Baylor College of Medicine Class of 2008

[TexasRose]

No worries - my bad. I need to learn to use those smiley faces more often.

Do you make cookies too? If so, if I pretend to be hurt and misunderstood because you didn't catch my sarcastic tone, will you bring cookies to PBL too?

I'm more of a scone or other baked goods type person. Does that work?

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[sneds]

So do any of us have vague ideas about what we're interested in practicing? I read somewhere students change their minds an average of nine times before choosing, so crazyeyes, don't have an apoplexy, I know we're not supposed to know what we're interested in yet. Just curious about my new classmates ... what are you interested in and why?

I think Urology.

Reasons:
I want to do surgery, and I have shadowed urologists and really enjoyed the surgeries I watched.
I remember a doctor once told me that Urologists are the happiest of all doctors, according to some survey.
The few urologists I know seem to have pretty laid back schedules (probably why they are so happy), and that is important for me since I want to have kids some day.
There is a lack of female urologists, and I want to remedy that.

But who knows what will happen.

I have my last final ever in undergrad tommorrow at 9 am!

 

[curlycity]

I have my last final ever in undergrad tommorrow at 9 am!

Buena suerte...I got one at 8 a.m. plus one Saturday morning! That's just wrong. But it's okay, it's Primate Behavior, or Monkey Lovin' 101 as we fondly call it. That's a funny story for some time when I don't have an 8 a.m. final the next morning

 

[sneds]

Good luck curlycity!

And good luck to you saturday mornin. I find it cruel and unusual for them to give us finals on saturdays.

Meanwhile, I will be a bridesmaid in a wedding that night. I hope I don't trip on my dress and ruin the whole affair.

 

[No Egrets]

Hey guys,

I just checked out the May 14 update on our 2008 web site (http://www.bcm.tmc.edu/osa/info_3_2004.pdf)

They're ending their "three-year trial" of Pass/Fail grading for Fall 1, beginning this fall. So we're on H/HP/P/MP/F grading throughout pre-clinical... Had they announced this before, or is this the first mention of it? Not that P/F was what sold me on Baylor, but it would have been a nice transition. Oh well!

 

[tonoplast]

Hey guys,

I just checked out the May 14 update on our 2008 web site (http://www.bcm.tmc.edu/osa/info_3_2004.pdf)

They're ending their "three-year trial" of Pass/Fail grading for Fall 1, beginning this fall. So we're on H/HP/P/MP/F grading throughout pre-clinical... Had they announced this before, or is this the first mention of it? Not that P/F was what sold me on Baylor, but it would have been a nice transition. Oh well!

That actually worries me a lot. I remember that they really pushed this during interview day and I was counting on it to ease myself back into student mode.

 

[BaylorLion]

No Egrets, you beat me to it. The death of pass/fail - it would have been a nice transition, I agree, and it really doesn't make sense to me why they're ending it, since most (or at least many) of their competitors seem to be moving to complete pass/fail basic science curriculums. Since I've heard basic science grades are hardly looked at during residency applications, I don't know what this serves, except to make us more competitive with each other from the get go. Baylor students have told me that the pass/fail first semester helped them bond as a class, because they cooperated to learn the material, so that when the grading started, they already had that atmosphere of cooperation and helping each other become the best possible doctors.

The return of fake pass/fail... hrmph.

 

[BaylorLion]

I wonder if we can politely protest it or anything; write to Bradshaw and tell him that we'd prefer the pass/fail. Real pass/fail.

 

[curlycity]

Good luck curlycity!

And good luck to you saturday mornin. I find it cruel and unusual for them to give us finals on saturdays.

Meanwhile, I will be a bridesmaid in a wedding that night. I hope I don't trip on my dress and ruin the whole affair.

Today's final went well - huge sigh of relief/satisfaction - one more to go. I'm sure you'll do fine at the wedding...you can take the dress and make sachets out of it if it's ugly, or sell it on eBay (I got a whole dollar for the last one I wore!). Have a great time!!!

Maybe crazyeyes can weigh in on the P/F thing. I was looking forward to easing into school also, but now I'm thinking, well bring it on then! Yeah! I'm caffeinated and ready to go! And if there isn't a curve, it won't be competitive. I just really agreed with their idea that it's a good ease-in considering they have a lot of people who weren't science majors. Oh well. Still goin' to Baylor And the students had to have a large part in making this change, so there must be a good reason in there somewhere.

 

[Gleevec]

Ugh this is so bad

1. CUMULATIVE final after Block 3

2. A/B/C/D/F grading system

Welcome to Gunner City, population 168.

 

[curlycity]

Maybe this will stimulate my Board scores tho! Yay! Even I find my constant looking on the bright side annoying... I told you guys I was caffeinated. I woke up this morning buzzed from all the coffee I had yesterday while studying! I'm feelin' no pain!!!

 

[BaylorLion]

Maybe people didn't feel like they learned that first 1/3 of the material well enough for the Step I's, because they didn't have that pressure of the 5-tier grading system?

Because that's what Baylor needs - HIGHER Step I averages. Sheesh. The other thought is that top students wanted grades earlier to better differentiate themselves?

But why speculate - we're cluesless premeds. This is one for crazy eyes.

 

[TexasRose]

Ugh this is so bad

1. CUMULATIVE final after Block 3

2. A/B/C/D/F grading system

Welcome to Gunner City, population 168.

I agree. I think they just made it a much more gunner-type situation. Too bad, I thought the lack of competitveness between students was a big plus. I don't look forward to being the first class that deals with changes. Wish they had been more upfront about it.

Doesn't change the fact that I'm pysched to be a Baylor student.

 

[BaylorLion]

Yeah, I am also worried about Gunner City, Gleevec. But the way I see it, it only becomes Gunner City if we choose to make it so. We must have at least, what, 10 future Baylorians on this board who get along - and I personally don't really want to "stick it" to any of you (or any of our future classmates). In fact, I feel Baylor love and want to help everyone do extraordinarily well - after all, like Men's Wearhouse, if you look good, I look good. We're all going to be doctors, and if we measure up to Baylor's Step I average, we're all going to be house staff at good programs. If we make a commitment as a class to help each other and then each do the best we can, I think we'll be great. And by now, you'd think that people would learn that having a gunner reputation is deadly - since we're going to be each other's colleagues in a few years. God help you if you screw over someone in med school who later on becomes chief of staff at a hospital you work at.

Hey curlycity, I'm not finding the "bright side-finding" annoying. Keep it up! We'll need your optimism in a bad way in a few months

 

[curlycity]

Amen, and Big Hug.

 

[BaylorLion]

Good luck curlycity!

And good luck to you saturday mornin. I find it cruel and unusual for them to give us finals on saturdays.

Meanwhile, I will be a bridesmaid in a wedding that night. I hope I don't trip on my dress and ruin the whole affair.

Hey sneds, you can be the eBay bridesmaid's dress gal (You guys heard about the eBay wedding dress guy right?).

You gotta check this out if you haven't:

http://www.weddingdressguy.com/

 

[sneds]

Hey sneds, you can be the eBay bridesmaid's dress gal (You guys heard about the eBay wedding dress guy right?).

You gotta check this out if you haven't:

http://www.weddingdressguy.com/

maybe i can get my dad to wear the dress and then sell it on ebay.

ok, i am officially done with college.
my thoughts are about this:
hmm, can't think, just feel slow...must be because i got noo sleep last night.

i really want to complain about no more p/f but need some

bebacklater

 

[HollyJ]

Well, hell. I was really looking forward to the P/F system for the first semester -- I'm really disappointed that they did away with it. Funny that most of the top-20ish schools are going entirely pass/fail, and Baylor is sort of going backwards.

Speaking of computers, I am typing this on my brand new laptop, which I love love love love love. Apple will let you buy laptops now with a $200 education discount if you tell them that you're going to Baylor. If you're a PC person, that doesn't really help you, but if you're looking at Apples, you should check it out. This is my first Apple laptop (I've always had PCs before), and I think it's the greatest thing ever.

 

[Newquagmire]

They're ending their "three-year trial" of Pass/Fail grading for Fall 1, beginning this fall. So we're on H/HP/P/MP/F grading throughout pre-clinical...

what the?! adding to "things-to-do" list: write email to bradshaw.

Welcome to Gunner City, population 168.

well that's what texas (and houston) is famous for, no? guns and shootings? ha ha? no?

 

[BaylorLion]

HollyJ - Welcome to the Mac club! They rock, don't they? I've had mine since freshman year, and it still runs like brand new. They are pricey but worth every penny. Get an iPod too.

My thoughts exactly - it seems odd that, when most of their competitors are going to complete pass/fail, they should move in the opposite direction. Maybe they want to see what happens with 1st semester pass/fail vs. grades, so they can make a final decision on it? Or perhaps the pass/fail didn't work out that well. I'm not happy about this, but I'm gonna try and trust (for now at least) that "world-renowned" Baylor knows what it's doing after all these years... you don't get board scores that rock the house like they do without doing something right. I gotta say that I freaked some of my parents' friends out by telling them that most American medical schools have a pass/fail system - they all seemed pretty uncomfortable with the thought that our generation of doctors wouldn't have to study basic science as though their lives depended on it.

Newquagmire - that's *Dallas* that's the murder capital of America. Houston is utopia on Earth

 

[HollyJ]

HollyJ - Welcome to the Mac club! They rock, don't they? I've had mine since freshman year, and it still runs like brand new. They are pricey but worth every penny. Get an iPod too.

Actually, I think that my beautiful PowerBook was pretty comparable in price to a similar PC, especially with the discount. I got an iPod for Christmas last year, and I love that, too. I'm a big fan.

 

[tonoplast]

Actually, I think that my beautiful PowerBook was pretty comparable in price to a similar PC, especially with the discount. I got an iPod for Christmas last year, and I love that, too. I'm a big fan.

I got my powerbook last summer after years of using PCs. I too am a convert. It is the best thing ever. One of the best things about Macs is that they never get infected by all these crazy viruses going around.

 

[HollyJ]

I got my powerbook last summer after years of using PCs. I too am a convert. It is the best thing ever. One of the best things about Macs is that they never get infected by all these crazy viruses going around.

Amen to that -- are you bringing your PowerBook to school, or are you getting a new laptop?

 

[Mrs.S]

Do yall think that is going to be a dig deal?

 

[Newquagmire]

yes (filler filler filler characters)

 

[curlycity]

No worries, but keep in mind if you are interested in Internal medicine or neurology your usage of apoplexy above was incorrect. Apoplexy usually refers to the brain, but can also occur in the lung or kidney among other places. Thus to refer to an apoplexy of the brain usually it is currently accepted to say "Cerebral Vascular Accident." Yes it is sad, even "Stroke" isnt specific enough... What a crock of ****!

Oh, I used that word because I was reading some old-timey novel set in England and they use it whenever someone gets all mad and red in the face and the vein in their forehead starts to bulge out...so I use it as a funny figure of speech now. I have a lot of weird referents, don't mind me. But good to know!

They're training us to be so specific, in the end we'll be the only ones who know what we're talking about.

And, I guess I know now not to answer 'stroke' on that new comprehensive final at the end of 3rd block!

P.S. It's called an 'accident'? That is somehow funny. The term, not the event.

 

[BaylorLion]

Do yall think that is going to be a dig deal?

I think it'll be a "big deal" in that we're going to be more nervous a little earlier; no easing in to medical school. People who took a lot of science in college *may* have an initial advantage, because the non-science people who stuck to the basic minimum won't have that easing-in period.

I don't think it's going to make the class all that more competitive. Pass/fail was only there for one semester. People who are going to gun are going to gun - they'll just start gunning a semester earlier. This worried me when I first heard about it - now, I'm chill. Or a little more chill than I was earlier, anyway.

 

[Mrs.S]

when did you hear about it? I found out today when I checked the website. Am I out of the know?

 

[BaylorLion]

Nah, I found out about it in the morning, when I opened my email. At first, after reading Rapp's email, I was hoping they had decided to extend the pass/fail to all 3 semesters. Then I opened the PDF...

But since I'm only working for one more day, they've been easing my workload and I really had nothing to do but think about this on the hour drive each way to work and while at work.

 

[Gleevec]

Basically changing to preclinical grades immediately kills the transitional period. I guess they must have felt that people didnt retain much from Fall I and that this (having grades) and having a final would fix that. Ah well, we'll live. I really wonder what made them consider the three year trial of P/F a failure though.

 

[Mrs.S]

ok, good to know. thought i was missing out on something. been too busy to care about anything recently and should be studying now. stupid finals! but i'm done tomorrow, and get to move! that's exciting. ok, back to *studying*

 

[BaylorLion]

Basically changing to preclinical grades immediately kills the transitional period. I guess they must have felt that people didnt retain much from Fall I and that this (having grades) and having a final would fix that. Ah well, we'll live. I really wonder what made them consider the three year trial of P/F a failure though.

I'd like to know that too... crazy eyes, any word?

 

[No Egrets]

I go to MIT, where the first term is graded Pass/No Record, ie if you fail a class it doesn't even show up on your transcript, you just retake it. It's completely necessary given that kids are coming from such diverse educational backgrounds--for those coming from prestigious science magnet high schools the entire first year is just a review. But given the self-selective nature of the MIT freshman class, most people are still working pretty hard despite the lack of grades... A notable exception would be guys who pledge fraternities, who often disappear from the face of the planet into a drunken stupor until P/no record is over. It really does have the desired effect, there's no competition for grades at all in my experience, even among pre-meds.

Just thought I'd share my P/F experience... As for the change at Baylor, uhh.... I hope I can still find classmates to go out with me once in a while!

 

[Gleevec]

Initially I was kinda annoyed by the grades, then I realized all the P/F schools are secretly keeping track of exact grades for junior AOA anyway. So either overtly or covertly, exact grades are being kept anyway. Ah well, its not as if it will change anything-- people will act however they will act regardless of the grading system.

Ah well, at least the grading system is absolute instead of relative still (I think).

 

[elias514]

Melody e-mailed me a message regarding the PGY-2 information. Evidently, Baylor is not "required" to keep track of PGY-2 spots, so it looks like we'll never know where all those preliminary and transitional matches are going for PGY-2. I guess it doesn't matter that much, but it's possible that some of these people failed to secure PGY-2 spots (esp. the transitionals)--this could be cause for concern.

Oh well, just thought I'd let you all know.

 

[tonoplast]

Amen to that -- are you bringing your PowerBook to school, or are you getting a new laptop?

Gonna stick with my powerbook. I think it has all the requirements that were in Information #1 on the website. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[BaylorLion]

elias514, she sent me the same message. But I don't think she understood the question.

 

[elias514]

I don't know man. The administration at Baylor has to know about the PGY-2 spots, otherwise they couldn't list the number of grads going into certain specialties that match at this level (e.g., ENT). I still don't understand why they don't supply this information in the match list--it doesn't make any sense to me.

If I were you, though, I would inquire about those transitional spots--it's my understanding that transitional spots go to people that failed to match into a categorical program for whatever reason (inability to decide on a particular specialty, academic problems, etc.). Transitional matches tend to be kind of bad, but I could be wrong.

Maybe you guys will have better luck with finding this information than I did. At any rate, Baylor is an excellent school and I'm sure that you all will be happy and successful there. As for me, I'm headed to Michigan.

 

[HollyJ]

Gonna stick with my powerbook. I think it has all the requirements that were in Information #1 on the website. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I think that the PowerBooks are fine -- I went over the requirements about 12 times before I bought mine, and it looks good. The requirements do say that you need WindowsXP, but I think that they're kidding about that (since it specifies that "new" purchases need to have it). Anyway, we can run it on Virtual PC if it really becomes an issue. They did say that Airport works with the wireless network, and I would guess that that's the most important thing.

 

[curlycity]

Just in case anyone hasn't received the email, there's another update on our web site.



http://www.bcm.tmc.edu/osa/2008/

The new PRN (peer resource network) page is up.

 

[elias514]

Missing quite a few including some of our most elite, not necessarily our "best" matches (e.g. U Penn- Neurosurgery, U Penn- ENT and many others in ophtho, Rad Onc, Neurology etc.). You cant judge a book by its cover. Get over it Elias...

Get over what?

 

[elias514]

I think that Bascom Palmer (the #2 residency program in the country according to Opthalmology Times) is elite enough for me. Jeez, man, give me a break. I was just curious about all the transitional matches. I had no intention of criticizing Baylor's prestige or reputation. Man there are some real sh*theads on this forum.

 

[tonoplast]

Dont make yourself out to look like a slacker... you will do fine. Hopefully you didnt get into medical school by taking the easy route or by using a back door- trust yourself and your abilities and dont let this change anything about what you were going to do during or with medical school, you will still have alot of free time.

Thanks for the advice--I'm sure you're right. I've been out of school for a few years but yeah, in the end, the grading system is not what's going to make or break me (or anyone else here) the first 6 months.

 

[elias514]

Sorry about my comment, Crazy Eyes, I've just come across some really hostile people on this forum. I thought you might be one of these people, but I was mistaken.

Anywho, are you a student at Baylor right now? If so, what kind of physician do you want to become?

 

[Harps]

I think that Bascom Palmer (the #2 residency program in the country according to Opthalmology Times) is elite enough for me. Jeez, man, give me a break. I was just curious about all the transitional matches. I had no intention of criticizing Baylor's prestige or reputation. Man there are some real sh*theads on this forum.

Baylor prospectives/future students are quite defensive.....

-Harps

 

[musicman1991]

Crazy Eye-

Do you have any info on the radiology match?? I saw that only 2 people matched but that doesn't make sense. The Optho matchlist elias posted showed only 2 people matching in Optho, but that is clearly wrong!

 

[elias514]

Yeah I know. THere are more matches in these specialties, but I wasn't sent the PGY-2 data for the 2004 match. The match list that I posted only includes PGY-1 info. Sorry.

 

[curlycity]

Baylor prospectives/future students are quite defensive.....

-Harps

Well I would defend myself against this unfounded, malicious accusation, but then I would be acting...quite defensive!

This is a hard format to communicate in when you can't really tell if people are being helpful, condescending, sarcastic, or humorous. In the end it gets straightened out tho.

 

[curlycity]

By the way guys...just finished my last final! Sweet, sweet freedom! Well, for 10 weeks anyway...

 

[Gleevec]

Baylor prospectives/future students are quite defensive.....

-Harps

Elias is actually going to UMichigan for med school... take a look at his signature.

Also wow, wtf happened to this thread. Its like it fell out of the fugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.