Hi! I was wondering if anyone of you could offer me some insight into Weill with respect to the curriculum, teaching, the grading/competitiveness, etc? What do you guys like most and least about the school? Thanks.
i'm a student at cornell - but i'll keep this as propoganda free as possible:
curriculum:
the curriculum is a mix of pbl and lecture. pbl is in no way a substitute for teaching information that one should be responsible for, but a way to see the basic science [or whatever one is learning] in a more clinical manner. classes are always done by 1PM latest [caveat is that they start at 8AM, which was painful for me in the beginning - though i've more or less adjusted].
the curriculum itself is split up into 'modules' for the pre-clinical years: molecules to cells [basic science and some clinical tie in, though less so than in all other courses], genetic medicine [this course was not good, and as a result of student feedback is being redone and perhaps absorbed into molecules to cells], human structure and function [system based anatomy, physio, histo, embryology] and host defense [immuno, microbio etc..] -- this is first year. it is a long year, but this is in exchange for almost 8 weeks of step 1 review time at the end of second year. second year courses are 'brain and mind' [neuroanatomy and neuroscience stuff] as well as 'basis of disease' [comprehensive pathophys course].
during all 4 years is a course called 'medicine patients and society' which covers biostats/epi, nutrition, patient interaction issues, physical diagnosis, clinical preceptorships, ethics, end of life topics and bunch of other stuff which we haven't gotten to yet.
cornell does not teach to the boards. they do allow adequete time for board preparation [more than adequete it seems] and students do very well [whatever that means].
teaching:
with the exception of the genetic medicine course [research faculty gave presentations - tended to be a bit disorganized and research oriented], the teaching is done by faculty who have taught sections for many years [and have prepared comprehensive notes]. i've heard great things about the human structure function teachers, but some of the teachers of the molecules to cells course were just mediocre. the pbl facilitators are usually really good [i've been lucky at least] and are full of basic science/clinically relevant vignettes which make it more interesting.
they try hard to make things as clinically oriented as possible and succeed most of the time. there is very little 'why are we learning this' and they focus on students retaining maximal relevant information rather than drowning you out with stuff you're sure to forget [i say this in comparison to my best friends experience at another well regarded school in the area]. it been a rather benign experience academically thus far - and if you've got a strong basic science background, the first 2 modules are pretty cake [though it's universally acknowledged to pick up from here on out].
one thing that i like is that the sequence of information taught makes a lot of sense to me. makes it much easier to swallow - and while much of our attention is focused ont the science of medicine - they pay quite a bit of attention to the psychosocial/patient oriented aspects of the medicine, as well as good lectures about the health care system/disparities etc... the school seems to have a much better 'institutional social concience' than i would have expected from the Sanford Weill Medical school. there is a really inspiring physician activist, Dr. Oliver Fein, who is now in charge of the curriculum adjustments who i expect will continue pushing the school down that road.
grading/competitiveness:
the grading is h[~20%]/p[~79.999]/f for the pre-clin years. i believe there are many opportunities for written evals through pbls and the clinical preceptorships. i don't imagine they are worth nearly as much as the clinical years which are h/hp/p/f [something like that - at any rate, more gradations] and have more extensive narratives.
competitiveness is a different issue. while people are not cut throat, they work pretty hard though there are tons of study groups [fostered by the pbls and small med school class]. i think our class tends to much more 'competitive' than the 2nd or even 3rd years. we have 'quizzes' every 2 weeks [no cumulative exams] and as a student you can be as neurotic as you want about them. they are usually worth about 40-60% of a module grade, and while most people usually gear up a bit to study for them, others treat them like final exams. up to you. you define your own stresses. i dunno what the atmosphere is like in the clinical years.
others comments:
in general the med school has a warm-fuzzy sort of feel. at times i feel mollycoddled, but it leaves me tons of time to pursue other interests. a huge number of the first years decided to start up a free clinic, and though this is usually a multi-year process at most schools, we've been able to get space, guarentees on funding, and hope to open it up next year [2005, not this year - we have to meet with school to clear up liabilities issues and possiblities of getting elective credit for participation].
my biggest concern with the school when i entered was not getting exposed to a diverse enough patient population, moreover, an underserved population [while the school is located in a nice area close to everything in the city, and the new york hostpital is a cutting edge hospital - it also means that it isn't exactly immersed in the care of an underserved population]. thus far, i've been as far from a privledged population as possible: my clinical preceptorship is at a city hospital chronic care facility for the homeless and those who have been 'abandoned'. [this is not tru for everyone, and you do not pick your locaiton - some people are in nyh, but you can only spend a half year for your 1st year preceptorship] we go every thursday, and it is usually the highlight of my week. the school is also affiliated to lincoln hospital, a public hospital in the bronx which i believe has one of hte highest trauma loads in the country. this affiliation is not as strong as it hopefully will be in the future. no affiliation with a va hospital. even though the ny hospital is directly affiliated with ny presbyterian [columbia] - there is virtually no cross over.
also, something the school really has a lot of opportunities in is international medicine. they have affiliations with hospitals in numerous countries and offer stipends for travel - research or clinical. the close affiliation with Rockefeller University, Hospital for Special Surgery and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is great for the md/phds, and perhaps the latter 2 are useful during the clinical years for med students - dunno.
always room for improvement, but thus far it has been decent. i came here over many other good schools - and while i'm sure most of them are also decent experiences, i have no regrets. a lot of writing above for 10 minutes - i shan't be proofreading it, so if anything doesn't make sense or if you have any other questions you can pm me.
