Core Competencies
The Core Competencies for entering medical students are defined below. While these competencies are for medical school, they are very applicable to students pursuing all health professions and can be a useful tool for every applicants, regardless of the profession you pursue! These are the skills and traits that ensure success in first-year medical students. Essentially, this is your rubric for readiness! Have you demonstrated all competencies?
These competencies have been developed by the AAMC Group on Student Affairs (GSA) Committee on Admissions (COA). The competencies fall into the following categories: Professional, Science, and Thinking and Reasoning Competencies.
You will need to communicate how you have developed and honed these skills throughout your application. For example, you will show some of these qualities in your personal statement, talk about them as you detail your activities throughout college, and they will be reflected in your letters of recommendation.
Where relevant, we have provided courses of interest to demonstrate the core competencies. This is not an exhaustive list and other courses at Cornell may also help students develop core competencies.
All listed courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Some courses are cross-listed with other departments. Always confirm with your home college and/or major advisors which section to enroll in if you wish to use a class for major or college requirements. Courses on this list are not required for admission to most health professional schools and generally not required for standardized exam preparation. It is recommended courses are taken for letter grades.
Health professional programs also have technical standards that must be met to ensure students can perform the duties of their profession. Please familiarize yourself with each institution’s technical and professional standards, which can vary across programs. Schools are generally prepared to provide reasonable accommodations at their discretion, provided the student can still complete the curriculum and functions of their future job. You are welcome to meet with a Pre-Health advisor in HPAC to discuss general expectations and strategize communicating with schools about accommodations.
Professional Competencies
Shows a commitment to something larger than oneself; demonstrates dedication to service and a commitment to making meaningful contributions that meet the needs of communities.
Course suggestions:
Please note, these are general recommendations to grow understanding and exposure to the relevant core competency. Courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Course titles and numbers can change so please look at the name and description.
- Introduction to Adult Learning
- The Art of Teaching
- Youth Organizations and Leadership Development
- Foundations in Leadership Skills for Personal and Professional Effectiveness
- Communicating Leadership and Ethics
- Community Outreach
Collaborates with others to achieve shared goals and prioritizes shared goals; adjusts role between team member and leader based on one’s own and others’ expertise and experience; shares information with team members and encourages this behavior in others; and gives and accepts feedback to improve team performance.
Effectively conveys information to others using spoken words and sentences; actively listens to understand the meaning and intent behind what others say; and recognizes potential communication barriers and adjusts approach or clarifies information as needed.
Course suggestions:
Please note, these are general recommendations to grow understanding and exposure to the relevant core competency. Courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Course titles and numbers can change so please look at the name and description.
- Oral Communication
- Intergroup Dialogue
- Advocacy and Debate
- Persuasion and Social Influence
- Persuasive and Ethical Communication
Practices continuous personal and professional growth for improvement, including setting and communicating goals for learning and development; reflects on successes, challenges, and mistakes; pursues opportunities to improve knowledge and understanding; and asks for and incorporates feedback to learn and grow.
Appreciates how historical, sociocultural, political, and economic factors affect others’ interactions, behaviors, and well-being; values diversity; and demonstrates a desire to learn about different cultures, beliefs, and values.
Course suggestions:
Please note, these are general recommendations to grow understanding and exposure to the relevant core competency. Courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Course titles and numbers can change so please look at the name and description.
- Anthropology of the Body
- Communication Networks and Social Capital
- Comparative Social Inequalities
- Introduction to Africana Studies
- Intergroup Dialogue
- Leading Dialogue Across Difference: Practicum in Intergroup Relations
- Introduction to Global Development
- Medicine and Healing in China
- Medicine, Magic, and Science in the Ancient Near East
- Social Studies of Medicine
Seeks out and engages diverse and divergent perspectives with a desire to understand and willingness to adjust one’s mindset; understands a situation or idea from alternative viewpoints; reflects on one’s values, beliefs, and identities and how they may affect others; reflects on and addresses bias in oneself and others; and fosters a supportive environment that values inclusivity.
Course suggestions:
Please note, these are general recommendations to grow understanding and exposure to the relevant core competency. Courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Course titles and numbers can change so please look at the name and description.
- Anthropology of the Body
- Communication Networks and Social Capital
- Comparative Social Inequalities
- Introduction to Africana Studies
- Intergroup Dialogue
- Leading Dialogue Across Difference: Practicum in Intergroup Relations
- Introduction to Global Development
- Medicine and Healing in China
- Medicine, Magic, and Science in the Ancient Near East
- Social Studies of Medicine
Behaves with honesty and integrity; considers multiple and/or conflicting principles and values to inform decisions; adheres to ethical principles when carrying out professional obligations; resists pressure to engage in unethical behavior; and encourages others to behave honestly and ethically.
Course suggestions:
Please note, these are general recommendations to grow understanding and exposure to the relevant core competency. Courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Course titles and numbers can change so please look at the name and description.
- Worlding Sex and Gender
- Medicine, Biomedicine, and Latine-x Communities
- Medicine, Culture, and Society
- Ethical Issues in Health and Medicine
- Communicating Leadership and Ethics
- Introduction to Bioethics
- Population Health Communication
- Fighting for Our Lives: Black Women's Reproductive Health and Activism in Historical Perspective
- Moral Philosophy in Action
- Persuasive and Ethical Communication
Demonstrates an awareness of how social and behavioral cues affect people’s interactions and behaviors; adjusts behaviors appropriately in response to these cues; recognizes and manages one’s emotions and understands how emotions impact others or a situation; and treats others with dignity, courtesy, and respect.
Course suggestions:
Please note, these are general recommendations to grow understanding and exposure to the relevant core competency. Courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Course titles and numbers can change so please look at the name and description.
- Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology
- Introduction to Behavior
- Developmental Psychology
- Human Bonding
- Neurobiology and Behavior II: Introduction to Neuroscience
Demonstrates accountability for performance and responsibilities to self and others; prioritizes and fulfills obligations in a timely and satisfactory manner; and understands consequences of not fulfilling one’s responsibilities to self and others.
Course suggestions:
Please note, these are general recommendations to grow understanding and exposure to the relevant core competency. Courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Course titles and numbers can change so please look at the name and description.
- Foundations in Leadership Skills for Personal and Professional Effectiveness
- Communicating Leadership and Ethics
- Persuasive and Ethical Communication
Perseveres in challenging, stressful, or ambiguous environments or situations by adjusting behavior or approach in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles, and recognizes and seeks help and support when needed; recovers from and reflects on setbacks; and balances personal well-being with responsibilities.
Thinking and Reasoning Competencies
Uses logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Course suggestions:
Please note, these are general recommendations to grow understanding and exposure to the relevant core competency. Courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Course titles and numbers can change so please look at the name and description.
- Anthropology of the Body
- Cognitive Science
- Introduction to Linguistics
- Controversies about Inequality
- Social Problems in the United States
- Developmental Psychology
- Introduction to the Philosophy of Science
Applies quantitative reasoning and appropriate mathematics to describe or explain phenomena in the natural world.
Course suggestions:
Please note, these are general recommendations to grow understanding and exposure to the relevant core competency. Courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Course titles and numbers can change so please look at the name and description.
- Probability Models and Inference for the Social Sciences
- Introductory Statistics
Applies quantitative reasoning and appropriate mathematics to describe or explain phenomena in the natural world.
Course suggestions:
Please note, these are general recommendations to grow understanding and exposure to the relevant core competency. Courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Course titles and numbers can change so please look at the name and description.
- Health and Disease in the Ancient World
- Postcolonial Science
- Fundamentals of Population Health
- Independent Research
- Human Evolution: Genes, Behavior, and the Fossil Record
Effectively conveys information to others using written words and sentences.
Course suggestions:
Please note, these are general recommendations to grow understanding and exposure to the relevant core competency. Courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Course titles and numbers can change so please look at the name and description.
- Introduction to Applied Science Communication: Digital Platforms & Public Engagement
- Science Writing for Media
- Mindful Intercultural Communication
- Creative Writing
- Expository Writing
- Communication, Environmental, Science and Health
Science Competencies
Applies knowledge and skill in the natural sciences to solve problems related to molecular and macro systems including biomolecules, molecules, cells, and organs.
Course suggestions:
Please note, these are general recommendations to grow understanding and exposure to the relevant core competency. Courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Course titles and numbers can change so please look at the name and description.
- Intro Biology: Ecology and the Environment
- Introduction to Evolution and Diversity
- An Introduction to Evolutionary Biology and Diversity
- Microbes, the Earth, and Everything
- Principles of Virology
- Essential Immunology
- Medical Parasitology
- Personal Genomics and Medicine: Why Should You Care About What's in Your Genes?
- The Biology of the Tissues
- Applied Immunology
- Physiology of Human Health and Disease
Applies knowledge of the self, others, and social systems to solve problems related to the psychological, socio-cultural, and biological factors that influence health and well-being.
Course suggestions:
Please note, these are general recommendations to grow understanding and exposure to the relevant core competency. Courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Course titles and numbers can change so please look at the name and description.
- Introduction to Sociocultural Anthropology
- Worlding Sex and Gender
- Introduction to Environmental Psychology
- Global Health Case Studies from Weill Cornell Medicine
- Introduction to Human Development
- Nutrition, Health, and Society
- Life Sciences and Society
- The Science of Well-Being
- Human Bonding
- Nutrition, Health, and Society
Additional Courses of Interest on Related Topics
Course suggestions:
Please note, these are general recommendations to grow understanding and exposure to the relevant core competency. Courses are subject to availability, department/instructor consent, or completion of prerequisites. Course titles and numbers can change so please look at the name and description.
- Biomaterials: Foundations and Application in Medicine
- Nutrition and Disease
- Hormones and Behavior
- Drugs and the Brain
- Plagues and People
- Conceptions of the Body in Medicine and Healing
- Environments, Disasters, Health
- Introduction to the History of Medicine
- Introduction to Public Health
- The US Health Care System
- Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Disease
- Molecular Basis of Disease
- Microbiology of Human Contagious Diseases
- Gender and the Brain
- Principles of Pharmacology
- Sleep – Evolution and Neural Basis
- Social Studies of Medicine
- Medicine and Healing in Africa
- Food, Agriculture, and Society
- Communication, Environment, Science, and Health
- Social Gerontology: Aging and the Life Course
- Human Nutrition and Nutrient Metabolism
- Epidemiology
Updated January 2024.
The HPAC Pre-Health Guide provides detailed information,
along with a Core Competencies Self-Assessment.
Learn more about Academic Preparation next.