Degree

A conferred bachelor's degree or higher from a U.S. college or university that is regionally accredited is required for enrollment at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV.

If you hold an international bachelor’s degree and don’t intend to get a U.S. bachelor’s degree, then you must instead have a graduate degree from a U.S. regionally accredited institution (master’s or higher) along with the prerequisite courses from a U.S. school. Please note that citizenship is also required.

GPA

An undergraduate (cumulative) GPA of 3.2 or higher is required.

An undergraduate biology, chemistry, physics, and math (BCPM) GPA of 3.2 or higher is also required.

These GPAs are calculated by AMCAS and reported to the school in cumulative form and by year of study (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior along with post-bacc and graduate, if applicable).

For applicants whose undergraduate GPAs do not meet our minimums for BCPM or cumulative, your application may be considered with post-baccalaureate or graduate work. This can include: formal post-bacc programs designed for those seeking medical school admissions; self-directed coursework, primarily in BCPM studies; or other graduate degrees that include BCPM studies.

It is required to have at least 30 credit hours of BCPM post-bacc or graduate course work at a 3.2 GPA or higher to be considered when the undergraduate GPA does not meet the minimum application requirements. It is better to have 40 to 50 credit hours and also a strong MCAT score.

All post-bacc and/or graduate credits have to come from a U.S. college or university that has the proper regional accreditation.

Only post-bacc or graduate work can be considered in lieu of the non-qualifying undergraduate GPAs. Junior and senior year GPA bands from undergraduate studies do not count as a qualifier when the undergraduate GPAs are below the 3.2 minimum requirement.

Please also note that AMCAS takes into account all courses and all grades completed during your studies, which includes original courses and any course retakes.

Courses in progress at the time of application are not officially calculated into the candidate’s GPA, however if an application prerequisite is in progress, an unofficial transcript of that course must be submitted to the office of admissions when the grade is finalized which is used to confirm the requirements but again, this will not be calculated into the AMCAS GPA.

Letters Of Recommendation

Applicants must submit a minimum of three letters of recommendation and up to a maximum of five letters. These can be individually submitted by letter writers or in packet form from your educational institution.

Letters must be received no later than the application deadline of October 1. Letters received after the application deadline will not be considered. More than five letters may also not be considered by the committee. Applications that do not have at least three letters of recommendation by the application deadline will be considered incomplete and will not receive further consideration for admissions.

Letters of recommendation must be on letterhead and signed and must include contact information for the letter writer.

Applicants should select letter writers who will reflect on their major activities and who know them well. The admissions committee prefers letters that address the applicant’s suitability for a career in medicine and as a medical student. Letters of recommendation should provide new information in the application; not restate activities the applicant has already provided.

Letters only will be accepted through the AMCAS Letter Service. Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV will not accept letters of recommendation by any other process.

Experiences

Applicants need to list experiences and have up to 15 lines available on the AMCAS application to do so. Three of these experiences need to be identified as your most meaningful with supporting narration. All experiences require a description as well and this is a great time to give the admissions committee insight into your experiences.

Required experiences for UNLV include: community service and clinical experiences that are longitudinal in nature.

Community Service

Community service (or volunteering) can be medical or non-medical in nature and involves unpaid service that is often with a non-profit or community-facing organization.

• Hospital volunteering is often seen in this category as it’s a public service role that most often is patient facing (such as information desk, wheelchair transport, pediatric reading programs, behind-the-scenes supply stocking/office support, etc.).
• Community service should be longitudinal in nature as well where an applicant grows with the organization in their volunteer role. Some community service does occur in low-income/free medical clinics and may include scribing or significant time with a physician who is treating patients. This may also qualify for clinical experience, but in the case of being solely patient interaction and support, it remains in community service.

Clinical Experiences

Clinical experiences are definite at UNLV as a period where you are with a physician who is actively seeing patients. This can be done through things like physician shadowing, hospital or clinic scribing, licensed practical nurse/registered nurse (LPN/RN), medical assistance, etc. It is important that the physician pairing is present regularly.

• Experiences where an applicant is mostly patient facing (without a doctor there most of the time) or is more back office focused in a healthcare setting does not qualify. Some paid medical such as certain technician roles do have significant physician interaction and can be considered, but roles that are very patient facing or lab tech in nature are not as applicable and should be considered “paid medical” in AMCAS.
• Research with a physician may have qualifying components for clinical experience if they include shadowing a doctor while seeing/treating patients, but this tends to be rare, even in clinical trials, as the patient interaction is often just data collection and not full medical care.

Other Experiences

Additional experiences on the application can include employment, college clubs/organizations, research and publications, awards, military service, and other extracurricular activities.

Research experience is not required for the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine but is welcome if you have it.

Hobbies are not recommended unless they are structured, such as with a community group or organization.

There is no “minimum hours” requirement in any category, but longitudinal and significant time makes a bigger impact in our competitive pools and lends itself to more advanced communication by the applicant when it comes to personal statements, secondary essays, and interviews. Similarly, strong experiences lend themselves to well-qualified letters of recommendation.

For more information on completing this portion of the AMCAS application please visit the AAMC Application Guide.