Please help me finish medical school

My name is Madunisha Sivasritharan. I am a Canadian student studying medicine abroad in Ireland. Becoming a doctor has been a lifelong dream of mine. Ever since childhood, I have always had a passion for medicine and helping others. Any course I took or any extracurricular or volunteering activity I’ve done was always tailored towards this one goal. However, the medical school application process was not easy. Being a first-generation undergraduate student and the eldest child in my family, I’ve had to take on responsibilities from a young age. I did not have a mentor or an older sibling to help me guide through the education system or the medical school application process. I had to overcome many challenges through this process.

Considering the extremely competitive nature of Canadian medical schools, I took a leap of faith and began to apply internationally. I was filled with excitement when I received my acceptance offer from an Irish medical school. I was always aware that it was extremely expensive to study medicine abroad, but no one ever told me how hard it would be to get funding or loans for it. On average, it costs about $350-400K to study medicine abroad. Although I have completed my first year of studies, my family and I have immensely struggled financially trying to fund my first year of medical school. I have gone to every bank in Ontario asking for a student loan and was constantly rejected due to the strenuous co-guarantor’s requirements. My parents had to borrow money from friends and family who were kind enough to cover my tuition fees for the first year. For my living expenses, my parents would send me whatever amount of money they could monthly from their pay cheques. It was a very challenging year, but I passed and excelled in all my courses and successfully finished my first year.

I am intended to start my second year in September 2023; however, I do not have adequate funding to pay for my tuition and living expenses. My tuition for the second year costs approximately $78,000 and my living expenses will cost approximately $12, 000, totalling $90, 000. This total does not include food. Although I am currently working full-time as a student researcher while also balancing summer training placements at multiple hospitals, it is not enough to continue my education. My parents are resorting to selling our house to help fund my education, but I do not wish for that to happen. I do not want to cause any more financial burden on my family, which is why I am asking for your help. From the bottom of my heart, I would greatly appreciate any help with financing my medical school education.

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