IV. The Admission Process
The Application
 Where
to Apply
AMCAS
Timetable
Supporting
Documents
 Uses for a Concise Resume
Holding
an Acceptance
Osteopathic
Medical Schools
Foreign
Medical Schools
Consider for a moment the problem facing the admissions
committee of a medical school that recruits largely
from the national pool of applicants. There may be
several thousand applications for perhaps 100 or 150
positions in the entering class, and it will be possible
to interview only a few hundred of these applicants.
Many of the top-rated applicants will receive multiple
acceptances. How is it possible to interview the best
of those students who may be most interested in your
medical school? How should grades and scores be balanced
with other more subjectively evaluated qualities such
as personality, motivation, leadership, compassion
and other personality traits. It is not a simple problem,
and committees have different methods of selecting
those who will be interviewed. The applicant must keep
in mind that his/her first, and in many cases, only,
contact with the medical admissions committee will
be through the printed application. It is essential
that it be carefully and thoughtfully prepared. A negative
impression will be created by misspelled words, poor
grammar, or a poorly organized personal comments section.
Care must be exercised in both form and content. Most
medical schools now use an “on-line” application ‘file’,
prepared by the student through the AAMC
website
.
Where to Apply
The accrediting agency for medical schools (The Liaison
Committee on Medical Education composed of representatives
of both the AAMC and the AMA) ensures that every medical
school adheres to high standards in order to remain
accredited. Furthermore, the licensing exams (USMLE)
is given to all medical students and this has the effect
of ensuring that all medical schools cover certain
fundamentals well in their curriculum. There are, of
course, strengths and weaknesses in individual medical
schools and differences in the difficulty in obtaining
admission to different schools, but many feel that
there are no poor LCME-accredited U.S. medical schools.
A database of various medical school curricula can
be accessed through: http://services.aamc.org/currdir/
Some students may prefer a medical school using a problem-based
program in the first two years rather than the traditional
lecture format. The traditional format (discipline-based)
is still used by a large majority of medical schools.
During the 1960's Case-Western University Medical School
developed an organ-based system which departed from
the discipline based traditional program and several
other medical schools followed this approach. In the
1970's McMaster Medical School in Hamilton, Ontario,
developed the problem-based curriculum, which was adopted
by several other schools including Mercer University
and Harvard. In this program there are very few didactic “large-hall” lectures
for the first two years. Instead students working in
small tutorial groups of six or eight meet with a faculty
group leader and learn the basic sciences as well as
the clinical medicine for a certain written scenario.
Some would say the 3rd and 4th year experiences in
medical school are ‘problem-based’ in
caring for patients. Many feel that his type
learning environment better prepares a person for the "lifetime
learning" required to keep up with the medical
literature once a physician is in practice. With the
proper resources a well motivated person can learn
medicine in many different environments.
For many medical schools, the chances for admission
are determined in large part by the applicant's state
of legal residence. This is true of both some private
and (at least) most public schools. State-supported
public medical schools usually give preferential consideration
to residents of their state. There is usually an upper
limit imposed by legislation or administrative edict
on the number of non-resident students accepted in
a class in a state school. In many private medical
schools, preferential consideration is given to residents
of the state for at least a portion of the class. Emory
accepts Georgia residents to fill a significant portion
of its class and Wake Forest often accepts at
least half of its entering class from residents of
North Carolina. Many other examples could be
cited, but complete information is available on-line
through AAMC. This
information should be used when deciding where to apply.
A number of private medical schools recruit from the
national pool of applicants. This includes many schools
rated highly by such organizations as “U.S.
News & World Report”. As might be expected,
the credentials of students accepted at these “ranked” schools
are outstanding. All things considered, the chances
for acceptances are lower for a typical applicant at
a school that recruits primarily from the national
pool than at a medical school which gives preferential
consideration to students from their home state. This
certainly does not mean that all of the very best students
go to these schools. Many factors determine where a
student will matriculate, particularly cost, and the
qualifications of some public medical schools (such
as the University of California, San Francisco) will
be higher than in some private schools. Those
matriculating to a U.S. public state school as an “out-of-state
student” generally have credentials higher than
the man for the whole class.
When deciding where to apply, the latest edition of MEDICAL
SCHOOL ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS (available for purchase
through www.aamc.org)
should be carefully studied, especially the section
on selection factors and the “breakdown” on
state of legal residence of the latest class. If one
meets a school’s specific requirements and appears
to have a reasonable chance of acceptance, the applicant
should then further investigate the school by studying
the school's website. An application to an out-of-state
medical school can be made if an applicant has a particular
interest in some program at the school or some personal
or professional preference for the school or the region
of the country. The reason that a student applies to
a school will be of more than passing interest to the
admissions committee. If it appears to be a "shotgun" application,
made only in a desperate effort to be admitted anywhere
with little knowledge of or interest in the school,
the chances for a favorable decision are poor. The
student who fails to apply to those schools at which
he/she will receive preferential consideration is being
naive and perhaps foolhardy, no matter how strong the
academic record or how much you have dreamed of graduating
from some particular prestige school. Competition is "stiff" for
medical schools. High grades and MCAT scores
alone may not be sufficient to obtain an interview.
They are looking for the student who shows evidence
of unusual promise as an outstanding physician. Unless
an applicant has excelled academically and personally,
it will be very difficult to be admitted. Occasionally
a student is admitted to an out-of-state school after
being rejected by his/her home state schools, but this
is usually uncommon.
State supported medical schools often consider out-of-state
students for the combined MD/PhD program. Some
state-supported medical schools may invite nonresident
applicants for an interview only if they have a cumulative
GPA of 3.6 or more and scores of 10 or more on all
areas of the MCAT. Some highly-ranked medical
schools may seek applicants with at least 33-35 to
interview.
When deciding where to apply, many students do not
consider the osteopathic medical schools. Yet this
may be a viable alternative for many students. If you
are unfamiliar with these schools, note the American
Association of Osteopathic Medicine website.)
AMCAS
The American
Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) is
a centralized processing service required for applicants
by most U. S. medical schools.
AMCAS, which is administered by the Association of
American Medical Colleges (AAMC), provides detailed
admission information to medical schools and undergraduate
premedical advisors in addition to its primary role
of processing applications. The advantage to the applicant
of applying through AMCAS is that initially only one
set of application materials and official transcripts
need be submitted, regardless of the number of AMCAS
schools to which a student applies. Official transcripts
are required from ALL colleges
and universities attended, including college joint
enrollment in high school. The transcripts should be
sent in the late spring before submitting your AMCAS
in June or July. Latest spring semester grades should
be included. An AAMCAS transcript request form is required
to accompany the transcript. Upon receipt of the application,
AMCAS will perform an item-by-item check comparing
all courses in the academic record section of the application
against the official transcript. If you decide to apply
to additional schools after submitting your application,
it is necessary to submit an additional designation
form (see AMCAS site
for specific information).
A number of AMCAS schools conduct a preliminary evaluation
(screening) of the application received from AMCAS,
and if the GPA and MCAT scores indicate that an applicant
will not be competitive for admission to their particular
medical school, a rejection may be sent at this time.
Most medical schools require a school-specific secondary
application, which will be made available upon receipt
of the AMCAS application, unless the student is rejected
in the preliminary screening. Most schools require
an additional application fee which must be mailed
to the school with the completed secondary application.
There is usually a deadline on the filing of the secondary
application, usually two or three weeks, and the specific
deadline for each medical school should be carefully
observed. A great expense associated with the application,
however, is usually for traveling to the interview
and the other associated costs such as meals, hotels,
taxis, etc. These costs should be anticipated and budgeted
for those who will be applying to several schools,
particularly if long distances for travel will be involved.
Some comments should be made about the page of the
AMCAS application entitled "Personal Comments." Many
students apparently do not understand the purpose of
this section, and it is sometimes left blank. This
will create a very negative impression on the admissions
committee, for the personal comments section is there
to provide a space in which a student may make a statement
or bring information to the attention of the committee
that would otherwise not be possible to present. This
is where some medical school admissions ‘voters’ seek
insight into character traits of applicants, applicant's
achievements may be called to the attention of the
committee, where plans for the future may be discussed,
and where explanations may be given for performance
which the applicant feels was not up to his/her capability.
Extenuating and mitigating circumstances may be outlined,
but the personal comments section should not become
an apology for a poor academic record. Neither should
it become a fantasy in which a person plays out inflated
dreams, but realistic aspirations regarding a person's
career may be spelled out. For detailed information
and examples obtain the "Write for Success" booklet
described in Appendix
E, and study the information notebook available
in the UGA Premedical Studies Office.
One or more small subcommittee of the Admissions Committee
at each school usually selects those who will be interviewed.
With schools receiving more than several thousand applicants,
and in many cases only being able to interview fewer
than 10%, it is obvious that getting an interview represents
a major hurdle in the process. The "Personal Comments" AMCAS
section is usually read and evaluated when making this
decision. These committees may be interested in achievements,
accomplishments, character traits, motivation, “selflessness”,
compassion, and career plans and location. The talented
articulate student will find a way to list accomplishments
in a way that is not boastful and discuss plans that
sound reasonable and sincere. A well-prepared personal
comment section will leave the reader with a sense
of having discovered much about the applicant that
was not known before reading this section. It is recommended
that the applicant carefully compose the personal comments,
set it aside for a week or two, then come back and
reread what was written. If it does not then appear
to say what was intended, it should be rewritten. The
final version should be carefully checked for spelling,
punctuation, grammatical errors, and organization. Positive
character traits may be revealed here, rather than
a list of “Look what I’ve done.”
Timetable
Many students wait until too late to apply, which can
significantly decrease their chances for admission.
As may be seen from the discussion above, it takes
several weeks from the time an application is mailed
to AAMCAS until a complete secondary application is
on file at the medical school admissions office. If
documents are lost in the mail, transcripts are not
sent promptly or any of a dozen other things occur,
it can cause a delay in completing the application
that can stretch into many weeks. The amount of time
required to complete a carefully prepared application
is usually underestimated. The student who waits until
the approach of a deadline to start to prepare the
application will have a decreased chance for admission.
This is due both to the fact that a hurriedly prepared
application may not present the applicant in the best
possible light and to the fact that a late application
may not receive the consideration from the committee
that it would have if it had arrived earlier. Some
students delay the MCAT until late summer after many
interview ‘slots’ are filled. Some
complete the AAMCAS even later, sometimes to find few,
if any, interview positions available.
Supporting Documents
Evaluations from college faculty should be received
in the UGA Premedical Studies Office preferably by
May or June, such that the Premedical Studies Director
or his/her associate can generate the final letter
of evaluation no later than mid-summer. It is the responsibility
of the applicant to ensure that a complete folder is
available to the admissions committee at each school
to which he/she applies. An applicant should photocopy
those documents sent to medical schools, the UGA Premed
Office, and to AMCAS. Once a file is complete,
most medical schools send an acknowledgment to the
student. The kind of supporting documents required
will vary somewhat from school to school, but some
schools want supplemental evaluations (as from physicians)
as part of the secondary application. These are usually
sent by the evaluator directly to the medical school.
Applicants are cautioned not to overwhelm a committee
with a large number of letters. Two or three additional
letters from people who know an applicant well may
strengthen the application if they can give firsthand
examples of the applicant's pleasing personality, general
good character, and diligence. Ten or fifteen such
letters may be viewed with considerably less appreciation
by the committee members who are presented with them.
Letters of recommendation from politicians or other
public figures who know a student only slightly may
not be perceived positively. This is not to say that
letters should not be solicited from people who know
an applicant well just because they may be rather prominent,
for if they can comment from first-hand knowledge,
their evaluation may have high credibility. Students
should realize that admissions committees require a
balanced evaluation that will realistically set forth
an applicant's strong and weak points if it is to be
considered with high credibility.
After the AMCAS file is submitted, applicants should
send grade reports from later semesters to all medical
schools at which their application is pending. Most
schools require only a photocopy of the grade report.
A final official copy of the transcript will usually
be required after acceptance, but before matriculation,
that shows the degree awarded and completion of coursework. Most
acceptances are conditional, requiring completion of
the degree and no serious decline in the level of academic
achievement. Summer college terms can overlap with
the beginning of fall semesters at medical schools.
FAQ: "What if I do not know my prior instructors well enough to ask for an evaluation for med school?'"
This is a common question at UGA and, I suspect is frequent at other large U.S. major universities. The UGA Premedical Studies office has suggestions, not requirements, for the content of the UGA faculty evaluation 'packet' it sends to medical, dental, and optometry schools for its student applicants. Very few UGA premeds generate 5 or 6 evals on which a prof can designate "know VERY well". Even when a prof checks 'know slightly', the medical admissions committee may weigh heavily such an evaluation from a prof who is a frequent and astute evaluator of future physicians, dentists, and optometrists. Such an evaluation may be considered along with that of a non-voting interviewer at a medical school.
Usually Dr. Langford or Mrs. Roberts writes the 5th or 6th letter, as we believe this is what medical schools expect to see from here (as compared to 3 letters from profs at a small college who has taught the student in multiple and smaller classes, and can declare "know very well"). No one in this office complains to a student who submits less than 4 or 5 letters to us. Whether a medical school admissions voter would consider negatively an applicant who submits less is not an issue that the UGA Premed can comment on as we are reluctant to speak for multiple members of admission committees @ 125 US. M.D. schools (and others at osteopathic, dental, optometry, and podiatry schools).
Most matriculants to med school from UGA in the past have included evaluations from 3 or 4 science professors (or research scientists) and one or two from humanities/social sciences. Usually at least two from the 'biolife sciences' are included. Usually one or more comes from the professors for courses in one's major (possibly a major advisor, even if she/he did not teach a student in class or provide direction in research). This format is compatable with the GREAT majority of med, dental, and optometry school requirements. (Occasionally this office hears of a school that requires an eval. from an instructor in the humanities, and another may 'require' one from one of the physical sciences, or some other discipline. Hopefully such schools will post such info on their websites). The UGA Premed Office receives valid evals from scientists and professors from laboratory experiences (employment, volunteer or academic course credit) and sometimes from college faculty, staff, or administrators who have interacted with an applicant in a student campus organization or activity. Teaching assistants from "North campus" send evals here (many are "ABD" -all but dissertation completion for the Ph.D). It may be best to ask a "South Campus" T.A. to give input to the prof for the course, as the science prof may be more known to many med. school admissions voters.
Uses for a Concise Resume
UGA Premedical, Predental and Preoptometry students often ask valid questions about approaching college faculty, research scientists, and physicians, dentists and optometrists for:
(1) letters of evaluation.
(2) interaction with physicians, dentists and optometrists as they interact with patients.
(3) participating in laboratory research studies.
The preparation by the student of a concise highlighted resume of background, credentials and past experiences to share with the faculty and clinicians listed above should prove quite useful. Contents can include information such as name, address, date of birth, date of graduation from high school, evidence of academic performance and extracurricular activities in high school including service to others, exposure to medical settings as with patients and their health care providers (as well as a similar posting for college academic and extracurricular activities). Evidence of positive character traits, ability, leadership (more than holding an inactive officer position), and motivation can be demonstrated.
It is likely wise to add paragraphs on:
(1) how one has reached the decision to seek to become a physician, dentist or optometrist.
(2) where, how, and why the student hopes to be involved in patient care one day at age 40 and/or later.
The credentials listed should be significant and not appear to be a list of "look what I did". Example: a student might well list his/her class rank upon graduation from high school, but would not necessarily list membership in the Beta Club and/or National Honor Society, unless such organizations generated significant community service to others, such as building Habitat for Humanity Houses or visited nursing home patients or assisted at Boys'& Girls' Clubs, for example.
A current college academic transcript, issued to the student and copied, plus a 'well-mannered' photograph of the student can be attached to the resume.
Premedical students often seek to volunteer in hospitals and other medical (or dental or optometric) settings after participating in hospital volunteer orientations which may help satisfy some legal concerns as patient confidentiality/privacy issues and risks as exposure to patients and their potential contagious diseases (or possibly infectious bodily fluids) or their possibility of generating violent or inappropriate behavior, for example. Medical (and similar school) admission committee members may well look for evidence of such 'shadowing' of patient/doctor interactions when voting to accept a given applicant. [evidence that the applicant has some idea of the daily (and nightly) activities of a physician in patient care and that the applicant feels comfortable with concept of her/him providing patient care one day].
The resume, along with a letter requesting a chance to "shadow" a physician (that a student volunteer may meet in a hospital or other health care setting) can be sent to the physician to ask for the experience. If the physician knows that the student has participated in and received some orientation and training provided by the hospital and can recall a positive interaction with the student, then it is possible that the physician may be more likely to grant access to a shadowing experience with patients, if approached by postal mail, and with the materials mentioned above, and not by telephone or direct, spontaneous, face-to-face questioning. Students apply for such experiences as individuals, and not as representatives of the University of Georgia. The student and the physician are then apt to discuss the protocol for the student to observe, as well as risks to all present in a health care setting, and expectation of future activities, dress, speech, and behavior.
The UGA Premed Office is not aware of the University of Georgia collecting premiums for payment for liability insurance (nor providing such insurance) on or for students in UGA Bachelor's degree programs. The UGA Premed Office is not aware of any undergraduate major here that requires exposure to patients as a requirement to graduate. The UGA Premed Office does not provide training or instruction for experiences in health care settings, nor does it perform background checks in areas to document 'good behavior' or positive character traits. Some health care providers might want a statement from the UGA units on campus dealing with academic dishonesty and judicial matters documenting that a particular student has not had dealings with either of these offices. The student may need to seek evidence from the UGA Registrar on status of enrollment and academic standing.
Such a resume can, when presented to a college faculty member, from whom a student may request an evaluation (?recommendation?), for medical school or similar schools. There may be certain credentials that the student wishes the faculty member to know, but does not wish to "brag" by commenting verbally on previously generated academic and extracurricular activities The preparation of the resume, along with the transcript and the comments noted in the suggested paragraphs above, may well be received positively by the faculty member as the student being cooperative and not arrogant.
Such credentials can also be used, along with a letter of application, for a faculty research science position, when requesting positions in laboratories for research experiences. An additional paragraph to a research scientist should be added expressing the student's interest and reasons for selecting to participate in the work being accomplished in a specific laboratory.
It may be wise for the concise highlighted resume generated to be typed and limited in volume to the front and back of a single sheet of paper. Of course, to keep the resume current with recent activities is wise. Personnel at the UGA Career Center provide information on resumes, often for students applying for employment upon graduation, and several counselors there are familiar with process for credentialing applicants for health professions schools).
http://www.career.uga.edu
http://www.career.uga.edu/STUDENTS/resumes.html
If you seek the services of the counselors there, please discuss the necessity for an appointment well before the desired date with their office staff.
Holding an Acceptance
When an applicant is accepted for admission to medical
school they will typically be given two or three weeks
to accept the position. This must be confirmed in writing,
and most allopathic (LCME accredited) schools will
request a modest deposit of $100 or so at that time,
which may be applied to the first term tuition. This
deposit is usually fully refunded if a decision is
made to attend another school, providing you notify
the school from which you are withdrawing in writing
by the listed deadline. Multiple acceptances
can be held until financial aid ‘packages’ are
known. Medical schools may demand a student
to choose in May before an August matriculation. Osteopathic
medical schools in general require considerably higher
deposits, which may be nonrefundable, and some will
require "prepayment of first term fees",
which may be a few thousand dollars and are due months
before the term begins. Such schools may have considerably
less benevolent refund policies than the LCME schools
mentioned above.
Finally, most medical schools require a recent picture
(passport size) to accompany the application. Pictures
are also needed for MCAT registration and for the UGA
Premedical Credentials Sheet, required in order to
obtain a faculty ‘packet’ from the Premedical
Studies Office. Neat, conservative dress (coat and
tie for men and a tailored suit or dress for women)
will make an applicant appear more mature and "professional." High
school graduation pictures or candid snapshots at the
beach, etc., do not project the kind of image needed
to support an application to medical school.
Osteopathic Medical Schools
Osteopathic medical schools have been training physicians
(who receive a DO degree rather than an MD) for approximately
100 years, but it is only since the 1970s that they
have been recognized as equals to MDs by the Federal
Government and the American Medical Association. DOs
are trained to diagnose and treat illness with the
same rights and privileges as MDs, once they have completed
their training and are licensed. A recent trend is
that many DOs take residencies in medical centers run
by allopathic medical schools, thus having the same
postgraduate training. There is some difference in
their approach to medicine. DOs are trained to provide
manipulative therapy and declare a more holistic approach
to medicine. More than half are primary care physicians
and they are most often found in small town practices,
particularly in the Midwest. Osteopathic medical school
prerequisites and the application process, including
the MCAT, are similar to M.D. schools. Note their
centralized application mechanism: AACOMAS.
In the state of Georgia, M.D.’s and D.O.’s
receive the same license (note www.fsmb.org). In
the mid-2000’s,
approximately two-thirds of D.O.’s in U.S. residency
specialty training were in programs at academic medical
centers for M.D.’s.
Foreign Medical Schools
Beginning in the 1950's a number of Americans who were
not able to gain admission to U.S. medical schools
went abroad, often to venerable institutions in Europe,
where they earned an M.D., then returned to the U.
S. and passed the necessary
tests, obtained a residency
in a U.S. or Canadian approved teaching hospital
and were licensed to practice medicine in the U.S.
See Education
Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. Recently
some of these established medical schools in Western
Europe have made it increasingly difficult for Americans
to be admitted. The Atlantic
Bridge Program still
exists. In the 1970's a number of "off-shore" medical
schools (that appeal to some American students who
were not admitted in the U. S.) were established.
Many of these medical schools are in the Caribbean.
Those contemplating medical education outside the
U.S. should determine eligibility for the ‘board’ exams
(www.usmle.org),
eligibility to apply for U.S. residency specialty
training (www.ecfmg.org)
and eligibility for licensing in a U.S. state (www.fsmb.org).
In the “2000’s” decade, approximately
1300 U.S. citizens from Caribbean and similar schools
apply for U.S. medical credentialing. It should
be pointed out that in order for Foreign Medical Graduates
(FMGs), either U. S. citizens or foreign nationals,
to be licensed in the U. S., they must pass the appropriate
examinations and complete an AMA-approved residency
in a U. S. teaching hospital. In 2006, there were over
16,000 graduates of the approximately 126 U. S. medical
schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical
Education (LCME), the accrediting group that sets standards
for allopathic medical schools in the U. S. and Canada,
but there are over 20,000 total positions in the first
year (Post-Graduate Year one, or PGY-1) internship/residency
spots in all approved U. S. teaching hospitals. Some
spots go unfilled, and many go to D.O.s and graduates
of Caribbean medical schools. Recently the term International
Medical Graduate (IMG) has been introduced to replace
FMG.
Transfer to a U.S. medical school "with advanced
standing" as a 3rd year student occasionally occurs
at a few U.S. medical schools if the USMLE Step I performance
is at least the mean/median score. Many U. S. medical
schools do not take transfers and most others take
only the number of transfers that will make up for
those lost by attrition during the first two years.
A listing by certain federal (U.S.) or United Nations
agencies (as WHO – World Health Organization)
for a medical school in a given country may indicate
only a “yellow pages” type listing and
possible eligibility for U.S. federal loans.
(Please send all questions and comments to resa@uga.edu ,
Memorial Hall, Athens, GA 30602)
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