I’m interested in the 6 year medical program and I was wondering what aspect of medicine the program is geared towards. If I want to do more research rather than actually become a practicing physician would the UMKC still be a good fit for me? Or would I be better off going to a more widely recognized research university separately for undergraduate and medical school?
@WRHSoccer23, the 6 year program is more geared towards producing clinicians, with a (lofty) goal of more towards primary care specialties: Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Family Medicine, etc. If you want to be more a physician scientist, as you are talking about, the UMKC BA/MD program is not for you. You would be better off attending a regular 4 year university and then applying to an MD/PhD program or a regular 4 year MD program at an academic research university.
Thanks Roentgen, I appreciate the feedback.
I looked at UMKC’s residency match here: <a href=“http://med.umkc.edu/sa/match-day-2014/”>http://med.umkc.edu/sa/match-day-2014/</a>
im not sure how to interpret it. I mean I see a couple of big name hospitals but will I be put at a disadvantage in the residency match process coming from UMKC’s med school?
@fifa14, it depends what specialty you are interested in. Would you be in-state, regional, or out-of-state?
It’s a little more difficult for those who haven’t gone to medical school to interpret match lists correctly.
<ol>
<li>Those who didn’t match won’t be listed.</li>
<li>A lot of self-selection takes place, due to fears about going unmatched by putting all their eggs in one basket, and thus possibly choosing a less competitive specialty</li>
<li>People from the midwest tend to stay in the midwest, while those out-of-state likely will want to go out-of-state (doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll get it).</li>
</ol>
At UMKC, the ones who matched into “big name hospitals” or competitive specialties were likely people who when all is said and done ended up at the top of their medical school class or were members of AOA (medical school honor society), or maybe they took off a year to do research.
On the other hand very strong medical schools, match their students (those at the top of the class and those who are not) at big name hospitals even in the non-competitive specialties. Why? Bc their medical school and affiliated hospitals are thought to be very strong by the medical community.
In looking at a list it probably helps to look at a) how many people matched into competitive specialties and after that b) look at those who matched into non-competitive specialties and see what hospitals they matched at. If there are many people even in non-competitive specialties, matching into big name hospitals, then that’s a pretty strong list.
Overall, I would say UMKC’s match list would range into the fair to not as good. It’s definitely not the best, and could have been much worse. That being said, the 2014 graduates should be proud of themselves. Graduating from the 6 year program, with no summers, is no joke, and by in large they are not at fault for any deficiencies in the school.
Thanks. I’m still in high school and am still undecided if I should even apply to UMKC’s program on top of the other combined programs that I am applying to. I’m thinking of maybe letting UMKC serve as a “backup” combined program since its acceptance rate is one of the highest. I would really like to be guaranteed to a med school, but I don’t want my impatience to jeopardize my future. I also want to do orthopedics or general surgery which are pretty competitive and worry that I either won’t get matched or will get matched into a strange residency.
@fifa14, yes, there are a variety of BA/BS/MD programs out there. Some much better than the others. UMKC is one of the “easier” ones to get into mainly bc they’re required to take most of their class from in-state due to being funded by the state. It’s also more geared towards preparing students for primary care: Internal Medicine/Peds/Family Medicine and you get a lot of that in the curriculum.
Orthopedics is definitely competitive (even more than General Surgery), and UMKC does have its own Orthopedics dept. Regardless of the medical school you go to, you will need the class rank, scores, etc. to still go for that specialty. Your view of what specialty you want to do could very well change, as well as whether you even want to do medicine, esp. with Obamacare being thrown into the mix. However, if you’re not 120% sure medicine is for you then the UMKC program isn’t for you bc once you get on, it’s difficult to get off without having to do several years.
There are many more prestigious programs in which you are able to change your mind and still get a good degree at the undergrad level, or if you decide to go to the medical school, then you’re going to a good institution in which you can do a lot of research to be competitive: Brown, Northwestern, UPitt, Baylor, Case PPSP, Penn State/Jefferson, WashU, BU (bc you’re in Boston), UT-PACT, etc.
Thanks Roentgen. Yes, I am applying to most of the other combined programs that you mentioned. I hope that at least one of them accepts me because I would prefer any of them over umkc’s program. I know for certain that medicine is what I want. If I end up going to umkc for med school, will I still be able to do orthopedics given that I’m motivated and do well at med school and on the usmle? Primary care is definitely not what I want to do, so I am also afraid that I might not like the curriculum there.
@fifa14, well, in medical school, everyone is (usually) motivated and hard-working. Part of what I think is frustrating for a lot of students in the program is that things go at a very condensed & fast speed and you get no summers off. Board scores while improving, are not that great on average, which isn’t surprising if you evaluate the quality of courses. I don’t believe most students in UMKC’s med program are lazy. While board review is a self-study endeavor, having classes that teach you things the first time is important.
On top of that you don’t get the real university experience to take your time and the classes you want, bc the emphasis is to finish things quickly. Even if you come in with a lot of credit hours, the program is very rigorous and your benefit may not be as great (esp. of you’re out-of-state).
That being said, UMKC does have an Orthopedics residency program, so in theory, you could match there (there are no guarantees). The thing is you have to have the academics, the board scores, and even sometimes the research, to qualify in the first place for Ortho. That might be slightly more difficult to accomplish at UMKC, esp. in the area of board scores.
I’m interested in this program…anybody else here applying this year?
I am applying this year as well and I was wondering if anyone can tell me what are the chances for an out-of-state high school student to be accepted into UMKC’s 6 year med program? Also, how outstanding do you need to be as an out-of-state student to be accepted? (Gpa, sat, extracurricular) Thankyou.
If you’d like to post your gpa, sat, and extracurriculars then I’d be more than happy to give feedback. They usually accept 10-15 out of state applicants each year
Or feel free to message me!
Okay thankyou.
Weighted gpa: 3:85
Unweighted gpa: 3.54
Sat math: 680
Sat CR:560
Sat W: 730
Next Sat in October probably will reach 2100-2200 due to lots of practicing
EC:
-Member of the National Honors Society
-Member of the Spanish Honors Society
-Member of the American Red Cross Club in HS (will be certified to do CPR)
-Running for officer position in Future Health Leaders of America club (helped donate money to doctors with borders and ran a Be the Match drive and became certified to run my own)
-Member of Donate to Life Club-club that raises money and educates others about why organ donating is important)
-played soccer and basketball freshman year (not the school team)
Community service
-ran 4 blood drives in school and will be running 2-3 more senior year
-volunteered 50 hours at a children’s day care center and had to watch and take care of children of ages 4-12
-volunteered at the county hospital for about 200 hours+ at the cardiology department
Your extracurriculars are very competitive with other applicants, but if you are out of stat I think your gpa might be a big turn off. It is 10 times harder to get in out of state than in state, so don’t feel bad if you don’t get in
Okay thankyou. Even though I have slightest chance of getting in, I will still apply. Can you tell me what SAT score I need to get to balance out my gpa and increase my chances of getting in?
I am in state, so I am not familiar with the sat scores. For act, I’d say high 30s. They do a holistic review of your application so you still have a chance although your gpa is a bit low
Okay thankyou so much for answering my questions. I truly appreciated it. Hopefully I do get in if the admission officers like others parts of my application. I wish you all the best in your admission process.
Thanks, good luck to you
Hello MedDude, I am a high school senior with extreme interest in the UMKC BA/MD program, and I would really appreciate your input on some of my scores and such.
I am a Missouri Resident
I’ve only taken the ACT once, and that score was a 29. I’m going to take it again next week and then in October, and I hope to score a 30-31 or above.
I’m going to take the SAT in October as well, but, from my understanding, this program does not review in-state SAT scores.
I’ve taken AP World History (4), AP Studio Art (3), AP US History (3), and AP Biology (3). This year, I am enrolled in AP Statistics (dual enrollment), AP Psychology, AP Literature and Composition (dual enrollment), Honors French V (dual enrollment, AP option), and Photography (dual enrollment).
My GPA is a 3.964 on a 4.0 scale
As for extracurriculars, I am a member of…
National Honor Society
National English Honor Society
National Art Honor Society
National Foreign Language Honor Society
Rho Kappa
And I qualify, but cannot apply until spring, for Beta Chi Phi and Mu Alpha Theta.
I’ve never had a job, but I am involved in volunteer work: I’ve racked up over 70 volunteer hours over the years, and will attain at least 70 more this year.
However, I do not have any “health experiences” in volunteering, other than volunteering to be an actress at a Haunted House for St. Jude’s Children’s Cancer Research Hospital.
I’m also aware that the UMKC BA/MD program is interested in diversity, and, while I am a Caucasian female, I am a first-generation college student, first-generation American (my mother is from Canada), and I am bilingual.
With all of this taken into consideration, do you think that I have a good chance of being admitted to this program?Thank you so much for your time and consideration.