Program Overview
The UMKC School of Medicine offers an opportunity for medical education to students who have obtained, or will soon earn, a baccalaureate degree. This program is the M.D. Program. Students interested in the M.D. Program must apply for admission between May 1 and August 1. If selected for admission, students will begin coursework in January.
While out-of-state students are welcome to apply to the M.D. Program, preference and priority consideration is given to in-state students from the state of Missouri as well as to regional students from the states of Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.
Clinical Experience and Physician Interaction
Students join a group of 10 to 12 fellow medical students, called a docent team. Early and continued contact with a team of clinical physicians, known as docents, builds student capacity for clinical judgment. Docent teams include a docent, a clinical pharmacologist, a clinical medical librarian, an Education Team Coordinator and other health care professionals.
Half a day every week for three-and-a-half years, students assist with outpatient care in continuing care clinics at two of our partner hospitals. This clinical assignment provides a continuity of patient care, as well as a wealth of clinical experience, and allows students to work with full-time, hospital-based staff, including physicians, nurses and residents.
Students practice skills through the use of state-of-the art simulators that replicate the human body and human conditions.
Two blocks (four weeks each) a year for the last three years, students join their full docent team for daily ward rounds called DoRo, or docent rotation.
New students are paired with a senior partner who serves as another mentor, allowing advanced students to take additional responsibility. Peer and self-evaluations are used to augment student education and training.
Research
Students have the opportunity to work with faculty in both clinical and research settings. Students involved in research have the opportunity to present their findings each spring at the annual Student Research Summit, and funding is available to support student research projects. The Office of Research Administration facilitates student research programs as well as coordinates supplemental research lectures and seminars.
Service
Students at the UMKC School of Medicine have the opportunity to develop community partnerships, provide community service and reflect upon their experiences. Students participate in service-based programs, such as the Sojourner Clinic, a free outpatient clinic developed and managed by medical students, and the Kansas City Free Eye Clinic.