Interprofessional Health Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program in Medicine
Degree Offered: Certificate
Program Leadership:
Lucy Ogbu-Nwobodo, MD, Director
Valerie Margol, MA, Associate Director
Admissions Inquiries:
Gina Merriwether, Program Coordinator
LaTasha Mitchell, Program Coordinator
Program Description
The Interprofessional Health Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program represents a comprehensive educational opportunity designed for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, underserved communities, and/or from groups traditionally underrepresented in the health professions. Through a combination of advanced science coursework, test preparation, collaborative study, and personalized support in preparing for the professional school application process, participants are able to distinguish themselves as competitive candidates for health professional schools.
Since 1999, post-baccalaureate students in the UCSF schools of dentistry and medicine have been successful in gaining admission to health professions schools throughout the United States. Both programs have consistently seen high acceptance rates: The medical program has an established acceptance rate of 93% and the dental program has a similarly successful acceptance rate of over 90%. In 2010, the School of Pharmacy launched a program modeled after those in the schools of dentistry and medicine, and in 2011 all three programs were united under the UCSF Interprofessional Health Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program.
Post-baccalaureate students complete science coursework through UC Berkeley Extension and participate in graduate seminars at UCSF to enrich their knowledge of the health professions and prepare them for the professional school application process. Students in all three programs benefit from personalized advising; students in medicine and dentistry also benefit from focused entrance exam preparation. As members of a formal university graduate certificate program, students participate in campus life and take advantage of student resources in areas of financial aid, health insurance, library services, learning assistance and more.
The Interprofessional Health Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program is offered by the UCSF Graduate Division and administered by the UCSF schools of dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy.
The UCSF School of Medicine Post-Baccalaureate Program is a comprehensive, structured program designed for individuals from disadvantaged and underserved backgrounds who have been unsuccessful in gaining admission to medical school or who have completed the required undergraduate course work but need to improve their academic profiles before initiating the medical school application process.
The program helps individuals increase their chances of gaining admission to medical school by offering intensive MCAT review, assistance with medical school application preparation, science course work, graduate seminars on health care issues in underserved communities, academic skills workshops, faculty and medical student mentoring, and participation in an interprofessional quality improvement project supervised by UCSF faculty members.
Admission Requirements
To be eligible for this program, applicants must be considered disadvantaged or be from an underserved community, be a resident of California, have completed an undergraduate degree or higher from an accredited U.S. college or university, and have a minimum overall GPA of 2.94 or higher; minimum 2.8 GPA in science and math courses.
Applicants must have completed one year of biology with laboratory, one year of chemistry with laboratory, one year of organic chemistry with laboratory, one year of physics with laboratory and one semester/quarter of biochemistry. Reapplicants must have taken the MCAT prior to matriculation.
Learning Outcomes
Students will participate in multiple modalities to improve their MCAT score and grade point average, improve study methods and academic skills such as written and oral communication, navigate the medical school application process, and learn health care processes improvement in a supervised interprofessional quality improvement project.
Additional Information
Program Core Faculty
- Alma Martinez, MD, MPH, Program Director
- John A. Watson, PhD, Faculty Mentor
- Valerie Margol, MA, Associate Director
- LaTasha Mitchell, Program Coordinator
Career Outcomes
- Matriculation to U.S. Medical School: 93% of program alumni
- Of alumni who matriculate to medical school: 67% attend(ed) medical school in CA, 61% attend(ed) medical school at a UC medical school, and 20% attend(ed) medical school at UCSF.