Harvard Medical School Class of 2012

Started by med007
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Yep! Looking forward to seeing you all at revisit. 🙂

Second that! There should be more of us here!!!

Btw, you guys think we'll be able to recognize each other at the revisit via our SDN personas? 😉

Congrats to you all on a successful admissions cycle!!! *self-congratulatory pat on the back*
 
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Congrats to you all too! Unfortunately, I don't think I can make it to the regular revisit because a few other schools I am strongly considering are also having revisits that weekend. So I will probably go to the minority weekend instead.
 
Second that! There should be more of us here!!!

Btw, you guys think we'll be able to recognize each other at the revisit via our SDN personas? 😉

Congrats to you all on a successful admissions cycle!!! *self-congratulatory pat on the back*

congrats alll.......feels surreal, eh? :hardy:
who's all going to be at the revisit?
I'll be there-- look for a short Asian girl with a loud mouth... haha
I've also lived here for the past few years and work across the street so I'll bring you to some of the fun places around town. Looking forward to meeting y'all!
 
congrats alll.......feels surreal, eh? :hardy:
who's all going to be at the revisit?
I'll be there-- look for a short Asian girl with a loud mouth... haha
I've also lived here for the past few years and work across the street so I'll bring you to some of the fun places around town. Looking forward to meeting y'all!


Where do you work? We probably pass each other all the time. I'm at HIM.
 
Congrats to you all too! Unfortunately, I don't think I can make it to the regular revisit because a few other schools I am strongly considering are also having revisits that weekend. So I will probably go to the minority weekend instead.

I'll be seeing you at Alliance Weekend. 🙂 Free flight to the east coast! I don't have to ride the Greyhound for 13 hours from Tennessee. 👍
 
Are any of you folks HST? If so, are any of you planning on attending the HST formal Friday night? It sounds like it would be fun, but I think I'd rather hang out with more of the future HMS folks at the HMS Live Show. If I went to the formal, I'd feel like I was crashing someone's party. 😎
 
Hey all! I just wanted to pass on my CONGRATS! I'm a first year at HMS who has been spying on the acceptance threads reliving this moment from last year. HMS has been one of the best experiences of my life and we'll try to make revisit a lot of fun for you guys! If you have any questions about the school, Boston, revisit, you name it - send me a message and I'd be happy to answer them or point you in the direction of someone who can answer them better. Again, congratulations! Hopefully you're having fun celebrating right now!
 
Where do you work? We probably pass each other all the time. I'm at HIM.

Haha, we probably do pass each other by all the time! We should get together for lunch for a pre-celebration sometime. Do you know any other longwood folks that got in?

I'll be seeing you at Alliance Weekend. 🙂 Free flight to the east coast! I don't have to ride the Greyhound for 13 hours from Tennessee. 👍

free flight? ahh...lucky. I'd be super jealous if I didn't already live in boston 😉

Are any of you folks HST? If so, are any of you planning on attending the HST formal Friday night? It sounds like it would be fun, but I think I'd rather hang out with more of the future HMS folks at the HMS Live Show. If I went to the formal, I'd feel like I was crashing someone's party. 😎

I'm NP..... you should only go to the formal if you have some mad dancing skills to show off.
 
of all things, I have to miss re-visit because of....wait for it...JURY DUTY! oh well, i guess i gotta do my service for our country's justice system haha
 
I'm NP..... you should only go to the formal if you have some mad dancing skills to show off.

Good advice. :laugh: Indeed, I don't want to offend anyone with my crazy dance moves.

So what did you guys do or how did you celebrate after getting your acceptance emails?
 
Good advice. :laugh: Indeed, I don't want to offend anyone with my crazy dance moves.

So what did you guys do or how did you celebrate after getting your acceptance emails?


Last night I went out with people for Japanese hotpot and I think tonight I'm going out for more food and dancing 🙂 What did/will you do?
 
Last night I went out with people for Japanese hotpot and I think tonight I'm going out for more food and dancing 🙂 What did/will you do?


Food and dancing sounds awesome! I was at lab when I found out. I was so shocked that I knocked my hand into a potted cactus next to my desk, but after I picked out most of the spines I called my mama. 😛 Then I went out for sushi with the family.

Stupid cactus :meanie:
 
According to this article in The Boston Globe, HMS is planning to eliminate the required parental contribution to the cost of medical education for students from families with incomes of $120,000 or less.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/03/22/harvard_medical_school_to_lower_tuition/

It's an admirable step, and one in keeping with recent changes made by Harvard Law School and Harvard College. I wonder how it will affect prospective M1s this year?

On a related note, is anyone weighing HMS against schools that have offered you substantial scholarships/aid? What are your thoughts? It sounds like an enviable position to be in... until you are there. I'm not sure it feels so great.
 
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Good advice. :laugh: Indeed, I don't want to offend anyone with my crazy dance moves.

So what did you guys do or how did you celebrate after getting your acceptance emails?

SNMA (Student National Medical Association- for med students of color) had their conference this weekend, so last night I went to the party they were having. I ended up meeting a bunch of students from Harvard (and several other med schools that I'm considering) there, and they were all trying to tell me why I should go to their school. Of course now I'm more confused than ever, but it was still fun.
 
Hello, potential future classmates!!! I will be attending the Alliance Weekend revisit. Hope to see some of you there!!
P.S.- Can you believe we got in to Harvard?!?! 😀😀😀
 
Hello, potential future classmates!!! I will be attending the Alliance Weekend revisit. Hope to see some of you there!!
P.S.- Can you believe we got in to Harvard?!?! 😀😀😀

Lol, I'm still in shock after getting the email yesterday. I woke up stunned this morning as well although it's beginning to dawn on me that I am one lucky kid. Haha...that's a real understatement. 😀 I hope the feeling never goes away...I think I'll always be in awe of the admissions process!

So are you guys planning on living in Vandy? Being from the southwest and all, Boston to me is a huge city so I'll be living in the dorms first year. Hopefully, I'll be able to get to know you all there!
 
Lol, I'm still in shock after getting the email yesterday. I woke up stunned this morning as well although it's beginning to dawn on me that I am one lucky kid. Haha...that's a real understatement. 😀 I hope the feeling never goes away...I think I'll always be in awe of the admissions process!

So are you guys planning on living in Vandy? Being from the southwest and all, Boston to me is a huge city so I'll be living in the dorms first year. Hopefully, I'll be able to get to know you all there!


Vandy is definitely a great place to start out. It can be a very social atmosphere and it's definitely one of the nicest dorms I've ever lived in. I'll be staying here for at least the first year, and probably more after that. When the winters get brutal, it's also nice to only have to walk across the street to get to class.
 
Are there any first or second year students who can tell us a little more about what the class schedule looks like for the first two years? What is the average week like? How many hours of tutorial, lecture, lab, etc? Are there electives in the first two years?
 
According to this article in The Boston Globe, HMS is planning to eliminate the required parental contribution to the cost of medical education for students from families with incomes of $120,000 or less.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/03/22/harvard_medical_school_to_lower_tuition/

It's an admirable step, and one in keeping with recent changes made by Harvard Law School and Harvard College. I wonder how it will affect prospective M1s this year?

On a related note, is anyone weighing HMS against schools that have offered you substantial scholarships/aid? What are your thoughts? It sounds like an enviable position to be in... until you are there. I'm not sure it feels so great.

Interesting article...so, if I am reading it correctly, 60 percent of Harvard med students have family / parent incomes exceeding $120k...now I realize $120k isn't necessarily rich, but this is pretty indicative of students that come from relative comfort and privilege, right? And with a far greater likelihood of having parents who can make significant final contributions to their medical education?
 
hot diggity, have you guys gotten your acceptance packets in the mail yet? My mom told me mine came in the mail today (from the southwest)...I'm going to drive over after work to pick it up and rip it open...i mean...delicately disassemble it. 😀

so do you guys know if we should expect another more finalized version of the revisit schedule from joanne?
 
hot diggity, have you guys gotten your acceptance packets in the mail yet? My mom told me mine came in the mail today (from the southwest)...I'm going to drive over after work to pick it up and rip it open...i mean...delicately disassemble it. 😀

so do you guys know if we should expect another more finalized version of the revisit schedule from joanne?


Still haven't gotten mine yet, and I live across the street! But mail here can be pretty slow.

I think the schedule we got was pretty close to final.
 
hot diggity, have you guys gotten your acceptance packets in the mail yet? My mom told me mine came in the mail today (from the southwest)...I'm going to drive over after work to pick it up and rip it open...i mean...delicately disassemble it. 😀

so do you guys know if we should expect another more finalized version of the revisit schedule from joanne?


I got mine on Saturday-- twas exciting!

we should move this discussion from here to facebook... that way i can see how ugly you guys are 🙂 (jk, im probably the ugliest) 😛
 
how were you guys initially notified...? I have no access to mail and was curious if you received mails or emails of acceptance?
 
Congrats guys!!!!!😀Pretty exciting eh?🙄Out of curiosity did anybody have a legacy with HMS?Any close family members that may have attended?
 
Are there any first or second year students who can tell us a little more about what the class schedule looks like for the first two years? What is the average week like? How many hours of tutorial, lecture, lab, etc? Are there electives in the first two years?

Congratulations, you guys! After all the waiting, it must feel so great to finally have good news.

I'm finishing up my second year (next week aaaahhh!!!), so zippership may have a more recent/accurate view on what first year is like, but I'll give it my best shot:

The breakdown of what the class schedule includes varies quite a bit from block to block, but the basic time frame stays the same:

*First year M-F, you have some form of class for your main block every morning from 8:30-12:30. Tuesday afternoons, you also have main block classes from 1:30-3:30. Thursday afternoons, you have another required class from 1:30-3:30; it's one semester each of Medical Ethics, Social Medicine, and Health Care Policy (2nd year). Either Monday or Wednesday afternoon you have PDI (patient-doctor 1) from ~1-5, which is when you learn to interview real patients in the hospital. The remaining two afternoons are free.

*Second year fall is the same as first year, except PDII (physical exam) is Monday AND Wednesday afternoons.

*Second year spring, there is no longer class on Monday or Thursday afternoons. PDII is all day every Wednesday. Main block classes are M, T, Th, F mornings and T afternoons.

The tutorial/lecture/lab breakdown varies a lot from block to block. Tutorial can be as little as twice a week (~4 hours) to every single darn morning (~10 hours). After I finish this post in a sec, I'll post my schedule from last week just as an example in a new post.

I think your last question was about electives: and yes, there are preclinical electives! You don't have to take any, but they're a lot of fun. I took Mind-Body Medicine (about things like yoga, meditation, acupuncture, hypnosis), the Healer's Art (four sessions in January of first year where you basically talk about your feelings in small groups) Injury, Trauma and Violence (topics ranged from gunshot wounds to epidemiology of war injuries to school bullying), and Human Sexuality (greatest class ever... topics like sexual dysfunction, female circumcision, and transgender. at the end of this class, you're totally comfortable taking a sexual history [you get to practice with standardized patients]. and as an added bonus, we had a field trip to Good Vibrations, a really cool [and unskeezy] sex shop where we got a personal after-hours tour.) ok, i'm done gushing about Human Sexuality. But in any case, there are a bunch of other electives too.. it all depends on your personal interest.

Sorry for the waaaaaay long post, but hope this helps! Feel free to ask more questions, and zippership i'm sure can tell you more than i can too. Congrats again!
 
M 8:30-9:45 Lecture: Pathology of Esophagus and Stomach
10-11:15 Path Lab: Esophagus and Stomach
11:30-12:30 Small Group: Focused Discussion #1
1:30-2:30 Optional GI Simulator

T 8:30-10 Tutorial
10:15-11:15 Lecture: Pathophys of Acute and Chronic Pancreatitis
11:30-12:30 Lecture: Pathology of Small and Large Bowel
1:30-2:30 Focused Discussion #2
2:45-3:30 Review Session

W 8:30-5:30 PD II

R 8:30-10 Tutorial
10:15-11:15 Lecture: Pathophys of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
11:30-12:30 Small Group: GI Minicase #2

F 8:30-9:45 Tutorial
10-11:45 Path Lab: Small and Large Intestine
11:50-12:15 Review Session
12:20-12:30 Quiz
 
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Congratulations, you guys! After all the waiting, it must feel so great to finally have good news.

I'm finishing up my second year (next week aaaahhh!!!), so zippership may have a more recent/accurate view on what first year is like, but I'll give it my best shot:

The breakdown of what the class schedule includes varies quite a bit from block to block, but the basic time frame stays the same:

*First year M-F, you have some form of class for your main block every morning from 8:30-12:30. Tuesday afternoons, you also have main block classes from 1:30-3:30. Thursday afternoons, you have another required class from 1:30-3:30; it's one semester each of Medical Ethics, Social Medicine, and Health Care Policy (2nd year). Either Monday or Wednesday afternoon you have PDI (patient-doctor 1) from ~1-5, which is when you learn to interview real patients in the hospital. The remaining two afternoons are free.

*Second year fall is the same as first year, except PDII (physical exam) is Monday AND Wednesday afternoons.

*Second year spring, there is no longer class on Monday or Thursday afternoons. PDII is all day every Wednesday. Main block classes are M, T, Th, F mornings and T afternoons.

The tutorial/lecture/lab breakdown varies a lot from block to block. Tutorial can be as little as twice a week (~4 hours) to every single darn morning (~10 hours). After I finish this post in a sec, I'll post my schedule from last week just as an example in a new post.

I think your last question was about electives: and yes, there are preclinical electives! You don't have to take any, but they're a lot of fun. I took Mind-Body Medicine (about things like yoga, meditation, acupuncture, hypnosis), the Healer's Art (four sessions in January of first year where you basically talk about your feelings in small groups) Injury, Trauma and Violence (topics ranged from gunshot wounds to epidemiology of war injuries to school bullying), and Human Sexuality (greatest class ever... topics like sexual dysfunction, female circumcision, and transgender. at the end of this class, you're totally comfortable taking a sexual history [you get to practice with standardized patients]. and as an added bonus, we had a field trip to Good Vibrations, a really cool [and unskeezy] sex shop where we got a personal after-hours tour.) ok, i'm done gushing about Human Sexuality. But in any case, there are a bunch of other electives too.. it all depends on your personal interest.

Sorry for the waaaaaay long post, but hope this helps! Feel free to ask more questions, and zippership i'm sure can tell you more than i can too. Congrats again!


Sex shop???:laugh:Interesting.😎Thanks for taking the time to post that!😀
 
I got mine on Saturday-- twas exciting!

we should move this discussion from here to facebook... that way i can see how ugly you guys are 🙂 (jk, im probably the ugliest) 😛

I second the facebook group. Anyone up to setting that up? And lilsweet321, I imagine you're adorable!

Congrats guys!!!!!😀Pretty exciting eh?🙄Out of curiosity did anybody have a legacy with HMS?Any close family members that may have attended?

Ha! Definitely not here.

Risa: Thanks so much for helping answer our questions here! Because I'll be in the HST program, I was wondering if you could tell me what sort of interaction NP and HST kids have with each other. I read somewhere that NP and HST students could end up taking some social medicine courses together? I'm really excited about being in a group of 29 other HST folks, but I can imagine there are many friends to be made among the NP students as well!
 
Thank you for posting all that great info about the curriculum! All the pre-clinical electives sound great!

A few more questions: when do first years start anatomy and how long does it run? What do you usually do in tutorial? How has your experience with tutorial been? How often are exams and are they cumulative? Are there mostly big exams or small quizes? When do you start learning clinical skills, like drawing blood, etc? What type of online resources are there? Are lectures taped and posted online, are lecture notes on line, etc? What is the atmosphere like, competitive, cooperative etc?

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all these questions! I can't wait to meet you all next year!
 
My apologies, everyone. I realized after establishing the facebook group that I did not include the Dental School in the name. I modeled this group on a previous 2010 class group, however it is in no way meant to be exclusive to just us med school folks (see the group description).

Unfortunately, the name cannot be changed on facebook once the group is established, but if someone would like to make a new group with a more appropriate name for us all to join, by all means!

Sorry again. Lots of love to my dental classmates! 😀 (yay, teeth)
 
Hi everyone. I've been admitted to both NP and HST and am on the fence about which program to choose. I'm a prospective MD-PhD student, so HST sounds appealing, but I could also see myself liking NP. Do any current HST or NP students have any comments to make on the two curricula?

Also, for any other SDN 2012'ers who have been admitted to both NP and HST, how are you deciding between the two?
 
I'll be seeing you at Alliance Weekend. 🙂 Free flight to the east coast! I don't have to ride the Greyhound for 13 hours from Tennessee. 👍
The HMS Live show is being moved to an earlier time (most likely 7:00pm), so that people interested in the HST formal can still go without missing out!
 
Hey folks, does anyone know whether there's an orientation of any sort before classes start on August 18th? Also, any clue as to when the move-in date for Vandy is? I'm trying to get a head start on some summer planning right now. Thanks in advance for any info!
 
Hey folks, does anyone know whether there's an orientation of any sort before classes start on August 18th? Also, any clue as to when the move-in date for Vandy is? I'm trying to get a head start on some summer planning right now. Thanks in advance for any info!


There is no formal orientation period, but there is a week of really crazy and fun activities organized by the first-year class before we start on the 18th. So, I think people will generally want to move in around August 9 or 10 to catch all that action. Hope that helps!
 
Jury Duty???Sounds like fun!:laugh:

haha I know, right? I'm sad I'll be missing Re-Visit but I know for sure that I'm going to attend, and am really looking forward to it! I can't wait to meet all of you at the "unofficial orientation" (ps. if anybody has any more information on it, that'd be awesome). Is the white coat ceremony part of that?
 
haha I know, right? I'm sad I'll be missing Re-Visit but I know for sure that I'm going to attend, and am really looking forward to it! I can't wait to meet all of you at the "unofficial orientation" (ps. if anybody has any more information on it, that'd be awesome). Is the white coat ceremony part of that?

I don't think there are any official academic events during that week. From what I remember hearing, white coat ceremony is part of the "Intro to the Profession" course, which we take at the beginning. Maybe a current student can confirm that?
 
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I don't think there are any official academic events during that week. From what I remember hearing, white coat ceremony is part of the "Intro to the Profession" course, which we take at the beginning. Maybe a current student can confirm that?

Yep - that's right. In the first two weeks of school, you take this course called Intro to the Profession that's a basic orientation to the school and to medicine. We sometimes call it Camp HMS because it's essentially an extension of the summer - there's virtually no work and tons of events called Life Events going on. Life events are things put on by the second years to help get you acquainted to the school, to your classmates, and to Boston. It's a solid two weeks of going and exploring Boston and going out on the town. Lots of fun. It's also the only course that I know of that you take with HST! The first day of the course is the white coat ceremony which directly follows your first patient experience. They then have a large reception for parents.
 
Am I right to assume that there is 0% chance of getting any kind of a merit scholarship to match the one I received from Penn. Is it even worth talking to the financial aid office?
 
Am I right to assume that there is 0% chance of getting any kind of a merit scholarship to match the one I received from Penn. Is it even worth talking to the financial aid office?


Matching full-tuition? I would say it is not likely, but don't give up without giving it a shot if you think you'd enjoy going to HMS. You have nothing to lose by trying.

Good luck, and congrats on Penn and scholarship!
 
or even a partial scholarship... just something to make up the huge cost difference