couple questions about pitt/wvu/case for students there

[naj118]

Hey everyone,
Ok so I have a few questions for those attending these schools. First and foremost, Pitt......man I hear a lot of bad things about Pitt, I love the area and city and I usually take everything with a grain of salt but the bad things I have been hearing are from those who are affiliated with the school itself(staff, recent graduates)...I hear the program is going through a rough time and is not as strong as it was in the past as far as preparing students and clinical exposure for students. Can anyone attest to that? Also I had heard some complaints(from students) about some of the teachers not being present nearly enough and being out and about between school and private practice.

Case......Case is a beautiful school, and I really felt like at Case people get to get their hands on right away, I really liked how students get engaged in interactions with patients much earlier than other schools..but I sort of got a vibe though that the Case crowd was a little more mature than the other schools, the students seemed to be older and less cohesive as a unit than other schools. I'm also still not sure how their program works with the PBL curriculum and "study" sessions that they have built into it. I was kind of concerned when my interviewer sort of brushed the question aside saying that although its early she knows it will be the best way for students to learn. It came across to me as her being purposefully vague and indirect....any thoughts from anyone in the program?

And WVU..........wow everyone at WVU was so nice, the school is great, the people are friendly, and the group definetely seemed to enjoy being around one another. My big thing with WVU was that I am still just curious about the overall experience. Clinical seemed to be a strong point but most of the students who spoke about the school were in their first year or so so they could not really attest to clinical stuff...anyone?

Any thoughts from students at these programs are appreciated!!!

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[puncho]

I'm not sure what the median age is in our class, but we've got a good bunch of people that are younger than 25. I don't think we're less cohesive than any other school, in fact I think our class is pretty good compared to some of the other years.

I like the dschool...the people are great and the material and experience have been interesting so far. What I dislike about Case is the campus (it's a bit lame) and I wanna get outta Cleveland whenever possible.

As for PBL, there's definitely some kinks there that have to be worked out but I think it'll be much smoother next year if they listen to our class' input. I guess we won't see how well PBL works at our school until the boards. (They've been giving us stats and stuff about how PBL scores are actually higher...)

 

[beannaithe]

I'm a 1st year at Pitt so I can only attest to what I know or hear from people in and around the school. They're in the process of revamping the curriculum a little bit in order to get the board scores up.

The clinical program is strong, but sometimes it's hard for the upperclassmen to find a certian procedure. (Usually someone will opt to have a tooth extracted over a root canal...so root canals are hard to come by). There is the traditional 4th years taking patients from 3rd years and the cycle continues every year...but that's the way I heard it was at most of the schools I interviewed at.

Pitts prepares you well to specialize and do a GPR (a lot of people do...but this is normal for schools).

I came here because the students look out for each other...they're nice and I like area. Plus, the faculty (when they are around), go out of their way to help you.

Just some things to think about.

 

[puncho]

Oh yeah, and we get along w/ upperclassmen pretty well.

We found out today that we get friday afternoons (1-5pm) dedicated to clinic, which is a new change with the new curriculum. We get to do prophies on patients, and if not we hang around with assigned 3rd years and assist them. If proctors feel we're competent enough, we can even do small procedures. If the patient needs to go to a specialty department, we can tag along and observe, so it's pretty neat I think.

 

[HuyetKiem]

Oh yeah, and we get along w/ upperclassmen pretty well.

We found out today that we get friday afternoons (1-5pm) dedicated to clinic, which is a new change with the new curriculum. We get to do prophies on patients, and if not we hang around with assigned 3rd years and assist them. If proctors feel we're competent enough, we can even do small procedures. If the patient needs to go to a specialty department, we can tag along and observe, so it's pretty neat I think.

Man, the clinic was crowded with an extra 50+ students last friday with those yukky scrub color. Which group are you in ? I may give you all my class I and V fillings. sick of those.