2017-2018 Hofstra University

[Aspiringphysiciann]

Maybe I'm over thinking it, but the pass rates seemed surprisingly low to me and when compared to other schools. Personally, Hofstra seemed like a place where those rates would be significantly higher.

(Edited previous comment for clarity)

oh I misunderstood, yea I agree!

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[iKlue]

I think part of Step 2 CK may be people take it at different times depending on whether they report it on residency apps. I would be shocked if if was truly only a 64% pass rate

Yeah, I was definitely thinking in terms of "64% of the students examined," but I suppose it might represent "64% of the entire class." Seems like a weird way to report it if the latter is actually the case. After a quick browse, no other school seems to do it that way though.

 

[AvocadoCamera]

Why is Hofstra no longer ranked for primary care? They used to be #55

 

[docr3]

For those of you who received financial aid offers, was it by email or portal?

 

[SuaveCardigans]

For those of you who received financial aid offers, was it by email or portal?

email

 

[drgweeds]

Any current students willing to chime in on whether Hofstra drug tests first years? I’m assuming they do before EMS training in August but if anyone is willing to confirm that would be appreciated. Thank you!

uhhhhhhh

 

[baganz]

did hofstra drop ranking? isn't that bad for a new school

 

[Seikuken]

did hofstra drop ranking? isn't that bad for a new school

The stayed about the same, moving from 71 to 70 this year.

 

[Foodie5]

Could someone help explain the curriculum to me? I'm still confused about how the preclinical learning works. From my understanding it is mostly problem/team based learning where you are given a case and then you research it together and present it to people? Are there lectures and are they recorded? Is it unranked true pass fail? And how often are there classes? Thanks for the help!

 

[AndyHopkins]

So I asked some of these same questions with their current students- from what I understand, exams are mostly free response and classes are mandatory, not recorded. Half lecture, half group learning. Classes every day of week but duration varies. Some form of weekly assessment.

 

[NYYM]

Looking forward to learning more about the school and meeting prospective and current students at 2nd look!

 

[sunrider]

Could someone help explain the curriculum to me? I'm still confused about how the preclinical learning works. From my understanding it is mostly problem/team based learning where you are given a case and then you research it together and present it to people? Are there lectures and are they recorded? Is it unranked true pass fail? And how often are there classes? Thanks for the help!

8 am to noon daily for most part;

2 hr PEARLS session (problem based, case based learning, group discussion). Trust me... this is where you learn the most of your knowledge. Lectures are there for iteration purposes and to cover few topics that students likely would have missed during their own discussion.
** btw guys, this is how you will have to learn in residency. get used to it fast. I don't understand why some students get freaked out about non-lecture style learning. Do you think when you become an intern, they will hold your hand and spoon feed stuff you need to learn? PEARLs is a GREAT way to learn to be a self-learner.


two hour PEARLS session is followed by 2 hrs of lecture; often topics covered include non-clinical stuff, such as preventing burn-outs, statistics that will show up on Step1/2, etc

On non-PEARLs days (tuesday/thursday); you have hands-on sessions (like anatomy class, ultrasound class).


rarely you have required sessions to attend in the afternoon, but most of the time, afternoon is free for you to study on your own, take a nap (which i did) before studying, or exercising.



Yes exams are non-multiple choice, but this way you can get partial credit. Yes it's pass-fail first 2 yr, No they don't un-cover it for residency application. Mine just said "passed"


Finally, since you are only required to be there for 4 hrs a day, it is mandatory, and they don't record anything. If you are going to spend all that money to go to med school, why the hell would you ever want to skip lectures and watch recording? Makes no sense also. are you not gonna show up as a resident?

 

[triangular390]

take a nap (which i did) before studying

half joking/half serious: where's the best place to take a nap?

 

[Foodie5]

8 am to noon daily for most part;

2 hr PEARLS session (problem based, case based learning, group discussion). Trust me... this is where you learn the most of your knowledge. Lectures are there for iteration purposes and to cover few topics that students likely would have missed during their own discussion.
** btw guys, this is how you will have to learn in residency. get used to it fast. I don't understand why some students get freaked out about non-lecture style learning. Do you think when you become an intern, they will hold your hand and spoon feed stuff you need to learn? PEARLs is a GREAT way to learn to be a self-learner.


two hour PEARLS session is followed by 2 hrs of lecture; often topics covered include non-clinical stuff, such as preventing burn-outs, statistics that will show up on Step1/2, etc

On non-PEARLs days (tuesday/thursday); you have hands-on sessions (like anatomy class, ultrasound class).


rarely you have required sessions to attend in the afternoon, but most of the time, afternoon is free for you to study on your own, take a nap (which i did) before studying, or exercising.



Yes exams are non-multiple choice, but this way you can get partial credit. Yes it's pass-fail first 2 yr, No they don't un-cover it for residency application. Mine just said "passed"


Finally, since you are only required to be there for 4 hrs a day, it is mandatory, and they don't record anything. If you are going to spend all that money to go to med school, why the hell would you ever want to skip lectures and watch recording? Makes no sense also. are you not gonna show up as a resident?

Thanks for the thorough reply! One last question I had was whether you knew the percentage of people who match into their top 3 choices and the percent that do match?

 

[kbac13]

half joking/half serious: where's the best place to take a nap?

The student lounge has some of the most comfortable couches to nap on. Alternatively, some of the classrooms have these massage tables that we often use for physical exam practice and it's like sinking into a memory foam mattress.

 

[member271]

Thanks for the thorough reply! One last question I had was whether you knew the percentage of people who match into their top 3 choices and the percent that do match?

MS4 here. They don't tell us how many get our top 3, but I'd guess (based on my knowledge of my class) that it is about 65-75%, probably toward the upper end. Our match rate is something like 95% with (as far as I know) 100% placement. There are a handful of specialties where the health system is very strong (anesthesia, pediatrics, etc.), and those people usually match just fine. I think that, after this year, we've matched people into every specialty, which is pretty exciting for a new school and only 200 or so matches so far!

 

[sunrider]

Thanks for the thorough reply! One last question I had was whether you knew the percentage of people who match into their top 3 choices and the percent that do match?

Breaking your question down to two parts, from our class

1) everyone matched who participated; ie: MD/PhDs, those who are taking a year off who didn't apply were not counted. A way hofstra displays the match list can be confusing. on the bottom it says "prelim" match or "transitional yr match", and that doesn't mean those ppl only matched to prelim, they are just showing folks who are going into specialty that requires a prelim year (like derm or anesthesia) are "going to these prelim programs"

2) ultimately, it will be difficult to predict how many % of people got their top 3 choices, but i also estimate somewhere 65-75% range. I saw one of my friends cry for getting 2nd choice, while another colleague was happy he got his 6th choice. and unless everyone shares their rank list (and no one really does), it's really difficult to ascertain who got into their top-3.


I will echo current MS4 that Northwell health system is strong in several areas, and not-so in other areas (like CT surgery), which can affect your match. Look at last few year's match list to get a sense what they are strong at, and see if you are interested in those fields.

 

[sunrider]

half joking/half serious: where's the best place to take a nap?

I lived few min from the school, so i just went home and passed out it was great. Finish class at noon, eat something with classmates, nap for few hours, wake up to find sun is still up!

 

[gasparitis895]

Breaking your question down to two parts, from our class

1) everyone matched who participated; ie: MD/PhDs, those who are taking a year off who didn't apply were not counted. A way hofstra displays the match list can be confusing. on the bottom it says "prelim" match or "transitional yr match", and that doesn't mean those ppl only matched to prelim, they are just showing folks who are going into specialty that requires a prelim year (like derm or anesthesia) are "going to these prelim programs"

2) ultimately, it will be difficult to predict how many % of people got their top 3 choices, but i also estimate somewhere 65-75% range. I saw one of my friends cry for getting 2nd choice, while another colleague was happy he got his 6th choice. and unless everyone shares their rank list (and no one really does), it's really difficult to ascertain who got into their top-3.


I will echo current MS4 that Northwell health system is strong in several areas, and not-so in other areas (like CT surgery), which can affect your match. Look at last few year's match list to get a sense what they are strong at, and see if you are interested in those fields.

Thanks for your reply! I was just wondering if you could expand more on which areas the Northwell health system is strong in. Looking at the match list alot of students match back at Hofstra which could be a really good thing or a bad thing. So looking at the match list for what I am interested in (gen surg) I can't really tell if they are strong in that area or not (although they do match in some impressive programs in the past like New York Pres, Columbia, etc

 

[member271]

Breaking your question down to two parts, from our class

1) everyone matched who participated; ie: MD/PhDs, those who are taking a year off who didn't apply were not counted. A way hofstra displays the match list can be confusing. on the bottom it says "prelim" match or "transitional yr match", and that doesn't mean those ppl only matched to prelim, they are just showing folks who are going into specialty that requires a prelim year (like derm or anesthesia) are "going to these prelim programs"

This is not correct. We've had a number of SOAPs every year after the first, as does every school. I'm not sure how many we had this year, but it was not 0. I think everyone got a PGY1 position.

Thanks for your reply! I was just wondering if you could expand more on which areas the Northwell health system is strong in. Looking at the match list alot of students match back at Hofstra which could be a really good thing or a bad thing. So looking at the match list for what I am interested in (gen surg) I can't really tell if they are strong in that area or not (although they do match in some impressive programs in the past like New York Pres, Columbia, etc

Sure! The areas that I would say the health system is quite strong with good connections are anesthesia, psychiatry, pediatrics, neurology (though the home program is rebuilding after a leadership change), urology, ortho (I think? We've matched 3 so far, all got toward their top choices), neurosurgery, CT surgery (despite what sunrider says. We matched 2 into 36 spots across the country this year), OBGYN, and radiology. The admin & professors you encounter during the first 2 years are overwhelmingly EM people, so a significant portion of the class becomes very inspired to be EM doctors after that. I'm not sure if that makes us strong, but it is what it is.

I'm turning to second hand information here, but my understanding is that general surgery PDs are very pedigree focused. Our best general surgery match so far was, I think, to Mt. Sinai last year or USC this year (I'm not sure which is 'better'), but our name is getting out there. Our GS match is pretty weak this year, to be entirely honest, but that is not entirely the fault of the school. On the plus side, there is a new program director who came from Brigham and is shoring up the home program, so I think that, by the time you'd be applying, the connections and reputation would be much stronger. That being said, from my surgery rotation, I can tell you that the surgery residents at Northwell are very happy, well cared for, and seem to get whatever fellowship positions they want. So, if that's the worst you can do, it won't be a problem.

A lot of people do stay at Northwell for residency for a handful of reasons. Selection bias: the school has large percent of students who are from Long Island. Money: Northwell's PGY-1 salary is like 5-6k over the next highest institutions. Clinical volume: Like it or not, we don't really share Queens or Nassau with anyone, meaning there are somewhere around 4.5m people that "Look North" for their health care. The system has done a great job of taking over and becoming the dominant institution on Long Island, and there are rumors that it will be pushing deep into Brooklyn with some acquisitions in the near future.

 

[sunrider]

I don't know class stats beyond my year of course; so i will defer to current MS4 who will have better knowledge/understanding of match results after i left.

I was also referring to CT Sx @ Northwell not being that stellar compare to other residency programs out there. Not referring to inability for Hofstra students to match into CT Sx. Also personal bias from my experience rotating during MS3 year played a role.

Anesthesiology, psychiatry, peds are strong and have good connections for medical students. I will defer about other surgical specialty, but looking at match list, Nsx did well this year too.

Finally, I will echo that a lot of my colleagues were from LI area, and they were happy to stay at Northwell health. Not sure if they still offer Northwell loans, where they have loan forgiveness program if you stay and work at Northwell health system for certain # of years; which helps to reduce your medical school loans.

 

[Koala1992]

So I don't necessarily buy into the USNews rankings and stuff, but I do have a subscription because I think some of the data can be useful. A couple things stood out to me regarding the USMLE:

Step 1: Number of students examined 93
Step 1: Percent passing 93%
Step 1: Average score 236 (same as last year)
Step 2 (Clinical Knowledge): Number of students examined 64
Step 2 (Clinical Knowledge): Percent passing 64%
Step 2 (Clinical Knowledge): Average score 248 (up from 243)

While the averages look really good, could it be possible that those pass rates are incorrectly reported (i.e. copied #students and %)? Wiki says that the overall USMLE pass rates are 94% for both Step 1 and 2 in 2015.

For a place like Hofstra, these pass rates seem strangely low. Would any current students have thoughts on it?

I am a current first year medical student at Zucker SOM. The information posted above in regards to our passing rate for the STEP exams is incorrect. There was an error in the US News and World Report that has now been corrected. For Step 1 and Step 2, we are at 100% passing rates for both!

 

[ndfmd10]

Unfortunately wasn’t able to attend revisit weekend, would be interested to hear how people’s experiences were!

 

[monsieurpomfrey]

Withdrew my spot last night. I really liked Hofstra when I visited. Hopefully, one of you amazing folks will take my place. Good luck y'all!

 

[NYYM]

Unfortunately wasn’t able to attend revisit weekend, would be interested to hear how people’s experiences were!

It was a wonderful weekend. I was already impressed by the facility and the innovative and participatory curriculum, and second look confirmed my positive impressions from interview day. Current students were very smart, engaged and happy. Prospective students were sharp. I know second look activities try to impress, but the mock classes were so interesting that other prospectives and I all agreed we felt like running home and starting to work on the problems presented! The dean and current students confirmed that the small class size creates an almost unparalleled amount of interaction with profs and a high level of mentorship. I know some people focus on the downsides to attending a new-ish school (like rankings that haven't built up yet and lack of name recognition), but honestly the upside is huge: an innovative curriculum that fully incorporates the best practices in medical education and already embodies what most other schools are incrementally working toward. Plus the state-of-the-art facility. I think the STEP scores and matches are evidence that Hofstra is doing something very right.

 

[docr3]

Hofstra initiating MMI next year, thank god we applied this cycle lol (via MSAR)

 

[fluffystitch626]

It was a wonderful weekend. I was already impressed by the facility and the innovative and participatory curriculum, and second look confirmed my positive impressions from interview day. Current students were very smart, engaged and happy. Prospective students were sharp. I know second look activities try to impress, but the mock classes were so interesting that other prospectives and I all agreed we felt like running home and starting to work on the problems presented! The dean and current students confirmed that the small class size creates an almost unparalleled amount of interaction with profs and a high level of mentorship. I know some people focus on the downsides to attending a new-ish school (like rankings that haven't built up yet and lack of name recognition), but honestly the upside is huge: an innovative curriculum that fully incorporates the best practices in medical education and already embodies what most other schools are incrementally working toward. Plus the state-of-the-art facility. I think the STEP scores and matches are evidence that Hofstra is doing something very right.

Wow, this makes me excited about the online info session. It obviously won't be the same, but hoping us WL ppl hear something about that soon!

 

[gasparitis895]

It was a wonderful weekend. I was already impressed by the facility and the innovative and participatory curriculum, and second look confirmed my positive impressions from interview day. Current students were very smart, engaged and happy. Prospective students were sharp. I know second look activities try to impress, but the mock classes were so interesting that other prospectives and I all agreed we felt like running home and starting to work on the problems presented! The dean and current students confirmed that the small class size creates an almost unparalleled amount of interaction with profs and a high level of mentorship. I know some people focus on the downsides to attending a new-ish school (like rankings that haven't built up yet and lack of name recognition), but honestly the upside is huge: an innovative curriculum that fully incorporates the best practices in medical education and already embodies what most other schools are incrementally working toward. Plus the state-of-the-art facility. I think the STEP scores and matches are evidence that Hofstra is doing something very right.

Also attended Second Look and agree with all the points here. At first I was slightly annoyed by the fact that we will be doing "mock classes" (I'm still in class so thats the last thing I want on my weekend) but it was actually really engaging and didn't feel too much like I was studying or in class. Also alot of the students I met said that the pre-clinical curriculum made Step studying easy as they were used to breaking down clinical cases and developed those skills early on in school. And for people who are skeptical and are like "oh Hofstra people won't know the fine details for Step studying like what random enzyme causes a rare form of anemia". They provide students with multiple choice tests that are similar to Step after their test week (consisting of a day of short answer, one structure based test day, and one standardized patient/simulation test day) that are not marked but give you a feel for what Step is. And from what they say there are enough 3rd party Step resources to make sure you cover that. Also something that I didn't realize was that the ICE days actually have u being involved in patient care rather than just shadowing. That and the EMT training made alot of the students I talked to comfortable with transitioning to their clinical years. I could keep ranting on and on about how much this weekend made me fall in love with Hofstra again (the interview day was stressful tbh) but if anyone has specific Qs let me know!

 

[docr3]

Does the Zucker SOM scholarship include merit aid? Really surprised by my total

 

[AvocadoCamera]

Does the Zucker SOM scholarship include merit aid? Really surprised by my total

when did you hear about your scholarship offer? Was it from the Financial Aid office or admissions office?

 

[docr3]

when did you hear about your scholarship offer? Was it from the Financial Aid office or admissions office?

I’m just asking if the Zucker SOM scholarship is just need based or includes merit, I never heard about a scholarship of merit just my financial aid package on the portal

 

[zasxd]

I’m just asking if the Zucker SOM scholarship is just need based or includes merit, I never heard about a scholarship of merit just my financial aid package on the portal

I believe the email said that the scholarship includes merit and need.

 

[tomatocarrot]

Unfortunately wasn’t able to attend revisit weekend, would be interested to hear how people’s experiences were!

I echo what the other 2 posters have said about second look day weekend! Saturday at Dave and Busters was a pretty fun way to meet the other accepted students. I'm still deciding which medical school to attend among my options, but I do have to say Hofstra truly impressed me and is giving me a lot to think about. The second look weekend did a great job convincing me to come.

1) Teaching here appears to be phenomenal. They hire their teaching faculty based on teaching experience/awards/reputation rather than PhD's/other professionals who are experts but cannot teach well. They took us through PEARLS and Structure Lab. At PEARLS, we went through a cardiac arrest/MI case as the med students would and it really drove my curiosity (I am still deciding if this is personally going to work for me in terms of how I'm used to learning). My impression is that you essentially go through a case paragraph by paragraph, pick out the important info as a group, try to meet the case objectives, come up with questions/next steps, and you go around and do a group assessment, self assessment, and answer a wrap-up question. 8-9a you go through case 1, 9-10am you go thru case 2. On Wednesday, you discuss case 1 for 2 hrs and on Friday you discuss case 2 for 2 hrs. Pros: a lot of teamwork, self-driven responsibility and self-directed learning, makes you curious, remember info better b/c it's in the context of a patient case that you studied in detail. Structure lab was a huge huge plus for me. You don't have to dissect cadavers here -- they claim most med students say that going through all the fat and doing iffy dissections actually isn't great for learning and is more annoying/consuming than helpful (and ppl still match into surgery/CT fine). Here they do "prossections" where anatomists dissect it cleanly and you can see things well. Additionally, you go around stations (30 mins per station usually) and learn about topics covered during the theme of the week. We learned about anatomy of the heart, we got practice doing ultrasounds of the carotid artery on each other, analyzed chest x-rays, looked at histology...it was so cool!

2) The relationship b/w faculty and students also appears to be uniquely strong. With a class size of about 99 and 2000 clinical faculty (17000 doctors in Northwell overall), there is a lot of enthusiasm and excitement whenever med students reach out to clinical faculty. The people here seem really excited to help you learn and expose you to different stuff. Clinical exposure here seems pretty good. With ICE once a week (you coordinate schedule w/ the doctor for each week), you do hands-on stuff. One student shared he did stitches on a patient's face for a plastic surgeon (which the surgeon redid haha), others independently take patient histories or do physical exams, etc...very hands-on! With EMT training year 1, you get to go into patient homes and get really unique exposure. It's a mixed reaction from med students; some think it's annoying (esp if you aren't interested in EM) but useful in the future and for residency apps, others love it.

3) They've convinced me that testing style here is good. You get practice with STEP-like questions through the MBME exams at the end of each block and you also make our own higher-order STEP questions in PEARLS, so you really get to think like the question-makers and develop the same thinking skills. Also with short answer, you can receive partial credit and give them an opportunity to see how much you know (in undergrad, I liked a mix of M/C and short answer). You don't know any less by doing short answers versus M/C on exams, truly. they also hold review sessions to go over test questions (which I know some med schools don't give you much feedback on your exams).

4) Some of the cons for me -- the campus isn't compact. I believe you have to drive 15-25 minutes to get to the patient simulation center (CLI) and to the hospital/clinical sites. You pretty much have to have a car. There were optional tours of LIJ hospital and CLI. We saw an M3 work with a patient sim team through live video. The M3 was the "doctor" and the patient was having a heart attack. I was really impressed at how the M3 handled everything and how realistic and intense it felt. LIJ is a really swanky looking hospital, but it's just a normal hospital otherwise. Level 1 pediatric trauma center, level 2 adult trauma center, top 30 NICU in the country (that's about all I remember). Another con could be the "brand name" -- people seem to match well and do well on STEP here, but it being a newer med school ofc means less recognition (not clear if this affects residency truly). The other cons are largely personal (mandatory 8am stuff, no option for class recordings/capture)

 

[triangular390]

I loved second look! They did an incredible job organizing everything and making current students of all years accessible to answer any questions we had. Tomatocarrot above did a great job summarizing how the weekend went but if anyone has further specific questions ask away.

I think what was really helpful this weekend was touring LIJ. Coming from out of state I had honestly never heard of Northwell health before, so I appreciated seeing the medical center and get an idea of the patient population I'd be working with. From my brief discussions with other prospective students at the end of the day, we were all either committed to attending or really strongly considering it. For myself, I have a late interview at one of my top choice schools in the next two weeks. If I don't get in there, I'm 100% coming to Zucker; even if I do get in I'd still strongly consider Zucker!

 

[triangular390]

I’m just asking if the Zucker SOM scholarship is just need based or includes merit, I never heard about a scholarship of merit just my financial aid package on the portal

I asked the director of student finance at revisit and he said the Zucker scholarship is a grant based on both need and merit, and that amount is guaranteed each year!

 

[docr3]

I asked the director of student finance at revisit and he said the Zucker scholarship is a grant based on both need and merit, and that amount is guaranteed each year!

Wow guess I just got very generous need based aid. Not surprised I guess after the dean said he had 60 million in money for need based aid. Awesome that the money is guaranteed for all 4 years really making my decision hard

 

[triangular390]

Wow guess I just got very generous need based aid. Not surprised I guess after the dean said he had 60 million in money for need based aid. Awesome that the money is guaranteed for all 4 years really making my decision hard

Yes, my package was quite generous too! The dean said student finaid is a big priority for him and Hofstra has the lowest graduating debt of all the NY private med schools.

 

[docr3]

For current students:

I understand the exams cover many topics and are all essay based. My question is, do they provide you with a list of things you should know for the exam? I know the learning objectives for PEARLS are determined by our groups, but for the exams, do they tell you what they expect you to know?

 

[kbac13]

For current students:

I understand the exams cover many topics and are all essay based. My question is, do they provide you with a list of things you should know for the exam? I know the learning objectives for PEARLS are determined by our groups, but for the exams, do they tell you what they expect you to know?

After every PEARLS session we get a list of the ideal learning objectives. They aren't filled in, but based on your research for each case, you should be able to fill in those LOs. These LOs are what you're ultimately responsible for. We also have weekly essays which usually stress some of the more important concepts and these tend to appear on exams. For essays, you do get the suggested answers every week.

 

[DBC03]

Withdrew from the waitlist today. I'm hoping some of you amazing people will have a better opportunity to go to Hofstra in my place!

 

[maybedoctormaybehomeless]

Hoping a current med student could give some more insight into the curriculum/assessment. Here are some questions I had:

1. What are exam weeks like? I vaguely recall there being an essay exam, multiple choice, lab practical, and something else maybe. I’d appreciate if someone could provide some detail.
2. A full week of exams sounds extra stressful. Do students feel this way?
3. What is actually graded? Is everything from exam week graded? Are PEARLS cases assessed at all?
4. I read somewhere about there being weekly essays. What are these like (content, length, assessment)?
5. During your self-directed learning, do you use materials like B&B, Pathoma, Sketchy, FA, Anki?

Thank you in advance for any help you could provide!!

 

[kbac13]

Hoping a current med student could give some more insight into the curriculum/assessment. Here are some questions I had:

1. What are exam weeks like? I vaguely recall there being an essay exam, multiple choice, lab practical, and something else maybe. I’d appreciate if someone could provide some detail.
2. A full week of exams sounds extra stressful. Do students feel this way?
3. What is actually graded? Is everything from exam week graded? Are PEARLS cases assessed at all?
4. I read somewhere about there being weekly essays. What are these like (content, length, assessment)?
5. During your self-directed learning, do you use materials like B&B, Pathoma, Sketchy, FA, Anki?

Thank you in advance for any help you could provide!!

1-3. Exam weeks are stressful, but everyone shares the stress. The Hofstra community is super tight-knit and there is really no sense of competition so the stress isn't so terrible. As for the how the week is structured, you'll have one day of simulation where you and a group of 2-3 other students will get a case and work with a mannequin, attempting to diagnose and manage the patient. This is formative, and thus not graded. On the second day, you'll have OSCE, which is the clinical-based exam that tests history taking skills, physical exam skills, clinical reasoning skills, etc. This is graded and you get an assessment from both the standardized patient and the person who is observing you from behind the one-way window. On the third day, you have a structure exam which consists of 2 parts. One part is completely short-answer and takes place in the auditorium. The second part takes place in the lab and is a combination of short-answer and oral. The one in the lab tests anatomy, pathology (gross specimens), imaging, etc. This is also graded.The last part is a comprehensive final essay exam which consists about 35 short answer questions covering material from PEARLS and large group sessions. This is also graded. You are also assessed on your performance in PEARLS, and there is an evaluation filled out by your facilitator which determines your grade. The grading policy, as you are aware, is pass/fail. You never know the number of points you get for each question; only if you got full credit (green score) or partial credit (yellow score).

4. Weekly essays are formative, meaning they're graded for completion. They're meant to be a way for you to keep track of your progress throughout each course and for you to consolidate your week's knowledge. During the first block (CPR), only 1 essay is released per week. Each subsequent course releases 2 essays per week, and you have to submit 1 (of course, you should attempt both to make sure you're on track for that week's material). Length is entirely up to you. You'll learn that "less is more," and that if you can be succinct with your answers and get the point across, you've done a great job. Every Sunday at noon, the suggested answers are released and you can compare what you wrote with what what was suggested.

5. The majority of students consult a variety of other sources for clarification or to understand something better. I myself use FA, B&B and Pathoma to supplement textbooks. I also make use of YouTube videos (Osmosis, Speed Pharmacology) for clarification. Several students also use Anki, but I never got on that trend. You'll learn what works best for you as you spend more time with the curriculum. You'll learn that we are flexible here and what works for you may not work for someone else.

I hope I was able to answer your questions. Best of luck!

 

[Frame]

1-3. Exam weeks are stressful, but everyone shares the stress. The Hofstra community is super tight-knit and there is really no sense of competition so the stress isn't so terrible. As for the how the week is structured, you'll have one day of simulation where you and a group of 2-3 other students will get a case and work with a mannequin, attempting to diagnose and manage the patient. This is formative, and thus not graded. On the second day, you'll have OSCE, which is the clinical-based exam that tests history taking skills, physical exam skills, clinical reasoning skills, etc. This is graded and you get an assessment from both the standardized patient and the person who is observing you from behind the one-way window. On the third day, you have a structure exam which consists of 2 parts. One part is completely short-answer and takes place in the auditorium. The second part takes place in the lab and is a combination of short-answer and oral. The one in the lab tests anatomy, pathology (gross specimens), imaging, etc. This is also graded.The last part is a comprehensive final essay exam which consists about 35 short answer questions covering material from PEARLS and large group sessions. This is also graded. You are also assessed on your performance in PEARLS, and there is an evaluation filled out by your facilitator which determines your grade. The grading policy, as you are aware, is pass/fail. You never know the number of points you get for each question; only if you got full credit (green score) or partial credit (yellow score).

4. Weekly essays are formative, meaning they're graded for completion. They're meant to be a way for you to keep track of your progress throughout each course and for you to consolidate your week's knowledge. During the first block (CPR), only 1 essay is released per week. Each subsequent course releases 2 essays per week, and you have to submit 1 (of course, you should attempt both to make sure you're on track for that week's material). Length is entirely up to you. You'll learn that "less is more," and that if you can be succinct with your answers and get the point across, you've done a great job. Every Sunday at noon, the suggested answers are released and you can compare what you wrote with what what was suggested.

5. The majority of students consult a variety of other sources for clarification or to understand something better. I myself use FA, B&B and Pathoma to supplement textbooks. I also make use of YouTube videos (Osmosis, Speed Pharmacology) for clarification. Several students also use Anki, but I never got on that trend. You'll learn what works best for you as you spend more time with the curriculum. You'll learn that we are flexible here and what works for you may not work for someone else.

I hope I was able to answer your questions. Best of luck!

Thanks for the information! It's very helpful.

I have another question: generally, how is the commuting situation during the first 100 weeks? For instance, going between home, classes, EMT, ICE, research, etc., do students find it easy to manage on a day-to-day basis (assuming they don't live on campus)? Just by looking at a map, it seems like everything is very spread out.

 

[maybedoctormaybehomeless]

1-3. Exam weeks are stressful, but everyone shares the stress. The Hofstra community is super tight-knit and there is really no sense of competition so the stress isn't so terrible. As for the how the week is structured, you'll have one day of simulation where you and a group of 2-3 other students will get a case and work with a mannequin, attempting to diagnose and manage the patient. This is formative, and thus not graded. On the second day, you'll have OSCE, which is the clinical-based exam that tests history taking skills, physical exam skills, clinical reasoning skills, etc. This is graded and you get an assessment from both the standardized patient and the person who is observing you from behind the one-way window. On the third day, you have a structure exam which consists of 2 parts. One part is completely short-answer and takes place in the auditorium. The second part takes place in the lab and is a combination of short-answer and oral. The one in the lab tests anatomy, pathology (gross specimens), imaging, etc. This is also graded.The last part is a comprehensive final essay exam which consists about 35 short answer questions covering material from PEARLS and large group sessions. This is also graded. You are also assessed on your performance in PEARLS, and there is an evaluation filled out by your facilitator which determines your grade. The grading policy, as you are aware, is pass/fail. You never know the number of points you get for each question; only if you got full credit (green score) or partial credit (yellow score).

4. Weekly essays are formative, meaning they're graded for completion. They're meant to be a way for you to keep track of your progress throughout each course and for you to consolidate your week's knowledge. During the first block (CPR), only 1 essay is released per week. Each subsequent course releases 2 essays per week, and you have to submit 1 (of course, you should attempt both to make sure you're on track for that week's material). Length is entirely up to you. You'll learn that "less is more," and that if you can be succinct with your answers and get the point across, you've done a great job. Every Sunday at noon, the suggested answers are released and you can compare what you wrote with what what was suggested.

5. The majority of students consult a variety of other sources for clarification or to understand something better. I myself use FA, B&B and Pathoma to supplement textbooks. I also make use of YouTube videos (Osmosis, Speed Pharmacology) for clarification. Several students also use Anki, but I never got on that trend. You'll learn what works best for you as you spend more time with the curriculum. You'll learn that we are flexible here and what works for you may not work for someone else.

I hope I was able to answer your questions. Best of luck!

Thank you! That was very insightful.

 

[kbac13]

Thanks for the information! It's very helpful.

I have another question: generally, how is the commuting situation during the first 100 weeks? For instance, going between home, classes, EMT, ICE, research, etc., do students find it easy to manage on a day-to-day basis (assuming they don't live on campus)? Just by looking at a map, it seems like everything is very spread out.

A lot of it depends on where you decide to live. I actually grew up very close to the school (in New Hyde Park) and my commute is a beautiful 12-15 minutes every morning. Other students live 40 minutes away. However, most people tend to cluster around Hempstead, East Meadow, and Garden City for their first 2 years and then move closer to the hospitals for clinical years (New Hyde Park, Mineola, etc.). That being said, having a car is almost essential to get around Long Island. This is especially true for ICE as your assigned office may be anywhere from 15 minutes away to an hour away from school.

 

[Seikuken]

Is it difficult to rotate through Lenox Hill during third and fourth year if we really wanted to do a few rotations in Manhattan?

 

[member271]

Is it difficult to rotate through Lenox Hill during third and fourth year if we really wanted to do a few rotations in Manhattan?

No. Third year you can do, I believe, surgery and neurology at LHH. They may have expanded the opportunities since my third year. As a fourth year, we get 5 elective blocks (which you could do entirely at LHH, but most people do mostly away rotations & nonclinical rotations (research, teaching, etc.)), 3 required subIs, and 3 off blocks for interviews/step 2. The required Subis can be done at LHH (the adult ones), if you want. Pediatrics rotations are at Cohen’s.

Edit: to clarify that last bit, MS4 requires a critical care (MICU, PICU, SICU, or NSICU), “core” (pediatrics floors, Medicine floors, or general surgery), and EM (Peds or adult). If you’re not doing pediatrics, you’ll probably want adult rotations, and I believe all of them can be done at Lenox, if so desired.

 

[PrideOrPanthers]

Withdrew with scholarship today, hope someone benefits from that

 

[Checklist]

Also withdrawing with a scholarship today. Good luck to those on the waitlist!

 

[blipdh]

Does Hofstra have an official ultrasound training certificate or is it just some training that you can do? I attended the waitlist session but I cant seem to remember and I cant find anything online.