Alright, so I'm a current M2, and although I normally just lurk, I have about 3 hours to kill and I decided to make an account and contribute-so here are my thoughts on CES COM-went to UF undergrad
Reasons I chose FAU initially:
1.
Big Time Scholarship-was determined to go to the least expensive school in FL (only applied to FL schools) I didn't really know anything or care about med school curriculums at the time (pretty stupid...) Every doctor I've talked to (including my uncle who is faculty at Hopkins-went when it was cheap and he was from MD) has told me that school rankings don't matter 99% of the time-maybe if you want to be the dean at Harvard or something... obviously a debatable subject
2.
Location 30 minutes away from my brothers family and by the coast (lived most my life in St. Augustine) Obviously proximity to Ft. Lauderdale and Miami and right by I-95
3.
Small class size-unlike undergrad where I wanted to get in, get my A, and get out, I wanted an environment that was friendly and engaging and that would encourage me to treat medical school like a full time career etc as opposed to a USMLE prep book that I could read in my bedroom
4.
Track record-I probably wouldn't have gone to FAU if it was truly a new school, but most of the faculty have been around since around 2004 and the USMLE test scores (I'm sure they've told you lol-often higher than Miami main campus) speak for themselves. Obviously there was still a little risk versus going to a school like UF, but well worth it. Plus, most doctors have told me that while the school can help, it really comes down to the individual, and that residencies, fellowships, employers etc can tell who the "stars" are based on dean's letters etc
NOW, a few of the reasons why I am glad I chose FAU-phew...
1.
Small class size!!- It's obvious to me now that this is crucial, and probably the most distinguishing benefit at FAU. Pretty much everyone knows each other and are very friendly. A lot of us actually like being at the medical school because our classmates are so awesome to be around. Plus, I need to be at school to make sure I don't miss out in the trade talks for our fantasy football league... IMHO people at our school are much more relaxed and calmly focused than the premeds I was around at UF. (I can't speak for other med students, but I would guess the same holds true) We have tons of space, and nice lounges etc. This is only a hypothesis, but I would guess the reason that the Miami students did better in Boca (despite having lower admission credentials at least for the first few years of existence) was that they worked together and spurred each other on, and that they received more attention-faculty:student ratio etc
2.
Curriculum I really like the systems-based curriculum. I don't know if I would remember much from histo or embryology if I took them for a few week block... I feel like we are exposed to the important subjects over and over again. The clotting cascade has probably come up 5-10 times already in 1 year. During the first semester we had a broad overview of the basic stuff-biochem, immunology, genetics, microbio, etc and it was a ton. Luckily, a lot of it gets touched on again as we move into the system blocks, and you get a steady exposue to histo slides, radiology, anatomy etc as you're developed a background understanding. I really can't imagine learning it any other way. The clinical exposure is great as well. It is a little overwhelming at first, but over christmas break and at the end of the year, it pays off to be able to show your friends and family how to perform aspects of the physical exam and to be able to tell them about interesting clinical experiences (honoring HIPAA of course!). My preceptor is always telling me it's crazy how much we know in our first year-that he didn't do anything like this until his 3rd year. I guess when his friends asked him what med school was like, he started reciting the krebs cycle... Anyways, overall, the level of engagement and interaction is awesome and it really gives you a break from the monotony that 1st year is traditionally all about-lectures and books. Lastly, I love that it's pass/fail. This is coming from someone that hasn't gotten a B since music class in middle school. (Ironically I play several instruemnts
I love the fact that we are beyond grade school... this really isn't about grades-it's about molding yourself into a capable professional. There are still ways to distinguish yourself e.g. honors, grades during 3rd and 4th year (which are way more important than 1,2), USMLE, and most importantly the dean's letter/letters of rec. Med school is so personal that quantitative measurement is only a small part of it. The faculty knows who is performing well overall and I am confident that that will be plenty for residency programs! (Assuming you don't fail the USMLE or something) The schedule is pretty good, there were a few crazy weeks that could have been better scheduled, but we have tests every 3-5 weeks for the most part, which is nice. (not too stressful of a schedule)
3.
Faculty-I didn't know what to expect from the faculty, but it turns out there are some extremely smart, qualified, and capable faculty at FAU. Also, the faculty:student ratio is ridiculous. Our dean, Dr. Bjorkman (former dean at Utah), and the student affairs dean Dr. Servoss are as sharp as they come and know what it takes to develop a med school. Dr. Hensen, the curriculum dean, is one of the nicest and most receptive persons I know. She is all about improvement and she listens to us almost too much! (in life there's always someone that will bitch about something) The other student affairs dean Dr. Markowitz is about the coolest guy I know, and he and other faculty give great advice that goes beyond the classroom-he's really looks at the big picture of life and helps students gain perspective and enjoy medical school when it might not be so fun. Some of the faculty have had crazy awesome careers and we're lucky to have them. Hell, Dr. Brickman has done pretty much every surgery in the book!
4.
The X Factor-you're probably thinking what the hell is this guy talking about lol. It's cool and exciting being part of a new school. We start groups all the time and get tons of support. The first week of orientation, I was randomly picked to go to a huge benefit dinner and give a little talk etc. Students are always getting featured in articles and on the news. You meet the most interesting people that live in Boca and are affiliated with the med school in some way. I never know who I'm talking to-some of us were chosen to go to an art gallery benefit, and I ended up talking to this funny old dude for about 30 minutes-it turned out that he had donated something like 7 million dollars! You get the feeling that Boca and Southern FL were dying for this school-rich people coming out of the woodwork to talk to med students and support the school. The local physicians are very excited and some of them sponsor our interest groups as well as come in for guest lectures etc.
NOW THE NEGATIVES: I consider myself pretty objective, and there are negatives to pretty much everything... I'm generally pretty easy going about this stuff, but I can tell what my classmates like and don't like.
1.
Participation+Curriculum A + or a - depending on your perspective, but there are definitely more required activites here than at some other med schools. Class is not required, but a few of the faculty really like it when people show up. Usually between 25-45 students go to class, depending on the day etc. There isn't all that much class, a few hours each morning. A few afternoons a week, there are lectures for Foundations of Medicine, which is the clinical-based course (with a few other things like evidence-based medicine, ethics, etc) which are generally mandatory. PBL is definitely mandatory, about 2 hours, 3 morning a week. There is preceptorship 3 hours 1 day a week, and sometimes we have a patient and doctor come in to discuss the most recent PBL case 1 hour on fridays. We have standardized patients for 30 minutes or so after a lecture dealing with the physical exam 1 afternoon a week. If you go to everything it is about 25-30 hours per week, but a portion of students don't come to the morning lectures and watch them on 2x speed. Everything is recorded and available online. We also have a couple of programs that are new, like SAGE and interprofessional stuff. SAGE entails a med student, a nursing student from the fau program, and a social work student meeting with an appointed person from Abbey Delray living community a few times over the year to discuss their life, medical history, prescriptions, living conditions, DNR/living will stuff. Some classmates really liked SAGE as a good patient experience etc, some thought it was a waste of time. It was very difficult to individually schedule with nursing/social work students. I think they are making SAGE an M2 experience from now on. One of our faculty members, Dr. Joseph Ouslander is like a titan in the field of geriatrics, which is pretty big in Boca... and he developed this program as well as the interprofessional program. The interprofessional program thing is just a few sessions with the nursing and social work colleges discussing our roles, getting to know each other, doing some "role play" stuff, suggest improvements to the medical field etc. It's pretty BORING, but only about 2 or 3 afternoons a year. The theory is good, but I don't think it accomplishes much in its current form.
PBL is another controversial topic, but most people like it alot. It takes some getting used to, as you could learn the material (almost all of which is covered at some point in lecture) faster in a lecture, but that is not supposed to be the point. It's really about the process and working together as a team. You work through a case over a few days, and as a group determine areas of understanding (learning objectives) that need further investigation in between sessions. Each member presents a topic in a word or ppt document to the group. During the case you record the facts, generate hypothesis, note info about the patient or anything that you would like to know, etc. It's supposed to get you to start thinking like a doctor-how to observe details, what to expect and what information is missing, what tests would you order, what ethical dilemmas may arise, and how do I as a doctor fill in gaps of understanding on the fly. I would say just come in with a positive attitude and it will be enjoyable and you really will learn how to deal with different personalities by working through the cases. There is a facilitator BTW for each group of 8 students.
Parking-last year we had nice cozy spots right by the med school-we were the envy of every other student at FAU. Unfortunately, the school is growing and the parking lot is not, and they don't have enough spots to sustain that, and we are losing the spots... It's gonna be every man/woman for themselves, but luckily the lot is empty in the morning when most of us get there... it will be tough if you skip class and try to come in at lunch time... might have to park in the garage and walk/shuttle over
OVERALL-really glad I picked FAU, I know it's going to move up the ranks in the coming years, especially if they keep the class size at 64. Great location, lots of excitement, developing more and more research and collaboration with Scripps, Cleveland Clinic, and other leaders in the field, some amazing experienced faculty as well as up-and-comer faculty, and the coolest M2's around. Of course there are a few logistical quirks because the faculty are trying a few new things that they think will improve the curriculum adopted from Miami but they are quick on their feet.
OH yeah... USMLE stuff- I haven't personally cranked up for that yet... maybe I should review some stuff this summer... but we did take a simulated practice test at the end of M1, which contained old questions from the NBME question bank related to material from our M1 courses, and it was a lot easier than I thought it would be. The questions were much more straightforward than some of our normal test questions, and the information for the most part was superficial compared to our lecture material. It seems like most of the info (i've peaked in the kaplan book a few times) is covered in lecture. The lectures go beyond the scope of the USMLE for sure... some of the faculty will give us a "USMLE" alert when a "buzz words" come up. Anyways, to be clear, this was NOT a real practice USMLE, but were questions (maybe 150 or so) selected by our faculty that were for the most part exposed to (even if it was one word on 1 slide). I scored a 90 (i have a pretty good longterm memory) on it with 0 preparation and I know at least a few people who scored in the 80's. I think the average was around 70 or so, which I think is pretty good considering no one prepared for it and some of the questions were really tiny details from almost a year ago. We get like 6 weeks off to prepare for it in the spring anyways, so I wouldn't worry too much about the USMLE.
