Policies and Resources

It is the policy of the UGA School of Medicine that only U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents will be considered for admission into the MD program. An applicant who isn’t a citizen must provide verification of permanent resident status (e.g. copy of green card) on the supplemental application to complete the application.

All prerequisite coursework must be completed at a regionally accredited institution in the United States or Canada. International coursework (defined below), including credits earned at foreign institutions, will not be accepted to fulfill prerequisite requirements and will not be included in AMCAS GPA calculations unless accepted as transfer credit and appearing on an official transcript from a U.S. or Canadian institution. Applicants currently enrolled in a degree program must complete all requirements before matriculation. A baccalaureate degree is required.

Definitions

U.S. Citizen: An individual who holds U.S. citizenship.

U.S. Permanent Resident: An individual who holds a valid, unexpired U.S. Permanent Resident Card (green card).

International Coursework: Any coursework completed at a postsecondary institution that is outside the U.S., U.S. Territories, or Canada, and is not accredited by a U.S. or Canadian Regional Association of Colleges and Universities.

Accepted applicants to the UGA School of Medicine MD program are expected to matriculate in the entering year for which they applied. However, applicants with circumstances preventing matriculation may request a one-year deferral.

To request a deferral, applicants must submit a written request via email to the Office of Admissions, outlining their reason for deferral and including any relevant supporting documentation.

The Admissions Committee reviews all deferral requests and has sole discretion in granting approvals.

All deferral requests must be submitted by June 1 of the matriculating year.

The UGA SOM follows the University System of Georgia (USG) Immunization Policy and the University of Georgia (UGA) University Health Center Immunizations Policy that require all students to provide documentation of mandatory vaccinations. Failure to do so will result in a hold on their account and restrict registration until the requirements are met. Additionally, the UGA SOM engages with community healthcare partners to provide clinical rotation sites for medical students. Students may be required to provide proof of additional immunizations and/or screenings that are unique to each site as a precondition to participating in clinical activities at those sites. Religious and medical exemptions may be considered, but not guaranteed, per the UGA UHC immunization policy and at the discretion of partner clinical sites with appropriate supporting documentation

Related Policies and Information 

University Health Center Mandatory Immunization Program 

University Health Center Certificate of Immunization

Observation: Students should be able to obtain information from demonstrations and experiments in the basic sciences. Students should be able to assess a patient and evaluate findings accurately. These skills require the use of vision, hearing, and touch or the functional equivalent. Examples include observing demonstrations, identifying physical findings, interpreting diagnostic images and data, and gathering clinical information through physical examination techniques such as auscultation, palpation, and percussion.

Communication: Students should be able to communicate in order to elicit information, to detect changes in mood and activity, and to establish a therapeutic relationship. Students should be able to communicate via English effectively and sensitively both in person and in writing.

Motor: Students should, after a reasonable period of time, possess the capacity to perform a physical examination and perform diagnostic maneuvers. Students should be able to execute some motor movements required to provide general care to patients and provide or direct the provision of emergency treatment of patients (e.g., CPR, wound closure). Such actions require some coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements balance and equilibrium. Academic and clinical responsibilities must be completed within expected timeframes.

Intellectual, conceptual, integrative, and quantitative abilities: Students should be able to assimilate detailed and complex information presented in both didactic and clinical coursework, engage in problem-solving. Students are expected to possess the ability to measure, calculate, reason, analyze, synthesize, and transmit information. In addition, students should be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and to understand the spatial relationships of structures and to adapt to different learning environments and modalities.

Behavioral and social abilities: Students should possess the emotional health required for full utilization of their intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, the prompt completion of all responsibility’s attendant to the diagnosis and care of patients, and the development of mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients, fellow students, faculty, and staff. Students should be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads and to function effectively under stress. They should be able to adapt to changing environments, to display flexibility, and to learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of many patients. Compassion, integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, professionalism, interest, and motivation are all personal qualities that are expected during the education processes.

Ethics and professionalism: Students should maintain and display ethical and moral behaviors commensurate with the role of a physician in all interactions with patients, faculty, staff, students, and the public. The candidate is expected to understand the legal and ethical aspects of the practice of medicine and function within the law and ethical standards of the medical profession.

The technical standards delineated above must be met with or without accommodation.

Definitions

Disability: any health condition that substantially limits an individual in a major life activity.

Accommodation: a modification or adjustment to an instructional activity, facility, program, or service that enables a qualified student with a disability to have an equal educational opportunity.

Reasonable accommodations: are those that effectively meet disability-related needs of qualified students, yet that do not put students, patients, or others in danger, do not fundamentally alter the essential elements of the UGA SOM programs, do not create undue burdens for the University, and do not provide new programming for students with disabilities that is not available to all medical students.

Should you need an accommodation for any part of the admissions process, please contact UGA’s Accessibility and Testing Office as soon as possible.

The School of Medicine will not accept students transferring from another medical program.

All admitted applicants must submit verification of lawful presence. Verification will be collected on the supplemental application. Click here for more information.