MED Evaluation / Course Credit

The MED Evaluation is utilized by participants as a letter of recommendation to medical, dental, or other health professions schools/programs. The MED Program’s summer curriculum is not listed for open enrollment and therefore does NOT lead to a UNC transcript. Thus, the classes/grades should not be entered on any application as classes or coursework. The MED classes you complete do NOT appear on an official transcript from the University of North Carolina and therefore, no transcript can be provided. You may ONLY list it as an experience on an application and use the evaluation as a letter of recommendation. Please contact the office if you have any questions about how to list the MED Program on an application.

If you want your evaluation uploaded, please contact by email Lisa Long lisa_long@med.unc.edu with the subject line MED EVALUATION & your MED Year (ex. 2014).

AADSAS (Associated American Dental Schools Application Services)

Evaluations can be uploaded to the AADSAS service by the Office of Scholastic Enrichment & Equity or mailed or emailed directly to individual schools.

Please refer to the AADSAS site or FAQs below.

AADSAS FAQ

AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service)

Evaluations can be uploaded to the AMCAS service by the Office of Scholastic Enrichment & Equity. MED participants who would like their evaluation uploaded must first designate the letter type as a Committee Letter, MED program as “the letter writer”, and Claudis Polk as the author.

Once you have received the letter writer ID and AMCAS letter request form, then email the letter request (in pdf form) to lisa_long@med.unc.edu

Other Health Professional Services

Evaluations can be uploaded to other health professional services by the Office of Scholastic Enrichment & Equity. This will be completed by the necessary requirements of the respective application services.

Policy on Credit for MED Courses

For further information, contact Claudis Polk, Director of the Office of Scholastic Enrichment & Equity.

Participation in the MED Program does not lead to an official UNC-CH transcript of courses because the summer curriculum is not listed for open enrollment. It is program policy to provide upon request the following documentation: certification of satisfactory completion, course descriptions, recommendations of approximate equivalent credit hours (see below), and final grades in each course. Note also the sections below concerning level of instruction, testing, and interpretation of student averages.

Based on this report of work done, other institutions may make determinations about recording credit for MED courses to the extent allowable within their existing institutional policies. Students who want course credit should make advance arrangements with appropriate officials (faculty advisor, major department, and registrar) at their home institution. Note also that the AMCAS and AADSAS applications allow students to list work done in the MED Program, although MED grades are not included in the AMCAS and AADSAS GPA.

Total Course Hours & Credit Equivalents: UNC School of Medicine officials and course directors have approximated credit equivalents based on guidelines used by the UNC-Chapel Hill College of Arts and Sciences

Total Program Hours: A typical schedule involves about 325 structured hours during nine weeks: 35-40 hours/week in formally organized courses, seminars, and other activities, as well as 5-8 hours/day of class preparation. Of this total, 215 hours (@25 hours/week) are spent in the five basic sciences and prep Gross Anatomy, Histology, Biochemistry, Microbiology (51) & Physiology taken by all students,  and Dental Orientation (62). The remaining 110 hours (an average of 15 hours/week) are distributed among a variety of activities. Most participants need to put in 2-3 hours/day, 6-7 days/week in order to keep up and earn acceptable averages.

Level and Context of Instruction: Medical and dental faculty conduct all basic science courses using standard texts and regular UNC School of Medicine teaching resources and facilities. Within the educational limits of a 9-week period, most courses approximate portions of the first year medical curriculum at UNC. Collectively, the summer curriculum is intense in academic level, pace, volume, and faculty expectations. No single course, however, should be viewed as the equivalent of or a substitute for a regular degree requirement at either the pre-professional or professional school level. In histology, students cover roughly one-third of the corresponding first semester course. Gross anatomy concentrates on regional anatomy of the thorax and abdomen. microbiology and biochemistry survey first year topics, in less depth but with similar clinical applications. MCAT / DAT exposure is Princeton / Kaplan Review materials and limited access to online materials.

Level and Type of Test: Objective testing is an integral part of student learning and assessment with test items and conditions modeled on exams in medical school. All courses have 3-7 achievement measures in addition to comprehensive final exams with a total close to 800 items or separate measures across courses. Weekly quizzes contain material from each course offered in the previous week, with a final week of separate, comprehensive exams in each course.

Course Weights: Midterm and final exam weights are the course directors’ discretion and each course has a different weight for overall program average scoring. Students are provided with a break down of courses, exams, and weights at the beginning of the program.

Interpretation of Course Averages: Student scores are recorded in terms of percent correct. Each course average is the direct product of all test scores and any other measures.