UHS Class 2006 part 01

[drchris33]

I interviewed on Jan 23rd and found out yesterday that I was accepted!! I feel as if I am not treading water anymore in the sea of life. I am on the road to becoming a doc!!!

I am so pumped for the upcoming years ahead!!

Congrats to everyone else in the class of 2006!!

Chris

[Tammy]

Chris,
Congratulations! I know how you feel - I'm on cloud 9!

You were the one with the kids, right? Are you going to be able to take the foster children with you? Just curious.

Have you thought about where you are going to live? I just posted another message under UHS Class of 2006. I have a 12-year-old and need to find a good place for children. Let me know if you find anything.

Take care & congrats again!

[drchris33]

Tammy--
Wow, I had no idea you had a 12 year old. We are thinking about living in a suburb on the Kansas side; will be looking for a small town (around 3000-7000 people or so) My wife has a sister that lives in Overland Park, so I think she will help us out. If I find any info I will post it and let you know!!

Congrats again to you too!!!

Chris <img border="0" alt="[Clappy]" title="" src="graemlins/clappy.gif" />

[EUROdocMOM]

Hi future classmates! I was so excited to hear I was accepted to UHS! I have 5 and 7 year old girls and relatives in KC. I looked all over for places to live when I was there for my interview ...just before the ICE storm! I liked the Kansas side, too and understand that although taxes are higher the school system is better. Well, happy house hunting!

[doc2b34]

Hey guys,

Congrats to all for being accepted at the UHS. I am accepted already for TUCOM, but I also applied to the UHS. I was informed that my application qualifies, but they haven't invited me to an interview yet. What do you guys think my chances would be if I heard this from the admissions office? doc2b34

PS- I an excited about TUCOM, but the only reason why I would choose UHS over TUCOM would be that my osteopathic family physician went there and he recommended it. What do you guys think. Thanks

[Tammy]

Doc2B,
I think if you call the admissions office, they will let you know where your application stands. Angela is the person I always dealt with and she is wonderful.

UHS is a great school. I keep hearing more positive things about it from the physicians in this area. I don't know anything about TUCOM, though, so I can't compare them for you.

Good luck with UHS, and if not UHS, then good luck at TUCOM.

[Tammy]

Chris & Eurodoc,

Thanks for the info. I have some friends that live in Olathe, but I think that would be too long of a commute. Perhaps Overland Park? A couple of people have recommended Independence & Gladstone areas in Missouri. Are you going to use the apartment hunting service or try to find a house? It would be really hard to go back to apartment living, although some of the amenities would be nice, like a swimming pool.

I guess I just need to take a few days and really look.

Let me know if you find anything you fall in love with. Want to all go together and get a 10-bedroom mansion? ha! ha!

Well, talk to you all soon!
- Tammy

[drchris33]

Tammy--
Wouldn't recommend living in Overland Park unless you have a big bank account. I am sure there are some cheap places to live but I doubt it. I think we are going to at least start with the apartment search. The lady said they look for houses too. I don't think my family could all fit in an apartment (4 kids, two adults). I don't think our neighbors would like us.
Yeah we could all go in on a huge mansion....I think my kids would drive you all nuts!!

Let me know how things go!

Chris

[T.A.M]

Future Classmates,

I'm going to KC this weekend to check out some of the housing options. Although I'll mostly look at places that would suit someone who's single without kids, I'd be happy to do some on the ground research for anyone. By the way, I'm still looking for a roomate(s)!

[Tammy]

Thomas,
I just now got back on the board. Did you find any promising apartments on your weekend to KC?

- Tammy

[T.A.M]

Tammy,

I mainly looked at places that others had recommended. You have a kid, correct? I'm not sure if Bennington Ridge would be the best place for a kid (imput from anyone who lives there on this topic?). There were some townhouses down the street from Bennington that were really spacious, but of course, more expensive. I can't remember the name, but I'm sure someone at the school knows the place I'm talking about. As for Overland Park, I drove through the area just to see what its like. Its a pretty nice district, but the rental quotes I saw on the internet seem a little steep. Plus, the commute from that area doesn't look promising, although I admit I didn't take the highways. I never seriously considered living there, so I didn't investigate the housing too closely. Regarding Independence, I went through the area briefly, and what I saw looked like it had seen better days. However, Independence is convenient to the school. In general, there's apartments and houses for rent all throughout the city, and it seems like every residential area has a park nearby. Except for the area immediately downtown and some other industrial areas, most of the city has a small town quaintness to it.

[j-no]

Hey all, congrats on your acceptances. I'm a current 3rd year in KC, and have a great housing recommendation. I own a house in the perfect location that I will be looking to sell in July or August. If you think you can't own a home, I can assure you there is likely a way. I pay less per room for my house than most do for apts. On top of that, houses appreciate, so you can pocket some money in the end when it's time to sell.

I don't mean to sound like a salesman here, but I think wasting money on rent is just dumb. Like I said, it's a great house, needs no work, in a great locale. Move in timing would be perfect. Anyway, if anyone would like more info, or have any other questions, e-mail me @ kcdocs@kcnet.com

Good luck.

[Tammy]

Thomas,
Thanks for the heads-up. I guess I need to call the apartment search people and pick up a Sunday paper or two.

Thanks for all your help! Let me know if you pick a place to live.

Talk to you soon,
Tammy

[AnnaMags]

Has anyone from the February 20 or 22 interview dates received notification? If so, how?

Don't you hate the waiting game??

[AnnaMags]

Wow! I got my acceptance yesterday to UHS. I came back from class at 7pm. I walked into the lobby of my residence hall and there was my boyfriend, my parents, and my sister. They brought my envelope from home. It was great to have them all there with me to open it.

Now what?! It just hasn't set in yet. I can't believe how it feels to know I can do what I've always wanted to do and I can have plans for the future again.

Can't wait to meet all of you who will be in my class. I know the students really sold the school to me. If we can have students as great as them--this will be great.

[solie]

Congratulations AnnaMags!
It's great that you have such an amazingly supportive family that would do that for you!
I'll see you there in August...only 5 1/2 months to go!

[jrfromks]

Hey all! I just want to extend a congratulations to all the future UHSers out there! I, too, will be attending next year. I'm looking forward to meeting all of you. I recently talked with a student at UHS, and the things he said about UHS made me even more excited to attend.

[T.A.M]

All,

Congratulations to all my future classmates! Its great to read such enthusiasm to begin med school. I myself can't wait to make the move to Kansas City and meet all of you.

Question: Is anyone else out there considering HPSP? <img border="0" alt="[Clappy]" title="" src="graemlins/clappy.gif" />

[jrfromks]

Quick question for you all: When's everyone going to make the BIG move to KC, and where's everyone looking at to live? I'm not sure when I'll be heading up there because I only live about 6 hours from KC in western KS.

[EUROdocMOM]

HPSP, right here! I am already in the process. I should know if I have it in the next few weeks!
I am also wondering when to move to KC.
And where to move in KC!
Coming from the DC area, I LOVE the housing prices!

[solie]

I'm planning on moving down around August 5th, so a week or so before orientation starts. Hopefully that'll give me enough time to buy furniture and get stuff organized before classes start.
I sent in my deposit to Century Towers last week to get some sort of deal on the rent, so hopefully I'll have a place all set quite soon. I know it's early, but I'm really anal about stuff like that.

As for HPSP, is that the primary care in an underserved area deal? If I were an American citizen, I would love to do it! Unfortunately I'm not, so I don't qualify. I'm jealous of those who do! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

[H-townComp]

hey all,

I'm not gonna actually be attending UHS (going to Comp), but the school seemed great, nice students, profs, and administration....Dr. Peters interviewed me, he was awesome......alright....see ya

[T.A.M]

All,

I probably will make the move some time in late June, or July. I will most likely live at Bennington Ridge Apts. Like I said in previous posts, Century Towers might be nice, but its just a little too cramped if you're not coming directly from college and the neighborhood doesn't look too promising. But, it sure is convenient to the school!

Here's a question for anyone who plans to do HPSP or is currently doing it at UHS. Looking at the school calendar on the website, it doesn't appear that there's enough off time every year to do Active Duty Training at a base. So, do you basically get paid for 45 days a year to go to school?

[Tammy]

I'm lost...what is HPSP?

[BamaAlum]

HPSP is the Health Professions Scholarship Program which is offered by the 3 branches of the U.S. military. They pay your tuition, books, fees and give you a stipend in exchange for military service after completion of your medical training.

[AnnaMags]

To those who have been accepted:

As far as the computer upgrades go...how does that work? Do they mean they'll add the expense to your loan total?

[T.A.M]

Computer upgrades? I didn't get that info with my acceptance- then again, I got accepted two years ago. Can someone explain that to me?

[BamaAlum]

Tom,
They sent us a list of system requirements for our computers. They're pretty basic, although some are peculiar:

For desktops:
Pentium II 300 mHz
64 MB RAM
3.5" floppy
4 MB video card
15" or 17" monitor capable of 800x600 resolution
32X CD-ROM
ZIP Drive(100 or 250 MB)
4GB IDE Hard Drive
56K modem
ISP
WIN95, WIN98, WINME(and XP I assume, although not listed)
Microsoft Office 2000 Standard Edition
Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.x

For Laptops:
Pentium 233 mHz
32 MB RAM
3.5" floppy
Screen capable of 800x600 resolution
16X CD-ROM
External(although I'm not sure why it matters) ZIP drive
4GB IDE hard drive
56K modem
ISP
WIN95, WIN98, WINME
MSOffice 2000 Standard Edition
Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.x

[drhillary]

Dear Thomas A. Myrter:

I am proud to be in the UHSCOM class of '06 & actually asked about HPSP & UHSCOM time commitments during my interview, as I signed on with the Army last November. They assured me that around 10% of every class (so about 20 people) is in some form of military scholarship & they have always been able to work around schedules in the past. If you haven't signed on yet & want more info., feel free to e-mail me or post here-- but I can honestly say I think it's one of the best ways to go!! Good luck!

[Detroit Mick]

What about Mac computers? Are they OK? They are compatable with required software. Does anyone know why they require a Windows OS?

[T.A.M]

I have nothing further to add at this time, but I don't want our little discussion to get pushed too far back. By the way, has anyone found it odd that our school has only 2 pages of posts, but all the other XYZCOMs seem to have upwards of twenty-some? Come on! Where are our classmates? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> - Its almost 2AM, and I'm still doing work-related projects (Next year I suppose we can all say that sentence, but substitute "work" for "school"). This little guy probably looks much like I do right now!

[BamaAlum]

Tom,
I hear you man. What's up with Nova having 30 pages?? You would think with UHS's class size of 220+ we could hang with them. Anyway, just trying to help the cause.

[AnnaMags]

I've been wondering where everyone is too. I guess they just don't get on SDN. I'd sure like to talk with more of you. I sure enjoy seeing where everyone is from. Let's at least try to keep our post on the page.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

[solie]

Didn't we used to have another thread going somewhere with a few pages in it? Now if we could just find some way of adding the two threads together.... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

Have you seen the webpage the NSU-COM Class of 2006 has developed? It's very cool--I wish I knew more about how to do something like that, cuz it'd be cool to get one going for our class, too!

[Batory]

Hey guys,

Congrats and welcome to the UHS family. I was just reading through and your responses reminded me of my feelings of excitement a year ago. I am in the Class of '05! Just want to extend an invitation for you to ask any questions on here or email me at mhoefer@uhs.edu. I am also an HPSP'er (Army)if you have questions about that!

Get to know your classmates as much as you can on here, but you will have a great time this August when you get here for real! Having 250 compatriots to share med school with is a real treat. Looking forward to seeing you in KC!

Matt

[Batory]

Oh, and our threads were always small last year too. I guess not a lot of UHS'ers have heard of SDN. Good news though...'05 is developing a class website this year, so it should be really easy for you all to do the same thing once you get here.

[BamaAlum]

Hey everybody,
Does anyone know when UHS sends out financial aid award letters? I've completed my FAFSA so I'm just waiting for the school to to send me their award package.

[T.A.M]

Batory,

How does active duty training work for UHS? Looking at the calendar on the website, I don't see 45 consecutive open days. Do they just pay you while you're at school and call it active duty training?

By the way, when you begin your active tour, avoid 3rd ID at all costs!

[Batory]

Hey T.A.M.,

You have your first summer at UHS off, from about May 17 to August 13 (give or take a few days) So you can do your OBC then if you haven't done it yet. The second summer is spent at school, doing boards prep and getting ready for rotations, so yes, you will just get your 45 days active duty pay at school.

Don't worry, 3ID isn't even in my scope. Airborne all the way!

[EUROdocMOM]

Hi UHS-ers! I am trying to get some info from current students about how the typical school day and week run. What time classes start (8am?) and end most days for MS I & II year? Could anybody help with that?
I am waiting to hear about the HPSP, too. I will also be going Army. I am trying to get in shape for OBC!

[Tammy]

AnnaMags,

I saw your question about the computer and wondered the same thing. To me, the letter implied we were given "an allowance" from the school, but that doesn't even begin to make sense. I'm guessing that we are allowed something like $11,500 for living expenses through federal financial aid per year (after that we have to get private loans), and the computer expenses will be in addition to that...so perhaps we will be allowed to borrow $13,000 or something. (?) Purely a guess.

If any of you current students read this, please let us know how your computer expenses were handled.

Thanks!
Tammy

p.s. I can't wait to meet everyone is August. I'm starting the ole apartment search now.

[Batory]

Hello again,

Classes for MSI
Lecture from 8-12 every day. (1 hour blocks)
Lab about 3 times a week for 1-4 hours, typically Friday afternoon off. You are broken down into lab groups so you do not have afternoon labs with the whole class. Labs are: Anatomy, Intro to Clinical Medicine, Osteopathic Practices and Procedures, Pathology, etc.

As far as computers, you do not need one to go to UHS. There is always one available at the school (in the lab or study rooms). Most of my classmates and I have one at home because it is much more convenient to study from CD's, print off notes, read email etc. at home. I believe the amount of financial aid you are eligible to receive will increase so you can buy a computer, but I am an HPSP'er so don't quote me on that. I would positively wait until you get to school to buy all of the extras (zip drive) to see if you will really use them (I don't).

Later,

[EUROdocMOM]

Thank you so much for the info! I have been trying to find out that info for a long time!
By the way, I am from Virginia (Norther-VA-DC area)originally, lived in Germany the past 3 1/2 years, and am so excited to move out to the "heartland"!.
So,
Where is everyone coming from?
Any special reasons for choosing UHS?
UHS-ers tell us about yourselves!

[solie]

Does anyone know if there's required attendance in lectures/labs? I'm thinking it's probably required for OPP and Anatomy lab, but hopefully not for all the lectures. I know the web site says attendance is required at ALL lectures/labs, but is this actually enforced??

[T.A.M]

Can someone MSI or MSII answer this question? Although I'm sure there is much variety, how would you rate the quality of the classroom instruction overall? Who is your favorite professor and what does he/she teach? What is your favorite lab and why? What class or lab do you loathem, if any?

[Detroit Mick]

Hello to all my future UHS classmates.

I agree we should try and keep this thread going, particulary as we prepare for the school year. I think some good questions have been posed to MS1s and MS2s and am looking forward to reading their responses.

I look forward to meeting everyone in August.

[Batory]

Hey guys,

Lab and Lectures:
No lectures (8-12am)have required attendance, so you can pick and choose which ones you want to attend. Some professors will have full attendance and others will have a half full classroom depending on the lecture time, the topic, and their abilities. Also, some lectures are good, but you can get all the test info from reading for 15 minutes as opposed to sitting in class for an hour. Everyone has a different technique, but I try and attend as many as possible because I learn better that way. My favorites are Anatomy, Pathology, and Physiology. Af far as afternoon labs... OPP is mandatory, you recieve points from attendance. Professors can choose to give you points from test questions, practical exercises, or attendance. So it depends on how they do that. For example, you do not get points for attending Anatomy labs, those points are given in the practical exam....but nobody wants to screw their lab group by not showing up, and the only way to learn the body is to work on it, so attendance is pretty much 100%. On the other hand, ICM (Intro to Clinical Med) points are given on the test, so you can skip the 2 hour lab, read the notes for 10 minutes, and get all of the points, especially if you have previous clinical experience.

Bottom line, come to school and attend everything until you get a feel for what doesn't work for you.

[Batory]

And back up to the top....

[drewdo]

I second Batory's info - although he doesn't really try to make it to class - I hardly ever see him there. Ha Ha. Actually, I'm finding as the year goes by I am going to class less and less, especially the 8:00's. The school officially states that all classes are required, but they never take attendance. Although I did hear that they did once take attendance for the second years right before a long break, but it hasn't happened to us. And some professors you're better off skipping, because some are so bad they might actually confuse you instead of help you learn the material. Med school is really geared towards self-learning, especially the lecture material. And the lecture notes contain everything you need to know. Plus if you join Notepool you've got enough material to do well on the tests. DON'T buy any books until you figure out exactly what you'll use. (You don't really have enough time to read them anyway) I panicked during our first few histology classes and went out and bought the histo text - I've only read it twice. Some books I do recommend: Mosby's Physical Diagnosis, Robbin's Pathology, The Kimberly Manual for Osteopathic Treatments and definitely the board review books. I have found it helpful to follow along with the course material using both the "First Aid for the USMLE Step 1" book and the "Step Up" book. Not only does it help learn the material, but when it comes time to study for the boards I'm already familiar with the format of the review books! Also, if you want to look something up in one of the "required" texts, they're on reserve in the library. Or you can find an HPSP'er friend who's bought all the books on Uncle Sam's dollar. There's also some good subject-based board review books if you need additional help in any particular subject.

As far as good lectures to go to: Erf's path lectures are very entertaining and chock full of his medical politics; Bonnie Buxton is an excellent virologist/immunologist lecturer; Willsie for pulmonology; Bunag and Marinac for pharm, McWhorter for histo and Nelson for anatomy. The osteopathic lectures are skipped by a lot of people, as they're often too long and mostly fluff, ie. not packed with enough info. Some are more interesting, though. But as Batory said, the OPP labs are required - besides they're fun too. Some of the more awful lecturers are the MBA guys from Rockhurst and some of the pharm profs.

As far as a normal day as an MSI, I can't believe how little I study. I geared for the worst, though, so maybe it's just my perspective. Before I started, I warned my girlfriend that I'd have little time to be with her. I was so determined that all of my time outside of class would be spent studying. I was so wrong - and I'm still doing fine in class. Med school is fun and challenging, but try to live a balanced life outside of medicine - your patients will appreciate it!!

[Detroit Mick]

Any UHS students care to comment on the pros and cons of the varying hospitals for 3rd-year rotations? Are some better than others? Which ones should a student stay off from?

Thanks.

Michael