by Krystal Zaragoza
Daily Lobo
The number of applicants to medical school has dropped 3.5 percent nationwide since 2001, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges, but officials from UNM's School of Medicine said the University hasn't felt the impact.
According to USNews.com, UNM is ranked seventh nationally among primary care medical schools, receiving about 700 applicants a year from all around the world.
Roger Radloff, associate professor at UNM's School of Medicine, said that about 98 percent of the admitted medical students are from New Mexico or have some ties to the state.
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He added that while in-state students are the preferred denomination at the school, UNM does admit students from the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. This is a program that helps students from states like Montana and Wyoming, states without their own professional schools, attend medical school at a University like UNM.
Radloff says that the number of applicants to the School of Medicine has been a steady number between 240 in 2002 and an estimated 250 for the 2003 school year.
"There was a peak in about 1996 when it (number of applicants) went up to about 325 or 350, and then went down gradually," Radloff said.
Radloff attributes the lower number of applicants since 1996 to the economy, and said he believes the changing economy is having an impact on higher education in general.
"The economy is a little different now," Radloff said. "Funding for college has become more of a pressing issue."
Of the 250 applicants that the school usually receives, they are limited to a class size of 75.
Each student is picked for the school based on their academic record - prerequisites such as biology, physics, organic chemistry and chemistry - as well as their role in the community, experience and their MCAT scores.
Applicants are also put through a screening process where officials from the School of Medicine really get a feel for what the students are doing and how they will interact with patients and people in the community.
Radloff also said that through MCAT tests, School of Medicine officials have been told that the number of students taking the test is on the rise and that in turn means more medical student applications.
"Whether our number of applications will pick up again or not is hard to say," Radloff said. "There is always an increased need for professionals in the medical field, though, and our department is one of the best in the nation in many respects. Regardless of what the numbers show, we are doing our part to put well trained doctors into the community."
