To initiate an application for Advanced Standing, qualified applicants must request an application for advanced standing from the UAB Heersink School of Medicine Admissions Office
Applications are only accepted from January through March. Applications will not be considered from UAB Medical Students who will have started their third year of medical school prior to transfer.
If a non-UAB MD-PhD student is transfering with his/her faculty mentor to UAB, the student needs to contact mstp@uab.edu for specific requirements prior to contacting the UAB SOM Admissions Office.
- Applicants applying to the UAB MSTP for admission with advanced standing must meet the minimum admission requirements for admission to the UAB Heersink School of Medicine with advanced standing as well as those for the MSTP/Graduate School.
- Applicants from a school other than the UAB Heersink School of Medicine must demonstrate compelling circumstances as one of the reasons for their request for transfer.
Completed applications will be reviewed by the Heersink School of Medicine Admissions Office and the UAB MSTP. Completed applications must include an official transcript, two letters of recommendation from your professional school faculty who have taught you in the basic sciences or supervised you in the clinics, and an official letter of evaluation from the School of Medicine Associate Dean for Student Affairs or other appropriate official of the applicant's current school. This letter must state the eligibility (or expected eligibility) of the individual for promotion to the next academic year at the student's current school. The letter should address the academic and non-academic qualification of the individual for the eventual practice of medicine. Specific comment should be included on any infractions of the school's code of ethical and behavioral conduct.
Letters of recommendation need to be uploaded through the Heersink School of Medicine Admissions Office advance transfer application link.
After all application material has been received by the Heersink School of Medicine Admissions Office and UAB MSTP, then both entities must agree to offer the applicant interviews in order for the applicant to be given further consideration. Interviews will be coordinated and conducted as determined by each office.
Steps of Notification of an "Interview," "No longer under Consideration", and/or "Acceptance" are as follows:
- Applicants not invited will be notified by a letter signed by the Heersink School of Medicine Admissions Office and UAB MSTP
- In order for an applicant to be accepted the applicant must be acceptable to both the Heersink School of Medicine Admissions Office and the UAB MSTP
- Accepted applicants will be notified in writing by the Heersink School of Medicine Admissions Office as well as by the UAB MSTP
- Applicants not accepted will be notified by letter signed by the Heersink School of Medicine Admissions Office and UAB MSTP
- Acceptance is contingent on the applicant having a passing score on the USMLE Step 1. Applicants must complete this requirement prior receiving a formal letter of acceptance
Admissions Procedures for Graduate Students
Applications are also accepted from students currently enrolled in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Graduate School. These students would usually be in their first or second year of graduate school. Applications are not accepted from students who have already passed their qualifying exam and advanced to candidacy.
Applicants applying to the UAB MSTP for admission as a PhD-candidate must meet the minimum admission requirements for admission to the Heersink School of Medicine as well as those for the UAB MSTP.
Applicants must apply through the AMCAS website and are subject to normal Heersink School of Medicine application deadlines.
On this site, you will enter your essays, grades, MCAT scores, etc. and select what schools you want to apply to (i.e., School of Medicine MD-PhD). Then, the AMCAS will send the application to the MSTP. The application site usually opens mid summer. UAB MSTP will accept applications until Nov. 1st for admission the following fall semester.
Applicants are interviewed with and compete against the complete pool of regular applicants. If accepted, UAB students must take a leave of absence from their graduate programs in order to complete the first 2 years of medical school. At that time, they will then return to their laboratory and graduate program to complete the requirements for the PhD degree.
If a student is from a non-UAB graduate school, then credit for courses already completed will be determined on an individual basis.