Sidney Kimmel Medical College Office of Admissions

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 Rossano at 215-955-9387.

Please submit the application for your student ID (PDF) no less than a month before the start of classes. You will need your ID to enter all Jefferson buildings. 

Prior to submitting a photo, please be sure to read the instructions and photo guidelines on the photo ID application carefully for 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.

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

Once your photo is submitted to [email protected], you will be notified within 72 hours if your photo was rejected. 

Students will pick up their badges in person; everyone will be notified when and where IDs will be available for pickup. All students will be required to present a government issued ID or passport to confirm their identity at the time of ID pick-up. No exceptions.

For questions, you can call Photo ID at 215-955-7942. The Photo ID center is open Monday through Friday from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Students using their own devices (laptops, phones, tablets) should use the university’s “eduroam” network. This network is available at Jefferson and many other universities around the world. You can log in with your full campus key email address – for example: [email protected]

More Information & Other Technology Services

Deadline July 1, 2025
For all students who graduated in December of 2024 or May of 2025, please have an OFFICIAL final transcript sent to:

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

An electronic transcript can also be emailed to SKMC Admissions at [email protected]

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

Jefferson requires all enrolled students to have health insurance coverage in place prior to matriculation.  If you are currently enrolled in a plan, please complete the enrollment/waiver.  This process must be completed for each academic year. New rates are published annually in July.

Information about the health insurance and annual rates are made available to students and current students at the following link: Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP), as well as on the SKMC Student Affairs Canvas page.

As a student at Thomas Jefferson University, you have two options for meeting this requirement:

• You may waive election to the student insurance plan, by providing proof of insurance elsewhere; for example, but not limited to, demonstrating proof of current insurance, proof of coverage as a dependent, or purchasing insurance through the marketplace such as healthcare.gov  (waiver site opens annually in mid-July)
• OR You may elect to purchase the University sponsored insurance.

First year medical students who need medical care prior to the enrollment form becoming available should email [email protected] to request urgent enrollment. Please include name and campus key in your request.

Concerns or questions? Please contact Joyce Muwwakkil, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Office of Student Affairs.

Forms/Documents are Due July 1, 2025

There are several pre-matriculation health requirements that must be met to begin your first year at SKMC. Given the time necessary to schedule appointments with your provider, please start this process immediately.

If you have any questions or concerns about these requirements, please contact the Jefferson Occupational Health Network (JOHN) at 215-955-6835, or contact [email protected] and [email protected]

Please carefully review the information below.

Part 1: Proof of COVID Vaccination DUE July 1, 2025

• Submit proof of full vaccination to Jefferson's COVID Vaccine Database
• Please review the;COVID Vaccination Policy
• Campus = Center City
• Primary College = SKMC

Part 2: Pre-matriculation health information/physical evaluation form. DUE July 1, 2025

•  Pre-Matriculation Health Information/Physical Evaluation Form
• Obtain a physical examination and documentation from your health care provider (including immunization history/titers and PPD).
• Please create a Complio account for document tracking (URL above gives full details).

Criminal Background Check

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

Fingerprinting

Fingerprinting is mandatory for all SKMC students (in compliance with a Pennsylvania law concerning work with children). Please submit this by July 13.

Please follow the links to perform steps as described to register with an IdentoGO location. Please do not complete a criminal background check through IdentoGO.  Criminal Background check should be completed through Certiphi only.

1. REGISTER to find your nearest location for Digital Fingerprinting. 
2. CHECK YOUR STATUS, or call 855-845-7434 for help.
3. When you receive your results, please RENAME your file (Last Name, First name - Fingerprinting Results). Then UPLOAD this file.

International Students who need the form I-20 or sponsorship to study full-time at SKMC should email the Office of International Services (OIS) at [email protected] after acceptance and paid deposit, to begin the process of transferring from another U.S. university or obtaining initial immigration documents. OIS helps students with immigration matters, acculturation and related issues. The Office may also be reached at 215-503-4335.

The incoming students in the Class of 2029 are required to attend first year orientation the week of July 28, 2025. In person attendance is mandatory for all daytime orientation events.

Registration is Monday, July 28, 2025. Orientation sessions will continue through Thursday, July 31, 2025, and will include an overview of the curriculum, as well as various sessions where you will have the opportunity to meet faculty, students, and administrative staff. 

Please watch for emails in your Jefferson Student account with updates and additional information from the Office of Student Affairs.  In early July, students who have committed to enroll at Sidney Kimmel Medical College will be receive access to the SKMC orientation site.

The White Coat Ceremony for the Sidney Kimmel Medical College Class of 2029 will be held on Friday, August 1, 2025, 9:00 am, Crystal Tea Room, Wanamaker Building, 100 E. Penn Square, 9th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107.   For planning purposes each student will be given ONLY three (3) tickets.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.  Additional tickets will not be available.  Additional information will be provided on the orientation site in mid-June.

The White Coat Ceremony serves to welcome medical students to the profession of medicine and highlights the value of humanism in healthcare. The ceremony culminates with the students reciting the Hippocratic Oath, 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.

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 self-testing, 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 assessments as soon as possible. These assessments are based on MCAT content that is relevant to the SKMC curriculum and the recommended anatomy readings listed below. The result of these assessments will allow you to identify your gaps in knowledge so that you can address them (if necessary) before you arrive at SKMC, thus providing you with a smoother start in medical school.  The sooner you complete the assessments the more likely you can act on the result, if necessary. Each assessment is one hour long. On average, students who did not take the readiness assessment performed lower in Year 1 of JeffMD than students who did take the readiness assessment.

Readiness Assessment Instructions

1. Login to Canvas using your Campus Key and password.
   See “Campus Key” under Matriculation Requirements found on this page for more information.
2. From your Dashboard click on "JeffMD: Readiness Assessment (2024)."
3. Read the information on the Home page and then click on Assignments to begin.

If you have any technical issues with the assessment in Canvas, please contact [email protected].

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:

• 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. Available online. 
  • 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.
• Brown PC, Roediger HL, McDaniel MA. Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. Harvard University Press; 2014. doi:10.4159/9780674419377. Available as an eBook.
  • 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.
• Sompayrac L. How the Immune System Works. 6th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell; 2019. Available as an eBook.
  • Lecture 1: An Overview
  • If you want to read more, Lectures 2-6 of this book are suggested
• Dalley II AF, Agur AMR. Clinically Oriented Anatomy. 9th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer; 2023. Available as an eBook.
  • Chapter 1: Overview and basic concepts
• Pawlina W. Histology: A Text and Atlas with Correlated Cell and Molecular Biology. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer; 2020. Available as an eBook.
  • Chapter 1: Methods
  • 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 10th Generation 10.2 inch Wi-Fi 64GB Apple iPad free of charge upon matriculation. These devices do not come with a warranty or AppleCare; students are responsible for any damages and/or lost or stolen items. iPads will be distributed during Orientation Week.

Required

• Percussion/Reflex Hammer (Babinski, Dejerine, Queen’s square preferred over triangular head and Buck reflex hammers)
• Stethoscope (many students purchase a 3M Littmann Classic III or Cardiology IV or equivalent)
• Pen Light

Suggested but Not Required

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

For Anatomy Sessions

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• A combination lock, if desired, for short term securing of personal items during your Dissection Sessions.

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.

Most instruments and supplies are available for purchase at:

Jefferson Campus Store
215-955-7922
https://jeffersoncampusstore.com/

Please review the information at the following link and complete the accompanying attestation, on or before June 18, 2025.

Technical Standards Attestation

The attestation confirms that you have reviewed SKMC’s technical standards and affirm that you are capable of meeting them, with or without accommodation.

2025-26 SKMC Academic Calendars (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 2028 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.