Resources on Medical Schools in US

Medical Schools in the United States (USA)

Medical Schools

A medical school, or faculty of medicine, is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, which is involved in the education of future medical practitioners (medical doctors) as well as their accreditation to legally practice medicine. Medical schools teach subjects such as human anatomy, clinical practice, as well as many basic sciences.

The entry criteria, structure, teaching methodology and nature of medical programs offered at medical schools vary considerably around the world. Medical schools are often highly competitive, with medical schools accepting only a few number of applicants based primarily on test scores such as the MCAT or other standardized entrance examinations.
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Medical students
A person accepted into a medical school and enrolled in an educational program in medicine, with the goal of becoming a medical doctor, is referred to as a medical student. Medical students are generally considered to be at the earliest stage of the medical career pathway.

Medical students typically engage in both basic science and practical clinical coursework during their tenure in medical school. Generally, the first one to two years of training are devoted to the study of the basic sciences as they pertain to healthcare, including molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, human anatomy, histology, physiology, pharmacology, microbiology, and pathology. The remainder of a medical student's training is typically devoted to gaining direct clinical experience by participating in the care of patients in a hospital or clinic setting.

Excerpt from "Medical school." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 27 Oct 2006, 20:42 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 29 Oct 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Medical_school&oldid=84115305

Medical Education in the United States (USA)

Medical education in the United States includes educational activities involved in the education and training of medical doctors in the United States, from entry-level training through to continuing education of qualified specialists.

A typical outline of the medical education pathway is presented below, however medicine is a diverse profession with many options available. For example, some doctors work in pharmaceutical research, occupational medicine (within a company), public health medicine (working for the general health of a population in an area), or join the armed forces.

Medical school
In the United States a medical school is a four year institution with the purpose of educating doctors in the fields of conventional medicine or osteopathic medicine.

Admissions
Admission into medical school usually requires either three years of undergraduate study or a four-year bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, depending on medical institution. Nearly all medical schools require that the applicant have attained a bachelor's degree prior to matriculation. Admissions criteria may include overall performance in the undergraduate years and performance in a group of courses specifically required by U.S. medical schools, the score on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), application essays, letters of recommendation (most schools require either one letter from the undergraduate institution's premedical advising committee or a combination of letters from at least one science faculty and one non-science faculty), and interviews.

Beyond objective admissions criteria, many programs look for candidates who have had unique experiences in community service, volunteer-work, international studies, and research. The application essay is the primary opportunity for the candidate to describe her/his reasons for entering a medical career. The essay requirements are usually open-ended to allow creativity and flexibility for the candidate to draw upon their personal experiences/challenges to make her/him stand out amongst other applicants. If granted, an interview serves as an additional way to express these subjective strengths that a candidate may possess.

Most commonly, the bachelor degree is in one of the biological sciences, but not always; in 2005, nearly 40% of medical school matriculants had received bachelor's degrees in fields other than biology or specialized health sciences. All medical school applicants must, however, complete year-length undergraduate courses with labs in biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics; some medical schools have additional requirements such as biochemistry, calculus, and English.

A student with a bachelor's degree who has not taken the premedical coursework may complete a postbaccalaureate (postbacc) program. Such programs allow rapid fulfillment of prerequisite course work as well as grade point average improvement. Some postbacc programs are specifically linked to individual medical schools to allow matriculation without a gap year.

Several universities across the U.S. admit high school students to both their undergraduate colleges and the medical schools simultaneously; students attend a single six-year to eight-year integrated program consisting of two to four years of an undergraduate curriculum and four years of medical school curriculum, culminating in both a bachelor's and M.D. degree or a bachelor's and D.O. degree.

While not necessary for admission, several private organizations have capitalized on this complex and involved process by offering services ranging from single-component preparation(MCAT, essay, etc.) to entire application review/consultation.

Excerpt from "Medical education in the United States." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 14 Oct 2006, 21:57 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 29 Oct 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Medical_education_in_the_United_States&oldid=81472138

United States of America (USA)

The United States is ranked as the world's third largest country by land area, but this is disputed as some sources list the People's Republic of China as larger than the U.S. The disputed ranking stems from ongoing debate over the political status of Taiwan, without which China is smaller than the United States.

The contiguous U.S. is bounded by the North Atlantic Ocean to the east, the North Pacific Ocean to the west, Canada to the north, and Mexico to the south. Alaska is bounded by the Pacific to the south, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and Canada to the east. The island state of Hawaii is situated in the Pacific, southwest of the North American mainland.

The landscape of the United States is extremely varied. In the east, rolling hills and temperate forests prevail, transitioning to prairies, boreal forests, and the relatively young Rocky Mountains in the west, with savanna and desert—including the Grand Canyon—among the more arid landscapes in the southwest. The northwest has the highest concentration of active volcanoes in the U.S. In the south, especially in Florida, subtropical forests and marshlands can be found. In Alaska, prominent mountain ranges rise up sharply from broad, flat tundra plains; numerous volcanoes can be found throughout the Alexander and Aleutian Islands south and west of the Alaskan mainland. Hawaii, a chain of tropical, volcanic islands, is a popular tourist attraction. Other major hydrographic features include the five Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River and seaway in the northeast bordering with Canada. In addition, the Mississippi-Missouri River, which snakes through the central U.S., is the world's fourth longest river system.

Excerpt of "United States." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 12 Jun 2006, 16:31 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 12 Jun 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States&oldid=58227580