Rural Applicants

Rural

NEW! Enhanced Rural Admissions Process for 2024-2025

The Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry has positions reserved for Rural applicants.

For the 2024-2025 Admissions cycle, we will have 30 positions available for qualified Rural applicants.These positions are to encourage applicants who come from and have an understanding of rural, remote, or northern communities who may have the goal of returning to practice in these communities. These applicants must meet all minimum requirements during the application process in addition to satisfying Rural applicant criteria. The Faculty offers these positions over and above those who receive offers of admission through the regular process.

The Rural Admissions Process includes an assessment of where the applicant has resided, a written statement regarding the applicant’s connection to their rural community or communities, and an interview with rural practitioners and community members. Please note that the written statement and rural interview are NEW features of our Rural Admissions process this year. We want the chance to hear from you about your connection to your rural background.

Criteria

To be considered for a rural position, you must:

(a) be a current resident of Alberta, NWT, Yukon or Nunavut; and

(b) have lived for a minimum of 36 months between your twelfth and eighteenth birthdays in a community or communities within Alberta, NWT, Yukon, or Nunavut which is or are located 40 kilometres or more from the centre of a City with a population of greater than 500,000 (Edmonton & Calgary).

Note the following:

  •  Applicants who identify on the application that they believe they are eligible to be considered for a rural position may be required to provide supporting documentation in a form determined by the MD Admissions Office with the Rural/Regional Admissions Subcommittee.
  • The maps below will serve as a guide in determining distances from Edmonton (Figure 1) and Calgary (Figure 2).
  • Any determination that is required to be made regarding eligibility, including whether a particular location falls 40 kilometers or more from the centre of Edmonton or Calgary, shall be made by the MD Admissions Office with the Rural/Regional Admissions Subcommittee, whose decision on eligibility is final and binding.

edmonton-40km.jpg

Figure 1: Edmonton. Communities located inside of the light green circle are not considered rural. Should the community or communities you have lived in for a minimum of 36 months between your twelfth and eighteenth birthdays be located on the cusp of the light green circle, you may declare rural status and it will be reviewed by the MD Admissions Office with the Rural/Regional Admissions Subcommittee, whose decision on eligibility is final and binding.

calgary-40km.jpg

Figure 2: Calgary. Communities located inside of the light green circle are not considered rural. Should the community or communities you have lived in for a minimum of 36 months between your twelfth and eighteenth birthdays be located on the cusp of the light green circle, you may declare rural status and it will be reviewed by the MD Admissions Office with the Rural/Regional Admissions Subcommittee, whose decision on eligibility is final and binding. 

 

Rural Admissions Process:

  1. Applicants indicate on their application that they believe they are eligible to be considered for a rural position. Please note that Albertan applicants whose applications, upon review through our Admissions process, are not deemed in to meet the criteria for rural positions will have their applications revert to the in-province Albertan applicants stream.
  2. An additional checklist item will be added to the applicants’ Launchpad, ‘Rural Admissions Pathway: Written Submission’ to be completed by the application deadline.
  3. Eligible rural applicants who are selected for interview will also participate in a separate virtual rural panel interview to take place in Spring 2025, in addition to their MMI. Rural eligibility will be confirmed in early 2025 prior to interview invites. Interview invites are typically released by mid-February. 

Any inquiries related to rural determination will be directed to the above information. 

NOTE: Rural applicants will be given priority access to seats at the Northern Alberta Medical Program (NAMP) at the Grande Prairie campus when the NAMP opens in 2025. All applicants who receive an offer of admission will be invited to select their preferred location of training (Edmonton or Grande Prairie).