Longtime lurker and current PNWU student (undergoing the new curriculum with HeadtoDOC and Hrdrck). I needed to jump in here because I can tell a number of you are unnerved by some reports that medical can *gasp* be frustrating. I made a throwaway account to comment, but you'll just have to take my word.
I can personally attest that most, nay, the vast majority, of the professors at PNWU care very much about their students. Just think about it, why would well respected, intelligent professors leave successful careers at other institutions in order to teach at an up-start osteopathic medical school in middle of the Washington desert? (For the record, I love eastern Washington because I'm from here. This isn't the most commonly held sentiment lol.) The answer is that most of them genuinely believe in what has been started here and are committed to make it succeed. Other users are being petty in this regard, and frankly disrespectful to the professors you'll find answering questions into the wee hours of the morning, sometimes in person and on-campus.
Professors yelling at you from 8-5am is an exaggeration. Stop.
I think some people were expecting medical school education to be the paradigm of clarity and ease of understanding. Newsflash to incoming students: IT'S NOT. Don't say you weren't warned. But that isn't because the school has terrible instructors or a terrible curriculum. Rather, it is because medicine is fundamentally full of variation! It's been said over and over that patients don't read the textbook! It may come as a surprise, but consensus is a rarity the further you go into detail for any subject. This is why every major branch of science and medicine has a journal called "Current Opinions in [insert "-ology" here]." You want things to be clear cut? Do everyone including yourself a favor and don't do medicine. People who can't handle the frustrations of pre-clinical years are in for a train wreck once they hit the wards as a resident.
Keep in mind that posters on SDN tend to be the miffed sort. Those that are generally accepting of how things are going and have little to complain about won't typically take time out of their day to come to SDN and write platitudes to their school. Especially during those weeks where we're studying or in class for 80-90+ hours and feel like the life has been sucked out of us by the end of the block. Believe me, being a medical student isn't sexy. It will make you question your sanity. But when you run out of steam and want to swear when the alarm goes off in the morning, you instead get up for your future patients. You remind yourself you wanted this, and you remind yourself despite BS in medicine, it will be worth it because of the lives you touch. If you're doing it for yourself, you'll become disenchanted very quickly.
Now, am I a little annoyed by 5 point quizzes at the end of an anatomy lecture when I'd prefer to simply study the material on my own and show up for the exam? You bet I am. But these sorts of grievances are par for the course in any medical school. Honestly, saying the school is completely malignant because of this one gripe is really quite melodramatic. I remember the professor being 20 minutes late. Hey guess what? This professor had to drive across town from his practice to deliver the lecture on a day with snow and ice (this part of the story was left out)! Breaking: physician is late! Details at 11! Really, I'll echo Hrdrck: medical school is what you put into it. Take initiative and go to the next level. Your teachers are teaching you today's knowledge; you'll be treating your patients with tomorrow's knowledge. If you can't take the initiative to become a learner for your patients' sake, then you're doing everyone a disservice. Truly! Your professors won't be at the patient's bedside thirty years from now to tell you what to do. Good thing they gave you the tools to stay educated and know the current practice!
