Located in Pasadena, northeast of downtown Los Angeles, California, Kaiser Permanente Medical School gears its mission towards patient care, leveraging its six hospital locations in Southern California to achieve its goals.
In addition, Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine pledged to waive all medical school tuition fees for its first five classes. The promise of enjoying a tuition-free medical degree alone makes Kaiser Permanente College of Medicine a much attractive option for pre-medical students. Graduating debt-free can help students pursue community health opportunities and go into traditionally less lucrative specialties.
>>Want us to help you get accepted? Schedule a free strategy call here.<<
Listen to the blog!
Article Contents
8 min
read
Our Mission
To provide a world-class medical education that ignites a passion for learning, a desire to serve, and an unwavering commitment to improve the health and well-being of patients and communities.
Available Programs
In addition to the MD, Kaiser Permanente Medical School offers a variety of medical degree opportunities. Additional Master's and doctoral degrees are offered in contractual collaboration with other schools in Southern California, however, interested applicants must apply to both universities separately and be approved. Here’re the options:
- A four-year medical degree
- MD master's degree:
- In collaboration with the California Institute of Technology, Kaiser Permanente offers a Doctor of Philosophy (MD/Ph.D.).
Academic Curriculum
Kaiser Permanente Medical School attempts to offer a first-class medical education that enkindles an ardent commitment to improving the well-being and health of communities and patients, a desire to serve, and a passion for learning. Kaiser Permanente curriculum envelopes the tenets of Equity, Resilience, Innovation, Population Health, Scholarship, Nocturance, and Integration.
Looking for more info on Med Schools in California? Check out this video!
Available Courses
Kaiser Permanente's unique curriculum starts with an early immersive Year in the first year and ends with residence preparation in the final, fourth year. This coursework integrates Health Systems, Clinical and Biomedical Sciences with the possibilities of applying knowledge and learning medical skills via medical activities like special projects, service-learning, selective and electives, inpatient immersion, and Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LICs).
Application Timeline
The American medical college application service application deadline for this year's medical application cycle is October 1. Our consultants suggest preparing your requirements this summer. While the application already kicked off in May, secondary materials shall be ready on the first day of November.
This is the proposed timeline of the Kaiser Permanente Medical School application process.
Admission Statistics
The admission statistics for Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine's inaugural class are as follows.
Overall Admissions Rate: 0.47%
In-state Admissions Rate: 0.53%
Out-of-state Admissions Rate: 0.44%
Median MCAT: 515
Mean MCAT: 516
Median GPA (total): 3.85
Mean GPA (total): 3.78
Class size: 50
Eligibility
According to the school's website, Kaiser Permanente Medical College shall consider applications from United States citizens, Green Card holders/Permanent residents, and DACA students. Kaiser Permanente Medical College shall not consider applications from International students on student visas. Interested students must have a bachelor's degree from a university or college in the United States or Canada with full accreditation.
Tuition And Debt
Kaiser Permanente Medical School will waive all fees and tuition for the first 5 cohorts, and this includes health insurance, starting in 2020. From the information gathered from the admission website, every student will likely cover an estimated living expense of $34,500, though students may be eligible to receive substantial financial aid to eliminate living costs if they demonstrate financial need.
Tuition Refund Policy
While the first five Kaiser Permanente classes will enjoy tuition-free medical education, Kaiser Permanente has drafted its tuition refund policy for candidates considering admission after the first five years of admission.
In accordance with the State of California's BPPE refund policy, students who decide to drop out of Kaiser Permanente Medical School may be eligible for a partial or full tuition refund. The student is eligible for a full refund if the withdrawal from school occurs in the first seven days of the academic session. Students may not receive a full refund for the withdrawal that occurs beyond seven days into the academic session.
Tuition and Fees
The annual tuition for students after the first five classes will be $54,719, including health insurance costs and living expenses.
Financial Aid
The cost of obtaining an outstanding medical education is a very significant financial commitment. In Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, the management pledges to help enrolled candidates manage their debt. In addition to making medical education free for the first five cohorts, Kaiser Permanente promises to give excellent financial resources to enable Kaiser Students to discover and evaluate their eligibility for medical school scholarships, grants, and loans to alleviate their financial burden. Kaiser Permanente management board also encourages all new students to apply for the scholarships offered by donors and philanthropists.
Required Courses
Kaiser Permanente Medical School strongly asserts that interested candidates must complete certain medical school prerequisites necessary to ensure their basic knowledge in Biological, Social, and Physical Sciences, while advancing their skills in Communication, Problem-Solving, Writing, and Reading. The courses include:
- Humanities (such as Philosophy, Literature, History, English, Arts).
- Physics and Practical Physics: one academic session.
- Inorganic or General Chemistry with Laboratory Chemistry: one academic session/two or three-quarters semesters.
- General Biology with Practical Biology: one academic session.
- Social or Behavioral Science (examples: Sociology, Psychology, Ethics Studies, Economics, Anthropology, etc.): one or one-quarter semester.
Recommended Courses
Kaiser Permanente also suggests completing the following courses:
Selection Factors
Kaiser Permanente Medical School does not have any minimum requirement for MCAT scores and GPA. However, based on their admission statistics, the mean MCAT and GPA scores are very competitive. Based on the school's small class size, it's obvious that Kaiser Permanente's selection process will be rigorous and selective, as with many medical schools in California.
Additionally, the school's official website stresses that every candidate will be assessed holistically and the admission unit shall consider everyone's general achievement accordingly as well as their test scores and grades. The admission officers will also try to discover who you are, your success stories, and your potential. Your secondary essay is the best place to expose your outstanding qualities, so you may want to take advantage of it.
Letters Of Recommendation
As one of the primary application requirements, every candidate shall present letters of recommendation via AMCAS. This assists Kaiser Permanente in evaluating your commitment as a medical student. Letters of recommendation should highlight one or more of these:
Applicants can obtain letters of recommendation in two ways:
- Three to six individual letters written by professionals acquainted with your personal attributes and academic performance.
- A committee letter, which incorporates remarks from different recommenders, written by a pre-health advisor or pre-health committee.
Further information on acceptable recommenders is available on AMCAS website.
Extracurriculars
Premedical Experience
Kaiser Secondary Essay
Last year's Kaiser Permanente school secondary essays, as well as responsive strategies, are listed below:
Question 1: During your career as a physician, you will potentially encounter many obstacles and be required to overcome many challenges. Resilience is a prerequisite for success in medical school and beyond. Describe your experience with a situation that had an unfavorable outcome. How did you react, and how might you have responded differently? What did you learn about yourself? (250 words)
A good response to the question is giving an instance of an 'unfavorable outcome' that doesn't exhibit negligence or failure on your part. It should demonstrate that you understand difficulties and how they can help you adopt the right attitude towards patient care, upon which the Kaiser Permanente mission statement lays much emphasis. Challenging outcomes make up a great part of your experiences in the medical field. How you will cope with them sets you apart, and this is the distinguishing factor that makes you an exceptional medical practitioner. You should also try to focus on how challenges make you grow as a person rather than stressing only on the unfavorable outcomes.
Question 2: Kaiser Permanente is nationally recognized for its achievements in the realm of equity, inclusion, and diversity. How will you contribute to the diversity of Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine? (250 words)
The problem of diversity in the context of social life is essential in the medical admission process because as a medical doctor, you will interact with a variety of patients from different contexts, societies, and religions. Kaiser Permanente also wants to make a heterogeneous student body, from the best of various styles, methods, and doctrines, which will help make a rich fusion of perspectives and ideas. This diversity prompt does not only belong to the domain of socioeconomic and racial minorities. Thoroughly examining your life experiences will help you discover some uniqueness in your perspectives.
Bonus:
- Try to make Kaiser Permanente get to know you and discern your humility. Doing this will help Kaiser Permanente draw into your medical career plans and learn how they can help you achieve them.
- Rather than missing the target response by manufacturing differences, try to discuss how you have interacted with a wide variety of patients while also highlighting your social orientation towards them and non-discriminatory attitude to diversity.
Question 3: Lifelong learning is an essential process for continued professional development in physicians that includes reflection and being open and responsive to constructive feedback. Tell us about an area of intellectual exploration you are passionate about and have sustained over time. What means have you used to explore this area? (250 words)
This question is a good chance to discuss your intellectual motivation and the plans you have worked on to help you achieve your goals. It is advisable to remain honest about your response, but whatever motivates you should revolve around the sphere of health, well-being, or health-related sciences. Try connecting your passion to health if your life experiences appear disconnected. Of course, you want to prove that you're passionate about your career and your motivation shall likewise motivate a career's worth of service and research.
Bonus:
- Try being honest about how this tuition-free program will help you advance in your specialty of choice. A benefit of lifting tuition fees is that it enables students to dive into specialties they are passionate about without fear of financial burden. In a bid to escape staggering loan debt, many students usually go for low-paying careers in the field of Medicine (Family Medicine, Pediatrics). You should know and illustrate how you can maximize the benefits of this tuition-free medical program.
- Try to focus on one specialty and envelope it in your passion. To you, the study of Neurology doesn't just matter on an intellectual level. The science of neurology connects to your life and principles. Let the admissions officer understand that Neurology is a lifelong passion and not a mere fantasy.
Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine Interview Format
All Kaiser Permanente medical school interviews will be held virtually for this admission cycle. Kaiser Medical School employs a combination of the standard one-on-one interview format and the MMI format.
The multiple mini-interview or MMI is a combination of a series of short interview stations that are not related to each other. Combined, the six to ten unique stations will evaluate your abilities in these areas: Teamwork, Critical Thinking, Empathy, Maturity, Self-awareness, and Communication. Additionally, you should consider the MMI interview as a medium for evaluating your situational aptitude and thinking ability instead of acquired knowledge. The MMI questions are, therefore, more difficult than the regular one-on-one interview, but our blog resources contain excellent frameworks you can employ to maneuver any possible MMI question type.
Acceptance and Waitlist Information
Kaiser Permanente uses the rolling admissions process and starts sending offers to students starting in October of your application year. Admission offers are subject to other conditions, including a criminal background assessment, the school's receipt of your transcripts, and other needed information. In addition, every student is required to pay $100 to hold their spot in the class, which is refundable upon one's decision not to join the class by notifying the school's administration.
Committing to the School
Every student is required by the school management to commit to enroll (CTE), drop out from all waitlists in other schools, and forward a medical school letter of intent to the school's admission office indicating that he or she plans to matriculate with the school. According to the school's website, these required letters of intent will be accepted from 30th April to 30th May.
Contact Information
FAQs
1. Is Kaiser Permanente Medical School accredited?
As a new School of Medicine, Kaiser Permanente has attained the highest possible accreditation for a new medical school.
2. Is Kaiser Permanente a private or public institution?
Kaiser Permanente Medical School is a private nonprofit school.
3. Is Kaiser Permanente really free?
Kaiser Permanente announced that it will offer full scholarships to its first five classes. However, classes after these first five cohorts will pay the full tuition.
4. What does Kaiser Permanente consider in potential candidates for its medical school?
The medical institution is looking for students who are dedicated to its mission and are creative, curious, intelligent, and capable of upholding the values of the medical profession such as inpatient care contexts.
5. How can one be admitted?
To get into the school, you must meet some academic requirements, which are as follows:
- You must get to know the school's values, vision, and mission.
- Earn college courses which are important to medical educational institutions.
- Take the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). Your score cannot be older than 3 years.
6. Must one complete every prerequisite course before applying?
No. Although Kaiser Permanente shall receive applications with pending prerequisite courses, every prerequisite course should be finished before beginning your Year One at Kaiser Medical School.
7. What are the needed Kaiser Permanente MCAT and GPA scores for admission?
Kaiser Permanente has no minimum requirements for GPA and MCAT measures. However, the latest matriculants had an average MCAT of 516 and average GPA of 3.87.
8. Will students be able to defer entry if they are not ready to enroll?
Kaiser Permanente will consider students who want to defer entry if they are facing extenuating situations.
9. How can I apply?
Interested candidates will need to complete the American Medical College Application Service application and fulfill their medical school requirements such as presenting MCAT scores, submitting their letters of recommendation, and transcripts. Candidates will also have to complete the school's secondary application.
10. What is Kaiser Medical School's deadline for secondary application?
Kaiser Permanente secondary applications are due no later than 21st of November.
11. What is the interview format?
Kaiser Medical School employs a combination of the standard one-on-one interview format and the MMI format.
To your success,
Your friends at BeMo
BeMo Academic Consulting
Disclaimer: BeMo does not endorse or affiliate with any universities, colleges, or official test administrators. The content has been developed based on the most recent publicly available data provided from the official university website. However, you should always check the statistics/requirements with the official school website for the most up to date information. You are responsible for your own results.
Like our blog? Write for us! >>
Have a question? Ask our admissions experts below and we'll answer your questions!
Comments