Do you believe you have what it takes to become a doctor?
If your answer is “yes," then you have already taken a major step toward fulfilling the medical school admission requirements and realizing your dream. Confidence in yourself and your abilities is all by itself an essential admissions requirement and critical to being a successful medical student and ultimately a successful physician.
Medical University of the Americas actively seeks students who have the passion and the drive to succeed in today’s rapidly changing medical world. The University accepts students from wide educational and geographic backgrounds, with the belief that such a diverse student body can only enrich the overall educational experience.
Students or graduates of any accredited college or university in the world are invited to apply to MUA. Students who lack the pre-medical coursework can take advantage of the highly structured Premedical Program offered at MUA.
The Medical University encourages applications from individuals who hold advanced, graduate, or doctoral degrees in the basic science areas. Each applicant will be evaluated on an individual basis.
In seeking to enhance the international representation of its student body, the University takes into account the variety of academic and scholastic differences that exist throughout other countries of the world.
Although an English translation and coursework evaluation may be required, students from all countries can be assured of equal consideration for admission to the medical school.
Required Coursework for the MD Program
The following courses are required for admission to the MD program:
- General biology or zoology: one academic year (6 credit hours)
- Inorganic chemistry (with lab): one academic year (6 credit hours)
- Organic chemistry (with lab): one academic year (6 credit hours)
- English (recommended): one academic year (6 credit hours)
Other Coursework
A broad general education is important to developing a compassionate and caring approach to medicine. Therefore, MUA encourages students to complete courses in the arts, social sciences, philosophy, literature and the humanities.
Students completing courses such as cell biology, anatomy and physiology, genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, physics, mathematics, statistics and psychology/interpersonal skills and communication are given preference in admissions.
The Admissions Committee actively seeks to enhance the international representation of the MUA student body and therefore takes into account academic and scholastic differences that exist throughout the world.
The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is required for all applicants who are U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents for the September 2022 term! In addition, it is strongly encouraged for all other applicants and specifically required from those students who meet any of the following three conditions:
- Students with outdated required science coursework (>5 years old)
- Students who completed required science coursework at a community college
- Students with “C” grades or lower in the required science courses
If using the MCAT (THx) system, please use the school name. More information about the MCAT is available at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) website. Applicants can send MUA the MCAT exam scores through the online THx system as soon as they are available at the AAMC.
Check out the upcoming test dates here.
Since English is the language of instruction at Medical University of the Americas, it is important that applicants be prepared academically to pursue the curriculum and also be able to communicate well.
Applicants whose native language is not English are required to take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). You can find more information on the TOEFL website.
Individuals who have attended medical school will be evaluated for possible transfer on a space-available basis into either the Basic Sciences or Clinical Medicine semesters at Medical University of the Americas. Please contact the Admissions Office before submitting an application for transfer.
Transfer students must meet all documentation requirements of a new student and must be in good academic standing.
Requirements for the application include:
- An official transcript sent directly from your current institution and all past educational institutions
- Verification that the student was a registered medical student and coursework was taken while the student was “in residence”
MUA will only offer transfer credit for coursework completed through an accredited medical school that meets our standards and matches our curriculum. MUA will not consider coursework completed through a distance learning program. Students with unsatisfactory records or dismissal for any reason from other medical schools are not considered for transfer.
MUA does not offer advanced standing credit for courses taken in graduate or professional degree programs (e.g., Chiropractic, Physician Assistant, Podiatry, Dentistry or other allied health professional programs).
Please note:
- Consistent with ECFMG transfer credit requirements, any transfer credits earned on or after January 1, 2008, will be honored with regard to gaining ECFMG certification for seven years only. If it takes the student longer than seven years to graduate from medical school, from the time they received a transfer credit, the course will no longer be recognized and the student will have to repeat it.
- Based on the medical school an applicant is seeking transfer from, if accepted, the student may need to repeat courses to satisfy state licensure requirements.
Students interested in transferring to the Clinical Medicine program (Semesters 5-10) must contact the Admissions Office prior to formally applying to determine eligibility and space availability.
In order to complete the program in medicine, students from outside the US and Canada may need to obtain certain visas in order to undertake all or a portion of the requisite clinical training in affiliated hospitals in the U.S. and Canada.
Additionally, all students from outside the U.S. and Canada will need certain visas to take one or more segments of the USMLE exams in the U.S. These visas are solely the student’s responsibility to obtain. The School understands that as a result of policies or practices adopted by the U.S. State Department, a number of medical students from outside the U.S. and Canada have been unable to obtain the required visas.
Students from outside the U.S. and Canada who are unable to obtain the necessary visas will not be able to complete the School’s degree program. In such a case, no refund of tuition or other expenses incurred in connection with his or her attendance at the School will be made.