MS to MD Pathway

The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (SGPS) and the Chicago Medical School (CMS) have partnered to provide a MS to MD Pathway for students seeking separate degrees in basic biomedical sciences and medicine. The Pathway exists for students who intend to apply to medical school and who wish to enhance their clinical career with a research focus.

Students apply to the MS to MD Pathway via an online application. Applicants are highly encouraged to submit all materials early in the application cycle. Submitted applications to the Pathway are reviewed by the MS to MD Pathway Applicant Evaluation Committee and the SGPS Admissions Committee. Those applicants selected for interview for the MS degree program starting in the Fall will be notified of interviews to be held in February.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens, hold a permanent resident visa or be eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) process of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the time of application submission.

Students in the MS degree programs within SGPS earn degrees in the following disciplines: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Anatomy, Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, Microbiology and Immunology, Neuroscience, and Physiology and Biophysics. More information on specific degree programs and faculty research is available.

During the MS degree, students may seek faculty advice to improve their application to medical school, which is typically submitted through AMCAS during the last year of the MS degree. Students who maintain good academic standing as defined by the Pathway and who apply to the Chicago Medical School will be offered an interview in addition to consideration of the applicant's AMCAS application for conditional acceptance by the CMS Student Admissions Committee.

It must be understood that acceptance into the MS to MD Pathway and successful completion of the MS degree does not guarantee or imply acceptance of the student into the medical school class by the CMS Student Admissions Committee. To be considered for admission into CMS, students in the Pathway must submit all application materials as required by CMS, and decisions regarding applicants by the CMS Student Admissions Committee are independent of admissions decisions by SGPS or entry into the Pathway.