Rural Health BA/MD Pre-Professional Program

Aims and Goals:
To address the rural health needs of the State of Indiana by providing increased opportunities for residents from rural communities to obtain education and training in medicine.  To develop academic and experiential programming that will enhance the success of individuals from a rural community to succeed in a medical career.

Overview:
Established through an articulation agreement between Indiana University School of Medicine and Indiana State University.  Admissions into the program will be limited to ten Indiana residents from rural communities per year. Students admitted to the program will be admitted to the undergraduate program at Indiana State University and will have a provisional seat in medical school until completion of their undergraduate degree. Upon completion of their undergraduate degree students having a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.5 and an MCAT score equal to the average of that years entering medical school class will matriculate into Indiana University School of Medicine.

During the undergraduate component of their program students enrolled in the rural health program will participate in special experiences designed to enhance their careers as medical practitioners in rural settings.
 
Students accepted into the program will be provided tuition waivers for the undergraduate curriculum by Indiana State University. In addition, students may be eligible for other scholarships at the undergraduate level and state guaranteed loans during their medical school years.

Advisement:
While enrolled in the program students will be advised by a committee composed of faculty from Indiana State University and the Terre Haute Center for Medical Education. The advisement committee will monitor the students' progress and provide guidance on course selection. Academic problems will be handled on an individual basis.

Curriculum:
The curriculum will be a traditional premed curriculum that has been modified to enhance the likelihood of success in the practice of rural medicine.

Eligibility:
To be eligible for the Rural Health Program students must meet the following criteria:

Students must achieve a minimum of 1200 on the SAT or 27 on the ACT.

A High School GPA of 3.5 (4.0 scale).

To be considered, you must have lived a substantial portion of your life in a federally designated area that is not metropolitan or is designated as a rural census tract.

To matriculate to the IU School of Medicine, students must:
Successfully complete the undergraduate program at ISU with a minimum grade point average of 3.5

Achieve a score on the MCAT equal to the mean score of the previous year's entering class

Admissions:
Students must fill out an application packet. Packets are available from the Indiana State University Office of Admissions or the College of Arts and Sciences beginning August 1 of each year. For more information contact:

Dr. Darlene Hantzis
Associate Dean
College of Arts and Sciences
Indiana State University
Terre Haute, IN 47809
812-237-2781

Students with acceptable credentials will have their applications forwarded to the Admissions Committee at Indiana University School of Medicine. The Committee will review the students' credentials and then invite selected students for an interview. The Admissions Committee will then make the final selection and recommend the selected students to the Dean of the School of Medicine for admissions to the program.

Students accepted into the program will receive a letter from the Dean of the School of Medicine and the Director of Admission at Indiana State University.

Last modified: August 24, 2005