Congratulations on your acceptance! I'm also a current student at UND.
1. There is on-campus housing that's across from the med school building (apartment is called Hamline Square). The current 2nd years are leaving for clinicals soon, so there may be some rooms opening up there. Aside from that, a lot of people live in Gallery apartments, Sonoma lofts, which are all close to campus. Some upperclassmen also have housing that they post in the med school class groups so that's another avenue.
2. We have a 4-week dedicated Step 1 prep period, and 8-week dedicated Step 2 period. This was a recent change as students voiced that they would prefer to have more time studying for Step 2, given that it'll probably be more important now that Step 1 is P/F. A section of your exams will be NBME questions as well. We also have a dedicated Step 1 course director, so there are a lot of resources available.
With regards to the curriculum, here are the things that I like:
Shortened preclinical so we can get to clinical rotations earlier.
A lot of breaks built into the schedule, so you don't get too burnt out.
The Simulation Center is phenomenal. Most students enjoy the simulation experiences they have for us. The staff is awesome too, they host fun events like a zombie apocalypse-themed trauma simulation for Halloween
Lectures are recorded and not a lot of mandatory stuff (I suppose this one is pretty common)
Nothing is scheduled the day before exams so you can study, relax, whatever you want to do
Small groups get shuffled every block, so you get to know people in the class pretty well
Free stethoscope from med school donors
Not a lot of residents, so you get to work with the attendings directly (can be a pro or con depending on how you look at things. I think it's nice)
Things that I don't like:
- We get split up into 4 different campuses for clinical rotations, so you potentially have to move after 20 months (unless you get assigned to Grand Forks)
- Research opportunities are lacking, a con if you're interested in a competitive specialty. They are trying to improve this though
- Remediation happens in elective blocks, so if you fail a block, there's a chance you may not be able to do research the summer between M1 and M2
- Not a lot of residency programs at UND, so less PDs are available who can make calls for you.
- Med school building is pretty far from the undergrad campus, where a lot of the amenities are
3. Hockey games (especially going out downtown after) are very common things to do. Unfortunately, there isn't really much to do in Grand Forks aside from that. The preclinical curriculum does have quite a lot of breaks so you can always travel elsewhere if (when?) you get sick of Grand Forks. With regards to unique traditions, I started in the weird COVID era so I don't know much outside of virtual stuff, but upperclassmen have told me that in the past, the Dean rents out the North Dakota Museum of Art and hosts a reception there for 1st years to just talk and hang out. There's fancy food and drinks served. I don't know if they are going to bring it back in the future, but I think that'll be nice. I know current students are planning Med Prom and that'll be a yearly thing. The social events vary from year to year depending on the class's social committee.
So that was a lot, but I hope it's informative. Let me know if you have other questions/follow up questions.
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happily surprised
