presented by: Shannon Hinsa and Steve Sieck Prepared with help from: Michelle Sears

 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.

◦ 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

 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

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

 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

 Applying is a two-step process ◦ 1. Primary Application: AMCAS and/or AACOMAS ◦ 2. Secondary Applications: Medical Schools Websites:

Medical School Primary Application Complete online application Send college transcripts Identify Committee Letter of Recommendation Pay application fee 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 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 AMCAS/ AACOMAS

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

 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 Form 1

55% of Grinnell students that matriculate to medical school attend a school in their legal state of residence. SchoolStudents matriculated SchoolStudents matriculated Iowa10Georgetown 2 Minn-Minneapolis8Massachusetts 2 Dartmouth4Michigan State 2 U Wash-Seattle 4Nebraska 2 Chicago Medical 3Penn State 2 Colorado 3San Juan Bautista2 Emory 3Southern Illinois 2 Johns Hopkins 3U Chicago-Pritzker 2 Kansas3U Wisconsin 2 Oklahoma 3Vanderbilt 2 Case Western Res 2Wash U St Louis 2 George Washington2 Medical Schools Grinnell Graduates attend.

 Complete online at or in June/July, the earlier the betterwww.amcas.org  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 Instructions AACOMAS instructions AMCAS InstructionsAACOMAS instructions

 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.

 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 Form 2

 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.

 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.

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

 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.

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 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 Medical Schools Grinnell Graduates attend.