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By Anne Craig, Communications Officer

A medical program unique among Canadian universities welcomed its first 10 students to the Queen’s campus last week. The Queen’s University Accelerated Route to Medical School (QuARMS) program allows 10 School of Medicine students to finish their medical doctorate just six years after graduating from high school, two years earlier than the traditional educational pathway.

Over 500 students across Canada indicated an interest in the QuARMS program and, after an application and interview process, 10 were selected for admission.

The first 10 students enrolled in the QuARMS program arrived on the Queen's
campus last week. In the photo are (l to r): faculty member Michael Kawaja,
faculty member Hugh Macdonald, Jacob McCoy, Shannon Wong, Nathan How,
Lauren Chan, Adam Mitha, Lauren Wilson, Christina Huang, Elisabeth Merner,
Steven Bae, Edbert Khong, faculty member Anthony Sanfilippo and Dean
Richard Reznick.

“We believe that Canada has extraordinary high school students who are fully capable of success in an accelerated track to becoming a medical doctor,” says Richard Reznick, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences. “Queen's is the perfect place for QuARMS. Being a medium-sized university with a relatively small medical school (100 students), ensures the QuARMS students have an excellent support network of faculty, staff and, of course, their classmates. We are delighted to welcome them to Queen's.”

The 10 students were selected based on their commitment to service, academic ability, leadership qualities, diverse interests and a high level of maturity.

The students are now enrolled in the Faculty of Arts and Science for two years of pre-med study. A place in the medical school class has been held for them on the condition they maintain very high academic standing. Concurrently they will receive special extra-curricular training from the School of Medicine to further prepare them to enter medical school.

For more information see the QuARMS .