Thanks for answering questions!
What do you think are the best parts of the school? What do you think could use improvements?
What do you think is the likelihood that the new curriculum gets implemented next year and what is your opinion on the new curriculum? I imagine it's a bit of a catch 22 because the curriculum sounds better but if it gets implemented, there will likely be many hiccups.
Thanks again
I could complain about the curriculum and how it's structured because I went through it, but since the LCME visit, Wayne is taking on more national trends and is moving to systems-based teaching. There's more white-space in the calendar now and things are changing pretty rapidly, for the better, I'd say. We like to joke that they're just kicking the rock down the street because it's always "next year's class" that's gonna have the big changes. That being said, I am more confident now that these changes will be happening with the next class, barring any major set backs. I don't have an ear to the ground or anyone close to the situation, but it seems like it's happening.
I've really enjoyed my time here so far, so keep that in mind when reading this. There's gonna be people who feel like me but also people who have much more to criticize. Wayne was my top choice FWIW.
Pros:
1.) Pre-printed course notes that (mostly) mimic the professors' lecture slides
2.) The professors. They all have impressive academic and clinical histories, but definitely seem to care about student success.
3.) Obviously Wayne likes to hang its hat on full-body dissection, which is a pretty crazy experience and really unique.
4.) Tons of space on campus to study
5.) I really like living in the city, if you may have reservations about Detroit. What's happened here in the past few years has been amazing, even since I came here in July of '16.
6.) Pretty robust clinical experience early on if you want it. Part of it is required for first year, but there are TONS of student clinics around the Metro area. Seriously, the emails never stop coming.
7.) Research - When I decided I wanted to do some research, it took all of a week to get myself onto a project. With DMC, Ford, and the SOM itself, there are hundreds of active research projects going on and its really easy to find a spot.
Cons:
1.) In my opinion, they try to do a bit too much with extraneous required things in the curriculum.
2.) Occasional lapses in organizational stuff, which they've been improving on to be fair.
3.) My current curriculum has some occasionally odd organization. (e.g. We had HEENT physical diagnosis while learning cardiovascular pathophysiology). Hard to say if you guys will have these issues.
4.) I'm more of a traditional lecture learner, so things like TBL and CBL sometimes felt a bit extra to me (stems from #1).
5.) Med school is hard, but you already knew that.
