Name of school:
UMSL
Why did you choose this school?
In-state tuition, closer to home (though there were a couple of others also within a decent driving distance), liked the small class size, was impressed with the ODs I'd met that graduated from UMSL, comfortable environment
How would you rate the didactic courses?
8 - Though my rating is likely outdated. I felt the courses were very well laid-out and relevant. My only beef was with the disease course series. All the information was there, and we all passed part II, part III, TMOD the first time...it was just presented in a less-than-organized way that made it more difficult than necessary to digest.
However, things have changed a lot since then, and from what I hear it's a lot better. I felt the BV classes and contact lens classes were particularly excellent. There's a lot of BV, and it's all evidence-based, which I really appreciate. Those classes were detailed and tough, but looking back, I think that part of the program is a real asset to the school. As for the contact lens experience, I
hear it's more detailed than some other places, but I don't really know enough about the other programs to compare for certain. Those were my favorite classes, and I really want to build the contact lens area of my practice, so I'm probably a little biased.
How would you rate the clinical experience?
8 - Though my experience was unusual. Sometimes people would complain that they didn't have much to do at the school clinic because there were so many no-shows. However, I was only at the school for one evening for half a semester before my 4th year. The rest of the time I was at one of the satellite clinics, which were apparently much much busier. For the most part, the patients were interesting as well. Enough "normal" to get the hang of a routine exam, but enough pathology to learn and keep things interesting. I like that we have six rotations during 4th year rotations, which is more than you get at many schools. You're generally required to do two of these at one of the school sites, but my experience at the school was great too (one at satellite clinics and one at school--contact lenses and pediatrics mostly, half a day of disease). The rest of 4th year is largely what you make of it. I'd say there are very few "duds" as far as places you can go.
How would you rate the professors/faculty?
9 - Though, again, my rating is outdated. One went to another school (he was great when he taught, but he was kind of bitter about life, so I don't really miss him), one left on his own (great clinical professor, was less than wonderful in lecture), one retired (great guy, boring class, but I think he probably made it as interesting as possible). Sooo. That leaves almost all fantastic professors. No one I'd say is below average. They are all very willing to help you if you have any questions outside of class. Very approachable. They really know their stuff, too.
How would you rate the social experience?
10 - It's a small enough class that you get very close very fast. But it's not too small. My class got along great. Not everyone is
best friends with everyone, but everyone was friendly to one another. It was never a competitive environment. Everyone was really helpful when it came to coursework. People would get together on the weekends or sometimes for karaoke on a weekday evening. Some people put together ski trips, float trips, etc. There were parties for halloween, end of semester, random 80's parties, etc. etc.
How would you rate the surrounding area?
Immediately surrounding the school - 7
Like many of the optometry schools, it's not the safest part of town. However, it's not the scariest by any stretch. Rarely, we'd get an email about something that happened somewhere on campus or adjacent to the campus, but it was seldom that close to the optometry building. If you exercise good common sense, it's very unlikely you'll have a problem. You're rarely on the main part of campus, but it is a nice campus. And there are a few decent places to eat nearby.
St. Louis metro area - 9
It has a smaller feel since it's really a bunch of municipalities all clustered together. Which was fine with me since I didn't really care about the big city experience, though it is plenty big enough to have almost anything you'd want. For the practical side of things, there are several places to live within a reasonable drive to school that are safe, nice enough, and have reasonable rent. Groceries are affordable, and gas is lower than it is in a lot of places. For the fun side of things, there are LOTS of good restaurants, I guess there are good bars (I never go to bars or clubs...I'm a homebody), fun places to go for free or cheap, baseball is huge....
Does the school offer practice management/business related courses? If so, were they helpful once you got into the real world?
We had a series of four practice management courses. For me, honestly, they were useless. One is mostly a history of optometry class. One is a communications class (there might have been a few good tidbits in there, but most of it was cheese...you have to learn most of that just from experience, I think). One was a class about medicare, medicaid, law, etc. (good info, but lacking in the
practical applications of this information...though I suppose it's changing all the time anyway). The last one was mostly writing up a business plan. It was kind of good I guess. There were some good discussions...I learned some things about the different business models, some money things, and I got some ideas about practice building. But since very few of us were going to start cold (few people practically can, in my opinion), a lot of it felt like a waste.
As for "other comments," I'll add 'em if I think of anything.
