Anyone attend a mini-med school as a premed?

[theWUbear]

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I've wanted to do it for years and have the opportunity to do one starting next week, but it might push me toward the limit of what I can handle, with a tough class schedule, part time work, and the need to achieve at or near a 4.0.

Obviously nobody here can tell me whether or not I would be able to handle the added 4 hours a week + weekend electives. However, I am wondering if any current med school students and/or premeds attended mini-med and found the experience valuable? Might there be someone whose participation in minimed at med school A was looked upon favorably upon application to med school A?

Let me know your thoughts on mini-med. Thanks for your help.

 

[The Poet Sings]

i've never heard of such a thing. why would it be beneficial?

 

[Sammich117]

what's a mini med school?

 

[theWUbear]

Basically, you're given a number of lectures on current topics in healthcare by medical school faculty and hospital staff; you probably get a certificate upon completion. Its for people interested in medicine and the population at large.

From a google search I've found that there is a decent number of them at med schools around the country.

Here's the one I'm interested in (use internet explorer, in compatibility mode):

www.umdnj.edu/minimed

http://njms.umdnj.edu/community/public_education/minimed/schedule.cfm

Here are two others:

http://medschool.umaryland.edu/minimed/

https://minimed.wustl.edu/

 

[Morsetlis]

If a class doesn't have homework or exams, TAKE IT!!!

 

[mmmcdowe]

I've heard about these before. I personally wouldn't pay for such an opportunity unless you were seriously doubting your interest in the general medical field. It certainly won't help you get into medical school or really prepare you for it. Most or all of those lectures seem to be special topic/clinical relevance lectures. Interesting, but you could find a lot of those for free on most university campuses. I didn't go to a mini-medical school, but I did do a summer program about liver transplants and stuff. Got CPR certified and all that jazz. Utterly useless in terms of preparing me for medical school or looking good on the resume (anything that you can get in without any admissions other than a large check is worthless as far as your resume go). The CPR training was useful (I actually ended up using it in real life), but nothing I had to pay a grand for.

 

[Morsetlis]

I've heard about these before. I personally wouldn't pay for such an opportunity unless you were seriously doubting your interest in the general medical field. It certainly won't help you get into medical school or really prepare you for it.

Some of them get you CPR certified :X

 

[mmmcdowe]

Some of them get you CPR certified :X

You can do that for free or at least very cheaply elsewhere. Also, you get CPR training the first week of medical school where I go anyways. Its not like I had a competitive advantage by knowing CPR. I just edited my post, reread it.

 

[Hoody]

I was interested in WashU's...but they are all booked up. Once you complete the first two, you are elible to attend the third (IIRC). Seems pretty cool, something different.

As a nurse working at a teaching hospital, I like to pretend its my own little mini med school. 😀

 

[PinkIvy08]

I did the UMDNJ-RWJMS one back in high school (for free). I thought it was a great program for high schoolers, but I can picture my time being better spent in other activities and experiences as an undergrad. Just my two cents...

 

[roseglass6370]

Sounds like a waste of time and money to me. Just my 2 cents.

 

[rockaction]

I thought these were like for soccer moms...

 

[The Poet Sings]

i looked at the links you posted and they seem to be for laypeople who want to learn more about their specific illness or get a taste of what medicine is like. i guess at the very least it could help you make sure you have an interest in medicine, but you could get that affirmation for free by volunteering or shadowing.

 

[austinap]

I wouldn't waste any money on such a program. If you're interested in those issues, grab a couple of books and head to the coffee shop.

In addition, something I've noticed undergrads rarely take advantage of is seminars. Take a look on relevant departments websites (e.g., public health, school of medicine, biology, etc) to see if there are any interesting upcoming talks. They're usually an hour long, FREE, and you even get free coffee and munchies.