Undergraduate Research and Admission to Health Professional Schools

If you are a biology major at UT San Antonio, you probably want to go to a health professional school (medical, dental, veterinary, nursing, etc.) upon graduation. Admission to all health professional schools is getting more competitive each year, especially to medical school. All of the statistics indicate that both the quantity and quality of medical school applicants is increasing. In short, it's getting really tough to get into any medical school, not just the top ones. For the 2006 academic year, the Medical School at the University of Texas Health Sciences at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) received about 3,400 applications. From this number, they selected 230 students. The table below shows the undergraduate colleges and universities that placed 4 or more of their students.

College	No. Students	Percent of Class
UT Austin	45	20%
Texas A&M	22	10%
Rice University	17	7%
Baylor University	13	6%
UT San Antonio	10	4%
St. Mary's University	5	2%
Texas Christian University	5	2%
Trinity University	4	2%
Vassar College	4	2%

You can download the complete 2006 UTHSCSA medical school class roster here.

What can you do to make yourself more competitive?

First and foremost, you must do very well in your coursework. Unless you have good grades, no matter what else you do, it won't make up for poor academic performance. Faculty at medical schools see it this way: if you can't do well in your undergraduate studies, why would you suddenly do well in medical school? Second, you need to score well on the MCAT, DAT, OAT or GRE. Third, successful medical school applicants generally have some health-related experience (volunteer work). The reason why medical school admission committees prefer that you volunteer in a clinical setting might not be obvious. It's not that they are looking for "generous, kind-hearted people" who volunteer their time to help people less fortunate. That's not really the point. Rather, they want to know that you really understand what the practice of medicine means. Real medicine is very different from TV medicine (e.g. Grey's Anatomy on ABC). By being close to real doctors, nurses and patients during your volunteer work, the medical school admission's committee assumes that you know what you are getting into if you are accepted into to their medical school. Of course, you will need letters of recommendation for the health professionals that observed you. Don't be shy in asking for these letters. That is your "pay".

Undergraduate Research

That's leaves the question of research. Do you absolutely have to do undergraduate research to get into a medical school? The answer is no. Medical schools admit students that haven't done any undergraduate research. However, keep this in mind. More than 50% of successful medical school applicants today have done undergraduate research and that number is growing. (For a reference, click here).

Here is what the Association of Medical Colleges said in the 2001-2002 Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR):

Honors courses and independent study or research are encouraged, because they permit the student to explore, in depth, an area of knowledge and provide a scholarly experience that will facilitate a lifelong habit of self-education. (page 27).

Here is what the Association of Medical Colleges said more recently in the 2006-2007 Medical School Admissions Requirements (MSAR):

Medical schools encourage honors, independent study, and research work by premedical students. These activities demonstrate in depth, sustained scholarly exploration, as well as the presence of life-long learning skills, that are essential to a career in the health professions. (page 12).

One of several factors considered by the Selection Subcommittee of the Admission Committee at the UTHSCSA Medical School is "Reseach Accomplishments". (Read more here...) Finally, if you think that you might want to pursue a career in academic medicine (work at a medical school or teaching/research hospital), then you should definitely need to do research now, as an undergraduate. The MD degree teaches you how to practice medicine, not how to conduct research. That you can learn in the UTSA UMB Scholars Program. Click here to apply.