I'm not a med student, but am good friends with a couple at OHSU, have shadowed alongside quite a few first-years, and heard the same info at my interview. I've heard that they each hand in a ranking of a few places/doctors of interest (from a list?) and that OHSU tries to place each med student with their top choice. You can also choose to be randomly placed. After a few "rotations" students tend to hear from each other which providers are good so they have more of an idea about who to request. I don't think there's any cold-calling going on...but i could be wrong ;o)
This is pretty accurate. The school has incoming students fill out an interest survey where they pick 3-4 specialties they are interested in, note whether or not they have a car, etc. Students may also request specific physicians if they want. Then the OHSU staff goes to town and matches students to preceptors. Each student has either a specialty year or a primary care year first - during primary care year students stay with the same preceptor from September-May and during the specialty year students switch preceptors every term (3 specialties total). Many students get the fields they choose, but several do not. My first 2 specialties were in fields I didn't have any interest in at all, but luckily, I ended up loving both of them.
There are a few specialties that are easy to place into, and others that are near impossible. For example, the trauma surgeons love taking on students, but so far as I know only one psychiatrist is working as a preceptor this year.
I have a few questions about OHSU for a current student:
1) For microanatomy labs do you use microscopes or has OHSU upgraded to computer-based slides that are available online?
2) For gross anatomy is the lab accessible at all times by students or is it only open at designated times?
3) How much time do you have off to study for Step I?
4) What is the average Step I score?
5) How flexible is the fourth year? By this I mean how easy is it to complete away rotations? I am interested in doing away rotations no matter where I go to med school. I want to complete away rotations to gain international experience and also to check out places where I might be interested in completing my residency.
Thanks for answering my questions - I really appreciate it!!
I answered a couple of these on your other thread, but I'll answer here too.
1) For histology, we still use slides. There are histology labs for a couple of hours each day during that block where students are assigned certain slides to analyze and a faculty member is available to help.
2) Gross anatomy is accessible at all times during fall term except for the few hours when PA students are scheduled to use the lab (they do not dissect, but they still take the lab practical, so they come in to look). Also, labs are off limits the morning before each exam while the professors and 4th year students set up the lab practical.
3) This varies from year to year depending on how students want their classes to be scheduled (the school is flexible when it comes to what day exams fall on, whether there are breaks between classes, etc). My classmates chose a schedule that allows 30 days to study for Step 1.
4) Step 1 scores are usually right at the national average for OHSU. Step 2 scores are generally extremely high. Sorry I don't have any actual numbers for this one.
5) Away rotations are almost never a problem for OHSU students to schedule, and many students participate in international rotations each year.
) and comfortable, because you'll be wearing it potentially all day. 
is it possible to get accepted or an interview after the block is done? 
Happy St. Pat's
