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Application Process

Individuals who have been accepted as first-year students to the UNC School of Medicine, who are intermediate to advanced speakers of Spanish, or who are native speakers, are invited to apply to CAMPOS.

The program is intended for those who already have a strong foundation of grammar skills since classes will not cover basic grammar. We will emphasize conversational medical Spanish and will focus on medical terminology and developing students’ ability to interact with Spanish speaking patients.

To apply, you must:

1. Complete the application (2024 application link) by June 16, 2024 at 7pm. The application will open on April 1, 2024. After submitting your application, please email Carol Carden at carol_carden@med.unc.edu to confirm it was received. Within a few days, you will be sent a separate email about how to complete Step 2.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION REGARDING THE ESSAY QUESTIONS            BEFORE YOU START THE APPLICATION.

The application contains 2 essay questions. Please review this information to better prepare your responses:

    • Why are you applying to CAMPOS?
      • Please explain your reason(s) for applying to this program. Tell us about yourself and sell yourself: what makes you stand out from the other applicants. Share your prior experiences that have influenced this decision, whether personal, educational, work-related or local, national or at the international level.
    • Outcome of participation in CAMPOS?
      • Comment on how you see yourself applying the newly learned skills you obtain or improve during CAMPOS in your career.  This can be at the individual level (e.g. caring for individual patients) or with Spanish-speaking communities at the local, national or international level. It can also be as a researcher, administrator or a leader in medical education, public health, health policy or other.

2. Take a telephone fluency assessment NO LATER THAN JUNE 28, 2024. This will be a long distance phone call for which you will not be reimbursed. The interview only takes 10-15 minutes. We highly recommend that you do not take this assessment while you are out of the country (USA). If you miss your appointment or the call is dropped it may not be possible for you to retake the exam. To prevent dropped calls, students should have good wifi connection or use a land line! More details about the assessment will be emailed to you.

    • Telephone Fluency Assessment
      • The assessment is conducted by ALTA Language Services. The purpose of the assessment is to learn how well you speak Spanish and how well you understand the language. You will have a conversation with a native speaker, so, of course, there are no right or wrong answers! The conversation can last up to 15 minutes. You might be expected to know a variety of verb tenses. The prompts may be related to medicine, but you are not expected to have extensive medical knowledge. You should answer as best you can as a non-medical person.

Selection

A selection committee will meet in early July to review your application and select the new class of CAMPOS students. Applicants will be notified by email about their status prior to arrival to medical school. About 24-28 students are accepted each year.

At any time, please feel free to contact the CAMPOS coordinator:

Carol Carden
CAMPOS Coordinator
carol_carden@med.unc.edu