University of South Alabama, College of Medicine Admission
University of South Alabama, College of Medicine Undergraduate Program
University of South Alabama, College of Medicine Application

The Facts

The University of South Alabama is a rather large, public institution located in the town of Mobile, Alabama, and has a combined graduate and undergraduate population of over 18,000 students. The university's College of Medicine, however, is significantly smaller, and is home to about 300 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 traditional educational styles, as well as for its emphasis on patient care and community health. Aside from the basic MD degree, the school offers a joint MD/PhD degree in various areas of the biomedical sciences.

Admission to the University of South Alabama's College of Medicine is extremely competitive among the relatively few students who apply; last year, over 800 students applied for admission to the school, and approximately 120 of those students were accepted. Eventually however, only about 64 of the admitted students actually enrolled for the coming semester. The admitted students had average MCAT scores of about 9.9 in Biology, 9.8 in Physics, and 9.4 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, are able to take advantage of the school's early application program if they so choose.

The university's College of Medicine has about 300 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 1:1, and the small classes allow for plenty of discussion and interaction between students and their professors.

Graduates of the College of Medicine often go on to be accepted to some of the most competitive residency programs in the nation, and most frequently specialize in the areas of primary care, internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, pathology, ob/gyn, as well as surgery.

Clinical Programs

Students are required to complete extensive clinical training including 12 weeks of medicine, 8 weeks of surgery, 8 weeks of ob/gyn, 6 weeks of psychiatry, 8 weeks of pediatrics, as well as 6 weeks of family practice. Students complete their clinical clerkships at affiliated facilities including the university's own teaching hospital.

What's Good

"The faculty here are wonderful, and they obviously love what they do."

"The students tend to be very supportive of one another, which is quite nice."

"I really appreciate the emphasis on the doctor-patient relationship here."

What's Bad

"There is never enough on campus graduate housing available."

"The administration tends to not do a very good job of communicating with students."

"There are some professors who are ridiculously hard on their students."

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