Back from Cinci. For the most part I'm impressed. The only thing that worries me a tad is their block curriculum. You take a bunch of integrated basic sciences at once, and then take a bunch of exams. Should I be worried?
i think you're going to be worried no matter where u go, dr oct. ;p honestly, i thought the block system is supposed to be easier, because you focus on one class at once.
These blocks have a bunch of classes at once. the first one is Gross anatomy, microanatomy, biochem, physiology, medical inteview, and clinical op. Then you have an exam for each of those during the 7th, 12th, and 17th week, and then finals the 18th week. That's a lot of exams! I like the sound of the "focusing on one class at a time" approach at some of the other schools, with one exam at the end of each one. I'm sure both ways is fine, it just seems like more stress with all those tests.
Yeah, we do have a lot of classes going on at once in some of those blocks. But they are staggered. We started the year off with Biochem, Micro-Anatomy, and Death and Dying. Physio and Gross started our 3rd and 4th weeks of class and there are no tests on ICP. So we have alot of info for our Biochem and micro test and very little for our physio and gross. But as the year progresses, many classes are dropped for that block and picked up later. Also, all of the separate classes are finished in mid- March and integrated into one big class, Brain and Behavior I.
I think med schools are moving toward an integrated curriculum. I think it actually makes things easier... you get a lot of repeated info in the different classes. You're learning about the same system in each class, but each has a different focus. It makes more sense to learn things that way, because when you're practicing medicine, you'll need to understand the physiology, anatomy, etc. of each disease process you encounter and use that to think about how to treat it. I think having only one class at a time would probably be more boring and/or overwhelming. I guess it's a matter of personal preference.
Thanks for sharing Octopus. Did anything unusual come up during the interview? Any difficult or strange questions? My Cinci application is complete and just waiting for my MCAT scores. Hopefully I'll get an invite in the future.
I personnaly am a big fan of the integrated curriculum and it actually helps me when muscle phys is overlapping micro anatomy. It makes for a better understanding of the material. As for the block schedule, it is great if you are ready, but can be a lot to handle if you are not. The plusses are that you get to take all you tests in one week, everyone is taking tests, no partying, etc. You have no other classes/lectures, and for a week all you have to do is study for tests. The minuses are that if you are not ready it will kick your a**. You don't have time to cram. The one thing that I will note is that you don't take all tests every time. This week we are doing Monday-Micro Anatomy, Tuesday-Physiology, Wednesday-Gross Anatomy, thur off, Friday-Biochemistry. But the following test blocks only have some of them on certain weeks. The first block is the worst, but I love having the block schedule. TSpoon UC COM
Everyone manages with what they get essentially . If i were a slacker at UC, i'd worry about the grading system (its graded, right?). But Amy and WSUreds could help you there better than I can. WSU....hows life?! Hope you're having fun!
Nothing unusual at all. Everything was pretty cool. A lot of the people I interviewed with seemed uptight, but I guess that's to be expected. Good luck with the invite. Cincinnati is a good school, and I'd be lucky to get in there. Thanks to everyone else for your input...
