Requirements

The courses taken and the grades earned are but a portion of an applicant’s credentials. Certain areas of study (i.e. introductory biol­ogy, chemistry, physics and organic chemis­try with associated laboratory exercises and calculus) have traditionally been of value to medical students. Beyond the successful fulfillment of these basic prerequisites the Committee on Admission is concerned solely with the quality and scope of an applicant’s undergraduate educational experience. The field of concentration for undergraduate stud­ies and the selection of additional courses in the sciences and mathematics should be the choice of the student and will not affect the admission process.

The following general requirements must be met by all applicants:

1. Accredited Institution. All applicants must be or have previously been in attendance at an institution on the list entitled “Accredited Insti­tutions of Postsecondary Education,’’ autho­rized and published by the American Coun­cil on Education, One DuPont Circle, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. Extension or eve­ning courses taken in fulfillment of premedical course requirements are not acceptable unless they are identical to courses offered in the col­lege’s regular academic program. Preparation in foreign universities, in most cases, must be supplemented by a year or more of work in an approved university in the United States.

2. Standardized Testing. The Medical Col­lege Admissions Test (MCAT) is required for acceptance. The MCAT must be taken no later than September in the year the application is submitted. The oldest MCAT considered will be four years prior to date of matriculation.

3. Required Academic Work. Each appli­cant must have received the B.A. degree or its equivalent prior to matriculation. A list of specific pre-medical course requirements are listed below.  In order to assess the classroom performance of an applicant, the Committee on Admission requires that all of the coursework submitted in fulfillment of admission requirements must be evaluated on the basis of a traditional grading system. Such a system must employ a range of num­bers or letters to indicate the comparative level of performance. If the applicant has received a grade of Pass/Credit for any of the specified premedical course requirements, the instructor must supply, in writing, a state­ment evaluating the student’s performance in that course. CLEP credits may not be substi­tuted for any course requirement.

i.      BIOLOGY

College biology with laboratory, one year (8 semester hours).

The student should have an appreciation for the diversity of life, such as viruses, prokaryotes, plants and animals, and a familiarity with the life cycles and metabolic activities of these organisms.  The student should attain a basic understanding of the structure and function of the mammalian cell.  Included should be a basic understanding of mammalian genetics.

The laboratory portion of this requirement is expected to equip the student with practical understanding of the process of scientific inquiry, discovery, and application especially as related to cell and molecular biology.

The study of the principles of genetics either in a separate course or as a significant part of another integrated curricular offering is strongly recommended.

Credit for advanced placement is not acceptable as a substitute.  Individuals who have completed their studies in biology more than 4 years prior to their application are strongly advised to take a one semester advanced mammalian (molecular) biology course.

ii.     CHEMISTRY

a)    General college chemistry with laboratory, one year (8 semester hours).

The laboratory portion of this requirement is expected to equip the student with practical understanding of the process of scientific inquiry, and gain insight into how scientific knowledge is discovered and validated.

Applicants with advanced placement in general chemistry can receive 4 semester hours of credit toward this requirement.  An additional 4 semester hours in advanced chemistry will be necessary. 

b)     Organic chemistry with laboratory, one semester (4 semester hours) are required.

c)     Biochemistry (4 semester hours) are required.

The student should have knowledge of chemical equilibrium and thermodynamics, acid/base chemistry, the nature of ions in solution and redox reactions, the structure of molecules with special emphasis on bio-organic compounds, reaction rates, binding coefficients, reaction mechanisms involved in enzyme kinetics, and other applications to the understanding of living systems.  Also important is a basic understanding of the structure of nucleic acids, including how they store and transfer information.

iii.     HUMANITIES, SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

The study of the humanities, social and behavioral sciences, is an essential foundation for the study and practice of medicine (24 semester hours). Please see 2. Communication Skills under Additional Requirements, below.

These disciplines foster broad understanding of humankind and the increasingly diverse cultural and social environment of our world. 

iv.    MATHEMATICS

Calculus and/or statistics, one year (6-8 semester hours).

Mathematics courses should enable the student to develop equations, to interpret graphical representations of function and to evaluate probability involved in testing hypotheses in the study of natural phenomena.  Advanced placement credit for calculus, if acceptable to the student’s undergraduate college, may be used in the fulfillment of the math requirement.  Regardless of such credit, it is strongly recommended that applicants take at least one semester of statistics or epidemiology. 

v.     PHYSICS

        General college physics with laboratory, one year (8 semester hours).

The student should have an understanding of the constants and units of physical measurement, Newtonian mechanics, the physical properties of various states of matter such as liquids, solids and gasses, and the basic aspects of electricity, magnetism, and optics, and some of their applications to living systems.  Advanced Placement credit for physics, if acceptable to the student’s undergraduate college, may be used in fulfillment of the physics requirement. 

The laboratory portion of this requirement is expected to equip the student with practical understanding of the process of scientific inquiry, and gain insight into how scientific knowledge is discovered and validated.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:

1.      COMPUTER LITERACY

The student must have a working knowledge of computers, including the use of computers to retrieve information and to communicate with others.  This knowledge is absolutely essential to today’s practice of medicine. 

2.       COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Required course work will include at least two writing-intensive courses, which can be in the humanities or the social/behavioral sciences and may be counted as part of the 24 semester hour requirement for the humanities and social sciences. It is expected that the student will have demonstrated precise and fluent communication in spoken and written English. It is strongly recommended that the student achieve basic conversational skills in a foreign language.

3.       TEAMWORK SKILLS

Medicine is a strongly collaborative endeavor.  The applicant must demonstrate the ability to work successfully with others toward a common goal.  A significant experience requiring teamwork is therefore expected in the course of the applicant’s academic and/or extra-curricular activities, and should be documented in the application. 

FOR GRADUATES OF FOREIGN INSTITUTIONS:

Successful passage of the TOEFL examination is required for all students whose undergraduate instruction was conducted primarily in a language other than English.

3. Conditions of Admission. Students admit­ted to the School of Medicine on a conditional basis (i.e.requirement(s) yet to be completed) must fulfill those conditions prior to matricula­tion in the School of Medicine.

4. Standardized Testing. The Medical Col­lege Admissions Test (MCAT) is required for acceptance. The MCAT must be taken no later than September in the year the application is submitted. The oldest MCAT considered will be from 2009.  

5. Letters of Recommendation. A recom­mendation from the applicant’s college pre­medical committee or an officially designated premedical advisor is required. If the college does not have a premedical advisor or pre­medical committee, two letters of recommen­dation are required from science faculty mem­bers in science departments who have taught the applicant and one non-science faculty member who has also taught the applicant. In addition to the letters indicated above, applicants with advanced degrees and/or full time employment are required to submit rec­ommendations from each component of their education and major work experiences.  

6. Non-U.S. Citizen Applicants. Official tran­scripts are required from all colleges attended outside the United States and Canada. Appli­cants who do not hold a permanent resident visa or an immigrant visa are not eligible for the financial aid program from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine due to federal restrictions on the use of a large percentage of the loan funds which support the aid pro­gram. Please visit the following site for information regarding financial aid for non-U.S. citizens - http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/som/offices/finaid/International/index.html

7. Application Review. Following receipt of all required credentials, the committee on admission will review applications and make interview decisions. Applicants selected for interview will be notified by the committee. It may be possible to arrange an interview with a regional representative of the committee when the applicant lives at some distance from Bal­timore.  SKYPE interviews will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Notification of acceptances are made between October 15 and April 15.

Applicants to The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine are considered without regard to disability, but with expectation that they can complete satisfactorily all parts of the curriculum within the prescribed four year period.  The School does not offer a decelerated curriculum.  In addition to certain academic standards, candidates for the M.D. degree must have abilities and skills in observation, communication, motor function, quantification, abstraction, communication, motor function, relationships and behavior.  Some disabilities in certain of these areas may be overcome technologically, but candidates for the medical degree must be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner without the use of trained assistants.  The candidates must have sufficient motor function to elicit information from patients by palpation, auscultation, percussion, and other diagnostic maneuvers.  The candidate must be able to execute motor movements reasonably required to provide general care in emergency treatments to patients. Such actions require coordination of both gross and fine motor muscular movement, equilibrium and functional use of the senses of touch and vision.  Those desiring additional information should contact the Admissions Office.