Oh yes, and Mr. Pitman, "Those who are willing to pay to get US exposure, will. Students who are motivated will do the USMLE courses that the school will pay for, and pass the USMLE and get residency. Those who aren't, won't." - you miss the entire point. This is not a UQ program to "get US exposure" this is being marketed and we are being told at every step that it is a separate program designed to produce AMERICAN DOCTORS. We aren't here paying extra for US exposure - we are paying for what is supposed to be a wholly novel program. Any UQ student can get US exposure by doing their rotations at Ochsner and not pay extra.
It is was it is, and it is a novel program. No other UQ students can do even an entire year in the US. You're paying for the UQ degree + two years of US clinical exposure + a good chance that Ochsner itself will take you for residency.
It's difficult to know how else to respond to someone who's liberally making false inferences and throwing out accusations. Some of your key points just don't ring true and seem to me instead to be more a result of an emotional reaction that reflects an 'us versus them' mentality. To begin with, it's not terribly objective to claim "LIES…All lies!" on the one hand, while not knowing those you're characterizing, but more importantly, without understanding what's going on.
Australia operates differently than the US. Cliche, yet true. Americans sometimes have the attitude of,
I've paid this, so give me that in response. Now. In this way. Or I will yell until you submit. It even sounds righteous through the American worldview, but it ain't how things get done down here. Indeed it's counterproductive. You might be able to imagine the sorts of student rants that come across the SoM's and the UQMS' desks (nearly always, the most aggressive and obtuse of these coming from N. Americans). They are typically the first that's heard from an individual on the issue, yet start from the standpoint that something reasonable was tried, and now
I am fed up, and screw you, you bunch of incompetent liars. But I'll tell ya, calling people you don't even know liars for things that haven't yet occurred (no USMLE support setup for the incoming class, which hasn't started yet? Must be a LIE, A DAMNED LIE...) I think says a lot. It also ignores how bureaucracy and med politics work here, which you may never grow to embrace but you'll need to learn if you ever hope to effect much positive change.
I'm sorry if I sound patronizing, but in my political dealings since coming here, I've had little patience for people who make accusations without understanding how the system they're part of actually works. On the more universal level, AMC accreditation is a process, it involves negotiation and maneuvering, and it is political. It makes perfect sense that the school would genuinely want certain things kept quiet during the process in order to maximize its chances of accreditation. That's not unique to the program or to med schools as they all go through course re-accreditation (keeping in mind that one school has recently lost theirs). I'm not sure what your point of that bit of your vent was, but it sounded like you were saying that asking students not to bring certain issues up during an AMC assessment process was part of its lies, rather than smart in this climate. Very odd, and as someone who has worked with a number of the SoM people who are most involved with the project, it sounds incredible to me that such an assumption of deceit would be made through those examples.
I cannot speak about mededpath's communications or genuineness, as I have never dealt with them, but the next thing that seems to be missed is how the SoM negotiates with the students. No offense to feliberti20, but there is no official first year Ochsner rep. Therefore that is not who would be best to reference for getting official responses. There is a second year Ochsner student rep who is officially part of the UQMS, but it would also not surprise me in the least bit that THAT person would not get timely responses from key admin. The very fact that you reference the rep and Ochsner students as an organized entity in your frustrations about communication, rather than UQMS peeps up the food chain, says a lot to me about how little you understand process. The UQMS, as the only recognized authority to deal with such matters despite attempts by some who think they can buck the system, at several levels has and does discuss these issues with the SoM, and there has been progress over the past year. Before claiming a lack of any progress on key issues, or accusing people of LYING or of incompetence, you may want to sit down with an Exec member, at least long enough to learn how you might be able to constructively offer him/her criticism of how they approach to the SoM the issues you care so much about.
Change may not be fast enough for you, or potentially for others who make sweeping claims of "LIAR!" in part as they see nothing of the wheels in motion, and in part because the top and most immediate concern for the program is in fact, believe it or not, to get it accredited. The other reason is that Americans aren't used to slow, roundabout process, and some might confuse it with people being disingenuous.
I have never met an efficient Australian bureaucracy. Actually, I've never met an efficient bureaucracy, period. But Australian bureaucracy is particularly quirky. They have their own processes, their own protocols for negotiating, a unique tall poppy syndrome intertwined, and what can only be described as an aggravating seeming indifference to demands for expediency. Yet there is good reason for those who look carefully enough why "whinge" is one of the most common derogatory words in Australia. Americans who come here learn this here eventually, through one issue they encounter or another. It will either drive them crazy (or back home), or they will embrace it as a necessary evil part of what I think is an overall endearing Australian attitude in life. In the best case, one or two will assimilate enough to be able to use it to their and the program's advantage.
250 for Mizuno which I get for 90!!
