The spring semester of the sophomore year (or junior year if taking a gap year) is the ideal time to apply.

Post-graduate students on extended timelines to medical school and medical re-applicants are also welcome to apply.  High school students are not eligible for this program, but those interested in alternative learning opportunities in regional healthcare may contact the Northwest Missouri Area Health Education Center, a partner of UMKC School of Medicine and Mosaic Life Care.

Program Activities

During the program students will be provided:

• In-person opportunities for shadowing healthcare providers with rural health backgrounds
• Discounted MCAT preparation course
• Study skills and standardized exam prep training
• Interview training
• Access to personal application prep advising
• Professional clinical skills training opportunities (BLS, suturing skills, dissection experiences)
• Other extracurricular activities (in-person and virtual) to improve preparation and competitiveness for medical school admission.
• Specialized programming addressing the challenges of rural healthcare and rural workforce development

Program Expectations

Accepted students must sign and return their Program Participation Agreement within two weeks of notification of acceptance.

Attendance is mandatory at monthly virtual activities/seminars or check-ins with your advisor, as well as participation in a minimum of one on-site clinical shadowing experience scheduled in a summer term during the program.

Accepted students are expected to have availability for the required in-person clinical experiences (during specific days) and virtual classes (scheduled evenings/weekends).  Program standing will be determined by a point system, in which each activity or exercise is valued with engagement points.  Students must maintain a specified total of engagement points each term (Summer, Fall, Spring) to maintain their eligibility for continued program support. Some program activities will be considered mandatory for all enrolled, but some flexibility to customize with additional optional enrichment opportunities may be offered.

Students will be provided with stipend support, qualified travel reimbursement, and on-site housing, but are responsible for arranging their own transportation to the clinical site of assignment when scheduled for clinical experiences in person.

Students must maintain Good Standing with the program in order to qualify for reimbursement and stipend benefits.  Good Standing in the program requires maintenance of a cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0 if currently enrolled and attendance at all required activities.  Students must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 to apply.

Support Benefits and Guidelines

Student housing will be provided at no cost to the student on clinical sites for multi-day shadowing experiences arranged by program leaders.

Travel expenses for commuting or regional students are eligible for reimbursement up to $700 upon presentation of qualified expense receipts AND completion of the associated activity.

A stipend of $150 per semester (summer, fall, spring) will be paid to offset additional expenses, if in good standing with the program. * Note: receiving a stipend may affect financial aid packages if currently enrolled; please consult with your financial aid officer prior to accepting.

Discounted MCAT preparation resources are available through NWMO AHEC (see their website for details). Princeton Review Self-Paced or Pathways MCAT prep courses can be reimbursed to 75% with proof of payment immediately upon purchase by the student. An additional 15% of these costs will be reimbursed upon submission of score reports for two practice MCATs associated with completion of prep course activities.

MCAT examination fee for one exam will be reimbursed if a score of 500 or above is achieved (pending good standing with the program).

Application costs (primary and secondary application) to UMKC School of Medicine will be reimbursed.

Your application will require the following information:

• Your personal contact information
• Key demographic data about you
• Copies of your unofficial academic transcript(s) in PDF format for all schools you attended
• Your responses to the four essay prompts below (limit 1000 words)
• A copy of your current CV in PDF format (see example link on this page)
• Two letters of recommendation from faculty members, health care workers, or other advocates who may speak to your fit for this program and dedication to rural medicine initiatives.
  • One letter should be from a science faculty member at your institution.
  • A Health Professions Committee Letter of Recommendation is also acceptable.  When submitting a committee letter, only one letter of documentation is required.
  • Letters must be emailed to admissions directly from the letter writers, preferably on letterhead, and from a professional or institutional email address to: kmspears@umkc.edu

 

Note that successful applicants will have completed or be enrolled in any 4 out of the 10 science courses listed below completed prior to application:

Labs associated with these classes are strongly encouraged:

• General Biology I
• General Biology II
• General Chemistry I
• General Chemistry II
• Organic Chemistry I
• Cell Biology
• Biochemistry
• General Physics I
• General Physics II
• Genetics

The courses below are additional recommended courses that do not need to be completed prior to application but will substantially maximize student benefit achieved from program activities:

•  English elective
•  Composition or Writing course
•  Statistics
•  Psychology/Social Science

If your college or university awarded you credit for any AP courses, they MUST be listed on your college transcript. If they are not listed individually on your college transcript, you must send a letter from your college registrar indicating the AP courses and the course requirements that they fulfill at your college or university.

Official transcripts are not required but may be directed to kmspears@umkc.edu upon request.

 

Application Essay Prompts

You will be asked to complete your answers to the following questions in essays of no more than 1000 words.  You will not be able to save and return to the application form once you start, so you may wish to construct your responses offline in a word processor and add them to your application after additional reflection.

Please answer the following questions about your interest in pursuing Rural Medicine:

1. Describe your personal interest in practicing as a rural physician; how has any contact with the medical profession as a patient, advocate, or a provider/professional influenced your desire to practice rural medicine?
2. Please describe the area(s) in which you grew up and describe the community you listed as your hometown (if different).
3. Describe your understanding of an issue or challenge facing health care for rural communities.
4. In what areas do you feel you need to improve to become a successful candidate to a medical degree program?

 

Curriculum Vitae

You will be asked to submit a current CV as part of your application materials.

What is a CV?

A Curriculum Vitae (CV) is a catalogue of the work you have done in various areas of your career. It can also be used as a tool to reflect on or evaluate your experiences. One can see where deficiencies in experience are and fill those gaps. There are different CV formats that you may use, but it is recommended you use our template.

Download the template below.

CV Template

 

For additional examples of CVs for pre-medical students and instructions on developing your document, please refer to this link.