2018-2019 Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

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I will take an R over the complete silence any day. At this point in time, I’ve just lost all hope; don’t drag out the agony, it’s cruel.

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Called in, they said if you haven’t received anything, it’s because they haven’t read your file yet. They don’t usually do the ‘pending pile’ where they’re unsure about you (this is what the lady on the phone said) she also said once they’ve made a decision, they email you automatically.
 
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I will take an R over the complete silence any day. At this point in time, I’ve just lost all hope; don’t drag out the agony, it’s cruel.

I feel where you’re coming from. But OU really showed that they’re different. They don’t hold back their decisions
 
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When will they get back to you guys on that ?

I talked to our Medical Student Government Reps. It sounds like the change to completely professor exams will happen in the future. The reason I was given is the same as what was stated earlier (some NBME questions are outdated). However, this explanation doesn't make any sense since the Professors chose the questions from a bank of NBME questions. Why they can't just pick relevant questions is beyond my comprehension. I'll try and reach out and see if I can get a better answer.

Additionally, I've learned that not all finals are NBME. I was told the Neuro block has always been professor written.
 
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Called in, they said if you haven’t received anything, it’s because they haven’t read your file yet. They don’t usually do the ‘pending pile’ where they’re unsure about you (this is what the lady on the phone said) she also said once they’ve made a decision, they email you automatically.

lol so they haven’t read my file since July?! I wonder what their criteria is for deciding what order apps are reviewed in
 
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Hey guys, quick update!

Today is match day for ophthalmology applicants - it's one of a few specialties that have a separate matching system from everyone else who will match in March. In the current M4 class, 7 people applied to ophthalmology and I heard from some classmates that all 7 matched today! Ophtho is crazy competitive so we are really excited for them.

Disclaimer: This hasn't been confirmed "officially" by the administration but I will let you know if I hear anything different.

that's awesome! i know beaumont is big on ophthalmology so I would expect them to hook it up with their own graduates
 
We have matched very well in ophtho over the past few years! Dean Folberg is an ophthalmologist (and pathologist) and OUWB is the only school I'm aware of that has a mandatory ophtho rotation. It's only a week long and I'm not going into anything remotely similar to ophtho, but I still found it pretty cool and useful. So I think that generates a lot of interest in the specialty.
This makes me want to go to OUWB ;w; All I need is an interview invite and acceptance lol
 
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Hey guys, quick update!

Today is match day for ophthalmology applicants - it's one of a few specialties that have a separate matching system from everyone else who will match in March. In the current M4 class, 7 people applied to ophthalmology and I heard from some classmates that all 7 matched today! Ophtho is crazy competitive so we are really excited for them.

Disclaimer: This hasn't been confirmed "officially" by the administration but I will let you know if I hear anything different.


That's awesome! One of my student interviewers was applying to ophtho - so happy to know she matched!!
 
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Does anyone know if this school accepts updates?
 
Does anyone know if this school accepts updates?

yeap, upload it right onto the portal. When I sent in my letter of interest, it labelled it as letter of intent, but the person I spoke to said they know its an interest letter (considering i havent received an interview yet lol)
 
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Hey guys, quick update!

Today is match day for ophthalmology applicants - it's one of a few specialties that have a separate matching system from everyone else who will match in March. In the current M4 class, 7 people applied to ophthalmology and I heard from some classmates that all 7 matched today! Ophtho is crazy competitive so we are really excited for them.

Disclaimer: This hasn't been confirmed "officially" by the administration but I will let you know if I hear anything different.


That’s so amazing and great to hear !!! Wooo!!! I hope the rest of the students also match into their desired programs in March!
 
We have matched very well in ophtho over the past few years! Dean Folberg is an ophthalmologist (and pathologist) and OUWB is the only school I'm aware of that has a mandatory ophtho rotation. It's only a week long and I'm not going into anything remotely similar to ophtho, but I still found it pretty cool and useful. So I think that generates a lot of interest in the specialty.
That's amazing to hear! If you don't mind, will you share your clinical experience at OUWB and its pros and cons? thanks :)
 
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For any current students...

Academic calendar says M1 classes begin August 5th. I am trying to coordinate vacation time with family and was wondering if that meant I could arrive in town the week prior and be fine or if there are events I need to attend prior to the 5th?
 
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Sure!

So the bulk of our clinical experience is at Beaumont-Royal Oak, the biggest hospital in Michigan. It's over 1,000 beds, with >100 in the ED alone. It's a level 1 trauma center, has a level 3 (the highest level) NICU, PICU, multiple surgical ICUs, a medical ICU, and a cardiac ICU. It has residency programs in just about every specialty you can imagine.

We also spend some time at Beaumont-Troy, a ~500 bed community hospital. There are only family medicine residents there, and we spend time there on our FM rotation as well as neurology, anesthesia, EM, and in some cases an IM subspecialty.

You might spend a couple days to a couple weeks at Beaumont-Grosse Pointe, a smaller community hospital where there is also an FM residency.

As a learner, I've been very happy with my clinical rotations. Being at Beaumont-Royal Oak we get to see a lot of high acuity and unique cases that you wouldn't see elsewhere. Beaumont has been a teaching hospital for a long time before OUWB existed. The attendings and residents generally do a great job of teaching. There are, of course, some residents and attendings who are, uh, challenging to work with lol. But they are in the minority and in the cases where it's been really extreme the clerkship directors have been receptive to feedback and have intervened in appropriate ways. I really only had 1-2 people that were very tough to work with and I don't think it's worse or more common at Beaumont than anywhere else.

On most rotations, you will have a fair amount of responsibility. In the hospital, you'll be expected to see consults and admissions, round on "your" patients every morning, scrub into surgeries, write notes, present your patients to the team, etc. In clinics, you'll likely be seeing patients on your own, presenting to the attending, and then wrapping up the visit together with the attending. There are some rotations and attendings who will have you basically just shadow. In my experience this has been limited and typically when it's appropriate, e.g. more sensitive things like psych visits, peds (nervous parents & don't want the kid to start crying before the doc actually does the exam), OBGYN stuff, etc.

You'll have certain procedures, skills, and types of cases to get checked off on each rotation, and usually have daily or weekly didactics (lectures) from attendings and residents in that specialty. Each rotation will end with a national standardized shelf exam and an OSCE (a clinical skills exam).

Required rotations include:
M3: IM (8 wks), surgery (8 wks), peds (8 wks), FM (6 wks), neuro (4 wks), psych (6 wks), OBGYN (6 wks), ophtho (1 wk), research time (1 wk).
M4: sub-internship (4 wks, can do in IM, surgery, peds, FM, or I think EM?), EM (4 wks), anesthesia/pain (2 wks), diagnostic medicine (radiology + pathology, 2 wks). You have 16 weeks of elective time which you can use for away rotations or electives at Beaumont. You have 12 weeks of built in "vacation" time which most people use for interview season, "dedicated" time to study for or take Step 2 CK & CS, or schedule additional electives or away rotations specific to their specialty of interest.


Thank you so much for answering my question so thoroughly! If you don't mind answering couple more questions, how well does the faculty/staff support you for your residency application/interview? I've heard some school try to be supportive and some not so much haha.
Also, what kind of support system can you find at OUWB during both pre-clinical and clinical years?
Because OUWB is still relatively a new school, would you say that there are a lot of places you can take leadership roles on? such as starting new clubs and etc?
 
II today, complete mid august. sent update beginning of december.
 
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In-State Applicant
GPA: 4.0
MCAT: 521
Application Complete: 8/28/2018
Interview Invite: 11/29/2018 @ 5:16PM via Email
Interview Date: 12/13/2018
Acceptance: 1/17/2019 @ 2:15PM via phone & Email
 
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.
 
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Do y’all think that was the last wave of interview invites?
 
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Do y’all think that was the last wave of interview invites?
Lol I really hope not. The last interview date is March 8th, so I’d like to think they haven’t filled all the interview spots till then already. Maybe those who got IIs can fill us in on how many open days they saw on their portal?
 
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So i'm guessing they're not reviewing files in order? Probably some sort of filter on it that is filtering me out... for now I hope.
 
A few more updates!

2) Dean Folberg announced today that he will be stepping down as head of the medical school. Not sure if you guys had a chance to meet him on your interview day. I don't have any details as to the reason, but he has been in the position for 10+ years since the school started and will be staying on as a faculty member. It sounds like there will be a national search for a new dean. Dean Folberg obviously has been a huge influence in shaping the unique culture of the school, and has done a really wonderful job of hiring assistant/associate deans, faculty, and staff who believe in OUWB's mission. I'm sad he'll be leaving the role, but I'm confident they will make sure his replacement is someone who will continue the good work he's been doing. I don't have any more info on this right now but here is an article that was published about it.

I'm just curious, what can you and others make of this news? Should we be concerned at all?
 
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Does anyone know how receptive OUWB is to letters of intent after being waitlisted post interview? Is it a bad idea to send one now?
 
Got in an II yesterday! Complete 8/10
 
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Is anyone aware of any waitlist movement with Oakland?

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last year, a lot of tier 1 were accepted and some of tier 2. So i deduce that all of tier 1 was accepted since they accepted off tier 2. as for this cycle, i only saw 1 person got off the waitlist so far. things wil start moving mid april
 
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Nothing but silence since submitting my secondary in August... ouwb saves their favorites for last right??
 
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Is there a fee to park on campus at OUWB? Also is zipcar available in the area and for students who are out of state, do they usually just buy a car in Michigan or ship their cars across country ?
 
Can someone talk about what the daily class and lab schedule is like? Thanks
 
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Is there a fee to park on campus at OUWB? Also is zipcar available in the area and for students who are out of state, do they usually just buy a car in Michigan or ship their cars across country ?
Parking is free.
 
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last year, a lot of tier 1 were accepted and some of tier 2. So i deduce that all of tier 1 was accepted since they accepted off tier 2. as for this cycle, i only saw 1 person got off the waitlist so far. things wil start moving mid april

Not all of Tier 1 was accepted last year before Tier 2. I'm not sure why this was the case.

Can someone talk about what the daily class and lab schedule is like? Thanks

Classes generally are from 8 - 11 AM and then 1 - 4 PM. Fridays are typically only morning classes. First semester with anatomy we usually have 2 anatomy labs a week. Right now in Heme/Onc we have about 2 labs a week but I'm told Heme/Onc is the exception. We usually don't have that many.

Is there a fee to park on campus at OUWB? Also is zipcar available in the area and for students who are out of state, do they usually just buy a car in Michigan or ship their cars across country ?

Parking is free but a pain to locate any near O'Dowd if you arrive after say 7:30. Most people either bring their car or buy one here.
 
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Hello! I have a question for any of the current students at OUWB if they are able to see this. I was admitted in October and am seriously considering OUWB as one of my top choices to attend. However, would someone be able to elaborate more on how they feel about the Honors/Pass/Fail pre-clinical years here at OUWB (this is my only area of skepticism and I was not able to get more information on it during my interview day)?

Most of the other schools I had a chance to interview for are primarily P/F and as a result students are able to prioritize outside resources that help with STEP 1 and somewhat coincide with their school tests as well (NBME examinations), thus being able to simultaneously pass their courses but also get a head start on STEP 1 preparations. I am not 100% sure, but from my visit to OUWB, I saw a really strong emphasis on attending lecture and studying from lectures. In order to honor in a class, would you need to 100% stick with what the professors are putting in their lectures, or would you be able to rely on outside resources (by these I mean the typical Anki, Boards & Beyond, and other things that medical students emphasize to start early) as well? Also would current students say that the lectures correspond well with what is going to appear on STEP and is it typically very difficult to honor in a class (I remember on interview day, the administrators said unlimited people can honor, but I just wanted to possibly gauge the actual difficulty of obtaining an honor)?

I know from previous threads and replies that pre-clinical grades are not an area of immediate importance but I hope to be able to come back to CA (familial reasons) and wish to put my best foot forward when I begin medical school. I sincerely loved everything else about OUWB when I visited (the student body, diversity, location, hospital, opportunities). There was just a little gray area for me regarding the H/P/F system. Thank you to anyone who is able to help!!
 
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Was there an adcom meeting this past wednesday or next wednesday? Did anyone hear back from the 01/18 interview?
 
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hopefully, they'll review our files this week....
mine has been completed since the third week of July, kinda getting nervous
 
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+1 no II no rejection complete mid-August. Quite confused on how they stratify applications and why they take so long to review applications submitted early/on time
 
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Sorry if this has already been answered but does this school send you a decision immediately after reviewing your application? Or do they wait till the end to reject who they don’t want
 
+1 no II no rejection complete mid-August. Quite confused on how they stratify applications and why they take so long to review applications submitted early/on time

Same situation here, I don't know why it's taking so long either but I really wish they would send some news soon
 
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Sorry if this has already been answered but does this school send you a decision immediately after reviewing your application? Or do they wait till the end to reject who they don’t want

No news is good news is the phrase floating around on here. If you had an interview you should hear back with an acceptance or rejection in 3/4 weeks. If they think your app is worth reviewing it will be silent until they decide to accept you which might go on until April.
 
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Anyone know if the decisions were made 5 pm ET on the Wednesday or earlier? I’m just super anxious at this point. I wanna make sure I get a solid meal in my belly so I can handle whatever news I get.
 
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