Program Overview

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Doctor of Medicine, MD

The Doctor of Medicine is a full-time, four-year program that prepares students to practice primary care medicine and to pursue further education and training in specialized areas of medicine. The program admits 152 new students each year. The MD curriculum is built on a triple-helix model whose three strands extend through all four years of medical school: the clinical and professional skills strand, the mechanisms of health and disease strand, and the medicine and society strand.

Preclinical Curriculum (Phase I)

The first three semesters of the MD program present an integrated core of sciences basic to the study of medicine. They also introduce students to the foundations of clinical practice.

• Coursework includes:
  • Human anatomy
  • Foundations of cellular life
  • Clinical and professional skills (a three-course series)
  • Medicine and society (a three-course series)
  • Mechanisms of health and disease (a five-course series)
• Some elective courses are available to students during the first and second years, normally for 1 or 2 s.h. of credit. Topics include areas not specifically covered in the regular curriculum and areas related to medical practice and the role of the physician. Courses vary from year to year, but typical subject areas are:
  • Global health issues
  • U.S. health care systems
  • Community health outreach

First Semester

• Course List:
  • ACB:8101 | Medical Gross Human Anatomy | 5
  • MED:8121 | Clinical and Professional Skills I | 3
  • MED:8122 | Medicine and Society I | 3
  • MED:8123 | Foundations of Cellular Life | 5
  • MED:8124 | Mechanisms of Health and Disease I | 8

Second Semester

• Course List:
  • MED:8131 | Clinical and Professional Skills II | 4
  • MED:8132 | Medicine and Society II | 4
  • MED:8133 | Mechanisms of Health and Disease II | 7
  • MED:8134 | Mechanisms of Health and Disease III | 11

Third Semester

• Course List:
  • MED:8221 | Clinical and Professional Skills III | 4
  • MED:8222 | Medicine and Society III | 4
  • MED:8223 | Mechanisms of Health and Disease IV | 10
  • MED:8224 | Mechanisms of Health and Disease Keystone | 7

Clinical Curriculum (Phase II and III)

Students complete one week of skills training in MED:8320 Transition to Clerkships prior to the start of clinical clerkships. The two-and-one-half-year clinical component of the medical curriculum is comprised of supervised hands-on clinical training at the bedside of inpatient units, in outpatient clinics, and in communities throughout the state.

• Primary venues for clinical training of medical students include:
  • University of Iowa Health Care
  • The VA Iowa City Health Care
  • The Des Moines Area Medical Education Consortium
• Students also participate in the family and community medicine clerkship, which is an off-campus rotation. Other courses may be assigned to off-campus sites.

Generalist Core (Phase II)

• MD students complete the generalist core during the fourth and fifth semesters. It consists of the following 44 weeks of clerkships:
  • Internal Medicine Block:
    • IM:8310 | Internal Medicine (10 weeks) | 10
  • Family Medicine/Pediatrics Block:
    • FAM:8302 | Family and Community Medicine (6 weeks) | 6
    • PEDS:8301 | Clinical Pediatrics (6 weeks) | 6
  • Obstetrics and Gynecology/Surgery Block:
    • OBG:8301 | Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology (6 weeks) | 6
    • SURG:8301 | Clinical Surgery (6 weeks) | 6
  • Neurology/Psychiatry/Emergency Medicine Block:
    • EM:8301 | Core Emergency Medicine (2 weeks) | 2
    • NEUR:8301 | Clinical Neurology (4 weeks) | 4
    • PSYC:8301 | Clinical Psychiatry (4 weeks) | 4

Selectives

• MD students complete 10 weeks of selectives chosen from the following:
  • ANES:8301 | Clinical Anesthesia (2 weeks) | 2
  • DER:8301 | Clinical Dermatology (2 weeks) | 2
  • OPHT:8301 | Clinical Ophthalmology (2 weeks) | 2
  • ORTH:8301 | Clinical Orthopedics (2 weeks) | 2
  • OTO:8301 | Clinical Otolaryngology (2 weeks) | 2
  • RAD:8301 | Clinical Radiology (2 weeks) | 2
  • URO:8301 | Clinical Urology (2 weeks) | 2

Advanced Required Clerkships (Phase III)

• MD students complete the following required clerkships and other work during the three advanced clinical-year semesters:
  • Critical care medicine (4 weeks)
  • Advanced inpatient subinternship (4 weeks)
  • Advanced electives (total of 32 weeks)
• Students must successfully complete Step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) before they may be promoted to the pathways component of the curriculum. Students take Step 2 of the USMLE during Phase III of the MD program, and must pass Step 2 in order to graduate.

Combined Programs

• The Carver College of Medicine and the College of Law offer the combined Doctor of Medicine/Juris Doctor program.
• The College of Medicine collaborates with the Tippie College of Business to offer the combined Doctor of Medicine/Master of Business Administration.
• The College of Medicine collaborates with the College of Public Health to offer the combined Doctor of Medicine/Master of Public Health program.
• The Carver College of Medicine offers a combined MD/PhD program for students who are interested in a career that combines clinical and academic medicine with basic and clinical research.

Admission

• The Carver College of Medicine participates in the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), a nonprofit centralized application processing service for applicants to U.S. medical schools.
• AMCAS applications are available for completion in May of the year preceding the beginning of the class for which the application is being made.
• Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit application materials by Oct. 15. The deadline for AMCAS submission is Nov. 1. All application materials are due by Dec. 15.
• Secondary applications are extended to applicants meeting minimum qualifications.
• Admitted applicants must have an official transcript from each college they have attended sent to University of Iowa Admissions.

Technical Standards for Admission and Retention

• The College of Medicine seeks candidates who will be able to best serve the needs of society and strives to graduate skilled and effective physicians.
• To achieve this goal, the following principles and technical standards will be applied to candidates for admission and continuing students.

Admission Requirements

• Applicants for admission to the Carver College of Medicine must have a bachelor's degree, or they must be enrolled in a bachelor's degree program with the expectation of receiving their degree prior to enrollment.
• Applicants should refer to the Carver College of Medicine Admissions website for current admission requirements.

Financial Support

• The Carver College of Medicine's philosophy is that no student should be denied a medical education due to a lack of financial resources.
• The college's financial services staff actively seeks sources of aid so that every student interested in medical education will be able to finance that education.
• Financial assistance is provided by the Carver College of Medicine primarily on the basis of demonstrated financial need.
• Although a limited number of collegiate or institutional grants are available for the most economically disadvantaged students, most aid is in the form of loans.
• Examples of federal loan programs are the Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford/Ford Student Loan, the Federal Direct Grad PLUS loan, and the Primary Care Loan (PCL).
• Students may also qualify for collegiate loans or private loans to supplement their financial aid package.
• In addition, the college supports scholarship and loan programs through permanent endowments and/or contributions from alumni and friends of the Carver College of Medicine.
• These funds are administered by the college's financial services staff and are awarded as a part of a student's total financial aid package.
• Funds to support short-term emergency loans are available for students with immediate financial need.
• A small number of Dean's Scholarships are awarded by the college's admissions office to highly qualified candidates on the basis of their academic excellence, leadership abilities, and their potential to enrich the college.
• Dean's Scholarships are included in the recipient's overall financial aid package. About 15% of students enrolled in each class receive some level of Dean’s Scholarship.

Career Advancement

• An interest in science, the healing arts, helping people, and medical research can lead to a great number of satisfying careers.
• For information about career options in health care, review the Road to Becoming a Physician on the College of Medicine website and the Occupational Outlook Handbook on the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics website.