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Accepted 🙂 I wonder what I'm supposed to do now though in case anyone knows…there's no deposit to pay or offer to accept?
2014-2015 Wayne State University Application Thread
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It said you will get a letter in the mail! I'm sure that has more information 🙂
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Accepted but I'm just a tinyyyyyyy bit paranoid about the fact that the acceptance PDF is general and doesn't have my name on it, and cuz I wasn't expecting them to give offers to OOS on the first round.
Really can't wait for the letter in the mail...Then I can be 100% certain haha
Really can't wait for the letter in the mail...Then I can be 100% certain haha
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LizzyM >72
It is legit. They make a decision no matter what. Rejection, waitlist, or acceptance. They actually accept around 80% of OOS students including those off the waitlist.
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Where did you find the info regarding the 80% acceptance rate?
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US News
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accepted 10/22 reapplicant and non trad i guess. pretty much best day of my life... years in the making for sure. still hasn't really sunk in. YESSSSSSSSSSS
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Accepted! 9-22 interview group.
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Does any current Wayne State student know how much you usually pay (tuition/required fees wise) per year?
I'm curious b/c it seems as if MSU and Wayne's tuition/fees per year are exactly the same…but the average debt at MSU is 220k whereas at Wayne is 162k…
I know MSU charges students 12 months out of the year, even if they're not taking classes, so I'm wondering, does Wayne not do this? And why is the average debt so different at these two?
I'm curious b/c it seems as if MSU and Wayne's tuition/fees per year are exactly the same…but the average debt at MSU is 220k whereas at Wayne is 162k…
I know MSU charges students 12 months out of the year, even if they're not taking classes, so I'm wondering, does Wayne not do this? And why is the average debt so different at these two?
I am an IS M1 at Wayne and pay just under 3ok total for tuition and fees per year. I am not exactly sure why there is such a big difference in average debt between MSU and Wayne. That number can be misleading though because it can be influenced by many things, such as the number of scholarships given, as well as the ability of their students to pay out of pocket for tuition (rather than loaning it). I think its reasonable to assume that if you are IS and plan on loaning the full amount of tuition/fees over four years, it will cost ~120k for your medical education (plus the cost of living).
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Thanks! Can anyone also comment on the international/global experiences you can get while at Wayne? I can't find too much about it and wasn't told too much about it at my interview either unfortunately. I heard global experiences happen…but can you go anywhere you want essentially? Does the administration support you in doing so?
Also, is research relatively "easy" to find at Wayne? Are there an abundant of resources?
And is it possible to take a gap year to do research as well at Wayne to have a more competitive residency application?
Thank you guys a bunch! I asked these questions on my interview day and have gone through previous forums, but I don't really feel as if my questions have been answered.
Also, is research relatively "easy" to find at Wayne? Are there an abundant of resources?
And is it possible to take a gap year to do research as well at Wayne to have a more competitive residency application?
Thank you guys a bunch! I asked these questions on my interview day and have gone through previous forums, but I don't really feel as if my questions have been answered.
There are several M3's and M4's that watch this thread that are much better prepared to answer most of these questions. I can say research is extremely easy to find. I encounter ads and recruiters for all types of research positions on an almost daily basis (clinical, laboratory, paid/volunteer). The extensive network of hospital systems surrounding Wayne make it easy to find experience (research or shadowing) in any specialty. I also know there are many student organization trips during the winter, spring, and summer breaks of M1's and M2's that go internationally (Haiti, Ecuador, and the Galapagos are the one's I've personally heard of) as well as domestic locations that have large underserved populations. I am unsure about international externships or rotations in the 3rd and 4th year that would, in theory, let you go to any country. I believe Wayne would be receptive to a gap year for research-they seem pretty flexible about that kind of stuff- but most people who are that serious about research seem to pursue MD/PhDs, so I'm not sure. As an aside, Wayne's match lists are available online and Wayne routinely places students in very competitive residencies without them taking a a gap year. I hope this helps, an upperclassman will have much more insight than I have and maybe they can weigh in.
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You can have the opportunity as a first, second, or fourth year (3rd year too, theoretically, if you can swing it, but it's a pretty hard year to go anywhere) to go to Peru, Ecuador, Panama, or Haiti through our chapter of the World Health Student Organization. The website for that is here --> http://waynewhso.org/
The trips are pretty much out of pocket and any fundraising for WHSO trips is used to support supplies and other materials that will be used on that location. I know that some people do their own private fundraising (talk to family and friends) to support the cost of their own trips. The costs vary. I haven't been on a trip but I was looking into going to Ecuador last year. The WHSO trips are coordinated by the WHSO board members. You will be accompanied by doctors as well as other support personnel (I know that pharmacists and others have gone as well). The administration is very supportive of the trips and encourages students to go.
Another avenue which is a little bit of the less-traveled path is to go to Ghana through our Africans in Medicine group. It's a much smaller group so the trip is less heavily monitored (it's a little more free style), and only a few people are interested in going every year or so. But we have an established contact in Ghana. The trip would be entirely organized by you and traditionally all fundraising you do through the school can be used to spend on your trip. The administration is much less involved in this trip but I do know that you have to coordinate with Dr. Chuang who is in charge of the international opportunities. There's also opportunities to do international exchange (also organized by Dr. Chuang) as a fourth year as one of your electives. Or all of them, as there's been a recent change where there are no limits to how many away electives we can take. The only requirements for fourth year now are that we have to do our sub-internship at Wayne and our Emergency Medicine rotation too. (I think that's true, someone can fact check me there).
I also do not know this personally first hand, but I do believe it's pretty easy to find a research mentor as well as other projects. The administration sends out a list of possible research mentors, and if you're looking for opportunities they are pretty easy to find. There's a research symposium sometime around halfway through 1st year. One of my classmates (I'm in class of 2016) told me that it's very helpful to look early on, like September or October of 1st year, and say to someone early that you are interested in clinical research (or bench research, whatever) and looking to publish. Our administrators are very responsive in eliciting advice on this matter and will give you more details as you need them. The person you would talk to about student research is Dr. Lisa MacLean.
I know of a few people who have done what you speak of, specifically taking a research year between first and second year. My impression is that basically anything goes.. the school is most interested in graduating individuals who will be successful in the match, and that the specific timeline is not really as important (aside from the fact that you have to graduate in 6 years or something). So whatever time it happens (after first, second, or third years) is less relevant to the fact that you'd be doing something you're very interested in that would help to get experience you're looking for.
Hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions.
The trips are pretty much out of pocket and any fundraising for WHSO trips is used to support supplies and other materials that will be used on that location. I know that some people do their own private fundraising (talk to family and friends) to support the cost of their own trips. The costs vary. I haven't been on a trip but I was looking into going to Ecuador last year. The WHSO trips are coordinated by the WHSO board members. You will be accompanied by doctors as well as other support personnel (I know that pharmacists and others have gone as well). The administration is very supportive of the trips and encourages students to go.
Another avenue which is a little bit of the less-traveled path is to go to Ghana through our Africans in Medicine group. It's a much smaller group so the trip is less heavily monitored (it's a little more free style), and only a few people are interested in going every year or so. But we have an established contact in Ghana. The trip would be entirely organized by you and traditionally all fundraising you do through the school can be used to spend on your trip. The administration is much less involved in this trip but I do know that you have to coordinate with Dr. Chuang who is in charge of the international opportunities. There's also opportunities to do international exchange (also organized by Dr. Chuang) as a fourth year as one of your electives. Or all of them, as there's been a recent change where there are no limits to how many away electives we can take. The only requirements for fourth year now are that we have to do our sub-internship at Wayne and our Emergency Medicine rotation too. (I think that's true, someone can fact check me there).
I also do not know this personally first hand, but I do believe it's pretty easy to find a research mentor as well as other projects. The administration sends out a list of possible research mentors, and if you're looking for opportunities they are pretty easy to find. There's a research symposium sometime around halfway through 1st year. One of my classmates (I'm in class of 2016) told me that it's very helpful to look early on, like September or October of 1st year, and say to someone early that you are interested in clinical research (or bench research, whatever) and looking to publish. Our administrators are very responsive in eliciting advice on this matter and will give you more details as you need them. The person you would talk to about student research is Dr. Lisa MacLean.
I know of a few people who have done what you speak of, specifically taking a research year between first and second year. My impression is that basically anything goes.. the school is most interested in graduating individuals who will be successful in the match, and that the specific timeline is not really as important (aside from the fact that you have to graduate in 6 years or something). So whatever time it happens (after first, second, or third years) is less relevant to the fact that you'd be doing something you're very interested in that would help to get experience you're looking for.
Hope that helps, let me know if you have any other questions.
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Thank you guys so much! That's a lot of incredibly useful information!
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While I'm on a roll I can answer this too with my perspective.
1. Advising from first year comes in a few different forms. You're placed in a mentor group through the administration that includes a handful of upperclass people, with a local physician who is the mentor group leader. There are different dinners and things throughout the year where you meet the rest of your group. There also is peer mentoring through Aesculapians Honors Society. It's a little bit user dependent but if you're proactive and looking for feedback or help the students involved in Aesculapians will be totally willing to answer your questions. If you need academic help you would go to Dr. Jackson and be linked up with a tutor (an upperclassperson who got honors in their first few years of school is typically who you'd be meeting with). The atmosphere at Wayne is such, as far as I've seen, where we're all trying to help eachother so your classmates or the folks in the year above would also be a good resource. Your class counselor would be a great person to go to for resources if you need further assistance with anything else, like help dealing with stress and such.
2. The official teaching format is pretty much your standard lecture / exam hamster wheel cycle. It worked out for me because I learned pretty early on that I'd rather just be told what I need to know than spend time discussing/learning from peers. Pretty much every class has some small group element to it (anatomy has cadaver lab of course, histology has virtual microscopy, physiology has labs, there's small group conference for various other classes beyond that), but the backbone is lecture. The smaller sessions differ from class to class, but you'll either be doing something somewhat discussion based (classroom of 40 or so people and we'll have cases that need to be discussed) or it will be lab/imaging based with a lab manual you need to follow, or something along those lines. I can't remember some of the specifics from first year so I will defer to someone else for more details on that one. In pharmacology (which comes in second year) there are small-group discussion sessions which are more case-based-ish and follow some discussion questions. I know that in the small group format things people often felt like they happened too early in the unit to really have fostered a good discussion as people were hesitant to speak on things they didn't have cold yet. Formal case-based learning does not come from the official curriculum, but CBL/PBL is an extracurricular class that people can do if they like that format. There are also clinic days where you meet patients with particular issues you might be talking about (genetic variations during genetics class, etc), which are full lecture hall whole-class Q & A type things, or might take place in the smaller Mazurek classrooms.
3. Some clinical campuses are more "desirable" than others. Henry Ford has been the most popular one for the last couple of years, but DMC was more popular a few years before that. There are about 100 people each who do their third year rotations at both Ford and DMC, about 70 at Oakwood Hospital, and 20 at St. John. All clinical campuses have their benefits and drawbacks, and it's up to individual students to figure out which one would be the best fit for them. The clinical campus selection works on a lottery system, and if you are given a good number you pretty much will be guaranteed your top choice. If you select one of the "less desirable" locations, you also pretty much will get your top choice as well. If you have a low lottery number and want Henry Ford and that's it, you might have some difficulty. But there's a switch out system after the lottery takes place and there's a bit of movement. For my year a lot of people wanted Ford but got DMC, but I think upon reflection people are pretty much glad where they ended up. Same is true for Oakwood and St. John (typically the people who choose St. John are the ones who live on the east side of Detroit and want to do everything there). I haven't heard of people not being able to do something they wanted to do, in terms of electives. The issue *might* come up where you can't do something exactly on the timeline you were expecting, but I am pretty confident that if you want to do something the school will arrange a way for you to get that opportunity.
1. Advising from first year comes in a few different forms. You're placed in a mentor group through the administration that includes a handful of upperclass people, with a local physician who is the mentor group leader. There are different dinners and things throughout the year where you meet the rest of your group. There also is peer mentoring through Aesculapians Honors Society. It's a little bit user dependent but if you're proactive and looking for feedback or help the students involved in Aesculapians will be totally willing to answer your questions. If you need academic help you would go to Dr. Jackson and be linked up with a tutor (an upperclassperson who got honors in their first few years of school is typically who you'd be meeting with). The atmosphere at Wayne is such, as far as I've seen, where we're all trying to help eachother so your classmates or the folks in the year above would also be a good resource. Your class counselor would be a great person to go to for resources if you need further assistance with anything else, like help dealing with stress and such.
2. The official teaching format is pretty much your standard lecture / exam hamster wheel cycle. It worked out for me because I learned pretty early on that I'd rather just be told what I need to know than spend time discussing/learning from peers. Pretty much every class has some small group element to it (anatomy has cadaver lab of course, histology has virtual microscopy, physiology has labs, there's small group conference for various other classes beyond that), but the backbone is lecture. The smaller sessions differ from class to class, but you'll either be doing something somewhat discussion based (classroom of 40 or so people and we'll have cases that need to be discussed) or it will be lab/imaging based with a lab manual you need to follow, or something along those lines. I can't remember some of the specifics from first year so I will defer to someone else for more details on that one. In pharmacology (which comes in second year) there are small-group discussion sessions which are more case-based-ish and follow some discussion questions. I know that in the small group format things people often felt like they happened too early in the unit to really have fostered a good discussion as people were hesitant to speak on things they didn't have cold yet. Formal case-based learning does not come from the official curriculum, but CBL/PBL is an extracurricular class that people can do if they like that format. There are also clinic days where you meet patients with particular issues you might be talking about (genetic variations during genetics class, etc), which are full lecture hall whole-class Q & A type things, or might take place in the smaller Mazurek classrooms.
3. Some clinical campuses are more "desirable" than others. Henry Ford has been the most popular one for the last couple of years, but DMC was more popular a few years before that. There are about 100 people each who do their third year rotations at both Ford and DMC, about 70 at Oakwood Hospital, and 20 at St. John. All clinical campuses have their benefits and drawbacks, and it's up to individual students to figure out which one would be the best fit for them. The clinical campus selection works on a lottery system, and if you are given a good number you pretty much will be guaranteed your top choice. If you select one of the "less desirable" locations, you also pretty much will get your top choice as well. If you have a low lottery number and want Henry Ford and that's it, you might have some difficulty. But there's a switch out system after the lottery takes place and there's a bit of movement. For my year a lot of people wanted Ford but got DMC, but I think upon reflection people are pretty much glad where they ended up. Same is true for Oakwood and St. John (typically the people who choose St. John are the ones who live on the east side of Detroit and want to do everything there). I haven't heard of people not being able to do something they wanted to do, in terms of electives. The issue *might* come up where you can't do something exactly on the timeline you were expecting, but I am pretty confident that if you want to do something the school will arrange a way for you to get that opportunity.
1.) So far, the curriculum itself has made it an easier transition-the entire first month is very forgiving and the material builds in volume for the first two months. We are also assigned physician mentors- personally I have only seen mine once, but I know that many students are much more actively involved with their mentors. There are also some awesome things they do to try to de-stress us- anonymous walk in counselors come to campus weekly, and a every month they do something like bring in massage chairs or a room full of puppies or something to take our mind off things.
2. The first year, the majority of classes are optional and the labs are required for our basic science courses (more about basic sciences in a minute). I think what you are referring to is our small groups for our clinical medicine course, which is the "how to be a doctor" class where they teach how to take vitals, how to do an interview, that sort of thing. Our small groups have ~10 people per physician instructor and meet most weeks for three hours. I really enjoy clinical medicine- it is a great way reminder of why we are studying so hard, my instructor is very enthusiastic and tremendously knowledgeable. Basic sciences are taught by the department, meaning there are ~8 instructors teaching each course. Each instructor writes 3-6 questions per lecture hour for the exams. There are supplementary TBL/CBL/PBL lectures through a student organization (that will "certify" that you participated in their program for resume purposes"- these are completely optional and I personally haven't gone to any. Also, I find the optional classes a huge advantage at Wayne- I can watch 6 hrs of lecture at double speed, and have watched it and reviewed it in the time it would have normally taken to attend. Largely due to this, I have gotten 8hrs of sleep every night and it is wonderful haha.
3.) I'll let an upperclassman get that one, I don't know enough about it yet.
If I missed anything in there or you have other questions, fire away, I'm happy to help.
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Question for current students or anyone who knows the area: I've been causally looking for apartments, and wondered if anyone had insight on where to look. I'd preferably like to live close by and bike to class, as I don't have a car and would like to avoid the cost, but I don't know if that would be particularly safe. Especially since I'm not much of a city slicker. So, what areas or subdivisions near by a lot of students live in? Or does anyone have general suggestions for looking for housing?
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IMHO, you will need a car even if you live close to the Wayne State campus. Detroit is a big city that has both safe and unsafe areas, and the ability to get around with a reliable means of transportation is paramount (especially in the winter). I don't know much about apartments around the campus, but a number of my friends who go to Wayne live up in Ferndale and Royal Oak. It's not very far, just up 75, but it's a good area to live as a young person with a lot of stores, entertainment, and dining options for when you do have free time.
For the first two years, not having a car will be inconvenient at best, miserable and time-consuming at worst. Some of my classmates don't have cars- I don't know how they manage it. You will need a car in years 3-4. The majority of students live in Midtown surrounding campus, or Royal Oak. Hamtramck and Grosse Point also have a decent number of students. All of them except Midtown require a 10-30 minute commute. Within walking distance in midtown, Studio One and University Towers seem to very popular with students. I would also look at the Park Shelton, Ellington lofts, and the Union. Those are the only ones I know of that are a comfortable walk. The farther away you go, the more options you will have. There are also options downtown, but you would probably want a car if you lived there. If you don't prefer city life, Royal Oak may be the most comfortable for you-it has a very suburban atmosphere there.
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Don't shy away about learning about Detroit and/or visiting Detroit. Midtown is a very vibrant part of Detroit that Wayne State's medical campus is located in that any community-oriented medical student would consider an honor to be in.
You can't separate the idea of Detroit & Wayne State when you come to a place like Wayne State.
Also, ask tonssss of questions. There unfortunately doesn't seem to be much of a way to learn about the school other than asking questions and looking at the website :/
You can't separate the idea of Detroit & Wayne State when you come to a place like Wayne State.
Also, ask tonssss of questions. There unfortunately doesn't seem to be much of a way to learn about the school other than asking questions and looking at the website :/
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Looks like 1) and 2) have been answered well, and I'll just add a little more about 3) -- There is indeed a lottery for clinical campuses, but it seems that in the end, my colleagues and I at the end of our third year were happy. With the exception of Oakwood, the other hospitals essentially see the same patient population (Oakwood sees a bit more from the surrounding suburban community). In the fourth year, there is no primary clinical campus assignment, and you can choose electives at any of the clinical sites with which Wayne is affiliated. There are even really interesting ones, like the Wayne County Medical Examiner/Forensic Pathology elective (I highly recommend it) and Medical Toxicology at the Poison Control Center of Michigan as just a couple of examples -- crazy interesting stuff that you would only see in Detroit at Wayne.
I'd also agree that the part of Detroit that Wayne State is located is a rapidly growing area, and it's getting populated more and more every year. I'm stoked to see what Midtown and Downtown will look like over these next few years, and it actually makes me want to stay and keep being a part of Detroit's forward momentum. Make no mistake--Wayne State is a big part of that momentum.
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Thanks!
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midtown Detroit is pretty safe. of course, you have to have your wits about you like in any city, but you see people running at night/in the early morning, walking their dogs alone, etc. I have lived in much rougher neighborhoods than midtown, when i was living in other cities. i also bike to class and get around almost exclusively by bicycle and i have never had an issue. bike theft will still happen if you give people enough time to work on liberating your bicycle, so overarching advice is to never lock your bike up outside overnight under any circumstances and to avoid cable style locks as they are too easy to cut through. I've sometimes gone weeks without driving my car so I believe it's definitely possible to not have a car here, just have to be good at planning in advance. Getting an Uber account or Zipcar might be something worth looking into if you need to go on that occasional trip.
as far as living places, in addition to those mentioned above, there are a few places on campus where med students live -- DeRoy Apartments and Chatsworth. Something I know about the school-run apartments (including University Tower) is that they do have an attendant you have to check in with and make guests sign in and stuff (more so DeRoy and University Tower than Chatsworth), so check in with that as you are looking. There are also a few newer lofts that are worth looking into as well -- The Auburn on Cass Avenue (a few blocks from school), 3909 Woodward Apartments (some might be purchase-only condos). Lots of places that are potential options and more are popping up all the time. I *definitely* recommend getting yourself on a waiting list now. There are other neighborhoods where students live but that's a pretty good start.
as far as living places, in addition to those mentioned above, there are a few places on campus where med students live -- DeRoy Apartments and Chatsworth. Something I know about the school-run apartments (including University Tower) is that they do have an attendant you have to check in with and make guests sign in and stuff (more so DeRoy and University Tower than Chatsworth), so check in with that as you are looking. There are also a few newer lofts that are worth looking into as well -- The Auburn on Cass Avenue (a few blocks from school), 3909 Woodward Apartments (some might be purchase-only condos). Lots of places that are potential options and more are popping up all the time. I *definitely* recommend getting yourself on a waiting list now. There are other neighborhoods where students live but that's a pretty good start.
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Just a heads up for first year, you will have a class called Clinical Medicine where you are assigned a location to meet in a small group with a physician about once a week. This is decided via lottery, but some of the meeting sites are as far as Westland or Rochester Hills (other sites are on campus or hospital locations near campus). Throughout first and second year, there will also be many volunteering opportunities (clinics and outreach) that are spread throughout Detroit and neighboring cities, which definitely require a car. That being said, if you're going to be without a car, make sure you're prepared to work out getting many rides from your fellow students.
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I just interviewed -- it was pretty laid back.... We went on an optional lunch/tour with a couple students and then waited around until our interview times. It was a 1 hour one-on-one interview with one member of the admissions committee. They have full access to your AMCAS application, letters of rec, secondary essays, etc. Mine was very conversational rather than just being grilled about my application.
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I did clerkships through DMC, so much of my experience is based on that. If any third or fourth year is spending their time at Henry Ford, Oakwood, or St. John, please chime in! I will also be biased toward the strengths because I loved and enjoyed my experience at Wayne--not every Wayne student may have had the same experience.
Strengths: easily the clinical experience. The affiliated hospitals of Wayne essentially act as a safety net to the very poor, very sick people of Detroit. You will see manifestations of disease further along the natural history of the disease than at most other places. You will be challenged to be adaptive and creative as a clinician in working up your patients because often times, patients lack the socioeconomic infrastructure or health literacy to communicate their illness or advocate for themselves. You have to be the advocate for their health. You will also be challenged to be adaptive and creative in how you manage and treat patients--you can't always expect them all to follow their regimen as well as someone who is a middle-class suburban patient--there are just far too many variables that determine differences in their health outcomes. The thing is, as a medical student caring for these patients, they will teach you much about how to be a caring, compassionate physician who is well-versed in the biopsychosocial challenges that patients face. You will work with attending physicians who choose to stay in Detroit because they have a vested concern for and interest in its people. Additionally, DMC and Henry Ford have a medical-student friendly culture when it comes to autonomy--you will do plenty of procedures on patients because oftentimes, the residents and nurses are grateful for the help (a safety net academic hospital is not as well-resourced as a community suburban academic center). And for the same reasons, you will be given much autonomy in all the ways physicians interact with their patients--there is no shortage of patients. Additionally, Wayne is an urban research university, the only one in Michigan, and the medical school is its biggest source of research funds. It may not have the annual funding of U of M or other monstrous academic centers, but as others have stated, you will not have a problem finding research opportunities. Some particular strengths are that Wayne has one of the two major Michigan pediatric tertiary referral centers, Children's Hospital of Michigan, which also houses the Poison Control Center of Michigan (good toxicology experience) and much of the state's newborn screening positive tests will end up here. The only part of the NIH (to my knowledge) that is not in Maryland is here in Detroit--the Perinatology Research Branch, so if you're into Ob or Peds, you get some cool research opportunities and faculty. Detroit Receiving Hospital and Henry Ford Hospital are some of the oldest emergency medicine residency programs in the country--Judith Tintinalli (author of one of the two big texts in EM) was the program director here, and Emmanuel Rivers at Henry Ford published the landmark NEJM paper on early goal-directed therapy for sepsis. Trauma is big here--we have Lucas and Ledgerwood who are legendary trauma surgeons, Detroit Receiving was Michigan's first Level I trauma center, and we host the annual Trauma Symposium. I consider the class size a strength because with 290 students per class, we then have a student organization for nearly any interest under the sun. This is possible because there are enough students to staff the executive boards and pour back into the community outreach and scholarly life of the medical school. You still get a small group feel because small discussion groups are a regular part of the curriculum, and in the third year, you will follow a set track with about 30 other students, building camaraderie with that group as well. As I mentioned before, you get to experience first hand the revival of one of America's great cities of the past. There is a very cool grassroots feel in Detroit, a feeling like if you wanted to do something, you need only to go out and do it yourself. It's really inspiring and encouraging, and you can tell that our student body is influenced by it--many students started their own student-run free clinic (the first in Michigan!) and the first student-led street medicine initiative for the homeless (the first in Michigan!). Plus, you have all the arts and culture of Detroit to enjoy! (Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Michigan Opera, Wayne State Theaters, Tigers, Lions, Red Wings, museums, Michigan craft brews, Dearborn, Mexicantown, Hamtramck, Greektown, etc). Also, in-state tuition is pretty decent, and it seems that there is decent scholarship support based on need and merit.
Weaknesses: the hospital systems don't have as much notoriety and influence because they don't top U.S. News lists. Being that the hospitals have a more safety net/inner city/county feel, they are not as well-resourced--some facilities may not be as new. If it's important to you that every part of the hospital that you rotate through is clean and pristine, this may turn you away. The patient-to-nurse ratio can be higher than at more well-resourced hospitals, meaning nurses have to watch over many more patients who themselves are more complicated and are thus busier and more worked. Some of the rotations may just plain be more rigorous or difficult because of the steep learning curve of the clinical environment (sick patients, difficult patients, many social issues to address, less staffing). This is the other side of the double-edged sword: this may sometimes translate into nurses that are more flustered or patients that are more disgruntled; what allows you more freedom, autonomy, and a clinically-challenging environment may also bring with it a less cheerful atmosphere at times. Some students, rather than develop a passion and concern for the challenging patient population, may instead grow resentful, disillusioned, or frustrated with the patients because of additional psychosocial difficulties inherent in an underserved, underinsured community. It may seem like the class is not cohesive because it is so large. Some may be put off by the possibility that they may not get to know everyone in their class. People may be intimidated by living in Detroit. Use of the lottery system to determine your third year clinical campus means that you don't have complete control over where you'll go for third year. It's possible that you may have your heart set on rotating through Oakwood but may get DMC instead, or vice versa, and you may or may not be able to find someone to switch sites with you. Out-of-state tuition is super high cost.
These are just my reflections, so other med students may have more to add, or they may temper what I found with their own experiences. Ultimately, I am grateful for my training here, and I believe I'll be a better physician for having worked with this population at this institution.
In the event of extenuating circumstances (like you can't afford to buy a car and you are from New York and have never gotten a license), they will do their best to accommodate you and try to put you in a group on campus. Of course, there's only one person I know who did this, so n=1 so far.
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What date were you complete?
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Wayne has the one-on-one traditional interview format - it's also open file.
mind sharing when your interview is scheduled for?
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Withdrawing my app, hope my November tenth interview goes to one of you all!
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Yeah, you should be fine. Just make sure to leave by 2. I think I was done by 1-ish.
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This depends what time your interview is sscheduled for, which it should say on your offer letter (usually 10,11,1,2,3 I think) if you have a 3 o clock forget about it. 2 probably still too close for comfort but any earlier you should be ok, they take about 45 minutes
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I interviewed in 2011 but I changed my interview date to be more convenient to my thanksgiving travel plans. I was living on the east coast at the time, got my interview date for December 10th or so, asked them if i could change to some time closer to the Thanksgiving holiday (when I would be traveling to see my family in Ohio), and they worked with me to schedule me in to an open day on November 18th. This saved me an additional trip so I'm thankful to both the school and my boss for being so accommodating.
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My day no one interviewed past 11 AM that I know of.
