Alabama Schools Thread

Started by QofQuimica
BU Medical Sciences
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BlazerMed said:
I was curious too, and since I get bored beyond all recognition at work, I scoured the website. The only place I could find it was in the "Purple Book" on the class webpage for 2009.
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First Year Class Schedule

August - October
Gross Anatomy
Medical Ethics / History of Medicine
ICM 1a

October - December
Genetics
Biochemistry

January - March
Physiology
Cell and Tissue Biology
ICM 1b

March - June
Neurobiology
Nutrition
Human Behavior
ICM 1b
 
In the 2nd block, are Genetics and Biochem at the same time or consecutive?
 
Em1 said:
Oh no, my picture is AWFUL! 😱
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Ugh, me too! I look shiny... or sweaty. 🙁

Stalking result #1: Me and a guy from California are the only west-coasters! 😱
 
BooMed said:
Ugh, me too! I look shiny... or sweaty. 🙁

Stalking result #1: Me and a guy from California are the only west-coasters! 😱
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Yeah, it looked like about 65-70% list Birmingham/Hoover/etc. as their hometown. Med school REALLY IS going to be like high school.
 
Looks like a fairly decent number are from Atlanta or went to college there
 
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Em1 said:
Oh no, my picture is AWFUL! 😱
Click to expand...
I hate my picture also; the only virtue of the pic they have of me is that the camera was zoomed out so far that you can't really recognize me. Too bad we can't edit our picture choices.
 
odrade1 said:
I hate my picture also; the only virtue of the pic they have of me is that the camera was zoomed out so far that you can't really recognize me. Too bad we can't edit our picture choices.
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They couldn't use the one we emailed in w/the secondary? I liked that one!
 
I got all of my last vaccines/titers yesterday at Student Health.

The place was a little chaotic, they didn't seem to recognize their own forms or know their requirments for school. But I think I have everything. 🙂
 
BooMed said:
I got all of my last vaccines/titers yesterday at Student Health.

The place was a little chaotic, they didn't seem to recognize their own forms or know their requirments for school. But I think I have everything. 🙂
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Did you get the physical done at the same time, or did you have to make two separate appointments? How long did it take?
 
BlazerMed said:
Did you get the physical done at the same time, or did you have to make two separate appointments? How long did it take?
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I had my physical done by a doctor I know, so I just went to the clinic as a drop-in for the shots and all. I was there about an hour and a half, but the last 40 minutes or so just consisted of me shuffling my forms back and forth from the lab to the receptionist to that Asher guy as they tried to figure out what was what. Also I had waited in the lab for 15 minutes because there wasn't anyone around in there. Finally I went and asked the receptionist and she got someone to come in and help me.

It was kind of like going to the doctor in another country or something. 🙄
 
odrade1 said:
I hate my picture also; the only virtue of the pic they have of me is that the camera was zoomed out so far that you can't really recognize me. Too bad we can't edit our picture choices.
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Yeah, it's funny, but did you notice that people on our interview day were the only ones with zoomed out pictures? Doesn't surprise me considering how much trouble they were having taking them that the others would wind up different.

On another note, is anyone else trying to work through the pre-matriculation checklist? I can't figure out how to get the diversity certificate, it looks as though you have to sit through a class in person for the part 2, but the checklist says complete online.... strange
 
Diversity training is a "honor system" thing. Do it on your own online, that is the extent. No classroom stuff needed.
 
MattD said:
Yeah, it's funny, but did you notice that people on our interview day were the only ones with zoomed out pictures? Doesn't surprise me considering how much trouble they were having taking them that the others would wind up different.

On another note, is anyone else trying to work through the pre-matriculation checklist? I can't figure out how to get the diversity certificate, it looks as though you have to sit through a class in person for the part 2, but the checklist says complete online.... strange
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Woah, I missed that. Where is that checklist? 😕
 
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Or rather I'm late on it:

From: http://www.uab.edu/uasomume/mec/minutes.htm

"Dr. Peter Smith reminded the group the major topic of the meeting was to review the issue of the current grading system, He pointed out that the current normative grading system (P1, P2/3, P4) is set to be implemented in the clerkships for the first time in July and with the coming of a revised curriculum in August of 2007, it is appropriate to review whether to implement the current grading system in the clerkships or to move to a simple P/F system. Dr. Boulware presented the current grading system: its benefits and difficulties. He asserted that the purposes of grading should be to (1) enhance the reputation of the medical school, and (2) encourage students to do their best. He presented the description for each letter grade that appears on the transcript and observed that those descriptions are not measurably specific and are not followed very closely. He reported that there was a town hall meeting with the students to hear the proposed changes, to ask questions, and to express their opinions. This was followed by an electronic survey, with the results being roughly 50% in favor of the change to a P/F system and roughly 50% were in favor of retaining the normative grading system."

Following a lengthy discussion, Dr. Canon proposed that the clerkships adopt a P/F grading system effective July 1, 2006, while retaining the relative student performance information for internal and individual (student) use. There was unanimous support of the motion amongst those present. Dr. Anderson amended the motion to include that all courses and clerkships move to a P/F effective July 1, 2006. There was unanimous support of the amendment. A formal electronic vote among voting members of the MEC will be taken.

So, provided the vote went through and the dean approves, starting this year,

PASS/FAIL FOR EVERYTHING!
 
Doctor&Geek said:
Following a lengthy discussion, Dr. Canon proposed that the clerkships adopt a P/F grading system effective July 1, 2006, while retaining the relative student performance information for internal and individual (student) use. There was unanimous support of the motion amongst those present.
PASS/FAIL FOR EVERYTHING!
Click to expand...

So do I understand correctly that it will still be possible to judge your relative performance via the information stored for internal use? And your relative performance will still be reported for residency application purposes? I guess I don't see what the big deal is, it seems like a cosmetic change only, where previously courses were pass/fail with your relative performance reported as part of the grade, and now courses will be pass/fail with relative performance reported as a separate byline. Am I missing something here?
 
And your relative performance will still be reported for residency application purposes?
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I can't speak for them, but it is a definite jump to say that what would be used internally will be given externally to residency programs. You ought to know more than just the fact that you passed based on your examination scores.
 
Doctor&Geek said:
I can't speak for them, but it is a definite jump to say that what would be used internally will be given externally to residency programs. You ought to know more than just the fact that you passed based on your examination scores.
Click to expand...

Well yes, I didn't mean that scores for individual classes would be sent out, just that your overall class rank would still be given. Isn't that how it works?
 
Doctor&Geek said:
Or rather I'm late on it:

From: http://www.uab.edu/uasomume/mec/minutes.htm

"Dr. Peter Smith reminded the group the major topic of the meeting was to review the issue of the current grading system, He pointed out that the current normative grading system (P1, P2/3, P4) is set to be implemented in the clerkships for the first time in July and with the coming of a revised curriculum in August of 2007, it is appropriate to review whether to implement the current grading system in the clerkships or to move to a simple P/F system. Dr. Boulware presented the current grading system: its benefits and difficulties. He asserted that the purposes of grading should be to (1) enhance the reputation of the medical school, and (2) encourage students to do their best. He presented the description for each letter grade that appears on the transcript and observed that those descriptions are not measurably specific and are not followed very closely. He reported that there was a town hall meeting with the students to hear the proposed changes, to ask questions, and to express their opinions. This was followed by an electronic survey, with the results being roughly 50% in favor of the change to a P/F system and roughly 50% were in favor of retaining the normative grading system."

Following a lengthy discussion, Dr. Canon proposed that the clerkships adopt a P/F grading system effective July 1, 2006, while retaining the relative student performance information for internal and individual (student) use. There was unanimous support of the motion amongst those present. Dr. Anderson amended the motion to include that all courses and clerkships move to a P/F effective July 1, 2006. There was unanimous support of the amendment. A formal electronic vote among voting members of the MEC will be taken.

So, provided the vote went through and the dean approves, starting this year,

PASS/FAIL FOR EVERYTHING!
Click to expand...

That sounds like good news to me! I'm looking forward to P/F grading.
 
MattD said:
Well yes, I didn't mean that scores for individual classes would be sent out, just that your overall class rank would still be given. Isn't that how it works?
Click to expand...

Again, can't speak for them, but I imagine that might still happen. They probably also will still hand out AOA. At least now it won't be a struggle just to keep out of P4 for each class.

I also think this will make your performance on the boards much more important.
 
It is such a cosmetic change. Changes the present look of grades but when your application gets sent out, you will still be broken down into the quartiles. Seems dumb to me.
 
Do you know something that I'm not aware of? Based on the minutes above, class performance is for internal use only.

If you're talking about overall class ranking when sending out dean's letters, I would say that the difference between cumuluative ranking versus sending grades for individual classes is very different.
 
Doctor&Geek said:
Do you know something that I not aware of? Based on the minutes above, class performance is for internal use only.

If you're talking about overall class ranking when sending out dean's letters, I would say that the difference between cumuluative ranking versus sending grades for individual classes is very different.
Click to expand...
What I am saying is the attachment that is sent out with our residency applications will break us down in each individual class. It will show which quartile we fell into. Thats the way Boulware explained it to us.
 
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Shades McCool said:
What I am saying is the attachment that is sent out with our residency applications will break us down in each individual class. It will show which quartile we fell into. Thats the way Boulware explained it to us.
Click to expand...

What I want to know is, will the students know which quartile they are in?
 
Shades McCool said:
Diversity training is a "honor system" thing. Do it on your own online, that is the extent. No classroom stuff needed.
Click to expand...

haha, we had to sign roll and be there that day. Looks like they've changed it! (by the way they failed to have any vegetarian options at THAT lunch...hmm..)
 
DoctorPardi said:
What I want to know is, will the students know which quartile they are in?
Click to expand...

Yeah, your class ranking is always available to you in quartiles. But I understand you guys are going P/F right? So not sure how that is going to work.
 
OK, those minutes are just talking about switching to P/F for clerkships, right?

Also, a big difference could be that the school continues to conduct a more precise internal assessment for ranking purposes, but your transcript would reflect that plus all P's for rotations. Which would be bad, because you would have gotten (ostensibly) a relatively good grade in what you want to do residency, but that might be weighed down in the rankings by your performance in areas you didn't like as much.

Your thoughts?
 
ermeyfan said:
OK, those minutes are just talking about switching to P/F for clerkships, right?

Also, a big difference could be that the school continues to conduct a more precise internal assessment for ranking purposes, but your transcript would reflect that plus all P's for rotations. Which would be bad, because you would have gotten (ostensibly) a relatively good grade in what you want to do residency, but that might be weighed down in the rankings by your performance in areas you didn't like as much.

Your thoughts?
Click to expand...
No it is for all 4 years.
 
Doctor&Geek said:
If that's true, what a stupid stupid policy.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not really down with the plan. And it's not because I'm a gunner, it's because I'm afraid I'll just do what it takes to pass... not cool.
 
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I'm just a lowly sophomore in college, but UAB is one of my top schools by simply because of the fact that Im from Alabama. Provided I get accepted anywhere out of state, I won't be going - I have no intention on practicing in Alabama. (It would be unfair of me to take a spot from somoene with intentions of staying in Alabama.) It's too conservative. Anyway, as far as this fall's incoming class, is it really mostly people from Hoover? For those already at UAB, is the school populated by Hoover/Vestavia Hills/Mountain Brook residents in general? I know medicine isn't the most diverse profession, but I was wondering how diverse is UAB. Is it improving or getting worse. I'm not expecting to see a lot of African Americans in the first place, but I would just like to get an idea of what UAB is like. Honestly, I would appreciate anything that anyone has to say about UAB.
 
lion_08 said:
I'm just a lowly sophomore in college, but UAB is one of my top schools by simply because of the fact that Im from Alabama. Provided I get accepted anywhere out of state, I won't be going - I have no intention on practicing in Alabama. (It would be unfair of me to take a spot from somoene with intentions of staying in Alabama.) It's too conservative. Anyway, as far as this fall's incoming class, is it really mostly people from Hoover? For those already at UAB, is the school populated by Hoover/Vestavia Hills/Mountain Brook residents in general? I know medicine isn't the most diverse profession, but I was wondering how diverse is UAB. Is it improving or getting worse. I'm not expecting to see a lot of African Americans in the first place, but I would just like to get an idea of what UAB is like. Honestly, I would appreciate anything that anyone has to say about UAB.
Click to expand...
Successful med applicants are only slightly more diverse racially/ethnically than they are socioeconomically (which isn't very much, really). However, historically most applicants and matriculants are white, and most are male. This is also true at UAB. I flipped through our picture book of applicants and did an quick estimate of the racial & gender breakdown of our entering class. Nearly half the class consists of white males, (44.4%) with almost 60% male students overall (58.7%) and 69.3% white students overall. Black students make up 11% of this year's class, which is high when compared to other medical schools (6.5% matriculant rate last year for black students, nationally), but low when you consider the percentage of blacks living in Alabama. The statistic makes more sense when you see that blacks make less money in Alabama (and everywhere in the USA) than whites, and then you pay attention to the names of the schools that people are coming from. Lots & lots of students from Vestavia, Mountain Brook, Indian Springs, St James Academy, Montgomery Academy, Altamont, & misc private schools. It takes money (or a monied relative in the right neighborhood) to go to these places. Unless you are considering a historically black medical college, you may be hard pressed to find another med school with 11-12% of its class made up of black students. I would be interested to know how many of the other top 25 med schools (pardon my reference to USNEWS) have black student matriculation rates near 11%.

As a gay agnostic left-of-center non-trad, I had (and have) serious concerns about how inclusive my classmates will be, seeing as most of them are conservative (if past classes at uab are an indicator), straight, 24 years old or younger, and profess religion. However, a) the people I have met so far seem terrific (despite their horrific political, religious, and sexual shortcomings) & b) I myself am a white male from a middle class upbringing and 13 years of private schooling, so in the end, I really can't complain too loudly, except on the behalf of others who had a more difficult time than I did.

Good luck working on your application & resume in the next year or two.

Disclaimers:
Yes, I know that merely looking at pictures is not necessarily a reliable indicator of race or ethnicity. There are often discrepancies between self-identification of race or ethnicity and apparent ethnicity. However, seeing as I lacked the necessary HR records, the level of reliability of this method is what I had to make do with.
 
ermeyfan said:
I'm sure most of us do the best we can.
Click to expand...
That's all any of us can do! :laugh:



----
I hope that everyone read that part of my post correctly; i.e., as humor...
 
odrade1 said:
Successful med applicants are only slightly more diverse racially/ethnically than they are socioeconomically (which isn't very much, really). However, historically most applicants and matriculants are white, and most are male. This is also true at UAB. I flipped through our picture book of applicants and did an quick estimate of the racial & gender breakdown of our entering class. Nearly half the class consists of white males, (44.4%) with almost 60% male students overall (58.7%) and 69.3% white students overall. Black students make up 11% of this year's class, which is high when compared to other medical schools (6.5% matriculant rate last year for black students, nationally), but low when you consider the percentage of blacks living in Alabama. The statistic makes more sense when you see that blacks make less money in Alabama (and everywhere in the USA) than whites, and then you pay attention to the names of the schools that people are coming from. Lots & lots of students from Vestavia, Mountain Brook, Indian Springs, St James Academy, Montgomery Academy, Altamont, & misc private schools. It takes money (or a monied relative in the right neighborhood) to go to these places. Unless you are considering a historically black medical college, you may be hard pressed to find another med school with 11-12% of its class made up of black students. I would be interested to know how many of the other top 25 med schools (pardon my reference to USNEWS) have black student matriculation rates near 11%.

As a gay agnostic left-of-center non-trad, I had (and have) serious concerns about how inclusive my classmates will be, seeing as most of them are conservative (if past classes at uab are an indicator), straight, 24 years old or younger, and profess religion. However, a) the people I have met so far seem terrific (despite their horrific political, religious, and sexual shortcomings) & b) I myself am a white male from a middle class upbringing and 13 years of private schooling, so in the end, I really can't complain too loudly, except on the behalf of others who had a more difficult time than I did.

Good luck working on your application & resume in the next year or two.

Disclaimers:
Yes, I know that merely looking at pictures is not necessarily a reliable indicator of race or ethnicity. There are often discrepancies between self-identification of race or ethnicity and apparent ethnicity. However, seeing as I lacked the necessary HR records, the level of reliability of this method is what I had to make do with.
Click to expand...


I have one better for you, I'm gay and I'm African American. It would only suck more if I lived in Mississippi or South Carolina (I feel anyway). I know that in general, med school applicants tend to come from the upper classes, however, I just didnt expect UAB to be . . . like it is. Well I don't really know what I expected. I'm from Florence and even though it's not one of the wealthy areas. It's not too far behind them. I suppose it'll be alright, I'll take whatever God has in store for me. Well it is good to know now, since my dream is Duke. In the words of Beyonce, "I'm wishing on a star . . ."
 
odrade1 said:
Successful med applicants are only slightly more diverse racially/ethnically than they are socioeconomically (which isn't very much, really). However, historically most applicants and matriculants are white, and most are male. This is also true at UAB. I flipped through our picture book of applicants and did an quick estimate of the racial & gender breakdown of our entering class. Nearly half the class consists of white males, (44.4%) with almost 60% male students overall (58.7%) and 69.3% white students overall. Black students make up 11% of this year's class, which is high when compared to other medical schools (6.5% matriculant rate last year for black students, nationally), but low when you consider the percentage of blacks living in Alabama. The statistic makes more sense when you see that blacks make less money in Alabama (and everywhere in the USA) than whites, and then you pay attention to the names of the schools that people are coming from. Lots & lots of students from Vestavia, Mountain Brook, Indian Springs, St James Academy, Montgomery Academy, Altamont, & misc private schools. It takes money (or a monied relative in the right neighborhood) to go to these places. Unless you are considering a historically black medical college, you may be hard pressed to find another med school with 11-12% of its class made up of black students. I would be interested to know how many of the other top 25 med schools (pardon my reference to USNEWS) have black student matriculation rates near 11%.

As a gay agnostic left-of-center non-trad, I had (and have) serious concerns about how inclusive my classmates will be, seeing as most of them are conservative (if past classes at uab are an indicator), straight, 24 years old or younger, and profess religion. However, a) the people I have met so far seem terrific (despite their horrific political, religious, and sexual shortcomings) & b) I myself am a white male from a middle class upbringing and 13 years of private schooling, so in the end, I really can't complain too loudly, except on the behalf of others who had a more difficult time than I did.

Good luck working on your application & resume in the next year or two.

Disclaimers:
Yes, I know that merely looking at pictures is not necessarily a reliable indicator of race or ethnicity. There are often discrepancies between self-identification of race or ethnicity and apparent ethnicity. However, seeing as I lacked the necessary HR records, the level of reliability of this method is what I had to make do with.
Click to expand...


I have one better for you, I'm gay and I'm African American. It would only suck more if I lived in Mississippi or South Carolina (I feel anyway). I know that in general, med school applicants tend to come from the upper classes, however, I just didnt expect UAB to be . . . like it is. Well I don't really know what I expected. I'm from Florence and even though it's not one of the wealthy areas. It's not too far behind them. I suppose it'll be alright, I'll take whatever God has in store for me. Well it is good to know now, since my dream is Duke. In the words of Beyonce, "I'm wishing on a star . . ."
 
I'm a little nervous about the Alabama-heavy class too. Not that I don't love all you Southerners, I just want to meet lots of different kinds of people.

I think it will be fine though, I don't want to be best buddies with everyone in the whole med school, I just want to meet a few cool people to hang with. 🙂

I do have a question, has anyone filled out loan info. or signed anything for that? Do we need to? I've been out of town for 3 weeks and I'm leaving for Costa Rica on Wednesday. I'm a little nervous about getting all of this stuff done. :scared: 😳 🙂
 
BooMed said:
I'm a little nervous about the Alabama-heavy class too. Not that I don't love all you Southerners, I just want to meet lots of different kinds of people.

I think it will be fine though, I don't want to be best buddies with everyone in the whole med school, I just want to meet a few cool people to hang with. 🙂

I do have a question, has anyone filled out loan info. or signed anything for that? Do we need to? I've been out of town for 3 weeks and I'm leaving for Costa Rica on Wednesday. I'm a little nervous about getting all of this stuff done. :scared: 😳 🙂
Click to expand...
Are you doing your loans through UAB/the fed, the AAMC, or through private banks? If its just UAB, once you have signed your acceptance card and sent it in, you are more or less finished, unless they send you a letter telling you to go to debt counseling first.
The hitch is that they STILL haven't processed the loan acceptance cards. I called last Thursday to see if they lost my card or something, since I filed my paperwork the first week we could, and I delivered my loan card in person to UAB in March. The financial aid lady acted bored & said they won't begin processing those cards for another week or two. I did my undergrad loans through this office, and things went pretty smoothly. On the whole, I'm not worried, even though I wish that the bureaucrats worked a bit more swiftly....
I am still checking my loan status online every few days. If we make it to july 10 or so without more progress, I'll be showing up in person to straighten things out.
 
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