It is that time of year, when we once again welcome a new class of medical students to the UNMC College of Medicine. As one of our former deans of admissions was known to say each year, “This is the best class ever.” We look forward to welcoming them, their parents, family and friends at the annual White Coat ceremony on Friday, Aug. 18 at the Orpheum Theater. I would like to express my appreciation to the UNMC College of Medicine Alumni Association for once again sponsoring this event. Their partnership is much appreciated.
Of note, this will be the second year in a row where the number of women in the class is significantly greater than men. Unfortunately, like most medical schools, we continue to struggle with other aspects of diversity in the class. Addressing this is a long-term investment that we continue to pursue, while we continue to abide by state and federal laws and guidelines regarding our admissions process.
As we welcome the new class, our admissions committee is already hard at work selecting our class for next year. As in past years, we expect more than 2,000 applications for the 134 positions available. Decisions regarding offers to interview and ultimately admit students are made using a holistic review process in which multiple aspects of each applicant are considered, not just their GPA and MCAT score, to assess what they will bring to the college and the profession if admitted. As you can imagine, this is a challenging task.
The interview process will be carried out virtually again this year. Most medical schools are continuing this approach as a means of limiting cost to students and leveling the playing field for those coming from less affluent backgrounds or who reside a significant distance away. In the spring, a series of opportunities will be offered to accepted students who may want to visit the campus as they make decisions regarding acceptance of the opportunity to matriculate at UNMC.
I would like to thank each member of the admissions committee for the many hours of time they commit in interviewing applicants and in lengthy meetings to discuss each applicant with their fellow committee members. We are truly indebted to them for their commitment to our college’s mission of excellence in medical education.
We also continue to move forward with our plans for a regional campus of the medical school to be located on the UNMC Health Science campus site in Kearney. This requires the construction of a new building, the groundbreaking for which is expected to occur next month, with completion expected in spring 2026. Hence, we are planning to admit the first entering class, likely in the range of 20 students, to that location in fall 2026.
Although the regional campus is three years away, there is much planning needed, and that work is already underway at multiple levels. We hope that the increase in class size and the site of training will help address some of the physician shortages in Nebraska, particularly those outside of Omaha and Lincoln.
We are also pleased that the number of residency and fellowship positions offered through UNMC will be increasing by 20% or more over the next five to seven years, thanks to a new funding mechanism developed in partnership with the state and federal government. This program also hopefully will allow an expansion of residency training experiences in less populated parts of the state, thereby increasing the possibility that these young physicians will chose to practice in these locations upon completion of their training. We are very appreciative of the support of the state of Nebraska and our health system partners, particularly Nebraska Medicine and Children’s Hospital, to make this expansion a reality.
Hope you enjoy what is left of the summer.