After 17 weeks of waiting (not exaggerating - interviewed first week of Dec and hadn´t heard a PEEP), I found out yesterday that I am accepted! I am very pumped and would love to ask some questions to current students. I´m a bit rusty on basic facts on the curriculum since it´s been a while since the last time I was there -
1. I heard the average student matriculation age is quite a bit older for OHSU than most schools'. Do you think there´s a big difference in social scene then and class dynamics at OHSU compared to other places? Specifically, I also heard that most of the students are already married and having kids and that in last year´s class, there was only 1 22 year old . . .
2. When did you start having hands-on patient contact?
3. Do you encounter a wide diversity of patients? Is there lots of within the community opportunities? Free clinics, etc?
Thanks!
1) Last year's class had a mean student age of 26, but there was quite a bit of spread. There were SEVERAL of us who were 22 when we started (at least 5-6 that I am specifically aware of). There also seemed to be a decent number of students in the 26-28 age range, and quite a few who were in their mid 30s or older. A decent number of my classmates are married (probably 40-45% if I had to guess), and in my year, about half of those students have kids.
As for the social scene, I don't really think the age distribution has hurt anything. In general, the single students hang out in groups on the weekends and go on skiing/camping trips together, while our married classmates come out less frequently - to large events or post-exam celebrations. Overall, I feel like I know many of my married classmates just as well as the younger, single ones. If a major goal of yours is to scope out a spouse from your med school class, then you may have a little bit more trouble at OHSU, but aside from that, I haven't observed any downside of having a statistically older class.
2) Sometime during the first month of medical school. OHSU makes a point to match students with clinical preceptors as early as possible, and students begin with their preceptors just as soon as the school has time to match them with a mentor. Many students end up with preceptors who allow them to perform physical exams and take histories almost immediately, although not everyone has the same experience.
3) That really depends on the kind of diversity. Socioeconomic? Definitely. Geographical? Sure, patients come from all over Oregon, Washington, and even Alaska, and the rural rotation gives students a chance to work with rural communities directly. You may even see patients from more remote areas depending on the specialty. Ethnic? Somewhat. There are plenty of opportunities to work with Spanish speaking patients, Native American patients, and Somalian patients (in my personal experience), but overall Portland and Oregon are overwhelmingly caucasian.
As for experiences in the community, there are tons of free clinics in Portland, and many students even choose to volunteer their time to homeless shelters. There are also detox centers, counseling centers, and plenty of other groups who are extremely willing (and eager) to work with medical students. If you don't know where to start, several of the campus interest groups organize events, and those are great jumping off points.
. But you highlighted my point by saying that your chances of admission post-interview are pretty much the same as pre-interview - it would be nice to have a clearer picture post-interview. 
) so the preceptorship question doesn't apply to me. However, that is great info about the eastern Oregon docs! If I end up back in Oregon - at OHSU- I may be able to ride once in a while since my horse that I sold still lives in Sherwood 
