To Be...A Spartan MD

MSU has officially announced a new agreement that will allow MSU medical students the chance to gain clinical experiences in Cuba. Come April 2016, future physicians from the College of Human Medicine as well as the College of Osteopathic Medicine will get an in-depth look at the Cuban health care system, largely regarded to be among one of the best in the hemisphere. Collaboration between MSU and Cuba isn't technically new as courses and experiences in Cuba have been offered for several years. However, this partnership is different in that MSU is the first collegiate institution to solidify medical elective in the Caribbean nation. “This is a first, though, for American medical students to be able to walk the halls of three of Cuba’s main hospitals in Havana and receive credit for the experience,” said William Cunningham, assistant dean for the College of Osteopathic Medicine in West Michigan. Read the official announcement here .

No one can better represent what it is like to be at the MSU College of Human Medicine (CHM) than our great students. From here on out, the CHM Office of Admissions will begin enlisting the help (and voices) of our students to periodically offer an inside look at what being in med school here is all about. Students at different levels and various backgrounds will touch on their experiences and ambitions.  We are glad to have second-year student, Sheri VanOmen, kick us off. Here, Sheri introduces herself and recounts her experience going through the application process.    *** As all medical students know, there was once a time when we thought of medical school as some far off, magical, smarty-pants place. Let me repeat: far off. It didn’t seem real that I might one day be learning medicine from some of the best physicians. The admissions process was motivating, stressful, intimidating, and inspiring all at the same time. But as I now reflect back, it was ...

Interested in applying to the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (CHM)? Would you simply like to learn more about the nation's pioneer in teaching community-based medicine? Are you following us on Twitter ? Even under normal circumstances, potential medical school applicants typically have lots of questions about the schools they're interested in applying to. We thought the time couldn't be better to facilitate a discussion about CHM, especially considering the college is undergoing a few changes around here (new curriculum, new premedical requirement models, new biomedical research facility, new community campus sites, etc.). Join us for a good ol' Twitter chat. The Twitter chat will be hosted by the CHM Office of Admissions on Monday, October 5th at 6pm (ET). Several students and admissions staff will be on hand to answer questions under the CHM Admissions twitter handle: @MSUMDadmissions. What is a twitter chat/tweet chat? A Twitter chat...

You've studied hard and taken the MCAT. You've gathered all the necessary forms, letters, and paperwork. You've written a solid personal statement and submitted your AMCAS application. You've thrown you're hat into the application process. What's next? Whereas the AMCAS is a centralized application service, individual medical schools will now have applicants submit school-specific applications that supplement the primary. These are referred to as secondary applications. Medical schools tend to send out secondary information within a few weeks or even days of receiving the verified AMCAS application. Which applicants receive the secondary may differ depending on procedure. Most medical schools, including the MSU College of Human Medicine (CHM) , will automatically provide a secondary application to all applicants. Other medical schools, however, may screen applicants upon receiving verified AMCAS files. In this case, only those they consider top candidat...

Several weeks ago, we posted about the two dual-degree programs offered at the MSU College of Human Medicine and the opportunities they can present for those pursuing either an MD/PhD or an MD/MPH . Add another option to the mix. The College of Human Medicine Office of Admissions would like to introduce our third dual-degree option: the MD/MBA . Increasing interest in MD/MBA dual degrees is encouraging universities across the globe to implement programs that train physicians and medical scholars in business. Advanced research and technology along with evolving healthcare laws and regulations have more and more physicians looking to acquire deeper managerial skills as well as a better understanding of the business of healthcare. An MBA provides management training that enhances physicians' understanding of the larger impact the business of healthcare has on patient care. While trained physicians diagnose and treat human disease, they also run the hospitals, medical u...

The MSU College of Human Medicine (CHM) has officially announced a pact making the Detroit-metro area the site of an additional community campus. The college and Providence-Providence Park Hospital (PPPH) have come to an agreement that will give sixty third- and fourth-year medical students the opportunity to receive clinical training in Southfield, MI. While the new addition will be CHM's seventh clinical community campus , this will be the college's first partnership in Southeast Michigan. Both parties agree that the partnership is a great fit with CHM's mission of providing a community-based approach to health care. Dr. Robert Flora, Providence's Director of Medical Education, says he's been impressed with CHM's "drive to help people with less access" to a good standard of health care. “This partnership with Providence-Providence Park Hospital is the result of shared goals to educate medical students within a health care system that valu...

Sonia Kumar is a fourth-year MD/PhD student The MSU College of Human Medicine (CHM) offers a number of special programs that are available to students with a wide range of interests. Within those programs, our dual degree options are an important part of our identity, as we work to enhance our student's abilities in the fields of both research and health policy. There are two dual-degree options for applicants to consider— MD/PhD and MD/MPH . MD/PhD The Director of the US National Institutes of Health and former head of the Human Genome Project, Francis S. Collins, is a physician-geneticist who recently published a piece titled, " Why the World Needs More Scientists ." It's a good read. Collins says he's "convinced that rigorous, well-designed research is essential not only for the discovery of new ways to detect, treat, and prevent disease, but also for the most efficient development and cost-effective dissemination of such advances to the ...