Medicine

Pre-professional & Cooperative Program

Knox has a consistent record of success in its number of graduates who are accepted to medical school. 100% of Knox seniors in 2011 who applied to medical school were accepted -- compared to a national acceptance rate of slightly less than 50%. Much of this success can be credited to the way Knox helps students plan and prepare for medical school.

Admission to most medical schools will be centered on two major factors: your grade point average, with primary consideration given to your performance in pre-medical courses, as well as your performance on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). A strong science background is, therefore, essential for admission to medical school, and our academic program excels in the courses required for medical school and for MCAT preparation. Small class and laboratory sizes ensure the highest possible opportunity for your success by providing an unusual level of access to your professors and, with a teaching load of only two courses per term, your professors have a greater opportunity to work with you beyond class and laboratory time. This provides you with yet another advantage over your peers at other institutions.

Our students distinguish themselves from other medical school applicants through their participation in a number of additional opportunities, including our internship program with local hospitals and physicians. The most significant opportunity for our students is participation in our nationally recognized undergraduate research program. The opportunities for students to participate in research at Knox are numerous and 100% of students majoring in the science conduct research. Grants from the National Science Foundation, the Keck Foundation, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute have purchased first-rate equipment, allowing us to supplement our already impressive science facility and laboratories, and enabling you to use equipment most commonly found in professional research facilities.

Knox awards more than $150,000 annually in research grants to support individual student research projects across the curriculum. In the sciences, these funds can support student needs for equipment, lab materials, living stipends, and travel to conferences across the United States. Participation in these research programs will help you to demonstrate the qualities of commitment, perseverance, and intellectual ability that medical schools are always seeking.

Knox alumni have a distinguished record of achievement in medicine, from one of Knox's first graduates (Asa Olney, Class of 1847) to one of the first black college graduates in Illinois (Barnabas Root, Class of 1870), to noted vision researcher Denis Baylor (Class of 1961) and famed neurosurgeon Robert Spetzler (Class of 1967). Today, many Knox alumni are working in medicine -- including nursing, therapy, dentistry, and veterinary medicine, as well as physicians in all specialties.