I'm not a current medical student at CCOM, but living with M1s/M3 and dating a M2, I can give ya my perspective of your questions.
[How receptive have you felt the administration is to fixing problems?] I know the administration and faculty are very responsive to the students' inputs, as they adjust their lectures/small groups discussions/etc within the school year. Two main examples are: 1) The current M2s did not like the presentation of materials by one of their professors and made a comment about it, and was changed to a much more accommodating method for the following semester. 2) The current M1s are the first class of students REQUIRED to buy the issued laptop by CCOM and the feedback from this since the first semester has been its a waste of money for mediocre technology. The administration have already discussed (and pretty sure according to Barbara) that they will not require the incoming M1's (2015) to buy this laptop. This really shows you that CCOM are both very responsive to the students AND willing to try new things to consistently make this a top program in the nation.
[How would you describe your class (e.g. the M2 class) to your parents?]I personally think that the M2 class is a lot more sociable than the current M1 class. This could be either the personality of the individuals or just adjusting to the stress levels, but from what I've seen every class is very laid back and easy going and always there to help each other out. Of course there are people that may not always fit this profile but majority of the students that I've met have been amazing. If I had to describe the M1 and M2 class, M
😀etermined bright-eyed students, M2: Intelligent and outgoing.
[Did the structured curriculum in M1/M2 leave you sufficient time to learn on your own independently?] I'm not sure what you mean by learning independently, but they do have leisure time (mostly spent taking a break or sleeping
😀 ) but I know that they do spend a lot of time after class going over lectures and materials.
[What is your opinion of the clinical years - esp. the 3rd year curriculum? Are you pleased with how rotations are structured and graded? What is your impression of the role of M3/M4s on the wards - interaction, or just shadowing and scut work?] I actually just shadowed Dr. Iannettoni (Head Cardiothoracic Surgeon) in the OR today and chatted with a M3 who is on her anesthesiology rotation (2 week rotation). From her input it seemed like both the Staff, Senior, and Junior residents are very helpful in teaching and showing you the ropes in that specific field to really give you a sense of what its like to be a Doctor in that residency/specialty. She did talk about the selection of specialties for rotation order can be a hit-or-miss, but thats still a ways down the road. We both were able to scrub in and observe from the head of the operating table (where the head surgeon) throughout the surgery. Also the environment of the OR was very professional and laid back, where the head surgeons not only ask the residents questions but is willing to interact with the medical students or shadowees (aka me, who is not even an official M1 at CCOM yet) and ask them questions and teach them about the patient/surgical procedure/analysis of the MRI. I really enjoyed this experience this morning.
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[How helpful is the school in the residency application process? How does the school collect info for the dean's letter? Do you feel the school does a good job in exposing you to all the specialties out there?] As far as matching, my previous roommate was able to match at U.Pitt for GI Surgery and his fiancée matched as Peds Neuro at Vanderbilt. I'm not sure how much help they received but they both got their #1 picks of residency programs. Here is a link to Iowa's Match Results:
http://www.medicine.uiowa.edu/osac/MatchResults.html
I asked CCOM about why the students favor to match at Iowa/instate and the following factors are as follows (in no particular order). 1) Family 2) Lifestyle 3) High ranked Residency Program 4) Demography of patients and diseases.
[Have you felt the methods of assessment to be fair and helpful in your learning (i.e. tiered instead of Pass/Fail)?] From what I've heard from the students after exams (they get their grades a couple hours after the test since its computer based), the grading seems to be fair in that you will definitely need to study for your exams (duh! we're gonna be doctors and dealing with people's lives) and they don't try to screw you over with trick questions. The exam topics are pretty straight forward and there is Honors Pass, Pass, and Fail grading which really allows the students to work together to ensure that anyone struggling will receive the help and support necessary to pass the class. Something that I hear every once in a while from the students after an exam is... "P = MD"
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[What do you and your classmates do to relax in Iowa City?] Although there Iowa City isn't a huge town or big city, the medical community creates and hosts a lot of events that allow you to fill your weekends and weekdays with extracurricular activities! For example, this coming weekend is Winter Wilderness Medicine Race, where medical students form teams made up of M1-M4s and go out to the Lake McBride and run a race while utilizing survival kits and skills. The following week the McCowen Learning Community is sponsoring DVIP Bench Press (Domestic Violence Intervention Program) this event is a campus-wide weight-lifting competition. Participants compete to see who can bench the highest percentage of their own body weight, and who can bench the most reps. Last year, over 125 people from the CCOM community participated, over 410,000 pounds were lifted, and over $3000 were raised for Iowa City's Domestic Violence Intervention Program (DVIP). These types of events really creates a unified feeling between classmates and the medical community. Also people find their niches and have a closer group of friends that have Game Nights at people's homes, Tailgating for football, Make your own Pizza party, Wing Night at BWWs, and all sorts of themes hosted by the classmates. It's really up to your class/friends to decide if you guys want to spend the weekend together having fun or spend some quiet time studying. Also there definitely are local things that are always something to look forward to Comedy Night at the Englert Theater (Improv), Intramural sports, Fired-Up, Lake Mcbride, Bars, etc.
I hope this helps! Sorry its such a long response but I wanted to give you a thorough answer to each of your questions!
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. Does anyone know if this is good or bad??
