The majority of on-campus Bachelor’s of Health Sciences (BHSc) graduates with a general degree will begin their medical school journey this year.
Students graduating from the BHSc on-campus program graduated on June 19, being the second cohort of graduates the program has seen.
The BHSc program offers both an on-campus program and an online stream, with BHSc online first accepting students in 2016, and the on-campus program enrolling their first cohort in 2019.
The program offers an option to graduate with a general degree, lasting three years, or a four-year honours degree. Students pursuing their honours may decide to leave after three years, graduating with a general degree.
According to the University’s convocation booklet, 59 on-campus graduates received their general degree this June, with 51 students graduating with distinction. The University’s academic regulations outline the requirements to graduate with degrees with distinction, which includes a minimum of 3.5 cumulative grade point average (GPA).
The Journal obtained the list of graduates through the University, and confirmed their career trajectories using LinkedIn, Instagram biographies, and personal s.
Forty-eight graduates were ed while 11 were unreachable. Approximately 58 per cent are entering medical school out of the 59 total students graduating with a general BHSc. Of the 34 students entering medical school, roughly 45 per cent of students are attending the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto.
Of the 59 total graduates, 10 per cent of graduates are entering dental school. Of the 6 students pursuing dentistry, 5 students are heading to the University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry.
Three students are attending graduate school to become a physician’s assistant (PA) while one graduate is entering veterinary school.
Four graduates declined to comment or are pursuing non-traditional careers.
According to the websites of various Ontario graduate schools, some students may remain on waitlists too long to apply for graduation. For example, at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University, the Doctor of Medicine (MD) program waitlist remains open until the first day of classes when the final cohort is finalized.
“There are always late additions to the degree list that are provided to the Registrar’s Office after the senate committee deadline, but due to the timing, those names do not appear in the convocation booklet,” Queen’s said in a statement to The Journal.
“We certainly do attract a group of students who are interested in medicine, but that’s by no means what we are trying to tell students,” said Nikki Philbrook, director of the BHSc program.
Philbrook emphasized the Health Sciences program, both on-campus and online, can lead to many careers within the healthcare industry and advises students to come into the program with an open mind.
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