Admission Requirements

The requirements for admission are governed by the Biomedical and Health Informatics Department at the UMKC School of Medicine. The admissions committee is composed of faculty from the three emphasis areas who will review applications and determine which students will be admitted.

Applicants for admission to the Master of Science in Bioinformatics must have earned, or will soon earn, a baccalaureate degree from a nationally accredited college or university.

Recommended Qualifications and Coursework

It is preferred that applicants acquire a baccalaureate degree in a scientific discipline (or has earned a health-related professional degree) and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Applicants interested in the Genomics emphasis would benefit from completing the following pre-requisites:

  • Genetics
  • Biochemistry or Molecular Biology
  • Discrete Mathematics / Structures

Applicants interested in the Computational emphasis would benefit from completing the following pre-requisites:

  • Discrete Mathematics / Structures
  • Programming Course(s)

It is recommended for all applicants to have:

  • Two semesters of Calculus,
  • Two semesters of Introductory Biology,
  • Two semesters of Introductory Computer Science, and
  • One semester of Statistics or Probability.

TOEFL or IELTS Score (International Applicants Only)

International students whose native language is not English must complete TOEFL or IELTS exam.

Information regarding which which countries are exempt from TOEFL / IELTS exams can be found here.

  • A minimum score of 550 (paper-based exam), 213 (computer-based exam) or 79 (internet-based exam) is required for TOEFL.
  • A minimum score of 6.0 is required for IELTS exam.

The code to submit your TOEFL scores to UMKC is 6872.

IELTS scores should be sent to:

UMKC International Student Affairs
Student Success Center, G-04
5100 Rockhill Road
Kansas City, MO 64110

Duolingo scores are not accepted.

Applicants who are currently participating in, or have successfully completed, a graduate medical residency or fellowship and have passed USMLE Step II – Clinical Skills are not required to submit a TOEFL or IELTS score.

Applicants interested in working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant must have a minimum score of 24 on the speaking section of the TOEFL exam.

Advising

The Biomedical and Health Informatics Department strongly recommends prospective students communicate with an academic advisor prior to applying for any of the programs offered within the department to learn more about requirements, courses, expectations and more. Please contact the School of Medicine Office of Admissions and they’ll be happy to get you connected to one of our advisors.