The VCOM Graduate Certificate Premedical Program, is a one-year graduate level program designed for students who need to enhance their academics in order to gain acceptance to an osteopathic (DO) or allopathic (MD) medical program. It provides an opportunity for highly motivated individuals to grow as a student and to improve their academics to a level that can allow them to earn admittance into medical school. The program is offered to attract individuals from rural areas, low socioeconomic status backgrounds, and underrepresented minorities, although acceptance is not limited to individuals from these groups.
Strengths of the Graduate Certificate Premedical Program
- Meeting the benchmarks in the program can guarantee acceptance into the VCOM DO Program. Compare this to other programs that only guarantee an interview upon success.
- Possibility to eliminate a glide or lag year.
- 35 credit hours of dedicated graduate level coursework.
- All courses taught live by medical school faculty.
- Class size capped at 100 students.
- High degree of personalized attention by program administration/faculty.
About Guaranteed Acceptance into the VCOM DO Program
The general benchmarks for transition into the VCOM DO Program are as follows:
|
Cumulative Program GPA |
MCAT |
Faculty Evaluation |
|---|---|---|
|
3.90-4.00 |
490 or above |
positive |
|
3.70-3.89 |
492 or above |
positive |
|
3.60-3.69 |
494 or above |
positive |
Students who meet these benchmarks at the end of the Fall Semester will be granted a seat in the DO Program at one of the VCOM campuses for the following August. Such offers of acceptance will be contingent on continued strong performance within the program and maintaining the exceptional recommendation from the faculty. Students who fail to meet the benchmarks in December will be reviewed again mid-term and at the end of the Spring Semester for a position on the waiting list for the VCOM DO Program.
- For a detailed description of the benchmarks see, Acceptance to a VCOM DO Program
Approval and Accreditation of the Graduate Certificate Premedical Program
The VCOM Graduate Certificate Premedical Program is approved by the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) and since VCOM only sought certificate status for the program it did not require further accreditation approval. As a SCHEV approved Professional Certificate Program, many of the Virginia colleges accept the courses for credit.