Class of 2013!!!

BU Medical Sciences
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drizzt3117 said:
hey, the underserved need specialists too! I did my clinical research on outcomes among minority breast/cervical cancer survivors, and ALL of the minorities had worse outcomes, in many cases because they lacked adjuvant therapies.
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yea that's what I've been looking into! I hope I can find a few mentors at Cornell that can guide me in that direction. The research i've already done at Cornell was aimed at helping empower women so I know there are a lot of people out there fighting the good fight.
 
DRLyss said:
Of course! HaHa. I was really into the NHSC for awhile but I'm way too nervous that I will like another specialty and be stuck paying back those crazy interest rates. My parents want me to go into surgery 🙄 No matter what I choose, knowing my personality, I think it will have to be a specialty that I can be with people & "give back"
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Yeah, what's so great about gooey innards? I've never found heavily sedated people particularly great conversationalists, either 😉.

I'm with you all the way, Lyss. People always say "you never know if you'd like it until you try it." But I'm pretty sure surgery is not gonna be on my short list at the end of the day.
 
DRLyss said:
yea that's what I've been looking into! I hope I can find a few mentors at Cornell that can guide me in that direction. The research i've already done at Cornell was aimed at helping empower women so I know there are a lot of people out there fighting the good fight.
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One thing you could look into is public health... that seems to really be the best way to help underserved communities. Our school is obsessed with public health (it's the only med school in the country that has public health in the name) but we have gotten a lot of examples about how physicians have helped thousands of underserved people they never met by advocating for policies/laws/programs.
 
pianola said:
Yeah, what's so great about gooey innards? I've never found heavily sedated people particularly great conversationalists, either 😉.

I'm with you all the way, Lyss. People always say "you never know if you'd like it until you try it." But I'm pretty sure surgery is not gonna be on my short list at the end of the day.
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surgery is pretty cool, but the 110 hours a week during residency and 95 hours a week you work as an attending aren't... lol
 
drizzt3117 said:
I'm sure you'll get into a great school and do fine, I think the first year is just going to be culture shock for most people. Mine was especially interesting especially since I broke my arm a month into school and had to have surgery three months later... lol
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Oh wow! 🙁

I'm sure things will work out for me, eventually. The problem being that I'm already kind of 'tired' from having been in school for both a BA and an MS.

I just want a chance to rest a bit before I have to rally all of my energy into this tremendous undertaking.
 
drizzt3117 said:
Cornell is P/F/H... it's pretty much the same as grades and although the culture is DEFINITELY less competitive than Columbia, you'll be with all type A people and it will be intense (my brother went there)
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I thought that, starting with the class of 2012, Columbia's grading scale in the preclinical years is purely P/F... The students (first- and second-years) I've talked to seem to think that it's a relatively laid-back atmosphere.

Although I can understand the difficulty in getting in with research docs when there are 30+ people in each class who want to go into a given specialty.

How competitive is ENT?
 
DRLyss said:
I adore you more! This was actually my first time. My lil brother wanted to do it & he seemed a little nervous so I suggested that we do it together. We had a lot of fun! I definitely want to do it again.

I have looked into some of the Primary Care loans & the NHSC. I'm still reading the fine print and I'm not sure I want to limit myself to those few specialities before I've actually experienced it. I think I like the Primary Care loan repayment options a bit better. i definitely want to do at least a year of service (if not a lifetime!) before I start my own career. In a perfect world I can do both at the same time! I'm hoping that while I am at Cornell I can show people that you can have your cake and eat it too. I think it is completely possible to have a successful career with all the perks & still give back & be committed to underserved communities.
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I definitely understand and agree. I know that I want to serve in my community and other underserved communities but I also want to do Sports Med or maybe something with Infectious Disease or Immunology or Endocrinology or who knows. But the one thing that is for certain is that I will definitely be in an underserved community.
 
pianola said:
Oh wow! 🙁

I'm sure things will work out for me, eventually. The problem being that I'm already kind of 'tired' from having been in school for both a BA and an MS.

I just want a chance to rest a bit before I have to rally all of my energy into this tremendous undertaking.
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My hobby is collecting degrees 🙂

Yeah, definitely relax before med school, you'll need it.
 
drizzt3117 said:
One thing you could look into is public health... that seems to really be the best way to help underserved communities. Our school is obsessed with public health (it's the only med school in the country that has public health in the name) but we have gotten a lot of examples about how physicians have helped thousands of underserved people they never met by advocating for policies/laws/programs.
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do you think that MPHs are useful? Over the summer I talked to a lot of people in the public health field and I got mixed reviews about the usefulness of an MPH in the public health arena. I'm leaning towards taking the extra year and just getting it just in case it will be useful down the road.
 
drizzt3117 said:
One thing you could look into is public health... that seems to really be the best way to help underserved communities. Our school is obsessed with public health (it's the only med school in the country that has public health in the name) but we have gotten a lot of examples about how physicians have helped thousands of underserved people they never met by advocating for policies/laws/programs.
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how is living a normal life on a stiff budget in medical school in NYC? I decided not to apply to any med schools in NYC b/c I could not imagine having to try and navigate through that crazy city trying to find a grocery store (or a place like Target or Walmart) on a very stringent budget.

How do you manage without relying on too much outside assistance. NYC is fun and I might give it a try for residency...but not for med school...at least not at this point in my life.
 
chad5871 said:
I thought that, starting with the class of 2012, Columbia's grading scale in the preclinical years is purely P/F... The students (first- and second-years) I've talked to seem to think that it's a relatively laid-back atmosphere.
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Yeah...I keep hearing that it's not so competitive. But a lot of schools will say that, though.

I know two students at Columbia (an MS1 and MS2) and they both say it's not competitive. HOWEVER, if I were to give an assessment of their characters, I'd say they're both really competitive.

So, I guess it 'competitiveness' is all relative, maybe...
 
chad5871 said:
I thought that, starting with the class of 2012, Columbia's grading scale in the preclinical years is purely P/F... The students (first- and second-years) I've talked to seem to think that it's a relatively laid-back atmosphere.

Although I can understand the difficulty in getting in with research docs when there are 30+ people in each class who want to go into a given specialty.

How competitive is ENT?
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Chad, its almost your time! Just a couple more days. You are in my prayers, but I know you will be good!
 
chad5871 said:
I thought that, starting with the class of 2012, Columbia's grading scale in the preclinical years is purely P/F... The students (first- and second-years) I've talked to seem to think that it's a relatively laid-back atmosphere.

Although I can understand the difficulty in getting in with research docs when there are 30+ people in each class who want to go into a given specialty.

How competitive is ENT?
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pretty much the most competitive... it's up there with plastics and derm. All of the surgical specialties are super competitive except for CT, Trauma, and to some degree, vascular.

You'll also compete with the Cornell kids for getting in there with clinical/research docs at NYP. Maybe your mileage will vary but the culture was a major turnoff for me.
 
drizzt3117 said:
My hobby is collecting degrees 🙂

Yeah, definitely relax before med school, you'll need it.
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Excellent! I think we have the same hobby! 😛 (Seriously, I have a total of 6 areas of concentration -- 3 majors and 3 minors)

(My degrees are kind of a strange constellation of largely unrelated areas. People always ask why I went for them...)
 
DRLyss said:
do you think that MPHs are useful? Over the summer I talked to a lot of people in the public health field and I got mixed reviews about the usefulness of an MPH in the public health arena. I'm leaning towards taking the extra year and just getting it just in case it will be useful down the road.
Click to expand...

I think it is pretty useful, most of the doctors involved with public health at my school seem to have them, as do a lot of the administration people.
 
drizzt3117 said:
pretty much the most competitive... it's up there with plastics and derm. All of the surgical specialties are super competitive except for CT, Trauma, and to some degree, vascular.

You'll also compete with the Cornell kids for getting in there with clinical/research docs at NYP. Maybe your mileage will vary but the culture was a major turnoff for me.
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🙁 It's a bummer because I don't know what specialty I'd like to practice yet... I guess I'll just have to give it my all and if I do well I'll have more options for residency.

I am kinda interested in pathology... I wonder if I'd be able to land a forensic path fellowship?
 
riceman04 said:
how is living a normal life on a stiff budget in medical school in NYC? I decided not to apply to any med schools in NYC b/c I could not imagine having to try and navigate through that crazy city trying to find a grocery store (or a place like Target or Walmart) on a very stringent budget.

How do you manage without relying on too much outside assistance. NYC is fun and I might give it a try for residency...but not for med school...at least not at this point in my life.
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I'm not in NYC... my brother went to school at Cornell, I go to school in the Midwest. I think it's fine, though, most of the NYC schools have super heavily subsidized housing and you get pretty good financial aid. I wouldn't have minded going to school there but it just didn't work out.
 
drizzt3117 said:
I think it is pretty useful, most of the doctors involved with public health at my school seem to have them, as do a lot of the administration people.
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I know I want to get my MPH. It is just a matter of when to do it. Hey drizzt, when do most people get their MPH? Do they do it after they grad or during medical school?
 
pianola said:
Excellent! I think we have the same hobby! 😛 (Seriously, I have a total of 6 areas of concentration -- 3 majors and 3 minors)

(My degrees are kind of a strange constellation of largely unrelated areas. People always ask why I went for them...)
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I have lots of degrees that have varying degrees of relevance to medicine, BS finance, MA public policy, MBA health care management... lol
 
BlackDr2b said:
I know I want to get my MPH. It is just a matter of when to do it. Hey drizzt, when do most people get their MPH? Do they do it after they grad or during medical school?
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If you go to a med school that has a MPH program, some of them will let you do it after boards and before clinicals, which I think is a great time to do it. Our school has a dual degree program particularly for that purpose.
 
chad5871 said:
🙁 It's a bummer because I don't know what specialty I'd like to practice yet... I guess I'll just have to give it my all and if I do well I'll have more options for residency.

I am kinda interested in pathology... I wonder if I'd be able to land a forensic path fellowship?
Click to expand...

My dad is a pathologist... as long as you don't mind limited patient contact, I think it's one of the coolest fields you can go into. With how much genetics is going to change the field, the patient contact part might actually change as well. I think it's one of the most rapidly changing/evolving fields. Right now it's super easy to get into, also, and the hours and compensation are much better than primary care and up there with a lot of the specialties.

ENT is a good field but it's microscale, you'll have ridiculous hours during residency and probably practice unless you go private practice, and it's super competitive. I took a look at the residency interview lists earlier and saw ppl with 250+ USMLE that went to Ivy's being denied interviews... lol
 
drizzt3117 said:
I have lots of degrees that have varying degrees of relevance to medicine, BS finance, MA public policy, MBA health care management... lol
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Haha, I see why you're a chick magnet 😉
 
drizzt3117 said:
If you go to a med school that has a MPH program, some of them will let you do it after boards and before clinicals, which I think is a great time to do it. Our school has a dual degree program particularly for that purpose.
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thats when I wanna get it
 
drizzt3117 said:
If you go to a med school that has a MPH program, some of them will let you do it after boards and before clinicals, which I think is a great time to do it. Our school has a dual degree program particularly for that purpose.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good plan. I will have to look into that.
 
drizzt3117 said:
My dad is a pathologist... as long as you don't mind limited patient contact, I think it's one of the coolest fields you can go into. With how much genetics is going to change the field, the patient contact part might actually change as well. I think it's one of the most rapidly changing/evolving fields. Right now it's super easy to get into, also, and the hours and compensation are much better than primary care and up there with a lot of the specialties.

ENT is a good field but it's microscale, you'll have ridiculous hours during residency and probably practice unless you go private practice, and it's super competitive. I took a look at the residency interview lists earlier and saw ppl with 250+ USMLE that went to Ivy's being denied interviews... lol
Click to expand...

That's really cool - I'm interested in exploring pathology more, especially since I absolutely love genetics! I talked to the assistant chief medical examiner of Virginia the other day, and he said that he absolutely loves his job. It sounds really interesting.
 
Chuck's Right Foot said:
Man, the city of Philadelphia hates me. Rejected by Temple pre-I this year after interviewing last year. No word from Jeff.... I really wanted to be in Philly.... Guess I'll hope for Pitt/VCU/Miami.
....
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wait how do you know temple rejected you already? i haven't heard from them at all, neither from jeff or drexel
drizzt3117 said:
I think 3 possible grades is WORSE than five possible grades, because you either get honors or you don't. At least in the other grading system you can still get high pass.
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🙁 rush has a hp/p/f. i wonder what VCU has, do you know chad?
BlackDr2b said:
Hey everybody. :hello:
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hey bd2b, you should totally call (i'm not peer pressuring ..) hehe
pianola said:
Well, I figure I could *probably* match into rads if I did decently well -- I do better if I'm able to manage my time how I want to without having to worry about grades. I'm DEFINITELY not looking for surgery or derm. Rads doesn't seem to be quite as bad as other competitive specialties...
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isn't rad one of the most competitive?
drizzt3117 said:
It's pretty hard to honor classes at Cornell, though, my brother graduated with #2 class rank IIRC and I think he got honors in about 80% of his classes IIRC. All I'm saying is that when a lot of really good people who all want to get honors are in the same class, it makes it competitive when only 15% of them can get it.
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what's IIRC?
DRLyss said:
I have looked into some of the Primary Care loans & the NHSC.
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whats that
pianola said:
Yeah...I keep hearing that it's not so competitive. But a lot of schools will say that, though.

I know two students at Columbia (an MS1 and MS2) and they both say it's not competitive. HOWEVER, if I were to give an assessment of their characters, I'd say they're both really competitive.

So, I guess it 'competitiveness' is all relative, maybe...
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haha, sigh those people just don't get it
drizzt3117 said:
pretty much the most competitive... it's up there with plastics and derm. All of the surgical specialties are super competitive except for CT, Trauma, and to some degree, vascular.

You'll also compete with the Cornell kids for getting in there with clinical/research docs at NYP. Maybe your mileage will vary but the culture was a major turnoff for me.
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why isn't CT competitive?
pianola said:
Haha, I see why you're a chick magnet 😉
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agreed 😀
 
Wassup Blues! Yeah I might, but I am working on my patience. Even though it is killing me! :scared:
 
The NHSC is a scholarship that pays all of your costs + a stipend but for every year fo scholarship you have to give a year of service back. You are also limited in what specialties you can pick (it has to be primary care and they say what specialties fall under that umbrella) and you have to serve in an underserved community.

http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/
 
olemissbabydoc said:
Yawn. I need food. Soon. I'm starving today.
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good to see you eating today. i ate only lunch today and am not hungry today ...

i am definitely sick. i've had like 4 glasses of orange juice today though
 
:hello:


ariane from TOP chef won a challenge with watermelon salad:

tc_elim_504_10.jpg
 
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watermelon! you have been prowling all this time right, right!

hehe
 
I just had McDonald's for lunch for the first time in months. It hit the spot, but now I feel like I need to run a few miles to burn it off 😛
 
aznb0y129 said:
I just had McDonald's for lunch for the first time in months. It hit the spot, but now I feel like I need to run a few miles to burn it off 😛
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what did you eat? it will affect how many miles you have to run off :laugh:
 
bluesmd said:
what did you eat? it will affect how many miles you have to run off :laugh:
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3 piece chicken selects meal and a snack wrap. I think that's like close to 1000 calories already...
 
Hi, all! How's everyone's day going?

I took a personal day today to work on financial aid stuff since Emory surprised me with a due date of March 1st!!😱!!

I just finished filing my taxes. 😀

edit: Good job, berk!
 
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