I have a question regarding the atmosphere of the student body. I know UCI is a commuter school and it seems like most students are from Southern Cali. Does the class hang out often and are there social events planned? Does it feel like a family atmosphere at the school or is it more competitive?
I was also wondering what the extent of your clinical experiences are the first two years. Do you have opportunities to go on rounds in the hospital or shadow with a preceptor?
Thanks for your help!
A large majority of the students at UCISOM are indeed from California, our two biggest feeders are UCLA, UCI, followed by Stanford, and Berkley if I'm not mistaken (I came from a small school, so don't worry!).
I would say that my class is friendly/not too competitive (with the occasional exception) and there is a good amount of socializing. The class presidents generally plan events for the night after our exams and there are a couple school-wide socials throughout the year... but there are plenty of unstructured parties/kickbacks/barhops if you're into that sort of thing. One of the cool things about UCI is that the small class size means you, as an individual, can have an impact on the class' social dynamic. For example, I hosted a number of TV nights (walking dead, the knick, scrubs, GoT, etc...) at my place last year and tried to be as inclusive as possible to prevent people from feeling isolated.
MS1s and MS2s gain significant clinical exposure through a new clerkship program called PACE (PAtient-CEntered... I didn't name it). Basically, after you've completed the majority of your "how to be a doctor" course in MS1 (Clinical Foundations I) you begin seeing patients in a Family med, Peds, or OB Gyn clinic under a preceptor. The PACE program may start with some shadowing, but the goal is that by your 3rd or 4th session you should be seeing patients on your own and reporting back to your preceptor/receiving feedback on missing info and presentation skills. In MS2 you continue this program (under the same preceptor, if things don't change) and get to further refine your skills. Outside of PACE there is a decent amount of free time in the curriculum for shadowing/research/whatever else you want to do.
The downside of PACE is that everyone's experience is very different. I'm in a Peds clinic doing mostly WCCs (well child checkups) with the occasional sick visit, whereas some of my classmates are getting a more comprehensive exposure through their experience. I'm developing some of my soft skills by having to talk to parents about their children, but I can't help but wonder what my experience would be like if I were coming across all of the bugs that we learned in Micro and the diseases we've learned in Path.
Best of luck!
