The University of Illinois College of Medicine Urban Health Program (COM-UHP) is dedicated to cultivating highly motivated diverse individuals committed to working with medically underserved and disadvantaged populations and advancing health equity, specifically in Illinois. COM-UHP offers a variety of programs and services for individuals interested in a career in medicine.  These comprehensive programs and services are designed to expose individuals to the medical profession, assist with the medical school application process and understand the essential elements needed to become a competitive applicant and prepare the next generation of physicians for service in medically underserved areas.

Pre-Med

COM-UHP Pre-Medical Advising Services involves general strategies how to become a competitive applicant, how to best prepare for the admissions process, the timelines when to best apply, and what pathways exist towards medical school.  Services are free, and involve advising, counseling, and assisting pre-medical students towards being a competitive medical school applicant and becoming a physician.

Opportunity to Meet with COM Advisors include:

• AMCAS Application assistance
• Personal Statement review
• Mock Interview for medical school interviews
• Pre-med Advising (general)
• More…
• Conferences
• Presentations
• Are you Ready to Hit Submit
• AMCAS Writing Series

Why schedule an appointment with a pre-med advisor?

The COM-UHP provides individual pre-med advising resources and career coaching to individuals considering a career in medicine. A COM-UHP Pre-med Career Coach provide individuals with guidance on the medical school application process and the essential elements needed to become a competitive applicant.

If you have questions about the AMCAS application, find yourself wondering what the next steps are and need help, consider speaking to one of our advisors. Whether you’re a first time applicant, re-applicant, traditional or non-traditional applicant, we can help.

The College of Medicine Urban Health Program (COM-UHP) mission is to recruit, retain, and graduate underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students—specifically African American, Latinx, and Native Americans—into medicine with the goals of eliminating health disparities and advancing health equity.

Our services include student premed advising in the medical school application process.  Students are welcomed to arrange an appointment for consultation.

Schedule your appointment with one of our advisors.

Post-Baccalaureate Admissions Program (PAP)

PAP is an advanced 11-month pipeline designed for distinctive outcomes, producing future physicians underrepresented in medicine.  PAP was implemented with the purpose to increase the UI-COM enrollment of Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, and Native American/Indigenous origin.  A pathway solution addressing health disparities, it is our tangible, institutional commitment to students underrepresented in medicine. The goal is to strengthen medical science knowledge of selected students (aka “PAP Scholars”) as an educational investment, for Scholars to gain critical skills necessary to the meet the academic demands of the UICOM medical school curriculum

To be eligible for consideration, students must be in the AMCAS application cycle.  There is no direct application to PAP. UI-COM Admissions extends the offer to select candidates.

PAP Scholars are required to earn a 3.0 or higher grade point average (GPA) during Tier I & Tier II.  For Tier III, PAP Scholars must demonstrate a minimal competency to obtain a Minimum Pass Level (MPL) or better in each individual subject area.  Additionally, PAP Scholars are expected to demonstrate medical education readiness, which includes but is not limited to behavioral characteristics geared toward their success. After completion, PAP, students have a guaranteed seat to matriculate into the UIC College of Medicine as first-year medical students.

• Successful applicants are offered Conditional Admission to the College of Medicine.
• Programs occur on the Chicago campus for all Chicago-Peoria-Rockford bound students.
• PAP provides 100% tuition and fees for Fall and Spring semesters and a stipend for the Summer Pre-matriculation Program. Students are considered for undergraduate loans from FAFSA aid.

Summer Pre-matriculation Program (SPP)

The SPP is designed to be an academic preparatory program that aims to help bolster students’ basic medical science knowledge and encourage them to develop professional and peer support networks during the summer prior to matriculation. If the participant successfully completes the SPP, they are granted guaranteed admission to the UIC-COM.

The SPP provides participants from educationally/economically disadvantaged backgrounds or those who are from underrepresented in medicine access to medical school.

The SPP is a 6-week summer program that begins in mid May and ends in June. Once a SPP student has successfully met the academic and readiness requirements, the College of Medicine will extend an offer to become of the entering class (i.e., those who begin SPP in May 2022 will matriculate to the College of Medicine in August 2022 if they successfully complete the program).

PAP/SPP | Curriculum Design

TIER I – Fall Semester: 12 credit hours

(August – December) Focuses on a full immersion in graduate-level science courses:

• Anatomy
• Graduate Human Physiology
• Biochemistry

TIER II – Spring Semester: 9-11 credit hours

(January – May) Continuum of the science immersion from Tier I in select upper-division (400 – 500 level)

• Anatomy – A Clinical Case-based Approach
• Graduate Human Neuroanatomy
• Graduate Human Physiology II

TIER III (SPP) – Summer: 6 week program 

(May – July)

• Anatomy
• Biochemistry
• Cell & Tissue Biology
• Physiology II