grades from 2020 may be used to satisfy pre-requisite courses but will not be used in the GPA evaluation.

GPA and GPA & MCAT Options: No, you must select one undergraduate degree to use for the Adjusted GPA calculation. All pre-requisites must come from within the degree selected.*

MCAT Option: Yes, your pre-requisite courses can come from any combination of post-secondary work (undergraduate or graduate studies).

*Indigenous Studies pre-requisite (2025-26 cycle exception):

Graduated students who have not fulfilled the Indigenous Course pre-requisite will receive further instructions from the MD Admissions Office regarding an SFU approved alternative course that meets this course requirement. This information will be provided at a later stage in the admissions process.

Current undergraduate students are encouraged to complete the Indigenous Studies course in their final semester of study but may choose to fulfill this requirement by completing an SFU approved alternative course. Applicants who were unable to fulfill this requirement will be provided with instructions from the MD Admissions Office at a later stage in the admissions process.  

No. If you are applying under an admission option that includes an Adjusted GPA, all 30 upper-division units must be fully completed to be included in your calculation. In-progress or future courses cannot be used toward the 30 upper-division credit requirement.

Do not enter any in-progress or future courses in the transcript entry section of your application. Consider applying via the MCAT option if you do not meet the criteria for the GPA option.  

On the Transcript Entry page of the application, you must enter your entire transcript from the single four-year undergraduate degree you are using to apply to the MD program. This applies to all applicants, regardless of admission option.

For those choosing a GPA-relevant option, the next part of the application will prompt you to select the courses from your transcript you wish to use to calculate your GPA.  

No. If you apply through the GPA-only option, we will not ask for your AAMC ID and therefore we will not review your MCAT if you have taken one. If you wish us to review your MCAT score, you should choose a different eligibility option (MCAT or GPA & MCAT).  

Your Adjusted GPA calculation is constructed from the single undergraduate degree that you are using to apply for admission. If you are applying during the final year of your undergraduate program, you may only use courses that are complete at the time of application for your GPA calculation. Your final courses (incomplete at the time of application) will not be considered. However, if you receive an offer of admission, you must submit your final transcripts to demonstrate that you have completed your degree.  

Yes. Prerequisite courses must come from the single undergraduate degree used for your application. There is no limitation on the date of degree completion.

You have some flexibility in how you construct your Adjusted GPA. If you have completed multiple Humanities or Social Science courses within that same degree, you may select the courses with the highest grades, even if they were taken more than four years ago.  

If your exchange credit was used toward the completion of your undergraduate degree, and this is reflected on your transcript, you may include those courses in your evaluation. Transcripts are required from both your home institution and your exchange institution. The transcript from your degree-granting institution will be used to verify that the exchange credit was applied to your degree, while the exchange transcript will be used to verify the grades earned.

Applicants must submit official transcripts from all post-secondary institutions attended, including any colleges or universities where transfer credits were earned.

If your undergraduate transcript shows you were awarded transfer credit towards your degree, you can use these courses in the Adjusted GPA calculation.

As we will have both your undergraduate transcript and additional post-secondary transcript(s), our office will be able to verify that these courses and their grades were part of your single undergraduate degree.  

There is some flexibility in the Adjusted GPA calculation. It can be slightly over 60 units, but it cannot be fewer than 60 units.  

Only graded units are used in calculating the adjusted GPA . Courses that are marked as Complete, Pass, or that do not receive a letter or numeric grade cannot be included in the Adjusted GPA calculation.

Courses marked as Complete / Pass can be included in total credit counts. However, if a large portion of your degree is graded on a Complete/Pass basis which prevents you from calculating an Adjusted GPA, please contact our office through the Ask A Question form. We will review the nature of your degree and grading structure, along with any additional documentation we may require and let you know if it can be accepted for admission.

Applicants should only drag in courses that they wish to be considered for meeting the pre-requisite. The MD Admissions Office will not select from a larger list.

Please enter courses as they appear on your transcript. If one of your repeat attempts does not receive credit, then you will not add this to your transcript entry.

All transcripts and required application documentation must be submitted by 12pm PST (noon) on December 8, 2025. Any documentation received after this date will not be considered for your application.

If you are offered admission, the deadline to submit any post-acceptance documentation is June 30. Any alternative deadlines (e.g. if you are waitlisted and receive an offer after June 30) will be communicated in your offer letter.

Your application will be removed from consideration. The document deadline is firm to allow for the completion of a time-sensitive review process.

Applicants who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents who have completed a degree outside of Canada may apply to the SFU School of Medicine.

We do not require international transcript evaluations, but we will accept the below international evaluation reports if you have this available.

Applicants can submit academic records to either WES (World Education Services) or ICES (International Credential Evaluation Services) at BCIT and complete their credential evaluation.
Internationally educated applicants with documents in languages other than English must have all transcripts officially translated into English. Both the unofficial and the English translated version should be submitted to the credential evaluation services.

If you do not have an international transcript evaluation, you may submit your original transcripts to SFU and input your GPA into our application portal provided it has been converted into the 4.33 SFU grade scale.

The SFU School of Medicine is unable to assist with converting grade point scales prior to application submission; therefore, we would recommend the above listed evaluation options if you require assistance in determining the equivalent grade to input into your application.

If you are selecting an admission option that requires the MCAT, the score must be sent by AAMC to our office by the document deadline of December 8, 2025.

We encourage you to plan your test date carefully and choose a timeline that allows you to prepare thoroughly. Please note that there are limits on the number of attempts permitted under our requirements, so it’s important to write the exam when you feel ready to achieve a score that best reflects your abilities.  

Yes, your transcripts can be sent to our office at any time during the application cycle, even if your application has not yet been submitted. We will accept documents for admission from when our application opens until the application/document deadline – December 8, 2025 at 12:00PM (noon) PT.  

The ApplyMD portal may not indicate the immediate receipt of transcripts due to the volume of documents the Admissions Office receives. Please allow for approximately ten business days from the arrival of your document to our email or mailing address for your document status to be updated.

Applicants may check the status of their transcripts on the Status tab of the ApplyMD application portal.  

All courses for the admission requirements and adjusted GPA calculation must be entered into our database for use in evaluating your application. We use an adjusted GPA calculation and empower you to select the courses you wish to be counted in your GPA. Entering your transcript information and calculating your GPA allows you to ensure you meet the GPA threshold and/or have clearly identified relevant pre-requisite courses. The courses you input into your application will be verified using your official transcript. If students are found to have falsified any grade information, they will be removed from consideration.  

No, all applications missing required documentation will be cancelled following their deadline for submission. Document deadlines are firm.  

Former and current SFU students are not required to submit an official SFU transcript.

If you have previously attended SFU, please ensure to indicate this on your application under the “Other Information” section of the application. Please include your SFU Student ID number to assist in locating your grade information.

Following submission of your application, the MD Admissions Office will locate your transcript within GoSFU and attach this to your application.  

No, only graded courses should be entered. 

Yes, the SFU Surrey Campus has a drop box for sealed official transcripts to be provided in person. To drop off an official transcript/required document, applicants can visit the Registrar and Information Services Area located in the SFU Surrey Mezzanine. There is a drop box specific to the SFU School of Medicine located next to the main desk.

Official mailed transcripts can be addressed to:

SFU – Surrey, School of Medicine
250-13450 102 AVE
Surrey, BC V3T 0A3  

The MMI for 2026 will occur in-person on March 28 & 29, 2026 at the SFU Burnaby Campus. Applicants selected for the multi mini-interviews (MMI) will be notified via email and on the application portal. Interview invitees will be able to schedule their interview date/time through their ApplyMD portal.

In-person attendance at the MMI is mandatory. If you’re unable to attend the scheduled interview dates, you will be removed from consideration. If you have an emergency reason for a day-of absence (e.g. illness), you will be accommodated in the next MMI date if possible. If you have an emergency reason for a day-of absence on the last MMI day, you will be removed from further consideration.

No, if you did not accept and schedule your interview by the deadline provided, you will be removed from consideration. You will not be eligible to accept after the deadline as your MMI interview seat will have be given to another applicant.

The MMI consists of 8 stations and 2 rest stations, each lasting 8 minutes in duration. There is a two-minute break/transition time between stations. The MMI begins with a short gathering of applicants, welcome to the school, and instructions before applicants transition to their MMI circuit. Applicants should expect to be at SFU for approximately 3 hours to complete their MMI. More details will be provided in the interview invitation.  

Each station begins with a prompt that the applicant will see when they arrive at the station, before they enter the room. The prompt will provide a directed question for the applicant to begin answering. The interviewers are prepared with standardized follow-up questions and applicants should leave room for the interviewers to ask those questions.

The stations cover a variety of topics, 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

The MMI stations will not ask medical questions or test scientific knowledge. Applicants should be prepared to discuss any information included in their application. Applicants indicating fluency in a language other than English should be prepared to complete a station in any language they indicated fluency in.  

There are many free, open access resources for MMI preparation. There are also many for-profit resources and consultants who claim to offer assistance preparing for the MMI. SFU School of Medicine cautions applicants about reliance on these tools. Instead, we offer the following advice.

• Organize your thoughts before you begin and clearly articulate your ideas
• Answer the question directly and leave room for the interviewer to ask follow-up questions.
• Share personal experiences or anecdotes where relevant, but don’t look for opportunities to provide tangential personal information or to list achievements, unless the station explicitly asks for this.
• Answer truthfully, authentically, and share your own perspective. We want to get to know you, not the MMI advice manual you found online. It is okay to take a stand and defend that idea, if it is one you truly believe in.
• Practice thinking on your feet and communicating complex ideas to people who don’t share a common frame of reference with you. You can expect to meet MMI interviewers from a range of backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. This is an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to build rapport and communicate across difference.  

The School of Medicine recognizes that traveling to an in-person interview may present logistical or financial challenges, particularly for applicants from Northern or remote communities.

When designing our interview process, we carefully considered virtual and hybrid options. We chose an in-person format because the MMI focuses on qualities that are essential to the practice of primary care, such as communication, collaboration, and relational skills, which are best assessed through face-to-face interaction.

To help reduce barriers, the School has travel bursaries available for applicants who are invited to interview and may have difficulty affording travel costs. Information about eligibility and how to apply will be shared with interview invitations. Bursary amounts will be calibrated to the actual travel expenses incurred by each applicant.  

Offers of admission will be made in May, via the ApplyMD portal. The offer letter will include the deadline to accept the offer of admission. Once the deadline to accept has passed or if you decline the offer, new offers will be made to other students on a rolling basis until all spaces have been filled.

First-round offers of admission will be made from our final ranked list of applicants. If any offers are declined or are not accepted by the deadline, we will continue to make offers from our waitlist until all spaces are full.

When all spaces are full, remaining waitlisted applications will receive an update in their ApplyMD portal and via email.

We will not disclose an applicant’s position on the waitlist.

We will not provide individual feedback about admissions decisions. You will learn when you have been removed from consideration via the ApplyMD portal, but no reason will be provided. The ApplyMD portal will be updated periodically throughout the process at specific milestones:

• Application completed
• Interview invitation issued/not-issued
• Offer/Waitlist/Decline

We encourage you to check the portal regularly for status updates. Due to the anticipated high volume of applications, the Admissions Office is not able to provide individual updates or feedback regarding the status of your application.

You may only appeal admissions decisions on the following grounds:

• Incorrect application of our school’s admissions policies;
• Denial of natural justice and due process, which potentially altered the outcome of the decision, such as procedural errors, reasonable apprehension of bias or denial of procedural fairness
• Factual errors that may have altered the outcome of the decision, such as relying on incorrect, incomplete or irrelevant information.
  This does not include if you entered information incorrectly.

Appeals will not be considered if you do not satisfy our school’s admission requirements, such as completion of course pre-requisites. If you have experienced extenuating circumstances during the course of your previous studies that impacted your ability to meet the eligibility requirements, you should address your concerns with the institution granting the grade, score or credential you wish to appeal.

For further details, please refer to the SFU SoM Faculty Rule on Admissions Appeals [PDF].

Newly admitted students may request a one (1) year deferral of admission in exceptional cases. Deferrals are only considered for unforeseen hardships or extraordinary circumstances.

Deferrals will not be considered for:

• Supporting the completion of other studies
• Supporting professional or personal development
• Indecision on medicine as a career
• Application to or attendance at another medical school.

If you’re requesting a deferral, you must do so in writing to the Admissions Office within two (2) weeks of receiving your offer of admission.

If you’re granted a deferral you must confirm your attendance by April 30 of the year your (deferred) program begins. You’ll then follow the curriculum in place for that cohort and must meet any new requirements for incoming students.

Please see the SFU SoM Guideline for Admissions Deferral [PDF] for more details.

You can update the information within your application at any time prior to submission.

However, once your application has been submitted, no further changes can be made. Please ensure to review your application carefully prior to submission.