1) The Pros/Cons of the program
Pros:
- relatively cheap $550/credit hr - 32 credit hr program.
- everyone pretty much gets in
- Great medical school integration - esp. with UMC
- small classes - biggest one is about 60 people
- Most students are accepted to UMC (see note below)
- if you fail, at least you get a master's degree
- you want a taste of med school/dental school? you'll get that with the 5 hour classes (neuroanatomy, histology, med physiology, gross anatomy)
Cons:
- If you're not from Mississippi, you're not getting into UMC.
- Clinton, MS is a podunk city. You get your bare necessities, and that's it. You have to go into Jackson (which is close) to have any sort of entertainment.
- the 5 hour classes are absolutely brutal
2) The kinds of classes you've taken and a description
Only 3 out of the 4 five-hour courses are required; many people take all 4. These are the only legitimate courses you'll take and put any actual time into:
- Gross Anatomy - every single hole, divet, nerve, vessel, bone, hole in bone, bump, fissure, etc...you need to know, and that's only half the course. The other half is lecture, which you need to know 100s of clinical applications
- Histology - every tissue or cell in the body, you have to be able to recognize on a slide. EXTREMELY (insignificantly/unnecessarily) detailed material which you are tested on. But hey, it's a med school course, so it'll overly-prepare you..which is good?
- Neuroanatomy - just like gross anatomy, but for the nervous system. it's half memorization, half conceptual (ie. if you sever your spinal cord between L1 and L2, what effects would you see....what if you were given this drug, how would this change it?)
- medical physiology - if gross anatomy and neuroanatomy had a baby, this would be the demon child. But, if you want to Ace med school, you can take this course or take a far easier course at some other university.
-Every other course you'll take is a joke, in comparison to the 5-hr courses. The vast majority of them will not prepare you for medical school at all, but trust me, you'll need these easy As after the 5-hour courses.
3) Something you wished you knew coming into the program
That the southern united states is boring, and that this campus is very, very Christian-oriented. If you went to a big undergraduate school and loved your experience, you're going to hate this campus. But, it's only for an academic year. You can suck it up.
4) Something you would like to tell incoming students about your program
If you are already accepted to med school and really want to be at the top of your class (only if you can complete this program successfully), then take this program; a lot of our alumni say med school/dental school is a complete joke compared to this program. Many of our students finish in the 80+,90+ percentile on the Medical School Shelf Exams (which you can register for when you're in this program..if you do poorly, the administration won't send your scores to the schools, if you dont want them to
). But, if you're trying to just boost your GPA, then this program is NOT for you. People come through here thinking they can do well just because they went to Notre Dame, Berkeley, and all these tier 1 schools..and boy is it a rude awakening for them when the majority of med phys failed the first 2 exams. So yeah. Just a heads up.
5) Tips for students applying to your program
You will have an extreme amount of support from our dean, Dr. Baldwin. He'll add you on facebook and believe me, he'll get you in. I personally don't think they worry too much about your stats; mine were embarrassingly low, and a lot of people here are dumb as bricks. They clearly benefit from stupid people essentially donating their money, so don't worry about not getting accepted.
6) Did it help you get into medical school?
I haven't applied yet. If you're a Mississippi resident, you're definitely getting an interview at UMC, unless you're failing this program. If you're from MS and you don't get an interview, then you're an idiot and don't deserve it. People who view as 'dumb' in this program are getting interviews, simply because they're from MS (in my honest opinion)
It has also helped a lot of people get into med/dent at the private schools up north (nyu, boston, indiana). A lot of successful applicants into DO schools as well.
7) Anything else you'd like to add
It is definitely the best bang for your buck. if you don't get into med, you still get a master's degree. It's cheaper than the rest. If you play your cards right, then it can be a GPA booster program for you; but don't underestimate the difficulty of this program.
8) A rating from 1-5 (1 being the worst (no recommendation) to 5 (full recommendation)
Campus - 3
Clinton, MS - 2
Difficulty - 1 (If you just got by on an easy undergrad (ie. pulled off a 3.4+ at an unheard of university), you're probably not gonna do well in this program....or it could be a 4 - some people do finish with 3.8+