Duvaldentist,
It was only a few years ago that I stood in similar shoes myself, and I think it's great you've begun to be so proactive on SDN already. I caught wind of your post, and I hope that I can help share some information about the BMS Program at Barry University that can help you as well as other interested readers make the best decision possible for their education and career.
I will speak from my personal experience and hope that any bias I have will be diluted by including the experiences of some of my close peers. However, allow me to premise all of this with this: any program is what YOU make it--no matter how much it may change or not change its courses, faculty, locations.
The Biomedical Science Program at Barry University in Miami Shores offers a Masters of Science. The MS is received after a 1 year, 18 month, or 2 year track that is determined depending upon your undergraduate performance, background and MCAT/DAT. There is a comprehensive exam or thesis choice for completion of the program. The degree in and of itself is seemingly becoming necessary in order to score a decent job today, and is becoming a valued asset for dental school applicants according to Deans of Admissions along the eastern seaboard at least. The program offers students a chance to take the same/similar courses offered in most professional (Medical/Dental/Podiatry/Pharmacy) schools at a what would be a "slower" pace. The value in this structure is that students are able to dedicate the time to owning the material beforethem that will serve not only to help them pass their Board Exams later on but to improve/save lives when working as a professional. One may suppose that this "additional" time students are afforded in the masters program as opposed to professional school allows them to better understand the material, which then translates to better grades on exams and your transcript. Therefore, I would not label the program as a so-called grade booster.
Graduate students live in apartments nearby campus usually in South Beach, Aventura, Sunny Isles, Miami Shores, North Miami, North Miami Beach most often. There are also students who commute from Kendall, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Davie, and other South Florida towns and cities. There is no graduate student housing at Barry. Some students work on campus or off campus. On campus employment exists in other graduate departments, administrative offices and research labs and is usually awarded to students who choose to actively pursue this option. Barry is a private university, so you're going to pay a little more.
The student body enrolled in Barry's program is quite diverse in regards of ethnicity, religion, education background, age, etc. It's truly an international educational environment. In fact, I believe Barry University has made headlines a few times for being one of the most diverse campuses.
Keeping with the topic of diversity, educational background plays appears to influence the degree to which students judge the program as challenging. I have learned quite a bit from my courses; since, my bachelors of arts was outside the field of natural science (even though I completed all the pre-requisites for dental school). Other students with an intensive biomedical/biochemistry background may find some courses to be a walk-in-the park.
In the Spring of 2012, the BMS Program will be relocating to a new site about 10 miles up the road in Hollywood, FL. This means that the program will no longer be centered at the main Miami Shores campus where Podiatry, Nursing, PA and undergraduate students are. There still will be a few courses (ex: Human Gross Anatomy Lab) taking place at the Miami Shores campus due to laboratory requirements.
Depending on the program and the particular institution, graduate programs may cost a lot, nothing at all, or even pay you. Currently, I believe the cost is $950 per credit at Barry. The BMS Courses usually are 3 to 6 credits each, and students often take between 6-12 credits on average; this is dependent upon the specific track within the program the student is admitted to.
BOXERRUMBEL is correct; the wet tissue specimens for Neuroanatomy were taken back by the Podiatry school. I will not go into gossip-speculations. Nationally (for almost ever professional school including the U of Miami Medical) there is a shortage for cadavers for anatomy, so I'm not sure this is an issue specific to this program.
Lectures are taught by a professor, and these professors are all very reachable by email or in person. At the new site, the program is choosing to offer "distance learning," which will be a web-cam style lecture for those students who cannot make it to class. I know that University of Maryland has this for some of its lectures. Depending on you as a student and the professor, one may even have a more personal means of contact like cell phone. Additionally, the administrative staff members in the BMS Office are quite helpful and do attempt to help students. I recommend getting to know the staff anywhere you are; since, when people feel personally connected or involved with another person they are most likely to go the extra mile to help out.
If a student feels that he/she needs to "go somewhere more organized and helpful," then I'm not sure they are prepared for graduate school. Graduate school is a very independent period of student, past the period of whining and complaining as undergraduate professors hold our hands. I believe there is only a few faculty members who are dedicated solely to BMS Courses. There are other BMS faculty who do teach for other programs within Barry University (Podiatry, Nursing, Cardiovascular Perfusion, Biology), so some students may feel that this creates a disorganized appearance to the faculty--not having only BMS dedicated faculty. Nevertheless, the BMS staff is helpful and things are organized, but I believe the steps and changes involved with the program as it attempts to grow and expand create an unstable feeling among some students that would lend them to feel that it is "unorganized".
The former director was a very nice and helpful mentor to many students; I know personally that his mission was to create a more challenging and resputable program that enabled students to excel in professional school. Still, during his time here, there were many students who would complain about him or his methods of teaching. Not every student will like a professor/director. The new interim director is also a very kind and approachable gentleman. He is also the Director of the Nurse Anesthetist program, which will be sharing space with the BMS Program at the new Hollywood site in the Spring. His name is Dr. McFadden, and he is very reachable. Although he is not always in his office (perhaps away at administrative meetings), he stays in contact via email, cell or in person if you pass him in the halls. That's a key point. The professors will stop and talk to you about life, your recent test/test score, questions about material, application process, etc..if you pass them on campus, so again, the personal nature of the program is pretty valuable, especially when you're looking for new, updated LORs.
I support BOXER's advice to research the numerous post-undergraduate programs out there. Decide if a POST-BACC, CERTIFICATE or MASTERS program best suit you and your goals. Then look at that type of program to see if it satisfies your interest, your finances, and your sense of comfort (geography), and dental school admissions offices' expectations.
I believe Boston University has a pretty good M.A. program in Oral Sciences. There is a similar program also at Creighton University. Additionally, NOVA Southeastern has a BMS program of its own.
Hope this helps and provides a more fair assessment of the program.
