Therefore, the Mayo Foundation began operations of the MCASOM through an affiliation established with the University of Minnesota in 1915 for graduate degree and medical specialty programs.

The Mayo Foundation terminated their affiliation with the University of Minnesota in 1983,[27] becoming an independent degree-granting institution accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the NCA the following year.

[29] The Mayo Clinic historically provided a merit scholarship—the amount of which was based on state of residency—to every matriculating student not receiving extramural full-tuition support.

[30] Though MCASOM has since moved to awarding grant aid based primarily on student need, it recently ranked as one of the most affordable private medical schools in the country.

[33] Accordingly, there is no white coat ceremony—first-year students instead participate in a Commitment to Human Values ceremony in which they make their Physician's Pledge to Patients, Colleagues, and Society (adapted from the Hippocratic Oath).

These MERGs sponsor programs and activities for Mayo Clinic affiliates identifying with diverse communities, such as LGBTI, women leadership, and Native American heritage.

The Mayo Clinic Dolores Jean Lavins Center for Humanities in Medicine sponsors year-round programs in art making, creative writing, improvisational theater, and musical performance.

[49] The Gonda Building houses several seminar rooms and the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation, a facility where students can develop ideas to improve health care alongside staff and entrepreneurs.

[55] These students have the opportunity to complete their selective experiences, third- and fourth-year rotations, clinical electives, and research projects (including Ph.D. dissertations) at the campuses in Arizona and Florida.

[57] Regional plans from the Rochester-Olmsted Council of Governments aim to attract outside companies and investments in the biotechnology industry and to double the population of the city by the year 2040.

[60] Arizona-based medical students have their preclinical classes in Scottsdale, then complete most of their clerkships at the Mayo Clinic Arizona in Phoenix during years 3 and 4.

[68][69][70] A unique feature of the MCASOM curriculum are the selectives, which have been shown to increase medical student academic productivity and the desire to conduct future research.

Selectives allow students to shadow physicians, learn surgical skills, volunteer in free clinics, remediate courses, or do research.

Each student is eligible for up to $1,500 in travel funding per year in order to visit other Mayo Clinic campuses, present research, or serve indigent patients.

[79] Starting with the incoming class of 2015, the school formally integrated longitudinal coursework in the Science of Health Care Delivery (SHCD) into the four-year curriculum.

The SHCD curriculum adds a social sciences perspective to the traditional medical school model, aiming to produce physicians aware of and capable of addressing problems in the US health care system.

The Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care offers expanded academic and research opportunities for MCASOM students at ASU.

[90] PMU offers MCASOM students full scholarships to pursue medical research[91] and clinical fellowships[92] for up to one year at its campuses in Salzburg (Austria) and Nuremberg (Germany).