Welcome to NYCOM, Class of 2003

[Shelam]

To those who will be attending NYCOM this Fall, CONGRATULATIONS ON YOU ACCEPTANCE TO MEDICAL SCHOOL! I, as a member of the Class of 2002, welcome you. As you may know by now, the orientation for the Class of 2003 will take place during the last week of August. The last day of your orientation will be your White Coat Ceremony as well as the Faculty/Student Bar-B-Cue. Best of luck to all of you, as you begin your careers as medical students. If you have any questions please feel to ask them now or during the course of your first year.

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[hope]

Dear Shelam,
Thank you very much for your welcoming post. I decided to take you up on asking a few questions:1)Computers: There are 300 of first-year and probably around the same number of second-year students. of course we are required to own a computer, but I am not clear if we need one while in school (between lectures, evenning studing, looking at slides?). Does the school have enough computers to accomodate that many students? I don't know whether I should acquire a laptop or a desktop. The money is tight and I know that I can get a better deal on a desktop and I actually significantly prefer to use a desktop over a laptop. However, knowing my study habits, it is likely that I will use the NYCOM's facilities to study and I don't skip classes, so that I will be at school a lot. I am hoping for a stress-free access to the computers on campus. Do you think one can rely on using the school's computer lab or shall one provide a computer of his/her own to this goal?
2) Lecture notes. I remember being told that the instructors provide info-packed handout at the end of each lecure (electronically). However, today during Study skills workshop the importance of note-taking and good note-taking was seriously stressed. Most med.schools have some sort of note-taking service, and I thought that having the instructors do it was a perfected way, but would you still recommend scribbling down the lecture content?
3) How often did you have to use your required texts during last year? If I can only use hand-outs (if they are given out)to avoid spending too much money, I will be elated. I know certain texts are a must ( Anatomy, anatomy atlas, etc., Osteopathic techniques, histology), but what about others?

Good luck in your second year! We learned today that your load is more than doubling compared to first year (from 16 to 36 classes in 40 weeks)! Wow, I am impressed! Hopefully, the content will be so interesting that you'll forget how hard you are working. And, your marathon prep last year got you ready for the real marothon this year.

Thank you again for your willingness to help.

[This message has been edited by hope (edited August 23, 1999).]

 

[Shelam]

Dear Hope,

I'm glad you took me up on my offer and asked me question. So here we go.....

Your first question asked about whether or not you should buy a computer. Although the computer lab at NYCOM (located on the bottom floor of the library) is usually available, I think you should buy a PC (with Windows 95 or Windows 98) because of one very important reason. This is that you will be provided by a quite a few instructional CD-ROMs this year (1 in physiology, 1 in histology, 4 in neuroscience, 1 in OMM). In order for you to be able to use these CD-ROMs you will need your own computer. Furthermore I think you should by a laptop (that's what I bought) because the new building that is currently under construction is going to have outlets so that you can use your computer at your seat. Since bringing your desktop computer would not be too feasible (nor wise), you should consider buying a laptop instead. I suggest you try to keep the minimum guidelines (provided for you in the orientation packet)in mind when going to buy your computer.

Your next question was about lecture packets. The lecture packets contain about 80%-85% of the material that they will test you on. If you read the packet and in some cases (such as anatomy) the supplemental material they recommended (Lachman case studies, and the blue clinical boxes in Moore) you should do fine. If you want to try to get the remaining 15%-20% of the material then you're going to have to go in search of the textbooks. Taking notes in class is always recommended. Some professors will not write everything down in their handouts and they will expect you to stay awake and take notes. Some professors will primarily be going by the notes word for word and stopping at some points to give you some in depth knowledge. When they start giving you that in depth knowledge you should consider that your cue to start scribbling. In some courses such as OMM, the lecture notes will be given to you in the form an outline, therefore you will be forced to show up and take notes. If you don't come you may miss out on some important things which may be on your exam. In the case of nuuroscience you should do yourself a really big favor and go buy the books that are recommended. I can honestly say that the handouts suck! We had a really hard time deciphering Dr. Wells handouts because they were from his Powerpoint presentation and one could not see any of the pictures that he used or read the notes that he wrote.

The last question was about the usage of required texts. I used the histology textbook to study for the practical because I think it has some excellent pictures. Another text that I used a lot was the Color Atlas of Anatomy by Yokochi (the author's name may not be spelled correctly). If you don't like getting you hand too dirty in the anatomy lab get the Yokochi text, it excellent! The Grant's Dissector is another excellent book. Although there will be dissectors for your use in the anatomy lab, you should by a dissector for your personal use as well because the pinned items will be the bold items in you dissector. Furthermore, I don't think you'll like studying from a smelly dissector. You will have to by the OMM text because it has pictures and theory in there which will help you on the written and the practical exams. Generally, you should buy the text only when you think you're not getting enough out of the lecture notes. This may seem like common sense, but you'd be surprised how many students go out there determined to buy every recommended textbook in the bookstore which is not only expensive but just plain stupid.

Let me know if there is anything else I can answer for you. Best of luck during the first year. The key is not to freak out and to realize that what you're going to go through is for a finite period of time and therefore it will not last forever.

 

[hope]

Dear Shelam,
thank you very much for your recommendations. Fresh, no bull**** prespective from a caring induvidual such as yourself is " what the doctor ordered" for me. I actually can't wait to delve into academics ( may be it is pre-reality euphoria). It is just that all my life I waited to study medical sciences and now I am actulally at it!
What module are you guys covering now?
Once again, thank you! Are you going to be at the BBQ on Friday? It would be cool to meet you in person.

 

[Shelam]

Dear Hope,

We're working on several things simultaneouly. We started classes on August 9th. So we've been at it for three weeks now. We just finished a course in Clinical Nutrition and we're still working on Medical Pharmacology 2, Cardiovascular Pathology, Immunology/Allergy, Medical Jurisprudence/Ethics and Behavioral Science and of course, the ever present OMM. It's not fun juggling 6 balls at the same time, but you get used to it and it's also very interesting (at least for now).

One piece of advice for you as you start your first year: Your first exam (in Histology) won't be for another four weeks (it's usually at the end of September), so I suggest you don't fall in to the very easy pitfall of not studying anything until the weekend before the exam. Use the four weeks to study histology (as well as Biochemistry and Physiology) at least 3-4 hours every day. As you'll learn for yourself, Dr. Hallas has a tendency of making things look very easy. The last thing you want to do in his class (histology for now, and neuroscience later) is to play catch up.

I do plan to show up at the Bar-B-Cue since Dr. DiGiovanna has asked that all Student Ambassadors help out at the Bar-B-Cue. However, I might see you before that at the Big Brother/Big Sister Luncheon on Thursday at noon. I'll be in the OMM room on the second floor of NYCOM II. Come on up and join me.

In the meantime, enjoy the White Coat Ceremony and the remainde of the orientation and make a lot of friends, after all these people will be your colleagues for the rest of your life.


AMit SHELat (SHELAM)
NYCOM, Class of 2002

 

[hope]

Ola!

Thanks for everything! Looking forward to meeting you and studying.