Education

Only residents of Alabama are eligible for admissions to the Rural Medical Scholars Program (RMSP).  The committee selects from eligible applicants based on academic and personal achievement and characteristics such as rural identity and commitment to career goals, teamwork orientation, self-motivation, and other qualities that predict applicants’ ability to become outstanding rural physicians.

Successful applicants generally have had a minimum 3.3 GPA and a composite MCAT score of 24 or higher with no sub-score below six (a guarantee of consideration for admission).  Lower gradepoints are handled case-by-case.

PROVISIONAL ACCEPTANCE MAY BE GRANTED if an applicant meets all specified requirements except having scored the required minimum on MCAT. 

NO student will be matriculated into the School of Medicine without having earned a satisfactory MCAT score prior to matriculation.

• Rural Medical Scholars are medical school applicants from rural backgrounds who intend to practice primary care in rural and underserved areas. 
• Applicants must have lived in a rural area of Alabama for no less than eight years.  A rural area may be either a county outside of a standard metropolitan statistical area (SMSA) or a smaller area determined to be rural by rural physicians on the RMSP Admission Committee. 
• Students who participated in the Rural Health Scholars Program receive preference in the selection process.
• Successful applicants will complete final year of undergraduate education or a year of graduate study at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa prior to entry into UASOM (University of Alabama School of Medicine). Exceptions will be made in special circumstances.
• Maintain their academic standards by earning a minimum 3.2 GPA in their prematriculation year of course work at The University of Alabama.  Any RMSP student who earns a grade of D or F in his/her year of study at UA will not be eligible for matriculation into the UASOM through the RMSP.  These students may apply through the regular admissions process with all other applicants.
• Applicants must meet all current specified UASOM admissions requirements:

1.  A  minimum of 90 semester hours of academic credit.

2.  Required course work:  One year each (8 semester hrs) of  biology, general chemistry, organic chemistry and physics;6 semester hours of college mathematics (or computer sciences); and 6 semester hours of English.

3.  Take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), scoring a minimum of 24

      Rural Medical Scholars [along with all medical students] mustearn a satisfactory MCAT score prior to matriculation.

4.  Submit application to University of Alabama School of Medicine (UASOM ) through the American Medical College application Service (AMCAS).

5.  Students are required to earn a baccalaureate degree prior to matriculation in medical school.  Exceptions may be granted for students who are exceedingly well qualified academically and with superior MCAT scores.

RMSP Selection Process

Applications to the RMSP are submitted to the UA School of Medicine in Birmingham and potentially eligible candidates are interviewed by the RMSP Admissions Committee.

The RMSP Admissions Committee is composed predominantly of primary care physicians in rural practice and Tuscaloosa campus faculty with representation from the the School of Medicine’s Admissions Committee at UAB.

Each candidate invited to Interview Day in Tuscaloosa has one-to-one visits with at least three members of the RMSP Admissions Committee.  All candidates attend a brief orientation session in the morning and rotate through scheduled interviews.  They usually have lunch with Rural Medical Scholars from preceding classes and tour clinic(s) and/or the hospital where a portion of UASOM medical students and all UA Rural Medical Scholars  receive clinical training in the third and fourth years of medical school.

Committee members meet to discuss interview results and the applications immediately following the conclusion of interviews. Applicants are notified within 24 hours whether or not they will be admitted to the program, which begins in August.