Application Requirements

Thank you for your interest in UNR Med. Our admissions committee engages in a holistic review of each application to identify students who reflect and fit with our vision, mission and core values and whose application demonstrates: 

• A passion for medicine.
  • A mature understanding about the role, challenges, and ethical responsibilities of a physician.
  • Examples that demonstrate your commitment to serving and caring for others with compassion and cultural sensitivity.
  • Examples of activities that illustrate how you have nurtured and prioritized your passion for medicine through purposeful exposure to health care.
  • Examples of paid and/or volunteer clinical experiences that include direct patient contact and care.
  • Familiarity with current affairs in healthcare and medicine.
  • An awareness and acceptance of the personal and financial investment required to become a physician.
  • A wellness mindset in relationship to one’s own physical and mental health.
• A commitment to academic excellence.
  • Self-motivation and accountability for one’s own learning.
  • A commitment to continuous improvement, including the demonstrated ability to solicit and accept feedback.
  • Grades and test scores indicative of an excellent foundational understanding of molecular and macro systems including biomolecules, molecules, cells, and organs and of the psychological, socio-cultural, and biological factors that influence health.
  • Examples of engagement in courses, scholarly projects or research that demonstrate the application of knowledge, critical thinking skills, and quantitative reasoning.
  • A commitment to life-long learning.
• Professional readiness for medical school.

  UNR Med seeks students who are prepared to meet UNR Med’s code of student professionalism and ready to meet standards of professional behavior. Your application and medical school interviews should demonstrate evidence of:

  • integrity,
  • ethical and moral judgement,
  • reliability and responsibility,
  • dependability and timely responses to requests,
  • mature self-awareness of strengths, weaknesses, and biases,
  • excellent team building and collaboration skills,
  • the ability to communicate (listen, speak and write) effectively and respectfully, to maintain confidentiality, and to appropriately deliver and accept feedback.
• Personal attributes that align with UNR Med core values.

  UNR Med’s vision of a Healthy Nevada is made manifest by the strength of our people. We value prospective students who are innovative problem solvers, who demonstrate a capacity and commitment to continuous improvement, who will actively contribute to a respectful, inclusive, diverse and socially engaged community, and who demonstrate compassion, care and cultural sensitivity toward others.

Please note the following regarding letters of evaluation:

• UNR Med accepts Pre-Professional Committee Letters. However, a separate letter of evaluation from an MD, DO, PA or NP must be included within the committee letter or submitted separately.
• It is recommended that your letters of evaluation be written within six months of the application submission date. Letters written more than two (2) years prior to the application submission date will not be accepted.
• We encourage you to provide letter writers with copies of your resume/CV, your personal statement and with a link to or copy of the AAMC Guidelines for Writing a Letter of Evaluation.
  
• Please remind letter writers to use official letterhead and to sign the letter of evaluation.

• One (1) Clinical Letter of Evaluation
  • One clinical evaluation written by a physician (MD or DO), a Nurse Practitioner (NP) or a Physician Assistant (PA) who can evaluate, based upon direct observation, your performance within a clinical environment, including any direct patient care, your passion for medicine and your pre-professional competencies. For applicants unable to secure a clinical letter of evaluation written by an MD, DO, PA or NP as a direct result of Covid-19, this requirement will be waived and an alternative letter of evaluation will be accepted.  We encourage applicants to replace this required letter, whenever possible, with an evaluation from someone who can offer informed insights specifically about your aptitude for the practice of medicine and the competencies, experiences and attributes that support your preparation for medical school.
• One (1) Academic Letter of Evaluation
  • One academic evaluation written by an instructor or faculty member with direct knowledge of your commitment to academic excellence and who can provide information about your thinking and reasoning skills as well as pre-professional competencies that directly impact academic performance.
• One (1) Other Letter of Evaluation
  • Your third required letter should be from someone who can offer a professional evaluation of how your pre-professional competencies, personal attributes, and life experiences have prepared you for success in medical school and as a physician. We suggest a supervisor, research advisor, volunteer coordinator, clinical provider, or a faculty member.

• AMCAS
  • UNR Med participates in the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS). If you meet all application requirements (including residency, MCAT, GPA, and prerequisites) your first step in the application process is to create an AMCAS account and designate UNR Med as a school to receive your AMCAS application.
  • Upon payment, or confirmation that you are approved for fee assistance, your application will undergo verification by AMCAS and then be released to UNR Med.
• AAMC Fee Assistance Program

  • The 2021 application fee for AMCAS is $170 and $40 per each additional school. We encourage applicants with financial need to apply to the AAMC Fee Assistance Program (FAP). In addition to waiving the AMCAS application fee for up to 20 medical schools, the FAP program provides free MCAT preparation materials and a discounted MCAT fee.

  • Please note that eligibility for the AAMC Fee Assistance Program has been adjusted to support those experiencing temporary financial setbacks due to COVID-19. Please visit the Fee Assistance Program Coronavirus FAQS to learn more.
• Secondary Applications
  • Upon receipt of your AMCAS application and MCAT score, UNR Med will invite you to submit a Secondary Application and the $75 application fee. If you are accepted to the AAMC Fee Assistance Program, the application fee will be waived.
  • Please Note: Due to MCAT rescheduling as a result of COVID-19, invitations to complete the Secondary Application will not require an MCAT score for the 2021 application cycle. However, we must receive an MCAT score before you can be considered for an interview.
  • If you receive an MCAT score after completing the Secondary that does not meet the required minimum score, you may request a refund of the Secondary application fee.
  • No refunds are available for AMCAS fees.    
• Secondary Questions

  The Secondary Application includes the following four essay questions:

  1. Describe your primary motivation for applying to UNR Med, your most important connection(s) to the state of Nevada and any plans for using your career in medicine to support our vision of a healthy Nevada.
  2. Describe a time when you were faced with a significant life crisis, a personal struggle, or an academic or professional failure. How did you respond and how did your experience impact your future actions?
  3. Nevada faces health care challenges that include racial and ethnic health disparities, a shortage of physicians in our rural communities, and inadequate medical services for our LGBTQ community and for non-English speakers. Describe how your prior experiences have prepared you to deliver care to underserved patients.
  4. Describe and share what you learned from an experience providing direct patient care.
• Interviews

  Medical school interviews are an integral part of UNR Med’s holistic review of medical school applications and provide an important tool for assessing core competencies that are important for success as a future medical student. Given the need to conduct interviews safely during the COVID-19 pandemic, UNR Med will conduct virtual interviews for the 2021 application cycle and use the AAMC Video Interview Tool for Admissions (VITA).  

  Like our traditional, on-campus Multiple-Mini Interviews (MMI), the AAMC VITA platform will solicit your "mini" response to multiple interview questions. These questions will include a question about your pathway to medicine as well as behavioral and scenario-type questions that allow you to demonstrate your knowledge, skills and experiences related to five core professional competencies:

  • social skills
  • cultural competence
  • teamwork
  • reliability and dependability, and
  • resilience and adaptability.

  If you are applying during the current cycle and are selected for a medical school interview with UNR Med, you will receive an email from the Office of Admissions that includes the deadline for completion. On the following Thursday, you will receive an email from HireVue, the video interviewing platform, that will give you access and instructions on how to complete your interview.

  For detailed information about the AAMC VITA interview format, including frequently asked questions and webinars, a practice test and how to request accommodations, please visit the AAMC VITA website and review the Applicant Preparation Guide.