Office of Student Admissions

Transfer Policy

The University of New Mexico School of Medicine will consider transfer students on a case-by-case basis who satisfy the following criteria:

  • The applicant must be classified as a State of New Mexico resident under the guidelines of the Registrar of the University of New Mexico.
  • The applicant must demonstrate a compelling need to transfer.  Examples of compelling need include (but are not limited to) the following: 
    • The applicant wishes to join a spouse who is currently a resident in the State of New Mexico.
    • The applicant needs to be in the state in proximity to an immediate family member (parent, sibling or offspring) with a serious illness. 
    • The applicant requires medical treatment that must be administered by a New Mexico physician.
  • The applicant must satisfy all of the minimum criteria for application that are in place for the regular admissions process:
    • The applicant must be classified as a resident of the State of New Mexico by the University of New Mexico Office of the Registrar.  In the case of a transfer applicant who is joining a spouse who a New Mexico resident, the applicant must immediately seek to establish residency.   
    • The applicant should have a combined GPA from undergraduate and postgraduate education (exclusive of medical school) that is 3.0 or above. 
    • The applicant must have taken the MCAT and received a score of 22 or above.  
  • The applicant must be currently a medical student in good academic standing at a U.S. medical school accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) or the American Osteopathic Association, or at a foreign medical school approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).
  • The applicant must have finished all pre-clinical education, our Phase 1, (usually the first 1.5-2 years of a medical school curriculum), taken and passed the U.S. Medical Licensure Exam (USMLE) step 1 with a score of 200 or better, and be prepared to enter Phase 2 of the UNM SOM curriculum.

    In addition, the following considerations are taken into account:

    • There must be vacancies in Phase 2 and 3 of the medical school curriculum so as to accommodate the applicant for the duration of his/her undergraduate medical education.  The Dean of Student Affairs will be asked to determine whether such vacancies exist so that admitting a transfer student will not adversely affect the education of all medical students.
    • The applicant must be willing to complete all requirements of the UNM SOM curriculum.  The applicant may be required to extend his/her undergraduate medical education beyond the normal four years to complete these requirements.  The exact point in the curriculum where the successful transfer applicant is permitted to join the curriculum will be determined on a case-by-case basis by the Committee on Promotion and Evaluation (CSPE).

    Approved by the Committee on Admissions (December 15, 2008), the Curriculum Committee (January 21, 2009), and the Committee of Student Progress and Eligibility (February 3, 2009).  This policy is subject to periodic review.