Entering NYCOM 2007 Questions

[DKCDO]

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Hello All:

I will be entering NYCOM this fall (2003). I would appreciate it if some of you NYCOMers out there can shed some light on how M1 will be like. I have the following questions/concerns:

1. What classes do you have each block?

2. Study tips for those classes? ie. should I rely on notes/go to class/review books? What techniques have you guys found most useful?

3. The schedule seems to be 9-5. Classes back to back? When do you find time to study? Any breaks during the day? Do you have any lectures after lunch or is it mostly labs? How long do they last?

4. Does anyone take the LIRR to school? If so how do they get to NYCOM? I know that there are no non-resident parking passes? Can anyone tell me if they plan on taking LIRR? Or if I can hitch a ride from the station?

5. ANyone commute from Brooklyn? What neighborhoods are good? How far of drive? What's the best way to NYCOM now that the LIE is being repaired?

6. Should I review any basics (from college or the MCAT) that would help during the first year?

7. Books to read up on? Re: survival in med school or just plain old motivation..... (TIPS for the summer before?)

8. For your third and fourth year, is anyone allowed to do residency in Hawaii? Has anyone ever done that? Or are you restricted to the tri-state area? How does that work?

9. NYCOM curriculum seems really tough the 1st 2 years. Is it doable? What strategies would you recommend for passing? I don't want to fail out!

10. Thank you for your input. Sincerely appreciated.

 

[oceandocDO]

I?m a second year at nycom. Here goes my version?.

1. What classes do you have each block?

Classes for first years are the basic sciences? anatomy, biochem, physio, histology, genetics, pathology, micro, OMM, and you finish out the year with neuroscience, neurology, neuropath. Each block usually has between 4-6 classes 1st year with corresponding written exams at the end of the block and practical exams where appropriate. Second year progresses by the system, starting with pharmacology and then to pulmonary, cardio, renal, GI, etc finishing up with surgery, peds, ob/gyn, etc. They throw in classes like immuno, hematology, public health, psych etc throughout the year to make sure you?re not bored.

2. Study tips for those classes? ie. should I rely on notes/go to class/review books? What techniques have you guys found most useful?

To each his own. I go to most lectures, others go to all, some not as much. Most lectures are taped and put online for you to watch at home with dsl or cable modem, a HUGE help. The notes here are FANTASTIC, sometimes negating the need to buy a lot of books. Hence, no scribe service is required. I buy a lot of review books and read them along with the class which should make studying for boards easier

 

[oceandocDO]

I?m a second year at nycom. Here goes my version?.

1. What classes do you have each block?

Classes for first years are the basic sciences? anatomy, biochem, physio, histology, genetics, pathology, micro, OMM, and you finish out the year with neuroscience, neurology, neuropath. Each block usually has between 4-6 classes 1st year with corresponding written exams at the end of the block and practical exams where appropriate. Second year progresses by the system, starting with pharmacology and then to pulmonary, cardio, renal, GI, etc finishing up with surgery, peds, ob/gyn, etc. They throw in classes like immuno, hematology, public health, psych etc throughout the year to make sure you?re not bored.

2. Study tips for those classes? ie. should I rely on notes/go to class/review books? What techniques have you guys found most useful?

To each his own. I go to most lectures, others go to all, some not as much. Most lectures are taped and put online for you to watch at home with dsl or cable modem, a HUGE help. The notes here are FANTASTIC, sometimes negating the need to buy a lot of books. Hence, no scribe service is required. I buy a lot of review books and read them along with the class which should make studying for boards easier

 

[oceandocDO]

this thing is acting screwy, sorry for the multiple posts.

here's the rest of your Q's...

3. The schedule seems to be 9-5. Classes back to back? When do you find time to study? Any breaks during the day? Do you have any lectures after lunch or is it mostly labs? How long do they last?

Yep, classes usually from 9-5 first year, often 8-5 second year. This aint undergrad anymore. First year often has lab in the afternoon while second year is more often lecture. Most lectures average 2 hours per topic. Labs range from 3-4 hours usually, some shorter for micro and path. You study at night, on weekends, etc.

4. Does anyone take the LIRR to school? If so how do they get to NYCOM? I know that there are no non-resident parking passes? Can anyone tell me if they plan on taking LIRR? Or if I can hitch a ride from the station?

Having a car is pretty much a necessity. The train station is about a mile away, maybe a bit less. I don?t know the feasibility of transferring to a bus. Some people do it I think, but I wouldn?t want to. You?ll definitely need a car in 3rd and 4th year, so buy one now and make your life easier. Parking isnt a problem on campus and it's free.

5. ANyone commute from Brooklyn? What neighborhoods are good? How far of drive? What's the best way to NYCOM now that the LIE is being repaired?

There?s a few students who live in Brooklyn. They spend a lot of time on the road though. I don?t know the most popular route. Trial and error probably.

6. Should I review any basics (from college or the MCAT) that would help during the first year?

My advice, no. Relax, sleep, travel, party. Knowing biochem and physio may help in the first few months, but you?re going to learn it all again anyway.

7. Books to read up on? Re: survival in med school or just plain old motivation..... (TIPS for the summer before?)

See above. You?ll probably forget most of anything you read now anyway, so relax. If you?ve never had the basic science courses (biochem, pysio, etc) maybe touch up on those, but don?t kill yourself.

8. For your third and fourth year, is anyone allowed to do residency in Hawaii? Has anyone ever done that? Or are you restricted to the tri-state area? How does that work?

You don?t do ?residency? in third and fourth year, that?s after you graduate. Clerkships can be done anywhere in the country, if you?d like, but NYCOMs hospitals are fantastic, honestly. They also do a great job at setting your clerkships up for you based on your requests for time and location, a luxury not every school offers. Most NYCOM rotations are in the NY metropolitan area. Fourth year is more flexible and this is when you can travel abroad or around the country if you?d like with more ease. As far as residency after graduation, you can go wherever you?re accepted

9. NYCOM curriculum seems really tough the 1st 2 years. Is it doable? What strategies would you recommend for passing? I don't want to fail out!

It?s not really as tough as people like to complain about. Actually, it?s become much more streamlined over the past 2 years as new administration has come on board and revamped things. It?s a lot of work, but the brochures never said this would be easy. My advice is to ?learn how to learn? quick, as falling behind is bad. You wont fail out. Medical schools are not in the business of losing you, or your tuition money. You?re not as expendable here as you may have been in undergrad, but that being said, you have to do the work. Find a life outside of school too, being happy is very important in doing well academically, IMO.

Hope this helps. Good luck. Enjoy life between now and august. Life changes once the white coat gets slipped on.

 

[MsDO15]

OceandocDO...thanks for answering all of those questions...it was a really big help...I have one more question for you...From what I understand, many of the 1st yr. students this year failed or did very poorly on their first anatomy exam so a lot of people signed up for tutuoring...b/c of the flood of students I was told that the Dean's solution to the problem was that she just got rid of the tutoring all together...is this a myth or the truth. (Info. came from a friend who is a first year) Seems like a very poor solution and worries me quite a bit. If they cut out tutoring in such an important class...what's next?
Thanks for your help!

 

[BrooklynDO]

Hey, im an ms1 and happen to be the curriculum rep for our year (plesae dont yell at me tooo much, thanks!( 😛 ) also if some of this stuff is repetative from ocean, please excuse.

1. What classes do you have each block?
first block is anatomy physio biochem and omm. this goes on for a block or two, then we add histology (microanatomy) finish biochem and anat, and start micro and genetics... and so on...it sounds a bit confusing but basically the idea is this : they structure the classes in such a way that you cover overlapping topics in different classes almost simultaneously, from different angles (eg physiology of cascades in signal transduction versus the biochem of it. )

2. Study tips for those classes? ie. should I rely on notes/go to class/review books? What techniques have you guys found most useful? the only texts Ive used so far are the anatomy...coz you NEED the pictures. everything else, the notes do rather nicely for, and most people use review books for practice questions, and just to read the same topic in a slightly different way (maybe it'll stick) specific tip for anatomy : draw everything....then draw it some more until your hand draws it without concious thought...its not that hard to do and really helps

3. The schedule seems to be 9-5. Classes back to back? When do you find time to study? Any breaks during the day? Do you have any lectures after lunch or is it mostly labs? How long do they last?um ok this is kinda long...yea if you go to every class, its pretty bad, you wind up studying 6-12 or something... breaks are those given by the lecturers (sp?) coz even they need a break... there is mix of lectures and labs after lunch. The first three blocks, anatomy lab takes the most time, in a group you should use at least part of that time for study... eg stare at your netter atlas, ask the fellows questions etc...( i happen to think our fellows are VERY good, and being students, full of little pearls )
I went to most classes first and second block, no so much now... it may have to do with the fact that i couldnt watch the videos online of the lectures... anyway, some people get all they need from lectures, others dont... and it also depends on the lecturer...you will find out from second years during orientation the details about that.

4. Does anyone take the LIRR to school? If so how do they get to NYCOM? I know that there are no non-resident parking passes? Can anyone tell me if they plan on taking LIRR? Or if I can hitch a ride from the station?err doubtful?

5. ANyone commute from Brooklyn? What neighborhoods are good? How far of drive? What's the best way to NYCOM now that the LIE is being repaired?
i commute from the far end of brooklyn ( exit one on the belt) about an hour drive for me. dont know much about the lie, tried it during the summer, turned out to be like 2+ hours from my place...no good. If you dont already live in brooklyn, dont move here to save money, you wont. quickest way to nycom from brooklyn (4 years exp, i went to tech): belt to cross island to northern state exit 29, and couple of lil turns after that.

6. Should I review any basics (from college or the MCAT) that would help during the first year?nope you have time enough to study here...just when you get the first few packets, dont assume you know everything just coz it looks easy and youve done it.

7. Books to read up on? Re: survival in med school or just plain old motivation..... (TIPS for the summer before?)
hang out, relax, chill, i tried to study the summer before and it didnt help...the things i learned in 3 minutes flat here because i needed to i couldnt get through in the summer at all...weird but true
8. For your third and fourth year, is anyone allowed to do residency in Hawaii? Has anyone ever done that? Or are you restricted to the tri-state area? How does that work?
you mean rotations not residency right? hmmm not to sure about hawaii...
9. NYCOM curriculum seems really tough the 1st 2 years. Is it doable? What strategies would you recommend for passing? I don't want to fail out!
yea its doable...much the subject of frequent debate, but we all do it (pass). as for failing out : dont: on the other hand here is a simple stat... about 10 percent of every class in most schools fail something first year, and retake it or take a cume and pass... about 10-20 (roughly... dont quote me with specifics and tell me im wrong, ) people fail out ...which makes again about 10 percent of our class, which is again about right for any school. dont think about failing, just study your butt off, and youll do fine, I enjoy how much we are learning, although i do get testy come exam week.

10. Thank you for your input. Sincerely appreciated

as for the anatomy tutoring:
this was an admin problem and your friend seems to have misunderstood some things. official policy is that tutoring is generally for those who are failing a subject, so first block before exams, no one should NEED tutoring and a lot of people went using tutoring as a review...which it isnt. this caused trouble. having talked to the head of anatomy,
i suggested that instead of only doing tutorings, he add review times, run by faculty or the fellows (sometimes those are better than faculty...) so hopefully he will do that

 

[oceandocDO]

Brooklyn was mostly right about the anatomy tutoring. Basically, you wont be denied of any help or tutoring if you?re in need of it. The change came about basically because the particular students actually employing some of the tutors in the beginning were the ones doing very well in the class, so the administration had to rework the ?criteria? in order to better implement the resources they had. Tutors shouldnt be used as a crutch or confidence booster, as this takes them away from those truly in need. This will probably change a bit next year anyway as they?re evaluating and changing the current system to see what works best.

As far as failing out, 10% of the class does not fail out of the school. They may have about 10% fail an exam, but much less than this fail the cumulative retake examination, which is required when you fail a class the first time around. And, an even fewer number of students fail multiple retakes. If so, you will probably be asked to leave or repeat first year. But, this is rare. They really do give you every opportunity to pass. If you fail, you really have no one to blame but yourself. In second year, every class basically consists of one exam, so the pressure is on to do well consistently as opposed to first year when you have more of a cushion in the basic science classes which have 2-4 exams each. Plus, the material 2nd year is more difficult and is taught at a much faster pace, IMO.

 

[MsDO15]

Thanks for clearing that up for me...I appreciate it!

 

[DKCDO]

bumping it up again
now that you folks may have some free time