“Alma (College) does attract a lot of students from rural areas, and that fits our missions of serving students from rural areas,” Shafer said. “That’s what made Alma attractive to us.”

Preference in the early assurance program is given to students from disadvantaged backgrounds or areas that are medically underserved, she said. Students interested in medical school apply to the program during their junior year and if accepted, they are notified before the end of that year, Shafer said.

Universities including Grand Valley State University, University of Michigan-Flint and Northern Michigan University also have one to five seats reserved each year, she said. MSU currently does not have reserved seats.

“We are thinking these students are from Michigan, like Michigan (and) might stay in Michigan,” Shafer said. “They might feel connected and actually stay in Michigan — it’s to help meet the unmet need in Michigan.”

Although all 11 universities in the program are allotted certain amounts of seats in the class, if there aren’t enough qualified candidates, those seats are given to people in the regular admissions process, said Karen Ball, director of the Integrated Health Studies Institute at Alma College.

The regular admissions period for students normally applying to medical school begins in June before their senior year, which puts the early assurance students ahead of the game by about four months, she said.

“(Students in the program can) really spend that summer and spend the fall and winter semester finding those experiences that they know are going to prepare them for medical school,” Ball said.

During the past five years, Alma College has averaged between five and 10 applicants to the CHM per year, Ball said.

“I see this as a highly competitive process,” Ball said of Alma students vying for one of the early assurance seats.

Biochemistry senior David Broome, vice president-external of the MSU Pre-Medical Association, said the program helps advance one of the CHM’s missions to meet the demand for community physicians in Michigan.

Knowing early that they have been accepted to a medical school can be a huge relief for students, said Broome, who has been accepted to the CHM through the regular admissions process.

“The whole process for applying is really nerve-wracking in general,” Broome said. “Just to get your mind eased earlier — that’s a great opportunity.”