University of The Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine (UIWSOM)

UIWSOM Overview:

The University of the Incarnate Word, also known as University of The Incarnate Word School of Osteopathic Medicine (UIWSOM) is an essential part of the state’s oldest Catholic University and is one of the newest medical schools in Texas. The first class to be admitted to the school was in July 2017 which consisted of around 162 students. UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine is the advancement of UIW’s 140-year old tradition of providing medical education and care across South Texas. When it comes to the number of physicians per patient, Texas is ranked as 47^th out of 50 states. Moreover, around 57% of the state’s medically underserved people live in the medical facility of UIW.

Since the UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine is a new school, it holds a pre-accreditation status from the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) during the first 4 years of student enrollment. However, the school aims at getting fully accredited before the graduation of its first class in May 2021, depending upon the decision of Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) based on the school’s compliance with COCA standards.

UIW School of School of Osteopathic Medicine offers two-degree programs; Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (4-year) and Master of Biomedical Sciences (1-year).

Community Relationships:

• Southside Independent School District
• San Antonio Housing Authority
• Department of Health & Human Services
• Texas Immunization Partnership
• UIW Health Services
• WellMed
• UIW Medical School Department of Translational Medicine

Fundamentals of Osteopathic Medicine Care:

• Holistic
• Patient-centered
• Preventive
• Functional
• Primary care focus

Foundational Pillars of UIWSOM:

UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine was developed on the four foundational pillars that were used to develop the life-changing learner-centered curriculum and student support. The four foundational pillars ofUIW Medical School are:

• Standardization of learning outcomes and individualizing the learning process.
• Integrating knowledge and clinical experiences.
• Focus on inquiry and innovation.
• Focus on professional identity formation.

UIWSOM Mission & Vision:

The primary mission of UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine proceeds from the University’s mission and the founding call of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word to further expand the healing mystery of Jesus Christ. UIWSOM’s mission is to emancipate all the members of the medical community to achieve professional, personal, and academic success and possess a commitment to life-long learning through distinction in justice-based research, patient-focused education, and significant partnership among the communities of the osteopathic medicine; undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education.

UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine’s vision is to develop the learning communities with an ability to affect the education, healthcare, and civic engagement globally.

Value Statements of UIWSOM:

• Integrity:

  UIW Medical School aims for the top moral and ethical standards in everything they do, being in compliance with Sisters of Charity and the University of the Incarnate Word’s mission.

• Respect:

  The School embraces variation in treating patients of different ages, gender, and backgrounds effectively.

• Compassion:

  UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine aims to demonstrate compassion and sensitivity in the care of patients and respect for their privacy and dignity.

• Transformation:

  UIW Medical School aims to transform its students through community engagement and service-learning initiatives that provide opportunities to the students to demonstrate a commitment to excellence and ongoing professional development.

• Stewardship:

  The School protects the economic and human resources provided to them and make use of them effectively.

UIW Medical School Academic Degrees:

Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine:

The DOs are the fully licensed physicians who apply for definite philosophy and knowledge to the patient care in every medical specialty. The Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine are transformed in a way that they focus on understanding the patient they’re treating instead of just presenting symptoms. Currently, there are more than 100,000 practicing Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine in the United States and the US healthcare system is benefiting from the treatment and care provided by the Dos which incorporates the osteopathic philosophy.

Admission Requirements:

UG Required Coursework:

The minimum coursework requires the courses that are given below. All the courses must be taken from a recognized college/university and students must have a minimum grade of ‘C’ (or higher) in all of these courses which is also 2.0 GPA out of 4.0. However, grade C- doesn’t meet the coursework requirement. Following are the details of the courses:
• Completion of not less than 75% credits is required for a baccalaureate degree from a recognized college/university.
• Biology (8 semester hours, including 2 hours of lab).
• Inorganic Chemistry (8 semester hours, including 2 hours of lab).
• Organic Chemistry ((8 semester hours, including 2 hours of lab).
• Physics (8 semester hours, including 2 hours of lab).
• English (6 semester hours of literature or/and composition)

MCAT Scores:

All the applicants are required to submit their recent MCAT scores along with the AACOMAS application. Moreover, scores not more than 3-years old before matriculation will be considered.

Letters of Recommendation:

All applicants need to submit 3 letters of recommendation. Following are the details:
• One letter from a physician (preferably Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine).
• One letter from HPAC (Health Professions Admissions Committee) or premed advisor.
• One from a science faculty member.

Application Process:

• AACOMAS Application:

  All the students applying to UIW Medical School apply through AACOMAS. First of all, the student files an electronic application. AACOMAS then verifies that and distribute it to all the osteopathic colleges designated by the student.

• Supplemental Application:

  Once the AACOMAS verifies the applications then the MCAT scores are reviewed, qualified candidates are invited to submit another application called ‘supplemental application’ which consists of the essay questions related to UIWSOM. The processing time to receive the supplemental application is up to 4 weeks.

• Interview:

  Once all the applications (which include a supplemental application as well) are received and reviewed, the qualified candidates are invited to the campus to participate in Multiple Mini-Interviews (MMI). The processing time to receive the interview invite is around 8 weeks.

• Admissions decision post-interview:

  Once the interviews are done, final decisions of admissions are sent to the candidates via e-mail. The processing time to receive the post-interview admission decision is up to 3 weeks after the interview date.

Master of Biomedical Science:

The UIW School of Osteopathic Medicine offers an innovative one-year master’s degree which is designed to advance the scientific knowledge and skills of the graduates who are aiming to pursue their careers in healthcare or biomedical sciences. The Master of Biomedical Sciences of UIW Medical School consists of a diligent curriculum that combines science, bioethics, research, and medical humanities culminating in a final capstone project. The students of the MBS program share the faculty and learning facilities with the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program.

Admission Requirements:

Bachelor’s Degree:

All the applicants must have completed a Bachelor’s Degree from a recognized university, college, or equivalent verification in case of a foreign degree before the matriculation into the program.

Prerequisite College Courses:

A minimum of 3.0 CGPA (out of 4.0) must be achieved in science and Undergraduate level. Students must have a minimum grade of ‘C’ (or higher) in all of these courses. However, grade C- doesn’t meet the coursework requirement. Following are the details of the courses:
• Biology with lab (8 hours).
• General Chemistry with lab (8 hours).
• Organic Chemistry I with lab (4 hours).
• Organic Chemistry II with lab (4 hours).
• Biochemistry (3 hours).
• Physics I with lab (4 hours).
• Physics II with lab (4 hours).
• Human Anatomy or Anatomy and Physiology I (3-4 hours).
• Human Physiology or Anatomy and Physiology II (3-4 hours).
• Mathematics (Calculus or Statistics) (3 hours).

Application Process:

UIW Graduate Application:

To begin the application process, students are required to submit a UIW Graduate Application.

MBS Supplemental Application and Fee:

In addition to the UIW Graduate Application, candidates are required to submit an MBS Supplemental Application along with a non-refundable fee of $50.

Official Transcripts:

The applicants are required to send all the official transcripts from all the institutions attended (including UG, Graduate, and any healthcare professional education). The applicants who have not yet completed the prerequisite coursework requirements can send their official transcripts after the completion.

Letters of Recommendation:

The applicants are required to submit 2 letters of recommendation and these letters should attest to the candidate’s capacity for graduate-level coursework. Following are the details:
• One letter from the faculty member.
• One from a healthcare provider.

Pre-Professional Exam score:

The applicants are required to submit the following exam scores based on their discipline choice:
• Pre-Medical must submit the MCAT.
• Dentistry must submit the DAT.
• Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, and Physician Assistant must submit the GRE.
• Other Pre-Professional exam scores as required.

UIWSOM Contact Information:

Location: 7615 Kennedy Hill Dr, San Antonio, TX 78235, United States

Contact: Office of Admissions:

Email: DOdoc@uiwtx.edu.

 Tel: 210-283-6998.

UIWSOM Tuition Fee:

Facilities provided at UIWSOM:

Wellness Centers and Activities:

The School believes that a student’s physical health impacts their academic performance. Therefore, UIWSOM has developed certain wellness centers in compliance, with the activities to provide students with a healthy environment. Following are few wellness centers and activities developed at UIWSOM:
• Siclovia
• San Antonio Farmers Markets
• Fitness in the Park
• San Antonio Parks and Recreation
• Brooks City Base
• UIW Richard and Janet Cervera Wellness Center
• UIW Ann Barshop Natatorium

Counseling Services:

UIWSOM understands that medical education becomes tiring and stressful at times and requires changes in the lifestyle and personality of an individual. To manage these changes, UIWSOM provides support to its students through the counseling services. The counseling services provided at UIWSOM are:
• Managing sleep difficulties
• Grief & loss
• Professional identity development
• Relationship with food, eating & exercise
• Peer conflicts
• Couples Counseling
• Managing relationships
• Coping with depression
• Test anxiety
• Alcohol and other drug concerns
• Stress management
• Group counseling
• Individual counseling & support

Housing Facility:

UIWSOM does not offer student housing. However, San Antonio offers a variety of housing options like apartments, houses, condos, etc. The incoming students may select housing that is most ideal for their needs and budget.

Campus Facilities:

• Building 1: Dean’s Office, faculty and administrative offices, Office of Admissions, main lobby, and Catholic chapel, campus security desk, seven conference rooms, UIW Medical School Behavioral Health, Center for Professional Development, kitchen areas, and lactation room.
• Building 2: Interfaith Room and Office of Student Affairs, simulation and clinical skills space, indoor and outdoor dining space, interactive learning studio.
• Building 3: Library learning resources, reading rooms, and 11 group study rooms, recording studio, student lounge space plus IT Help Desk.
• Building 4: Anatomy/structures lab, interactive learning studio, and 20 break-out/group study rooms.

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 UIW Medical School is a big achievement. UIWSOM 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 UIWSOM, 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 at the UIWSOM.

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 you shouldn’t talk to anyone but choose 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 means 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 resting; 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.

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 their 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.