2012-2013 Duke University Application Thread

Can any current Duke Med students comment on my question?

I'm very interested in the third year at Duke as a year devoted to research. When I read in depth about it, it appears that I can conduct health policy research and pursue an MPH/MPP during that time. In other places, it seems like they emphasize laboratory time specifically during the third year.
So which is it? Currently in a part of my AMCAS, I talk about how my research experience helped me decide that I'm not a wet lab person but rather more interested in policy research. Is this a bad idea?

I hear Duke has their own LOR uploading site. so how long does it take to get letters from Interfolio onto Duke's page? Thanks

GooseWing said:

Can any current Duke Med students comment on my question?

I'm very interested in the third year at Duke as a year devoted to research. When I read in depth about it, it appears that I can conduct health policy research and pursue an MPH/MPP during that time. In other places, it seems like they emphasize laboratory time specifically during the third year.
So which is it? Currently in a part of my AMCAS, I talk about how my research experience helped me decide that I'm not a wet lab person but rather more interested in policy research. Is this a bad idea?

Click to expand...

Goosewing...I'll try to answer your question as best as I know, but as an incoming M1, I'm not 100% sure.

I believe that in your 3rd year, you can either do research (clinical, basic science, public health/global health, etc) or pursue a second degree like an MPH/do the first year of an MBA, etc in that time. I don't know the specifics of the MPH curriculum, but if they have a component of health policy research, then of course you will do that, but I assume you do either the MPH or pursue full-time health policy research.

Duke emphasizes research (although this is not just wet lab, and includes other fields like public health/global health among others as well) so much simply because it seems to be the most popular option, but they always have many students who pursue second degrees like an MPH and an MBA. Basically Duke gives you total flexibility in what you can do in your 3rd year, which is nice.

vitaminwater007 said:

Goosewing...I'll try to answer your question as best as I know, but as an incoming M1, I'm not 100% sure.

I believe that in your 3rd year, you can either do research (clinical, basic science, public health/global health, etc) or pursue a second degree like an MPH/do the first year of an MBA, etc in that time. I don't know the specifics of the MPH curriculum, but if they have a component of health policy research, then of course you will do that, but I assume you do either the MPH or pursue full-time health policy research.

Duke emphasizes research (although this is not just wet lab, and includes other fields like public health/global health among others as well) so much simply because it seems to be the most popular option, but they always have many students who pursue second degrees like an MPH and an MBA. Basically Duke gives you total flexibility in what you can do in your 3rd year, which is nice.

Click to expand...

Also an incoming M1, but what I can say is that I know that the MPH is offered through the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill during your third year. If you wanted to do health policy research, you should be able to do that, but I don't know if you can also do the MPH. You may have to pick one or the other.

I've heard students doing many diverse things with their third year--from going to Duke-NUS in Singapore to do research to getting a Masters of Journalism at a school in NYC.

JustinMC said:

I hear Duke has their own LOR uploading site. so how long does it take to get letters from Interfolio onto Duke's page? Thanks

Click to expand...

My experience was that you needed to have your letter writers upload your letters of rec onto Interfolio. You first have to create an account on Interfolio to do that. Once they upload their letters, you can send them out to the Duke University School of Medicine in Interfolio, and Interfolio will do the rest.

themetalhawk said:

My experience was that you needed to have your letter writers upload your letters of rec onto Interfolio. You first have to create an account on Interfolio to do that. Once they upload their letters, you can send them out to the Duke University School of Medicine in Interfolio, and Interfolio will do the rest.

Click to expand...

Thanks.

So AMCAS 1st, then Duke's applic. page for secondaries?

JustinMC said:

Thanks.

So AMCAS 1st, then Duke's applic. page for secondaries?

Click to expand...

Yup

vitaminwater007 said:

Goosewing...I'll try to answer your question as best as I know, but as an incoming M1, I'm not 100% sure.

Click to expand...

themetalhawk said:

If you wanted to do health policy research, you should be able to do that, but I don't know if you can also do the MPH. You may have to pick one or the other.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies, guys!

I wonder how similiar the prompts will be to last year...

Can you not assign letters through AMCAS once you're invited for interview?

No, Duke doesn't use the AMCAS letter service.

just got the secondary link but i dont seem to be able to log in. maybe it just needs a few mins to get opened up

samuelj said:

just got the secondary link but i dont seem to be able to log in. maybe it just needs a few mins to get opened up

Click to expand...

Yea i'm inputting all of my information and it says that my record doesn't exist in the system. I'll give it another hour or two and try again.

themetalhawk said:

My experience was that you needed to have your letter writers upload your letters of rec onto Interfolio. You first have to create an account on Interfolio to do that. Once they upload their letters, you can send them out to the Duke University School of Medicine in Interfolio, and Interfolio will do the rest.

Click to expand...

Why can't your letter writers send the letters directly to Duke? I would much rather do this with my letter packet than open (and pay for) an Interfolio account for my letter packet to be sent to Interfolio so Interfolio can just send it to Duke, seems like it's an unnecessary middle man

NewYorker9 said:

Why can't your letter writers send the letters directly to Duke? I would much rather do this with my letter packet than open (and pay for) an Interfolio account for my letter packet to be sent to Interfolio so Interfolio can just send it to Duke, seems like it's an unnecessary middle man

Click to expand...

You can have them send paper letters directly to Duke, if you wish to do so. Quoting the admissions committee here:

"
Four letters are required, two of which should be submitted by science faculty. After you receive an invitation to interview, paper recommendations should be sent to:

Room 0159 Duke South
201 Trent Drive
Box 3710 DUHS
Durham, NC 27710
"

.

ccfman1991 said:

Yea i'm inputting all of my information and it says that my record doesn't exist in the system. I'll give it another hour or two and try again.

Click to expand...

I got the samem problem. I tried three more times. Now my browser window is hanging...

I think that lots of schools have little snafus at the beginning. E.g. Mayo's admissions webpage was completely missing this morning (link did not work), they fixed it 5 minutes later..

skiing said:

I got the samem problem. I tried three more times. Now my browser window is hanging...

I think that lots of schools have little snafus at the beginning. E.g. Mayo's admissions webpage was completely missing this morning (link did not work), they fixed it 5 minutes later..

Click to expand...

My login won't work either haha. I agree, going to chalk this up to problems with their website.

I was so excited to start the application... and then an unknown error occurred.

I guess I should wait until they get the kinks worked out.

As soon as the application allows you to log in, please post here (along with your internet browser in case it is not working for a specific browser). That way other applicants will know when they can proceed.

Yep, busssstttted!

Using firefox and safari, I have progressed past the initial page but am stuck at the verification page (where you put in the activation code). Says it doesn't match, even when I copy and paste that godforsakenly long code.

BABSstudent said:

Using firefox and safari, I have progressed past the initial page but am stuck at the verification page (where you put in the activation code). Says it doesn't match, even when I copy and paste that godforsakenly long code.

Click to expand...

I'm running into the same problem, using Google Chrome on a Mac.

TheKDizzle said:

No, Duke doesn't use the AMCAS letter service.

Click to expand...

ugh, this is really frustrating. I had the hardest time getting my letters in. not going to bother trying to get them in another system again.

I got in, but things are still jammed up inside and errors with saving.
I noticed that they require high school class size and rank...DAMNIT!

Finally logged in without problems! sigh
Using a mac, google chrome browser =)
Good luck everyone

Just logged in. Here are the prompts. Looks like they changed a few questions from last year.

1.Core Values: Describe the community in which you were nurtured or spent the majority of your early development with respect to its demographics. What core values did you receive and how will these translate into the contributions that you hope to make to your community as a medical student and to your career in medicine?

2. Ethical Dilemma: What is the most significant moral or ethical dilemma that you have faced in your life (excluding instances of academic dishonesty involving another person)? Describe how you dealt with and potentially resolved it, including beliefs, resources, individuals, etc. How did this dilemma and its resolution change your life and what, if any, impact will this have on your future as a health care provider?

3. Humbling Experience: What has been your most humbling experience and how will that experience affect your interactions with your peers and patients?

4. Duke Curriculum: The curriculum at the Duke University School of Medicine is unique and academically challenging. Please describe how the Duke Curriculum is well-suited to your learning style and how it will serve your long term career objectives.

5. Choose 1 of 3 (Optional)
a. Giving Back To Your Community: What is the value of giving back to your community? Is it a more important attribute of a physician than of others performing other roles within a community?
b. How Are You Misunderstood: What are people most likely to misunderstand about you and why?
c. Toughest Feedback: What is the toughest feedback that you ever received? How did you handle it and what did you learn from it?

Anyone know about their letter requirements? I have 3 science LORs and a committee letter, am I going to need to drum up another letter writer or will the committee letter work?

Whew close one. I did 3 of the five, Pre written. Should save me quite a bit of time. The first and 4th don't look to difficult at all.

Does anyone know the character limit for these essays?

sean842 said:

Anyone know about their letter requirements? I have 3 science LORs and a committee letter, am I going to need to drum up another letter writer or will the committee letter work?

Click to expand...

I read they want 2 Science letters of rec, but other than that I'm not sure.

Propylene said:

Does anyone know the character limit for these essays?

Click to expand...

For the first essay I kept putting in random words but there doesn't seem to be a character limit...unless I didn't go high enough haha

Did anyone have trouble making the account on the 2nd page?

It keeps telling me I must enter a valid password... but won't tell me what a valid password entails. Did anyone use all letters? Numbers? Special characters?? Lol this is the hardest part of the app!

I'm having trouble getting past the verification step; whenever I enter a password, it says "Please enter a valid password," yet there are no criteria. When I try to submit, nothing. I've tried with numbers, special characters, etc. Kinda silly. I'm thinking it's just the system, but has anyone else had the same problem?

MJS918 said:

Did anyone have trouble making the account on the 2nd page?

It keeps telling me I must enter a valid password... but won't tell me what a valid password entails. Did anyone use all letters? Numbers? Special characters?? Lol this is the hardest part of the app!

Click to expand...

Hah, go figure, same problem. Anyone have a solution?

Try putting in a capital letter and at least one number.. worked for me.

lostintranscrip said:

Try putting in a capital letter and at least one number.. worked for me.

Click to expand...

^ Me too

How about getting past the criminal and judicial step. I'm hitting "no" but when I hit save it redirects me to a page cannot be found.

GrabSlamBoot said:

How about getting past the criminal and judicial step. I'm hitting "no" but when I hit save it redirects me to a page cannot be found.

Click to expand...

That was broke for me too...

Think they have few more kinks to work out.

GrabSlamBoot said:

How about getting past the criminal and judicial step. I'm hitting "no" but when I hit save it redirects me to a page cannot be found.

Click to expand...

I'm having the exact same problem, so I'm going to leave it until tomorrow and hope they get the kinks worked out in the meantime!

sean842 said:

Anyone know about their letter requirements? I have 3 science LORs and a committee letter, am I going to need to drum up another letter writer or will the committee letter work?

Click to expand...

I have a similar situation, anyone know the answer? If not I'm calling admissions in the next few days anyways

For those wondering what you should do if your committee letter is based off 3 LoRs, apparently it should be OK:

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1165253-duke-4-lors.html

CL871 said:

Just logged in. Here are the prompts. Looks like they changed a few questions from last year.

1.Core Values: Describe the community in which you were nurtured or spent the majority of your early development with respect to its demographics. What core values did you receive and how will these translate into the contributions that you hope to make to your community as a medical student and to your career in medicine?

2. Ethical Dilemma: What is the most significant moral or ethical dilemma that you have faced in your life (excluding instances of academic dishonesty involving another person)? Describe how you dealt with and potentially resolved it, including beliefs, resources, individuals, etc. How did this dilemma and its resolution change your life and what, if any, impact will this have on your future as a health care provider?

3. Humbling Experience: What has been your most humbling experience and how will that experience affect your interactions with your peers and patients?

4. Duke Curriculum: The curriculum at the Duke University School of Medicine is unique and academically challenging. Please describe how the Duke Curriculum is well-suited to your learning style and how it will serve your long term career objectives.

5. Choose 1 of 3 (Optional)
a. Giving Back To Your Community: What is the value of giving back to your community? Is it a more important attribute of a physician than of others performing other roles within a community?
b. How Are You Misunderstood: What are people most likely to misunderstand about you and why?
c. Toughest Feedback: What is the toughest feedback that you ever received? How did you handle it and what did you learn from it?

Click to expand...

does anyone know what they mean by optional? is the entire question optional or is it optional to do more than one of the 3 choices? also, how are you handling the demographics part? do they want specific details or a general description?

Anyone know what we should do if our high school didn't rank?

I would just leave it blank. My high school didn't rank students either, so I'm in the same boat.

Anyone else dreading writing these essays?

Hey guys...incoming MS1 here...just to clarify about the secondary essays:

1) there are no word/character limits, so you can write as much or as little as you need to say your point.

2) The first four essays are REQUIRED, and essay #5 is OPTIONAL (if you choose to do a 5th essay, you only do ONE out of the three prompts they've given (a-c))

Hope this helps

vitaminwater007 said:

Hey guys...incoming MS1 here...just to clarify about the secondary essays:

1) there are no word/character limits, so you can write as much or as little as you need to say your point.

2) The first four essays are REQUIRED, and essay #5 is OPTIONAL (if you choose to do a 5th essay, you only do ONE out of the three prompts they've given (a-c))

Hope this helps

Click to expand...

Thanks!

Hi guys! I'm a rising MS2 who loved the community here on SDN back when I was applying two cycles ago, and I'd like to continue to contribute if I can. I'm in summer break now and can answer questions specifically about MS1 and Duke in general, if you already have them. Not sure about how often I'll be able to log on once I start on rotations in August, but I'll do my best!

Good luck to everyone - the application process can be tedious at times, but push through it; it's worth it!

unepoire said:

Hi guys! I'm a rising MS2 who loved the community here on SDN back when I was applying two cycles ago, and I'd like to continue to contribute if I can. I'm in summer break now and can answer questions specifically about MS1 and Duke in general, if you already have them. Not sure about how often I'll be able to log on once I start on rotations in August, but I'll do my best!

Good luck to everyone - the application process can be tedious at times, but push through it; it's worth it!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the post! Can you offer any words about the intensity of the condensed curriculum for MS1's or what daily life is like? Thanks!

ErrantWhatever said:

Thanks for the post! Can you offer any words about the intensity of the condensed curriculum for MS1's or what daily life is like? Thanks!

Click to expand...

Sure! One of my main concerns coming into Duke was the condensed first year curriculum. It does seem very daunting - how can you squeeze in what is normally two years at other schools, into one?! My main concern was the depth of information I'd learn as well as my stress levels.

I'll be honest. The main weak point of the condensed curriculum is probably Anatomy. There just is not the time to spend the 200+ hours that other schools devote to cadaver dissection. I would take an anatomy course before matriculating if you can - that's the only "if only I had..." feeling that I experienced during first year for academics. But for the rest of the stuff you learn - clinical skills, professionalism, pathology, physiology, microbiology, etc - I think I'm about to enter second year no less knowledgeable about the basics than any other MS3 at other schools. I really think that no matter how much time you spend in lecture, there's very little you can actually do to prepare for your clinical years. Duke's first year will prepare you as adequately as any curriculum can prepare you for actually being on the wards.

As far as the Step1 - there are schools that teach to the boards, but Duke is not one of them. Nonetheless, Duke students tend to do pretty well, and our match list is always impressive. There is definitely a lot of independent study going on that is required, not only for Step1 but for Duke's curriculum in general. I personally did a lot of learning on my own - via textbooks or other resources recommended by upperclassmen. The time you'll spend actually in the classroom at Duke is not really for learning - it's for applying (TBL!) what you're supposed to have already learned, either by the streamed lectures that are provided by Duke, or through whatever medium you learn best. To be successful and enjoy Duke's curriculum, I think you have to know what works for you, in terms of studying, learning, and retaining - because the curriculum moves so fast, it might not give you as much time to leisurely "figure it out" as you go along.

Pass/fail is a huge advantage. I am so glad I did not go somewhere that had any other grading system. Not only does this give you some flexibility in your studies, it's also a huge stress reliever. I'm not saying that it allowed you to slack off, but it does let you do something else with those few hours - like going to shadow someone, or read a medical journal, or building relationships with your friends or significant others, etc, instead of worrying about the random minutiae worth a few extra points that you know the professor will put on the exam just because that's his research area.

My thoughts on daily life: It's hard to really summarize an "average day" since it's so highly variable. On days you have lab, you'll be on campus for a while, and some days, there will only be mandatory class for a few hours and you have the rest of the day for yourself. As you guys probably know, Duke has just recently changed their curriculum (my class was the first to experience it), and so, with any curriculum change, things will be tweaked and optimized in the coming years. Definitely ask about "daily life" when you guys come to interview; get the opinions of the incoming MS1s - they will have a much better story to tell than I do

There is plenty of time to be social, and you will still have enough free time. It all really comes down to time management. You'll make time if you want to do something enough! I'm sure everyone who is applying is quite successful already and has already had to learn how to manage their time in a way that allows them to do everything they want - being in medical school is no different.

I'm not sure if this essay is helpful or not - broad questions are really tough to tackle! If there's anything you want me to elaborate on, please feel free to ask.

Bottom line: I loved my first year at Duke. Any disadvantages I saw are massively outweighed by the people I've met, the awesome experiences I've had, and the fact that I am DONE with basic sciences after only one year!