FlexMed 2014

Getting into Med School is Hard? Not with BeMo.
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Put in my app last night! Yay!
Best of luck everyone!
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Same. I'm surprised at how few people have been posting here given how active the Humed threads have been in the last few years.
 
My app goes in tonight, but I fear I am just too typical of a premed. Oh well. We shall see.
 
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Same here. If I knew about this program earlier, I would have taken less pre-med classes and more of my major classes to show more about my non-medical interests.
 
I think that these warnings about taking too many pre-med classes are overstated. At the Columbia info session, they emphasized that this program is an expansion of Humed and that if the pre-med classes are part of your major, they won't look down on you taking them. As long as you have a real plan (could be science, health policy or whatever) and you can explain how this plan will make you a better doctor, you're good to go. I mean, studying health policy or the sociology behind health discrepancies is related to medicine in one way or another. The thing that does worry me is that they're going to increase the number of spots incrementally. This year, they'll probably have close to the original 35 spots and they're only going to get to ~70 after several years of running this.
 
Did anyone who submitted their application a while ago get an interview date yet?
 
I believe interviews start in February. Admissions isn't rolling, right?
 
I wonder if it means they are reviewing our application when they change the status of the materials... If so, I'm freaking out because I don't yet have (and may not get) an interview.
 
I also submitted my application! Good luck everyone! :)
 
Everything I submitted went from "No current status" to Complete/Received/Verified. Anyone else have the same thing happen yet? I submitted mine on the night of the 14th.
 
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Yea, I submitted mine on the 19th of last month and on the 6th it went to Completed/Verified/Received but the Interview Actual Date has No Current Status. Please check back later
 
Willard FlexMed,

I submitted December and have been browsing forums for days. I am in a similar situation as you, just anxious.

Medicine would not be my thing if it were not for FlexMed.

What were your stats if you don't mind sharing?

I'm HYP 2. 3.68-3.7.
High School: similar to college. ACT: 35.

I don't think I am at an advantage by being at a non-state school. Mt. Sinai (awesome name) seems to be very inclusive and down to Earth.
 
^Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I do remember reading somewhere that the majority of students who got in (at least for HuMed) were from top schools (HYP, Duke, etc.)...
 
I applied this year too, but I'm kind of worried because I took Organic Chemistry as a freshman and that really screwed up my GPA. It seems like those who will get admitted will have significantly higher GPAs than mine.
 
Definitely a strong ivy bias among those who were admitted early. Regular MD is a different story.
 
Hoping for a miracle. 3.97 GPA from a small LAC that is known in my small neck of the woods (Midwest) as being a tough school. Still, if I don't get in , it has at least set me on my path. I am really hoping to get in because our physics department has radically changed the way they are teaching it, and not one A was given last year. Hoping for a miracle so regular premed courses don't kill me.
 
@Willard_FlexMed

That makes no sense whatsoever. You are at an HYP institution with HS GPA and SAT =0? I find it very unusual if that's what you are saying.

How would that even work? You can go to HYP with SAT=0.

The website says that you can't apply to FlexMed unless you have these things. They are a requirement.

I am not calling you a liar, but what you are saying is just a really, really big stretch. I just can't believe that what you are saying is true. It's IMPOSSIBLE, actually, because at any of the big three, HYP, you have to have top SAT/HIGHSCHOOL stats. Something is not right with what you are saying. Sorry. I just have to say it.

So how does what you are saying make any LOGICAL sense?

Even if what you are saying is true, I have a feeling Mt. Sinai will reject you very quickly because you likely would not be able to compete with some of the more elite HS/SAT students at the HYP institutions, and that will be obvious by your app.
 
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I absolutely hate the idea of the HuMed program. The opportunity to entirely drop the ball on your discipline and the critical nature of ones academics in preparation for medical school for basically 2 years, and still matriculate to a top 20 medical school? I have a friend at Mt. Sinai (not calling it Icahn) and they feel that the people in their class who were accepted through the HuMed program are usually the ones trailing behind, need more peer-tutoring/help with studying. Oh and for the record my friend was a double major in Bio and Psych...so there is no anti-humanities bias from this guy.
 
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@baconshrimps

I totally feel you, man. I just can't even believe some of the people they let apply. Serious up, dude. I mean look at this kid who apparently went to HYP and has non-competitive scores. Seriously HuMed? I think baconshrimps has a point.
 
@Willard_FlexMed

I don't know your circumstance so I'm not going to comment on your HYP, but I don't think you should stop posting comments because some idiot said something stupid.

@stewie_chewie

what right do you have saying anything, for all we know you could be in the same boat. This thread isn't meant to stab people it for sharing what we know about the program and our own experiences.
 
Anyone know how they are weighting the three paths in terms of acceptance? By this I mean: Will they accept more Humanities than Computational Science majors, and vice versa, etc? If they weight them equally, I assume they're only taking about 10 per academic path ...
 
baconshrimps said:
I absolutely hate the idea of the HuMed program. The opportunity to entirely drop the ball on your discipline and the critical nature of ones academics in preparation for medical school for basically 2 years, and still matriculate to a top 20 medical school? I have a friend at Mt. Sinai (not calling it Icahn) and they feel that the people in their class who were accepted through the HuMed program are usually the ones trailing behind, need more peer-tutoring/help with studying. Oh and for the record my friend was a double major in Bio and Psych...so there is no anti-humanities bias from this guy.
Click to expand...

Focusing on a non-science fields ≠ "an opportunity to drop the ball on discipline," as you describe. The admission process as has been reviewed in other parts of this thread, but the HuMed program had a history of being very tough to get into (even more difficult statistically than through the AMCAS application process.) The students in this program are bright, motivated, and not the type to stop challenging themselves because they have a safety net in place. Sinai looked into the relative performance of HuMed students compared to their AMCAS application cohort and published the results for anyone that is interested.

http://icahn.mssm.edu/static_files/MSSM/Files/Education/Medical Education/deans office/HuMed.pdf

The truth is that a lot of students will find their way into medical school classes for a myriad of reasons that you might find unfair. People coming from minority backgrounds, non-traditional backgrounds, linkage/combined programs, or programs like this might find success in ways that other applicants may not experience. It's a tough balancing act for school admissions trying to predict academic success while constructing a diverse class that won't be overly representative of any particular personal background or field of interest. The HuMed program was a strategy for Sinai to create a particular medical school class that fit in line with their overall mission. Mt. Sinai has been involved in the early acceptance business for 25 years and they have a demonstrated track record of success. Regardless of whether you feel indignant about the idea of schools changing the AMCAS pre-med requirements, it is factually incorrect to suggest that this is somehow a cop-out for students who are lazy or not academically cut out for the work.

So for potential applicants please take the potential criticism from sources like baconshrimps with a grain of salt. The staff at Sinai clearly hold this program in very high regard and are interested in expanding it and using it as their primary means of admission in the future.
 
Qurmish said:
Focusing on a non-science fields ≠ "an opportunity to drop the ball on discipline," as you describe. The admission process as has been reviewed in other parts of this thread, but the HuMed program had a history of being very tough to get into (even more difficult statistically than through the AMCAS application process.) The students in this program are bright, motivated, and not the type to stop challenging themselves because they have a safety net in place. Sinai looked into the relative performance of HuMed students compared to their AMCAS application cohort and published the results for anyone that is interested.

http://icahn.mssm.edu/static_files/MSSM/Files/Education/Medical Education/deans office/HuMed.pdf

The truth is that a lot of students will find their way into medical school classes for a myriad of reasons that you might find unfair. People coming from minority backgrounds, non-traditional backgrounds, linkage/combined programs, or programs like this might find success in ways that other applicants may not experience. It's a tough balancing act for school admissions trying to predict academic success while constructing a diverse class that won't be overly representative of any particular personal background or field of interest. The HuMed program was a strategy for Sinai to create a particular medical school class that fit in line with their overall mission. Mt. Sinai has been involved in the early acceptance business for 25 years and they have a demonstrated track record of success. Regardless of whether you feel indignant about the idea of schools changing the AMCAS pre-med requirements, it is factually incorrect to suggest that this is somehow a cop-out for students who are lazy or not academically cut out for the work.

So for potential applicants please take the potential criticism from sources like baconshrimps with a grain of salt. The staff at Sinai clearly hold this program in very high regard and are interested in expanding it and using it as their primary means of admission in the future.
Click to expand...

This does not change my opinion at all about the program. I've personally known people who have gone to MSSM through this program, and I have colleagues (current medical students) at MSSM who don't particularly feel the HuMed students bring a good deal to the table. I've said all I will say on the matter. I'm not concerned with being in the minority here.

P.S. Thank you for serving!
 
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baconshrimps said:
This does not change my opinion at all about the program. I've personally known people who have gone to MSSM through this program, and I have colleagues (current medical students) at MSSM who don't particularly feel the HuMed students bring a good deal to the table. I've said all I will say on the matter. I'm not concerned with being in the minority here.

P.S. Thank you for serving!
Click to expand...

I appreciate what you are saying, but there is a lot of history behind this program that can't be fully represented through a few HuMed acquaintances that weren't particularly impressive. This program is going to galvanize people when they hear about it because it challenges some aspects of how we produce doctors in the U.S. and it's certainly not the right option for everyone for that reason in particular. I have heard that the culture which promoted HuMed (and presumably FlexMed) permeates in very real ways to the rest of MSSM education and is further emphasized by some of their curriculum decisions (like heavy emphasis on the "Art and Science of Medicine".) This should be a consideration for all perspective students, HuMed or otherwise.

I just wanted to emphasize that the topic of commensurability between AMCAS and HuMed students has been reviewed internally and they have demonstrated a pattern of similarity with a few key differences in common strengths/weaknesses. Medicine is such a diverse field with a huge variety of graduate medical educational options which draw on very different skills. It's very difficult to compare people across the board because a student who struggles with biochem might thrive in some clinical settings and another student who has a natural talent and intimate background with basic science might flounder.
 
La Presse said:
Done. :hello:

I also hear 3 people total will receive acceptances to the FlexMed Program. Is there any truth to that?
Click to expand...

They stated previously that they were going to accept 50% of their class via FlexMed this year, which means they are probably looking at extending ~70 invitations. It seems likely that they are looking to find a balance within this number between humanities, engineering and computational, and biomedical students with no fixed number.

http://icahn.mssm.edu/education/medical-education/programs/flexmed/about-us
 
Qurmish said:
They stated previously that they were going to accept 50% of their class via FlexMed this year, which means they are probably looking at extending ~70 invitations. It seems likely that they are looking to find a balance within this number between humanities, engineering and computational, and biomedical students with no fixed number.

http://icahn.mssm.edu/education/medical-education/programs/flexmed/about-us
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That's only within the next few years when the program progresses. Right now, I've been told that they're sticking close to the 35 spots from HuMed this year, although I wish they would accept ~50%.
 
Pre-Med4Life said:
That's only within the next few years when the program progresses. Right now, I've been told that they're sticking close to the 35 spots from HuMed this year, although I wish they would accept ~50%.
Click to expand...

You're right. My bad.

"Dr. Muller: Yup. So Humanities and Medicine has been, for several years, a quarter
of the class. So within a couple of years of launching this we will incrementally go up
from a quarter to half the class."

http://www.medicalschoolhq.net/download/transcript-mshq016.pdf
 
If you don't believe in the program, I encourage you to challenge yourself to look beyond the realms of science. There is so much to this world other than biomedicine. Biomedicine is just ONE of the many ways of approaching healing. I won't say more since I don't want to give away my ideas, but try to keep an open mind... Understand that Mt. Sinai created this program to cater to people who are able to not only recognize, but truly appreciate and value things other than the 'science that we know' that make us human.

Nonetheless, they've also recognized the power of technology and probably believe that producing doctors who are passionate about advancing healthcare through amazingly sophisticated algorithms/softwares/biotech 'stuff' will prove to be a huge asset to their reputation.
 
I wish everyone the best!
 
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@Willard_FlexMed, I also do not understand what you have said above. What do you mean by high school/SAT/ACT = 0? Do you mean you simply did not take them, were homeschooled, from a different country, etc.? Because it is actually impossible to get a 0 on the ACT - the lowest score is 1. And the lowest score possible on the SAT is 600 combined. Being from an HYP institution myself, I am very interested in what you're saying
 
93tiger16 said:
@Willard_FlexMed, I also do not understand what you have said above. What do you mean by high school/SAT/ACT = 0? Do you mean you simply did not take them, were homeschooled, from a different country, etc.? Because it is actually impossible to get a 0 on the ACT - the lowest score is 1. And the lowest score possible on the SAT is 600 combined. Being from an HYP institution myself, I am very interested in what you're saying
Click to expand...

I think you all are caught up in a misunderstanding. I interpreted Willard to mean that he didn't think that high school accomplishments were very important to the application process (this is likely not true), not that Willard literally scored 0 on the SAT.

Everyone cool your jets.
 
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I thought this thread was about Flexmed and discussions regarding this year's application process ... guess not.
 
I wonder when they'll start sending out invitations for interviews. I'm guessing this Friday since Feb is approaching. Only been two weeks since the deadline!
 
Or maybe toward the middle of Feb since that's when their regular MD interviewing ends.
 
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