2024-2025 Commonwealth (Geisinger)

BU Medical Sciences
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oos A today! was deferred on 2/25 and interviewed 12/4, LM 70.4. i was wondering if there was an accepted students group chat?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Does anyone know if there's a facebook group or groupme for accepted students?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Post II deferred. Interviewed mid Feb. got my interview early Fall. Sort of upset with the lack of transparency given the fact that it is quite literally the end of the cycle.
 
Malignwine said:
Post II deferred. Interviewed mid Feb. got my interview early Fall. Sort of upset with the lack of transparency given the fact that it is quite literally the end of the cycle.
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it ain’t over til the bell rings. End of the month people are going to be narrowing down their choices and med schools will have plenty of slots to fill (unless you’re waiting on Oklahoma) so don’t lose hope yet
 
DonquixoteDoffy said:
it ain’t over til the bell rings. End of the month people are going to be narrowing down their choices and med schools will have plenty of slots to fill (unless you’re waiting on Oklahoma) so don’t lose hope yet
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Wait uh….. what’s happening in Oklahoma?!?
 
Malignwine said:
Wait uh….. what’s happening in Oklahoma?!?
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oh man if you guys haven’t seen that thread on SDN feel blessed. It. Is. A. MESS.

basically they increased their class size by like 10 spots but over accepted the incoming class. not only that, it’s been said that they WAITLISTED upwards of 350 applicants. The adcoms are being rude to applicants on the waitlist and basically if you’re on the waitlist you have a 0% chance of admittance it is a massive wreck
 
Just a word of note from a current student - if you come to the school now, you'll be here during the LCME and Middle States accreditation cycles. Think long and hard whether that's a chance you want to take, especially with the recent news.
 
PAMED2023 said:
Just a word of note from a current student - if you come to the school now, you'll be here during the LCME and Middle States accreditation cycles. Think long and hard whether that's a chance you want to take, especially with the recent news.
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Why would there be a risk of them not receiving accreditation? Especially if the news you are referring to is the Kaiser/Risant news, why would that affect their accreditation?
All their board pass rates and match lists seem to show they are a good school.
 
Not Risant.
The school recently got an OCR complaint. That's on top of Geisinger itself being sued by EEOC four years ago for disability discrimination.
 
PAMED2023 said:
Not Risant.
The school recently got an OCR complaint. That's on top of Geisinger itself being sued by EEOC four years ago for disability discrimination.
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It seems fully accredited schools almost never lose their accreditation (like never has happened). Is there substance to the OCR complaint, does administration seem worried?
 
I am not saying they will lose accreditation (although schools do get put on probation). It is just something to think about. I have no idea what the administration thinks about any of these issues. As a student, don't know how much of the complaint is valid or not. Some of it is facepalm though. And then I recently read about the Benn Ayd case and I can't stop thinking about it.
 
chamomile_tea said:
+1 acceptance on 4/2, interview was 2/17 . I just withdrew acceptance today good luck guys. I really admire the community and curriculum but decided to stay local.
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Juat curious what it is about the community and curriculum that you liked? I do not particularly enjoy either, but I guess most other medical schools would be essentially the same. But I have have experience here so that is what I can comment on.
 
PAMED2023 said:
Juat curious what it is about the community and curriculum that you liked? I do not particularly enjoy either, but I guess most other medical schools would be essentially the same. But I have have experience here so that is what I can comment on.
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I was interested in Geisinger because I am thinking about doing primary care, and when I did my WAMC on SDN last year they recommended Geisinger for the way it immerses you as an M1 as patient navigators/advocates (e.g. Medical Students Gain Insight into the Benefits of Patient-Provider Communication) . When I went to the interview day they talked about the flipped classroom and a unique schedule that let students spend more time with hands-on learning in the classroom and labs. I'm the kind of person who works well with flipped classroom learning as opposed to regular lecture so that was just my personal preference. But most of all I appreciate their focus on community engagement and patient-centered care. During the interview day I just felt like their faculty and staff were really kind and keep emphasizing how tight-knit the school was.

I am interested in family medicine and like that Geisinger has a lot of regional campuses that can expose me to rural medicine (although I live in a more suburban/urban environment I want more exposure to rural medicine training because I feel that rural doctors would train more comprehensively in primary care residency -- but that was just a personal thought I'm not claiming that urban family med residents wouldn't be able to handle a similar breadth or complexity of cases).

They also mailed me some information about what the Abigail scholars do and it looked like some of them did some really interesting research while doing the 3+3 program. I don't know where I placed the pamphlet so I can't say more on what exactly I thought was interesting lol.

I am kind of shocked to read about their discrimination /ableism mentioned on this thread as I was interested in becoming a PCP especially for Deaf patients or people from the disability community. I don't have more thoughts on that since I am locked in with another school but I hope Geisinger has made significant changes since then. When I was about to withdraw on the portal and was looking through the other tabs, I felt their Technical Standards Page seemed a lot more detailed than other med school portals with a note about contacting their Disabilities Officer in case a student needed accommodations. I don't know if this means they're making more of an effort to help students with disabilities or not.
 
Thank you for your detailed reply. Students thinking about the Abigail scholarship need to have an understanding of Geisinger residency:


As regards disabilities:

EEOC Sues Geisinger Health and Affiliates for Disability Discrimination and Retaliation

PHILADELPHIA – Geisinger Health, Geisinger Health System Foundation doin
www.eeoc.gov www.eeoc.gov

The recent OCR issue:
donoharmmedicine.org

Do No Harm Files Civil Rights Complaints Against Duke University Health System and Geisinger College of Health Sciences - Do No Harm

Today, Do No Harm submitted two complaints to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) against Duke University Health System (DUHS) and Geisinger College of Health Sciences (GCOHS).
donoharmmedicine.org donoharmmedicine.org

Interesting that Geisinger was also accused of the opposite discrimination and retaliating against an employee who reported it:
case-law.vlex.com

Roman v. Geisinger W.V. Med. Ctr.

0: [object Object]. 1: [object Object]. 2: [object Object]. 3: [object Object]
case-law.vlex.com case-law.vlex.com

"During the interview day I just felt like their faculty and staff were really kind and keep emphasizing how tight-knit the school was"

Yes, but you would expect them to say that and act like that.
 
The reddit link does not work so this is the text:

"r/doctorsunion•4 yr. ago
Geisinger Suicide
On April 24th, Dr. Benn Ayd attended a party at the home of the other physician Dr. Carole ? that went to GMC HR with Dr. Clare Hafey to complain about Dr. Benn's behavior at the party. Now keep in mind that this party was an all out drunken event where everyone in attendance was drinking including Dr. Benn, Dr. Carol, and Dr. Clare Hafey. Dr. Benn considered Dr. Clare Hafey a good friend. Dr. Hafey and her husband were the first 2 people Dr. Benn met in Danville. Dr. Ayd helped Dr. Hafey and her husband move into their new home and had dinner at their home many times in the months to follow. Dr. Hafey went to GMC HR and demanded that Dr. Benn Ayd be fired because he allegedly un-snapped her bra (outside her blouse) but had no physical contact with Dr. Hafey. Dr. Carol (highly encouraged by Dr. Hafey) alleged that Dr. Benn was provacatably dancing with her. Another physician that arrived to the party late alleged that when they arrived they were "dry humped" by 2 nurses immediately on entrance. This physician stated that GMC would have lost 1/4 of their staff for sexual harassment due to this party alone if singled out like Dr. Ayd. Dr. Ayd was told at the end of his shift that he was being placed on suspension for 2 weeks because of his alleged behavior at the party on Saturday so an investigation could be done. The problem is, no one asked Dr. Benn his side of the story nor did they speak to any of the party attendees at anytime during the supposed investigation. . Also keep in mind this party was a NON GMC supported event conducted off campus at a personal residence. At a dinner event about one week into his suspension, Dr. Hafey told the crowd that Dr. Ayd was going to be fired from the hospital and that he "deserved it. This of course got back to Dr. Ayd, further increasing the poor man's anxiety. GMC and Dr. Hafey tortured Dr. Ayd by their actions or inactions! On the Friday before his death Dr. Ayd was notified by GMC HR that a decision had been made but they wouldn't be sharing the information until the following Monday. Wow, more torture for Dr. Ayd! On Monday, in a 3 minute phone call Dr. Ayd was terminated. Approximately 2 hours later, Dr. Ayd committed suicide. How safe do other Residents feel knowing this story? The family has received no further communication from GMC HR."
 
Yes, what you mentioned about Dr. Benn Ayd is sad (and something should have been done about it---I couldn't find any news about it, it sounds like it was covered-up). But the OCR complaint sounds like it won't go anywhere, the decision of the Supreme Court case being as contentious as it is. Geisinger is probably still a great school to go to, I've heard from current students how friendly it is... though I'm not one myself, so I can't comment on what it's really like.
 
What will happen with the OCR complaint is unknown. It will be reviewed by the current administration's OCR. Regardless, it is not a "good look" for a school to get an OCR complaint when they are entering their LCME cycle. And some of the things described in the complaint - I'm referring to Part III here - are disturbing to me at least. What's going on here? I agree most students here like the school. People like me are in the minority. That does not make them right or me wrong, or the other way around. I think it is like this - the school's culture will appeal to some more than others. But I know that other schools are basically the same as this. But I am here so I have to comment on what I know.
 
I simply want eveyone here to know all the facts. If you still want to come great, I will welcome you as a fellow student.
Just know what you are getting in to. Obviously the faculty, staff, admin, and students you interact with will put their best face forward.
But there is more than that. There always is.
 
@PAMED2023 thank you for your thoughts and cited research.

Thank you for sharing that case with Dr. Benn Ayd, I agree that was tragic and I wish someone did something before he took his life. I hope they instate better measures/investigative actions in place regarding complaints after that incident.

re: disabilities -- I agree, that looks really bad and the Geisinger higherups/hospital network deserve whatever crackdown they get from that. I will say though that it's not uncommon to see discrimination against the disability community in healthcare, it's been an ongoing issue in America for centuries and still present today even after the ADA laws were created. Someone sent me an article last year about some controversy with one of UConn's hospitals, where a patient was denied an ASL interpreter in the emergency room: Agreement Ensures Effective Communication with Hearing Impaired Individuals at John Dempsey Hospital .

re: OCR -- Speaking as an Asian / ORM I prefer it when schools make an effort to be more inclusive of underrepresented minorities and see it as a positive. But given your cited case about Geisinger retaliating against an employee for reporting her coworkers' racism against patients, their diversity/equity/inclusion efforts may be just performative. I do see where you're coming from about the OCR complaint possibly threatening Geisinger's accreditation status but there's so many schools that are still vocal about doing the same thing despite the Supreme Court decision (such as Duke also mentioned in your article)

As you mentioned already these kind of issues are not unique to Geisinger, but good on you for raising awareness about them
 
Just one final point on that. The actual OCR complaint (linked to in the article) is not only about Supreme Court decisions and school policy. The last section alleges specific examples of "racial and ethnic discrimination" and "hostile working environment." I do not know if any of those alleged incidents happened, some are way before my time. It is disturbing though that people at a med school can be (If true) so crude and offensive.
 
PAMED2023 said:
Just one final point on that. The actual OCR complaint (linked to in the article) is not only about Supreme Court decisions and school policy. The last section alleges specific examples of "racial and ethnic discrimination" and "hostile working environment." I do not know if any of those alleged incidents happened, some are way before my time. It is disturbing though that people at a med school can be (If true) so crude and offensive.
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Any thoughts on the Lewistown campus? I heard you're familiar with it. Thinking about making it my first choice. I also want to be an OB/GYN!
 
You must have me confused with someone else. That said, I can tell you that the medical infrastructure at Lewiston is impressive, in some ways better than Scranton (or Wilkes-Barre). Healthplex for example. The hospital is impressive. Scranton is in need of some renewal. Geisinger moved some specialties to Pittston and LVHN swooped in Scranton and set up a multispeciality clinic in the Scranton mall. Geisinger has services in the mall as well, but I get the impression that they are offshoring as much as possible outside of Scranton. Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. Of course they still have the GCMC in Scranton.

To summarize - I think Lewiston is a good choice, but someone else should chime in as well.
 
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