Lol I can definitely relate to the constant changes to the curriculum. During my last semester on the island in Fall 2019 is when they got rid of the CBSE as a requirement for us to pass, im surprised they brought it back!
Yes, that's why we were mad. When we started, they were like don't worry about it and then lmao they told us it's back out of nowhere. It was annoying because if we had known it was gonna come back, a lot of us would have prepared for it a lot sooner. Unfortunately, that change set me back because I didnt study enough for the CBSE and focused mostly on the Ross mini and final. They brought it back because there was an increased number of students who failed Step 1. I heard it dipped down to 87% first time pass rate whereas before they boasted about a 92% or something first time pass rate. Honestly, it was a blessing in disguise because without CBSE, i don't think I would have passed Step 1 on my first try. Passing on your first try is extremely important. It helped me identify my weak areas, but nonetheless, it was annoying af.
Can any current student speak to how grading works now? Back when I was there it was still the MPS/MPEL system where we had to get a certain % in each subject as well as a certain percent overall, but after I left It seems like they got rid of MPELs?
I mentioned that my class was the first class to be introduced to the new curriculum and when I mean new, there were a lot of changes. Instead of doing all of anatomy in your first semester, it is spread across 2 semesters for X track and 3 semesters if you're in the C track. However, there is no more X track from what I heard but that change was implemented after i left basic sciences. Because of these changes, they also moved the organ systems around. I think they moved endocrine from Semester 2 to Semester 1. But by semester 3 or 4, I think everything returned back to how it was originally.
They also added more "group work" into the semesters. First was something called Formative Assessment (FA). This made up 1-2% of your overall semester grade. It was a series of 8-12 questions as a quiz. There are two components to the grading: your score on the quiz and your attendance. Score on the quiz wasn't that hard. I think you only had to get above 30% to get full points in that category. Attendance is easy as you just have to attend those sessions (which were 2 hours or longer). These were easy points IMO.
Around my fourth semester, they added in what other US med schools have. Problem based learning or Team based learning which is what Ross calls it. TBL is such a waste of time. But it's essentially, you doing a quiz on your own and you get a grade on it. Your individual quiz score is 25% of your overall TBL grade. Then you get assigned a group and you guys take the same quiz again. The group's score makes up 75% of your grade. When TBL was introduced, it was 1% of your grade and Formative Assessment went from 2% to 1% to adjust for it.
Idk how many Mini you guys had in the past, but there are three Mini and one final exam. The three Mini are like 20%+ while the final exam is 29-30%. I remember during semester 3 during the microbio and autonomic pharm block, the mini was worth 29% of your grade. I didn't like the grading distribution because if you mess up, you're kinda doomed.
MPEL did get removed, so you didn't have to meet a certain percentage for each subject. Your grade at the end is made up of 3 Minis, 1 Final, FA scores, and TBL score. If you're taking anatomy, then it makes up part of your grade as well like 3-5% of your grade. Only in Semester 2 with neuroanatomy lab, it was 15%. MPS still exists and it functions pretty much the same. Your overall grade in the semester has to be higher than what the MPS is. I know my last semester MPS was around 64-65, so idk how that is in comparison to your class.
I'm sure there are more changes that are happening at Ross, but this was when i was in basic sciences and I'm not anymore. idk if any other student who is currently in basic sciences can share if there are any other new changes.
