University of Colorado School of Medicine – (CU)

About University of Colorado (CU)

The University of Colorado (CU), School of Medicine was founded in 1883 in Boulder, Colorado but later in 1924, it was moved to Colorado Boulevard, Denver. The school then outgrew its facilities and in 1999 the school moved to Aurora, Colorado where it was renamed as Anschutz Medical Campus.

The Medical Campus contains the School of Dental Medicine of the University of Colorado, College of Nursing, Colorado School of Public Health and University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy.

The schools’ mission is to educate medical students, physicians, and other health professionals from diverse cultural backgrounds. The graduates of the School of Medicine will be competent enough to meet the future primary and specialty health care needs of the public. Along with this, the students will be a part of Bio-Medical Research that will lead to advances in the scientific world and along with this the research work will help improve the public health and widen the range of patient service provided by hospitals and clinics.

Affiliation

There are quite a few affiliates of the Anschutz Medical Campus, which are:

• National Jewish Health
• Saint Joseph Hospital
• Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center
• University of Colorado Hospital
• Children’s Hospital Colorado
• Denver Health

Admission Procedure for University of Colorado (CU)

Requirements

The School of Medicine requires that all candidates applying should have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited College or University after matriculation.

The course works required before applying is mentioned below:

• 8 semester hours – human biology (with lab),
• 8 semester hours – general chemistry (with lab),
• 8 semester hours – organic chemistry (with lab),
• 8 semester hours – general physics (with lab)
• 6 semester hours – English literature/composition
• 6 semester hours – College level mathematics (algebra and above).

NOTE:

Candidates applying should give special attention to the 6-Hour College Level Mathematics and the 6-Hour English requirement because these are the two requirements that are usually difficult to fulfill for many candidates.

Apart from the above course work the candidate can also have additional coursework regarding Computer Science, Humanities, Genetics, Biochemistry, and Social Sciences.

AP and CLEP courses or any online courses done by any candidate are also considered equal to college courses if the US-accredited degree-granting institution includes these credits on their transcript as fulfilling certain institutional requirements.

MCAT

The candidate applying has to take the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT). The MCAT test results should not be older than 3 years prior to matriculation and September test scores prior to matriculation are the ones that are accepted by the university.

Application

After fulfilling all the requirements the candidate has to fill out the AMCAS application which is to be filled online. In the AMCAS application, the candidate should attach letters of recommendation. Three to five letters of recommendation are required, which can be from a faculty member, research experience, clinical experience or a job (if you’re working).

After the AMCAS application has been processed the candidate will be asked to submit a secondary application before the due date assigned. In the secondary application, there is a Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics (CASPer) Test. The test is a mandatory part of the admission procedure and after taking the CASPer Test its result have to be sent to CUSOM by the date given to the candidate.

An overview of what the secondary application consists is given below:

• Secondary application processing fee – Fee is Non-refundable
• Required Colorado Specific Essay
• Optional Colorado Springs Branch Campus essay of interest
• Optional Rural Track essay for consideration
• Optional Urban Track essay for consideration
• CASPer test results

Interviews

After the completion of the secondary application, the selected candidates are called in for interviews. The interview day schedule is as follows:

• Check-in

  (7:45 – 8:15 am)

A name tag and personal agenda will be provided to each candidate which consists of a whole schedule for the day.

• Welcome

  (8:15 – 8:30 am)

An overview for the day will be given followed by a welcome by the Assistant Dean of Admissions.

• Group Activity / Curriculum Presentation

  (8:40 – 10:00 am)

Half of the candidates will have a 40 minutes group exercise with two of the interviewers while the other half will listen to Curriculum presentation. The groups will then switch

• Break

  (10:00 – 10:15 am)

• Group Interview / Financial Aid & Colorado Springs Branch Presentation

  (10:15 – 11:35 am)

Half of the candidates will have group interviews with two the interviewers for 40 minutes while the other half will listen to the Financial Aid presentation (20 minutes) and a Colorado Springs Branch presentation (20 minutes). The groups will then switch

• Lunch with Current Students

  (11:35 am – 12:10 pm)

The candidates will get to have lunch and interact with some of the current medical students.

• Individual Interview / Campus Tour

  (12:20 – 2:30 pm)

Half of the candidates will have individual interviews with the panel and each interview will last for about 15 minutes and the other half of the candidates will be given a tour of the campus. The groups will then switch

• Closing Remarks

  (2:30 pm – 2:45 pm)

The day will be wrapped up after a question-answer session.

Transfer Students

The University of Colorado School of Medicine accepts transfer students with advanced standing from another LCME accredited medical school in rare circumstances, and only after basic science training is completed, and prior to their clerkship training.

Each transfer student admitted into the medical school with advanced standing must have their academic history and credentials from their previous LCME accredited medical school reviewed and approved by the Admissions Committee prior to being accepted into the medical school.

Tuition and Fee

Rates for Anesthesiology MS, Physical Therapy-DPT and Master of Physician Assistant Studies are shown per credit hour.

Rates for Master of Physician Assistant Studies Year 1-3, Medical MD Year 1-4 and Non-Resident Medical MD are shown annually.

The above fee structure is for the year 2019-2020 and there are slight changes in the rates every year.

Financial Aid

The University of Colorado provides financial aid to its students. An application for Federal Student Aid has to be filled out as early as possible as the aid is provided on a first come first basis. In March and April, your applications are reviewed by the Financial Aid & Scholarship Office and you are notified via mail if further information is needed.

Scholarships

Scholarships are available for MD students. The candidate has to apply for a scholarship via an application that consists of an essay in which a few questions have to be answered. The scholarships are then awarded depending on the answers to the questions.

Some of the scholarships granted are as follows:

• Diversity & Equity (available to all students)
• Leadership & Merit (available to all students)
• Research (MSIII’s & MIV’s only)
• Commitment to Primary Care (available to all students)
• Commitment to Rural Care (only available to students enrolled in the Rural Track)

Departments

• Anesthesiology
• Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics
• Cell & Developmental Biology
• Dermatology
• Emergency Medicine
• Family Medicine
• Immunology/Microbiology
• Medicine:
• Allergy/Asthma Clinical Immunology
• Biomedical Informatics & Personalized Medicine
• Cardiology
• CVP Research
• Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology
• Endocrinology, Metabolism & Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• General Internal Medicine
• Geriatrics
• Health Care Policy & Research
• Hematology/Blood & Marrow Transplant
• Hospital Medicine
• Infectious Disease
• Medical Oncology
• Pulmonary Sciences & Critical Care
• Renal Medicine Disease & Hypertension (Nephrology)
• Rheumatology
• Neurology
• Neurosurgery
• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopedics
• Otolaryngology
• Pathology
• Pediatrics:
• Adolescent Medicine
• Allergy and Immunology
• Cardiology
• Child Abuse/Neglect (Kempe Center)
• Critical Care
• Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics
• Developmental Biology
• Emergency
• Endocrinology
• Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
• General Academic Pediatrics
• Genetics and Metabolism
• Hematology/Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplant
• Infectious Disease
• Informatics and Data Science
• Neonatology
• Nephrology
• Neurology
• Nutrition
• Pediatric Hospital Medicine
• Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine
• Rheumatology
• Pharmacology
• Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
• Physiology and Biophysics
• Psychiatry:
• Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Depression Center
• Outpatient Psychiatry
• Radiation Oncology
• Radiology:
• Abdominal Imaging
• Breast Imaging
• Interventional
• Musculoskeletal
• Neuroradiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiological Sciences
• Thoracic Imaging
• Surgery:
• Bariatric Surgery
• Breast Surgery
• Burn Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Colorectal Surgery
• Endocrine Surgery
• GI Tumor & Endocrine Surgery
• Pediatric Surgery
• Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Acute Care Surgery
• Urology Surgery
• Vascular Surgery

Centers

• Bioinformatics Core
• Altitude Research Center
• Alzheimer’s Disease Research and Clinical Center
• Anschutz Health & Wellness Center
• Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes
• Cancer Center
• Center for Advancing Professional Excellence (CAPE)
• Center for Bioengineering
• Center for Children’s Surgery
• Center for Human Simulation
• Center for Movement Disorders
• Center for Neuromodulation and Neural Restoration
• Center for Neuroscience
• Center for Research in Implementation Science and Prevention (CRISP)
• Center for Schizophrenia Research
• Center for Surgical Innovation
• Center for Women’s Health Research
• Charles C. Gates Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Biology Center
• Colorado Prevention Center (CPC)
• Colorado Sickle Cell Treatment and Research Center
• Colorado Translational Research Imaging Center (CTRIC)
• Eugene S. Farley, Jr. Health Policy Center
• Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Depression Center
• Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center
• JFK Partners
• Kempe Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect
• Neurotransplantation Center for Parkinson’s Disease
• Perinatal Research Center
• Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center
• Webb-Waring Center

Programs

School of Medicine

• Assistive Technology Program
• Blood Cancer & BMT Program
• Computational Bioscience Program
• Human Medical Genetics
• JFK Partners
• Maintenance of Certification Portfolio Approval Program (MOCPAP)
• Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/Ph.D.)
• Molecular Biology
• Office of Women in Medicine and Science
• Pituitary Program
• Structural Biology and Biochemistry
• Women in Medicine and Science

Graduate School

• Cancer Biology
• Cell Biology, Stem Cells, and Development
• Computational Bioscience
• Human Medical Genetics
• Immunology
• Integrated Physiology Program
• Medical Scientist Training Program
• Microbiology
• Molecular Biology
• Neuroscience
• Pharmacology
• Physiology and Biophysics
• Rehabilitation Science
• Reproductive Sciences
• Structural Biology and Biochemistry

Facilities

1.Dining on campus

There are many options for dining around the campus. Different buildings have different cafes in them.

Education 2 North

• Woodgrain Bagels

Research 2

• Etai’s

Fitzsimons Building

• Food Truck Wednesdays
• Bookstore Brew

Leprino Building

• Chai & Chai
• Dazbog Coffee
• Jimmy John’s
• Pudge Brothers Pizza
• Subway

 

2.Housing

The campus provides off-campus housing facility which is managed by a third party.

3.Strauss Health Sciences Library

The library has a vast collection of Journals and books. It is a three-story building with the floor plan as follows:

First Floor

Writing Center

Teaching Lab 1, 2, and 3

Study Rooms

Self Service Printers

Service Desk

ILL Inter-Library Loan

North/ South Computer Pods

Education & Reference Section

Education & Evaluation Section

Second Floor

Conference Room

InWorks

IT Information Technology

Collection Management

Study Zone

Study Rooms

Third Floor

Administration

Book Stacks

Reading Room

Gallery

Self Service Printer

Special Collections

Tower Room

Study Rooms

4.Printing Services

Printing services are located around the campus. All printers print black and white and cost 10 centers per page. To use the printers the students need to create an account with printing services and pre-pay before they can use the printers.

Printing Services maintains copiers in the following locations:

• Education II North Room 2201
• Education I Room 1501
• Education I Room 2400
• Research Complex I North Room 1309
• Health Science Library Main

5.WiFi Facility

6.Writing Center

The Writing Center is located in the library. Students enrolled in short-term or late-start courses may use the Writing Center’s services only during the times when they are actively attending and participating in those courses.

The writing center hours are:

• Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday: 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. & 2 – 5 p.m.
• Sunday: 2 – 7 p.m.

Tip & Guidelines

After getting into the Medical School of the University of Colorado you will be beginning the start of your career as a doctor so here are some guidelines.

Managing Time in University of Colorado (CU):

To stay on top or even survive in a medical college you need to stay up to date on everything. Managing time can be hard and a lot of work can go to waste, deadlines can be missed, marks can be lost and it can even affect your health if a proper schedule is not formed and followed. The minute the studying starts you need to start organizing your tasks according to their importance and impact. You can either make a schedule by hand or use applications available for this purpose which can even remind of tasks to be done. Never leave something on tomorrow, try to get every assignment/worksheet/homework you get as soon as possible. Keep a track of your classes, carefully read your college time table so that you don’t end up accidentally missing a lecture because you read the time table wrong (believe us, that happens).

Dr. Najeeb Lectures:

As stated previously, there will be numerous times when self-studies will be required. There can be plenty of reasons for that i.e. you might have missed some lectures or the teacher assigned to you might not be so good at delivering the lectures, or their way of delivering lectures might not match your way of learning. For that, you can either ask Teacher’s Assistants or your classmates to help but even that can fail at times. For such times, Dr. Najeeb’s lectures will be your guiding star. Dr. Najeeb’s Lectures are the world’s most popular medical Lectures, covering all the topics of Gross Anatomy, Neuro-anatomy, Embryology, Histology, Physiology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology. They are video lectures that cover almost all the topics in the current medical curriculum of most medical colleges. They contain visualization of what you study in your books. The hand-drawn illustrations in these lectures make it very easy to grasp the concepts. Furthermore, one can get lifetime access to these lectures and even download the app to avail them anytime, anywhere.

Clinical Learning and Long Term Retention:

Just as no two human beings can ever be the same in their life experiences, no two students can have the same clinical experience. Your experience will be what you make of it. Keep in mind that whatever you learn is not to be forgotten. You are opting for a career that requires retention of this knowledge for a lifetime. To look at the short term aspects, what you learn will be there again in your finals, and again during residency when you start treating actual patients. So whatever you learn, make sure you understand it completely now, casual look=ups are fine to jock up your memory when required but if you don’t understand the concept you will have to do it later on.

Reward yourself:

Studies can be intense and depleting. It might feel like there’s no end to it. So it is imperative to keep yourself spurred and centered by compensating yourself for all the exertion you’ve put in. Find distinctive approaches to unwind yourself now and again. Take up a game, locate a decent book or simply kick back and unwind. Nobody can work constantly without wearing out. Understand that med school isn’t a dash yet a marathon.

In this way, stay centered, persistence is vital, remember our tips, buckle down and you will be ready.