Medical Schools in Oklahoma: How to Get In (2024)
/Learn strategies for applying to medical schools in Oklahoma, plus rankings, admissions statistics, tuition, and curriculum details
LEARN HOW TO GET INTO MEDICAL SCHOOLS IN OKLAHOMA.
Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: List of medical schools in Oklahoma: 2024 rankings, tuition, and admissions statistics
Part 3: Oklahoma medical school profiles
Part 4: Oklahoma medical school admissions strategies
Final Thoughts
Appendix A: Oklahoma medical schools by degree type
Appendix B: Oklahoma medical schools by institution type
Appendix C: Oklahoma medical schools by region
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Part 1: Introduction
Oklahoma may be nearly 76% covered in farmland, but look beyond the crop fields and you’ll find a richly diverse cultural fabric with ample educational and clinical opportunities for becoming the best doctor you can be. The state is home to two medical schools: The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine (which grants MD degrees) and The Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine (which grants osteopathic degrees), with affiliated hospitals across the metro areas of Tulsa and Oklahoma City, as well as various rural communities.
If you want to study medicine in a place where you’ll positively impact the surrounding community before you even earn your white coat, keep reading to learn how you can put together a competitive application to medical schools in Oklahoma.
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Part 2: List of medical schools in Oklahoma: 2024 rankings, tuition, and admissions stats
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences College of Medicine
As a Tier 3 medical school in the U.S. News and World Report’s 2024-25 ranking list, The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine (OU College of Medicine) may not be one of the most prestigious medical schools in the country, but its impact on underserved communities in Oklahoma and beyond is undeniable; it was ranked #45 for Most Graduates Practicing in Health Professional Shortage Areas and #51 in Most Graduates Practicing in Rural Areas.
Depending on whether you choose to pursue your education at the main Oklahoma City campus or the School of Community Medicine track at the Tulsa campus, the focus of your experiences inside and outside of the classroom will look a bit different. However, tuition costs are the same at both OU College of Medicine and OU-TU School of Community Medicine, with out-of-state students facing a far heftier price tag than Oklahoma residents at either campus.
You’ll also need to maintain a strong GPA of around 3.81 and achieve an MCAT score of 510 if you want your academic record to be on par with the average stats for the 153 incoming matriculants in Fall of 2024.
Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
Located in Tulsa and Tahlequah, OK, the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine is one of the largest osteopathic medical schools in the country, with a robust DO program in addition to nine fellowship programs and 11 residency programs.
Its Tier 4 ranking shouldn’t deter potential applicants who are aiming to make a meaningful impact on underserved communities. It ranked within the nation’s Top 100 medical schools in four distinct categories: #6 Most Graduates Practicing in Health Professional Shortage Areas, #19 Most Graduates Practicing in Rural Areas, #42 Most Graduates Practicing in Primary Care, and #81 Most Diverse Medical Schools.
Like at OU College of Medicine, your tuition cost here will vary depending on whether or not you’re eligible for the in-state rate.
As a resident of Oklahoma, you’ll pay roughly the same amount here that you would for an MD degree at OU College of Medicine. If you have permanent residency in Missouri, Kansas, or Arkansas, you’ll also be eligible for the in-state tuition rate if you scored at least 500 on the MCAT and achieved a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5. The average GPA and MCAT of the 155 new matriculants in fall of 2024 were 3.71 and 507—so if your stats are strong enough to help you get admitted, they’re probably strong enough to make you eligible for the reduced tuition rate.
| Oklahoma Medical Schools | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Oklahoma College of Medicine | Tier 3 (Primary Care) Tier 3 (Research) |
$63,922 (OOS) |
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| Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine | Tier 4 (Primary Care) Tier 4 (Research) |
$56,385.78 (OOS) |
*IS - In State / OOS - Out-of-state
** See above table for information on OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine’s out-of-state tuition waiver. Scholarships may be available for students with Texas state residency who achieve these same standards.
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Part 3: Oklahoma medical school profiles
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences College of Medicine
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences College of Medicine was founded in 1910 to serve the Oklahoma City community, adding programs for Nursing, Dentistry, Public Health, Health Policy, and more in the ensuing decades. Located in the largest urban area in Oklahoma, its Oklahoma City campus is just minutes away from the charming downtown Bricktown Entertainment District, where you can take a water taxi down the Bricktown Canal or enjoy live entertainment and dining at one of the various local businesses when you’re not studying for exams and serving patients.
The School of Community Medicine, located in Tulsa, was founded in 1974 for students interested in studying medicine from a public and community health perspective while serving rural and underserved communities. If you plan to pursue this route, you’ll still apply through the OU College of Medicine, but you’ll need to respond to a set of secondary essays specifically focused on your interest in this track.
Degree programs at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences College of Medicine
Among a vast array of health sciences degrees in Dentistry, Nursing, Pharmacy, and other fields offered, the College of Medicine offers a few different MD degree options at both the Oklahoma City and Tulsa campuses, including:
BA/MD Medical Humanities Scholars program
MD/PhD (Oklahoma city campus only)
MD/MPH (Tulsa campus only)
Curriculum at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences College of Medicine
Your curriculum at OU College of Medicine will vary depending on which of the three above degree paths you choose to pursue, as well as your choice between the College of Medicine in Oklahoma City or the School of Community Medicine track in Tulsa.
But across both campuses, the curriculum revolves around the following competency areas:
Medical knowledge
Patient care
Communication
Professionalism
Practice-based learning
Systems-based practice
At the Oklahoma City campus, you’ll be put in a small group of other students with whom you’ll move through your first two years. Together, you’ll learn the foundations of basic and clinical science in the classroom, lab, and beyond—including through case studies and the brand new Clinical Skills Center.
Your third and fourth years there will transition you into clinical experience as you undergo your required clerkships in Family Medicine, Neurology, Internal Medicine, Geriatrics, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Surgery and Obstetrics, as well as three “selective” courses available in various subspecialties.
At the Tulsa campus, your four years will focus more heavily on leadership, community engagement, and population health.
During your third year, you’ll participate in a Student Academy each month, where you’ll gather with other students to discuss and practice skills related to relevant health-related topics in the state of Oklahoma. You’ll also gain crucial hands-on experience by serving underserved community members at the student-run Bedlam Clinic. There, you’ll work as a team alongside PA, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Social Work students to learn how to meet the diverse and complex needs of your current and future patients.
Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
The OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine was founded in 1972 with the mission of training up physicians who will be uniquely equipped to serve rural and underserved communities, especially in Oklahoma. This mission has been furthered by the establishment of a new campus located in the capital of Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah.
Since the medical school’s founding, it has grown to become one of the largest osteopathic medical schools in the country, having graduated over 3,000 doctors to-date, the majority of whom have gone on to practice within the state. Although two-thirds of graduates now work as primary care physicians, the remaining third represent a broad range of specialties, including surgery, OB-GYN, neurology, psychiatry, and anesthesiology.
Degree programs at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine offers a few different admission options for DO applicants, including the 3+1 Program, 3+1 Med Bound Program, Bridge Program, and Guaranteed Admissions Program.
Applicants may also opt for one of a variety of dual degree programs designed to better equip graduates with all the skills and experiences they need to build their ideal career in the health sciences:
DO, MS/MBA
DO, MS/PhD
DO, MS/MPH
DO, MS/MS in Biomedical Sciences
DO, MS/MS in Health Care Administration
DO/MS in Global Health (MS GLHE)
Curriculum at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
Your curriculum at OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine will progress from the foundations of the biomedical sciences in your first year to the foundations of clinical care in your second year, to a wide range of community-based clinical rotations in your final two years.
Similar to OU College of Medicine’s School of Community Medicine track, the OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine also offers a Rural Medical Track (RMT) for applicants interested in serving rural communities. This track distinguishes itself from the standard DO curriculum at OSU by providing more hands-on clinical experiences, particularly in rural Oklahoma. As a smaller program, it also allows for more one-on-one instruction and mentoring between faculty and students.
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Part 4: Oklahoma medical school admissions strategies
Strategy 1: Write essays that prove you belong among the next incoming class of Oklahoma medical students
Secondary essays may be one of the final components of the med school application process, but they’re also one of the most important. If you fail to budget enough time to prewrite, draft, and revise your secondary essays, you could fumble just before the finish line. That’s why it’s essential to go into the writing process with a clear idea of what you’re trying to accomplish when writing your essays.
Above all, your essays should show adcoms who you are, what you’ve done, and why their school is a perfect match with your experiences and future goals. This final element is often referred to as “demonstrating fit,” and it’s an absolutely essential piece of any successful medical school application. Demonstrating fit requires more than just telling the adcom that their medical school is your dream school, or listing off a variety of accomplishments that make you look like a strong candidate.
Instead, you’ll need to thoroughly research each medical school to which you’re applying and find specific ways that your own experiences align with the values, vision, and opportunities. If your essay looks like it could have been copy/pasted from one secondary application into another, with only the names of the schools changed, then you haven’t done enough work to demonstrate your fit.
It’s also important to think about how you can contribute to the school and its surrounding community. Although this will require extra research if you’re not an Oklahoma resident, you should be in the know about the communities you’ll be serving as a medical student there. For example, there are 39 different federally-recognized Native American tribes in the state—including Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), and Osage Nation. OU’s School of Community Medicine Track and OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Rural Medicine Track are designed specifically to prepare future doctors to work with underserved communities, including many of these Native communities, and as a result, they also require a few additional secondary essays.
You may also mention the specific research, clinical, or other opportunities you plan to pursue at the school to which you’re applying.
For example, OU College of Medicine offers a wide range of residency and fellowship programs—from Internal Medicine to Surgery to Child & Adolescent Psychiatry—that can open up unique clinical opportunities for medical students still exploring their specialized areas of interest. Or, you may wish to write about how you plan to get involved within the campus community, like by joining OU College of Medicine’s student-run arts journal, Blood and Thunder, which publishes artwork centering around health and medicine.
Looking for secondary essay examples? Click below to access sample secondary essays for every prompt required by every MD and DO program in the United States and Canada. 1500+ essays and counting.
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Strategy 2: Prepare to tell your story and display your competencies in interviews for Oklahoma medical schools.
Interviews are the final hurdle in the admissions process after all the hard work you’ve put in over the past several years. They’re an opportunity to show admissions committees a side of you that might not have come through in any other component of your application—and to elaborate on the most important details of your academic and patient care experiences.
The interview format and process varies from one school to the next, but here are a couple of things to keep in mind about interviewing at med schools in Oklahoma:
If you receive an interview invitation after applying to the OU College of Medicine’s School of Community Medicine track, you’ll need to be prepared to explain your reasons for choosing this path. You’ll be interviewed by a separate School of Community Medicine admissions committee who are likely to ask you questions related to your interest in and/or prior experiences with rural and underserved communities.
They also will want to gauge your cultural competency skills and may ask you questions about how you would handle various sample scenarios when interacting with patients who come from diverse backgrounds. And although they won’t likely expect you to know exactly what your career goals are within the medical field yet, you should be prepared to explain how you see yourself serving rural and underserved communities in your future career.
The OSU College of Osteopathic Medicine offers a Guaranteed Interview Program for applicants from partner universities in Oklahoma. Each partner institution has its own academic criteria to determine eligibility for this program, but if you meet the criteria and submit an application to OSU College of Medicine by an early spring deadline, you will automatically be invited to interview there.
Wherever you’re interviewing, you’ll want to prepare thoroughly ahead of time by practicing your responses to common questions under a time constraint. Try to replicate the interview environment as close as possible, so you can be prepared to perform under pressure on your actual interview date.
Were you invited to a med school interview? Check out the resource below to learn strategies for approaching any question the interviewers might throw your way.
Gain instant access to the most common traditional and MMI interview questions, plus sample responses for each, to help you craft responses that lead to acceptances. Subscribe today to lock in the current investments, which will be increasing in the future for new subscribers.
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Final Thoughts
Oklahoma’s medical schools are rich in diversity of culture and experience, with various degree options and affordable tuition for Oklahoma residents. Whether you intend to pursue the allopathic or osteopathic route, if you’re passionate about working with underserved or rural communities, Oklahoma could be the perfect place for you to begin your journey to becoming a doctor.
About the Author
Dr. Shirag Shemmassian is the Founder of Shemmassian Academic Consulting and one of the world's foremost experts on medical school admissions. For nearly 20 years, he and his team have helped thousands of students get into medical school using his exclusive approach.
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Appendix A: Oklahoma medical schools by degree type
Allopathic medical schools in Oklahoma (MD)
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences College of Medicine
Osteopathic medical schools in Oklahoma (DO)
Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
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Appendix B: Oklahoma medical schools by institution type
Public medical schools in Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences College of Medicine
Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
Private medical schools Oklahoma
There are no private medical schools in Oklahoma
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Appendix C: Oklahoma medical schools by region
Medical Schools in northeastern Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences College of Medicine
Medical Schools in central Oklahoma
Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine
