Originally posted by 2003Applicant
You are wonderful for answering all of these questions that have been posted. I've been accepted to Hopkins, and I also have some questions if you have the time.
It's my pleasure. Besides, I can't spend all of my day studying for the boards. I just hope you'll make an informed decision when you choose a medical school. Congratulations on your acceptance! Like I've said before, you should come to visit again - in April at the revisit weekend if not sooner. You owe it to yourself to check out the school again.
1) How are the anatomy labs? At some of the schools that I've visited, students say they smell a lot. At other schools, the labs are newer and the students say that there is no smell. One school in particular is building a facility with a vent directly over the body so that there is absolutely no smell. How do your labs compare?
It's not pleasant, but it's not terrible either. Dr. Teaford, the course director, reminds us that the ventilation system for the anatomy labs is extraordinarily strong, and the housekeeping staff are constantly in there to clean the place up. Students get lockers near the lab - it's highly recommended that you have scrubs for lab
only and regular clothes to wear everyplace else. It's not an intense smell, but it's not especially pleasant, and everyone will recognize it if you wear your scrubs to the cafeteria (a faux pas). Oddly enough, several of my classmates found that the smell of phenol (it's not formaldehyde) made them hungry. Go figure.
For anatomy, you'll choose your own groups, with four students to a cadaver. In my first year, we began anatomy around Halloween and were done by Christmas. The whole course is 7 1/2 weeks; it's more manageable than you think.
2) How many students are in the small group sections? How many hours per week are you in these small classes? Are they set up as PBL sessions where you are given information about a patient and have to determine the disease and treatment?
Small group sections are typically 15-20 people, with 1-2 faculty. You'll stick with your small group all year long, so you'll know these people well. During first year, an average day would have 3 hours of lecture and 2 hours of small group. Typically one hour/week is spent as a journal club, where you'll dissect some current scientific literature that's relevant to the topic you're studying. This actually comes in quite handy. The format for the majority of the small groups is somewhat variable; sometimes we'd work through problem sets, sometimes we'd discuss difficult concepts, and sometimes we'd work through a clinical case. Generally these cases involve coming up with a diagnosis; with no background in pharmacology or surgical techniques, first year students are usually ill-equipped to determine treatment regimens.
Rest assured, you'll see
plenty of clinical cases in real and mock settings when you're on the wards.
During second year, the setup is similar; typically 2 hours of lab/small group (~18 people). Usually one hour is pathology lab (micro +/- gross) with a pathologist, then one hour of pathophysiology discussion, usually working through clinical cases with a faculty member.
3) How many hours per week are you in the lecture classes?
About 3 hours/day x 5 days/week = 15 hours.
4) How many hours per week are you in lab?
In first year, the only substantial lab time you'll have will be for anatomy (replaces 98% of small group time), neuroanatomy, and histology. For neuroanatomy and histology, small group time is synonymous with lab time.
In the second year, lab time is synonymous with the pathology small group session.
5) Do students do research (clinical or lab) during the academic year? Is there ample time for this?
During the first year,
students have the afternoon off, which presents a phenomenal opportunity for research time. I managed to squeeze in some clinical research during the second year, but I don't recommend this unless you have a red-hot project; the second year schedule is relatively busy.
During clinical years, students are strongly encouraged to take research electives (for as much time as you like) in whatever field(s) you're interested in.
6) Do you have any friends at Stanford, and if so, how would you compare your experience with theirs?
I know people at Stanford who are happy. Stanford has a great medical school that prepares excellent doctors. However, I don't think Stanford can come anywhere close to Hopkins when it comes to clinical experiences for medical students. I honestly believe that the clinical exposure here is unmatched anywhere.
7) Are students involved in other nonacademic activities during the year, such as athletics or other fun endeavors?
Absolutely! I mentioned the interaction website in an earlier post (
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/interaction); this lists a number of extracurricular activities. At the medical school, there's also a newly renovated gym (Cooley) that has all kinds of intramural sports. Med students, housestaff, grad students, and attendings alike compete in intramurals, which makes for some really fun games.
8) How is the support/mentoring system?
Dean Herlong is outstanding. He's very wise and has a great deal of experience in advising students. He's also a great listener (part of being a great clinician) who will always take you seriously. If you have specific interests (for example, if you want to have an orthopedic surgeon as a mentor), he'll point you to someone appropriate.
There's also a big sib/little sib program, which is as involved as you want it to be. Traditionally, big sibs (2nd years) give the little sibs all their old exams and are always open for questions and such, but if you just want the take the exams and never see them again, you can do that too.
9) Some schools that I've visited record the lectures and put them on the web so that students can refer to them when studying, etc. Does Hopkins do this as well?
I remember hearing from Incendiary (a first year) that lectures are now available as realplayer movies through a system called blackboard. In addition, I think almost all lectures are now on powerpoint, and those files are available to students.
At the beginning of every course, you'll also get a complete copy of the lecture notes (provided by the profs), which includes all the figures, etc... as a consequence of this, many students end up buying exceedingly few books.
10) Do people generally study in groups, or individually?
Generally it's a mix of the two. I found that I got more out of group work if I'd prepared a little in advance. Most people have some kind of study group that meets from time to time, but the bulk of work is probably done individually. After all, we all have different ways of learning.
11) Is there flexibility in the curriculum? Are there any opportunities for exploring interdisciplinary topics such as medical humanities? Some schools offer electives in other areas. Do students at Hopkins take any medical humanities-related courses? Or bioethics or health policy courses?
At Hopkins, there is a required four-year course called Physician and Society that meets weekly. The PAS course covers all these issues... medical history, literature, ethics, law, economics, policy, etc... it's a great opportunity to come up for air after studying other subjects. My small group just read the book "Complications" by Atul Gawande; I highly recommend it to anyone who is training to be a physician.
I really appreciate all of the time that you've already spent answering everyone's questions. If you have time, I would greatly appreciate any further info.
Thank you very much! 🙂
I'm happy to do whatever I can to help you out. Keep the questions coming! I'll have time to answer them until January 13.
🙂
Cheers,
doepug
