Rhodes College excels among national liberal arts colleges in the number of graduates accepted into medical schools. Over the past six years, 86 percent of its graduates with a GPA greater than 3.4 and an MCAT score above the 57th percentile have been accepted into medical schools, including Harvard Medical School, Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, and Emory University.
The 2019 application cycle includes 44 Rhodes graduates offered admittance to medical schools, with Vanderbilt University, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, George Washington University, and University of Chicago among the list.
“Rhodes is the sixth-leading college of liberal arts nationally in the number of applicants we send to medical school,” says Vice President of Enrollment and Communications J. Carey Thompson. “The college’s pre-health advising program offers our students a distinctive edge when it comes time to take the MCAT and apply for medical school.”
Rhodes’ Health Professions Advising (HPA) creates an environment of support and opportunity through advising, programming, and campus and community partnerships. “We are very proud of the resources we offer to all students who are working toward a health profession,” says Dr. Alan Jaslow, the program’s executive director. “We help everyone with specific programming and advising from their first year through their application year. We work with all alumni/ae as well.”
Rhodes’ liberal arts and sciences curriculum encourages the development of well-rounded students who are equipped to actively seek and value information, analyze complex data, work in teams, and develop innovative solutions. Pre-health students at Rhodes also benefit from research with faculty mentors and through clinical work, service, and research opportunities at Memphis institutions, including Baptist Memorial Health Care, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Methodist Hospital, Church Health, and the Wellness and Stress Clinic. “These opportunities provide Rhodes students with an exploration of their chosen profession and experiences important for their application,” adds Jaslow.
Tanner Martinez ’19 received the nationally competitive Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) award, which provides individuals opportunities to pursue a combined M.D./Ph.D. degree in order to care for patients and to conduct research. He was accepted at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, and says, “It is only because of the opportunities available to me through Rhodes that I am able to join an MSTP this year.” Martinez adds that his advisor, biology professor Terry Hill, had a profound influence on his career at Rhodes.
For Rhodes students who decide early on that they would like to attend George Washington University Medical School (GW), the school offers an early selection program that allows sophomores to receive an assurance of admission to GW based on their record from high school and their first two years at Rhodes. This summer, three students from the Class of 2021 were provisionally promised acceptance by GW following their graduation.