Baylor College of Medicine 2011

I just got the call from the dean -- I'm part of the Baylor College of Medicine Class of 2011! Awesome!

Q: When did you interview, and are you in-state or OOS?

I interviewed 9/8/06 & I'm in-state. It was a positive experience start to finish. I stayed overnight with a student and liked the fellow applicants; interviews went well. For the curious, in addition to asking questions here, I'm profile #5570 on www.mdapplicants.com if you want to read more details about me and my experience.

Also thanks for the congrats. I look forward to going to school with several of you there!

Don't worry ... I bet you'll get called. I was not expecting to hear this early, but I'm not complaining.

Don't worry, quantummechanic ... I bet you'll get called. I was not expecting to hear this early, but I'm not complaining.

Pemberley: No, you're not the only nerd on this thread ... don't worry.

quantummechanic said:

were you the guy I rode with me in the car from the interview with those two students (can't remember their names for the life of me)????????????

you probably were!!!!!! what a small world

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I'll message you privately about who I am since you're curious. I seem to remember in the sign-on agreement that we're not supposed to announce our identity on this site.

decal said:

hi onco, congrats. having read your mdapp profile, i suspect i might have met you as well. out of curiosity, what brought you to medicine at this point in your life? you seem pretty successful by any set of standards.

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I'm not sure if this is the right thread to answer that question ... but maybe a brief diversion is OK.

There are many reasons why I made the switch. I'm religious, and a big part of me going into medicine at age 38 of it is a kind of "calling"; I'm not sure if you can relate to that. I could talk about that offline if you wish.

In secular / philosophical terms: in my professional career, I learned to look for the niche where I can serve for the most benefit. This modus operandi helped me in engineering and business and is moving me into a new area now. In a nutshell, while I was in the business world, I dealt first-hand with paying for health insurance and employees trying to work their way through healthcare. I knew there was plenty of room for improvement in healthcare and I know myself well enough now to know how and where I can make a difference. My wife is a pharmacist, so I have some insight into what goes on in healthcare from her perspective as well.

In the 80s, I was the oil & petrochemical industry, 1990s until now, I was mostly in electronics, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals. Engineering and technology (my former career) is currently doing very well globally from a technical (problems solved) and business standpoint (profits are up and costs to customers are down) and if I were to remain in these fields, I feel like I would be in a sustaining role. Sure, I could take it easy and have fun with all the cool systems and products and people for the rest of my life and coast along, but that's just not me -- I need challenges to keep me going. It's how I'm wired up inside.

Engineers are cranking out new gadgets, products, services faster than we as a society can handle. Nobody complains about not having enough stuff, technology (the ranks of the "technology underserved" are shrinking every year). As a benchmark, computer performance doubles every year and cost goes down as well. Yes, gasoline prices are going up, but that's because it's in the financial best interest of certain powerful people who have global influence on governments. Since I'm not a politician there is really nothing I can do about the price of gasoline or the complexities of managing armies in the Middle East, for example.

So ... where to serve? In business, I saw that every year that my company's health insurance cost went up and our coverage was being reduced as well. Cost of healthcare to our society is going up every year and many people argue that the quality of healthcare is not improving sufficiently (perhaps even getting worse). I saw this as an opportunity to contribute. As an engineer and businessman, I learned how to decrease cost and improve quality. I also love people and see hundreds of potential cost and quality improvements small to large that I could personally implement in my own practice if I was a doctor (starting with electronic health records -- if you want to know what engineering was like in the stone age, visit a doctor's office or hospital and look at all the nice mountains of paper files that are impossible to manage well). Such improvements wouldn't be for bragging rights or personal enrichment ... they actually make life better for many people.

Volunteer and research opportunities helped validate for me that healthcare is where I want to be. Once the number of healthcare patients treated effectively in the world doubles every year, accuracy of diagnosis and efficacy of treatments consistently increases, and the cost of health care goes down every year (yes, it looks like it might take a while to reach this point ... not in my lifetime?), maybe I'll move on to the next pressing need where I can serve with the abilities I have (to the public educational system perhaps?). I'm not naive about the challenges of working in healthcare, but there are many opportunities to make a difference in a lot of lives, and I will enjoy that.

BaylorMed2011 said:

Congratulations everyone on their acceptance to Baylor!! I am headed to Baylor this coming year as well. Good luck to anyone still waiting

Is anyone familiar with the residency requirements needed to qualify for instate tuition? I went to undergrad at a texas institution, but did not go to high school in texas. I would greatly appreciate any help.

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Congratulations to you as well! Looks like we are going to be classmates.

Buying property (e.g., a house) is one common way to establish residency. The financial aid people and other students will give you suggestions ....

Pkboi24 said:

Thanks guys! Baylor does seem to be a little slow this year. Should be hearing a lot more once the interviews are over.

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Glad to hear that you will be there Pkboi24; congratulations!

Pemberley: Hope you get "the call" as well!

I was so impressed with my interview day, potential fellow students, stay with a student, and finally my acceptance, I can't think of any questions ... everything was answered. I realize no school is perfect, and I don't have any illusions of the perfect medical school experience. At the same time, I like the way the Baylor coursework and clinical education are designed. I also plan to do the research track (year of research between 2nd & 3rd year). My wife found a job down in Pearland and we are negotiating an offer on a house there as well. I'll decide at some point whether to pay the $10/day of parking or whether to park & ride in. My whole family is excited about moving down there. I guess after I pay my tuition down payment, admissions will let me know what I still need to do. Until them, I'm a very happy camper.

Pkboi24 said:

Just wondering, but how long did it take after the call from Dr. Greenberg for you guys to get your official letters? Did you guys also get an e-mail? I'm so excited about being accepted that I'm beginning to wonder if it was all a dream...

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Or a prank caller pretending to be the dean? Yeah, I know exactly how you feel. I told everyone about it and then was thinking ... oh no. It was about a week before that letter showed up, but it really *did* show up. Also, ignore the instructions about the immunization records for now. I sent mine in, and I was wayyyy too early. The rest of it is pretty straightforward. Looks like there is a tuition "down payment" that must be made in the May time-frame.

Oh, and by the way (thank you, "ms. a"), I stand corrected about the $10/day parking -- seems like there are some _much_ better options for those willing to take a shuttle or 15 min walk: http://www.texmedctr.tmc.edu/root/en/Visiting/Parking/ContractParking/ContractParkingFaqs.htm

Pkboi24 said:

I'm going to be leaving for China on Wednesday so I think I'm going to stop by Baylor and fill out the paperwork. I won't be back until May 25th. When are the immunizations and deposits due?

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Sounds like a plan. You will no doubt want to call ahead. I'm paying my $300 tuition deposit at the beginning of May just to be sure, but I seem to remember it being due May 15th. From talking to Baylor occupational health folks, the immunization records won't be due until the beginning of class.

rb4040 said:

I've also been accepted to Baylor. I interviewed Oct. 22, and I got the phone call on Nov. 21, and then the letter in the mail on Nov. 26. I'm an out of state applicant, male, white, 23. I loved my experience at the Baylor interview and look forward to starting there July 23.

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Congratulations, rb4040! Look forward to seeing you in class.

rb4040 said:

Just another quick questions to the other Baylor 2011 guys. Is there any time frame for sending in the acknowledgement form that came along with the acceptance letter? I know it says the $300 deposit is due May 15, but it doesn't say anything about how soon they want the acknowledgement form. Any ideas?

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Send the acknowledgement form now. There is no reason to wait. They need to know if you are interested or whether they should give your spot to someone else.

You can wait on the deposit ....

Pkboi24 said:

I thought about this but then found it to be an utterly arrogant presumption on my part.

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I took it as a joke ....