Anyone accepted to UQ-Ochnser???

[OLYWA]

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Just curious if anyone here on SDN has been offered a spot in this program. If so...would you be willing to give up your stats and/or the process thus far...for example; what type of interview if any, what type of deposit, when do you have to be there, what is the financial aid situation, how did they suggest you arrange and pay for the program an/or transportation, etc?

Would love to hear anything about anyones experiences.

 

[Dr.Millisevert]

Just curious if anyone here on SDN has been offered a spot in this program. If so...would you be willing to give up your stats

There are already plenty of threads on UQ. The stats for either pathway should be identical. (unless of course they don't get many people interested in the UQ-Ochsner spots in which case the stats for that quota may be lower than the traditional UQ program.. don't know).

Those in charge of the UQ-Ochsner program have yet to answer some VERY important questions. There are too many unanswered questions and no guarantees. Until they can clarify some potential problems with this pathway... All I can say is "Buyer beware"!!

 

[JoeNamaMD]

The bare minimum MCAT required for admission is a 24 for the regular program with no section lower than an 8 and a minimum M on the Writing Sample. They are more flexible on the GPA than US schools, usually a 3.0 or better is good enough. The average MCAT for people admitted for 2009 is around a 30 but this is for the regular program. Still I doubt they would suddenly try to make it easier to get into the Ochsner program.

 

[Zuckman]

Supposedly there will be 80 spots for Jan 2010, 120 spots for Jan 2011. So, more spots might make it easier than this admissions cycle where they're only admitting 20.

It seems like the program will be quite large in the coming years. How will UQ cope with the huge numbers? I've heard that they won't change the international quota for the regular class which is already at 100. So that means that there will be >500 students in the 1st year class alone in a couple of years.

 

[redshifteffect]

In a way it's perfect for them, since you can easily build a bigger auditorium for the preclinical year lectures, it's a lot harder to then find more clinical spots for these students.

This way they can wash their hands of these students in the final two years while they're off to Ochsner.

 

[Zuckman]

I can definitely see that it won't be hard for UQ to do this. The first 2 years of medical school are largely self-study and PBL groups. I don't think quality will be too much affected in the first 2 years. It's not too difficult to have more PBL groups. The only problem would've been the last 2 years, but since the students are going to Ochsner, I don't think it'll be a huge problem. I've read that Ochsner will be putting in a huge commitment from their staff to help with the program.

The difficult part will be for all the students to match into the US. The students will have to do well on the USMLE but the UQ curriculum is not geared towards USMLE studying. I'm curious to know how the students will match. My guess is that most will match into primary care in the New Orleans area. From what I know, this area is desperate for doctors. Maybe Ochsner residency programs will give preference to these graduates?

 

[greens]

Not too sure about the numbers but this program technically could be filling the spot that use to be part of the fifth pathway program up in New York and another one in PR. As of December next year the fifth pathway program will no longer exist. Therefore, people who might have considered this pathway in order to practice in the US potentially will now look to this program instead. A bonus for these people will be they receive two not just one year of US experience.

 

[Dr.Millisevert]

this program technically could be filling the spot that use to be part of the fifth pathway program up in New York and another one in PR. As of December next year the fifth pathway program will no longer exist. Therefore, people who might have considered this pathway in order to practice in the US potentially will now look to this program instead. A bonus for these people will be they receive two not just one year of US experience.

The 5th pathway was open to graduates of any world medical school who required an internship year. The 5th pathway simply allowed these graduates to spend that required internship year back in the states. This is 1 program. I don't see how this is replacing the 5th pathway program. The 5th pathway was open to non-US citizens as well as US citizens. This program is only for US citizens.

 

[greens]

Just for your info from AMA website:
Who can qualify for a Fifth Pathway? Only students who:

1. Graduated from an accredited American college or university;
2. Studied medicine at a medical school located outside the United States that is listed in World Health Organization's World Directory of Medical Schools and which requires a year or more of internship/social service (beyond the four years of medical school) before receiving a medical degree;
3. Completed all formal requirements of their foreign medical school except the final year(s) of clinical work/social service.
4. Students must be a citizen, resident alien, or Canadian Citizen with a student visa.