UQ-Ochsner 2017 Cohort

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jb271 said:
MEP will forward your application to Ochsner when it is complete. This can be pretty rapid (a couple of days) as long as you aren't missing any part of your application. If you are eligible for an interview then Ochsner Clinical School will contact you with information regarding the process. This also is typically fairly quick depending upon how many applications they are going through. Decisions are made by the University of Queensland 6-8 weeks after the entire application packet is sent to UQ. The earliest decisions for the 2017 cohort are expected in April.
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That's incorrect.

After you mail your application, and all your supporting documents have been sent, you will AUTOMATICALLY get an interview. They will send you an email to schedule an interview, usually by the next working day. You are graded by the Ochsner MD's and THEN your application is forwarded to UQ for a decision. That decision really does take anywhere from 1-8 weeks. Multiple classmates heard back after a week, some were the full 8. Quite honestly, if you make the cut-offs, have some clinical experience, and know what a global education is, you should be fine.

For those contemplating Ochsner:

I've been in the program for a month now and it has been.... frustrating. There are problems where there really shouldn't be any problems. They lecture us on being on top of our **** and they didn't release our schedule until two days before classes started -- and then it was changed repeatedly throughout the week so you had to constantly verify if/where your classes are. They try to spin it like, "look how hard it is to schedule 500+ people, give us a break" but the reality is, basic software can do it. If they refuse to invest in quality IT, they shouldn't make their ENTIRE curriculum online only with a large cohort they cannot accommodate.

Just to highlight the ridiculousness. We had the same lecture (same professor, slides, and sentences verbatum) THREE TIMES in two weeks. I... don't understand, and neither does anyone else. They lecture us on being professional and not wasting people's time and yet they just killed 6 hours of ours.

:/ ugh. Sorry, I'll stop venting now.
 
UncomfortablyNumb said:
Just to highlight the ridiculousness. We had the same lecture (same professor, slides, and sentences verbatum) THREE TIMES in two weeks. I... don't understand, and neither does anyone else. They lecture us on being professional and not wasting people's time and yet they just killed 6 hours of ours
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Which lectures were these? I attended and watched lectures when I couldn't go, so far I haven't seen any repeated lectures. Unless you referred to the Research info sessions - they're really trying to push research here - I never went to those except the one at orientation.
 
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I find UQ teaching quality awesome (9 out of 10 profs are fantastic lecturers). But the material covered is cursory. So expect to go through various resources to find what works best for you in the first few weeks here. I have found what works for me, sort of, and this is the 3rd week. Expect to study for the USMLE on your own because the materials covered by UQ are not enough to pass the USMLE. Again, IDK why so many people complained about teaching at UQ because I find that teaching quality is great! Professors are very enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

UQ is indeed disorganized as many people have said. And that is administrative stuff, eg, class schedules aren't updated until the day before. It's because the class is 540 (about 30-40 will drop out after 1st year) but it's not an excuse IMO. Other than that, everything is great if you are an independent learner. Life in Australia can be hard because of high cost of living and hot weather, and being so far away from home, but it's minor complaints of mine.

One major complaint about UQ: Cost of attendance is AWFUL. Honestly it shouldn't cost half as much...
 
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staffcat said:
Which lectures were these? I attended and watched lectures when I couldn't go, so far I haven't seen any repeated lectures. Unless you referred to the Research info sessions - they're really trying to push research here - I never went to those except the one at orientation.
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Yup, the research "class" is exactly what I'm talking about. It was in Orientation. It was in the special Ochsner presentation during Orientation, where they drill into you exactly how much debt you've taken on (like we didn't already know) along with a lecture about how UQ may press the "work/life balance" but we don't get to pretend to have that luxury, so get on our USMLE ASAP. And then they sprung it on us again last week during the "you don't have lecture but, wait a minute... i guess you do, i have no idea why your schedule doesn't reflect that -- oops. Stay seated." session.

My roomie was talking about it in his CBL and his tutor picked up on the conversation and seemed concerned. Either they were purposefully wasting our time, or she seriously didn't remember pushing it on us twice already.

I'm glad they want us to do research, they just don't have any financial incentives to do it. The MPH is $27k... where do they expect us to procure that?
 
staffcat said:
I find UQ teaching quality awesome (9 out of 10 profs are fantastic lecturers). But the material covered is cursory. So expect to go through various resources to find what works best for you in the first few weeks here. I have found what works for me, sort of, and this is the 3rd week. Expect to study for the USMLE on your own because the materials covered by UQ are not enough to pass the USMLE. Again, IDK why so many people complained about teaching at UQ because I find that teaching quality is great! Professors are very enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

UQ is indeed disorganized as many people have said. And that is administrative stuff, eg, class schedules aren't updated until the day before. It's because the class is 540 (about 30-40 will drop out after 1st year) but it's not an excuse IMO. Other than that, everything is great if you are an independent learner. Life in Australia can be hard because of high cost of living and hot weather, and being so far away from home, but it's minor complaints of mine.

One major complaint about UQ: Cost of attendance is AWFUL. Honestly it shouldn't cost half as much...
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I agree, I really like our professors. I think a few of them are new though. Our ethics teacher is. If you haven't watched the online lecture from last week, you'll see why people were complaining last year. It's painful. I had to put it on 1.5x and have a beer every 20 minutes or so. :)

It's really not that difficult to make a program to schedule us. It's really not. For half of one student's tuition they can hire a Silicon Valley bro-grammer and get it done. And if they don't want to spend the time and resources, then they should decrease class size until they are adept. There are really no excuses for their level of ineptitude. I had to walk across campus to multiple sites just to pay them cash for a student ID. It's like they threw darts at a map to place administrative services.

Anyway, I've stopped going to lectures and will start doing only what works for me, since their structure definitely doesn't.

There is a rumor that Ochsner second years are suing the school about tuition discrepancies.
 
UncomfortablyNumb said:
I agree, I really like our professors. I think a few of them are new though. Our ethics teacher is. If you haven't watched the online lecture from last week, you'll see why people were complaining last year. It's painful. I had to put it on 1.5x and have a beer every 20 minutes or so. :)

It's really not that difficult to make a program to schedule us. It's really not. For half of one student's tuition they can hire a Silicon Valley bro-grammer and get it done. And if they don't want to spend the time and resources, then they should decrease class size until they are adept. There are really no excuses for their level of ineptitude. I had to walk across campus to multiple sites just to pay them cash for a student ID. It's like they threw darts at a map to place administrative services.

Anyway, I've stopped going to lectures and will start doing only what works for me, since their structure definitely doesn't.

There is a rumor that Ochsner second years are suing the school about tuition discrepancies.
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What? Who made you pay for a student ID? It costs nothing.

I agree that research is beyond what we can manage in this program. We have so much on our plates already. I'm so glad it's optional.

I agree that administration should be organized and on top of everything.

But hey, they just sent us a feedback form where we can fill out our complaints and send it back to them.
 
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Hi, for those that have interviewed I was told the question style is similar to MMI. Is this true? You get 6 minutes to answer each question. Also, how would you prepare for the interview?
 
MCATWizarder said:
Hi, for those that have interviewed I was told the question style is similar to MMI. Is this true? You get 6 minutes to answer each question. Also, how would you prepare for the interview?
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It is not MMI. The interview consists of you and two faculty at the same time. They have 5 questions based on the domains you are given in advance. You have 6 minutes to answer each question but are not required to take the full time. They basically want as many examples of your life as possible to answer each question. It was a fairly simple and straightforward interview. Nothing to stress too much over.


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Does anyone know of people being accepted below the GPA or MCAT cut off?
 
UncomfortablyNumb said:
Yup, the research "class" is exactly what I'm talking about. It was in Orientation. It was in the special Ochsner presentation during Orientation, where they drill into you exactly how much debt you've taken on (like we didn't already know) along with a lecture about how UQ may press the "work/life balance" but we don't get to pretend to have that luxury, so get on our USMLE ASAP. And then they sprung it on us again last week during the "you don't have lecture but, wait a minute... i guess you do, i have no idea why your schedule doesn't reflect that -- oops. Stay seated." session.

My roomie was talking about it in his CBL and his tutor picked up on the conversation and seemed concerned. Either they were purposefully wasting our time, or she seriously didn't remember pushing it on us twice already.

I'm glad they want us to do research, they just don't have any financial incentives to do it. The MPH is $27k... where do they expect us to procure that?
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Not that I am defending the ridiculous of some of the stuff that UQ does - but 7141/2 is a joke. The research orientation lecture was probably to ensure that every student had a chance to go to it, since many skip the research lectures. I think they did the same thing this year with the first 2 lectures of 7241. In general, you don't need to attend lectures unless you need to for some particular learning reason or you want to ask questions of the professors after lecture. Watching it online is literally like sitting there except you get to pause, take notes, and read Harrison's/Robbins/Guyton and Hall/Sherwood to compare to whatever it is they are covering. To be fair, they have very good lecturers and I found the lectures to be really good for the most part - every once in a while you get someone who just reads the slides (looking at you Y1 pathology lectures from last year).

Last year in 7141/2, the assessments were an online test that could be taken as many times as necessary to pass (which has answers that end up getting passed around anyway), a CBL project that was silly (hello syphilis in indigenous), a 10-12 page paper that required you to answer some questions dealing with indigenous health issues, and a laughably easy 30 question final on indigenous health that if you read and complete the practice test you will probably not just pass but likely get every answer right on the final. This year is definitely more ridiculous, but again, all of the lectures are online.

As far as USMLE prep - you are more than welcome to start in Y1, but it's generally a waste of time to study as if you are taking the test any time in the near future. The tutorial sections are more to get you involved with the types of questions you will see and review of the knowledge and how relevant it is when comparing it to sources like FA and Qmax.
 
mel4214 said:
Does anyone know of people being accepted below the GPA or MCAT cut off?
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There are people in my class that have a 7 in one section but over a 26 on the old MCAT. That's the only thing I've heard of them being soft on. I think that's because UQ accepts international students with a 7, it doesn't make a lot of since to turn down an Ochsner kid with the same score who would otherwise get in via a different pathway.
 
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my packet was sent out 2.25.16 and I believe they said they were going to get back to me in May.....
I have a 3.46 Undergrad GPA/3.5 Graduate GPA/502(2nd attempt)/Teaching Anatomy Certification(completing and factored into graduate GPA)/Plenty of EC's and Service

does anyone know if that would be any good for them over there
 
themanofthehour said:
my packet was sent out 2.25.16 and I believe they said they were going to get back to me in May.....
I have a 3.46 Undergrad GPA/3.5 Graduate GPA/502(2nd attempt)/Teaching Anatomy Certification(completing and factored into graduate GPA)/Plenty of EC's and Service

does anyone know if that would be any good for them over there
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You're fine. Seriously. It's not the US. UQ is tailored for Australian students who just came out of undergrad (~20/21 yrs old). Almost half of our class hasn't taken anatomy or physiology. The number of MCAT attempts don't matter, they just use the highest score. As long as you don't have any glaring abnormalities on your application, you'll be fine.
 
most recent Step I statistics - from Ochsner admin:

"Approximately, 37% of the third-year class did not sit the USMLE. The average score dropped to 224 from 225. The pass rate was 91%. "
 
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Just a word on step 1 - from what I hear by word of mouth, each year about 1/3 of the class has put off step 1 until their 3rd year. This is against the advice of the faculty/administration/etc. but seems to still be happening. On the bright side, despite this, even as the class size grows, the match rate is staying above 90% and becoming more and more competitive. UQ-Ochsner will give you the tools/resources to take step 1 at the end of the 2nd year and do well on it - most people would agree on that. If you get in and put in the due diligence, you will match. People approach med school with varying degrees of work ethic - that probably is the biggest determining factor in their own individual match. Where you go is largely dependent on how much work you put in and your own skill/academic prowess.

As a disclaimer, I am a 1st yr Ochsner student. I know applying for a non-traditional program such as this is a bit riskier than the proven method (of US MD). That's probably why we hang on to each statistic that comes out - for reassurance that this is a good move to make. For what it's worth, I think that this is a very good program and has a lot to offer you, as long as you're willing to take the leap.
 
Maruko said:
most recent Step I statistics - from Ochsner admin:

"Approximately, 37% of the third-year class did not sit the USMLE. The average score dropped to 224 from 225. The pass rate was 91%. "
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Where do the Ochsner students usually take the Step 1 test, in New Orleans or in Australia? Which month of the 2nd year do they finish the Australian phase, and when do they move to Ochsner?
 
bobiest said:
Where do the Ochsner students usually take the Step 1 test, in New Orleans or in Australia? Which month of the 2nd year do they finish the Australian phase, and when do they move to Ochsner?
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depending on the individuals.
the pre-clinical phase ends in November.
rotations start in January
 
Match list looks awesome. Anyone interviewing in New Orleans in April?


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Has anyone heard back as to a decision yet? I interviewed on March 11th I believe there was one group who interviewed earlier, in the Jan pool but I wasn't sure if anyone from March has gotten a decision on their application yet?
 
AequitasEquitas said:
Has anyone heard back as to a decision yet? I interviewed on March 11th I believe there was one group who interviewed earlier, in the Jan pool but I wasn't sure if anyone from March has gotten a decision on their application yet?
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Historically, first decisions aren't made until the end of April. I interviewed in January and was told I'd hear back by May.


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Maruko said:
depending on the individuals.
the pre-clinical phase ends in November.
rotations start in January
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Thanks! Lots of things to do during that time. They may also have to electives at the same time?
 
jb271 said:
Historically, first decisions aren't made until the end of April. I interviewed in January and was told I'd hear back by May.


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im in the same boat as you my friend.
 
It is not electives. It is mandatory 8-week full time observership in the summer.
 
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staffcat said:
It is not electives. It is mandatory 8-week full time observership in the summer.
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Sigh.... It's called both. And yes it is mandatory but they are still called an elective. That is what everyone refers to them as in my cohort. You can elect where you want to go or if you want to do research or not.
 
sean80439 said:
Sigh.... It's called both. And yes it is mandatory but they are still called an elective. That is what everyone refers to them as in my cohort. You can elect where you want to go or if you want to do research or not.
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Then you go back to Australia in your fourth year to do an 8 week rotation?
 
fghtffyrdmns said:
Then you go back to Australia in your fourth year to do an 8 week rotation?
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You can actually do two if you want. A few students this year are doing double rotations in Australia since they are already down here. Most people elect to do the surgical rotation in Australia since the hours are far less ****ty than doing it at Ochsner.
 
sean80439 said:
You can actually do two if you want. A few students this year are doing double rotations in Australia since they are already down here. Most people elect to do the surgical rotation in Australia since the hours are far less ****ty than doing it at Ochsner.
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i've heard they're trying to change that so students will no longer have to do rotation in AU... is that right?
 
staffcat said:
Yeah... This is a hassle as that winter is residency interview time. I hope they'll change it soon.
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Winter (I guess it is in Australia, but not in the US)? You do it during the beginning/middle of your fourth year. In fact, I just met with a 4th year mentor that is doing it right now - she is halfway through. There are a number of them currently down here.
 
Maruko said:
i've heard they're trying to change that so students will no longer have to do rotation in AU... is that right?
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Yeah, I don't think that is changing. OMSA put together a proposal that since we do 8 weeks between Y1 and Y2, that should cover the requirement. The AMC is arguing that because the elective is between Y1 and Y2, students lack real clinical perspective since their knowledge base is far worse than it is during fourth year where you are developing clinical skills instead of focusing on science. The AMC also requires 16 weeks, which is why we do 8 weeks between Y1/Y2 and then at least 8 weeks in Y4. From the AMCs perspective it makes sense why they still want one during the 4th year, but it sucks for us.

edit: clarified
 
sean80439 said:
Yeah, I don't think that is changing. OMSA put together a proposal that since we do 8 weeks between Y1 and Y2, that should cover the requirement. The AMC is arguing that because the elective is between Y1 and Y2, students lack real clinical perspective since their knowledge base is far worse than it is during fourth year where you are developing clinical skills instead of focusing on science. The AMC also requires 16 weeks, which is why we do 8 weeks between Y1/Y2 and then at least 8 weeks in Y4. From the AMCs perspective it makes sense why they still want one during the 4th year, but it sucks for us.

edit: clarified
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wait, it is 8 weeks in Y4, not 4 weeks?

why didn't they require 16 weeks before? the classes before didn't have to do summer after Y1 observerships...
 
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It is a full rotation. That is 8 weeks.

I wasn't aware of it being 16 weeks either until my mentor mentioned it to me while we were meeting the other day.
 
question for everyone:
how would you compare UQ-O to Atlantic Bridge in Ireland?
 
Maruko said:
question for everyone:
how would you compare UQ-O to Atlantic Bridge in Ireland?
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@Maruko why are you still worried about Atlantic Bridge you are halfway finished with one semester in Australia at UQ-O at this point. Would you really up and move across the world AGAIN and start med school over because of some preconceived notion that Ireland is better? Makes no sense. You are surrounded by 128 Americans studying for USMLE and have that support. You have an automatic 2 years of U.S. rotations. There is no way that Ireland is going to give you better options than UQ-O (besides being cheaper). How can anyone really COMPARE atlantic bridge to UQ-O when they go to either one or the other.
 
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UQ-Oschner is probably the best IMG program for matching back to the US. I talked to somebody going to an Irish school yesterday and from what he told me they typically have a 70% match rate and usually into IM and FM. And that is with those students averaging 240 on step 1. UQ-Oschner matches 90+% into a good variety of specialties. Even DO schools only matched 80% in the allopathic match. They have their own match right now so they all get placed in the end, but that should demonstrate the strength of UQ-Oschner.
 
Maruko said:
question for everyone:
how would you compare UQ-O to Atlantic Bridge in Ireland?
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Atlantic Bridge in Ireland:
- better for practicing in Europe in future
- traditional teaching method
- cheaper

UQ-O:
- better for practicing in US in future
- non-traditional teaching method
- more expensive
 
Maruko said:
why do you say that when non-EU have almost no chance of staying in EU?


i probably won't go to Ireland. still it doesn't hurt to figure out everything.
i like UQ, but i don't deny that there are pros and cons.
90% match rate but 37% of a class of +/-100 put off Step 1 this year, that's about 40 students in a class not taking Step 1.
UQ essentially takes away 3/4 of summer break by that 8-week observership, leaving 2 weeks free. good luck studying for USMLE. that also means i don't get to see my partner for 2 years. Ireland is a lot closer geographically and allows minimum 2-month summer breaks. in worst case scenario, being able to practice in EU would be better than in AU.
UQ requires you to fly back to AU for ONE rotation in 4th year (for me it's 30+ hours flight one-way).
tuition is outrageously crazy ($64k USD/year tuition alone and increasing).
the Ochsner class is 120-something but aren't cohesive (some of them talked badly about others since the 1st week of class; some outright refuse to share resources/harddrive).
exams are not made by professors but by a "lead educators" team; that's why exam questions are unpredictable.
disappointed that we do not have mock/real patient contact until 2nd half of 2nd year... Ireland allows patient contact since first day; I've also heard that clinical training in Ireland is superb.
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Have you considered Sackler?
 
CleganeBowlis4Real said:
Have you considered Sackler?
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i did. but Sackler's location alone is a no-no for me: i don't like missiles flying over my head, army killing children just 1-2 hour drive from me, and missile sirens waking me up at nights.
 
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Maruko said:
i did. but Sackler's location alone is a no-no for me: i don't like rockets flying over my head, army killing children just 1-2 hour drive from me, or missile sirens waking me up at nights.
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fair enough but the only two IMG programs I would be comfortable coming from in terms of matching to the USA are Sackler and UQ-Queensland. Is there a reason you dont want to/cant do US DO?
 
Maruko said:
why do you say that when non-EU have almost no chance of staying in EU?


i probably won't go to Ireland. still it doesn't hurt to figure out everything.
i like UQ, but i don't deny that there are pros and cons.
90% match rate but 37% of a class of +/-100 put off Step 1 this year, that's about 40 students in a class not taking Step 1.
UQ essentially takes away 3/4 of summer break by that 8-week observership, leaving 2 weeks free. good luck studying for USMLE. that also means i don't get to see my partner for 2 years. Ireland is a lot closer geographically and allows minimum 2-month summer breaks. in worst case scenario, being able to practice in EU would be better than in AU.
UQ requires you to fly back to AU for ONE rotation in 4th year (for me it's 30+ hours flight one-way).
lectures are meh, must study a lot on your own.
tuition is outrageously crazy ($64k USD/year tuition alone and increasing).
the Ochsner class is 120-something but aren't cohesive (some of them talked badly about others since the 1st week of class; some outright refuse to share resources/harddrive).
exams are not made by professors but by a "lead educators" team; that's why exam questions are unpredictable.
disappointed that we do not have mock/real patient contact until 2nd half of 2nd year... Ireland allows patient contact since first day; I've also heard that clinical training in Ireland is superb.
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I feel like these are questions that should have been answered before decididing to go to UQ, not once you are already in the program.
 
Dr. Quack said:
I feel like these are questions that should have been answered before decididing to go to UQ, not once you are already in the program.
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you simply don't ask "how many people put off the USMLE", "how cooperative is the cohort?" or "who made the exams"...
 
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