Harvard Medical School Class of 2012

[med007]

or even a partial scholarship... just something to make up the huge cost difference

Either way, it's certainly worth a try if you feel strongly enough about HMS.

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[grayray]

Does anyone know what kind of computer we should have for school? I am hoping to get a mac, but I don't want to do that if we really need a PC.

 

[lilsweet321]

Does anyone know what kind of computer we should have for school? I am hoping to get a mac, but I don't want to do that if we really need a PC.

bump

my laptop is falling apart & I need a new one too! I dont want to dish out the small amount of dough that I have on a MAC if I have to end up buying a PC.

 

[Risa]

Does anyone know what kind of computer we should have for school? I am hoping to get a mac, but I don't want to do that if we really need a PC.

Tons of my classmates (myself included) have macs. The one downside I've experienced is that macs don't run 2xAV, the software you can use to watch lectures at double speed (it's AMAZING...I'll never be able to listen to a normal speed person again). However, there are computer labs in both the MEC and Vandy that you can use 24/7, so you don't absolutely need your own computer at all... or you can have your own for general purposes, and use the labs just for 2x. If you're planning to live far off campus and watch lectures from home, it might be convenient to have a PC, but other than that, I'd say it's totally up to you!

 

[Risa]

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?

Unfortunately, HMS has only need-based aid. If you qualify for even a dollar of aid, then you automatically are entitled to take out the unit loan, which I believe is 24,500 per year. If you qualify for more aid than that amount, grants start to come into play. Starting this year, if your family's income is less than 120K, you aren't required to make any family contribution, so you'll essentially be taking just the 24.5/year in loans. Still certainly not cheap... I did choose to give up merit at other schools to come here, though. In the long run, it'll just be a payment, not a hardship, and I knew HMS was where I'd be happiest. Good luck with your decision!

 

[Risa]

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!

The week before Intro to the Profession starts, you have the option to participate in one of two pre-orientation programs, FEAT and FUNC. More than half the class does this and I can't recommend it more highly... it's tons of fun and a great way to ease into the community and not feel totally overwhelmed when all of a sudden you're moving in, meeting 200 people, and starting class all within 24 hrs (although don't worry, of course that's doable too...).

FEAT is a backpacking trip, which I'm a little less familiar with because I didn't do it, but people loved it.

FUNC is a week of volunteering/getting oriented to Boston. I participated before my first year and was a leader during my second year, and had a lot of fun both times! During the day you volunteer at places like Community Servings (servings.org) or at a local school doing science projects with kids. In the evening there are dinner talks, followed by outings to different fun Boston destinations. Some of my closest friends at school are people I met during FUNC.

 

[Risa]

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 can't say much about HST since I haven't experienced it, and I only applied to NP, but one difference that jumps out at me is the class time structure. In HST, attendance is required. All day, every day. I would die. As it is, the only class I consistently attend is tutorial, with an occasional lecture, lab, or minicase here and there if I'm particularly interested. There are days I don't come to school at all, and having that kind of flexibility is REALLY important to me. But everyone's learning style and needs are different... and you'll probably get the best feel for both programs by talking to current students... so revisit may be a great time to try to figure it out. They're both great for different reasons and for different people...good luck choosing!

 

[Risa]

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!

No problem! I'll do anything to procrastinate from boards (in 18 days...!) .

Anatomy: I think anatomy may have changed a little since my year... it was 7 weeks then and I'm thinking it might be 8 now. Zippership will know. In any case, it's your second real class after biochem, so it takes place in October/November. Honestly, I was not a fan... it went really fast and I didn't retain much at all... but then again, anatomy's not the kind of thing I think I'd retain in the best of circumstances

Tutorial: This varies a lot from block to block, depending on your group dynamic. The general format is that you get a story about a patient one page at a time. The first one may be like: a patient presents with such-and-such symptoms and vital signs. Then you talk about what different things it could be. Second page, maybe you've done some tests. You talk about those. Third page, something new goes wrong. What's going on? Fourth page, you've sent to patient home, but when you follow up, it turns out she depressed and drinking and having problems with her spouse. How will we handle these social issues in a culturally competent way? So in essence, they bring out a bunch of different topics in the context of the story, and you talk about anatomy, physiology, micro, path, or whatever else in that context. Sometimes, it can be a great experience: it's so much more engaging to discuss these things rather than just hear a lecture. On the other hand, it can get frustrating, if each group member winds up making little mini-presentations on the issues in the case, and the discussion totally falls by the wayside. And it can be a low-yield way to spend a couple hours, going into a lot of detail on the particular condition the patient has when I feel like I could be learning a little bit about a lot more things on my own. But I do really learn the particular topic.. and it shakes things up from just boring old lecture. So I'm glad we have tutorial. (Well, you, not me! I had my last one ever yesterday!)

Exams: These vary from block to block, ranging from maybe every other week, to just one at the end of a block, during first year. During second year, we have quizzes every other week on recent material, with one big cumulative test before the holidays in December and one next week cumulative for everything since December. The HUGE thing about this is that it's TOTALLY pass/fail. It's amazing.

Clinical Skills: Second year is when you start getting more clinical, in terms of learning the physical exam. You learn a different part of the body each week (first in the MEC on Monday, and then practicing on hospital patients on Wednesday). The only exam you don't practice in the hospital in GYN/GU: there are standardized patients who teach you on themselves, and they're totally awesome and unawkward. As for things like drawing blood... I don't know how to do that yet! That's coming up in third year. But there are things here and there that you can do earlier if you're interested: for example, during winter first year you could learn to give flu shots and then go out and give them in the community.

Online Resources: These are great. We have a website called ecommons where you access everything: lecture notes, lecture videos, supplementary handouts, tutorial materials, discussion forums, databases, etc etc. Video-taped lectures are key... I don't think I've attended an actual live lecture since midway through first year.

Atmosphere: I love my classmates: they're almost universally really friendly, interesting, smart, engaging people. And because of pass-fail, there's no real motivation to be competitive, so for any given block there are people sending out their outlines, mnemonics, etc to the class listserv. Despite the lack of competition, I do have to admit that being in this environment does give me a little bit of an inferiority complex. I was used to feeling like I stand out, and I certainly don't anymore. Everyone is just so impressive... it can be exhausting. That said, though, my negative feelings are far outweighed by my more general feeling that it is a friendly, warm, interesting community.

Phew! Sorry to be so epic... hope this helps. Back to boards

 

[Risa]

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!

Oops just kidding... last one! Honestly, I was friends with a few HST kids at the beginning of first year after FUNC and ITP, but we wound up drifting apart. NP and HST have totally different schedules, so we don't wind up crossing paths as much as would be nice. You're right though: HST students can take social medicine, so that is an opportunity to interact. And there are certainly NP-HST friendships... but the social groups don't overlap as much as they could.

 

[Zippership]

Anatomy: I think anatomy may have changed a little since my year... it was 7 weeks then and I'm thinking it might be 8 now. Zippership will know. In any case, it's your second real class after biochem, so it takes place in October/November. Honestly, I was not a fan... it went really fast and I didn't retain much at all... but then again, anatomy's not the kind of thing I think I'd retain in the best of circumstances

Human Body (the course that encompasses anatomy) is 8 weeks long and includes anatomy, histology (which you do VERY little of - you get most of normal histo in pathology and histopathology), and embryology (which for your year will be integrated into the anatomy as you go through the anatomy of a particular region). Is 8 weeks of anatomy way too short? Yes. Do you learn it despite that? Yes and no. If you make it an intense 8 weeks I think you can really do a good job of learning stuff. Whether you do 8 weeks of anatomy or 8 months of anatomy though, you're all in the same boat at the end, the U.S.S. "What nerve is this?" Anatomy is something that no one ever knows completely and something that's relearned again and again as it pertains to the areas you're working on. The Human Body course is meant only to be an introduction to anatomy since you will return to the concepts and terms again and again throughout your career. I enjoyed our anatomy course a lot and based on conversations with the course directors I've had about next year, I think it's going to be even better.

Tutorials: Often hit or miss. They're not a substantial part of your learning so don't worry that big important concepts are going to be presented only in tutorial. Remember, the big and important things you come back to again and again. For some courses like anatomy, tutorials don't make too much sense (and we've told the course directors this so they should properly tone down the number of tutorials given). For others, like physiology, they're the highlight of the course. A lot depends on your tutorial leader and the kids in your group, both of which are variable, but in general, I find tutorials to be a pretty fun way in which you can explore a clinical case and ask questions to your peers and to your preceptors. The secret to an HMS education is in my mind the students. Without a doubt, they are the brightest, most accomplished, most diverse, and most well-rounded group of people I have ever spent time with. Is this destructive to your ego a bit? Sure, but I think over time the awe that you develop for your fellow classmates overwhelms most of any feelings of self-doubt. The pass/fail environment makes it so that you can absorb as much information and knowledge from your classmates as you can from your professors. Your classmates are your greatest resource and the tutorial environment where classmates teach each other certainly proves this to be true.

 

[sanchopanza]

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[AlaskaGrown]

Unfortunately, HMS has only need-based aid. If you qualify for even a dollar of aid, then you automatically are entitled to take out the unit loan, which I believe is 24,500 per year. If you qualify for more aid than that amount, grants start to come into play. Starting this year, if your family's income is less than 120K, you aren't required to make any family contribution, so you'll essentially be taking just the 24.5/year in loans. Still certainly not cheap... I did choose to give up merit at other schools to come here, though. In the long run, it'll just be a payment, not a hardship, and I knew HMS was where I'd be happiest. Good luck with your decision!

Hey Risa, thanks for all the great info. Do you have any idea how outside scholarships come into play in financial aid? Do they have any affect on the unit loan, or as I'm assuming, do they simply just get deducted from the institutional aid Harvard offers you?

 

[Risa]

Hey Risa, thanks for all the great info. Do you have any idea how outside scholarships come into play in financial aid? Do they have any affect on the unit loan, or as I'm assuming, do they simply just get deducted from the institutional aid Harvard offers you?

Hey AlaskaGrown! I have a vague memory of hearing about how outside scholarships work back at a finaid talk a few years ago, but since I don't have any I didn't pay enough attention, and now I don't remember.

When I came for revisit, though, I was able to sit down one-on-one with my financial aid officer and go through all my questions, so you may want to try that... if it's more convenient you could also call (their number is (617) 432-0449). They're friendly and helpful... hopefully more helpful than me!

 

[Zippership]

Zippership and Risa--thanks a lot for sharing all that information. I like what you said, Zippership, about your peers being so important in your learning. I'm looking forward to tutorial (and medical school in general) for that reason, but also a little bit intimidated of course. I guess I'm worried that I'd get in there, have a case, and be better equipped to read Aeschylus in the original Greek than to "treat" a patient case, considering I'll have barely started medical school!

To all you other prospective students out there, first up, howdy and congratulations. Second, are most of you planning on living in Vanderbilt? From my seat it looks like it's the best option financially as well as socially (you know, getting to know our fellow HMS peeps).

Can't wait to meet you all!

One of the best things an old mentor told me is that medical school is a marathon, not a sprint. You can't be expected to be a fully functioning doctor on day one and certainly they don't expect you to be one either! The amazing part about it is that you'll look back after a year or two years and things that looked absolutely impossible to you up front will be perfectly clear to you. It's a great feeling and comes with time and a WHOLE lot of training.

As to Vandy, barring strong objections or social reasons, it's the place to be first year. Reasons being: 1) your entire class will be there too, 2) it's directly across the street from class, and 3) there will be some upperclassmen like me (and some third and fourth years) that are great to talk to and are a fount of knowledge about stuff like boards, 3rd year, residency, life, etc. It's nice to have the older perspective as a first year.

 

[dentalgrl]

Hey everyone! Congrats on Harvard Med I'm really excited to meet you all next year!

 

[tiburones]

Hey everyone! Congrats on Harvard Med I'm really excited to meet you all next year!

Congrats to you too on dental! (yay teeth, as med007 would say hehe) I think it's really cool that the med and dental students have some of the same classes -- more people to meet and friends to make! yay!

 

[dentalgrl]

Haha, Thanks! I definitely agree...should be great!

 

[largeman]

does anyone know whats the deal with revisit. How do we arrange accomodations. Do we have to rsvp?

 

[luckymonkey]

does anyone know whats the deal with revisit. How do we arrange accomodations. Do we have to rsvp?

Hey largeman, Joanne sent an email out on 3/24 asking students to register for the revisit by emailing Annie Gardner at [email protected]. Information that has to be sent to Annie is your name, your program, nights that you would like to spend with a student host, and any dietary restrictions you might have.

I really do hope they get back to us soon about revisit details (dress code, what to bring, who our student hosts are). I'm in HST, and the schedules they sent us are a bit confusing...they kinda mashed the schedules together. =)

Hope that helps!

 

[largeman]

thanks luckymonkey

 

[Dr OCD]

does anyone know if on thursday we are supposed to arrive by 2 or can arrive between 2-5 for revisit check-in/ also any idea on attire? it seems like thurs is prob casual and friday is business casual...

 

[Dodo23]

Anyone excited about revisit this week? I know I am!

 

[grayray]

Does anyone know what percentage of first-years live in Vandy? Is everyone planning on living there?

 

[luckymonkey]

I thought it seemed like the attire for Thursday would be more business casual than Friday. I'll be heading to the HST Poster Session around 2:00 before I check in. It'd be pretty cool if HMS had a revisit website.

And YES, I'm so excited about visiting Boston and meeting you all!!!

And yes, I'll be living in Vandy...fun fun fun

 

[Dr OCD]

i wish they would give us more info about revisit other than the word document...

 

[luckymonkey]

i wish they would give us more info about revisit other than the word document...

NO KIDDING!!! It seems like the HMS students have different schedules from the ones we have...according to my student host. Both of us are now pretty confused...hahaha.

 

[sanchopanza]

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[blah7]

there is absolutely no way that harvard even thinks of matching merit scholarships. sorry!

 

[specialflava]

hey everyone. how was second look!? I REALLY wanted to go, but ended up having some work that I couldn't postpone. Any highlights/particularly memorable aspects? What was the prospective class like? Was there a pretty good turnout? What was your overall impression afterwards?

Sorry for the massive list of questions! I think I just want to live vicariously thorugh sdn'ers that were able to make it. Looking forward to meeting you all in the fall!

 

[stwabewwie]

hey everyone. how was second look!? I REALLY wanted to go, but ended up having some work that I couldn't postpone. Any highlights/particularly memorable aspects? What was the prospective class like? Was there a pretty good turnout? What was your overall impression afterwards?

Sorry for the massive list of questions! I think I just want to live vicariously thorugh sdn'ers that were able to make it. Looking forward to meeting you all in the fall!

same question!

 

[grayray]

does anyone know when we will start hearing about financial aid packages?

 

[stwabewwie]

does anyone know when we will start hearing about financial aid packages?

same question! ha...all i have are questions but no answers. hmm...why's this thread so quiet?

edit: nvm! my finaid package was posted online, so you all should be getting them soon!

 

[grayray]

thanks for the info. I'm still waiting on mine, but hopefully it will come out this week. when did you get all of your documents in?

Anyone know anything about the optional orientation trips before intro to the profession starts?

 

[stwabewwie]

thanks for the info. I'm still waiting on mine, but hopefully it will come out this week. when did you get all of your documents in?

For your convenience, here are the dates posted directly from the website. I actually sent in my need access earlier than the date listed, but HMS didn't acknowledge it until 4/3:

Application For Federal Student Aid Received 3/21/2008
Need Access/Profile Application Received 4/3/2008
Non-custodial Parent Tax Returns Received 3/28/2008
Parent Federal Tax Return Received 3/28/2008
HMS Financial Aid Application Received 3/24/2008
Student/Spouse Federal Tax Returns Received 3/28/2008

 

[mountaingoat11]

So you strongly discourage us from looking for off-campus housing? after many years out of school, I'm not sure I want to live in a dorm again. I also hope to cook for myself instead of eating out, so would like a big ole kitchen with some of my friends. Don't want to be the social outcast, though......