UMKC 6 year

[madamebovary]

i am going to apply to this program. I was wondering if anyone has applied there before and is currently attending it. How is the school? is it hard or easy to maintain the requir gpa. Also do you know if you can end up getting good residency.😍

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[Dr Durden]

You're going to be hard pressed to find many who can comment on this program here. Most in this forum are taking the traditional 4 yr college, then med school route.

I am from Kansas City though and have heard some things about the program. You're going to be taking ~20 credit hours each semester and it will be all-consuming. You won't have a chance to explore many interests outside of medicine like college offers. The school itself isn't as prestigious as others in the state like Mizzou and WashU, which might play a role in residency matching. KU also has its main hospital in Kansas City and is much more widely respected than UMKC, even though the city is UMKC's home turf. UMKC is not really a research powerhouse; it is more geared towards producing clinicians, rather than physician-scientists.

However, it is an excellent way for motivated and focused high school seniors to guarantee themselves an MD. It cuts out the stress over MCAT, med school admissions, and the pursuit of altruistic extracurriculars in college that many do solely to pad their resumes.

Good luck with your application.

 

[medfool24]

I know something about this program. PM me if you want more information.

 

[lilnoelle]

I know a current relatively well known gluacoma specialist (opthalmologist) that attended UMKC and is currently practicing at Sabates Eye Center's in KC. Going to UMKC isn't going to prevent you from getting a good residency.

 

[Darkshooter326]

What I know is through hearsay, but that the school is not too bad. The students are sometimes stressed because they are in school pretty much all the time, but the GPA is not impossible to maintain. I would definitely apply, because you save time, money, and a lot of stress😀

 

[Captain Fantastic]

i am going to apply to this program. I was wondering if anyone has applied there before and is currently attending it. How is the school? is it hard or easy to maintain the requir gpa. Also do you know if you can end up getting good residency.😍

If you're going to apply to UMKC you should also think about Mizzou's Conley Scholar program. With Conley you still get to be an true undergrad and enjoy that experience before medical school.

 

[Depakote]

I did this program and withdrew b/c it was a terrible fit.

I have several friends that had significant difficulty matching.

I also had several friends that matched just fine.

Overall, I recommend the 4 and 4 route, I can PM you with details if you really want them, but it's up to you.

 

[revolt1112]

im in the same boat as Depakote. I went but left. It wasn't hard, but something just wasn't right.... it's a kind of backwards school, NO cadavers throughout the entire 6 years! You do get good clinical hands on starting year 1, which you don't get anywhere else.

 

[revolt1112]

and i forgot to add, it's CRAZY expensive for out of state students. I was paying $60k a year.....ridiculous, and you have to live in the dorm for the first two years. It used to just be the first year, but they recently changed it after building a new dorm.

$60k is like an entire in-state undergrad education.

 

[madamebovary]

can i apply for any sort of scholarships

 

[RunwayModel]

According to their own website (http://www.med.umkc.edu/education/default.html, Extension and Readmission
Twenty-eight percent of UMKC medical students take more than six years to complete the program. This extended time provides the opportunity for students to pursue personal interests such as research or fellowships, or to successfully complete curricular blocks. Approximately two-thirds of these students graduate from the UMKC School of Medicine.

Those aren't good odds esp. since most medical schools don't have such a bad attrition rate, not to mention if you're out of state $54,083 is a lot of money, and that's JUST tuition. Do the normal route or AT LEAST, do a accelerated program at a more prestigious institution.

 

[RunwayModel]

To answer your scholarship question on the website it says:

Non-Resident Applicant

o A student applicant who attended and graduated from an out-of-state high school
and has an out-of-state legal address will be considered a non-resident for
application fee, admission, and tuition and fee purposes.

o A student applicant who has a legal out-of state address but attended and
graduated from a Missouri high school will be considered a non-resident for
application fee, admission, and tuition and fee purposes. A Kansas applicant
attending a Missouri high school will be assessed the non-resident application fee
of $50.

Upon admission into the BA/MD program, non-resident students agree to pay nonresident tuition and fees for a minimum of 5 years and 9 months or longer if individual circumstances require, and agree that they will not apply for or otherwise claim entitlement to any UMKC non-resident scholarship or claim resident status.

 

[Depakote]

According to their own website (http://www.med.umkc.edu/education/default.html, Extension and Readmission
Twenty-eight percent of UMKC medical students take more than six years to complete the program. This extended time provides the opportunity for students to pursue personal interests such as research or fellowships, or to successfully complete curricular blocks. Approximately two-thirds of these students graduate from the UMKC School of Medicine.

Those aren't good odds esp. since most medical schools don't have such a bad attrition rate, not to mention if you're out of state $54,083 is a lot of money, and that's JUST tuition. Do the normal route or AT LEAST, do a accelerated program at a more prestigious institution.

I dispute the claim that extension time is used for personal interests. In 95% of the cases I experienced... it was b/c people had difficulty with the way the program was put together and had to repeat classes. During this extension time, you're not vacationing, you're working your ass off to make up for the GPA you had when taking 20+ hours, only now you're only taking 16, but you have to nail all your BCPM or you won't be able to promote. No time for personal interests. (this also has a fair amount to do with that 2/3 factor)

I'm happy with my decision to leave and I'll be attending med school next fall. But, I wouln't count on going an being able to bail-out if you don't like it. Leaving the program and getting back into med school is a hellish process.

 

[madamebovary]

thanks for all your input. I think i will apply to the program first and see if i can get in. Then i will discuss with my parents whether they agree with me going out of state. They, however, want me to stay close to LA and go to UCLA or USC

 

[potato51]

A physician I know went through the program and landed a dermatology residency at Harvard.

 

[Looque]

Growing up near Kansas City, MO, I applied to the program out of high school but quickly decided that it simply was not the route for me, for many of the same reasons stated above. I know a few people who have been through it, and I feel as if they don't really understand what they missed by not allowing themselves to be normal college students for a while.

I think that the stress of the MCAT and the traditional application process is minimal compared with the stress of having 20+ hour loads without summers off for two years and going straight into med school, where you also will not have summers off.

 

[RunwayModel]

I dispute the claim that extension time is used for personal interests. In 95% of the cases I experienced... it was b/c people had difficulty with the way the program was put together and had to repeat classes. During this extension time, you're not vacationing, you're working your ass off to make up for the GPA you had when taking 20+ hours, only now you're only taking 16, but you have to nail all your BCPM or you won't be able to promote. No time for personal interests. (this also has a fair amount to do with that 2/3 factor)

I'm happy with my decision to leave and I'll be attending med school next fall. But, I wouln't count on going an being able to bail-out if you don't like it. Leaving the program and getting back into med school is a hellish process.

I agree with Depakote as well. I was just quoting this from their website, which as you can imagine, they certainly will not tell the truth as to why a huge number of their students extend in the program. As some do take more time for other interests (such as research at other places), it is DEFINITELY not the majority. Bottom line, is that even if you get in the program, the lack of prestige, research, and a bunch of other items, I've left out, by the time residency application comes around, the only thing you can say is graduated in 6 years (if even that), which that alone will not help and may sometimes even hurt u.