N.L. family fights admissions process to MUN’s medical school, says it discriminates against military members

For Rebecca McDonald, it’s long been a dream to study medicine, become a doctor and practise at home — in Newfoundland and Labrador.

But with that dream in arm’s reach, she’s hit an unexpected roadblock — the question of whether she’s a resident of the province.

“I want to provide for this community,” McDonald said, sitting on the couch in her Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s home.

“It’s really, really disheartening to be told that this essentially is not my home in the eyes of the medical school.”

McDonald, who’s in the last year of her undergraduate studies at Memorial University, applied to the faculty of medicine in August — for the Newfoundland and Labrador competition pool, which reserves 81 seats per year for provincial students.

According to the university’s website, 250 to 275 applications usually come in for these spots.

“The problem is, we are a military family and MUN Med has very specific qualifications for what counts as a Newfoundlander,” said McDonald.

“So, they are denying me consideration as a Newfoundland resident.”

At the heart of the issue is McDonald’s father Tony and his service in the Canadian Armed Forces, which meant the family has moved across the country throughout his daughter’s life.

So instead, McDonald is considered a Canadian resident, and is now finding herself competing with more than 450 others for only six spots.

For Tony McDonald, that feels “surreal, shocking, absurd.”

“Memorial University is named in honour of the service of military members, and then they turn around in 2025 and discriminate against someone because of military service,” he said.

“It’s so unbelievable, it’s hard to put words to it.”

While Rebecca was born in Newfoundland and Labrador, the family moved to Petawawa, Ont. when she was two years old, and then, when she was 12, to Gagetown, N.B. 

In 2021, the family returned to St. John’s and McDonald started attending Memorial University — with an exemption that granted her Newfoundland and Labrador residency.

“So, when the residency issue came up again, we assumed it would be a similar process,” said Tony McDonald.

But it wasn’t.

On Oct. 8, McDonald was told that she doesn’t meet the criteria of the province’s residency legislation, a decision she tried to appeal with a letter arguing her case on Oct. 17.

Dolores McKeen, the interim dean of medicine, responded on Nov. 5 telling McDonald that “Memorial currently does not have a policy addressing applications from military families that would allow provision of N.L. residency exemption. Given the current N.L. residency definition is enshrined in the Memorial Act, the faculty of medicine does not have leeway in its application of the decision.”

But the McDonalds say the university hadn’t made this clear from the beginning, leading the family to believe they had the power to grant an exemption.

“I went to the admissions office at the medical school, and … the woman I was speaking to told me that, yes, this process had happened before with military families, and that the current process was that, in my application, I just had to explain the situation and provide documentation to prove it,” said McDonald.

Nobody from the university was available for an interview with CBC News.

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson instead wrote that “the residency definition at Memorial University for medical school admissions is contained in legislation. We recognize that this has unintended consequences for some members of our community….  We look forward to working with the new provincial government towards a solution.”

That legislation is the Memorial University Act, which states that an applicant to the faculty of medicine must live in the province permanently for three years before applying, while not attending a post-secondary institution.

The McDonalds reached out to the department of education for help — without result.

Tony McDonald said former education minister Bernard Davis told the family in a meeting that he supported them “wholeheartedly,” and Paul Dinn, who took over the portfolio in October for the PCs, reached out to them, but there hasn’t been any contact in two weeks.

Dinn wasn’t available for an interview with CBC News. In a statement, a spokesperson said the department “is aware of this situation and is looking into the matter.”

For the McDonalds, it feels like a catch-22.

“They’re pitting one against the other. And Rebecca is left in the middle. She’s essentially an academic refugee,” said Tony McDonald. “Where is her home?”

That his military service is at the heart of the issue — he said it’s hard to understand. He wants politicians and university leaders to get together, and find a solution.

“I’ve been in service of my country for over 23 years. I will go anywhere the army sends me. Right now, I need some politicians to do something for me,” he said.

“Supporting the troops is not just a slogan. Sometimes, you actually need to do something.”

Meanwhile, time is running out for McDonald to have a chance at becoming part of the 2026 class. According to the university’s website, notifications for interviews will be sent out from Nov. 28 to Dec. 19.

Regardless of whether she’s accepted, McDonald said she will keep fighting for legislative change — and she won’t give up her dream of medicine, either. If she doesn’t get accepted this time around, she said she will try again next year.

Yet, eventually, she will have to move on and apply elsewhere — even if she doesn’t think she should have to.

“Before this process, I thought I was ticking all the boxes,” said McDonald.

“I want to help people. I didn’t realize it was going to be so difficult to attempt to do that.”

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