c/o 2010 TX Applicants: UT San Antonio & Curriculum Changes

Hi all:

So some of you who have interviewed this year @ UT San Antonio may have heard about the new curriculum that debuted this year. One major part of the new curric was the implementation of a Monday morninq quiz [that counted toward our final course grades] which covered all of the material covered in all of the classes from the previous week.

As it was explained to us, the original idea behind having the quiz was to help students stay current with their studies and to assess their progress. This had been done on a limited basis in previous years for the Physiology class, and it was [and is, for that class] pretty doggone useful and helpful. However, the other courses weren't nearly so well organized.

The quiz was a major stressor for everyone for several reasons: the volume of material covered, the fact that it counted towards your class average, and the fact that we all want to do well on our exams, be they large or small, and the fact that you had to be in "exam study mode" nearly every weekend. Unfortunately, I'm quite certain that many of you who interviewed with us [whch is on the same day as the quiz] saw the effect that it had upon us, our stress level, etc.

In fact, I know it has because our class has been browsing through interview feedback and listening to the questions that many of you have asked us throughout the semester. Which is why I wanted to announce that they have cancelled quizzes for us for the rest of the year, and the indication from the administration is that they WILL NOT appear in for next year's MS1 class (except in Physio, where it's quite warranted).

I want to say that I really love our new curriculum. It has proven to be immensely valuable for reinforcing the information given to us. Oftentimes I can't remember whether I learned the information in Histology, Gross Anatomy, Physiology....you get the picture. And for the most part, the curriculum has been very well integrated. Probably the only sore spot has been the MMQs. And with that gone, I think that the curriculum is going to be even more successful.

I'd also like to point out that our administration was very much attentive and willing to listen to our input. Though it may not have seemed so at the time, it's quite obvious that they do have our best interests at heart. So please don't believe what you may have read/heard about "an adminstration that doesn't care." It simply isn't true. I'm no toady/lacky for the Man, folks. Just someone who's seen poor leadership in a wide variety of situations [the Marines, u/grad, the working world]. And from what I've seen so far this year [as a MS1], it certainly seems like we have a great bunch of people.

Anyway, I just wanted to give you guys a heads up. Respond to this or PM me if you have any questions or concerns.

Evo