David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
- Liz F
- Dec 28, 2022
- 5 min read
What is the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA? The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA is the medical school of the University of California Los Angeles. The David Geffen School is located in Los Angeles, California, and was founded in 1951. The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA was the second of the UC’s medical schools, the first being at UCSF. As UCLA itself is a highly accredited, prestigious, and well-known school, its medical school is the same. The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA is most definitely among the best medical schools in the nation as it holds many top-notch attributes. There is no doubt that UCLA’s medical school creates talented and successful physicians in many fields. According to their website, their mission statement is “To improve health and healthcare, UCLA will: Create world leaders in health and science, discover the basis for health and cures for disease, optimize health through community partnerships, heal humankind one patient at a time.” Admission: The admission process to any medical school is challenging. UCLA starts with the AMCAS Application, which has a deadline of October 1st. Then, there is a secondary application two weeks from an invitation. Next, from July to November is the screening of completed applications. From July to December is when invitations for interviews will be sent out. Those interviews will occur from August through January, which is very important to prepare for. Rolling offers of admissions will then start to be sent out on October 15th. Keep in mind that the maximum response time an applicant has is 2 weeks. In more specifics to the application, the AMCAS is the American Medical College Application Service. An applicant will also need to submit their MCAT score, letters of recommendation, and transcripts. Some requirements of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA include:
A Bachelor’s degree from a US or Canadian institution by completing a minimum 3 years of undergraduate coursework or have obtained a graduate degree from a US or Canadian institution
High GPA (above 3.4)
High MCAT Score (above 512) - You must include at least one MCAT score in your application from an exam. There is a time range of what score they will accept depending on how long ago your exam was taken. For example, to be considered for the 2022 admissions cycle, at least 1 MCAT result from an exam taken after January 2018 and before September 11, 2021, should be included in your application
Recommendations for applicants:
Awareness of health care delivery, human diversity, and research experience
Attainment of skills in writing and communication skills, clinical experiences, and interpersonal skills
Attainment of knowledge in biological sciences and physiology, chemistry, biochemistry, and physical Sciences, Humanities, and mathematics and statistics
The David Geffen School of Medicine reviews applications holistically, however, the selection of students are based on:
Undergraduate record
Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) scores
Letters of recommendation
Graduate record (where applicable)
Life experiences (research, volunteerism, clinical, work, leadership, publications)
Admission interviews
As the school is highly competitive and prestigious, that does mean it is very difficult to be admitted. The acceptance rate of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA was about 3.9% as of 2010. In 2019 out of about 13,000 applicants, only roughly 300 were accepted. Their competitiveness and reputation also mean tuition is extremely high. The yearly tuition and fees at UCLA’s med school are $43,726 for in-state students and $55,971 for out-of-state students. Fortunately, there are scholarships available including the David Geffen Medical Scholarship, the LA Care Scholarship, and the Leaders of Tomorrow Scholars Program. Education: The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA offers different types of education including MD, residency, and graduate. MD education is the school you go through to become a “doctor of medicine”, so essentially med school. The curriculum at UCLA includes phase I of human biology and disease, phase II of core clinical clerkships, and phase III of 4th-year colleges and curriculum training. As you may know, the total process of med school is 4 years. UCLA’s med school has many different significant attributes including research opportunities, career development, peer mentoring, and much more. As for residency, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA offers many different residency and fellowship training programs including internal medicine, neurological surgery, nuclear medicine, urology, and much more. Lastly, for UCLA’s post-doctoral education, they offer programs in bioscience, biomathematics, and molecular toxicology. All of the different education programs offered at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA are above satisfying programs and education to go through the process of becoming a physician. Departments, Research, Affiliated Hospitals, Centers, Institutes, and More! UCLA has many different attributes including departments, research, affiliated hospitals, and much more. Starting with research, a part of UCLA’s mission statement is to cure diseases, so research is an active part of their school. UCLA has made 13 research breakthroughs including molecular signaling in 1998, tissue matching in 1964, successful gene therapy in 2015, and more. Six Unified Research Themes have been established at UCLA including:
As you can tell, there are many different research paths one can pursue at UCLA with their unique benefits. The cancer research and cancer center at UCLA is ranked #1 in Los Angeles and California in the U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals. UCLA is very dedicated to research and receives more than a billion dollars every year in research awards. Along with these research themes there are centers and institutes. The UCLA research institutes include:
UCLA AIDS Institution
Brain Research Institute
Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging
Institute for Precision Health at UCLA
UCLA Stein Eye Institute
Molecular Biology Institute
Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior
UCLA-DOE Institute
UCLA’s research centers include:
Broad Stem Cell Research Center
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center
Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
Aside from research, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA has many different departments. There are clinical departments as well as basic science departments. The clinical departments include:
Anesthesiology
Emergency medicine
Family medicine
Head and Neck Surgery
Department of Medicine
Department of Neurology
Neurosurgery
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedic Surgery
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Pediatrics
Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
Radiation Oncology
Radiology
Surgery
Urology
The basic science departments include:
Biological Chemistry
Computational Medicine
Human Genetics
Microbiology, Immunology, & Molecular Genetics
Molecular & Medical Pharmacology
Neurobiology
Physiology
UCLA offers very unique education opportunities for each department so that its students receive the best training possible. Lastly, the affiliated hospitals of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA are the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and Olive View-UCLA Medical Center. Quick Facts: Acceptance Rate: 3.9% Average GPA: 3.85 Average MCAT Score: 517 Tuition: $43,726 - $55,971 Sources: https://www.shemmassianconsulting.com/blog/how-to-get-into-ucla-medical-school https://medschool.ucla.edu https://medschool.ucla.edu/research-overview https://medschool.ucla.edu/education https://medschool.ucla.edu/about
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