To Be...A Spartan MD

With over 140 combined accredited MD- and DO-granting medical schools across the country, how do you decide to which schools to apply? The Association of American Medical College (AAMC) says that most students typically apply to about 16 schools. Applicants can apply to as many schools as they wish, but each student's situation is different and so you must decide how many schools is reasonable and, frankly, affordable for you. Beyond the AMCAS, additional costs include secondary application fees as well as potential interview/travel expenses. For those eligible, the AAMC Fee Assistance Program is a good option to help alleviate a big chunk of those costs. While it's certainly an investment in your future, the money and time you spend filling out secondary essays, interviewing, acquiring letters and other paperwork will be substantial. Deciding which schools to apply to means doing a bit of research and streamlining your focus to identify which schools are worth the m...

The College of Human Medicine (CHM) Office of Admissions hosted its second Facebook Live stream last week, purposefully touching on a timely topic. While the first stream, held last December , spoke generally about the entire admissions process, admissions counselor, Brian Urlich, joined the chat this time around to speak specifically about the personal statement. With the AMCAS application opening this month, many applicants are currently working to organize their application and finish up their personal statement. In particular, Brian offered tips and insight on how to write an effective statement, giving consideration to theme, frame, and structure among other things. He also offered some do's and don'ts to follow as well.  Admissions staff will be utilizing the widely-used social media platform's LIVE function to broadcast directly to potential applicants and offer in-depth insight on various themes and topics. Following the initial stream's format, this...

The College of Human Medicine Office of Admissions is excited to announce that we'll be hosting another Facebook Live stream on Wednesday, April 26th at 3pm (ET). The topic of discussion for our second live stream chat is the personal statement . Admissions Counselor, Brian Ulrich, will be on hand to offer in-depth tips that touch on essay structures and topic ideas among additional information. Mark your calendars! With the AMCAS set to open in a few short months, a timely discussion on the personal statement for the next crop of applicants could be helpful for the next crop of applicants. Students across the country are working to finish their applications for submission and the personal statement is a topic for which we receive many questions. The office's initial Facebook Live stream was held last December and took an overall look at the admissions process timeline. Once again, followers can submit questions at any time leading up to the event via our Face...

We're hitting the road! That is, after a flight. Admissions representatives from the College of Human Medicine (CHM) will be taking a road trip across Southern California this month to represent the college and further discuss the admissions process with interested undergrads. To do that, representatives will be making stops at campuses in the greater Los Angeles-area as well as San Diego to attend several health career fairs and host a number of informationals. "We want be able to connect with the pre-medical students in the state. We received  over 1200 applications from California in the 2017 application cycle, so I believe it is essential to reach out to prospective applicants there and provide them information about CHM and, in particular, our mission," states Elizabeth Lyons, admissions counselor and Director of Minority Recruiting. Residents from California have consistently made up a big chunk of applicants to the College of Human Medicine, second b...

The results of the 2017 residency match process are in and over 96 percent of the College of Human Medicine 's graduating students secured a match. In total, 200 students matched for postgraduate medical training positions at teaching hospitals throughout the United States. Residency placements were confirmed for students through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) as well as for those who participated in the SOAP/Post-Match, Military Match, and Advanced/Independent Matches. Of note, 42.5 percent of students chose primary care residency programs, similar to prior matches. The top six specialties placements changed a bit from last year , however, when pediatrics was at the top spot. The top six overall specialty placements this year are as follows: 1. Family Medicine (38 graduates) 2T. General Surgery (23 graduates) 2T. Internal Medicine (23 graduates) 4. Emergency Medicine (20 graduates) 5. Pediatrics (19 graduates) 6. Obstetrics-Gynecology (14 graduates...

With the first semester of the new Shared Discovery Curriculum in the books, data is showing that students are getting a good grasp on the content they're learning at a faster pace, consuming the material 50 percent quicker. “Students even at seven weeks were already clinically performing essentially at the level of students who were at the end of their first year in the previous curriculum,” said Dr. Aron Sousa, senior associate dean for academic affairs for the medical college. “It’s the experiential learning aspect of the program that’s making this happen.” Among the many differences between what has been the traditional model of medical education and the College of Human Medicine's Shared Discovery Curriculum include early and ongoing clinical experience for students that integrates the basic and clinical sciences. Whereas schools typically split the learning of the sciences and the clinical experiences, students in Shared Discovery are learning with a hands-on ap...

The College of Human Medicine (CHM) Office of Admissions used Facebook Live to hold the department's first stream this week. Admissions staff used the live broadcast to connect with potential applicants and thoroughly discuss the medical school application process, from A to Z. Elizabeth Lyons, Admissions Counselor, detailed the different phases of the application and also offered tips and advice for students who may potentially apply to medical school. Along with providing that overview, Elizabeth also talked about factors that make applicants competitive and traits that sit well with the College of Human Medicine, in particular. Joined by Francisco Velazquez, Communications Coordinator, the staff members also facilitated a quick Q&A. The Office of Admissions had asked Facebook and Twitter followers to submit questions for a week prior to the stream. The team also announced that they will be going "live" again in the new year. Follow the Office of Admissio...