2018-2019 Texas Tech University - El Paso

[RedWolverine]

Oh, I submitted to TMDSAS on 6/11, they transmitted on 6/26, secondary submitted 7/6

Ahhh okay okay, makes 10X more sense. Best of luck in your interview bud!

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[cm58]

II Yesterday. OOS, LM 77. MCAT 519 GPA 3.95 for both. Submitted the secondary June 28.

 

[ned63]

Has anyone received an II submitted mid July?

 

[wysdoc]

Has anyone received an II submitted mid July?

TMDSAS apps submitted in mid-July take 30 to 40 days to be processed. Have you heard back from TMDSAS that your app has been transmitted to schools?

 

[ned63]

TMDSAS apps submitted in mid-July take 30 to 40 days to be processed. Have you heard back from TMDSAS that your app has been transmitted to schools?

I meant secondaries submitted mid July.

 

[wysdoc]

I meant secondaries submitted mid July.

Oh, gotcha

 

[The Cure Is Love]

For those of you interviewing here, these are some things that I would particularly bring up. When choosing my medical school, I wanted to choose a school that was completely unique and different than all other medical schools and matched my personality.

So here are some things that make PLFSOM SUPER COOL, but also things you definitely want to bring up on interview day. A lot of these things are not on their website, but I feel like these can help you stand out.

1. Clinical presentation curriculum...they will harp on this. We are very proud of our curriculum, but in general, you learn everything about sore throat one week (histo, patho, pharmaco, biochem, etc), and the next week you do another symptom. So we just finished our first one last week which was pediatric dehydration. In pediatric dehydration, we touched on vomiting, diarrhea, insensible fluid loss, etc. After IHD (our first unit), our next unit is GI, where we will focus on one GI clinical presentation/symptom every week.

2. Standardized patient encounters - we do SP's once a week (I think a lot of schools do it once a month or so). So you get really good and comfortable in the room with patients, and it really shows.

3. We have four medical student run clinics, some where the med students can take history, physical, make assessment, plan, etc. This is super unique.

4. We are purely pass-fail the first two years (no high pass, etc). A lot of schools are now moving to this trend. But, as you might guess, this encourages collaboration and no one sabotages you.

5. Mandatory Spanish - they teach it to you here, and that helps because so many of our patients are spanish-speakers.

6. Small class size (100 people). This will change really soon I think, but man, this helps a lot. You get to know all of your peers very well. There aren't too few where you know everything about everyone, but also not too many to not know your classmates.

7. Immersion - many med students have differing opinions on this, but I feel like this is so helpful. Before school starts, you have three weeks here where you don't learn any medical stuff. You learn Spanish, etc., but more importantly find your niche and your group of friends. We would go hiking, to bars, two-stepping, to dinners. This was a big convincing factor for me, because most schools will just do orientation and make you start your first week of medical school.

8. Exams are every 7-8 weeks. So, I have heard some schools have exams every couple of weeks or so, but here, the stress load is a bit less because you get to study for your exams, but also have free time. Now this really sucks for crammers, but if you stay on top of your game, this could be really good.

9. TA sessions and a personal tutors- This was big for me. I was really happy this school had TA's to offer and second years who could teach first years material twice a week. The fact that if you need help, you can get it, is really good.

10. The mountains, the city, and the people. I just love El Paso, and people think it's a desert, BUT it it not! It is truly a hidden gem! There are fewer doctors in El Paso, and you serve a lot of people who come across the border, who are so grateful for your help. In turn, you see unique pathologies that have progressed, and are able to provide unique care.

I am not trying to brag, or try to convince you to come here lol, because there are negative points about this school as well, as with every school. BUT if you do get an interview here, these are some GREAT points to mention. I remember during my interview, I mentioned a lot of these points, because they really are true. It helped me match here. While students at every school will say their professors are good and the upperclassmen are helpful or nice, this school really stood out to me.

Ultimately though, our goal is just to become physicians so every school has its own charm. But if you get an interview here, be sure to mention these things. =) Feel free to DM me if you have any questions, and do not hesitate. But congrats to those with an II right now. I am praying that the rest of you who have worked hard to get it as well.

 

[raf1ki]

@The Cure Is Love GREAT POST!

 

[VivaElBirdos]

@The Cure Is Love Thanks for the post. This is possibly my top school, what would you say are some of the negatives?

 

[coys784]

Thank you for the great post!

 

[dodolol21]

El Paso was always low on my list, but after reading this I think it might just be at the bottom

I would really advise you to redact that comment.

 

[thegrind33]

I would really advise you to redact that comment.

I did sound pretty bratty in that comment though so I will take it back. It is just concerning hearing a negative opinion on the school from a student there. It seems as if every other student I have talked to has said nothing but positives about the school they attend, and I have not heard really anything about El Paso, but n=1

 

[thegrind33]

The only other program I know of with similar rates of repeat/quits/washouts is Western Lebanon, which has a lot of cultural similarities.

Western Lebanon tells you who they are in the interview, El Paso does not - they signal in interviews they are hands off/objective focused/collegial but in practice they are very very process driven, rigid, imperious and hierarchical - and often focused on things that do not matter...like logic models and "highly encouraged" realtor presentations.

What exactly made you think they lied to you in the interview? And it is kind of odd to compare a med school in oregon to one at the border in TX. I am just curious as to why. Any other students that go here want to chime in?

 

[QuienEstas]

What exactly made you think they lied to you in the interview? And it is kind of odd to compare a med school in oregon to one at the border in TX. I am just curious as to why

EP said they don't have a dress code for most events, but you get professionalism "event cards" for incredibly tacky stuff if you wear jeans. Shorts, sweatpants, workout clothes have all been banned at all times. Sandals will get you a write up. Ditto for attendance "oh mostly you don't have to come" but attendance is required for about 40% of activities and some professors don't post enough so that you can view remotely.

EP ethically (and probably legally) needs to disclose they are engaging in pervasive audio/visual recording of students.

They signaled they are friendly and collegial and flexible, but in practice? Last year the only request from the student curriculum committee was a request to move weekly remote quizzes from due date from Friday to Sunday night to give students more time to study, as Thursday and Friday are filled with required attendance at non-science classes. Faculty response? Move it from Friday at midnight to Thursday at 5:00 pm...and Thursday is filled with non-science, mandatory attendance stuff.

 

[thegrind33]

EP said they don't have a dress code for most events, but you get professionalism "event cards" for incredibly tacky stuff if you wear jeans. Shorts, sweatpants, workout clothes have all been banned. Sandals will get you a write up. Ditto for attendance "oh mostly you don't have to come" but attendance is required for about 40% of activities and some professors don't post enough so that you can view remotely.

EP ethically (and probably legally) needs to disclose they are engaging in pervasive audio/visual recording of students.

They signaled they are friendly and collegial and flexible, but in practice? Last year the only request from the student curriculum committee was a request to move weekly remote quizzes from due date from Friday to Sunday night to give students more time to study, as Thursday and Friday are filled with required attendance at non-science classes. Faculty response? Move it from Friday at midnight to Thursday at 5:00 pm...and Thursday is filled with non-science, mandatory attendance stuff.

I appreciate the feedback. What is the general opinion of the school from your other classmates?

 

[KD6-3.7]

Is a dress code not normal at most schools? Thank you for the honest opinion QuienEstas, was just wondering about this point.

 

[thegrind33]

Is a dress code not normal at most schools? Thank you for the honest opinion QuienEstas, was just wondering about this point.

I see on the msar that most schools require you to dress up for clerkship, or whenever you have a keynote speaker, but I haven't had any luck finding what the dress code is for preclinicals.

 

[allthewaytoatx]

It’s been nice to see opinions on both sides. If any other current students are willing to share their experiences, it would be much appreciated

 

[raf1ki]

2. The school's professionalism stassi is very real, and used to formally police the ultra-left, ultra-authoritarian political views of mid-level administrators. Admittedly the stassi chief has departed (I assume not entirely voluntarily) for another organization, so perhaps this will improve.

Could you expand on this?

 

[The Cure Is Love]

Hey Y'all,

I do agree with the professionalism being high here. However, I disagree politely with there being strict dress policy in attending class. Everyone can wear jeans if they would like, and it is not necessary to wear slacks/dress shirt everyday. I wore jeans the whole last week lol as did most of the class. But, everyone does start off wearing slacks/dress shirt during immersion, before moving in to actual jeans during medical school. Shorts are fine, but yes, I don't know about gym shorts or pajamas to class (which is really disrespectful too, imo). The only mandatory day is when we have standardized patients (once a week), when we do have to dress professionally.

The classes are not mandatory, but some are in general, yes. Most audio/visual recordings are posted online the day after the lecture. The reason why some classes are mandatory here are that staff from outside of the school will lecture, so our school doesn't want the students to disrespect the outside faculty. I would say about 4 lectures are mandatory a week, but the rest are not. I will agree on this however, that they are very strict with being on time to what's mandatory though. I agree with QuienEstas on this one.

One thing that I guess does make people upset is that we have a lot of "unnecessary classes." I do not believe they are unnecessary, because they teach you how to be a good physician - from the standardized patient encounters every Thursday, to the mandatory Spanish, Biostats, and college colloquia on Friday. This is different than other schools, because most schools teach scientific material/science courses that will be on exams M-F, and rarely have patient interaction. PLFSOM teaches science curricula that will be on the exams on M-W, and then the extra classes Th/Fri. While the Thursday/Friday classes are mandatory, it is so nice to be done with all the material you need to know for exams on Wednesday. From the third year med students I saw yesterday at RotaCare clinic, they really know how to talk with patients, and their diagnosing skills were excellent.

I understand people have differing opinions, and people are entitled to what they think. However, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

 

[fmd123]

Hey everyone,

I am a current MS1. As a warning, this is a long post. I know there are a few comments on here with varying opinions regarding the school, so I figured I would share mine in case it may help anyone out there who would appreciate the extra information.

First, immersion. This three week course prior to the official start of pre-clinicals involves conversational Spanish, community health classes, and cultural intelligence classes. While it is true that these classes have little overlap with what is tested on step 1, remember that PLFSOM is much more than a step prep school. There are many med schools out there that teach solely for the step exam and not much more. Personally, I wanted to attend a school that cared about more than just that. One thing I love about PLFSOM is that they truly care about making each student a well rounded, compassionate, open minded, and culturally aware doctor. At the same time, they prepare you for step and teach you what you need to know about the medicine. You will find current students who HATED immersion. However, if you’re someone who is coming to medical school to not just learn the science or to prepare for step, but to also learn about all the other intricacies that make a good doctor, this is the place for you.

One of the incredible things about this school, as others have mentioned, is the small class size. Within one month, I have met and know each of my classmates. The camaraderie amongst our group is quite special in my opinion. This environment is supported by our true P/F curriculum, which eliminates any harmful competitive attitudes in the class. I couldn't see myself at a cut-throat school, and while others may thrive in that kind of environment, it’s just not me. If you feel that you are similar, then you will be at home in this program.

Yes, this school emphasizes professionalism. I was quite surprised by how seriously the school takes it, but honestly their policies make sense. The school is simply trying to prepare you for success in the future. It warns you well ahead of time what they consider unprofessional (tardiness to required classes, unexcused absences, etc etc) and this really should not be a problem if you’re on top of things and organized. Don’t let this deter you from the school. The only way that professionalism issues can really harm you is if a pattern in behavior emerges.

While business casual was required throughout immersion, during the year it is only required on days when you have medical skills (once a week). All other days I have seen classmates in jeans, tshirts, hoodies, etc.

We have a very strong medical skills program here. Many many standardized patient encounters, much more than the average at other medical schools. By the time you hit clinicals, many attendings will say that the medical skills of MS3s and MS4s are just as good if not better than some residents.

Lastly, I think the important thing to remember when it comes time to ranking is that medical school is what you make of it. No one is going to spoon-feed you material. No one is going to hold your hand and guide you through this journey. If you put in the time and the effort, you will succeed just as hundreds of other students have that attended PLFSOM in prior years. If you’re still unsure, look at the match lists for people in prior classes. Students from PLFSOM are matching to competitive programs all over the country in competitive specialties (ortho, ophthalmology, dermatology, neuro surgery, ENT, etc). The best piece of advice I received during my interview season was to go with your gut. Go with the place that feels best to you. Regardless of where you go, each school is going to be teaching similar medicine. Question is, what else is it about that school that makes it best for you personally? For me, PLFSOM was the best fit. I ranked this school #1 on my list above other schools including UTMB, McGovern, and UTHSCSA. I hope this helps anyone who may be feeling on the fence. I know ranking schools can be stressful with so many aspects going into the decision, so if you have any questions feel free to also message me. Best of luck to all of you during interviews and beyond!

 

[sweetnothings35]

1. The program is - unbeknownst to incoming M1s - audio and video recording almost all small group activities, which run from 12-30 hours per week.

What's your source?

 

[LibBum]

For those of you interviewing here, these are some things that I would particularly bring up. When choosing my medical school, I wanted to choose a school that was completely unique and different than all other medical schools and matched my personality.

So here are some things that make PLFSOM SUPER COOL, but also things you definitely want to bring up on interview day. A lot of these things are not on their website, but I feel like these can help you stand out.

1. Clinical presentation curriculum...they will harp on this. We are very proud of our curriculum, but in general, you learn everything about sore throat one week (histo, patho, pharmaco, biochem, etc), and the next week you do another symptom. So we just finished our first one last week which was pediatric dehydration. In pediatric dehydration, we touched on vomiting, diarrhea, insensible fluid loss, etc. After IHD (our first unit), our next unit is GI, where we will focus on one GI clinical presentation/symptom every week.

2. Standardized patient encounters - we do SP's once a week (I think a lot of schools do it once a month or so). So you get really good and comfortable in the room with patients, and it really shows.

3. We have four medical student run clinics, some where the med students can take history, physical, make assessment, plan, etc. This is super unique.

4. We are purely pass-fail the first two years (no high pass, etc). A lot of schools are now moving to this trend. But, as you might guess, this encourages collaboration and no one sabotages you.

5. Mandatory Spanish - they teach it to you here, and that helps because so many of our patients are spanish-speakers.

6. Small class size (100 people). This will change really soon I think, but man, this helps a lot. You get to know all of your peers very well. There aren't too few where you know everything about everyone, but also not too many to not know your classmates.

7. Immersion - many med students have differing opinions on this, but I feel like this is so helpful. Before school starts, you have three weeks here where you don't learn any medical stuff. You learn Spanish, etc., but more importantly find your niche and your group of friends. We would go hiking, to bars, two-stepping, to dinners. This was a big convincing factor for me, because most schools will just do orientation and make you start your first week of medical school.

8. Exams are every 7-8 weeks. So, I have heard some schools have exams every couple of weeks or so, but here, the stress load is a bit less because you get to study for your exams, but also have free time. Now this really sucks for crammers, but if you stay on top of your game, this could be really good.

9. TA sessions and a personal tutors- This was big for me. I was really happy this school had TA's to offer and second years who could teach first years material twice a week. The fact that if you need help, you can get it, is really good.

10. The mountains, the city, and the people. I just love El Paso, and people think it's a desert, BUT it it not! It is truly a hidden gem! There are fewer doctors in El Paso, and you serve a lot of people who come across the border, who are so grateful for your help. In turn, you see unique pathologies that have progressed, and are able to provide unique care.

I am not trying to brag, or try to convince you to come here lol, because there are negative points about this school as well, as with every school. BUT if you do get an interview here, these are some GREAT points to mention. I remember during my interview, I mentioned a lot of these points, because they really are true. It helped me match here. While students at every school will say their professors are good and the upperclassmen are helpful or nice, this school really stood out to me.

Ultimately though, our goal is just to become physicians so every school has its own charm. But if you get an interview here, be sure to mention these things. =) Feel free to DM me if you have any questions, and do not hesitate. But congrats to those with an II right now. I am praying that the rest of you who have worked hard to get it as well.

You're an MS1, one week in. Please update this group once you finish the semester. Then after CVR. That would be "SUPER COOL".

 

[MacBee]

You're an MS1, one week in. Please update this group once you finish the semester. Then after CVR. That would be "SUPER COOL".

Lol guys, no need to be condescending to someone who’s just trying to help...

 

[VivaElBirdos]

You're an MS1, one week in. Please update this group once you finish the semester. Then after CVR. That would be "SUPER COOL".

How has your experience been @LibBum ? Assuming you are a student there...

 

[The Cure Is Love]

You're an MS1, one week in. Please update this group once you finish the semester. Then after CVR. That would be "SUPER COOL".

Yea man, I completely agree. Sorry if I offended you. But in reality, when I interviewed here last year, and stayed at a MS1 resident host's place, he gave me a LOT of good input. And then at the student panel, if I recall correctly, there were also quite a few MS1 students. I'm sure they call MS1's on the student panel for a purpose. I have talked to MS1's at every school I interviewed at. Yes, we are naive, but we have experience, albeit a little. I state what I have experienced in immersion and what they talked about at the school/the introduction, and the little bit I have went through. If you didn't like it, I apologize man. I just wanna help my fellow peeps out. . If you have constructive advice, please add it on; it would help them as well! I am not restricting upperclassmen from posting. So please do if you know anything.

 

[jarednogeek]

I was considering El Paso, but am curious about some of this. I’ve never heard of a med student bashing their university. Do professors really give out conduct citations like that? For improper attire? At UTMB I saw male students wearing bathing suits and a t shirt to class. Everyone was so relaxed and friendly. Jeans are required at El Paso? You can wear pajamas to a lecture and still become a professional and competent doctor in my opinion.
Conduct citations for joking? I’m definitely going to research all of this, it sounds like a lot of class time and unnecessary studies. Required political rally attendance? It seems from what I’m hearing a lot of the professors and faculty freely give out these conduct citations that can effect your future, wow. Never heard of this stuff from a medical school. Thanks for alerting us before we make a decision that could affect our lives!

 

[jarednogeek]

@fmd123 @QuienEstas @The Cure Is Love

 

[The Cure Is Love]

I was considering El Paso, but am curious about some of this. I’ve never heard of a med student bashing their university. Do professors really give out conduct citations like that? For improper attire? At UTMB I saw male students wearing bathing suits and a t shirt to class. Everyone was so relaxed and friendly. Jeans are required at El Paso? You can wear pajamas to a lecture and still become a professional and competent doctor in my opinion.
Conduct citations for joking? I’m definitely going to research all of this, it sounds like a lot of class time and unnecessary studies. Required political rally attendance? It seems from what I’m hearing a lot of the professors and faculty freely give out these conduct citations that can effect your future, wow. Never heard of this stuff from a medical school. Thanks for alerting us before we make a decision that could affect our lives!

Again, I have no complaints about the school. I actually believe that this is the school that is perfect for me. Others are entitled to their own opinions, but I have lots of positives to say about the school (as aforementioned earlier).

 

[esob]

TBH, for an acceptance, at this point I'd be willing to sign an agreement to wear a tux every day while being secretly recorded and forced to attend weekly Hillary indoctrinations

I know every school has something negative about it, as well as a host of positives, and I appreciate the info from both sides. If I end up with a loot pack full of acceptances, it is something to consider, but we aren't there yet Personally, I like the idea of a dress code, but I'm former military so I'm probably biased.

 

[sweetnothings35]

Another M1 here. This is my personal opinion.

I agree with my fellow M1s. I think the experience has been wonderful so far, though by nature, I think I'm more realistic than the M1s who have shared their experiences so far. And I agree that fit matters and that every school has its pros and cons.

The dress code seems more smart casual than business casual to me. Yes, there are days you have to be more dressed up than others. But today, several M1s wore open toed shoes, t-shirts, and lots of jeans. No reported incidences of being written up. These people are pretty vocal and would have rallied the entire class had they been written up. I personally go with business casual every day because I've had working experience and a lot of business casual clothing,and I do agree that attire says a lot about someone when all you have is a first impression. Also, I observed several upperclassmen who wore gym clothes to the gym and outside of the gym (after school hours).

During immersion, my team joked around a lot during our small group sessions. We were not always professional to each other when we jokes around, though we did treat each other as close friends. Again, no reports of any warnings. My team is very close and we would have told each other had anything occurred.

I personally enjoyed most of immersion. I do agree that there were some "filler" activities but loved the chance to go out and talk to community members and hear about the local area and population I would be interacting with as a med student.

I also love El Paso and many of my classmates feel the same way. It is a unique place, and for some of us, the location did contribute to the fact that we ranked it #1. Don't knock it until you've visited. Many of our parents changed their minds, too, when they got to see the city during move in and white coat.

And I do love the Spanish classes, public health aspects, etc, even if they aren't directly related to medicine. I feel that it will make me a more competent and accommodating physician.

I'm sorry that QuienEstas had a different experience.

Feel free to reach out to me if I can help.

 

[LibBum]

Hi, MS 2 here. I just wanted to chime in a little on some of the comments made here that are "speaking for all of us"...

First though, the positives about this school. True pass/fail really is a nice thing and if you don't think it's important to you, then you're wrong lol. The city of El Paso is amazing. Coming from one of the largest and fastest growing cities in America, I think that's saying a lot. It's not just a desert, I promise. Also, the amount of time we get with simulations really makes a difference and can be seen when talking to students from other schools who don't even know how to take a decent history.

That being said, if you get offers from any other school that has true pass/fail and you like the city. I would go there instead.

Now for the negatives. I think all the talk about event cards, writes ups, etc. is a bit blown out of proportion. Yes, when seeing patients (real and simulated), they expect us to dress up like doctors. I understand that and think it is completely reasonable to not want us showing up in jeans for this. Besides when we are meeting patients though, we can wear whatever we want. I have received a comment or two from some older professors if I show up in shorts or something, but no real consequences.

Now, there are REAL problems with this school that are not being addressed at all, and even laughed at by our faculty. Just to give you an example, we had our MS2 orientation this Monday, and one of the lecturers (who I will leave unnamed but is basically in charge of the neuro unit) told us to our face that "we should be thankful for the changes they had made this year, and we are probably the winiest class she has ever experienced"... The thing we should be thankful for was the movement of our weekly UNGRADED quizzes from Friday to Thursday or whatever. I honestly don't care about this at all considering the quizzes were UNGRADED. So, i guess thank you, for giving us crumbs. As for all of the BS courses they added into our curriculum which have been talked about a bit here; these classes really aren't hard, just a bit time consuming which can be frustrating at certain times. But again, they aren't really that big of an issue. For me, I get extremely upset at the way we are tested. Our professors write their own questions which many times are not in USMLE format and may or may not be all that important honestly. If the school decided to shift to retired USMLE questions for our exams (like many other medical schools), I think we would be much happier as a student body. Many times we get questions that were never talked about in lectures, powerpoints, or even supplemental materials, and can also be extremely difficult to conduce from the information we were given in class. We are given the opportunity to 'challenge' questions on our exams, but honestly half the teachers don't even look at those challenges, and they are rarely accepted unless there was a typo or double keyed etc. But I know I am not alone in saying that there is a good amount of questions that were simply poorly written. Multiple faculty members are too egotistical to accept that though. So we are left with these crappy test, which definitely caused our M2 attrition rate to be so low (88% I believe for this year), and are not preparing us very well for step (according to our average step 1 scores over the past few years).

Besides our crappy system of testing and certain high up faculty who are unprofessional to say the least, I think it's an okay school. But, if you receive an invite to any other school with true pass/fail, I would take it and not think twice about it.

Great handle. #TrustTheProcess

 

[Righteous_Truth]

M2 here. This is the rosiest write-up of immersion I've ever seen.


Immersion has 3 main parts - Spanish, cultural intelligence, community assessments/logic models. There is also 4 hours of sim patient interactions. There are just under 200 hours of required attendance, which has exactly zero relevance for step 1. There was a required attendance to a political rally (note: only DNC have the empathy necessary to become a physician) and a "highly encouraged" realtor presentation.


I cannot in the furthest recesses of my mind begin to fathom how this material is the subject of a formal medical school curriculum, much less just under 200 hours of mandated attendance, nor how this is passing internal quality controls, nor how the utter irrelevancy of this material is escaping the notice of accrediting bodies.


I am likely going to explore transfer options after step. Reasons I regret coming:

1. The program is - unbeknownst to incoming M1s - audio and video recording almost all small group activities, which run from 12-30 hours per week.

2. The school's professionalism stassi is very real, and used to formally police the ultra-left, ultra-authoritarian political views of mid-level administrators. Admittedly the stassi chief has departed (I assume not entirely voluntarily) for another organization, so perhaps this will improve.

3. While they say there is no dress code, in practice the minimum to avoid tacky professionalism "event cards" (which are generally taken extremely seriously) is khakis/polo, with most students in slacks and a button down. Note: I never come to campus in less than slacks and a button down, and wear a tie when interacting with sim patients or faculty.

4. While they say attendance is not required, in practice there's an average of about 16 hours per week of mandatory attendance, and one of the professors posts almost no information online aside from learning objectives. Most of the mandatory attendance - SCI, WCE, master's colloquium, Spanish - are low or zero yield for step 1.

5. There were 13 people from my class who repeated MS1, 3 I know of who quit, and I heard there was 1 professionalism dismissal. A first-year attrition rate of 17% - which is going to drive an on-time graduation rate of roughly 75% - is going to get the attention of accreditation bodies.


On the plus side, the macro level organization of the curriculum is totally focused and well organized, and several of the science professors (Quest, Guess, Haag, Janson) are exceptional lecturers within their respective fields. The curriculum is also generally quite manageable - I averaged about 30 hours per week on the science and passed everything comfortably. I also like El Paso generally

Wow. What to say to all of this? My goodness.



I'll start by stating that I am a current MS2 and I haven't read a work of fiction like this since 1984 by George Orwell. I genuinely question if this individual is even a student at PLFSOM as there is no "Haag, Guess, or Janson" at this school. There is a Dr. Hogg, Dr. Gest, and Dr. Jansen. If you are a student here, perhaps details like knowing someone's name, not leering at women, and avoiding off color jokes would improve your standing in the community. Just a thought.




With regards to immersion, the Spanish and socializing with classmates was great. The socialization was a part of the public health projects which were not super exciting but gave us a chance to get to know each other and the area. Otherwise, the public health aspects and lectures were not overly enjoyable and leave some room for improvement. Also, there could be at least one day spent preparing the incoming MS1 class for the study materials and study styles available before throwing them into the medicine curriculum. So yes, could it be improved? Absolutely but it is not as bad as it is made out to be here.



Now to bring some truth to your other points:



1) The only recordings are in the lecture halls (because they're recording *gasp* lectures) and in the standardized patient rooms because you are allowed to view and learn from your encounters. The devices continue to record in those rooms throughout the day though so if you elect to study in them, that's something to consider. If you're only studying and using those 8-10 rooms appropriately then you have nothing to worry about. If that bothers you, study somewhere else. There's plenty of other rooms, space in the library, and local coffee shops.



2) Also, the former Assistant Vice President that you're condemning is an absolutely AWESOME lady and I already miss her terribly. You'll have a hard time finding anyone that cared more or fought more for the students. And get your facts straight before you broadcast fake news; she left to take a leadership position at another medical school to be closer to her family. You should be ashamed of yourself for what you said. I know I'm ashamed of you.



3) Dress code only really applies during patient encounters and clinic visits. Otherwise, most of us wear jeans and t-shirts as well as jackets because they keep the A/C blasting which makes sense as we're in El Paso. That said, you cannot roll through in PJs or wife beaters but this is a professional school so why would you? I have never, ever been spoken to regarding my attire and I wear graphic t-shirts many days, shorts some days, and leave from the school in gym attire regularly after using the gym. Sorry, Quien Estas but you're way off on this one.



4) They said attendance isn't required for SPM (scientific principles of medicine) which is true. On average there are 8 required hours per week for Spanish, Medical Skills, SCI, Work Case Example, and Colloquium. Those classes are about making a better, well-rounded future physician and not specifically geared towards STEP. Medical school is not all about STEP and if that is your only concern there are plenty of outside resources you can add on to better prepare for the STEP 1 exam. On the weeks we have anatomy lab, there is an additional 3 hours spent in the anatomy lab and working through examples of clinical cases to better understand the anatomy. So that's 8 hours most weeks and 11 hours other weeks, not 14-16. Your math skills could be another reason you are struggling. We offer free TA tutoring sessions for med school curriculum but they can probably help you with math too.



5) While your numbers have some accuracy, they are completely out of context and misleading. At least 6 had family and personal illnesses that caused them to struggle or leave and return this year while several more are taking a gap year for reasons that are no else’s business. Again, get your facts straight before you run out here and publish misinformation to the world. When those numbers become routine then you can talk.



And yes, most of the SPM material is pretty well done with small exceptions here and there. The staff is great and there are numerous excellent professors. It's medical school, there are times where you need to use outside resources and learn something for yourself in a different way than it's taught. No one is spoon feeding you.



Quien Estas, I wish you the best and genuinely hope you get the transfer you desire for everyone’s sake. Though something tells me these “problems” you’re experiencing are going to follow you anywhere you go. Now do us all a favor and quit bashing our wonderful school as if you have all the facts or as if you speak for everyone. YOU DON’T.

Hi, MS 2 here. I just wanted to chime in a little on some of the comments made here that are "speaking for all of us"...


First though, the positives about this school. True pass/fail really is a nice thing and if you don't think it's important to you, then you're wrong lol. The city of El Paso is amazing. Coming from one of the largest and fastest growing cities in America, I think that's saying a lot. It's not just a desert, I promise. Also, the amount of time we get with simulations really makes a difference and can be seen when talking to students from other schools who don't even know how to take a decent history.


That being said, if you get offers from any other school that has true pass/fail and you like the city. I would go there instead.


Now for the negatives. I think all the talk about event cards, writes ups, etc. is a bit blown out of proportion. Yes, when seeing patients (real and simulated), they expect us to dress up like doctors. I understand that and think it is completely reasonable to not want us showing up in jeans for this. Besides when we are meeting patients though, we can wear whatever we want. I have received a comment or two from some older professors if I show up in shorts or something, but no real consequences.


Now, there are REAL problems with this school that are not being addressed at all, and even laughed at by our faculty. Just to give you an example, we had our MS2 orientation this Monday, and one of the lecturers (who I will leave unnamed but is basically in charge of the neuro unit) told us to our face that "we should be thankful for the changes they had made this year, and we are probably the winiest class she has ever experienced"... The thing we should be thankful for was the movement of our weekly UNGRADED quizzes from Friday to Thursday or whatever. I honestly don't care about this at all considering the quizzes were UNGRADED. So, i guess thank you, for giving us crumbs. As for all of the BS courses they added into our curriculum which have been talked about a bit here; these classes really aren't hard, just a bit time consuming which can be frustrating at certain times. But again, they aren't really that big of an issue. For me, I get extremely upset at the way we are tested. Our professors write their own questions which many times are not in USMLE format and may or may not be all that important honestly. If the school decided to shift to retired USMLE questions for our exams (like many other medical schools), I think we would be much happier as a student body. Many times we get questions that were never talked about in lectures, powerpoints, or even supplemental materials, and can also be extremely difficult to conduce from the information we were given in class. We are given the opportunity to 'challenge' questions on our exams, but honestly half the teachers don't even look at those challenges, and they are rarely accepted unless there was a typo or double keyed etc. But I know I am not alone in saying that there is a good amount of questions that were simply poorly written. Multiple faculty members are too egotistical to accept that though. So we are left with these crappy test, which definitely caused our M2 attrition rate to be so low (88% I believe for this year), and are not preparing us very well for step (according to our average step 1 scores over the past few years).


Besides our crappy system of testing and certain high up faculty who are unprofessional to say the least, I think it's an okay school. But, if you receive an invite to any other school with true pass/fail, I would take it and not think twice about it.

Mr. Process has a few points in the negative that need to be addressed.



First, his quote "we should be thankful for the changes they had made this year, and we are probably the winiest class she has ever experienced" is slightly wrong, taken out of context, and misspelled. :-(




The question posed to the professor from an MS2 student in the auditorium was, "Are we the whiniest class you've ever experienced?" as many classmates were complaining about a change in the format of a unit later in this semester. With a laugh and a smile, the professor responded, “Oh, no. Last year’s class was much whinier.” She was making a joke. Definitely not the same thing.





Secondly, yes it would be nice to have entirely USMLE style questions or a retired USMLE question bank and yes, rare question errors exist but not many. Most of our tests and material, with a few exceptions, are more than adequate to build the base knowledge needed for STEP 1 but you will need to use some outside resources to aid in your preparation and medical knowledge for the STEP 1 exam such as First Aid, Q banks, Pathoma, and Sketchy which most other medical school students use as well. No curriculum is perfect which is why every medical student throughout the country uses many of these same resources.

 

[LibBum]

Wow. What to say to all of this? My goodness.



I'll start by stating that I am a current MS2 and I haven't read a work of fiction like this since 1984 by George Orwell. I genuinely question if this individual is even a student at PLFSOM as there is no "Haag, Guess, or Janson" at this school. There is a Dr. Hogg, Dr. Gest, and Dr. Jansen. If you are a student here, perhaps details like knowing someone's name, not leering at women, and avoiding off color jokes would improve your standing in the community. Just a thought.




With regards to immersion, the Spanish and socializing with classmates was great. The socialization was a part of the public health projects which were not super exciting but gave us a chance to get to know each other and the area. Otherwise, the public health aspects and lectures were not overly enjoyable and leave some room for improvement. Also, there could be at least one day spent preparing the incoming MS1 class for the study materials and study styles available before throwing them into the medicine curriculum. So yes, could it be improved? Absolutely but it is not as bad as it is made out to be here.



Now to bring some truth to your other points:



1) The only recordings are in the lecture halls (because they're recording *gasp* lectures) and in the standardized patient rooms because you are allowed to view and learn from your encounters. The devices continue to record in those rooms throughout the day though so if you elect to study in them, that's something to consider. If you're only studying and using those 8-10 rooms appropriately then you have nothing to worry about. If that bothers you, study somewhere else. There's plenty of other rooms, space in the library, and local coffee shops.



2) Also, the former Assistant Vice President that you're condemning is an absolutely AWESOME lady and I already miss her terribly. You'll have a hard time finding anyone that cared more or fought more for the students. And get your facts straight before you broadcast fake news; she left to take a leadership position at another medical school to be closer to her family. You should be ashamed of yourself for what you said. I know I'm ashamed of you.



3) Dress code only really applies during patient encounters and clinic visits. Otherwise, most of us wear jeans and t-shirts as well as jackets because they keep the A/C blasting which makes sense as we're in El Paso. That said, you cannot roll through in PJs or wife beaters but this is a professional school so why would you? I have never, ever been spoken to regarding my attire and I wear graphic t-shirts many days, shorts some days, and leave from the school in gym attire regularly after using the gym. Sorry, Quien Estas but you're way off on this one.



4) They said attendance isn't required for SPM (scientific principles of medicine) which is true. On average there are 8 required hours per week for Spanish, Medical Skills, SCI, Work Case Example, and Colloquium. Those classes are about making a better, well-rounded future physician and not specifically geared towards STEP. Medical school is not all about STEP and if that is your only concern there are plenty of outside resources you can add on to better prepare for the STEP 1 exam. On the weeks we have anatomy lab, there is an additional 3 hours spent in the anatomy lab and working through examples of clinical cases to better understand the anatomy. So that's 8 hours most weeks and 11 hours other weeks, not 14-16. Your math skills could be another reason you are struggling. We offer free TA tutoring sessions for med school curriculum but they can probably help you with math too.



5) While your numbers have some accuracy, they are completely out of context and misleading. At least 6 had family and personal illnesses that caused them to struggle or leave and return this year while several more are taking a gap year for reasons that are no else’s business. Again, get your facts straight before you run out here and publish misinformation to the world. When those numbers become routine then you can talk.



And yes, most of the SPM material is pretty well done with small exceptions here and there. The staff is great and there are numerous excellent professors. It's medical school, there are times where you need to use outside resources and learn something for yourself in a different way than it's taught. No one is spoon feeding you.



Quien Estas, I wish you the best and genuinely hope you get the transfer you desire for everyone’s sake. Though something tells me these “problems” you’re experiencing are going to follow you anywhere you go. Now do us all a favor and quit bashing our wonderful school as if you have all the facts or as if you speak for everyone. YOU DON’T.








Mr. Process has a few points in the negative that need to be addressed.



First, his quote "we should be thankful for the changes they had made this year, and we are probably the winiest class she has ever experienced" is slightly wrong, taken out of context, and misspelled. :-(




The question posed to the professor from an MS2 student in the auditorium was, "Are we the whiniest class you've ever experienced?" as many classmates were complaining about a change in the format of a unit later in this semester. With a laugh and a smile, the professor responded, “Oh, no. Last year’s class was much whinier.” She was making a joke. Definitely not the same thing.





Secondly, yes it would be nice to have entirely USMLE style questions or a retired USMLE question bank and yes, rare question errors exist but not many. Most of our tests and material, with a few exceptions, are more than adequate to build the base knowledge needed for STEP 1 but you will need to use some outside resources to aid in your preparation and medical knowledge for the STEP 1 exam such as First Aid, Q banks, Pathoma, and Sketchy which most other medical school students use as well. No curriculum is perfect which is why every medical student throughout the country uses many of these same resources.

lol...Righteous_Truth. Nice try.

 

[TheFort13]

MS1 here trying to clear up the bashing of our school...

Whoever this MS2 is clearly displeased with either his life here (as I've heard some MS2 say about their classmates) or a repeater trying to bring the school rep down. There is no "true" dress code unless it comes to immersion (and even then it was lax) and Med Skills. I am currently sitting here in jeans, a t shirt, and boots. Two days ago I was here in sweats and my mentor was in shorts. Do not let what this person is saying discourage you from attending this school.

Immersion is an invaluable part of the curriculum as I believe medical Spanish is crucial for anyone attempting to become a physician in the US. As for EP, I moved here from the DFW metroplex and I still find it fun.

PM me for an HONEST viewpoint of this school.

 

[premed0431]

Every time someone comments, I get happy cause I think someone got an interview but it ends up being you guys arguing lol

 

[sotvanpardis]

Every time someone comments, I get happy cause I think someone got an interview but it ends up being you guys arguing lol

same

 

[RedWolverine]

So no II’s this week for anyone? I noticed a pattern where El Paso usually extends their interview invites every Thursday or Friday.

 

[lilsebastian18]

So in case anyone likes numbers and figuring things out that don't really matter and probs has no bearing on this year but if you're like me wanting to ease the neurosis:

According to last year's data, there were 21 interview days with an average of 26 interviewees per day, for a total of 546 interviewees. From the first few reported interviews it looks like these are happening on Fridays and according to the website it goes from August to mid January. If I have this correct, with 2 interview days already gone (8/2 and 8/9) and a third (8/16) mere days way and using last year's data, we're at 468 interview spots left for the cycle. If we want to be conservative and assume the 8/23 date have also been offered then we're looking at 442.

In other words, its only the beginning!

 

[ljdkfhans]

So in case anyone likes numbers and figuring things out that don't really matter and probs has no bearing on this year but if you're like me wanting to ease the neurosis:

According to last year's data, there were 21 interview days with an average of 26 interviewees per day, for a total of 546 interviewees. From the first few reported interviews it looks like these are happening on Fridays and according to the website it goes from August to mid January. If I have this correct, with 2 interview days already gone (8/2 and 8/9) and a third (8/16) mere days way and using last year's data, we're at 468 interview spots left for the cycle. If we want to be conservative and assume the 8/23 date have also been offered then we're looking at 442.

In other words, its only the beginning!

Did you figure this out for other Texas med schools too??

 

[lilsebastian18]

Did you figure this out for other Texas med schools too??

Nah, this was the only school I found with clear data published on their website.

 

[esob]

Nah, this was the only school I found with clear data published on their website.

Pretty sure the data exists for UTMB as well so how about crunching the stats already

 

[esob]

I'm going to be interviewing here on Thursday and have a rental car if anyone needs a ride back to the airport after the interviews. If you happen to be staying at the Holiday Inn Express, you can hitch a ride in the morning as well.

 

[bludoge445]

II this afternoon. Complete 6/5

 

[Lomology]

II this afternoon too. Transmitted on 6/22 but barely got my letters in last week.

 

[esob]

I noticed in last year's thread that there was a night before social, but I haven't heard anything about one this year. Did anyone else get an email about this?

 

[Lomology]

I noticed in last year's thread that there was a night before social, but I haven't heard anything about one this year. Did anyone else get an email about this?

I haven't seen anything about a social. On my portal I just see info about hotels and directions to the school.

 

[esob]

I haven't seen anything about a social. On my portal I just see info about hotels and directions to the school.

OK cool, at least I know I'm not the only one

 

[Sterling Archer]

Hey Y'all,

One thing that I guess does make people upset is that we have a lot of "unnecessary classes." I do not believe they are unnecessary, because they teach you how to be a good physician - from the standardized patient encounters every Thursday, to the mandatory Spanish, Biostats, and college colloquia on Friday. This is different than other schools, because most schools teach scientific material/science courses that will be on exams M-F, and rarely have patient interaction. PLFSOM teaches science curricula that will be on the exams on M-W, and then the extra classes Th/Fri. While the Thursday/Friday classes are mandatory, it is so nice to be done with all the material you need to know for exams on Wednesday. From the third year med students I saw yesterday at RotaCare clinic, they really know how to talk with patients, and their diagnosing skills were excellent.

I understand people have differing opinions, and people are entitled to what they think. However, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

MS4 here.

I've heard from faculty about students wanting to get rid of standardized patient encounters because they are somehow "an unnecessary class". Seriously guys?

Other potentially "unnecessary classes" in MS1 and MS2 really amount to a measly grand total of 5-6 hours a week. WOW. A whole 6 hours of doing stuff I might not want to do. Ask any practicing physician how much EHR documentation they do nowadays just to make insurance companies happy and not a single one of them are remotely thrilled to be doing this. Guess what, you'll be doing a lot of **** you don't want to do as a doctor (but have to do it if you want to get paid for anything) so start learning to suck it up now.

Hey Y'all,

I do agree with the professionalism being high here. However, I disagree politely with there being strict dress policy in attending class. Everyone can wear jeans if they would like, and it is not necessary to wear slacks/dress shirt everyday. I wore jeans the whole last week lol as did most of the class. But, everyone does start off wearing slacks/dress shirt during immersion, before moving in to actual jeans during medical school. Shorts are fine, but yes, I don't know about gym shorts or pajamas to class (which is really disrespectful too, imo). The only mandatory day is when we have standardized patients (once a week), when we do have to dress professionally.

I've never had an issue with my attire even though I have frequently worn sweats to class (at least when I still attended). I wear professional clothes on days when we interact with SPs and pretty much all the time on outpatient services. Even so, is it really so strange that people make snap judgement about you based on the clothing you wear? If you want to avoid getting dumped for looking like a hobo just dress professionally/conservatively. It's not that hard, but some of you find it impossibly difficult to do simple things like perhaps washing your white coat that has been collecting ketchup stains for the last 4 weeks.

As far as curriculum goes:
There are shortcomings to medical school curriculum at every single institution that exists. This is the exact reason why resources like SketchyMicro, UWorld, etc have been so pervasive among medical students everywhere to help patch up holes your curriculum missed. This might be a controversial opinion, but I don't think it is any institution's responsibility to hold your hand through every single UWorld question you got wrong.

If you have serious questions feel free to PM me.

 

[thegrind33]

MS4 here.

I've heard from faculty about students wanting to get rid of standardized patient encounters because they are somehow "an unnecessary class". Seriously guys?

Other potentially "unnecessary classes" in MS1 and MS2 really amount to a measly grand total of 5-6 hours a week. WOW. A whole 6 hours of doing stuff I might not want to do. Ask any practicing physician how much EHR documentation they do nowadays just to make insurance companies happy and not a single one of them are remotely thrilled to be doing this. Guess what, you'll be doing a lot of **** you don't want to do as a doctor (but have to do it if you want to get paid for anything) so start learning to suck it up now.



I've never had an issue with my attire even though I have frequently worn sweats to class (at least when I still attended). I wear professional clothes on days when we interact with SPs and pretty much all the time on outpatient services. Even so, is it really so strange that people make snap judgement about you based on the clothing you wear? If you want to avoid getting dumped for looking like a hobo just dress professionally/conservatively. It's not that hard, but some of you find it impossibly difficult to do simple things like perhaps washing your white coat that has been collecting ketchup stains for the last 4 weeks.

As far as curriculum goes:
There are shortcomings to medical school curriculum at every single institution that exists. This is the exact reason why resources like SketchyMicro, UWorld, etc have been so pervasive among medical students everywhere to help patch up holes your curriculum missed. This might be a controversial opinion, but I don't think it is any institution's responsibility to hold your hand through every single UWorld question you got wrong.

If you have serious questions feel free to PM me.

I enjoyed reading your input, however I would like to say that as a doctor I’ll be getting compensated to do stuff I don’t want. Having to pay a school and have to do stuff that I don’t want/not really important for an MD is a bit of a turnoff tbh but I’m sure there’s some stuff at every school that I might find over the top as well. Why would they want to get rid of standardized patient interactions??