V. Medical School Policies and Special Programs

Early Decision Program
Notification
Joint Degree Programs
Minority Affairs
Irregularities

Early Decision Program
The Early Decision Program (EDP) allows an applicant to file a single application to a medical school offering such a plan well before the usual deadline (the EDP application deadline is August 1) and to receive a prompt decision from the medical school (by October 1). If the student is admitted under the EDP he/she is obligated to attend that school for that particular year, although one may take the risk of declining and applying to more schools the next year.  If so, the acceptance for the EDP school is not guaranteed for the next year.  A student would therefore apply for early decision only at a school of his/her first choice. Emory University School of Medicine has discontinued its EDP. The Medical College of Georgia and Mercer University have an EDP, but only for Georgia residents. EDP programs are often for applicants “in-state” for the specific school.

In the “2000’s” decade, MCG has accepted one year 70+ applicants via EDP to sit in a class of 190 (40+ of these were UGA students).  MCG and Mercer medical schools do not require 3.8+ GPA’s and 33+ MCAT’s to compete for admission via EDP.  The EDP applicant must take the MCAT no later than approximately 14-16 months before desired matriculation.  The Premedical Studies Office must be informed that an early decision application is being made. Letters of evaluation and the student's UGA Premedical Credentials Sheet should be ‘on-file’ in May for an EDP applicant.

If a student is rejected under the EDP, he/she is notified in sufficient time that the deadline for application to other medical schools may be made, although many interview positions at the other schools may have been filled. It is often possible for a rejected EDP student to be admitted at the same school at which he/she was rejected on the EDP plan during the regular admission cycle, especially if an interview was completed in the EDP process.

Notification
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has so called "traffic rules" that require member medical schools to observe certain restrictions for notification of accepted applicants. The earliest notification for an applicant to receive an acceptance (other than Early Decision Program applicants) is October 15. After this date most schools are on a "rolling" notification, with acceptances being issued intermittently later.

The problem of applicants holding multiple acceptances into late spring and summer has become more acute during the past few years. Admissions committees are justifiably concerned when students continue to hold a place in the entering class of two or more medical schools, with deposits paid and no way for the medical school to know whether or not the accepted applicant plans to matriculate at their medical school. There is a "domino effect" that often affects several medical schools when one late decision is made and people move from alternate lists to a place in the class of a school higher on their personal preference list. Accepted students may be justified in holding a place in the class at more than one medical school until they have been notified about pending financial aid applications often in May, for in many instances such decisions will determine where a student will matriculate. Once financial aid notification has been made, accepted students should make a prompt decision and then immediately withdraw from all but the school at which they plan to matriculate. It is unfair to the medical schools concerned and to those students who are on an alternate list but have no acceptance for some people to continue to hold multiple acceptances after they have all the information on which to make a decision. Some recent changes in the "traffic rules" require medical schools to issue a number of acceptances equal to the size of its entering class sometime in March. After mid-May students with complete financial aid information who hold multiple acceptances may be asked to decide by a specific school on the school at which they will matriculate and withdraw from all other schools. This should help the problem of applicants holding multiple acceptances.
 
Joint Degree Programs 
(Note: http://services.aamc.org/currdir/section3/start.cfm)
Many medical schools offer students the opportunity to earn the MD degree plus some other professional degree in a joint program. The MD/Ph.D. combined degree program is often one considered.  There are other “combined programs”.  The joint MD/Ph.D. is usually taken by a person who aspires to a career in academic medicine and will normally require at least seven, eight (or more) years to complete. A student entering such a program will usually take two years of preclinical training with his/her entering class, then leave the class and take three or four years (or more) for completion of the Ph.D. didactic work and the Ph.D research. After completion of the Ph.D. requirements, the student then completes the necessary clinical clerkships in order to satisfy requirements for the MD degree (3rd & 4th year medical school curriculum).

The National Institute of General Medical Services (an institute in the National Institutes of Health) sponsors a Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) that supports students financially in MD/Ph.D. programs at several medical schools.  (See National Institute of General Medical Scientists.) The competition for MSTP scholarships is very keen. Applicants should have considerable research experience as well as excellent GPA and MCAT scores to be competitive.  Some state schools allow "in-state" tuition rates for "out-of-state" MD/Ph.D. students.  Some schools pay a stipend to MD/Ph.D. students <http://www.nigms>. Some medical students ask for their fourth year to be a ‘sabbatical’ in a research or clinical investigator fellowship before completing the fourth year curriculum in the fifth year.

Minority Affairs
Since the late 1960's US medical schools have greatly increased their efforts toward recruitment of minority students. Many of the programs which have been initiated are discussed in MEDICAL SCHOOL ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS in a chapter entitled "Information for Minority Group Students." More complete information is available in the AAMC publication MINORITY STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES IN US MEDICAL SCHOOLS.  See AAMC Minority Student Resources.  The purpose of such programs is to increase the number of students entering medical school from minorities that are under represented in the medical profession. The AAMC has recognized (in the past) four groups. This includes African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and Mainland Puerto Ricans. This definition is ‘evolving’ into the consideration of applicants from a socio-economically deprived background.
Some of the programs offered specifically for minority students include special summer programs at many medical schools which are designed to strengthen the academic background in the sciences as well as provide career information, plus an introduction to health care for students at the undergraduate level. Certain other summer programs are designed to provide additional basic science instruction for minority students accepted to enter medical school.  The Medical College of Georgia offers an excellent summer program for undergraduate minority students (see MCG Educational Pipeline).  Other programs are listed here:  Summer Medical and Dental Education Programs.  Minority students contemplating careers in medicine may obtain additional information on financial assistance, special programs for minorities and other timely information through the Student National Medical Association, Inc. A source of financial aid available only to traditional minority students is provided by National Medical Fellowships, Inc., a private philanthropy founded in 1946 which awards several hundred fellowships each year to needy Black, Chicano, Mainland Puerto Rican, and American Indian medical students.  (See: National Medical Fellowships.) 

Irregularities
Each year medical schools and/or the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) discover a few applications that have been supported by fraudulent documents or less than full and accurate information about the applicant's academic program. The AAMC investigates all suspected cases of altered transcripts, ‘bogus’ recommendations, failure to list all courses taken or cases in which a person may not have taken his/her own MCAT. A number of safeguards have been instituted to protect the integrity of the system, and when a case of fraud is discovered, it is euphemistically ‘dubbed’ an "irregularity." Honest mistakes in transcribing grades or other errors caused by carelessness would not be considered an irregularity, but if an irregularity is discovered, a report is issued to all US medical schools by the AAMC describing the irregularity and giving the name and social security number of the applicant. In essence the individual involved in the fraud may well be, in effect,  "blacklisted." The quote often heard is "once an irregularity, always an irregularity" and a student involved in such fraudulent practices may never be admitted to a medical school.

 (Please send all questions and comments to resa@uga.edu, Memorial Hall, Athens, GA 30602)