2015-2016 Central Michigan University Application Thread

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lollipop864 said:
wait, there's a priority waitlist this year? i was under the impression that there wouldn't be one...
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Thats the thing ! I didnt see anybody saying that they were placed on priority waitlist ! So I thought maybe they dont have one this year ! IS ANYBODY PLACED ON PRIORITY WAITLIST THIS YEAR ?
I also like to know when does CMU start accepting people from the waitlist and what are the chances of being accepted?
 
Got the waitlist email this morning. Interviewed on 2/19 and thought that i did very well. Very disappointing, though I guess it is better than being placed on Hold. I do not believe there is a priority waitlist this year. I was told that there was the Hold list, which is pretty much like the bottom of the waitlist.
 
skip459 said:
Quick question for those accepted, can we email the scholarship application or does it need to be mailed in?
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I'm a current M1 and faxed my application last year. I am quite sure you can send it other ways than just by mail. Contact financial aid to be sure, though.
 
Em4234 said:
I guess nobody heard anything today then (tomorrow is the big day :xf::luck:) ! I was looking at the last year's thread and some people said if you get your interview in Jan/Feb you are pretty much interviewing for the waitlist since most of the spots are alrdy filled up 🙁 hopefully that's not the case. Anybody knows anything about that ?
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Last year, there were at least 6 people from my group of 12 interviewed students during mid-January. I can't speak for the others and whether they were waitlisted or not; however, I was accepted without going to the waitlist.
 
As a CMU Medical student finishing up my first year I have some valuable insight that I wish to share with prospective students. The most important piece of advice that I have is: Run away while you still can. I know that this may come as a shock to hear somebody actually saying something negative for once, but I feel that this side of the story should be heard. I can confidently say that I speak for a considerable number of students when I say that this medical "school" is absolutely awful. The faculty have no interest in teaching students. The facilities are on par with those of an inner city high school. The curriculum is convoluted and inefficient. You are repeatedly shot down from pursuing a medical specialty that interests you and coerced into going into family medicine. Mount Pleasant is a dying (if not already dead) town with nothing to do but to drink your sorrows away. And our step scores, let's not even go there. I made a mistake and I want to discourage you from following in my path.
 
Fireitupchips said:
As a CMU Medical student finishing up my first year I have some valuable insight that I wish to share with prospective students. The most important piece of advice that I have is: Run away while you still can. I know that this may come as a shock to hear somebody actually saying something negative for once, but I feel that this side of the story should be heard. I can confidently say that I speak for a considerable number of students when I say that this medical "school" is absolutely awful. The faculty have no interest in teaching students. The facilities are on par with those of an inner city high school. The curriculum is convoluted and inefficient. You are repeatedly shot down from pursuing a medical specialty that interests you and coerced into going into family medicine. Mount Pleasant is a dying (if not already dead) town with nothing to do but to drink your sorrows away. And our step scores, let's not even go there. I made a mistake and I want to discourage you from following in my path.
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Thank you for sharing your insights. I have this idea about the school that I would like your comments on. Do you think that the school's curriculum is convoluted and inefficient because they understand that you don't need high step scores to match into family medicine in rural/underserved areas?
 
Fireitupchips said:
As a CMU Medical student finishing up my first year I have some valuable insight that I wish to share with prospective students. The most important piece of advice that I have is: Run away while you still can. I know that this may come as a shock to hear somebody actually saying something negative for once, but I feel that this side of the story should be heard. I can confidently say that I speak for a considerable number of students when I say that this medical "school" is absolutely awful. The faculty have no interest in teaching students. The facilities are on par with those of an inner city high school. The curriculum is convoluted and inefficient. You are repeatedly shot down from pursuing a medical specialty that interests you and coerced into going into family medicine. Mount Pleasant is a dying (if not already dead) town with nothing to do but to drink your sorrows away. And our step scores, let's not even go there. I made a mistake and I want to discourage you from following in my path.
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This is kinda hard for me to believe without questioning the validity.. "fireupchips," first post, just tearing apart his/her school inside out.
 
Fireitupchips said:
As a CMU Medical student finishing up my first year I have some valuable insight that I wish to share with prospective students. The most important piece of advice that I have is: Run away while you still can. I know that this may come as a shock to hear somebody actually saying something negative for once, but I feel that this side of the story should be heard. I can confidently say that I speak for a considerable number of students when I say that this medical "school" is absolutely awful. The faculty have no interest in teaching students. The facilities are on par with those of an inner city high school. The curriculum is convoluted and inefficient. You are repeatedly shot down from pursuing a medical specialty that interests you and coerced into going into family medicine. Mount Pleasant is a dying (if not already dead) town with nothing to do but to drink your sorrows away. And our step scores, let's not even go there. I made a mistake and I want to discourage you from following in my path.
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Why not just find a different med school if you're only one year in then?


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Chips sounds similar to a troll on the WMed forum, nothing constructive to say, and nothing of any value to say. I know current students who are thrilled with the school and their learning, as well as the teachers and brand new facilities. These being students of affluent families with high end doctors as parents. I also personally know people living in Mount Pleasant, and it's a little Michigan town with little Michigan town charm. I've spent time there being a Michigan native. If you want a bouncing city life, it's not for you. But if you want a bouncing city life, why are you going to medical school...

Some people get kicks from tearing others down and destroying their dreams. Let's be honest, for many of us this is our only choice in schools. If I remain one of them, I will be a proud CMed student and do my best to make my experience and that of my fellow students' better... Not shred my school, its students, their dreams. And honestly, only an unlikely acceptance into my dream school will pull me from CMed.

Who do you think will be the better doctor, those with chip's attitude? Or those who share mine?

My suggestion, don't feed the trolls.
 
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Fireitupchips said:
As a CMU Medical student finishing up my first year I have some valuable insight that I wish to share with prospective students. The most important piece of advice that I have is: Run away while you still can. I know that this may come as a shock to hear somebody actually saying something negative for once, but I feel that this side of the story should be heard. I can confidently say that I speak for a considerable number of students when I say that this medical "school" is absolutely awful. The faculty have no interest in teaching students. The facilities are on par with those of an inner city high school. The curriculum is convoluted and inefficient. You are repeatedly shot down from pursuing a medical specialty that interests you and coerced into going into family medicine. Mount Pleasant is a dying (if not already dead) town with nothing to do but to drink your sorrows away. And our step scores, let's not even go there. I made a mistake and I want to discourage you from following in my path.
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Current M2 student...never posted on here but felt compelled. While I cannot be 100% sure...I am highly skeptical that the above poster is an actual CMED student. I feel we have a very tight knit group (both M1's and M2's) and pretty much every point the above poster made is exactly the opposite of how it is at CMED. I'm not sure an M1 would know any more about step scores than the rest of us and from what I know...a 99% pass rate from the current M3's...well, that is above the National average and sounds pretty good. Just one more reason why I am highly skeptical of the poster. I'm sure there are students who are not all rainbows and butterflies about CMED, but you would probably find that attitude follows them anywhere. I know the overwhelming majority of students at CMED are very happy and love the curriculum, faculty and MP for that matter. I hope this helps.
 
To be honest, I would be surprised if CMED's STEP1 average was above the national mean. This school is very new, and to think after three years the class average would be ahead of around half other medical students in the country is a bit of a stretch to me. BUT THAT IS OKAY. The pass rate is an important metric in this case. Over time, CMED will improve their averages.

And for what it's worth, I've never heard a CMED student share the above poster's sentiment. That's not to say it's not possible that someone might be unhappy there, but it seems to be against the grain.
 
anthonycrispino said:
To be honest, I would be surprised if CMED's STEP1 average was above the national mean. This school is very new, and to think after three years the class average would be ahead of around half other medical students in the country is a bit of a stretch to me. BUT THAT IS OKAY. The pass rate is an important metric in this case. Over time, CMED will improve their averages.

And for what it's worth, I've never heard a CMED student share the above poster's sentiment. That's not to say it's not possible that someone might be unhappy there, but it seems to be against the grain.
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Are step score averages published somewhere???
 
NextJamesAndrews12 said:
Are step score averages published somewhere???
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Not that I am aware of. I'm assuming it's in the range of 218-222 average. That's just my guess. I'm not sure how we could find out the real answer.

Some school's publish thier own, but there's no national repository for public data like MSAR.
 
anthonycrispino said:
Not that I am aware of. I'm assuming it's in the range of 218-222 average. That's just my guess. I'm not sure how we could find out the real answer.

Some school's publish thier own, but there's no national repository for public data like MSAR.
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Maybe they will let us know at second look day? I'm not sure, but it is definitely something I'd like to know.
 
anthonycrispino said:
To be honest, I would be surprised if CMED's STEP1 average was above the national mean. This school is very new, and to think after three years the class average would be ahead of around half other medical students in the country is a bit of a stretch to me. BUT THAT IS OKAY. The pass rate is an important metric in this case. Over time, CMED will improve their averages.

And for what it's worth, I've never heard a CMED student share the above poster's sentiment. That's not to say it's not possible that someone might be unhappy there, but it seems to be against the grain.
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Keep in mind that only 64 students took the Step1...so I don't think 99% pass rate is that odd and that it is above the National average. Plus, our Dean has already stated that average...so I'm pretty sure it is true.
 
FutureMDDream said:
Keep in mind that only 64 students took the Step1...so I don't think 99% pass rate is that odd and that it is above the National average. Plus, our Dean has already stated that average...so I'm pretty sure it is true.
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I wasn't referring to the pass rate. I was referring to the mean score. I have no doubt about the pass rate of this school being above the national average.

I know the school adequately prepares students to take the exam, but what myself and other future students are interested in how well their curriculum style prepares students not only to pass the STEP1, but to do well.
 
anthonycrispino said:
I wasn't referring to the pass rate. I was referring to the mean score. I have no doubt about the pass rate of this school being above the national average.

I know the school adequately prepares students to take the exam, but what myself and other future students are interested in how well their curriculum style prepares students not only to pass the STEP1, but to do well.
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While I do think the curriculum prepares us well, as do the exams (portions of every exam are retired test bank questions), faculty and our learning specialist. I also take the stance that the Step exams are in many ways completely on me/us to prepare for properly. Sort of like how MCAT scores don't reflect on the undergraduate college one went to but how well the individual prepared.
 
NextJamesAndrews12 said:
Are step score averages published somewhere???
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I asked the current medical students in my interview and they said that the step 1 scores were slightly below the average national score however the pass rate was good. Again its a new school as Anthony mentioned above so it makes sense.
 
FutureMDDream said:
Current M2 student...never posted on here but felt compelled. While I cannot be 100% sure...I am highly skeptical that the above poster is an actual CMED student. I feel we have a very tight knit group (both M1's and M2's) and pretty much every point the above poster made is exactly the opposite of how it is at CMED. I'm not sure an M1 would know any more about step scores than the rest of us and from what I know...a 99% pass rate from the current M3's...well, that is above the National average and sounds pretty good. Just one more reason why I am highly skeptical of the poster. I'm sure there are students who are not all rainbows and butterflies about CMED, but you would probably find that attitude follows them anywhere. I know the overwhelming majority of students at CMED are very happy and love the curriculum, faculty and MP for that matter. I hope this helps.
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Notice how defensive and touchy everybody is getting. That's how they got me and that's how they will get you: They sell, sell, sell like they are trying to push penny stocks. Students know that this school is bottom tier, but they want to stroke their egos and give the impression that they are attending an ivy league institution. I didn't hear a single negative thing about this school as a prospective student, but as soon as I was an enrolled student the b****ing and moaning began.

Also I don't know why everybody is discrediting step. Everybody on here keeps shooting down step saying "we don't need that because we want to do family medicine", but the truth is the step reflects your competence and grasp of the basic sciences. What people are really saying is when they discredit the step is that they are not invested in becoming competent doctors, and this makes me worry for future patients.
 
Fireitupchips said:
Notice how defensive and touchy everybody is getting. That's how they got me and that's how they will get you: They sell, sell, sell like they are trying to push penny stocks. Students know that this school is bottom tier, but they want to stroke their egos and give the impression that they are attending an ivy league institution. I didn't hear a single negative thing about this school as a prospective student, but as soon as I was an enrolled student the b****ing and moaning began.

Also I don't know why everybody is discrediting step. Everybody on here keeps shooting down step saying "we don't need that because we want to do family medicine", but the truth is the step reflects your competence and grasp of the basic sciences. What people are really saying is when they discredit the step is that they are not invested in becoming competent doctors, and this makes me worry for future patients.
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Not a single person in this thread discredited the STEP exam, @URMinority just asked a question about the curriculum and STEP, which you didn't answer anyway. We are all well aware that doing poorly lessens your chances of matching where you want and/or matching at all. We were discussing the mean score of the M3 class, which is entirely appropriate to talk about.

Plot twist: @Fireitupchips is actually a wait listed student trying to get accepted students to defer their acceptances so he or she might have a better chance of getting in. After all, your first post came a day after the last round of batch acceptances were offered and you probably know that waitlist movement will be the only means of acceptance at this point. But that's just a theory....
 
anthonycrispino said:
Not a single person in this thread discredited the STEP exam. We are all well aware that doing poorly lessens your chances of matching where you want and/or matching at all. We were discussing the mean score of the M3 class, which is entirely appropriate to talk about.

Plot twist: @Fireitupchips is actually a wait listed student trying to get accepted students to defer their acceptances so he or she might have a better chance of getting in. After all, your first post came a day after the last round of batch acceptances were offered and you probably know that waitlist movement will be the only means of acceptance at this point. But that's just a theory....
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Literally my exact thoughts! lol just all fits too well to not be the case!
 
Keep pushing those penny stocks. I just hope that those prospective students considering a career in medicine have the ability to see through the smoke and mirrors. LCME did when they postponed accreditation a year. The ex-Dean did when he packed his bags and jumped ship. Residency programs will when they realize our step scores are well below where they should be. (A 99% pass rate means nothing if everybody barely passed). Just wanted to bring another perspective to the table. You all can silence me and thwart freedom of speech all you want, but I think the facts speak for themselves.
 
I do not think anyone should base their decision as to where to attend on SDN ! Even if @Fireitupchips is a current med student he/she maybe just expressing his/her personal experience which is most likely irrelevant to others!
To those accepted (congratz!!) dont make the biggest decision of your life based on what you read here. Attend a school that best fits your own goals and you feel like it best prepares you for step 1 (based on your learning style) to succeed in your future goals (residency etc).
 
Fireitupchips said:
Keep pushing those penny stocks. I just hope that those prospective students considering a career in medicine have the ability to see through the smoke and mirrors. LCME did when they postponed accreditation a year. The ex-Dean did when he packed his bags and jumped ship. Residency programs will when they realize our step scores are well below where they should be. (A 99% pass rate means nothing if everybody barely passed). Just wanted to bring another perspective to the table. You all can silence me and thwart freedom of speech all you want, but I think the facts speak for themselves.
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No one is thwarting your freedom of speech. Rather, we're taking your comments with a grain of salt. You're free to post and say whatever you please.

Could you please elaborate on LCME postponing accreditation? How were the current students informed of that?
 
anthonycrispino said:
Thanks! I wonder how the timeline is from here on out.
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From my understanding the timeline hasn't/doesn't change...the provisional accreditation will be most likely granted after the visit in May and CMED or any new medical school cannot be fully accredited until the inaugural class is ready to graduate. So, there will be another visit in 2017 and then the school should be set until next round of accreditation.
 
FutureMDDream said:
From my understanding the timeline hasn't/doesn't change...the provisional accreditation will be most likely granted after the visit in May and CMED or any new medical school cannot be fully accredited until the inaugural class is ready to graduate. So, there will be another visit in 2017 and then the school should be set until next round of accreditation.
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Awesome. Thanks for that information. Could you maybe explain how anatomy is taught? I understand the organ system based lecturing, but is there anatomy lab mixed in? Thanks!
 
anthonycrispino said:
Awesome. Thanks for that information. Could you maybe explain how anatomy is taught? I understand the organ system based lecturing, but is there anatomy lab mixed in? Thanks!
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Anatomy is built into your entire year 1 and 2...your organ system courses will integrate with anatomy, as well as your standardized patient encounters, so you will have exposure to anatomy for pretty much 2 years.
 
FutureMDDream said:
Anatomy is built into your entire year 1 and 2...your organ system courses will integrate with anatomy, as well as your standardized patient encounters, so you will have exposure to anatomy for pretty much 2 years.
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Is there any cadaver dissection/prosection?
 
So for those curious about the Step scores of the first year classes I will copy and past the letter we recieved from our associate dean for academic affairs that was first sent to faculty then to students. But just a reminder that our first year students had a different curriculm that the current students so scores should increase as the curriculm becomes more tailored. Also this was sent to us in November, so more students may have passes, and the pool of students is very small compared to the other schools in Michigan.

"Dear Faculty,

The results from the NBME Step 1 results for first time attempt and most recent repeat attempts have been received.

Of the 64 College of Medicine Students, 56 (88%) recorded a passing score compared to 96% among all other US and Canadian Schools. The total CMED test mean score was 220 with a standard deviation of 19, with a mean score for all other takers of 229 and a standard deviation of 20.

Of the most recent CMED retakers 3 of the 4 have recorded a passing score of 75% exactly the same as all other takers (105 of 140). Thus at the present time 95% of our CMED students have passed Step 1.

The mean of recent CMED retakers was 196 with a standard deviation of 9. While the mean of all US and Canadian retakers was 200 with a standard deviation of 12, all CMED students scored within one standard deviation on subject matter and organ systems content areas,with the exception of Biostatistics and Epidemiology/Population Health. Major correction to the curriculum for the current Year 2 class will alleviate the Biostatistics and Epidemiology/Population Health results."

As for the so called first year, I would take everything he says with a grain of salt. It's true Mount Pleasnat is a small town, but there is always something going on, whether it's a presentation by a sig or an event in Midland. And honestly we don't have tons of time to go out and "party" or "drink our sorrows away."

As for the choice of specialty, the school can't really do anything about what you chose to go into. Of course the emphasis of the school is general practice, that's their mission statement, but once you do steps and start applying for residency programs they can't really do anything about what you choose. And all of the staff is really supportive of what you chose to do. We have students who are outspoken about wanting to go into ENT or anesthesia and the staff (especial Dr. Drake, our education specialist) is really supportive in getting you to be where you need to be to get into those programs.

Also the first years are no where near finishing up their first year. We are in classes until June 17th (I think).

Not really sure what else the other "first year" has said, but we chose CMU for a reason, and if you are unhappy with it you should talk to some of the staff or other students and see what can be done. Things are constantly changing at schools, so things can be altered.
 
SwimOn said:
So for those curious about the Step scores of the first year classes I will copy and past the letter we recieved from our associate dean for academic affairs that was first sent to faculty then to students. But just a reminder that our first year students had a different curriculm that the current students so scores should increase as the curriculm becomes more tailored. Also this was sent to us in November, so more students may have passes, and the pool of students is very small compared to the other schools in Michigan.

"Dear Faculty,

The results from the NBME Step 1 results for first time attempt and most recent repeat attempts have been received.

Of the 64 College of Medicine Students, 56 (88%) recorded a passing score compared to 96% among all other US and Canadian Schools. The total CMED test mean score was 220 with a standard deviation of 19, with a mean score for all other takers of 229 and a standard deviation of 20.

Of the most recent CMED retakers 3 of the 4 have recorded a passing score of 75% exactly the same as all other takers (105 of 140). Thus at the present time 95% of our CMED students have passed Step 1.

The mean of recent CMED retakers was 196 with a standard deviation of 9. While the mean of all US and Canadian retakers was 200 with a standard deviation of 12, all CMED students scored within one standard deviation on subject matter and organ systems content areas,with the exception of Biostatistics and Epidemiology/Population Health. Major correction to the curriculum for the current Year 2 class will alleviate the Biostatistics and Epidemiology/Population Health results."

As for the so called first year, I would take everything he says with a grain of salt. It's true Mount Pleasnat is a small town, but there is always something going on, whether it's a presentation by a sig or an event in Midland. And honestly we don't have tons of time to go out and "party" or "drink our sorrows away."

As for the choice of specialty, the school can't really do anything about what you chose to go into. Of course the emphasis of the school is general practice, that's their mission statement, but once you do steps and start applying for residency programs they can't really do anything about what you choose. And all of the staff is really supportive of what you chose to do. We have students who are outspoken about wanting to go into ENT or anesthesia and the staff (especial Dr. Drake, our education specialist) is really supportive in getting you to be where you need to be to get into those programs.

Also the first years are no where near finishing up their first year. We are in classes until June 17th (I think).

Not really sure what else the other "first year" has said, but we chose CMU for a reason, and if you are unhappy with it you should talk to some of the staff or other students and see what can be done. Things are constantly changing at schools, so things can be altered.
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Long time lurker, feel the need to reply. These numbers for step 1 first-time attempt pass rates are very worrisome. If the numbers you posted are true, 12% of CMED's inaugural class will have a giant red flag on their residency applications (a step failure). This will make it difficult - though not impossible - for them to match into any residency, including family med. Their best shot at matching would be your home institution's own FM program, which per a quick google search has only 6 slots per year. While they may take some of those students who have one prior failed attempt (in an effort to help the school), they likely wouldn't want to fill their entire residency class with residents who have a previous step failure, as this doesn't bode well for step 3 and specialty-specific board pass rates in residency, which in turn impacts ACGME accreditation of a residency program.

I'm not quite understanding the second half of the bolded sentence. Regardless, from the first half, sounds like one of four (at the time) re-takers failed on second attempt. While I hate to single out an individual, and I would imagine that student likely had significant personal problems that led to such an unfortunate circumstance, that student has an incredibly high likelihood of not matching into any specialty - period, and again, not even family medicine.

Did the LCME's decision to keep CMED at preliminary accreditation occur prior to the current M3's having received their step 1 scores? If so, I can't imagine the next site visit going well...I feel bad for current M2's, as the onus is on them to really shine on step. Otherwise the LCME will likely have some very valid concerns.

Step 1 is largely an individual effort of course, but most failure situations would be where a student had a stressful event occur during study period (i.e. sudden death of a parent), or has a learning disability, etc...a 12% failure rate is not something to brush off.
 
We had a 1st year diagnosed with cancer in their second year. And I'm almost positive they are no longer planning to apply for residency. So that may be the case.

Also the curriculum between the first years and second years has changed quite dramatically.

Accreditation status is reviewed in May/June, so before scores.
 
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Was CMED supposed to receive provisional accreditation in November? Were current med students updated on the current accreditation process/status?
 
012phone345 said:
Long time lurker, feel the need to reply. These numbers for step 1 first-time attempt pass rates are very worrisome. If the numbers you posted are true, 12% of CMED's inaugural class will have a giant red flag on their residency applications (a step failure). This will make it difficult - though not impossible - for them to match into any residency, including family med. Their best shot at matching would be your home institution's own FM program, which per a quick google search has only 6 slots per year. While they may take some of those students who have one prior failed attempt (in an effort to help the school), they likely wouldn't want to fill their entire residency class with residents who have a previous step failure, as this doesn't bode well for step 3 and specialty-specific board pass rates in residency, which in turn impacts ACGME accreditation of a residency program.

I'm not quite understanding the second half of the bolded sentence. Regardless, from the first half, sounds like one of four (at the time) re-takers failed on second attempt. While I hate to single out an individual, and I would imagine that student likely had significant personal problems that led to such an unfortunate circumstance, that student has an incredibly high likelihood of not matching into any specialty - period, and again, not even family medicine.

Did the LCME's decision to keep CMED at preliminary accreditation occur prior to the current M3's having received their step 1 scores? If so, I can't imagine the next site visit going well...I feel bad for current M2's, as the onus is on them to really shine on step. Otherwise the LCME will likely have some very valid concerns.

Step 1 is largely an individual effort of course, but most failure situations would be where a student had a stressful event occur during study period (i.e. sudden death of a parent), or has a learning disability, etc...a 12% failure rate is not something to brush off.
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There was only 1 student who had not passed step by the second attempt...so 99% of the M3's passed by their second attempt. While not ideal, having to take a second attempt to pass step1 is far from a death sentence and while they can probably forget about Derm, Radiology, etc. their ability to secure a residency is certainly still alive. I do think the current M2 class is far more prepared for step than the first class, curriculum changes, addition of Dr. Drake as mentioned above to name a few. Interesting about the LCME, since there are med schools that don't even require you to pass step1 to continue on, I wonder how much they are even concerned about a schools pass rate. I think it is hard and maybe even unfair to label a school on the performance of its first 64 students, I'm sure 3-4 years down the road the pass rates will begin to look like the national means.
 
SwimOn said:
So for those curious about the Step scores of the first year classes I will copy and past the letter we recieved from our associate dean for academic affairs that was first sent to faculty then to students. But just a reminder that our first year students had a different curriculm that the current students so scores should increase as the curriculm becomes more tailored. Also this was sent to us in November, so more students may have passes, and the pool of students is very small compared to the other schools in Michigan.

"Dear Faculty,

The results from the NBME Step 1 results for first time attempt and most recent repeat attempts have been received.

Of the 64 College of Medicine Students, 56 (88%) recorded a passing score compared to 96% among all other US and Canadian Schools. The total CMED test mean score was 220 with a standard deviation of 19, with a mean score for all other takers of 229 and a standard deviation of 20.

Of the most recent CMED retakers 3 of the 4 have recorded a passing score of 75% exactly the same as all other takers (105 of 140). Thus at the present time 95% of our CMED students have passed Step 1.

The mean of recent CMED retakers was 196 with a standard deviation of 9. While the mean of all US and Canadian retakers was 200 with a standard deviation of 12, all CMED students scored within one standard deviation on subject matter and organ systems content areas,with the exception of Biostatistics and Epidemiology/Population Health. Major correction to the curriculum for the current Year 2 class will alleviate the Biostatistics and Epidemiology/Population Health results."

As for the so called first year, I would take everything he says with a grain of salt. It's true Mount Pleasnat is a small town, but there is always something going on, whether it's a presentation by a sig or an event in Midland. And honestly we don't have tons of time to go out and "party" or "drink our sorrows away."

As for the choice of specialty, the school can't really do anything about what you chose to go into. Of course the emphasis of the school is general practice, that's their mission statement, but once you do steps and start applying for residency programs they can't really do anything about what you choose. And all of the staff is really supportive of what you chose to do. We have students who are outspoken about wanting to go into ENT or anesthesia and the staff (especial Dr. Drake, our education specialist) is really supportive in getting you to be where you need to be to get into those programs.

Also the first years are no where near finishing up their first year. We are in classes until June 17th (I think).

Not really sure what else the other "first year" has said, but we chose CMU for a reason, and if you are unhappy with it you should talk to some of the staff or other students and see what can be done. Things are constantly changing at schools, so things can be altered.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the info. 88% is a bit low when compared to the 96% average
 
SwimOn said:
So for those curious about the Step scores of the first year classes I will copy and past the letter we recieved from our associate dean for academic affairs that was first sent to faculty then to students. But just a reminder that our first year students had a different curriculm that the current students so scores should increase as the curriculm becomes more tailored. Also this was sent to us in November, so more students may have passes, and the pool of students is very small compared to the other schools in Michigan.

"Dear Faculty,

The results from the NBME Step 1 results for first time attempt and most recent repeat attempts have been received.

Of the 64 College of Medicine Students, 56 (88%) recorded a passing score compared to 96% among all other US and Canadian Schools. The total CMED test mean score was 220 with a standard deviation of 19, with a mean score for all other takers of 229 and a standard deviation of 20.

Of the most recent CMED retakers 3 of the 4 have recorded a passing score of 75% exactly the same as all other takers (105 of 140). Thus at the present time 95% of our CMED students have passed Step 1.

The mean of recent CMED retakers was 196 with a standard deviation of 9. While the mean of all US and Canadian retakers was 200 with a standard deviation of 12, all CMED students scored within one standard deviation on subject matter and organ systems content areas,with the exception of Biostatistics and Epidemiology/Population Health. Major correction to the curriculum for the current Year 2 class will alleviate the Biostatistics and Epidemiology/Population Health results."

As for the so called first year, I would take everything he says with a grain of salt. It's true Mount Pleasnat is a small town, but there is always something going on, whether it's a presentation by a sig or an event in Midland. And honestly we don't have tons of time to go out and "party" or "drink our sorrows away."

As for the choice of specialty, the school can't really do anything about what you chose to go into. Of course the emphasis of the school is general practice, that's their mission statement, but once you do steps and start applying for residency programs they can't really do anything about what you choose. And all of the staff is really supportive of what you chose to do. We have students who are outspoken about wanting to go into ENT or anesthesia and the staff (especial Dr. Drake, our education specialist) is really supportive in getting you to be where you need to be to get into those programs.

Also the first years are no where near finishing up their first year. We are in classes until June 17th (I think).

Not really sure what else the other "first year" has said, but we chose CMU for a reason, and if you are unhappy with it you should talk to some of the staff or other students and see what can be done. Things are constantly changing at schools, so things can be altered.
Click to expand...

So, as a student who will be the fourth class taking Step, should I be worried about such results? Or should I be feeling more encouraged that the curriculum will more than likely be improving, and should hope to see better results by the time my class takes Step?
 
skip459 said:
So, as a student who will be the fourth class taking Step, should I be worried about such results? Or should I be feeling more encouraged that the curriculum will more than likely be improving, and should hope to see better results by the time my class takes Step?
Click to expand...

Hard to tell you how to feel personally, but I personally think it is not wise to put too much emphasis on the performance of 64 students from an inaugural class in a new medical school. I see no reason why a movement closer to the mean would not happen over the next couple of years.
 
FutureMDDream said:
Hard to tell you how to feel personally, but I personally think it is not wise to put too much emphasis on the performance of 64 students from an inaugural class in a new medical school. I see no reason why a movement closer to the mean would not happen over the next couple of years.
Click to expand...

I would have to agree. And from what I have heard, the addition of new faculty members and changes to the curriculum seem to be what the school needed to improve student's preparation for Step. Are there any other opinions from current medical students on this? (How much you feel the school is preparing you for Step, how much the changes in curriculum/faculty members seem to be helping, etc?)
 
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