Admissions Requirements and Selection

Admissions Committee

Responsibility for selection of entering students is delegated by the faculty to the Committee on Admissions. The Committee will select from among the applicants those considered to possess in highest degree those intellectual and personal attributes necessary for success in the study and practice of medicine.

The School of Medicine participates in the program designated as the American Medical College Application Service, referred to as AMCAS. All applications for admission to the first-year class must be submitted through this service.

Factors Weighed in Evaluation of Applicants

High grades and/or MCAT scores are not the only elements taken into consideration for admission. Other factors weighed in the selection process include letters of reference, the personal statement, difficulty of academic courses and course loads taken, trends in grades, extracurricular activities, evidence of leadership and the ability to work in a team, volunteer work, care-giving and healthcare-related experience, research, hardship, evidence of dedication to a career in medicine, life experiences, and other non-cognitive attributes. Impressions from the personal interview are especially important.

Early Decision Program (EDP)

Applicants for Early Decision are bound by rules established by AAMC.

Applicants can submit applications as early as June 1. Applicants will be considered for an interview only when all required information has been received and their file is complete.

Components of a completed file are:

• Verified AMCAS application
• Letters of Recommendation - uploaded via AMCAS Letters
• Submitted Secondary Application, including a non-refundable application fee of $50 or a fee waiver from AMCAS
• Uploaded photo (requested, but not required)

Files for Early Decision Program (EDP) must be complete no later than August 1. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that all requirements are met in the allotted timeframe. Selected applicants will be interviewed, and all applicants will be notified by October 1. Successful EDP applicants must accept the school’s offer and cannot apply to any other schools. Non-admission through EDP does not prejudice applicants’ outcome in the regular process.

Transfer Students

The Admissions Committee will consider transfers on a case-by-case basis.   

Provisions Governing Acceptance of Applicant

All offers of acceptance are provisional. Conditions of acceptance are described in the Letters of Acceptance.

Accepted applicants are required to fulfill all requests from the Office of the Registrar for additional information and documentation. Prior to registration, students must submit to the Office of the Registrar official transcripts from each college or university attended, regardless of whether credit was earned. Failure to submit transcripts in a timely manner will prevent registration and forfeit the student’s position in the entering class.

As part of the school’s commitment to providing a safe and healthy environment, along with all new faculty and employees, incoming students are required to pass a drug screen and criminal background check prior to matriculation. Offers of acceptance are contingent on passing both.

It is expected that an applicant who has accepted a place with LSU Health Sciences Center at Shreveport School of Medicine and subsequently decides to attend another school, notify the Office of Admissions. These and other rights and responsibilities are found on the AAMC website.

Criminal Background Check Policy

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) recommends that all U.S. medical schools procure a national background check on applicants upon their initial, conditional acceptance to medical school. The rationale for performing criminal background checks on accepted medical school applicants is based on the need to enhance the safety and well-being of patients and to ascertain the ability of accepted applicants to eventually become licensed physicians.

In support of this recommendation, the AAMC has initiated an AMCAS-facilitated national background check service, through which Certiphi Screening, Inc. (a Vertical Screen® Company) will procure a national background report on applicants at the point of acceptance. (There is no additional fee associated with a background check.)

The criminal background check will not encompass offenses committed as a juvenile, with the exception of those offenses for which the juvenile was deemed an adult.

All conditionally accepted applicants and alternate-listed applicants must consent to, submit to, and successfully complete a criminal background check. Failure to do so will constitute failure to meet the pre-matriculation requirements established by the School of Medicine and will result in the withdrawal of a conditionally accepted offer.

Enrollment at the LSU Health School of Medicine in Shreveport is conditional upon the results of the criminal background check. The School of Medicine reserves the right to revoke an offer of admission based upon information received through the criminal background check.

Initial admissions decisions are made prior to and without regard to the background check. However, students’ responses on the application for admission with respect to criminal misdemeanors and convictions will be compared to the criminal background check report, to ensure consistency and full disclosure on the part of the applicant.

An applicant with criminal convictions shall typically be barred from matriculating at the School of Medicine. However, for all criminal convictions, consideration will be given to the nature and seriousness of the offense; the age of the person when the offense was committed; whether the offense was an isolated incident or part of a habitual, repetitive pattern; and the length of time that has elapsed since the offense was committed. Serious deliberation will be conducted as to whether the offense(s) may indicate a future jeopardy to patient care and well-being.

All criminal background check information will be held confidential and will be viewed only by Admissions Committee members and by Legal Counsel. The criminal background check report and supporting documentation will be held separately and independently from the student’s academic file and will be under the care and custody of the Office of Admissions. Records will not be forwarded by the Office of Admissions to future employers or residency programs; students should retain their own copies of the report for these purposes.

Technical Standards

1. Policy - The following abilities and characteristics are defined as technical standards, which consist of certain minimum physical and cognitive abilities and emotional characteristics that candidates for admission, promotion, and graduation must possess to complete the entire course of study and participate fully in all aspects of medical training, with or without reasonable accommodation.The term “candidate” refers to candidates for admission to medical school as well as current medical students who are candidates for retention, promotion, or graduation.These standards are not intended to deter any candidate for whom reasonable accommodation will allow the fulfillment of the complete curriculum. Candidates who have questions regarding their ability to meet the school’s technical standards should contact the Associate Dean for Admissions (candidates for admission) or Associate Dean for Student Affairs (current medical students). Students who believe they may need to request reasonable accommodation(s) in order to meet the standards are encouraged to contact the Office of Student Affairs.

1. OBSERVATION: Candidates must be able to acquire information from demonstrations and participate in experiments of science, including but not limited to such things as dissection of cadavers; examination of specimens in anatomy, pathology, and neuroanatomy laboratories; and microscopic study of microorganisms and tissues in normal and pathologic states. Candidates must be able to accurately acquire information from patients and assess findings. They must be able to perform a complete physical examination in order to integrate findings based on this information and to develop an appropriate diagnostic and treatment plan. These skills require the use of vision, hearing, and touch or the functional equivalent.
2. COMMUNICATION: Candidates must be able to communicate effectively and efficiently with patients, their families, health care personnel, colleagues, faculty, staff, and all other individuals with whom they come in contact. Candidates must be able to obtain a medical history in a timely fashion, interpret non-verbal aspects of communication, and establish therapeutic relationships with patients. Candidates must be able to record information accurately and clearly; and communicate effectively and efficiently in English with other health care professionals in a variety of patient settings.
3. MOTOR FUNCTION: Candidates must, after a reasonable period of training, possess the capacity to perform physical examinations and diagnostic maneuvers. They must be able to respond to clinical situations in a timely manner and provide general and emergency care. These activities require some physical mobility, coordination of both gross and fine motor neuromuscular function and balance and equilibrium.
4. INTELLECTUAL-CONCEPTUAL, INTEGRATIVE, AND QUANTITATIVE ABILITIES: Candidates must be able to assimilate the detailed and complex information presented in the medical student curriculum. They must be able to learn through a variety of modalities including, but not limited to, classroom instruction; small group, team and collaborative activities; individual study; preparation and presentation of reports; simulations and use of computer technology. Candidates must be able to memorize, measure, calculate, reason, analyze, synthesize, and transmit information. They must recognize and draw conclusions about three- dimensional spatial relationships and logical sequential relationships among events. They must be able to formulate and test hypotheses that enable effective and timely problem-solving in diagnosis and treatment of patients in a variety of clinical settings and health care systems.
5. BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL ATTRIBUTES: Candidates must demonstrate the maturity and emotional stability required for full use of their intellectual abilities. They must accept responsibility for learning, exercising good judgment, and promptly complete all responsibilities attendant to their curriculum and to the diagnosis and care of patients. Candidates must display characteristics of integrity, honesty, attendance and conscientiousness, empathy, a sense of altruism, and a spirit of cooperation and teamwork. They must understand and demonstrate understanding of the legal and ethical aspects of the practice of medicine and function within both the law and ethical standards of the medical profession. Candidates must be able to interact with patients and their families, health care personnel, colleagues, faculty, staff, and all other individuals with whom they come in contact in a courteous, professional, and respectful manner. The candidate for the MD degree must accept responsibility for learning, and exercise good judgment. Candidates must be able to contribute to collaborative, constructive learning environments; accept constructive feedback from others; and take personal responsibility for making appropriate positive changes. Candidates must have the physical and emotional stamina and resilience to tolerate physically taxing workloads and function in a competent and professional manner under highly stressful situations, adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and manage the uncertainty inherent in the care of patients and the health care system.
6. ETHICAL AND LEGAL STANDARDS: Students must be of the highest ethical and moral behavior. Candidates must meet the legal standards to be licensed to practice medicine.  Candidates for admission must acknowledge and provide written explanation to the School of Medicine of any felony offense(s), misdemeanor offense(s), and institutional action(s) taken against them prior to matriculation at the School of Medicine. This disclosure is required of all charges and convictions, including expunged and diverted offenses. This includes, but is not limited to, violent misdemeanors and substance use violations. Institutional actions include, but are not limited to, Title IX or Title VII violations. In addition, students who are enrolled in the School of Medicine must immediately notify the Associate Dean of Student Affairs of any arrest, charge, conviction or institutional investigation or action occurring thereafter. Felony conviction or failure to disclose prior or new offenses can lead to disciplinary action by the school that may include dismissal.

Equal Access to the School of Medicine’s Educational Program
The Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at Shreveport (LSUHSC-S) School of Medicine provides reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with disabilities who apply for admission to the MD degree program and who are enrolled as medical students. Otherwise qualified individuals will not be excluded from admission or participation in the School of Medicine’s educational programs and activities based solely on their status as a person with a disability.

Should a candidate’s or student’s existing or acquired disability (despite reasonable accommodation whether the candidate chooses to use the accommodation or not), interfere with patient or peer safety, or otherwise impede the ability to complete LSUHSC-S School of Medicine’s MD program and advance to graduation, residency, training, or licensure, the candidate or student may be denied admission or may be separated, discontinued, or dismissed from the program.

It is the responsibility of a candidate or student with a disability, or a candidate or student who develops a disability, who requires accommodations in order to meet these technical standards, to self-disclose to the Office of Student Affairs and request accommodations. Candidates must provide documentation of the disability and the specific functional limitations during the registration process with the Office of Student Affairs. Candidates who fail to register with the Office of Student Affairs or who fail to provide necessary documentation shall not be considered to be claiming or receiving accommodations under the federal or state disability laws. Students are held to their performance, with or without accommodation. No candidate will be assumed to have a disability based on poor performance alone. Accommodations are not applied retroactively, and a disability-related explanation will not negate poor performance.

2. Purpose - This policy specifies certain minimum physical and cognitive abilities and emotional characteristics needed to successfully complete the entire course of study of the MD program and participate fully in all aspects of medical training, with or without reasonable accommodation.
3. Scope - This policy applies to MD degree candidates for admission, promotion, and graduation.
4. Procedure -
   1. Admitted students attest to these Technical Standards prior to matriculation.
   2. LSUHSC-S School of Medicine is committed to the full and meaningful inclusion of students with disabilities. Students with disabilities should contact the Office of Student Affairs to request accommodations. The Office of Student Affairs will engage in a confidential, collaborative, and interactive process with the student, learning specialists, and/or other faculty members as needed to determine reasonable accommodations.  Timely disclosure and requests by students are essential and encouraged as accommodations are not applied retroactively.
5. Related Policies/Forms
   • Non-Involvement of Healthcare Provider in Student Assessment Policy
   • Disclosure of Potential Conflict of Interest Policy
   • Student Policy for Requesting Accommodations