Dr. Donna Jackson Assistant Dean of Admissions and Natalia O'Brien Program Specialist at VCU attended this week's meeting to talk about the Virginia Commonwealth University School or Medicine. 

The meeting began with a short video presentation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFtQfmm9hrM&ab_channel=VirginiaCommonwealthUniversity), followed by a Q&A session. Here are some highlights: 

Semester 1 of the curriculum consists of classes such as: biochemistry, physiology, histology, pharmacology, etc. Semesters 2 and 3 cover organ systems and their pathologies. Then there are a few weeks of courses in 4th semester, then review for board exams. The school provides individual counseling to students for the USMLE Step 1. Preparation for M3 begins in students' second year itself. They have certain required rotations for M3, such as family medicine, OBGYN, etc. Some of the 4th year requirements are: integrated care experience, rotations, a month of critical care, electives (can choose one closer to home or abroad) clinical and non-clinical are available. People can continue research, work in admissions, join a medical journal review club, among other things in their fourth year. 

186 students this year, 50% out of state students

Average GPA 3.6-3.7, MCAT 512

Minimum GPA 3.3. MCAT 503

$57,000 tuition, about $77,000 with living expenses

$204,000 is average debt for out of state students upon graduation

There are a few experience-related requirements to apply:

50 hours minimum of medical exposure: doctor-patient (shadowing), then personal medical interactions --> scribing and triage cover both

60 hours minimum of community service: must be in activities that serve vulnerable populations

research and leadership are not required, but strongly recommended

You can find more information here: https://medschool.vcu.edu/