LSUHSC Shreveport -- Admissions

Factors weighed in evaluation of applicants
High grades and/or MCAT scores alone are not enough. Other factors that are weighed in selecting applicants for admission include letters of reference, the personal statement, difficulty of courses and course loads, trends in grades, extracurricular activities, leadership, volunteer work, care-giving and health-related experience, research, hardship, evidence of motivation for a career in medicine and other non-cognitive attributes. Impressions from the personal interview are especially important.

Do I have to have a degree?
No. While almost all new students have a baccalaureate degree, only 90 semester hours and a few selected courses are actually required.

How many hours do I have to have?
The LSU School of Medicine accepts students who have completed a minimum of 90 semester hours of college work, including the required courses shown in the table below.

Where should I take these courses?
These 90 hours must be taken in a college or university located in North America and approved by a Regional Accrediting Organization. Except for study-abroad courses taken while attending a qualified institution, credits earned at foreign institutions are not accepted for the 90-hour requirement or required courses.

It is expected that the major portion of required science courses will be taken at the senior college level. An application that presents only a junior college academic record will not be considered.

Online? ... Required courses, no. Others, yes if they are offered by a regionally accredited university or college.

Which courses are required? And how much?
The courses shown below constitute the minimum acceptable preparation for the study of medicine at the School of Medicine in Shreveport. The overwhelming percentage of accepted students had extensive coursework in the natural sciences, including many of the courses suggested below:

	Course	Semesters	Quarters
	English* Chemistry + labs Organic Chemistry + labs Physics + labs Biology + labs Additional Science*	2 2 2 2 2 2	3 3 3 3 3 3

The LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport strongly recommends at least one semester of Biochemistry.

Do the courses I took in nursing and PA school count? - Maybe
Only if they were taken to fulfill a requirement of a baccalaureate degree, but you should recognize that rarely are such courses as rigorous as those taught in programs leading
to a baccalaureate degree in traditional science fields. The Admissions Committee views
them in this light, often using the MCAT as a common denominator.

Do you count AP credits? - Yes.
AP credits are accepted and can be used to satisfy the requirements for English, biology, and inorganic chemistry, as long as the credits appear on a college transcript and are verified by AMCAS.

Do I have to have completed all the requirements before I apply? No.
While most applicants have all the required courses and more at the time they apply, this is not a requirement. However, all academic requirements must be completed no later than June 1 of the year of entrance. This is a firm requirement for all accepted students. In fact, accepted applicants must provide official transcripts of all coursework attempted, whether or not credit was received, before they can matriculate in the School of Medicine.

MCAT scores are required. If you plan to enroll in July 2009, the oldest scores that are acceptable are those from the August 2005 test. Information about the MCAT can be found on their website.

What letters do I need?
A letter from the Pre-professional Advisory Committee or its equivalent is the one we want and the only one you need. You can have up to three additional letters sent if you want, but these are not necessary.

I was not admitted last year and can use my Pre-professional Committee only once.
What should I do? Can I use the "Old One" again?
Yes and No. You can re-use your previous Committee letter one time the following year so long as the Committee sends the letter. After that, you need to get fresh letters from the Committee or the same or new people. To be realistically hopeful, you should have moved onward and upward since your previous, unsuccessful application, in which case, getting new letters should work in your favor.

What if my school doesn't have a committee?
You have to report this on your Secondary Application, and you should have 3 letters from college professors sent. We prefer that all 3 be from science professors, but letters from 2 science professors plus 1 from a non-science professor will suffice. You can have up to three additional letters sent if you want, but these are not necessary.

When are they due?
All letters are due in our office by December 15, 2008 if you want to start school in July 2009.

What if I don't want to use the Committee?
Knowing that this places you at a disadvantage, you need to explain why you did not go through the committee and have letters sent by three professors.

What if I was not a science major and they don't know me?
Same answer as to the previous question.

What if I graduated several years ago?
Same answer as to the question two up.

What if I missed my Pre-professional Advisory Committee's deadline or one of their requirements?
Same answer as three up, plus knowing that this looks like poor planning on your part, you need to explain what happened and why. Truthfully!

Who should I get to write letters if I don't or can't use the Committee?
Letters should come from people who can comment on your abilities, performance and other attributes that make you a desirable applicant. Letters from senior faculty, such as professors, carry more weight than those from junior faculty, and enormously more weight than those from instructors or teaching assistants. Try to pick professors who are experienced in writing letters and who have earned a reputation for telling it like it is.

For lots more on letters, click here for FAQ's and here for advice to re-applicants.

Does everybody get an interview? - No.
Some, but not all, applicants are invited to interview. They are selected based on a detailed review of all available information.

When do interviews start?
Interviews normally begin in October and continue through March.

When do you stop inviting people to interview?
Interviews are all but finished by the end of March, but as long as your application is active, an invitation to interview is possible.

How many interviews will I have if I get invited to interview?
There will be two one-on-one, in-depth interviews lasting about 30-45 minutes each and concentrating on issues besides your grades and MCAT scores, and a brief interview to discuss any questions about grades, test scores and related issues. More details are provided in the invitation to interview.

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Transfer/Admission with Advanced Standing

Transfer with advanced standing into the LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport is possible in some circumstances.

With the highly integrated nature of our curriculum, transfer is possible only into the third year for students who have completed two years of medical school at an LCME accredited school, and who have passed Step 1 of the USMLE. The number of places available varies from year to year, as does the number of transfer students accepted. Each applicant is evaluated individually, and while a vacancy in the class is essential, it does not assure acceptance per se.

In the Secondary Application all applicants are required to state whether or not with or without reasonable accommodation they can meet the schools Technical Standards, which were developed and approved over a period of months by various faculty committees and ultimately approved by a unanimous vote of the General Faculty. A statement of these follows.

Medical education requires that the accumulation of scientific knowledge be accompanied by the simultaneous acquisition of skills and professional attitudes and behavior. Medical school faculties have a responsibility to society to matriculate and graduate the best possible physicians, and thus admission to medical school has been offered to those who present the highest qualifications for the study and practice of medicine. Technical standards presented in this document are pre-requisite for admission, progression and graduation from Louisiana State University School of Medicine in Shreveport. All courses in the curriculum are required in order to develop essential skills required to become a competent physician.

Graduates of medical school must have the knowledge and skills to function in a broad variety of clinical situations and to render a wide spectrum of patient care. LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport acknowledges Section 504 of the 1973 Vocational Rehabilitation Act and PL 101-336, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but by unanimous vote the General Faculty, has determined that certain minimum technical standards must be met by prospective candidates and students.

A candidate for the M.D. degree must have aptitude, abilities, and skills in five areas: observation; communication; motor; conceptual, integrative and quantitative; and behavioral and social. Technological compensation can be made for some handicaps in these areas, but a candidate should be able to perform in a reasonably independent manner. The use of a trained intermediary would mean that a candidate's judgment must be mediated by some one else's power of selection and observation. Therefore, third parties cannot be used to assist students in accomplishing curricular requirements in the five skill areas specified above. Reasonable accommodation can be made for some disabilities.

The candidate must be able to observe demonstrations and participate in experiments in the basic sciences, including, but not limited to, physiologic and pharmacological demonstrations in animals, microbiology cultures, and microscopic studies of microorganisms and tissues in normal and pathologic states. A candidate must be able to observe a patient accurately at a distance and close at hand. Observation necessitates the functional use of the sense of vision and other sensory modalities. It is enhanced by the functional use of the sense of smell.

A candidate should be able to speak, to hear and to observe patients in order to elicit information, describe changes in mood, activity and posture, and perceive nonverbal communications. A candidate must be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with patients. Communication includes not only speech, but reading and writing. The candidate must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently in oral and written form with all members of the health care team. A candidate must possess reading skills at a level to be able to independently accomplish curricular requirements and provide clinical care for patients.

Candidates should have sufficient motor function to elicit information from patients by palpation, auscultation, percussion, and other diagnostic maneuvers. A candidate should be able to do basic laboratory tests (urinalysis, CBC, etc.), carry out diagnostic procedures (proctoscopy, paracentesis, etc.) and read EKGs and X-rays. A candidate should be able to execute motor movements reasonably required to provide general care and emergency treatment to patients. Examples of emergency treatment reasonably required of physicians are cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the administration of intravenous medication, application of pressure to stop bleeding, the opening of obstructed airways, the suturing of simple wounds, and the performance of simple obstetrical maneuvers. Such actions require coordination of both gross and fine muscular movements, equilibrium and functional use of the senses of touch and vision.

These abilities include measurement, calculation, reasoning, analysis, and synthesis. Problem solving, the critical skill demanded of physicians, requires all of these intellectual abilities. In addition, the candidate should be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and to understand the spatial relationships of structures.

Candidates must possess the emotional health required for full use of their intellectual abilities, the exercise of good judgment, the prompt completion of all responsibilities attendant to the diagnosis and care of patients, and the development of mature, sensitive and effective relationships with patients. Candidates must be able to tolerate physically taxing workloads and to function effectively when stressed. They must be able to adapt to changing environments, to display flexibility and to learn to function in the face of uncertainties inherent in the clinical problems of many patients. Empathy, integrity, concern for others, interpersonal skills, interest and motivation are all personal qualities that should be assessed during the admission and educational processes.

Candidates for the M.D. degree must have somatic sensation and the functional use of the senses of vision and hearing. Candidates' diagnostic skills will also be lessened without the functional use of the senses of equilibrium, smell and taste. Additionally, they must have sufficient exteroceptive sense (touch, pain and temperature), sufficient proprioceptive sense (position, pressure, movement, stereognosis and vibratory) and sufficient motor function to permit them to carry out the activities described in the section above. They must be able consistently, quickly, and accurately to integrate all information received by whatever sense(s) employed, and they must have the intellectual ability to learn, integrate, analyze and synthesize data.

Louisiana State University School of Medicine - Shreveport will consider for admission to medical school any applicant who demonstrates the ability to perform or to learn to perform the skills listed in this document. Students will be judged not only on their scholastic accomplishments, but also on their physical and emotional capacities to meet the full requirements of the school's curriculum, and to graduate as skilled and effective practitioners of medicine. The following technical requirements apply:

All applicants are required to state in the Secondary application whether or not they have read and understand the Honor Code and whether or not they agree to abide by it. The Code was developed and approved over a period of months by students and various faculty committees and ultimately approved by the General Faculty.

Every effort will be made to update the information contained on these pages as necessary. However, it is the responsibility of the user to determine that he or she is relying on the most current version of any particular information. Any questions about the material should be directed to the Office of Student Admissions at shvadm@lsuhsc.edu

Introduction/Welcome

General information and residency reqs

Timeline for the admissions cycle

The application process

Requirements for admission

For applicants invited to Interview

For accepted students

Curriculum

Multicultural Affairs

For Re-Applicants

Acceptable List

FAQ's

NRMP--the residency match

Important phone numbers and e-mails

Requirements for Admission