2020-2021 Texas Tech, El Paso

Started by TheDataKing
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I have been sent some general questions and wanted to post here for all to benefit and avoid some duplication. If you haven't already, be sure to go through the last year or two of the school-specific threads, as many of us current students have put effort in over the years to get information on personal experience out there.

During my preclinical years (pre-COVID), we had a systems based curriculum where you are learning medicine from day 1, and it is integrated with the basic sciences. This was very engaging for those of us not fresh out of college and therefore begging to get to the medicine and move on from the minutiae in biochemistry lectures. We had a weekly "worked case example" which was not PBL but simply walking through a few cases pertinent to the week's material with a resident or attending. Very practical experience. We also had a weekly medical skills session which usually involved an SP encounter followed by a partial simulation or didactic, again all pertinent to the week's topic. Anatomy lab was also about weekly. Especially now that I am an MS3, I appreciate the clinical depth that some faculty went into in our lectures. We were definitely learning for both Step 1 and Step 2 during the pre-clinical years. There are a couple different student volunteer clinics with a variety of opportunities within, though none of this is required. There are a couple clinical experiences throughout the pre-clinical years but they are mostly focused on the public health and socioeconomic status impact on patients in clinic, though some patient care is included. Exams were all internal and objective based, with great TA support, and each block was pass/fail.

That is all pre-COVID and a year ago, and things change fast. Maybe a current MS1 or MS2 can speak to what has changed?

Students here are very collaborative and nothing like the competitiveness that other schools are known for. At least pre-COVID, there were plenty of sponsored and non-sponsored gatherings, and we frequently worked in groups, with plenty of group study space available for those who want it. Countless times students have reached out to give or ask for help, and we take care of eachother in and out of school because that is just what you do.

Socioeconomic status, Medicare, Medicaid, health insurance coverage in general, healthcare access (and associated advanced pathology due to the lack of access), and border politics are all huge topics here and at least one will likely be a key concern in every single patient encounter. Having an understanding of the current events surrounding these issues and being able to discuss them respectfully is a good way to prepare for interviewing, let alone attending, at this school. You don't need to go read books and write papers on the topics, but just have an idea of what has happened, what is going on now, and what the next few years (months?) may have in store. I know I've commented on this in the past, you might find something else useful in those post(s).

Good luck!
 
KGrimes said:
That is all pre-COVID and a year ago, and things change fast. Maybe a current MS1 or MS2 can speak to what has changed?
Click to expand...

MS2 here. Judging by your username, I think I know who you are and just wanted to thank you for the Anki deck/advice!

Some changes that came into effect this year:
1) Instead of just Work Case Examples (WCE), we now also have Team Based Learning (TBL; basically PBL with an individual and team-based portion). General thoughts so far are that having both is wasting an entire day, but I think that's primarily due to tech-centric issues. (People having difficulty downloading the questions, issue with WebEx Teams, etc.)
Having been through TBL/PBL at a graduate program, I think it would be fine if it were in-person - much easier and streamlined. Being behind a computer makes it too easy to just turn off your webcam/mic and hide.

2) The school has shifted from in-house examinations to NBME examinations. MS1's have their first exam this Thursday, while MS2's have our first exam in a few weeks. TBD on how we feel about it, but there are some mixed feelings. (Mostly centered around STEP-centric studying vs. School Material-centric studying considering that TBL's are ~10% of our grade)
Personally, I don't really mind since there's sufficient overlap, but it can be frustrating for little details here and there.

3) Everything is off-campus except for Medical Skills (i.e. Standardized patients, practicing physical exams, etc.) As someone that never went to lectures, that basically means no change. For people who do go to lectures, there are video lectures +/- recordings to help out.

4) Anatomy labs are recorded sessions run by Dr. Azim. Excellent quality lectures in my opinion. Also, Distinction in Anatomy TA's have virtual sessions where TA's present questions and discuss answers. There are talks of letting the TA's into the lab with some sort of video feed strapped in so we can present the prosections, but that is still TBD.

KGrimes said:
Students here are very collaborative and nothing like the competitiveness that other schools are known for. At least pre-COVID, there were plenty of sponsored and non-sponsored gatherings, and we frequently worked in groups, with plenty of group study space available for those who want it. Countless times students have reached out to give or ask for help, and we take care of eachother in and out of school because that is just what you do.
Click to expand...

This is still extremely true. Within the MS2 class, we work collaboratively on note-taking for certain lectures, sharing Anki decks, and correlating outside resources (Sketchy, Pathoma, FA, BnB) with lectures to help students with their study-planning. Even between the MS1/2 classes, we're trying to promote a greater sense of inter-class collaboration via note sharing, advice, Anki decks, etc.
Study gatherings are, as expected, not as prevalent, but there are small gatherings here and there, within reason.
 
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I was pre-matched last year on this date, so I assume that would be the same each year. People just have not posted here yet. Congratulation to those who were interviewed and those who got pre-matched. This year has been rough for all of you, but I am confident that you all will pull through.
Just a bit about myself, I am currently MS1 here, and I would love to answer any questions you might have. I am also a nurse practitioner and working part time, 4-5 hours/week, just to maintain my clinical skills. I received interview invitation from 8 medical schools in Texas last year, but I only went to 3 before deciding to cancel the rest of the interviews. You will not be disappointed to attend this wonderful school.
 
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