Interviews are arranged only by invitation and upon recommendation by the Interview Selection Workgroup. 

The purpose of the interview is to assess personal characteristics that are pertinent to the admissions decision. The interview experience allows the applicant an opportunity to become acquainted with the medical campus in a general way, and at the same time provide the Admissions Committee better insight into his/her personal interests and attitudes. 

Each candidate is evaluated holistically and while the reviewers/interviewers seek a balance of the attributes defined below, this list is neither exclusive nor exhaustive: 

*Preferred but not required

VIRTUAL INTERVIEW FORMAT:

• Applicants selected for interviews will be invited to two live virtual interviews with different interviewers.
• Interviews will be conducted via secure Zoom during the weekday as scheduled by the Admissions Office.
• Each interview may last up to 45 minutes.  Interviews will be consecutive with a fifteen minute break in between.
• In addition to the interview session, applicants will be required to meet with current medical students via Zoom for discussion.  This will be scheduled separately from the interviews and will include a student-guided video tour of the campus.
• The applicant will be given direction about the live virtual interview, including an agreement of terms and conditions that must be signed in advance of the interview.

Information on how to prepare for the virtual live interview can be found in the AAMC publication:  

Virtual Interviews:  Tips for Medical School Applicants

MCAT

The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is required and is used along with other data to predict success in preclinical course work.

Certain exclusions apply for the MCAT requirement. Applicants from the BS/MD program who meet specific program criteria are exempt from the MCAT requirement.

The MCAT must be taken within three calendar years prior to matriculation. Applicants are encouraged to review the Profile of Entering Students to determine competitiveness for acceptance.

GPA

A minimum overall GPA of 3.0 is preferred. 

Students participating in a pathway program that has minimum GPA requirements must maintain the GPA requirements defined for that program.

SITUATIONAL JUDGMENT TEST REQUIREMENT

Beginning with the 2022 Admissions Cycle (class entering in fall 2022) all applicants to Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine will be required to complete a situational judgment test (SJT) as part of the application for the Regular MD and MD/PhD programs.

For the 2022 cycle, we will require the SJT platform provided by CASPer (Computer Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics). The test dates for our program are May 4, 2021 through November 16, 2021.   All MD and MD/PhD applicants must have taken the test by November 16, 2021 to be considered for the 2022 admissions cycle.

CASPer is an online test assessment for non-cognitive skills and interpersonal characteristics that we believe are important for successful students and graduates of our program. By implementing CASPer, we are trying to enhance fairness and objectivity in our selection process.

In order to take CASPer, you will be responsible for securing access to a computer with audio capabilities, a webcam, and a reliable internet connection on your selected test date. CASPer can be taken practically anywhere that you can satisfy the aforementioned requirements. No exceptions will be provided for applicants unable to take CASPer online due to being located at sites where internet is not dependable due to technical or political factors.

Please go to takeCASPer.com to sign up and reserve a test using your AAMC ID and a government-issued photo ID. You will be provided with a limited number of testing dates and times. Please note that these are the only testing dates available for your CASPer test for our program. There will be no additional tests scheduled. Please use an email address that you check regularly; there may be updates to the test schedule.

Please direct any inquiries on the test to support@takecasper.com. Alternatively, you may use the chat bubble in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen on the takecasper.com website.

The CASPer test is comprised of 12 sections of video and written scenarios. Following each scenario, you will be required to answer a set of probing questions under a time contract. The test typically takes between 75-90 minutes to complete. Each response is graded by a different rater, giving a very robust and reliable view of personal and professional characteristics important to our program. No studying is required for CASPer, although you may want to familiarize yourself with the test structure at takeCASPer.com, and ensure you have a quiet environment to take the test.

CASPer test results are valid for one admissions cycle. Applicants who have already taken the test in previous years will therefore be expected to re-take it.

Letters of Recommendation must be provided from a premedical committee or from three faculty members who have taught the applicant.

If three individual letters are provided, two of these recommendations must be from science professors and one of the three must be from the applicant's major department.

Letters of recommendation from other persons of the applicant's choosing are welcomed.

We participate in the AMCAS Letter Service and receive letters electronically.   All letters must be submitted to AMCAS by December 15 of the year prior to matriculation.

These technical standards for admission are set forth by the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine (MUJCESOM) to establish the expectations and requisite abilities considered essential for students admitted to its educational and training programs to achieve the levels of competency stipulated by MUJCESOM, its accrediting agency (the Liaison Committee on Medical Education of the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association), and the Higher Educational Policy Commission of the State of West Virginia.

A practicing physician must possess the physical, mental, behavioral, and social competencies to function in a variety of clinical situations and to render a broad spectrum of patient care in multiple and varied settings.

Accepted students must be able to perform the academic and clinical competencies to meet the full requirements of the school’s curriculum.

Accepted students with disabilities which may compromise their educational process and their ability to practice medicine or which might compromise the educational process of their classmates may be required to undergo appropriate evaluation to assess their ability to meet the school’s competencies and/or continue in the program.

The academic and clinical competencies of the school’s curriculum include the capacity to observe and communicate and demonstrate sufficient motor ability to perform physical examinations and basic laboratory and diagnostic procedures. Students must demonstrate emotional stability, exercise sound judgment, work effectively in stressful situations, and have the intellectual ability to synthesize data and solve problems.

Applicants for admission to MUJCESOM who are invited for an on campus interview are required to certify on the day of their interview that they understand and are able to meet the Technical Standards described herein with or without reasonable accommodations. A description of the actual disability and the need for accommodations should not be disclosed at this time. Reasonable accommodations can be made for accepted students with appropriately documented disabilities. An accommodation is not reasonable if it poses a direct threat to the health or safety of self and/or others, if making it requires a substantial modification in an essential element of the curriculum, if it lowers academic standards, or poses an undue administrative or financial burden. Except in rare circumstances, the use by the candidate of a third party (e.g., an intermediary) to perform any of the functions described in the Technical Standards set forth would constitute an unacceptable modification.

As an accepted student who has a disability and needs accommodations should initiate discussions with the MUJCESOM Office of Medical Education as soon as the offer of admissions is received and accepted. It is the responsibility of an accepted student to provide sufficiently current information documenting the general nature and extent of his/her disability and the functional limitations proposed to be accommodated. The student must recertify that he/she is able to meet the Technical Standards with their specific accommodations. The School of Medicine reserves the right to request new or additional information.

Candidates for admission to the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine must meet the following Technical Standards:

• Must be able to obtain, process, and learn information presented in classroom, laboratory, and clinical experiences, including but not limited to lecture, anatomical dissection, and simulated and real treatment situations;
• Must be able to acquire information from a variety of sources, including but not limited to texts, journals, written documentation, videotapes, films, slides, and advanced media resources;
• Must have the mental capacity to, in a timely manner, assimilate, learn, and communicate large volumes of complex, technically detailed information, to perform clinical problem-solving, and synthesize and apply concepts and information from different disciplines to formulate evaluative and therapeutic judgments;
• Must be able to measure, calculate, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information;
• Must be able to comprehend three-dimensional relationships and understand spatial relationships of structures;
• Must be able to process information in a timely manner;
• Must be able to solve clinical problems in a timely manner;
• Must be able to observe simulated and real patients accurately close at hand and at a distance;
• Must be able to assess verbal and non-verbal communication from others;
• Must be able to demonstrate effective, efficient, and sensitive verbal, non-verbal, and written communication skills with faculty, peers, patients, and other members of the health care team from different cultural and social backgrounds;
• Must be able to consistently perform a complete history and physical exam on any patient regardless of the patient’s race, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, age or sexual orientation.
• Must be able to tolerate long periods of sitting as well as long periods of physical activity;
• Must be able to manipulate parts of, or whole bodies of, simulated and real patients;
• Must be able to tolerate close physical contact with patients for instructional purposes while maintaining professional deportment;
• Must possess the emotional health necessary for the full use of intellectual abilities, the exercise of sound judgment, and the effective completion of all responsibilities attendant to the educational expectations, assessment and treatment of patients, and the development of mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with patients, family members, colleagues, and others;
• Must be able to endure physically and mentally stressful workloads and function effectively and professionally under stress;
• Must be able to adapt to changing environments and expectations;
• Must be able to prioritize activities effectively;
• Must possess adequate sensory function to fulfill the minimum competency objectives for auscultation, percussion, and other physical assessment and treatment procedures commonly used in the medical practice;
• Must have the capacity to learn, model and abide by the professional competencies of the profession;
• Must have the ability to record examination and diagnostic results clearly, accurately and efficiently, and communicate them effectively to the patient and colleagues.