Hey everyone,
There has been some discussion regarding FSU on SDN. I thought Id provide you with some first hand experience from an M4 perspective. There have been some assertions from one other student on here that I completely disagree with
Pros:
FSU is a relatively new place (five years old now). The best evidence of their merits is in their students. I really think this is reflected in how the students are treated. We are the focus people here are completely dedicated to teaching students. Especially in the clinical years since they are all private practice docs they dont teach unless they want to. Clinically this has lead to incredible autonomy that I dont think exists anywhere else. Think about this when I was on surgery, I was the only student in the entire hospital on surgery. It's really is incredible. In the basic science years I think we have a superior education as well. If you look at students entering MCAT scores v- their step 1 scores I think you would see the proof in the pudding there. My guess is that our entering MCAT scores are lower than some other schools, because we focus on a lot more than numbers. Our step 1 scores are above the national average, in my class of 38 we only had one person fail and that was by 2 points. One of the things that attracted me here too was the desire of the basic science faculty to change medicine. There is a passion for making better doctors doctors who are both clinically superior, but also are superior in the doctor-patient relationship. To be aware that there is more going on when you meet the patient than just a disease process The school is also on the cutting edge of technology. Our clinical learning center is completely state of the art. Those of you who have interviewed there can attest to it its awesome! We are also all given laptops and pdas from the first year. Were trained in the technology from the beginning, with a slant towards evidence-based medicine. I also forgot to mention something thats probably more important than all of this my classmates. My classmates worked together more than any other group that Ive ever encountered. Theres no curve here, so no motivation to do anything other than help each other learn. This is what happened with 95% of my classmates. When I compare it to friends at other schools, I think this is what made my medical education much more bearable. The school is continuing this tradition with the student communities, and continued problem-based learning.
Cons:
Well the entire time I was in my basic science education (first two years) we were in a renovated high school watching this beautiful new building being build. Wed walk up to our student communities smelling bat guano in the halls, etc. I think this mirrors some of the other issues of the school as well. There have certainly been some tweaks to the curriculum since I got there really most of it not focused on the basic sciences. I believe that this is because it was new not done at a lot of other places. We have seen faculty come and go, some we liked, some not so much. But the school is much better, and I really think the curriculum is superior and stable. Of course there are going to be growing pains in a new school, and Id be lying if I said I wasnt mad or irritating when I was going through them. Ive certainly sat in the deans office a few times expressing my concerns, or written letters, etc. But what school doesnt have issues? I sincerely believe that the good far outweighs the bad.
Please feel free to PM me or reply with any questions. Good luck in your applications.
There has been some discussion regarding FSU on SDN. I thought Id provide you with some first hand experience from an M4 perspective. There have been some assertions from one other student on here that I completely disagree with
Pros:
FSU is a relatively new place (five years old now). The best evidence of their merits is in their students. I really think this is reflected in how the students are treated. We are the focus people here are completely dedicated to teaching students. Especially in the clinical years since they are all private practice docs they dont teach unless they want to. Clinically this has lead to incredible autonomy that I dont think exists anywhere else. Think about this when I was on surgery, I was the only student in the entire hospital on surgery. It's really is incredible. In the basic science years I think we have a superior education as well. If you look at students entering MCAT scores v- their step 1 scores I think you would see the proof in the pudding there. My guess is that our entering MCAT scores are lower than some other schools, because we focus on a lot more than numbers. Our step 1 scores are above the national average, in my class of 38 we only had one person fail and that was by 2 points. One of the things that attracted me here too was the desire of the basic science faculty to change medicine. There is a passion for making better doctors doctors who are both clinically superior, but also are superior in the doctor-patient relationship. To be aware that there is more going on when you meet the patient than just a disease process The school is also on the cutting edge of technology. Our clinical learning center is completely state of the art. Those of you who have interviewed there can attest to it its awesome! We are also all given laptops and pdas from the first year. Were trained in the technology from the beginning, with a slant towards evidence-based medicine. I also forgot to mention something thats probably more important than all of this my classmates. My classmates worked together more than any other group that Ive ever encountered. Theres no curve here, so no motivation to do anything other than help each other learn. This is what happened with 95% of my classmates. When I compare it to friends at other schools, I think this is what made my medical education much more bearable. The school is continuing this tradition with the student communities, and continued problem-based learning.
Cons:
Well the entire time I was in my basic science education (first two years) we were in a renovated high school watching this beautiful new building being build. Wed walk up to our student communities smelling bat guano in the halls, etc. I think this mirrors some of the other issues of the school as well. There have certainly been some tweaks to the curriculum since I got there really most of it not focused on the basic sciences. I believe that this is because it was new not done at a lot of other places. We have seen faculty come and go, some we liked, some not so much. But the school is much better, and I really think the curriculum is superior and stable. Of course there are going to be growing pains in a new school, and Id be lying if I said I wasnt mad or irritating when I was going through them. Ive certainly sat in the deans office a few times expressing my concerns, or written letters, etc. But what school doesnt have issues? I sincerely believe that the good far outweighs the bad.
Please feel free to PM me or reply with any questions. Good luck in your applications.
. Opinions are welcomed on SDN and it is just info. Pepsids class started with 39 people. One dropped in the first semester because of family problems and poor performance as a result of family issues. Another student was held back in 2nd year because she recieved a C in a course and she had to make a 3.0 because she was on probation for subpar grades the prior semester. That is ok also. The problem is that in 3rd year, another student was forced/asked to leave the school as she was unable to score high on her shelf exams. Again, no so bad if you cant hack it, but questionable. The real problem is now 3 students out of the remaining 36 are repeating the entire 3rd year. In addition, at least 6 other students have been required to repeat rotations. that is 25% of the class having bad comments on the deans letter. It states in every deans leatter if you have been on probation, and you tell me if that hurts your chances of matching at non-primary care specalities. I am sure a few students in this situation had questionable issues, but should the faculty work this out prior to ending the rotation so that improvements can be made. To force a student to repeat is unreal. Other school might have 1-2 students repeat(out of 100 students). To fail them and force them to remediate a year (that is what they call it; should be called punishment)does nothing to help a student. The students who are repeating have aced all but one rotation and therefore can get along with everyone, but that one person. I admit, I cant get along with everyone as peoples personalities are different. If you get an old school doc, you might clash with him. Most schools dont have this problem because they care about the students and the students come first. At FSU, the faculty are "gods" and are attempting to gain position within the administration by having countless meetings on how to screw students. I have advised in the past to not go here unless you have no other alternative. 
