College Establishes Med School Alliance

On Wednesday, Oct. 17, Director of Student Fellowships and Health Professions Advising Arlinda Wickland sent an email to first and second year premedical students announcing that the College has established an Early Assurance Program with Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College.

“This new partnership avails the opportunity for outstanding students at Middlebury who are clearly committed to a career in medicine to seek acceptance to Geisel Dartmouth in the sophomore year,” wrote Wickland in an email.

According to Wickland, the aim of the program is to allow students “to take full advantage of their undergraduate education without the pressures of applying to multiple medical schools during their final year in college.”

In order to participate in the partnership, interested students must apply by February of their sophomore year to be considered for nomination by the Middlebury College Health Professions Committee. The Committee will choose five applicants to whom it will provide letters of endorsement nominating them for the program.

After receiving an endorsement, nominees must apply to the Geisel Early Assurance Program itself. Students who are accepted to the program will be notified in the fall of their junior year after the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth Admissions Committee makes the decisions themselves of whom to admit.

The Geisel program also offers accepted students the opportunity to work at Geisel School of Medicine during the summer after their junior year. Participants must also take the MCAT prior to their commencement of their senior year.

Middlebury students and alums expressed support for the early admission programs. “Applying early … gives students the advantage of avoiding some of the stress experienced by upperclassmen pursuing admission. I can see how it would be beneficial to many students,” wrote Sarah Pollick ’14 in an email.

Alumnus and current medical school applicant Samuel Miller ’12 agrees.

“Application to medical school is a very competitive process, and pre-med students are often very concerned about their GPA,” said Miller. “This can sometimes discourage students from taking classes outside of their comfort zone, for fear that it will negatively impact their GPA. The early assurance program should lessen this concern for some students and allow them to take greater advantage of the liberal arts experience that Middlebury values so strongly.”

The Geisel Early Assurance Program is one of six similar programs at the College, which also maintains relationships with Albany Medical College, the University of Connecticut School Of Medicine, the University at Buffalo School of Medicine, the State University of New York Upstate Medical University and the University of Rochester Medical Center.

These relationships allow undergraduates at Middlebury to apply to these institutions during their sophomore or junior year depending on the institution. The criteria for applicants are stringent – most require a grade point average above 3.5, however some of the programs waive a requirement for the applicant to take the MCAT exam.

There will be an information meeting for candidates interested in the Geisel program in late October.