Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Office of Admission
One Gustave L. Levy Place. Box 1002
New York, NY 10029-6574
Tel: 212-241-6696
Fax: 212-828-4135
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.icahn.mssm.edu
Dear Pre-Health Advisor:
We are writing with some exciting news that may have a substantial impact on your undergraduate students’ education and career opportunities, As you know, twenty –five years ago Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai was the first MD program in the country to launch an early assurance program. Humanities and Medicine (HuMed), for college sophomores pursuing majors in the Humanities and Social Sciences. These students did not take the traditional pre-med science requirements of the MCAT. Since then, our research has shown that HuMed students perform as well as their medical school peers, have more flexible time to pursue their major area of interest in college, and go on to have fulfilling and successful careers in medicine and science.
We are now expanding the successful Humanities and Medicine Program. In the fall of 2014, we will be launching FlexMed, an expansion of HuMed, which will be open to students pursuing may major, with these students ultimately comprising 50 percent of every incoming class at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. FlexMed students will apply in the winter of their sophomore year and learn of their acceptance by the summer of that year.
There are three tracks in this innovative early assurance program:
- Humanities and Social Sciences
- Biomedical Sciences
- Computational Sciences and Engineering
The academic requirements:
- Students will be required to have either one year of Biology or one year of Chemistry in order to apply:
- Prior to matriculation, students will be required to completer the following courses:
- One year of Biology
- One year of Chemistry
- One year of English
- One semester of Physics, or AP Physics in high school with a score of 4 or higher on the AP exam
- Two semesters of lab in any science
- One semester of Health Policy, Public Health, or Global Health
- One semester of Ethics
- One semester of Statistics
- A Senior Thesis or its equivalent in their area of academic concentration
- An in-depth experience in which the student gains exposure to human illness
- Students are required to take the MCAT
- Students are encouraged to gain proficiency in Spanish or Mandarin
In the six weeks prior to matriculation, FlexMed students who have not had advanced science courses will be required to participate in a Summer Enrichment Program, which will provide them basic competency in Cell Biology, Biochemistry and Genetics.
We will be making a formal public announcement about FlexMed at the end of February. As highly valued colleagues, we wanted to give you a “sneak preview” of what we’re planning. We hope you will join us in encouraging the future leaders of medicine to consider this innovative path to medical school. The program builds on a quarter century of success in an early assurance program and will allow students to use their undergraduate education to become life-long learners, poised to use medicine as a platform for innovation in science, clinical care, and service to the underserved. We also encourage you to pass on this information to colleagues at your institution who may find this information helpful.
Please visit http://icahn.mssm.edu/flexmed for more details on this education opportunity.
John Muller, MD
Dean of Medical Education
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Valerie Parkas, MD
Associate Dean of Admissions
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
