Rural Applicants
The Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry has 30 positions reserved for Rural applicants.
For the 2025-2026 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 undertake our standard application process and meet all minimum requirements, in addition to satisfying Rural applicant criteria. The Faculty offers these 30 positions for rural applicants 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 a panel interview with rural practitioners and community members. Rural life experience receives credit within the admissions assessment process based on how long (number of years) and how remote the location is from a City with a population of greater than 500,000 (assessed as either a regional, rural or remote centre).
Criteria:
There are two ways that individuals may meet the MD Program’s definition of ‘Rural’ and be eligible for a rural position in the incoming class. To be considered for a rural position, you must:
(a) be a current resident of Alberta, NWT, Yukon or Nunavut;
AND fulfill either (b) or (c):
(b) have lived for a minimum of 36 months between your tenth and twentieth 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).
OR
c) be currently residing or have recently resided (within the last 5 years) for at least 36 months at the age of 17 years or older within a single community within Alberta, NWT, Yukon, Nunavut which is located 40 km or more from the centre of a city with a population greater than 500,000.
Please 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, together 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.
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 tenth and twentieth 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.
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 tenth and twentieth 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:
- 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.
- An additional checklist item will be added to the applicants’ Launchpad, ‘Rural Admissions Pathway: Written Submission’ to be completed by the application deadline.
- Eligible rural applicants who are selected for interview will also participate in a separate virtual Rural Panel Interview to take place in Spring 2026, in addition to their MMI. Rural eligibility will be confirmed in early 2026, 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), if they indicate a wish to train at that site. Rural applicants are also welcome to train at the Edmonton site, if that is their preference. All applicants on all admissions pathways who receive an offer of admission will be invited to select their preferred training site (Edmonton or NAMP/Grande Prairie).
The University of Alberta MD Program is opening a new training site based in Grande Prairie, Alberta in 2025. Please see here for additional information regarding the Northern Alberta Medical Program: (Northern Alberta Medical Program | Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry)
Please see below for FAQs regarding the Rural Admissions Process and the Northern Alberta Medical Program (NAMP).
Rural FAQ:
The MD Program has positions reserved for qualified rural applicants.
To be considered for a rural position, you must:
a) be a current resident of Alberta, NWT, Yukon or Nunavut;
AND satisfy either b or c
b) have lived for a minimum of 36 months between your tenth and twentieth 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).
OR
c) be currently residing or have recently resided (within the last 5 years) for at least 36 months at the age of 17 years or older within a single community within Alberta, NWT, Yukon, Nunavut which is located 40 km or more from the centre of a city with a population greater than 500,000.
Rural applicants can choose whether to train in Grande Prairie or Edmonton. Rural applicants will have first choice of the 30 seats available in Grande Prairie, if they prefer to train there. If there are seats remaining after rural applicants have had the opportunity to select Grande Prairie as their training site, non-rural applicants who have indicated a preference to train in Grande Prairie will be offered seats. Please note that ALL applicants to the MD Program are invited to indicate their preference for training site.
All applicants who receive an offer of admission will be invited to select their preferred location of training (Edmonton or the Northern Alberta Medical Program/Grande Prairie).
Rural applicants will be asked to provide an additional written submission as a part of their online application. Rural applicants will also participate in an additional panel interview with rural physicians and community members, to provide an opportunity to discuss their connection to their rural background. All other parts of the application process will be the same.
Please apply to the University of Alberta MD Program: University of Alberta MD Program application. This is a general application for both the Edmonton site and the Northern Alberta Medical Program/Grande Prairie site. All applicants who receive an offer of admission will be invited to select their preferred location of training (Edmonton or Grande Prairie). Please note that if you are a rural applicant you will be invited to indicate this on your University of Alberta MD Program application.
No, there are no prerequisite courses required. You should be taking courses which meet the requirements for your degree program and interest you. You may wish to take some coursework to help prepare yourself for the MCAT. Please refer to the AAMC website for MCAT topics.
The MD Program offered at the Northern Alberta Medical Program/Grande Prairie site is the same accredited, internationally recognized program offered at the Edmonton campus.
Yes, the curriculum will be the same, with the exception that the curriculum will be delivered at northern Alberta sites. Classroom sessions will be delivered in Grande Prairie at the Northwestern Polytechnic Health Education Centre, and clinical sessions in Grande Prairie and surrounding areas.
Yes. There will be no difference in the degree students receive at the two sites. At each site, it will be the University of Alberta MD.
Postgraduate training opportunities are the same. Residency matching opportunities will be identical between sites. Graduates from regional campuses have identical success rates in matching to their residency program of choice when compared to their peers within that same University MD Program, based on residency outcomes information from other Regional Medical Campus programs across Canada.
Graduates of the NAMP may apply to any residency program of their choosing, including family medicine and specialty training programs. At the University of Alberta MD Program, students who have trained in rural or regional placements through the ICC Program (the Integrated Clerkship Curriculum in Year 3, which is similar in spirit to the NAMP) have successfully entered into specialty training as well as family medicine training.
Some of the unique learning opportunities at the NAMP will be obvious at an early stage. These include a lower ratio of learners to teachers–allowing more tailored teaching and opportunities to try new things, with supervision–and the chance to work in rural environments, where the breadth and diversity of patients is unparalleled.
Students attending the Grande Prairie site will need to find accommodations near Grande Prairie, just as they would with Edmonton if attending the Edmonton site. There will be resources available to assist students admitted to the NAMP in finding local accommodations.
Year 1 and 2 classes will be held at the Northwestern Polytechnic Health Education Centre which is embedded within the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital.
The curriculum at the Edmonton and Grande Prairie sites feature a blend of in-person and virtual sessions. Using newly digitized classrooms, students at both sites will share synchronous full-class lectures. Lectures are received simultaneously by students at both Grande Prairie and Edmonton sites, regardless whether the lecturer is in Edmonton, Grande Prairie or another location. Small group learning sessions occur equally at both sites, with facilitation by faculty at the site where the students are.
During the first two years, all clinical sessions will be in-person, in Grande Prairie and surrounding areas. In the last two years of clerkship, clinical placements will be available in Grande Prairie and throughout many northern communities.
There are currently several small time periods within the MD Program where all students will be learning together - specifically the Orientation Week beginning Year 1 and possibly Link Block (the learning linking pre-clinical and clinical time periods) between Y2 and Y3. Otherwise, there is no expectation to be in Edmonton.
Yes, students training at the NAMP should expect to have access to a vehicle and, where possible, a driver’s license. Travel may be required in and around Grande Prairie (including to communities outside of Grande Prairie) for clinical experiences.
Yes, you will have access to the same support and assistance. We are proud of our student services, including our Office of Advocacy and Wellness (OAW). The OAW is opening a branch in Grande Prairie.
In Spring 2026, following our MD Program interviews, we will invite applicants to tell us their preference of training site. Applicants can indicate that they would like to train at the NAMP, or in Edmonton, or that they would accept a position at either campus.
Yes, if you are willing to accept a position at either campus, you will be asked to tell us which campus is your first choice.
Please note that matching to a training site will be considered binding. If you are successful in your application and you receive an offer for a site this spring, that is your offer from the University of Alberta MD Program for this admissions cycle. You will not have an opportunity to “trade” sites once you receive an offer. If you do not indicate that you would accept a position at a given site, you will not be offered a position at that site. For example, if an applicant indicates they would only consider the NAMP, they will not be offered a spot at the Edmonton campus. If an applicant indicates they would only consider the Edmonton campus, they will not be offered a position at NAMP. If you indicate you would consider either campus, you may receive an offer at either campus. Where applicants advise that they will consider either campus, we will attempt to give applicants their first choice of site, as much as possible.
There are 30 seats for Year 1 available at the NAMP next fall (August 2026).
Not necessarily. Like all applicants, Rural applicants will be asked to tell us which site(s) they wish to train at. Rural applicants will be a prioritized group (along with Indigenous applicants) for seats at the NAMP, and may choose to train there. We believe that it is important that ALL applicants have an ability to express their preference for a training site, and this includes Rural applicants. Rural applicants may indicate a preference for training at either the Grande Prairie or Edmonton sites.
Yes, you may have the chance to attend the NAMP. Rural and Indigenous applicants will have first priority for seats at the NAMP. Other applicants may indicate they would like to train at the NAMP, and they will be considered for available seats. Non-Rural applicants who wish to rank the NAMP as their first choice for site will be asked to supply a brief written statement explaining their reasons for choosing NAMP. Seats that remain available at the NAMP after Rural and Indigenous applicants have had an opportunity to select the NAMP will be open to other applicants. We will welcome non-Rural applicants at the NAMP (space permitting).
No transfers between sites will be considered, outside of exceptional personal circumstances, approved by the Associate Dean of the MD Program. Matching to a site means the student is training at that site for the entirety of their MD Program. Please see our Site Transfer Policy here: Medical Student Site Transfer Policy