University of South Alabama College of Medicine

Historical Background:

The University of South Alabama (USA) was established in 1963 and it didn’t have a single building to call its own. It has been more than 50 years that the USA is considered a vibrant university that is continuously catalyzing to bring in transformational changes in the City, State and beyond. The USA’s history goes back to 1960 when Mobile’s civic leaders realized the need for higher education in Southwest Alabama.

In 1963, a new bill was passed by the Alabama Legislature to create a new independent university and then The University of South Alabama was established. The classes started in 1954 in a building worth $1M and the initial enrollment was 276. As of today, the USA has enrolled around 14,000 students and granted more than 90,000 degrees. The first campus building of the USA is named after the first president of the USA, “The Frederick Palmer Whiddon Administration Building.” The students found the new programs very attractive and the University has been continuously expanding its facilities.

University of South Alabama School of Medicine Overview:

USA believes in providing its students the opportunities through which they can strengthen and discover their interests and career passions and form networks that are going to be beneficial for a lifetime. It has around 10 colleges and schools through which it provides 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs. The USA comprises of a vibrant health care system that includes two hospitals; USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital and SA University Hospital – along with the USA Physicians Group and the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute.

The beautiful and unique Gulf Coast region is an incentive for innovation and discovery and the 1,200-acre South campus has been drastically transformed with the latest resources and facilities for recreation, teaching, housing, athletics, healthcare, etc. The College of Medicine is a member of AAMC and offers two academic programs; the MD Program and Ph.D. program in Basic Medical Sciences.

Strategic Plan:

The University has implemented a strategic plan for its enhancement that comprises of 5 major priorities:

• Global Engagement
• University-Community Engagement
• Excellence in Health Care,
• Enhancement of Research and Graduate Education
• Student Access and Success

Five components of the USA Health System:

• USA Health Physicians Group
• Mitchell Cancer Institute
• The College of Medicine
• University Hospital
• Children’s & Women’s Hospital

Objectives:

• Research
• To possess a dedication to continual enhancement of clinical skills.
• To possess a dedication to lifelong learning and an appreciation for the role of science in medical advances.
• Professionalism
• The graduates of Creighton University School of medicine should be able to demonstrate a commitment to excellence and ongoing professional development.
• To demonstrate responsibility and trustworthiness in the execution of all duties.
• Community
• A commitment to promote the health and well-being of the communities served.
• Responsibility and trustworthiness in the execution of all duties.

Contact Details:

• Location: 307 N University Blvd, Mobile, AL 36688, United States.
• Email for Admissions: admiss@southalabama.edu
• Phone: (251) 460-6101

University of South Alabama College of Medicine Academic Departments:

• Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
• Emergency Medicine
• Family Medicine
• Internal Medicine
• Microbiology & Immunology
• Neurology
• Neurosurgery
• Obstetrics & Gynecology
• Orthopedic Surgery
• Pathology
• Pediatrics
• Pharmacology
• Physiology & Cell Biology
• Psychiatry
• Radiology
• Surgery

Academic Programs:

Doctor of Medicine (MD Program):

The basic objective of this degree is to prepare students so that they may follow different career paths in research, medical education, teaching, or medical administration after the specialized training. Upon the completion of the MD degree, students will be able to possess these 6 competencies of medical practice that are defined by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education; Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, Professionalism, System-Based Practice, Interpersonal & Communication Skills, and Practice-Based Learning & Improvement.

Preparation for the Study of Medicine:

Since a medical professional needs various talent and academic knowledge, both science majors and non-science majors will be considered. The University requires around 90 credit hours from a recognized college/university and preferably, a Baccalaureate degree too. The following coursework must be completed before matriculation and they should be completed from a recognized college/university:
• General Chemistry with Lab (2 semesters).
• Biology with Lab (2 semesters).
• Organic Chemistry with Lab (2 semesters).
• Physics with Lab (2 semesters).
• Humanities (2 semesters).
• English Composition/Literature (2 semesters).

Application Process:

• All the applicants are required to take an MCAT test and apply to the USA through American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS).
• AMCAS applications begin on June 1^st of every year. All the completed applications with the official transcripts and all the materials should be submitted to AMCAS before November 1^st. However, if there’s a delay, the student can contact the school directly and obtain permission for AMCAS to process his/her application.
• There’s a non-refundable fee of $75 that should be paid with the application form.
• All the applicants who are the US citizens or international applicants having permanent residence in the US will be sent a secondary application.

Selection Process:

• Primarily at first, the Admissions Committee relies on objective criteria i.e. MCAT scores, GPA, pre-health advisory review, state of residence, the trend in academic performance, extracurricular activities, and substance and level of courses taken.
• After these credentials are reviewed, qualified applicants are invited for an interview with the members of the Admissions Committee (around 200 applicants are invited).
• Each interview is 30 minutes and the candidates are interviewed by the Admissions Committee members and ad-hoc interviews.
• The applicants are also allowed to tour the clinical facilities and the medical school. In addition to this, they’re encouraged to meet the current medical students of the college.
• Finally, the Admissions Committee evaluates the applicant’s skills and abilities that are required to meet the non-academic requirements established by faculty and personnel that are required to become a successful physician.

D. Basic Medical Science:

This doctoral program is designed for students who want to pursue their careers in biomedical investigation. The program combines original research, interdisciplinary core curriculum, and advanced coursework and is established to provide a broad interdisciplinary flexibility and base to students. The BMS program is organized around the following 6 tracks:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cancer Biology
• Cell and Molecular Biology
• Infectious Disease and Host Defense
• Lung Biology
• Vascular Biology

Admission Requirements:

Minimum Requirements:

Following are the minimum requirements provided to apply in the USA:
• A complete baccalaureate degree from a recognized college/university.
• Satisfactory standing at the last attended institution.
• Satisfactory scores on all the standardized examinations. The GRE is a major requirement and it must be taken within 5-years of the start of the intended Fall term.
• International applicants are required to complete iTEP, IELTS, PTE or TOEFL.
• 2 semesters are recommended in each of the following courses; Organic Chemistry, Mathematics (including Statistics and Calculus), Physics, English Composition, General Chemistry, and Biology.

Required Application Materials:

The Graduate Admissions Committee will not consider the applications for review until all of these materials have been attached with the application:
• A completed application.
• Receipts of personal statement, official transcripts, and letters of recommendation.
• Official reports for the standardized achievement examination (PTE, iTEPS, GRE, IELTS, or TOEFL).

Application Process:

• The deadline for the Graduate Program applications is 31^st March of each year. However, early submissions of applicants are encouraged.
• Competitive candidates will be invited to the campus for the interview.
• Candidates unable to come for on-campus interviews will be interviewed via video call.
• Matriculation in the program is limited to the beginning of the fall term.

University of South Alabama College of Medicine Research Centers:

• Center for Healthy Communities
• Center for Lung Biology
• Center for Strategic Health Innovation
• Center for Disaster Healthcare Preparedness
• Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center
• Core: Bioimaging
• Core: Flow Cytometry

Research Honors Program:

The Doctor of Medicine with Research Honors Program is offered by the College of Medicine for the students who wish to research in-depth in any healthcare area. Many students initiate their interest in the Research Honors program during their first two years; freshman and sophomore years of medical school. The Research Honors Program comprises of:

• Selecting a mentor and preparing a research proposal for the research that students are planning to carry out during the medical school.
• Preparing a manuscript which is submission-ready for a peer-review journal.
• Giving an oral presentation of this research to members of M.D. with faculty members, interested students, and Research Honors Committee.

The students who are successful in meeting these requirements will have the notation “Research with Honors” on their College of Medicine transcript and diploma. Moreover, this program is available to all the students who have a good academic standing and who devoted their time to this research project (except those who are entering their senior year without any research experience).

Facilities provided by University of South Alabama School of Medicine:

Housing Facility:

The USA provides a housing facility to its students. The University believes that students who live on-campus are likely to have a better academic performance. The University provides 7 different residential communities comprising of 33 residence halls. The University provides the following reasons to live on-campus:
• The University also provides an academic year contract which means there’s no commitment to stay in summers unless students want to.
• The dining plan of the university reduces the time spent for cleanup, cooking, and shopping.
• There’s no security deposit and in addition to this, everything is included i.e. furniture, mail, internet, utilities, and much more!
• Students will be steps away from the stadium of the game days.
• Students will have an opportunity to interact with people from diverse cultures through various events and programs.
• Students will be only a few steps away from everything i.e. dining, classes, library, athletic events, and rec center.

Transportation Services:

The University also provides transportation facility to its community. Transportation around the USA is much easier than one can think. There’s a service provided by the university called, “JagTran” which provides multiple convenient routes and it is less stressful to just sit and relax and let them find the parking space for you!

Campus Recreation:

The mission of Campus Recreation in the USA is to enhance the learning experience of the university’s community by engaging them in a healthy lifestyle, by promoting sports and fitness among them. The facilities offered by the department are:
• 5K Course
• Glenn Sebastian Nature Trail
• SGA Pavilion
• Intramural Fields
• Intramural Complex
• Challenge Course
• Outdoor Pool Parties
• Rock Wall
• Indoor Soccer Court (Saturday 8 AM-noon)
• Indoor Soccer Court (Sunday 8 AM-noon)
• SRC Back Deck
• SRC Classroom
• Fitness Studios (60 minutes)

Tips and Tricks to get successful in the Medical College:

Getting into a good medical college is everyone’s dream and let’s be honest, it is one of the toughest things to get and getting into an institute like the USA is a big achievement. The USA is among the top medical colleges, and it is known for providing the best medical education to its students which helps them develop into successful future doctors in the world. If you get into the USA, you’re one of those few intelligent and hardworking people who deserved to be here and be the best doctors in the world with the help of top-rated faculty members of the USA.

Anyway, Congratulations! First and the toughest step of this difficult journey has been cleared. Now, what next? Now, comes the next step and a bit tough one comprising of a lot of challenges for you but don’t worry, if you have qualified for the first step, it’ll be easy for you to clear the next steps too. It will require hard work and your focus to overcome these challenges. We’ll give you a few tips and tricks which will help you in Medical School that are mentioned below:

Self-Study:

Is it necessary that your teacher’s teaching method will match your learning method? Well, it’s not. This is the main reason a lot of the students who were pretty good in their studies before getting into a medical college, becomes frustrated and are unable to continue. They had this image in their mind that they have always been pretty good in the past and they’ll be good in the future too, so they don’t pay enough attention to the studies at the start and then regret later on. Well, don’t worry and don’t stress about this if it has already happened to you. It happens with everyone but do remember that you can’t control everything. One can only try to do those things which are in his control rather than stressing over those things which were never in his control.

Whenever you don’t understand anything in the class, ask a friend or any other classmate to help you out with it. Try to make that thing clear to you as soon as possible and not leave it for the future because you’ll end up missing something and you won’t understand another thing because you missed that thing in the first place and BOOM, you don’t understand anything now. Try to indulge yourself in self-study but if it doesn’t work for you, go for the group study. You can benefit a lot from group study, do try to seek help and help others too if needed. Again, allocating time to self-study and group study is the key thing.

Prioritize:

If you have a lot of tasks due on one day and your ability to focus is fingered by limited resources of cerebral energy, which is a common thing when you’re a medical student, then make sure you finish your most important tasks first in your day. If you have to get that assignment done, get it done early on. And, equally, if you have had to spend all day in a project that’s due tomorrow, don’t expect that you will have the mental energy at the end of the day so that you’re able to focus on the other hard stuff. Give yourself the evening off!

Help everyone and pick your friends wisely:

This step is very important and should be kept in mind from day one. Be very careful and very picky about people. No, it doesn’t mean that don’t talk to anyone but chose your friends wisely. Help every person who asks for help from you and avoid getting into any conflict with anyone. If you end up getting into one, try to resolve that as soon as possible, so that you don’t get distracted from your studies because of that.

Carefully observe the people around you and make friends very carefully because friends can help you spend the rest of your time in the college nicely or they can ruin it. Making more allies than enemies is a good option, help people a lot because they’ll help you out too when you’ll need it. Try to be a little sharp-minded and keep yourself from getting exploited. Help out others because this way, you can make more allies than enemies and they could end up helping you in your time of need.

Reward yourself:

Amidst all the difficulties of a medical student, the self-care factor can’t be overlooked. Know the significance of caring for yourself because the importance of mental health can’t be emphasized enough. The involvement in various self-care activities is important. It can mean giving yourself a break now and then, rather than piling all the notes into your brain until it can’t take it anymore. It can also mean giving yourself the entire weekend and study on weekdays; your idea of self-care is entirely different depending on your personality and your happiness. It doesn’t have to be the same as the rest; it just needs to be right for you.

Secondly, rewarding yourself is an extremely crucial factor that is not thought enough by many people around us. It is very important because rewarding yourself means incentivizing hard work. This further grows seeds of more hard work and you’re inclined to do better each time in hope of reward from yourself. The reward can be in various forms; whichever way is preferable for you. But never forget just how significant it is because it is always tied to better performance and better results in the future.

Dr. Najeeb Lectures:

The burden of missing classes due to emergencies that may prevail due to unforeseen circumstances, unable to focus in class or unable to make notes due to whatever reason is the most troubling situation for a medical student, especially keeping in perspective the importance of every word being said, every jargon, every sentence, and the list goes on. But ever imagined a time when a person is a click away for all the solutions to his problems? You can imagine, now that Dr. Najeeb Lectures are at your disposal. These lectures accommodate students with different learning styles, by addressing a diverse set of students with different capabilities. Thus, these lectures are understood widely by every student all over the world, and they’re likely to be your best option.

These topics cover a wide canvas encompassing Neuro-anatomy, Embryology, Histology, Physiology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology. These lectures cover almost all the topics currently in the medical curriculum of almost all the medical institutes. Furthermore, what makes us unique is our ability to give our students a visual representation that makes it easier for the students to store the knowledge in their brain effortlessly. Furthermore, our application makes you accessible to the lectures irrespective of where and when, with no time constraints. Thus, with so many strong aspects of these lectures, these lectures should be your go-to, making your life easy without any constraints and barriers therein.

In the end, we would like to assure you that there are always ups and downs in life. Don’t lose hope, keep our tips in mind and Good luck!

For more information, please visit their official website.