Medical School Application Process

1. Medical School Application Process presented by: Shannon Hinsa and Steve Sieck Prepared with help from: Michelle Sears

2. Grinnell College Support • We support applications to a variety of health professional graduate programs including: • MD • DO • Dentistry • Veterinary School • OT, PT, etc. • The application process can be quite similar among these, and we will focus upon MD and DO as those tend to be the majority of students.

3. Outline • What do Medical Schools want? • Understanding the Medical School Admissions Process • About AMCAS and AACOMAS • The 2014 AMCAS and AACOMAS Applications • Requirements of Grinnell’s HPAC for Committee Letter Writing • Questions / Comments from SHOT

4. What are Medical Schools Looking For? • Completion of required courses and good grades • Good MCAT scores • Personal characteristics that will make you a caring physician • Demonstration of interest in bettering the human condition • Some human health experience • Research experience • Off campus study

5. Workload Report for 2014 - NEW

6. Recent Grinnell Data 95% of Grinnell Graduates with an MCAT of 30 or higher & a GPA of 3.6 or higher were accepted 92% of Grinnell Graduates with a GPA of 3.6 or higher were accepted 87% of Grinnell Graduates with an MCAT of 30 or higher were accepted 75% of all Grinnell Graduates were accepted Data is for 2002 thru 2013 Grinnell Graduates that applied to MD/DO programs within 5 years of graduation.

7. ABOUT AMCAS and AACOMAS • Services of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) • Non-profit, centralized application services • Collect applicant information • Collect one set of transcripts • Verifies academic records • Provides standardized grading information to participating schools • They collect and average your grades across institutions, grouping by science and non science • Do not screen applications or make admissions decisions

8. Understanding the Process • Applying is a two-step process • 1. Primary Application: AMCAS and/or AACOMAS • 2. Secondary Applications: Medical Schools Websites: www.amcas.orgwww.aacom.org

9. AMCAS/ AACOMAS Medical School Primary Application AMCAS/AACOMAS processes the primary application. Once this processing is complete, AMCAS/AACOMAS sends the primary application to the medical schools selected by the applicant. At this point, the medical school takes over the application. Secondary Application Interview Complete online application Send college transcripts Identify Committee Letter of Recommendation Pay application fee Upon invitation from the medical school: Submit letters of recommendation Submit additional writing samples Send updated transcripts if necessary Pay additional application fee if required Schedule interview date upon invitation from the medical school

10. MCAT Exam • April - July • 22 different testing dates throughout the year • Your MCAT scores are valid for a three year period.

11. Complete HPAC Form 1 • Request to gather information needed to prepare committee letter; Electronic form available on the HPAC website. • Provide state of residence • Identify key recommenders (Profs. & others) • Extracurriculars • Essay • Deadline 10 PM on Wed. April 2 • Form 1

12. 55% of Grinnell students that matriculate to medical school attend a school in their legal state of residence. Medical Schools Grinnell Graduates attend.

13. AMCAS/AACOMAS Primary Application • Complete online at www.amcas.org or https://aacomas.aacom.org/ in June/July, the earlier the better • Request transcripts from Registrar. (Include in special instructions: "Biology Genetics Letter.“) • Indicate that Committee Letter will be sent from Grinnell. • Send Letter Request Form pdf file to [searsmic]. • AMCAS InstructionsAACOMAS instructions

15. Secondary Application • Summer/Fall • If a medical school is interested, a secondary application will be sent to you. • Submit additional writing samples • Pay additional fee, if required.

16. Complete HPAC Form 2 • Authorization to send committee letter of recommendation; Electronic form available on the HPAC website. • Submit to us only after you’ve been sent secondary applications by medical schools or you need a letter sent to a school. • Form 2

17. Points of Difference • Not all medical schools use the AMCAS application process • Most non-MD and non-DO programs require individual applications • In these cases we can still do committee letters, but the application process that you will use may be different.

18. Writing of Letter by HPAC • Summer/Fall • Faculty complete HPAC recommendation forms • Recommendations/Ratings are compiled by committee • Member of committee is primary writer of letter; letter goes through several revisions • Another member is secondary reader, more revisions • HPAC co-chair reads and edits final letter • Letter is sent within 4 weeks of receipt of Form 2.

19. CLS Services SHADOWING • Facilitate shadowing at GRMC (limit of 12/hrs per year) • Alumni Externship Program (job shadow program during spring break) * 2014 Program is on hold, but will hopefully continue soon! INTERNSHIPS • Extensive summer internship resources • GRINNELLINK Program: Reserved/funded internships (some in health-related fields) GRADUATE/PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL ADVISING • Review of application essays • Conduct mock interviews targeted at medicine and other health professions • Facilitate web-based MCAT prep course through Kaplan

20. Questions • AMCAS and AACOMAS • HPAC website • Center for Careers, Life, and Service (CLS) • Contacts – Michelle Sears in Science Division Office • Co-Chairs of HPAC: Shannon Hinsa, Steve Sieck.

21. Medical Schools Grinnell Graduates attend. New York Med  North Carolina  Northwestern  Ohio State Sanford SOM of the U of SD Temple Texas-San Antonio  Texas-Southwestern  Tulane  U Illinois  U Michigan  University Buffalo  Vermont  Wright State  Yale Albany  Arizona  Boston University  Calif-Davis  Drexel University  Duke  Harvard  Hawaii  Howard Indiana  Jefferson  Kentucky  Med Col of Georgia  Minnesota-Duluth  Missouri Columbia  New Mexico