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About OMSAS

Table of Contents

Background

The Ontario Medical School Application Service (OMSAS) is a not-for-profit, centralized application service for applicants to the 7 Ontario medical schools.

Admission personnel at the medical schools developed OMSAS. The Ontario Universities’ Application Centre (OUAC) operates OMSAS to facilitate the application process from Ontario medical schools and to reduce duplication in application processing. Each medical school is completely autonomous in reaching its own admission decisions. OMSAS only provides the application processing service.

Applicants can apply for admission to all 7 of the universities on 1 common application using 1 set of academic documents. The data entered in the application is transferred to the universities that the applicant selects. Each of the medical schools has its own admission requirements and reserves the right to determine if degrees granted by postsecondary institutions are suitable for admission.

Applicants should be aware of the variations in the admission requirements and ensure that they qualify for consideration before indicating that they wish for OMSAS to forward their application to a particular university. OMSAS processes and forwards applications to all requested medical schools regardless of the applicant’s qualifications or the completeness of their application. There are no refunds.

Governance

Council of Ontario Faculties of Medicine (COFM), 1992 Terms of Reference
  • To provide an effective means of coordination of effort and a regular medium of communication between the faculties of medicine of universities of Ontario, having regard to the need to avoid unnecessary duplication or overlap of programs between individual faculties and to provide special inter-university projects that relate to medical education, research and health services;
  • to advise COU on matters that will influence medical education and research and to consider such matters as are referred to it by COU;
  • to serve as a liaison between the faculties of medicine and government agencies concerned with health and hospital services, professional colleges and associations, and any other organizations the activities of which influence medical education and research;
  • to make a yearly report to COU on its activities for that year; and
  • to hold an annual meeting of COFM each June at which time the Chair of each committee will report on its activities for the past year.
Medical Admissions Committee (MAC:COFM), 1996 Terms of Reference

Note: The terms of reference were discussed at the October 2016 MAC:COFM meeting. Revisions may be forthcoming.

  • To produce and maintain a bank of data information on admissions policies and practices;
  • to liaise with the OUAC Board of Management in the formulation of policies;
  • to liaise with the OUAC Board of Management in the administration of OMSAS;
  • to liaise with other Committees of COFM; and
  • to make a yearly report to COFM at the annual June meeting of COFM on the activities of this committee.
Resource Persons

Resource persons who attend meetings may include:

  • The OUAC Executive Director
  • The OUAC Director, Business Services
  • The OUAC Manager, Graduate and Professional Programs
  • The OUAC Assistant Manager, Graduate and Professional Programs
  • The OUAC senior systems and programming officials responsible for OMSAS processing programs
  • The OMSAS Processing Administrator
  • Other resource persons, as invited by the Working Group
Procedural Matters

The OMSAS Working Group meets for regular meetings twice annually, once in the fall and once in the spring. Other meetings are called by the Chair, as required.

Processing Services Provided by OMSAS

  • Preparing the OMSAS application and Application Guide
  • Developing systems
  • Programming systems for department processes
  • Receiving all applications and monitoring deadlines
  • Processing fees, including university fees
  • Following up on all rejected fees
  • Processing fee waivers, as required
  • Providing tools for universities to process their own late exceptions
  • Providing vouchers for university purchase that applicants can apply toward the cost of an OUAC application
  • Corresponding with applicants for clarification of the general application data
  • Providing an email verification process for all new accounts to ensure that applicants enter valid email addresses
  • Receiving school-specific, personal or autobiographical submissions to support applications
  • Forwarding the personal or autobiographical submissions in electronic format to the universities
  • Receiving all postsecondary transcripts and monitoring them for authenticity
  • Receiving letters of reference in support of applications (maximum 3 per application) – an online service is provided
  • Receiving World Education Services evaluations, where required
  • Maintaining electronic transcript request services for Ontario transcripts
  • Providing upload functionality via Secure Applicant Messaging
  • Calculating undergraduate grade point averages
  • Sending third-party PDFs (transcripts, references, miscellaneous) to universities
  • Recording and controlling responses to offers of admission for Ontario universities
  • Monitoring cross-Canada duplicate acceptances
  • Recording and controlling deferrals and supernumerary responses
  • Providing a manual decision tool for universities to key applicant offers without having to send a decision file
  • Performing internal and external system tests
  • Performing daily distribution of data to universities
  • Providing access to a portal where universities can run various reports containing application details
  • Sending applicant data to universities via data sheet PDFs
  • Assigning codes to applicant records and providing Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada applicant data files to the universities
  • Verifying landed immigrant status
  • Managing telephone, email and live chat inquiries
  • Maintaining a Frequently Asked Questions list for applicants and universities
  • Providing applicant online inquiry (document tracking) for receipt of transcripts, references and Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores
  • Maintaining department listserv
  • Providing electronic transcripts
  • Processing fees for electronic transcript requests
  • Performing annual statistical reporting
  • Collecting MCAT scores from the Association of American Medical Colleges

Fees

The OMSAS processing fee is $220 plus a university fee for each medical school selection. All fees and payments are non-refundable. The amount submitted must correctly reflect the number of university selections made.

The university fees, collected by OMSAS but remitted to the schools of medicine, assist the universities in covering a portion of the costs associated with the admission assessment. Fees for withdrawn university choices are not refunded.

The OUAC periodically reviews the OMSAS processing fee. The university fees are set by the universities.

University Fees (in Canadian Funds)
  • McMaster: $135
  • NOSM: $135
  • Ottawa: $135
  • Queen’s: $135
  • Toronto: $135
  • TMU: $135
  • Western: $135

Transcript request fees vary by postsecondary institution.

OMSAS will not forward applications to the universities until the OUAC receives full payment.

Payment is part of the final Submit process. The OUAC uses Flywire for Canadian and international payments. Applicants can use Flywire to pay Canadian dollar fees in their local currency from anywhere in the world, at anytime.

If applicants are unable to pay using one of the Flywire methods, payment by cheque may be allowed on a case-by-case basis only.

OMSAS must receive payments for applications by the stated deadlines.

Fee Transfer

The OUAC’s Finance Department prepares the fee levy for transfer to each university in December of each year. There is a 2.2% credit card recovery charged against the levy transfer, as well as the supplemental fee charge of $2 per fee.

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