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Cmurphy9 said:
I'm so sorry that it hasn't helped you. Is there a reason they don't accept many MBS students? Honestly, it just doesn't make sense to me why they wouldn't take students whom they are already familiar with and whom have proven themselves at the school already.
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That's exactly what I thought too and gave it all . Well there is still time though and I have not lost hope 🙂. But I would like to again reiterate having studied under some of the same professors that that teach the MD class - this school is genuinely good and you definitely have not made any wrong decisions choosing it. People who say ill about the school have no regards for its mission and value. Being a local I really understand what this school really means to our community and hope that majority of the TCMC grads will come back and serve our region because we badly need good physicians here.
 
Morrinelli said:
Absolutely the worst school that I had experience of applying to. TCMC stole my hard-earned money for their secondary application due to the problem they had with their website and payment processing system. My application was marked incomplete until the deadline even though my card was charged $100. Last year I went there for an interview and the only thing they were proud of was the "state-of-the-art building" ?! Who cares about your f... building? I want to get the best possible medical education, so spend your money on state-of the-art professors and residencies.

Moreover, this school is very expensive. You`ll spend at least 75k each year. They keep deferring people each month or two, and in the end of the application cycle, they send you an email about their MBS program, which also costs at least 75k. According to the last year threads, only 5-10% of students that finish TCMC MBS get accepted to the medical school. MBS students who have 4.0 GPA and 30 mcat get rejected. I better spend $1,500 on an MCAT course, than 75k on a program that leaves you with a useless piece of sh... master`s degree.

Thank God, this app cycle I was accepted to one of my top choice med schools (one of the SUNYs), and I`m glad that I don`t have to deal with this artificial med school.
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Why did you apply twice to TCMC?
Why are you trolling?
Why bring up research for a primary care focused school?

THE SUNY SCHOOL THAT ACCEPTED YOU SHOULD RETHINK THEIR ADMISSION'S PROCESS
 
Morrinelli said:
65 matriculated, but only 56 matched. 14% of students didn`t match after 4 years of medical school. Call it how you want, but "inability to teach" is one of the most contributing factors when one considers match results (in addition to the IQ of students). Good luck with the campus lottery and other funny things!
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When I was applying to schools last year - I always wondered why med students on this forum hated on premeds. As a current med student - I can tell you that this is a big reason. You're a pre-med, 5 years removed from the match process. You know nothing about how match works and what goes into matching after 4 years. You're somewhere in your early 20s whereas the people who are attempting to match are in their mid to late 20s with more important concerns like families, finances, personal career trajectories. Match is incredibly dependent upon the individual. The sooner you understand that - the better off you'll be in med school. Your SUNY school won't magically match you into Harvard in 5 years, so you better get off your high horse and learn to do the work no matter what school you're at. That and you better learn to roll with the punches. I guarantee you, medical school, no matter where you go in this country, is not always a smooth ride. You can have the biggest research department in the country but you'll still find things you don't like about your school. So get over yourself and stop attacking others. Congrats on getting into a school and good luck next year.
 
Can any current students please comment on testing at TCMC:

-Roughly how long are exams (# of questions and time allotted)? Is this reasonable or does it feel like a race against time ala MCAT? :nailbiting: haha

-Are lab practicals combined with "regular" exams (on the same day)?

-Are NBME shelf exams required during the pre-clinical years?

-Aside from exams, are there in-class quizzes? If so, how frequent are these?

-What is TCMC's remediation policy?

-Overall, how do you feel about TCMC's block system with less frequent testing?

A big thanks to all the current TCMC students who have been posting in this thread! Your input in invaluable. :bow:
 
MDelight said:
Can any current students please comment on testing at TCMC:

-Roughly how long are exams (# of questions and time allotted)? Is this reasonable or does it feel like a race against time ala MCAT? :nailbiting: haha

-Are lab practicals combined with "regular" exams (on the same day)?

-Are NBME shelf exams required during the pre-clinical years?

-Aside from exams, are there in-class quizzes? If so, how frequent are these?

-What is TCMC's remediation policy?

-Overall, how do you feel about TCMC's block system with less frequent testing?

A big thanks to all the current TCMC students who have been posting in this thread! Your input in invaluable. :bow:
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Exams: The exams generally are about 3 hours and the number of questions really changes from class to class and even test to test. CMBL (the first course in M1) has 3 hour exams and they're generally about 90 questions or so. HSF (the second course in M1) is the outlier - these exams pretty much run the entire day. Thankfully there are only 4 exams over the 16 weeks but there's a morning portion that is 3 hours and about 150-180 questions, the afternoon is the histology imaging and anatomy practical portion. This answers your second question, yes lab practicals are a part of the regular exam. The histology and anatomy practical combine for about 85 questions. From here on out I believe the exams are limited to the mornings and are 3 hours.

Quizzes: Courses have TBLs (Team Based Learning) which are weekly quizzes that are a marginal portion of your overall grade in a course. It's nice because it gets you to keep up with the material and it's a great way to learn through group discussion on the group portion. TBL is split into an IRAT (individual section) and GRAT (group section). Both sections have identical questions. You take the IRAT first, then proceed to go into your group and answer the same questions again but this time you have to come to a consensus. Answers are revealed after the GRAT and the class discusses each question.

NBME shelf exams: not required during the pre-clinical years (it wouldn't make any sense since you don't go through any rotations). They do administer them in the 3rd year though. Practice Step 1 exams are administered during the M2 year.

Remediation policy: well fortunately I haven't been through it and don't foresee going through it. My general understanding is an overall avg of below a 70 is failing. Any test in which you have below a 60 must be retaken during the remediation period. I think if it's severe enough where you're failing multiple courses or don't attend mandatory events, you may have to remediate the entire year.

Block System: Personally, I love the block system. I have friends in other systems and it seems really brutal on them. Exam weeks can be a little stressful, but you're studying all the time so it's actually not that bad. It's a little weird only having one course to study for coming out of undergrad, but after a while I really like not having to sacrifice one class for another. Also I think in terms of future boards - it's nice having large exams to prep for where there's just a lot of material at once. It's more analogous to Step where you may not know everything but you have to know enough and reason through the rest.
 
plasmamorris said:
When I was applying to schools last year - I always wondered why med students on this forum hated on premeds. As a current med student - I can tell you that this is a big reason. You're a pre-med, 5 years removed from the match process. You know nothing about how match works and what goes into matching after 4 years. You're somewhere in your early 20s whereas the people who are attempting to match are in their mid to late 20s with more important concerns like families, finances, personal career trajectories. Match is incredibly dependent upon the individual. The sooner you understand that - the better off you'll be in med school. Your SUNY school won't magically match you into Harvard in 5 years, so you better get off your high horse and learn to do the work no matter what school you're at. That and you better learn to roll with the punches. I guarantee you, medical school, no matter where you go in this country, is not always a smooth ride. You can have the biggest research department in the country but you'll still find things you don't like about your school. So get over yourself and stop attacking others. Congrats on getting into a school and good luck next year.
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What do you know plasmamorris, you're a dumb first year.

Just kidding, everything he said is spot on. I'm an MSII at TCMC and I love this school. TCMC had its first match last year and it was very successful; we had multiple students match into great programs such as rad/onc, ortho and ENT. I've had dinner with residency directors and they are all extremely impressed with the type of student that comes out of TCMC. In fact I've been directly told that our students are better than students from other schools down in Philly (I won't name schools). As students from TCMC continue to rotate through various hospital systems our match process will become more and more successful.
 
Interviewed: 10/25, Deferred: 12/6. Should I still have hope?? This school is so amazing and I would be so grateful to go here. Love the location and the schools focus and philosophy.
 
Morrinelli said:
65 matriculated, but only 56 matched. 14% of students didn`t match after 4 years of medical school. Call it how you want, but "inability to teach" is one of the most contributing factors when one considers match results (in addition to the IQ of students). Good luck with the campus lottery and other funny things!
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If the 14% failure to match rate could be attributed to the school, the LCME would come down hard and fast, even more so because the school is under provisional accreditation. Use your brain before talking ****, bud.
 
Morrinelli said:
Absolutely the worst school that I had experience of applying to. TCMC stole my hard-earned money for their secondary application due to the problem they had with their website and payment processing system. My application was marked incomplete until the deadline even though my card was charged $100. Last year I went there for an interview and the only thing they were proud of was the "state-of-the-art building" ?! Who cares about your f... building? I want to get the best possible medical education, so spend your money on state-of the-art professors and residencies.

Moreover, this school is very expensive. You`ll spend at least 75k each year. They keep deferring people each month or two, and in the end of the application cycle, they send you an email about their MBS program, which also costs at least 75k. According to the last year threads, only 5-10% of students that finish TCMC MBS get accepted to the medical school. MBS students who have 4.0 GPA and 30 mcat get rejected. I better spend $1,500 on an MCAT course, than 75k on a program that leaves you with a useless piece of sh... master`s degree.

Thank God, this app cycle I was accepted to one of my top choice med schools (one of the SUNYs), and I`m glad that I don`t have to deal with this artificial med school.
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lmao dammmnnnn. go sunys lol but anyways a bit too harsh dude. just don't bother applying.

anyone past 8 week mark, with no news?
 
Is there a list of elective rotations the school offers? I'd really like to know if there are certain ones available. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!
 
Mona93 said:
Is there a list of elective rotations the school offers? I'd really like to know if there are certain ones available. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you in advance!
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First year here.

I checked TCMC's website and no list is provided. However, I'll try my best to answer your question.

3rd year: The LIC doesn't incorporate elective rotations per se, but you do have "white space" each week when you are not on the core rotations. You could use this time for research or to explore specialties that interest you by arranging to work with TCMC faculty in those specialties. Obviously, that isn't quite the same as an elective rotation, but it would allow you to arrange experiences in specialties you want to investigate.

4th year: There is 5 months (per TCMC's website) of elective time. TCMC has faculty in all (or nearly all) the major specialties: primary care specialties, IM/Peds subspecialties, surgical specialties, etc. Also, you can do elective rotations at other institutions or in any of the regional campuses. So, you'll be able to find nearly any elective rotation you want as a 4th year, either at TCMC or at another institution.

Sorry that I couldn't provide a comprehensive list, but I wouldn't worry about not being able to find elective rotations as a TCMC student. Even if TCMC doesn't have a specific rotation, you could do an away rotation. If you mention specific rotations you would want to do, I could ask around and get more information. Other TCMC students that are on SDN might be able to help as well.
 
deadhead2 said:
First year here.

I checked TCMC's website and no list is provided. However, I'll try my best to answer your question.

3rd year: The LIC doesn't incorporate elective rotations per se, but you do have "white space" each week when you are not on the core rotations. You could use this time for research or to explore specialties that interest you by arranging to work with TCMC faculty in those specialties. Obviously, that isn't quite the same as an elective rotation, but it would allow you to arrange experiences in specialties you want to investigate.

4th year: There is 5 months (per TCMC's website) of elective time. TCMC has faculty in all (or nearly all) the major specialties: primary care specialties, IM/Peds subspecialties, surgical specialties, etc. Also, you can do elective rotations at other institutions or in any of the regional campuses. So, you'll be able to find nearly any elective rotation you want as a 4th year, either at TCMC or at another institution.

Sorry that I couldn't provide a comprehensive list, but I wouldn't worry about not being able to find elective rotations as a TCMC student. Even if TCMC doesn't have a specific rotation, you could do an away rotation. If you mention specific rotations you would want to do, I could ask around and get more information. Other TCMC students that are on SDN might be able to help as well.
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Thank you for the information and clarifying for me. I see it may not be a big deal now as to what specialties I want to explore since there are a lot of opportunities to make it happen. I really appreciate your help on this matter. I was just thinking along the lines of neurology or neurosurgery.
 
deadhead2 said:
First year here.

I checked TCMC's website and no list is provided. However, I'll try my best to answer your question.

3rd year: The LIC doesn't incorporate elective rotations per se, but you do have "white space" each week when you are not on the core rotations. You could use this time for research or to explore specialties that interest you by arranging to work with TCMC faculty in those specialties. Obviously, that isn't quite the same as an elective rotation, but it would allow you to arrange experiences in specialties you want to investigate.

4th year: There is 5 months (per TCMC's website) of elective time. TCMC has faculty in all (or nearly all) the major specialties: primary care specialties, IM/Peds subspecialties, surgical specialties, etc. Also, you can do elective rotations at other institutions or in any of the regional campuses. So, you'll be able to find nearly any elective rotation you want as a 4th year, either at TCMC or at another institution.

Sorry that I couldn't provide a comprehensive list, but I wouldn't worry about not being able to find elective rotations as a TCMC student. Even if TCMC doesn't have a specific rotation, you could do an away rotation. If you mention specific rotations you would want to do, I could ask around and get more information. Other TCMC students that are on SDN might be able to help as well.
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Is this typically shadowing, or does it also include hands-on rotation activities?
 
circulus vitios said:
Is this typically shadowing, or does it also include hands-on rotation activities?
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Good job finding the 4th year course bulletin; where did you come across it?

As a first-year I can't speak from direct experience, but from what I've heard these experiences are more hands-on. Third years interested in surgery often use white space time to scrub in on cases, where they are often first-assist (a benefit of not having residents around). Those interested in getting more inpatient medicine experience can participate in rounds in TCMC-affiliated hospitals during white space. Similar hands-on opportunities could be arranged in other specialties if you show interest. Keep in mind that experiences in some specialties might be less hands on simply due to the nature of those specialties (radiology and pathology come to mind; you might watch the attending interpret images or examine biopsies but do nothing yourself).
 
deadhead2 said:
Good job finding the 4th year course bulletin; where did you come across it?

As a first-year I can't speak from direct experience, but from what I've heard these experiences are more hands-on. Third years interested in surgery often use white space time to scrub in on cases, where they are often first-assist (a benefit of not having residents around). Those interested in getting more inpatient medicine experience can participate in rounds in TCMC-affiliated hospitals during white space. Similar hands-on opportunities could be arranged in other specialties if you show interest. Keep in mind that experiences in some specialties might be less hands on simply due to the nature of those specialties (radiology and pathology come to mind; you might watch the attending interpret images or examine biopsies but do nothing yourself).
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I got bored and did some Googling. :whistle:

I realize that you're still a first year, but...

I hear that if you want to match into a competitive specialty that you should "reach out to your school's (specialty) department." Does TCMC have departments for the various specialties/subspecialties? If not, how did the students who matched into more competitive specialties, e.g. last year's ortho/ophtho/ENT/rad onc/urology matches, make connections in their respective field -- was it strictly through away rotations?
 
circulus vitios said:
I got bored and did some Googling. :whistle:

I realize that you're still a first year, but...

I hear that if you want to match into a competitive specialty that you should "reach out to your school's (specialty) department." Does TCMC have departments for the various specialties/subspecialties? If not, how did the students who matched into more competitive specialties, e.g. last year's ortho/ophtho/ENT/rad onc/urology matches, make connections in their respective field -- was it strictly through away rotations?
Click to expand...

I think that advice is definitely directed at more traditional med schools. We are smaller, but growing so we may not have individual departments outside of the core 6 specialities (the LIC specialities). As far as charter class and what those who matched competitively did - many have stated that because Scranton has never had med students before, the local specialists rally around our students and help them in whatever manner possible to get them interviews, research, etc. For example - one of the 4th years who matched into ENT said the local ENTs really took him under their wing and made sure he was up to par with all of the requirements for such a competitive specialty. Currently, for derm - the President of the American Academy for Dermatology is the father of a current 4th year (and also a local physician) and has been invaluable to other TCMC students pursuing derm. Similarly - there are many extremely accomplished physicians in the area helping out with other specialties. Dr. Dudrick , the father of TPN (total parenteral nutrition), is part-time faculty here and extremely respected. He was full-time faculty at UPenn for many years and has been helping students who are interested in surgical specialties. I could go on and on. For whatever reason, NEPA seems to have an abundance of extremely accomplished physicians. Part of the problem is that they are aging and towards the end of their careers (hence TCMC's mission). Hope that helps.
 
Does anyone know how often the admissions committee meets or when their next meeting is? Interviewed 1/13 deferred 2/26. Should I still have hope??
 
bio545 said:
Does anyone know how often the admissions committee meets or when their next meeting is? Interviewed 1/13 deferred 2/26. Should I still have hope??
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Definitely have hope! They say they meet once a month in my interview and that increases towards the end of the cycle. So they will probably meet more frequently soon, especially as May 15 rolls around and people start dropping TCMC and they need to fill the class.
 
plasmamorris said:
I think that advice is definitely directed at more traditional med schools. We are smaller, but growing so we may not have individual departments outside of the core 6 specialities (the LIC specialities). As far as charter class and what those who matched competitively did - many have stated that because Scranton has never had med students before, the local specialists rally around our students and help them in whatever manner possible to get them interviews, research, etc. For example - one of the 4th years who matched into ENT said the local ENTs really took him under their wing and made sure he was up to par with all of the requirements for such a competitive specialty. Currently, for derm - the President of the American Academy for Dermatology is the father of a current 4th year (and also a local physician) and has been invaluable to other TCMC students pursuing derm. Similarly - there are many extremely accomplished physicians in the area helping out with other specialties. Dr. Dudrick , the father of TPN (total parenteral nutrition), is part-time faculty here and extremely respected. He was full-time faculty at UPenn for many years and has been helping students who are interested in surgical specialties. I could go on and on. For whatever reason, NEPA seems to have an abundance of extremely accomplished physicians. Part of the problem is that they are aging and towards the end of their careers (hence TCMC's mission). Hope that helps.
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I highly doubt that the AAD's President's daughter will have a tough time finding a spot in derm, regardless of stats.
 
Early Jan ii, still no news. Doesn't sound good for me :/
 
jab1990 said:
Early Jan ii, still no news. Doesn't sound good for me :/
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No worries! There really isn't a purpose to worrying until you finally get the message, especially with TCMC. The administration is just sooooo slow there that it really does take this long. It doesn't mean they're necessarily arguing over whether or not you're accepted.

Also, for anyone who was interested in the REACH-HEI program for the upcoming summer - it's cancelled. I finally got a hold of the administrative assistant and she unfortunately informed me that the program, and many others like it across the nation, lost federal funding and can therefore not support it this year. There goes my summer plans
 
committee is going to meet any day now...some of us might hear some news soon!
 
this might be a little soon to ask, but has anyone got any word about financial aid yet? I submitted my FAFSA in early February (I think the deadline was March 1st) and haven't had type of notice or response.
 
emdee89 said:
this might be a little soon to ask, but has anyone got any word about financial aid yet? I submitted my FAFSA in early February (I think the deadline was March 1st) and haven't had type of notice or response.
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I called and they said there won't be any financial aid for a while. I wouldn't expect it any time soon and I doubt they give much aid besides loans.
 
Committee meeting this evening...keep you fingers crossed guys!!!
 
Just received an email stating that my application was deferred to the next committee meeting. Womp womp
 
Interviewed in December and was deferred in January...really hoping for some good news this time! Anyone heard anything yet?
 
mrotstein said:
Do a good chunk of those deferred get accepted?
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I think a lot of those of us who have been accepted so far have gotten deferred at least once, so keep your chin up! I hope it doesn't take too much longer for you to definitively find out, since interviews probably close/waitlists are probably generated somewhat soon.
 
Deferred Feb 26 and really hoping for some good news this time around. Has anyone been accepted yet today?
 
darklabel said:
I called and they said there won't be any financial aid for a while. I wouldn't expect it any time soon and I doubt they give much aid besides loans.
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Yeah, I'm doubting that there will be much aid other than loans and maybe some need-based stuff for those who are eligible.

I'm also kind of figuring that it'll be a bit before we hear back about it, I'm just getting antsy!
 
emdee89 said:
Yeah, I'm doubting that there will be much aid other than loans and maybe some need-based stuff for those who are eligible.

I'm also kind of figuring that it'll be a bit before we hear back about it, I'm just getting antsy!
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Right there with you! Only thing I am not looking forward to is the cold.
 
darklabel said:
Right there with you! Only thing I am not looking forward to is the cold.
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ha, I hear you! I'm from Philadelphia so I'm used to the cold... not so much used to the snow (other than the few odd years, like this one, where we get slammed).

Are you from some place warm?
 
So it looks like if they are going to interview roughly 600 people for a class of 100. They will accepted roughly 200-250 for a class of 100? Is that true? The good thing is that I only see about 28 people registered for the Class of 2018 facebook page. Which means a lot of us that are deferred have a great chance!!
 
I rejected my offer today. It was an extremely tough decision because I really like the program, but I had to make one. Good luck to all of you still waiting and I hope one of you fine SDNers gets my spot.
 
Oh wow. Thank you for letting us know. I wish you the best luck in your future endeavors.
 
If they stick to a similar timeline, more acceptances should be rolling in tomorrow (after last month's meeting, they sent deferrals on Wednesday & acceptances on Friday) , so it's worth checking for any updates tomorrow morning. Of course, I could very well be wrong, just an observation I felt was worth sharing. Good luck
 
proctc said:
If they stick to a similar timeline, more acceptances should be rolling in tomorrow (after last month's meeting, they sent deferrals on Wednesday & acceptances on Friday) , so it's worth checking for any updates tomorrow morning. Of course, I could very well be wrong, just an observation I felt was worth sharing. Good luck
Click to expand...

In that case I will be praying for an email on Friday
 
proctc said:
If they stick to a similar timeline, more acceptances should be rolling in tomorrow (after last month's meeting, they sent deferrals on Wednesday & acceptances on Friday) , so it's worth checking for any updates tomorrow morning. Of course, I could very well be wrong, just an observation I felt was worth sharing. Good luck
Click to expand...

Earlier in the cycle they were extending offers on the following Monday, so still possible they haven't yet been sent for this meeting. Fingers crossed!
 
For those of you deferred more than once, do you receive a notification each time you are deferred? Or, do you receive an initial deferral and sequential deferrals are silent until a decision has been reached? I was deferred Feb. 26th and did not receive a deferral notice for this months meeting, so I am beginning to wonder if a decision has been reached.
 
tybuchanan said:
For those of you deferred more than once, do you receive a notification each time you are deferred? Or, do you receive an initial deferral and sequential deferrals are silent until a decision has been reached? I was deferred Feb. 26th and did not receive a deferral notice for this months meeting, so I am beginning to wonder if a decision has been reached.
Click to expand...
Thats a great question. I have been deferred since December 6! Keeping my chin up and my fingers crossed!
 
bombay2pac said:
Thats a great question. I have been deferred since December 6! Keeping my chin up and my fingers crossed!
Click to expand...
Sorry, Bombay2pac, but I am confused by your response. Have you received any notifications after your first deferral?
 
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