The medical school’s 10th class of MD students has officially arrived.
The 84 students who make up the MD Class of 2027 were welcomed to the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus on Monday, July 10, 2023, along with 6 students who are completing a one-year Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree.
The MD Class of 2027 was chosen from a pool of 4,104 applicants and the diverse cohort boasts an average MCAT score of 513 with scores ranging from 500 to 524 along with an average GPA of 3.75.
“We are honored to welcome the MD and MBS students to our medical community at WMed,” said Maria Sheakley, PhD, associate dean for Student Affairs. “We eagerly anticipate the remarkable contributions they will make to the Kalamazoo community and the field of medicine.”
The newest MD class is composed of 47 women and 37 men from 21 states. They range in age from 21 years old to 39 years old with an overall average age of 24.6. 33 students are Michigan residents with 12 hailing from Illinois and California, tied as the second highest represented states.
With collaboration and teamwork as a pillar of our curriculum, this group of students comes to WMed by way of 46 undergraduate institutions where they pursued majors that include neuroscience and biochemistry, as well as economics, English, mechanical engineering, and nutrition science, among others. Approximately 17 percent hold advanced degrees and 21 percent are fluent in at least one additional language.
Highly represented undergraduate institutions include University of Michigan, Kalamazoo College, Western Michigan University, Northwestern University, and Loyola University Chicago, and Ohio State University. Locally, 12 students are from Southwest Michigan and 11 attended an institution with which WMed has a preferred relationship.
At WMed, the admissions process recognizes the importance of diversity and seeks students who bring strengths in academics, personal attributes, and pre-medical experiences. Institutionally, we seek students who will reflect the diversity of the patients we serve. In the Class of 2027, 18 percent come from populations underrepresented in medicine. This adds to the diverse community at WMed.
The Class of 2027 is being joined at the medical school by 6 students who are pursuing a Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree. The master’s degree program, now in its eighth year, is designed specifically for applicants to WMed who have strength in their pre-medical experiences and attributes and would benefit from additional basic science preparation before beginning their pursuit of a MD degree.
The students who are pursuing the Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences degree bring a wide breadth of backgrounds and experiences to the learning environment at WMed. The students, as part of their acceptance to the master’s program, are conditionally accepted to the WMed MD Class of 2028.
Meanwhile, students in the Class of 2027 will receive their white coats and be officially welcomed into the medical profession on Friday, September 8, during a White Coat Ceremony at Western Michigan University’s Miller Auditorium. Please visit https://wmed.edu/whitecoat for more information.