2021-2022 Ponce

Applying to Med School? Get In Or Your Money Back
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kvng said:
Ohhh my bad lol I did it w the pr campus in Spanish and still got the email. Does that mean my Spanish was bad?
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I'm fluent in Spanish and got the email, pretty sure everyone who isn't from Puerto Rico that interviewed has to do that assessment
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For future reference: I did the Spanish Assessment, you're sent an email with different dates that you can schedule. You meet with a professor from this program via zoom: Language Support Program - Ponce Health Sciences University

You basically have a conversation for 10-20 minutes in Spanish, so the professor can assess your ability so speak the language. It's okay if you mess up here and there but the interviewer is making sure you can keep up a conversation in Spanish and making sure it won't be a barrier for your Puerto Rico rotations or lectures that can be taught in Spanish.

TL/DR: The Spanish assessment is just to make sure you can actually speak Spanish, and won't be an issue with patients or lectures in the future.
 
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Stephen A. Smith Burner said:
For future reference: I did the Spanish Assessment, you're sent an email with different dates that you can schedule. You meet with a professor from this program via zoom: Language Support Program - Ponce Health Sciences University

You basically have a conversation for 10-20 minutes in Spanish, so the professor can assess your ability so speak the language. It's okay if you mess up here and there but the interviewer is making sure you can keep up a conversation in Spanish and making sure it won't be a barrier for your Puerto Rico rotations or lectures that can be taught in Spanish.

TL/DR: The Spanish assessment is just to make sure you can actually speak Spanish, and won't be an issue with patients or lectures in the future.
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Thank you! I signed up for the Monday spot so that I could hear how it went from someone else :) What was the conversation about? did you use any medical terminology (because I dont know any of that stuff)
 
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kvng said:
Thank you! I signed up for the Monday spot so that I could hear how it went from someone else :) What was the conversation about? did you use any medical terminology (because I dont know any of that stuff)
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It was just a regular conversation, no medical terminology. I was asked about myself and the conversation would go based on what I mentioned, so the flow of the conversation is in your hands
 
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Stephen A. Smith Burner said:
For future reference: I did the Spanish Assessment, you're sent an email with different dates that you can schedule. You meet with a professor from this program via zoom: Language Support Program - Ponce Health Sciences University

You basically have a conversation for 10-20 minutes in Spanish, so the professor can assess your ability so speak the language. It's okay if you mess up here and there but the interviewer is making sure you can keep up a conversation in Spanish and making sure it won't be a barrier for your Puerto Rico rotations or lectures that can be taught in Spanish.

TL/DR: The Spanish assessment is just to make sure you can actually speak Spanish, and won't be an issue with patients or lectures in the future.
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You’re doing the Lord’s work as usual man
 
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I live in the St. Louis area and somehow only have just heard about the new St. Louis program coming Fall 2022. I know it's late in the cycle, but I am considering sending in a primary. Does anyone have an idea of how far along the school is with admissions at this time?
 
DaOddOne said:
I live in the St. Louis area and somehow only have just heard about the new St. Louis program coming Fall 2022. I know it's late in the cycle, but I am considering sending in a primary. Does anyone have an idea of how far along the school is with admissions at this time?
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Considering that they are only accepting 30 students and they already conducted several interviews, you would be at a disadvantage for this cycle.
 
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Badboy4life said:
Considering that they are only accepting 30 students and they already conducted several interviews, you would be at a disadvantage for this cycle.
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How are you aware they have conducted several interviews for the St. Louis campus?
 
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APV726 said:
I interviewed late August and still waiting for the decision but I have seen from previous years that they start releasing decisions in late November/ early December. I called the other day and they told the admissions committee had not had their meeting yet.
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+1
 
Decisions are being released today! Got accepted!
 
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APV726 said:
Hi! How is your experience with PHSU so far? and what tips do you have for an incoming student? Thanks!
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Hey, congratulations on your acceptance!!! It's honestly been a lot to get used to but it's been made a lot easier with the strong sense of community here.
There are 150 of us and 100 master's students plus 2nd-year students all in 2 buildings. Hopefully, the space issue will be resolved with the new building opening in December 2022 (tentatively). Right now we have the option of attending class on zoom or in-person but classes are mandatory regardless (they're all 8AMs). They had our class vote for next semester if we wanted to go back to all in person so that is still being decided. In terms of tips, I would say to not be afraid to reach out to previous classes or people in your class that have done the master's. They are a great resource for learning how to study for exams and what to focus on. Hope this helped, let me know if you have more questions!
 
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Hi, MS2 here. Congrats to those of you who have been accepted, I know this is a big achievement and you should feel proud of it. However, if you have the opportunity to choose another school, do it. Ponce might not be so bad the first year when people are able to get their hands on old exams and clicker questions. You basically don't have to study your entire first year if you just use those resources, but they are not so easy to find that's why you have to get along with the Master's students. On your second year you will have the pleasant experience of studying for tests for which no resource will help you pass. The tests have typos, questions are out of order, the material tested was never taught on on class nor can you find it in any of the course resources and when the curriculum representatives try to discuss it with them so we can get the points, they don't even show up but leave the grades just as they were. Right now 70% of the MS2 class is failing Infectious disease and psychiatry (the rest of the class isn't doing that great either; barely any A's and B's) and it is due to this kind of treatment. If we take it to the dean or the school director, they just tell us to stop complaining.​

Other cons:
  • They force you to attend classes for like 6-8 hours every single day which takes away your study time​
  • Evaluation of standardized patient medical history taking and physical exam is based on a rubric they never discussed with us so you don't know what they will be expecting and some of the things are very specific which we had no way of knowing they would be looking for.​
  • They were supposed to implement NBME standardized tests for every class but decided to put that money into a new building that most of us won't even enjoy since we'll e in Rotations.​
  • For summer research the faculty will help out the master's students that are now on MS1 to get into paid internships but won't offer the same for the rest of the students. Obviously the MS program will look good if their student keep succeeding (more money for them).​
  • Not enough space for that many students to study at the same time. This means that if you want to study in the library, you might probably have to bare with other people making noise. And the library is just two floors with a couple of study rooms and one tiny hall.​
  • Lectures are in Spanish and almost everything else is too, so don't get fooled by them telling you that most of the curriculum is taught in English, while the test and powerpoint presentations are in English, there are far to many evaluations that are made in Spanish.​
I know that this might be the only option for many of you and that at every school you will face similar circumstances, but they really take the "for profit" part seriously. They just want your money and don't care if you pass or fail. If you have to come to ponce, just have these things in mind and don't get discouraged; it isn't a great school but you'll make a great doctor. And reach out to your upperclassmen, they know what it's like and will gladly lend a hand.
 
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Got the acceptance email today! That was a long wait!!!! Interviewed on 9/29
 
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Hey there, has anyone heard anything regarding interviews/acceptances from the St. Louis campus? I live in St. Louis and had kept regular communication with the campus, but it’s been pretty quiet for the last couple of months. I haven’t heard anything since submitting my secondary.
 
koffeekween said:
Hey there, has anyone heard anything regarding interviews/acceptances from the St. Louis campus? I live in St. Louis and had kept regular communication with the campus, but it’s been pretty quiet for the last couple of months. I haven’t heard anything since submitting my secondary.
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Silence for me too, had a friendly conversation with a representative from the office after submitting my secondary and absolutely nothing since for months
 
arnaldoim said:
Silence for me too, had a friendly conversation with a representative from the office after submitting my secondary and absolutely nothing since for months
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Interesting. I had high hopes about there being a new med school only a couple of miles from where I live. I’m hoping that they’re just a little behind since it’s their first cycle of acceptances! Good luck to you.
 
koffeekween said:
Interesting. I had high hopes about there being a new med school only a couple of miles from where I live. I’m hoping that they’re just a little behind since it’s their first cycle of acceptances! Good luck to you.
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Yeah same here. Thank you, good luck to you as well!
 
Hi, another MS2 here.

First of all, congrats to those accepted or those deciding to come to PHSU.

I am sharing my experience and some tips/advice for accepted students. I am from Puerto Rico, but my undergraduate and graduate degrees are from the US. I have been in 4 institutions and have taken medical school classes as part of graduate school requirements. I also have heard and witnessed experiences from many friends from different medical schools in the US and all four schools here in Puerto Rico. This is just some background to help you better understand my experience.

Let me first start by clarifying that there are no perfect medical schools. Not even the top schools in the nations are "perfect." Many friends did medical school in the US (not in Puerto Rico), and I can confirm that all schools have their faults, and all have their system for doing well in the exams. You need to talk to the right people. Even though all schools teach the same material/concepts, they all ask questions differently, so you need to adapt to the system.

If you were accepted, be happy and proud of the opportunity of being in medical school. All schools have their way of making it work; you need to adapt and have the right resources (ask and use according to what works best for you). PHSU is as good of a school as many schools in the US. People think that because it is Puerto Rico, it must be a mediocre school, which is FALSE. Am I 100% happy with PHSU? Of course not. Everybody has expectations about medical school. Some things I am pleased about and others I don't like. At the end of the day, I am happy that I am in medical school and that I will do as good as any other students from other schools.

I will now respectfully comment on some points mentioned by my classmate MDzy to provide another perspective.
  • They force you to attend classes for like 6-8 hours every single day which takes away your study time
    • (True, but I ignore the zoom class and do my own thing, AND this is only for the first year since the second year schedule is way better. If they do in person, go to class and do your own thing. FYI, many schools in the nation also force students to go to class, so this is not unique to PHSU.)
  • Evaluation of standardized patient medical history taking and physical exam is based on a rubric they never discussed with us so you don't know what they will be expecting and some of the things are very specific which we had no way of knowing they would be looking for.
    • (Advice: to avoid misunderstandings, you should email the faculty and make sure you are doing the right thing.)
  • They were supposed to implement NBME standardized tests for every class but decided to put that money into a new building that most of us won't even enjoy since we'll be in Rotations.
    • (This is what we all joke about at school, but in reality, it has nothing to do with the construction of a building. The truth is that many old professors in many schools are at fault for testing methods. They do not want to be told what questions they need to test, plus they do not want to work extra to make changes to the class syllabus. This is a problem nationwide, and the reality is that switching to NBME is not equivalent to doing better in Step 1. If new data proves otherwise, then schools won't have a choice to go all NBME. Do I prefer NBME? Of course, YES! But at the moment, I go with the flow because, at the end of the day, I will need to know the material does not matter if the question was NBME-style or homemade.)
  • For summer research the faculty will help out the master's students that are now on MS1 to get into paid internships but won't offer the same for the rest of the students. Obviously the MS program will look good if their student keep succeeding (more money for them).
    • (Can't comment much on this, but I recommend going somewhere else for research. It is always good to go to a different place.)
  • Not enough space for that many students to study at the same time. This means that if you want to study in the library, you might probably have to bare with other people making noise. And the library is just two floors with a couple of study rooms and one tiny hall.
    • (I prefer to study at home so do what works for you.)
  • Lectures are in Spanish and almost everything else is too, so don't get fooled by them telling you that most of the curriculum is taught in English, while the test and powerpoint presentations are in English, there are far to many evaluations that are made in Spanish.
    • (Most lectures are indeed in Spanish, but powerpoints are in English, so I don't really care about class. I ignore class, so what matters to me is that powerpoints are in English. Most of my friends here at PHSU and others from the US also ignored class, so all it matters is that powerpoints are in English.)

Congrats and wish you the best. I am happy to answer any questions.
 
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MD24j5d7v8t9 said:
Hi, another MS2 here.

First of all, congrats to those accepted or those deciding to come to PHSU.

I am sharing my experience and some tips/advice for accepted students. I am from Puerto Rico, but my undergraduate and graduate degrees are from the US. I have been in 4 institutions and have taken medical school classes as part of graduate school requirements. I also have heard and witnessed experiences from many friends from different medical schools in the US and all four schools here in Puerto Rico. This is just some background to help you better understand my experience.

Let me first start by clarifying that there are no perfect medical schools. Not even the top schools in the nations are "perfect." Many friends did medical school in the US (not in Puerto Rico), and I can confirm that all schools have their faults, and all have their system for doing well in the exams. You need to talk to the right people. Even though all schools teach the same material/concepts, they all ask questions differently, so you need to adapt to the system.

If you were accepted, be happy and proud of the opportunity of being in medical school. All schools have their way of making it work; you need to adapt and have the right resources (ask and use according to what works best for you). PHSU is as good of a school as many schools in the US. People think that because it is Puerto Rico, it must be a mediocre school, which is FALSE. Am I 100% happy with PHSU? Of course not. Everybody has expectations about medical school. Some things I am pleased about and others I don't like. At the end of the day, I am happy that I am in medical school and that I will do as good as any other students from other schools.

I will now respectfully comment on some points mentioned by my classmate MDzy to provide another perspective.
  • They force you to attend classes for like 6-8 hours every single day which takes away your study time
    • (True, but I ignore the zoom class and do my own thing, AND this is only for the first year since the second year schedule is way better. If they do in person, go to class and do your own thing. FYI, many schools in the nation also force students to go to class, so this is not unique to PHSU.)
  • Evaluation of standardized patient medical history taking and physical exam is based on a rubric they never discussed with us so you don't know what they will be expecting and some of the things are very specific which we had no way of knowing they would be looking for.
    • (Advice: to avoid misunderstandings, you should email the faculty and make sure you are doing the right thing.)
  • They were supposed to implement NBME standardized tests for every class but decided to put that money into a new building that most of us won't even enjoy since we'll be in Rotations.
    • (This is what we all joke about at school, but in reality, it has nothing to do with the construction of a building. The truth is that many old professors in many schools are at fault for testing methods. They do not want to be told what questions they need to test, plus they do not want to work extra to make changes to the class syllabus. This is a problem nationwide, and the reality is that switching to NBME is not equivalent to doing better in Step 1. If new data proves otherwise, then schools won't have a choice to go all NBME. Do I prefer NBME? Of course, YES! But at the moment, I go with the flow because, at the end of the day, I will need to know the material does not matter if the question was NBME-style or homemade.)
  • For summer research the faculty will help out the master's students that are now on MS1 to get into paid internships but won't offer the same for the rest of the students. Obviously the MS program will look good if their student keep succeeding (more money for them).
    • (Can't comment much on this, but I recommend going somewhere else for research. It is always good to go to a different place.)
  • Not enough space for that many students to study at the same time. This means that if you want to study in the library, you might probably have to bare with other people making noise. And the library is just two floors with a couple of study rooms and one tiny hall.
    • (I prefer to study at home so do what works for you.)
  • Lectures are in Spanish and almost everything else is too, so don't get fooled by them telling you that most of the curriculum is taught in English, while the test and powerpoint presentations are in English, there are far to many evaluations that are made in Spanish.
    • (Most lectures are indeed in Spanish, but powerpoints are in English, so I don't really care about class. I ignore class, so what matters to me is that powerpoints are in English. Most of my friends here at PHSU and others from the US also ignored class, so all it matters is that powerpoints are in English.)

Congrats and wish you the best. I am happy to answer any questions.
Click to expand...
Hi there again, commenting on the comments made on my previous post by my classmate.

First, congrats to everyone being accepted. Don’t get discouraged by my comments on the school, just keep them in mind so you don’t get too frustrated. And remember to reach out to the second-year students (they will provide the most help).

Classes in 55 of the top medical schools in the US aren’t mandatory. You can skip in-person lectures without worrying about attendance and/or quizzes/clicker questions/any other surprise. Here’s the link of the schools that reported back to aamc.
https://www.aamc.org/media/24971/download
My point here is that it takes time and effort to go to class (be it in-person or online) on the schedule they establish that would be better put to use studying/getting up to date with the material or organizing your schedule how you would like It without having to worry about what you might miss or losing points. It would be preferable for the school to record those lectures to watch later at 2X. This is what most schools do.

There isn’t data on wether NBME subject exams help student pass step 1 or get a higher score, but i can imagine that studying from the step 1 resources and getting tested with standardized questions from the company that makes the exam for 2 years helps you get familiarized with the material better than studying for homemade exams. The other thing is that the response from the professors for not administering subject exams is that there isn’t money, they have said it on several occasions in class (mentioned in anatomy, biochem, and infectious diseases). And the student representatives have sat down with them to talk about this and they keep saying they can’t because there isn’t enough money for it. The entire class spent an hour fighting with that one doctor in infectious disease (you know the one) after the majority of the class failed the first test on why it would be better to use subject exams/standardized questions and he said several times that the school doesn’t have money for it.

If any of you can concentrate at home or don’t require the resources you are paying for, that’s great. But this isn’t a matter of what works best for each person, as a school you have to be able to provide each student with the resources you are charging for and PHSU really fails to accommodate each student in their buildings (specially the library) or deliver on other services. This has become extremely frustrating as there have been many power outages and the only place you can go to study is packed all the time with horrible wifi and noises all over. Also, some people don’t have a choice but to go study at the library.

Emailing the professors is always a failure. They never respond (speaking for myself). The small chances you get to discuss these things with them are frustrating because they literally don’t care that you didn’t know that you where going to be tested on things that weren’t discussed. I had to tell my evaluator on the standardized patient examination that I was mad at them for not responding my emails and for not providing a rubric. She told to write it down on the course evaluations and maybe something will get done. The same happened with every single person I’ve talked to about this. I doubt this is the first time they hear about the subject and haven’t done anything about it.

Lectures are mostly in Spanish and ppts are in English but the professors always add info during class that usually shows up on the test. You really should be fluent in Spanish and not rely entirely on the ppt without the Profesor’s explanation. This is specially true in Pathophysiology, Introduction to clinical skills, psychiatry and infectious diseases (specially this last one).

These things should change. They have been discussed by the entire class several times and agreed upon. These things have even been discussed with MS1, MS3, MS4 and students who have graduated and they all agree. This doesn’t mean that since things have stayed the same, they will never change; through constant fighting, each year it gets a little bit better, but there is a long way to go.

Feel free to reach out.
 
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Have anyone got an acceptance ??? I haven’t hear anything
 
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You got the A yesterday, interview Oct 29. Hope everyone have good news soon
 
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Have someone got accepted from the November interviewed ? Pl
 
Anyone know anything, has interviewed, or been accepted to the St. Louis campus?
 
Hello! For those of you that have been interviewed at the PR campus, I have a few questions. I have checked the interview feedback, however, the responses to my questions were outdated.

1. How long is the interview?
2. How many evaluators are there?
3. Is the interview open or closed file?
4. Is the entire interview in Spanish or does the interviewer(s) switch to English once they see you are good at Spanish?
5. Is the interview like a conversation? or Is it an MMI?
6. Are you the only candidate they evaluate in the interview?
7. Is there anything else you would suggest I know before the interview?​
​
Your help is very much appreciated!​
 
coppercorn said:
Hello! For those of you that have been interviewed at the PR campus, I have a few questions. I have checked the interview feedback, however, the responses to my questions were outdated.​
​
1. How long is the interview?​
2. How many evaluators are there?​
3. Is the interview open or closed file?​
4. Is the entire interview in Spanish or does the interviewer(s) switch to English once they see you are good at Spanish?​
5. Is the interview like a conversation? or Is it an MMI?​
6. Are you the only candidate they evaluate in the interview?​
7. Is there anything else you would suggest I know before the interview?​
​
Your help is very much appreciated!​
Click to expand...

1. A few hours (2-3 hrs)
2. Two faculty members
3. Closed file
4. My interview was entirely in Spanish, except for only one question which was asked in English to test our English. Though I am a mainland applicant, I am completely fluent in Spanish and the other two candidates in my group were PR natives, so our interview was exclusively in Spanish. Other groups that may consist of only mainland applicants may have different experiences.
5. More like a conversation.
6. It was me and two other candidates.
7. Be yourself! The interview was pretty laid back, a lot of "tell me about yourself" type questions. Also, come up with good questions to ask the evaluators. The faculty seemed really interested in getting to know us, so try and not sound like you're reading off of a script.

EDIT: regarding question 4, I was also never tested on my Spanish fluency before the interview. From other posts in this thread, it seems like other applicants were first tested on their conversational Spanish after they had submitted a secondary. I don't know why they never tested me, but it definitely seemed like I was the only mainland candidate on my interview day. So perhaps my specific interview date was expected to be performed entirely in Spanish.
 
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M.Benedetti said:
1. A few hours (2-3 hrs)
2. Two faculty members
3. Closed file
4. My interview was entirely in Spanish, except for only one question which was asked in English to test our English. Though I am a mainland applicant, I am completely fluent in Spanish and the other two candidates in my group were PR natives, so our interview was exclusively in Spanish. Other groups that may consist of only mainland applicants may have different experiences.
5. More like a conversation.
6. It was me and two other candidates.
7. Be yourself! The interview was pretty laid back, a lot of "tell me about yourself" type questions. Also, come up with good questions to ask the evaluators. The faculty seemed really interested in getting to know us, so try and not sound like you're reading off of a script.

EDIT: regarding question 4, I was also never tested on my Spanish fluency before the interview. From other posts in this thread, it seems like other applicants were first tested on their conversational Spanish after they had submitted a secondary. I don't know why they never tested me, but it definitely seemed like I was the only mainland candidate on my interview day. So perhaps my specific interview date was expected to be performed entirely in Spanish.
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Thank you so much for your tips! It really helps alleviate the level of stress I previously anticipated. 💕
 
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I interviewed in November but I haven’t hear nothing!!! Should I call the school
 
I completed the MSMS program at PHSU STL in May 2021. For the medical school, it was our understanding that interviews wold be in march.
 
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lowbrass03 said:
I completed the MSMS program at PHSU STL in May 2021. For the medical school, it was our understanding that interviews wold be in march.
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Oh, wow. I guess there is still hope for those of us waiting, then!
 
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completely silent!! Interviewed in October !!! Anyone in the same status ?
 
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