Florida International University med school gets 6,700 applicants

Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine more than doubled its application pool for future physicians last semester, increasing its matriculation to about 15 more students and has now received more than 6,700 applications for the new year’s cycle.

The Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine routinely matriculates about 120 students each year in August, based on the number the school is allowed by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. But last year, the school admitted 135 medical students.

“We usually accept a little bit more to fill our class because we’ll have some students who withdraw, who go on to attend medical school maybe elsewhere,” said Cristina Arabatzis, the College of Medicine’s director of admissions and recruitment. “But last year we didn’t have as many student withdrawals as we would have had in the past, based on our trends and experience.”

Pre-pandemic the college had about 4,700 to 5,000 applications of students each year. Last year, the school had 7,400, a 52% increase from its previous year.

“This cycle,” said Ms. Arabatzis, “we still had an increase, but not as big as the last. We had about a 9% decrease, more (students) than pre-pandemic but still less than last year.”

The college has so far received 6,750 applications for this matriculation cycle, which has not yet ended. Aspiring medical students applied last June, when the cycle opens each year. The school has not yet decided how many students will be matriculated this August.

Students at the College of Medicine learn at 12 hospitals, 16 clinical affiliates and 36 private practices in Miami-Dade and Broward counties and are supported by the Florida Department of Health.

“I know that most medical schools did see some form of increase in the application pool for a multitude of different reasons,” Ms. Arabatzis said. “I don’t think [the decision to become a doctor] was necessarily all due to the pandemic experience, because this is a process that takes a lot of time and work, but there are a few things that I think contributed to it. First, usually when the economy is down, people go on to pursue a graduate degree; second, there’s an interview process associated with medical school admissions.”

Once an aspiring medical student applies, she explained, a screening process will decide if the applicant is offered an interview or not, and interviews pre-pandemic were in person.

“So, an applicant could have applied to 25 schools across the country, for example, and if they were offered an interview in California, they would have to fly there, pay lodging, airfare, meals, transportation… everything,” she said. “With the pandemic, all the interviews transitioned virtually, which I think enticed a lot of students who maybe would not have the financial means to travel to different interviews.”