Medical Schools Change Admissions Practices

“The Impact of the Coronavirus Outbreak on Medical School Admissions,” an article that Kristen Moon published in Forbes on April 22, 2020, gives important insights on how medical schools are changing their admissions policies in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms. Moon reports:

Medical Schools Are Being More Flexible about Accepting Students Who Have Taken Online Courses

In the past, students have prepared for medical school by taking a large number of lab courses. But in just the last few months, many undergraduates have been taking most of their courses online. The result is that they are constrained to apply for medical school without having taken those classes, or if they have taken online versions.

Yet Ms. Moon found both the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine and the Association of American Medical Colleges are encouraging medical schools to allow applicants to delay taking important lab courses until after they enter medical school.

Forward-thinking policies like those will allow more college students to enter medical school at a time when the world needs physicians and medical researchers.

Additional MCAT Testing Dates Should Soon Be Available

As we write this blog, all March-May dates have been canceled for taking The Medical College Admissions Test. However, there are plans to offer an abbreviated version of the test, starting in late May. If you are interested in taking the MCAT, visit the AAMC’s website to stay aware of options for taking the test them.

Med School Application Dates Could Be Extended

Ms. Moon writes that a number of med schools could be planning to extend application deadlines. Why? To encourage more qualified applicants to apply, despite the many changes that their colleges have experienced over the last few months, due to the pandemic.

Maybe STEM Should Become STEMM?

At the Student Research Foundation, we wonder whether it could be time to add Medicine to the other fields of study that have traditionally been part of the STEM acronym – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. After all, at a time when Covid-19 is threatening to kill as many as 250,000 people around the world, students should be encouraged to consider entering careers in medicine and the health sciences.

How many more students have begun to consider medicine and health sciences over the last few months? It is an interesting question to consider and research.

And Let’s Not Forget the Growing Importance of the Other Health Care Professions

As the world copes with, and recovers from the Covid-19 epidemic, the world of health care is changing in ways no one could have foreseen. New challenges and opportunities are increasing for students who are not only interested in medicine and health sciences, but who believe that entering those professions is not just a career choice, but a calling.

We Invite You to Explore All Your College and Career Options. . .

Participate in the National Career & College Pathway Study to gain new insights about making educational decisions that align with your interests, passions, and aptitudes. Participants will receive information on college and career opportunities which match their interests.

Career Discovery: Supply Chain Management

Career Discovery: Data Science

More Students Should Be Thinking about Careers in Health Services Today

Career Discovery: Media and Reporting

College Admission Trends for Year 2020

Helping Students Choose a Major