Do you have a passion for primary care and giving back to your community? The AAMC predicts that by 2034, there will be a shortage between 17,800 - 48,000 primary care physicians (e.g. family medicine, general pediatrics, geriatric medicine) in the workforce. Ohio State’s three-year Primary Care Track (OSU-PCT) medical school program will prepare you to be successful in a career in primary care, with collaborative faculty mentorship, advising, early-and-often clinical learning experiences in family medicine offices and a cultivated learning community dedicated to support and helping you succeed. In addition to a tuition scholarship off some portion of in-state tuition for all enrolled time, there is a cost-savings of one year’s tuition and also one year of earnings by completing medical school in three years. Students are also eligible to apply for additional scholarships and Ohio-specific grants. Upon meeting the academic and professional standards for graduation from OSU COM, should you choose to rank us, you would be positioned to match at the OSU FCM Residency Program through the National Resident Matching Program.

Why apply to Ohio State's 3-Year Primary Care Track

• An accelerated curriculum leading to the MD degree in three years instead of four
• Core curricular objectives that are identical to the college’s four-year track, the Lead.Serve.Inspire. curriculum
• Family medicine mentoring over three years
• Support and engagement from the PCT faculty, residency faculty and residency program
• Tutoring and exam preparation
• Tuition scholarship, covering up to 50% of in-state tuition all three years
• Students will progress into the OSU Family and Community Medicine Residency Program assuming all requirements are completed and students wish to remain at Ohio State
• Completion of medical school and residency training in family medicine in six years

Three year breakdown

 PCT1 – Year 1

• Clinical rotations begin during the first week of medical school. Students are paired with a family medicine physician beginning their first week of Primed for Practice orientation and work longitudinally throughout medical school in the same clinic with the same preceptor.

• Primed for Practice:  Orientation course to introduce PCT students to medical school and to the Dept. of Family and Community Medicine. Students arrive 3 weeks ahead of medical school orientation to start in the PCT curriculum. Topics include note-writing, patient interviewing, and history taking as well as events such as learning community, family medicine specialty exploration, and meet and greet with residency program.

• ACE+: Covers topics related to different family medicine specialty clinics at Ohio State relevant to diverse patient populations served in a patient-centered medical home. 

• Primary Care focused Longitudinal Group: Classmates and facilitator have an identified interest in primary care populations. Additional topics presented related to social determinants of health and the patient-centered medical home. 

• Peer Tutoring and Faculty Advising: Students are assigned a peer tutor throughout Part 1 of the LSI curriculum and meet each block with PCT program directors for career and curriculum advising.

PCT 2 – Year 2

• Summer Host Defense: The summer between Med1 and Med2 year are spent on-campus so students to accelerate more quickly through the Part 1 curriculum and enter Part 2 a ring ahead of their peers. 

• Continued ACE clinical sessions in the LP and UPWP curriculum

• Part 2 pre-entry with focus on preparing for the NBME Step 1 exam completed half-way through a student’s second year of medical school

• Begin Part 2 curriculum in the UPRSN ring in the final semester of year 2

PCT 3 – Year 3

Students complete the Part 2 curriculum including the UPSMN and UPWP rings before study time and completion of the Step 2 Exam. Students complete the required components of Part 3 including 2 blocks of AMHBC (Mini-I and Emergency Medicine) and AMRCC (longitudinal ambulatory block and interprofessional chronic care block), a QI project, and their student portfolio before graduation in May. Student’s Part 3 curriculum is focused on preparation for a residency in family medicine upon graduation.

Requirements

We are looking for the family physicians of the future who demonstrate a commitment to social responsibility and a strong desire to enter into a career in family medicine. Only students who meet the following criteria will be considered for the program:

1. Strong motivation to enter a career in family medicine
2. Maturity necessary to be successful in an accelerated three-year program
3. A record predictive of success in an accelerated three-year program
   
    

How to Apply

1. First, designate The Ohio State University on the electronic AMCAS application, and select Regular MD as the application type.
2. Next, contact us at threeyeartrack@osumc.edu for further instructions on specific steps to follow to apply to OSU-PCT.
3. Please note that your application to the OSU-PCT program will not be complete until you have informed The Ohio State University College of Medicine of your interest in this program.
4. Competitive applicants will be sent a secondary application. Your application to the Ohio State College of Medicine Primary Care Track is complete when your secondary application is received.
5. Qualified applicants are invited for interviews, which take place from September to March, and will complete an interview day with the college of medicine and an interview day with the OSU-PCT and residency representatives.
   
    

Selection Process

• Application for this program opens June 1 via the AAMC American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS).
• Criteria for selection include demonstrated interest in family medicine and primary care through experiences, interests and/or understanding of the field. Applicants will complete an additional application that will give them an opportunity to discuss their interest and understanding of family medicine. Applicants should demonstrate academic credentials predictive of success in an accelerated, three-year curriculum.
• Applicants to The Ohio State University College of Medicine will not be permitted to apply to both the standard 4-year MD program AND the Primary Care Track MD Program.
  
   

Contact

For more information on the Primary Care Track and directions on how to apply, please contact us at threeyeartrack@osumc.edu.