The Campus Key authenticates your identity. It is assigned by IT services and will be your login credential for accessing all Jefferson University application and IT services.

Within two weeks of receiving your acceptance notification from the SKMC admissions office, you will receive two separate emails from the office of academic systems. The first email will provide you with a link to confirm your enrollment. The second email will ask you to update and complete your personal information and change your password.

For help with your Campus Key PRIOR to matriculation, please contact Rita Rosanno at 215-955-9387.

Please submit your application for your student ID (PDF) before June 25, 2021. You will need your ID to enter all Jefferson buildings. IDs will be distributed during Orientation Week.

Prior to arriving on campus, all new students are required to either email a recent headshot to PhotoID@jefferson.edu for approval or have their photos taken at the Photo ID office, located in the Jefferson Campus Bookstore upon arrival to campus.

Incoming students who chose the option of coming into the office will need to call Photo ID at 215-955-7942 to schedule an appointment. The Photo ID center is open Monday through Friday from 7:00 am to 4:15 pm.

Prior to submitting a photo, please be sure to read the following instructions and photo guidelines carefully on what is required for the photo before submitting it. If you do not follow the photo guidelines it will not work and you will have to try again.

Select a clear, high resolution, digital color photo of yourself following the below guidelines:

• Most recent headshot of you facing the camera, arm pit to arm pit, with eyes open and visible.
• No selfies.
• A plain, solid, white background, without other people or objects.
• No hats, buttons, sunglasses, glare on glasses, spaghetti strap tops or clothing that allows undergarments to be visible, clothing that obscures the face, or shadows across your face or in the background.
• Avoid wearing white or pale clothing.
• Photo file must be in JPG/JPEG format at least 10BP but not exceeding 16MB.

Photos that do not meet the specified criteria will be rejected.

Once your photo is submitted to the PhotoID@Jefferson.edu email you will be notified within 72 hours if your photo was rejected. All students will be required to present a government issued ID or passport to confirm their identity at the time of pick-up. No exceptions.

SKMC Student ID Badges that have not been picked up by Noon on Friday July 16 will be available for pick-up at orientation registration on Monday July 19. Please be sure to complete the application and submit your photo no later than July 1 to avoid possible delays in processing.

All students need to self-register the computer(s) they use to access our JeffWireless network once per semester.

More information on JeffWireless and other Technology Services

Deadline July 1, 2021
For all students who graduated in December of 2020 or May of 2021, please have an official final transcript sent to:

Thomas Jefferson University
Sidney Kimmel Medical College
Office of Admissions
1015 Walnut Street, Suite 110
Philadelphia, PA 19107

An electronic transcript can also be emailed to SKMC Admissions at SKMC.Admissions@Jefferson.edu

This is considered OFFICIAL if emailed directly to the email address above. It cannot be forwarded or scanned, it will then be considered UNOFFICIAL.

We require that you update your address on file to provide both your Home/Permanent address and your Local (Philadelphia area) address.

You may enter this information on-line via Banner Web by following the steps:

1. Log in to Banner, using your Campus Key and Password to log in
2. If you haven't already, change your PIN number (the system will prompt you on first log in). Enter your original PIN and new choice of PIN. PINs must be six numeric characters
3. If this is your first log in, the next screen will ask you to provide a hint question and answer in the event you forget your PIN and need to have it sent to you. Enter a question and answer that only you know the answer to, but do not make it overly difficult. If needed, your response must exactly match the answer you provide
4. Read and accept the Terms of Usage
5. Follow the "Personal Information" link
6. Find the option "Update Addresses and Phones"
7. Select "Home/Permanent" from the address selection drop-down box and enter all requested information
8. Once you submit this information, you will be taken back to the address change screen. Select "Local" from the address selection drop-down box and enter all requested information

As an academic health center, Jefferson requires all matriculated students to have health insurance, and to complete the enrollment/waiver process for each academic year.* If you have health insurance through another provider, it must meet the stated minimum requirements to qualify for a waiver. If you do not have coverage through another provider that meets the minimum requirements, then you must enroll in the College-sponsored student health insurance plan. Once enrolled, the plan will be in effect for the entire academic year. You may only terminate or update the insurance coverage if you have a qualifying life change event.

Please check back in July for additional information pertaining to new annual rates and for accessing the website to either purchase insurance or complete the enrollment waiver.  NOTE:  If you do not require the college sponsored health insurance please be sure to complete the enrollment waiver process or you may potentially be charged for the full amount of the college sponsored health insurance.

*Dates may vary by academic program.

Contact:  Ms. Joyce Muwwakkil, Health Insurance Coordinator, SKMC Office of Student Affairs

There are several pre-matriculation health requirements that must be met in order to begin your first year at SKMC. Please review the information below carefully and submit all required documentation by the noted due dates.  Failure to submit all required material on time will impact your ability to successfully begin the curriculum.

There are two main requirements: Proof of COVID vaccination and completion of the pre-matriculation health information/physical evaluation form.

COVID Vaccination

Thomas Jefferson University is requiring all students on campus to be fully vaccinated with a U.S. FDA authorized COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer, Moderna, or J&J only) before arriving to campus for the fall semester. The safety of our Jefferson community is our highest priority, and it is a shared responsibility.

• Please review the COVID Vaccination Policy.
• Submit proof of full vaccination to Jefferson's COVID Vaccine database no later than July 4, 2021.  
  
• Please note the July 4th SKMC deadline is earlier than the August 1 deadline you may have seen for other colleges at Jefferson.
• On the proof of vaccination form, please select “Center City” for “Campus” and select “SKMC” for “Primary College”.

If you have any questions or concerns about the COVID vaccine requirement, please contact EF.COVID19@jefferson.edu or 215-951-0168.

Pre-Matriculation Health Information/Physical Evaluation Form

All matriculating Sidney Kimmel Medical College students must complete and submit the documentation listed at the Pre-matriculation Health Requirements website no later than June 28, 2021.

• The pre-matriculation health form requires a physical examination and documentation from your health care provider, including immunization history/titers and a PPD.
• Incoming students must also create a Complio account for tracking of these documents (instructions are included at the Pre-matriculation Health Requirements website).
• Because it may take time to schedule an appointment with your provider and complete the necessary documentation, please start the process now!
• If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Jefferson Occupational Health Network (JOHN) at 215-955-6835.

A current criminal background check, processed through AMCAS and Certiphi, is required for admissions to SKMC.  Please submit your criminal background check by June 1.

International Students in Sidney Kimmel Medical College have access to Thomas Jefferson University's Office of International Affairs (OIA).  OIA helps students with immigration matters, acculturation and related issues.

International Students who need a form I-20 or sponsorship to study full-time at SKMC should email the Office of International Affairs at OIA@jefferson.edu after acceptance to begin the process of transferring from another U.S. university or obtaining initial immigration documents. The office can also be reached at 215-503-4335.

Students are required to attend First Year Orientation during the week of July 19 – July 23, 2021.  Orientation will be in-person this year (although we will continue to monitor city and state guidelines regarding COVID and update you accordingly).

Attendance is mandatory at all of the daytime orientation events.

Registration will take place the morning of July 19, 2021. We will update you with arrival time information closer to the date. Orientation sessions introducing you to the medical school, the curriculum, the faculty, and to each other will begin on Monday, July 19 and continue through Thursday, July 22. The White Coat Ceremony will take place on Friday morning, July 23.

At the beginning of July, students committed to enroll at Sidney Kimmel Medical College will be receive access to the SKMC Orientation site in Canvas, where the Office of Student Affairs will continue to update orientation information

White Coat Ceremony

We are thrilled to announce that the White Coat Ceremony for the Sidney Kimmel Medical College Class of 2025 will be held on Friday, July 23rd, 2021, at the Crystal Tea Room in the Wanamaker Building, 100 E Penn Square, Philadelphia, PA 19107.

The White Coat Ceremony serves to welcome medical students to the profession of medicine and highlight the value of humanism in healthcare. The ceremony culminates in the Hippocratic Oath that students will recite in front of their family members, school leadership, and peers, acknowledging the importance of patient-physician relationships and humanistic care. During the ceremony, each student will be presented with a white coat commemorating the momentous occasion and welcoming them to the field of medicine. 

Please save the date on your calendar, and we will be in touch with more information soon. If you have any immediate questions, please contact Rich Crespo, the educational business manager in the SKMC student affairs office, 215-503-6988.

We believe that critical thinking and problem-solving are essential skills for physicians. Our curriculum is designed to engage students in active learning by delivering content in multiple modalities, such as small groups, team-based learning, labs, and selected lectures where appropriate. Faculty members act as the facilitators of the curriculum, and are available to answer questions and offer clarification. But the onus of learning is on YOU.

Consider this quote from Peter Brown's book, Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning:
"Many common study habits and practice routines turn out to be counterproductive. Underlining and highlighting, rereading, cramming, and single-minded repetition of new skills create the illusion of mastery, but gains fade quickly. More complex and durable learning comes from self­testing, introducing certain difficulties in practice, waiting to re-study new material until a little forgetting has set in, and interleaving the practice of one skill or topic with another.”

We strongly encourage you to take the readiness assessment as soon as possible.  This assessment is based on MCAT content that is relevant to the SKMC curriculum.  The result of this assessment will allow you to identify your gaps of knowledge so that you can address them (if necessary) before you arrive at Jefferson, thus providing you with a smoother start in medical school.  The sooner you complete the assessment the more likely can you act on the result, if necessary.

Readiness Assessment Instructions

• Login to Canvas using your Campus Key and password.
• From your Dashboard click on "JeffMD: Readiness Assessment (2021)."
• Read the information on the Home page and then click on Assignments to begin.

If you have any trouble logging into Canvas or technical issues, please contact jeffmd@jefferson.edu.

Suggested Summer Readings

To enhance your preparation for the medical curriculum, we also recommend that you do some reading that is focused on optimal study habits (almost no undergraduate college seems to teach these), as well as on immunology, histology, and anatomy, which may be less familiar to you:

1.  Dunlosky J, Rawson KA, Marsh EJ, Nathan MJ, Willingham DT. Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest. 2013;14(1):4-58. doi:10.1177/1529100612453266

• You can download a pdf.
• Focus on relevant portions of the sections on Elaborative Interrogation, Self Explanation, Summarization, Highlighting and Underlining, Mnemonics, Rereading, Practice Testing, and Distributed Practice.  You will learn that Highlighting and Underlining, Mnemonics, and Rereading take up study time but don’t bring you anything in return.

2.  Brown PC, Roediger HL, McDaniel MA. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. Harvard University Press; 2014. doi:10.4159/9780674419377

• This book is a lengthy distillation of the science that is also described in the above review by Dunlosky et al.
• You need to read only Dunlosky et al. OR Brown et al.

3.  Sompayrac L. Lecture 1 An Overview. In: How the Immune System Works. 6th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell; 2019. Available as an eBook.

• If you want to read more, Lectures 2-6 of this book are suggested.

4.  Moore KL, Dalley II AF, Agur AMR. Chapter 1: Overview and basic concepts. In: Clinically Oriented Anatomy. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer; 2018. Available as an eBook.

5.  Sadler TW. Chapter 1: Introduction to Molecular Regulation and Signaling. In: Langman’s Medical Embryology. 14th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer; 2015. Available as an eBook.

6.  Ross MH, Pawlina W. Chapter 1: Methods. In: Histology: A Text and Atlas with Correlated Cell and Molecular Biology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer; 2020. Available as an eBook.

• Note from Thread Director: Chapter 2: Cell Cytoplasm and Chapter 3: The Cell Nucleus are great reviews of cell structure and function and are highly recommended.

All SKMC students will be issued a 7th Generation 10.2" iPad free of charge upon matriculation. Plans for distribution will be forthcoming.

Required

• Percussion Hammer (Babinski, Dejerine, Queen's Square — do NOT purchase the triangular head or Buck hammer)
• Stethoscope
• Pen Light

Suggested but not Required

• Otoscope/ophthalmoscope (very important for students considering careers in family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, ophthalmology, ENT, neurology and neurosurgery)
• Tuning Forks (128 Hertz)

For Anatomy Sessions

1. A pair (or two) of scrubs to be worn in dissection lab sessions and during practical   examinations. Scrubs are mandatory at all times within the Dissection Facility.
2. A pair of comfortable shoes that completely cover the foot and can get “messy”. This type of footwear is mandatory at all times within the Dissection Facility.
3. A pair of safety glasses/goggles with shatterproof lenses and side shields. Wearing of Safety glasses/goggles is mandatory at all times within the Dissection Facility.
4. A combination lock, if desired, for short term securing of personal items during your Dissection Sessions.
5. Each dissection table is provided with two scalpel handles, two probes, two forceps and two scissors. Students may purchase their own dissection equipment, but purchased kits should have a Number 4 scalpel handle so the school provided blades will fit. Personal kits will remain in the lab and should be marked with Name, Class and Table number.

For Clinical Sessions

All instruments and most supplies are available for purchase at: 

Jefferson Bookstore
1009 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-955-7922

Academic calendars are listed here (PDF).  All dates are subject to revision.

Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Jefferson University is committed to providing all students with opportunities to take full advantage of the educational and academic programs.  Our College of Medicine recognizes that students with documented disabilities may require reasonable accommodations in order to achieve this objective and/or to meet the technical standards.

If you require accommodations, please contact Jennifer Fogerty, MSEd, as early as possible at 215-503-6335. More information can be found at the accommodation page.

The students of SKMC are proud of the Honor Code (PDF) they have written and are committed to its values. 

Join the SKMC (Jefferson) Class of 2025 Accepted Students Facebook Group to meet fellow students and keep up with the latest news. You need to be logged into Facebook to access the group.