Applications to the MD program in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB are up 40% compared to the number of applications received in 2019.

MD applications are also on the rise at the other SUNY medical schools, with Upstate Medical University (26.2%), Stony Brook University (13.5%) and Downstate Health Sciences University (8.5%) also seeing significant increases in applications for their MD programs in 2020, Chancellor Jim Malatras has announced.

The uptick in applications to SUNY’s four medical schools is part of a broader nationwide trend. The Association of American Medical Colleges reports that medical school applications are up 18% over the past year, due in large part, it says, to the example set by medical workers, doctors and public health figures during the pandemic.

Malatras also attributes the increase at SUNY to the pivotal roles of institutions in the system, including UB, in treating and studying the coronavirus, leading vaccine trials and creating a top-ranked saliva test for COVID-19.

“The fact that so many of our young people have decided during this once-in-a-century pandemic that they want to ‘run toward the trouble,’ as the saying goes, and not away from it, is extraordinary and humbling,” says Michael E. Cain, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School. “It has been nothing short of inspiring to see the determination that our students, medical residents and faculty are bringing to their work every day to improve the care of patients in Buffalo, both during and after this pandemic.”

Malatras says the “unwavering commitment” of doctors and public health experts during the pandemic has been a “profoundly inspiring experience for us all.”

“It has also served as an awakening and turning point for many young people, who are now motivated to join the ranks,” he says. “From being on the frontlines in March and developing the world’s top-ranked saliva test, to producing cutting-edge research about how the virus behaves and leading trials for the Pfizer vaccine, SUNY physicians and physician-scientists have been at the very forefront of understanding, treating and eradicating this deadly virus.”

MD applications are up, he says, “because more people are seeing what we are capable of, and know that there is no better place to learn and launch their medical careers.”