Barry... anyone want to refute the ALL negativity on this website?

[E E Smith]

Really shocked by all the Barry bashing on here. Surely I'd like to think Barry is more than just about location: nice weather on the beach.

With that said, I'm wondering if we could have students from Barry step up and provide more insight into the school. Would really like a detailed analysis, reflection on their time there, and input to help us students looking on the forum about podiatry schools.

If I were the leadership on Barry, I'd be surprised not more Barry Students are active on this site speaking up on behalf of the school. According to the forums on here Barry has a terrible reputation and the administration doesn't care/seem to respond about how much they are being bashed on this site. Makes you wonder if they really are sensitive to the issues and want to see their students succeed like other schools.

Hope to hear from Barry students about the school.

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[E E Smith]

Saw this on another thread.... hope recent/current Barry students can fill out/answer these questions. Thanks

Curriculum
1. Are there any special programs for which this podiatric medical school is noted?
2. Describe this school's curriculum in the pre-clinical and clinical years. Are there any innovations, like Problem-Based Learning?
3. Are there opportunities for students to design, conduct, and publish their own research?
4. Is there a note-taking service? If so, is it university-run or student-run?
5. Is there flexibility in the coursework (the number of electives) and the timing of the courses (accelerating, decelerating, and time off) during the pre-clinical and clinical years?
6. Has this podiatric medical school, or any of its clinical departments, been on probation or had its accreditation revoked?
7. How do students from this podiatric medical school perform on the National Board Examinations? How does the school assist students who do not pass?

Evaluations
8. How are students evaluated academically? How are clinical evaluations performed?
9. Is there a formal mechanism in place for students to evaluate their professors and attending physicians? What changes have been made recently as a result of this feedback?

Counseling/Student Support
10. What kind of academic, personal, financial, and career counseling is available to students? Are these services also offered to their spouses and dependents/children?
11. Is there a mentor/advisor system? Who are the advisors—faculty members, other students, or both?
12. How diverse is the student body? Are there support services or organizations for ethnic minorities and women?

Facilities
13. Tell me about the library and extracurricular facilities (i.e., housing and athletic/recreational facilities).
14. Are there computer facilities available to students? Are they integrated into the curriculum/learning?
15. What type of clinical sites—ambulatory, private preceptors, private hospitals, rural settings—are available or required for clerkships? Does this school allow for students to do rotations at other institutions or internationally?
16. Is a car necessary for clinical rotations? Is parking a problem?

Financial Aid
17. What is the current tuition and fees? Is this expected to increase yearly? If so, at what rate?
18. Are there stable levels of federal financial aid and substantial amounts of university/endowment aid available to students?
19. Are there students who have an "unmet need" factor in their budget? If so, where do these students come up with the extra funds?
20. Are spouses and dependents/children covered in a student's budget?
21. Is someone available to assist students with budgeting and financial planning?
22. Does this school provide guidance to its students, and to its graduates/alumni, on debt management?

Student Involvement
23. What school committees (e.g., curriculum committee) have student representation?
24. Are students involved in (required or voluntary) community service?
25. How active is the Student Council/Government? Are there other student organizations?

Policies
26. Is there an established protocol for dealing with student exposure to infectious diseases? Is disability insurance provided to cover this exposure?
27. Does this school provide, or does the student pay for, vaccinations against Hepatitis B or prophylactic AZT treatment in case of a needle-stick or accident?
28. Is there a school Honor Code? Is there a grievance process/procedure? Are the students involved?

Residency
29. May I see a list of residency programs to which this school's recent graduates were accepted?

Questions to Ask Yourself
30. Does this school have strengths in the type of podiatric medicine (primary care versus surgery versus biomechanics versus sports medicine) that I will want to practice?
31. Would I be happy at this school (for at least the next four years)?

 

[heybrother]

Where are people bashing Barry? Its hardly spoken of. There's one troll who brings them up infrequently. His posts are so nonsensical that they wouldn't sway a child.

 

[itsallgood19]

Really interested in this information as well as I have an interview there in early January. If someone could please give us some perspective on the pros and cons of Barry that would be amazing!!

 

[theaznfishy]

From my understanding, the only thing that seems to be a main consensus [that can either be good or bad] is that Barry is more "independent-study" oriented. You can take this on a wide spectrum-interpretation of "no structure/support by faculty" (what the old thread said in a nutshell) vs "you get what you put into it" (what students that accompanied us at the interview said). Does it mean it's not an environment to succeed? No. However, you better find that you're learning style fits the "independent study" format.

 

[heybrother]

From my understanding, the only thing that seems to be a main consensus [that can either be good or bad] is that Barry is more "independent-study" oriented. You can take this on a wide spectrum-interpretation of "no structure/support by faculty" (what the old thread said in a nutshell) vs "you get what you put into it" (what students that accompanied us at the interview said). Does it mean it's not an environment to succeed? No. However, you better find that you're learning style fits the "independent study" format.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/the-good-the-bad-the-ugly.1040812/#post-14599065

I disagreed with you a month ago and I still disagree with you now. I think anyone who reads your opinion on this matter is being done a disservice.

 

[theaznfishy]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/the-good-the-bad-the-ugly.1040812/#post-14599065

I disagreed with you a month ago and I still disagree with you now. I think anyone who reads your opinion on this matter is being done a disservice.

You might want to talk to the students at the school who conduct the campus tour then b/c that's literally what they told me. It's not an opinion when they say it. I haven't attended the school (only an interview), so it's not an opinion of mine, it's what other students [current and past] have said. I'll even put the link to what the past students said on SDN if you want, but it's pretty harsh.

 

[heybrother]

Students everywhere are studying individually. The Barry students aren't different or special. I don't know what they told you on the tour and I'm sure they meant well, but everyone has their nose in a book or is making flashcards or outlines or highlighting things.

The old threads you are referring to are from some troll, drop-out, flamer. Don't bother posting a link. The person posts the same thing over and over again (I've read the ramblings at least 3 different times). This is why I've indicated there isn't a consensus - a consensus requires people coming together - not one person writing in caps. A good indicator that someone has an ax to grind is an intense desire to place the blame for academic failure on teachers and deans and everyone but them self. I may be coming across as overly aggressive or unkind - so I'm sorry for that. That said - Barry doesn't really have a posting presence on here and there's a tendency for the same junk to be the only thing available and for people to repeat it.

 

[JamesTiberius16]

When considering a medical school I always look at a couple of factors:

1) Attrition rate.
2) Board pass rate for first time test takers.
3) Board pass rate for second time test takers.
4) Residency placement and G.P.A. to reflect knowledge.
5) How good are the professors?
6) Location.
7) Cost.

Barry has a high attrition rate. Class of 2016 has an attrition rate around 30%. They started with 67 and now have 51 with the addition of 4 people from class of 2015. Class of 2017 started with 62 and lost 9 during the first semester. So, it’s 14.5% and counting. I suspect it will creep towards 20%. Board pass rate for last year they got 100% between first and second time test takers. The year before was pretty bad but with that said currently it’s good. For Part 2, which is the clinical portion it’s pretty low. This might just be an isolated incident. Residency placement is not looking so good. We had 20 or so students not match but I’m pretty sure a couple got placed. This is a problem across the board for other schools too!

The professors here are awful and I mean it. I could give a breakdown but no one would believe me because after all this is one of the highest levels of education. Call me a troll and come see for yourself. There are a couple good ones but not enough to make your time here enjoyable. Miami is nice at times but the school keeps you so busy you won’t be playing golf or going to the beach. You will spend more time trying to organize and find information than studying. I haven’t been outside to just hangout in over a year. The exam schedule is so awful if I started writing about it I would be here all day. I guess you’ll see when you get here and get use to saying FML at least once a day.Students from an A to a D level have a hard time finding 1 positive thing to say about this program. Yes I wrote D’s!! These professors give crap grades like F’s, D’s and C’s. Enjoy!!!!! This might be why we cannot get residency.

The cost of tuition keeps increasing to make up for the attrition rate. Tuition is currently 36,755 and I’m assuming on the rise. We pay more for less here at Barry.
Coming here for a scholarship might not be a good idea. You should ask how many students keep their scholarship after the first year. Then ask how many keep it after second year.

Some students, “very few” are happy here. I personally think they suffer from Stockholm syndrome. Knowing what I know now I would never attend this school.
Accept the seat as a last resort but you have been warned. This program is not student friendly and the majority of the people here will not care about you.

 

[Toadesque]

I don't put that much stock into attrition rates for pod schools. Because the percentage of students accepted is higher you are more likely to end up with unqualified students who didn't know what they were getting themselves into. That is not a fault of the school. Besides I guarantee you not all of those students dropped out due to grades.

Also according to the people i spoke with at Barry, 13 students did not match initially but after the scramble there were only 3-4 students still looking for a spot. Almost identical numbers to other schools I spoke to such as Western and Temple.

I'm sure some of your concerns are valid, but I've heard the same complaints about nearly every pod school. I've read stories about people complaining about Western's curriculum and saying they wished they went to Barry or CSPM.

 

[JamesTiberius16]

I don't put that much stock into attrition rates for pod schools. Because the percentage of students accepted is higher you are more likely to end up with unqualified students who didn't know what they were getting themselves into. That is not a fault of the school. Besides I guarantee you not all of those students dropped out due to grades.

Also according to the people i spoke with at Barry, 13 students did not match initially but after the scramble there were only 3-4 students still looking for a spot. Almost identical numbers to other schools I spoke to such as Western and Temple.

I'm sure some of your concerns are valid, but I've heard the same complaints about nearly every pod school. I've read stories about people complaining about Western's curriculum and saying they wished they went to Barry or CSPM.

I have read some of your post and you seem to be a know it all. You do not go to a pod school and according to you pod schools have nearly the same stats as DO schools. I agree with you most of my classmates had to have at least one of these if not both 3.5 GPA or a 24 MCAT. Coming on a POD forum and stating we are sub-par is not a good way to say I'm stupid. And no I am still in school so go back to trolling SDN from MD to DAT's. Over 300 post seems kind of weird.

 

[BUSPM Admin]

Regarding news at BUSPM.

Normally I do not get into the posts of students current or former, but there are some truthful answers that need to be heard reagarding the attrition rate as well as Miami itself.

Attrition rate, Class of 2016 did have a high attrition rate; however, not all of it was due to academic reasons. Life does get in the way sometimes and it can be rather difficult to comprehend going back to medical school. Class of 2017, same situation, there were several reasons we lost 9 during the first semester (none due to academics)

Boards, the class of 2015 did very well and did make the 100% pass rate after the second time. We were still well above national average prior to the retake. The years before, it has been at least 5 years where we have exceeded national average for passing rates. Boards part 2, the results came out today, we have a 92% pass rate.

Students that didn't match, there were 11. The number of 20 is from prior years not matching. However in the class of 2014 there were 11. Due to many different reasons, some may have been place bound to where they had to stay in a specific area, some put their eggs all in one basket, some even took some time off due to personal reasons. We do have a residency facilator Dr. John Nelson who is doing a fabulous job! Residency as we all know has a shortage, however it is something that everyone in the profession (schools and all) are working on.

Regarding the professors, we have extremely bright, intelligent, amazing professors here. That being said they are not easy "A" professors. This is medical school, there is a TON of work, and it is mandatory that the work is kept up with. Medical school is a very time consuming process which unfortunately allows for very little leisure time and should not be looked upon as a retreat or a vacation just because we are located in Miami. Our program is like any other medical school, and requires nothing but the utmost dedication and drive to successfully complete the program.

The cost of attendance does rise, as it does with all programs, however this is not due to attrition rates.

Please, if anyone has any questions or would like to speak to some of the students feel free to contact me at 305-899-3123 or on my cell at 305-458-9373

All the best,

Amy

 

[SLCpod]

Amy,

I happy that you are on here giving some reassurance to pre-pods and the students at Barry that the school is trying to make things better. However, I do see that some students might get confused about the program because of conflicting information that is on this website and the Barry website OR information that isn't on the Barry website. This is a forum and we are to take all that is mentioned here with a grain of salt but when the Barry website says that Barry has %100 residency match and students that have attended the school and you have posts that say otherwise on this forum it seems kind of fishy. The Barry website doesn't post any information about attrition so pre-pods usually believe what is posted on SDN.

I am not a student at Barry but I did research it before making my final decision about where to apply and the ambiguity of the program was what made me look elsewhere. My suggestion would be to work on this. I think the anti-Barry posts would be less if the information about the school was more straight-forward. I know that Barry gives students the tools they need to be successful podiatrists as do the other 8 schools.