University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine Admission
University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine Undergraduate Program
University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine Application

The Facts

The University of Pittsburgh is a rather large, public institution located in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and has a combined graduate and undergraduate population of over 24,000 students. The university's School of Medicine, however, is significantly smaller, and is home to about 600 graduate medical students. The average age of enrollment is around 24, and it is fairly rare for any of the students to enter the school directly from their undergraduate education. The school is perhaps best known for its wonderful research programs, its partnership with Carnegie-Mellon, as well as for its focus on public health and medical ethics. Aside from the basic MD degree, the school offers a joint MD/PhD degree in conjunction with Carnegie-Mellon University in various areas of the biomedical sciences.

Admission to the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine is extremely competitive among the many students who apply; last year, over 4,722 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 800 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 350 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming semester. The admitted students had average MCAT scores of about 10.8 in Biology, 10.7 in Physics, and 10.6 in Verbal, as well as an average undergraduate GPA of about a 3.7. Students are notified of their admissions status on a rolling basis, and there is currently no early application program in place.

The university's School of Medicine has about 1,400 faculty members, all of whom come from relatively diverse medical and academic backgrounds. The school also boasts a very manageable student to faculty ratio of about 3:1, and the small classes allow for plenty of discussion and interaction between students and their professors.

Graduates of the School of Medicine often go on to be accepted to some of the most prestigious and competitive residency programs in the nation, and most frequently specialize in the areas of primary care, family practice, pediatrics, orthopedics, psychiatry, general surgery, neurology, as well as ob/gyn.

Clinical Programs

Students are required to complete extensive clinical training including 6 weeks of ambulatory subspecialties (dermatology, neurosurgery, opthamology, orthopedics, otolaryngology, pediatrics surgery, plastic surgery, as well as urology) 4 weeks of family medicine, 6 weeks of ob/gyn, 8 weeks of pediatrics, 6 weeks of psychiatry, 6 weeks of surgery, as well as 4 weeks of various electives. Students complete their clinical clerkships at affiliated facilities including the University Health Center, the Presbyterian University Hospital, Montefiore Hospital, the Eye and Ear Institute, the Western Psychiatric Institute, as well as s the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.

What's Good

"The clinical training is incredibly extensive, and you feel very confident once you've completed it."

"The faculty here is amazing, and they are willing to help you through your toughest times."

"The administration actually does a pretty good job in attending to students' needs."

What's Bad

"Tuition has skyrocketed in the past few years, and it will only continue to increase."

"There is some competition among students here, and it can be quite intimidating."

"You can't really expect to have much of a life when you're here. It's tough."

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