Planning for Later: Medical School

This is not a program for high school students, but if medical school is on your teen’s radar, be sure they know about free tuition at Albert Einstein College of Medicine! Just for fun, I’ve included their admissions requirements and some HS4CC notes.

The Albert Einstein College of Medicine announced it will give all students free tuition starting August 2024 and all current fourth-year students tuition reimbursement for the spring 2024 semester thanks to a $1 billion donation.

“Albert Einstein College of Medicine has received a transformational gift from Ruth L. Gottesman, Ed.D., Chair of the Einstein Board of Trustees and Montefiore Health System board member. This historic gift — the largest made to any medical school in the country — will ensure that no student at Einstein will have to pay tuition again.”

Admissions

Just for fun, I’ve highlighted several parts of their admissions requirements in yellow. These will be points of special interest to HS4CC families.

There are 4 competencies:

1. Co-Curricular Activities and Relevant Experiences
2. Communication Skills
3. Personal and Professional Development
4. Knowledge

Co-Curricular Activities and Relevant Experiences

Applicants must be able to demonstrate an understanding of the clinical aspects of the career on which they are about to embark. As such, they must engage in meaningful experiences, at home or abroad, that provide exposure to clinical settings involving patient care and also provide opportunities for interaction with and learning from persons who are living with illness and/or disabilities.

Recognizing that time is limited, however, and that work, research and other activities can contribute to a student’s overall preparedness for medical school but might compete with time that would have been devoted to clinical exposure, Einstein will consider, holistically, the full set of activities described in a candidate’s application.

Communications Skills

Communication skills are essential to work effectively with patients and meaningfully collaborate with colleagues. Applicants must have:

1. excellent spoken and written language abilities;
2. language abilities that enable them to read, evaluate and use the information from scientific and public health literature;
3. excellent interpersonal interaction and communication skills, including empathic listening, and the ability to interact with people from diverse socioeconomic, cultural, racial and ethnic backgrounds;
4. computer skills that enable them to utilize common software given its importance in medical education and practice.

Personal and Professional Development

Physicians must maintain a high standard of ethical and professional behavior, characterized by patience, empathy, maturity, self-motivation, emotional stability, personal integrity, accountability to colleagues and patients, and dedication to the practice of medicine. They must also be able to give primacy to the needs of their patients while maintaining appropriate interpersonal boundaries. Applicants are expected to have demonstrated that they have acquired these attributes:

1. the ability to work cooperatively as a member of a team;
2. cultural awareness, sensitivity and advocacy for, as well as interest in, individuals who are served by the health care system and/or who are the participants of clinical research;
3. the ability to withstand the stressors inherent in the intensive medical school training process, and the ability to adapt to these stressors;
4. commitment to leadership, teaching, collegial interactions, advocacy, and life-long learning to enhance the practice of medicine.

Applicants with specific interests and career goals such as academic medicine or public health should:

1. participate in hypothesis-driven basic science, translational or clinical research;
2. study and/or participate in experiences that provide them with an appreciable understanding of the public health issues of chronic disease, health disparities, and/or global health.

Knowledge

In recognition of the importance of intellectual multiplicity in the medical profession, applicants are encouraged to major in any area of the humanities or sciences that is of interest to them. Regardless of an applicant’s chosen major, in preparation for studies in human physiology, pharmacology and the biological basis of disease, applicants applying to medical school should obtain a solid foundation in the biological, chemical and physical sciences. Premedical coursework should include laboratory-based courses in which applicants learn to collect data, analyze it and draw scientifically rigorous conclusions.

1. Chemistry/Biochemistry
An understanding of inorganic and organic chemistry is essential to understanding the biochemistry of living organisms. Applicants should have a working knowledge of:

1. atomic and molecular structure, chemical reactions, catalysis, chemical equilibrium, thermodynamics, reaction rates, binding constants and reaction mechanisms with a focus on redox reactions, acid-base chemistry, enzyme catalysis and biological chemistry;
2. the structure and function of biologically important molecules including DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids and carbohydrates and the pathways for synthesis, modification and degradation of these macromolecules.

2. Biology
Applicants should understand the molecular and cellular organization of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms and viruses. This includes understanding the:

1. structure and function of cells and subcellular organelles;
2. major biological processes and the regulation of these processes including life cycle, metabolism, bioenergetics, and replication;
3. cellular basis for organ function and how organs contribute to the viability of living organisms.

3. Physics
Physics provides a fundamental foundation for understanding chemistry, biology and physiology. Applicants should have knowledge of Newtonian mechanics, work and energy, fluid dynamics, electricity and magnetism, circuit diagrams, and waves.

4. Mathematics
Applicants should have a firm foundation, i.e., college level course exposure to quantitative reasoning and the mathematical analysis and interpretation of data. They should be able to:

1. construct and interpret functions and graphs;
2. understand the use of basic statistics and probability in testing hypotheses and validating experimental results, particularly as it relates to the critical reading of medical and scientific literature.

While not part of the required competencies, computer science and programming, and knowledge of the concepts of limits, integration and differentiation may be useful skills, depending on an applicant’s interests and career goals, especially for those applicants interested in a career in research and/or academic medicine.

5. Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences
While applicants are not expected to achieve expertise in all disciplines, it is important that they understand the factors that influence individual, community and societal decisions regarding health and health care. This awareness can be gained through courses in disciplines such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, public health, literature, economics, history, philosophy and ethics. Applicants should have a basic understanding of key issues in medical ethics.

Where to Meet the Knowledge Competencies

Whereas course work at a four-year college or university is our benchmark, if a student chooses to meet a competency component via an alternate route such as through laboratory experience, through an advanced placement course, a course taken at a community college, a course taken abroad (during a semester abroad for which the undergraduate U.S. degree-granting institution gives credit, or for which AMCAS will verify and report the grade), or an online course (including labs, but only for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic), he or she should seek guidance from his or her advisor to ensure that the option meets the above guidelines as well as the rigorous academic standard required by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Suggested Minimum Credit Hours and Experience

In our experience, the above Knowledge Competencies are most successfully attained by applicants who have had a minimum of three years of study toward a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university in the U.S. or Canada as well as 40 credit hours of science and mathematics, including advanced biology courses for which letter grades are available (not Pass/Fail, unless college policy), or, unless the college, university or post-bac program suspended grades for the COVID-19 pandemic, and a statement confirming is submitted via the AMCAS Letter Writer by the Pre-Medical Advisor or the applicant’s individual advisor), 40 credit hours of humanities and social sciences, and substantial experience in clinical, community, and/or research activities (as described above). Students who complete their science course work in a post-baccalaureate program must have completed at least 30 credit hours in a U.S.-chartered college or university whose grades can be reported and verified by AMCAS.

MCATS

All applicants must take the MCATs not later than September of the year preceding matriculation and not later than three years prior to application.

HS4CC FAMILIES NOTE: Course Work Older than Five Years

Applicants who have completed all of their pre-medical course requirements five years prior to the time of application must show evidence of participation in either academic or work experience in the biological sciences. Academic experience should include at least one course in a discipline such as cell biology, molecular biology, genetics, immunology or neuroscience. Work experience may include research in the biological or physical sciences or clinical investigation.

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Anyone considering medical school should carefully review the MSAR Premed Course Requirement document published every year by AAMC.