How long is the average medical school orientation?

Started by sassystudent1998
Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

Browse articles Compare schools My application plan Read Interview Feedback
Practice for interviews Ask an Advisor
sassystudent1998

sassystudent1998

Full Member
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
From looking up various med school orientations, it seems the average length is 3-5 days which seems like the perfect time to meet students, get an intro to the curriculum, etc…

My school orientation is two weeks (10 days), each a FULL day like 8am-4pm. This lowkey diminishes my excitement cuz I know most of this time is boring/useless 🙁

Thoughts?

Edit: I guess I'm mainly scared the school is setting a precedent for having lots of time-consuming lectures/mandatory events :/
 
Last edited:
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
sassystudent1998 said:
From looking up various med school orientations, it seems the average length is 3-5 days which seems like the perfect time to meet students, get an intro to the curriculum, etc…

My school orientation is two weeks (10 days), each a FULL day like 8am-4pm. This lowkey diminishes my excitement cuz I know most of this time is boring/useless 🙁

Thoughts?

Edit: I guess I'm mainly scared the school is setting a precedent for having lots of time-consuming lectures/mandatory events :/
Click to expand...
TWO weeks!

What penal colony is this????
 
Goro said:
TWO weeks!

What penal colony is this????
Click to expand...
Mine was 2+ weeks as well. They threw in a couple of (easy) class sessions to introduce people to the curriculum (or to fit things in that they didn't know where else to put them in the curriculum), and they did lots of social/"team building" type stuff. That was also when they taught us how to do a basic H&P.

Didn't quite feel like a penal colony but something tells me it could have been done more efficiently...


On the plus side that was the only time we ever had a wellness lecture, most of which was just telling us what resources are available. Our administration at least knows that everyone hates them and they are a waste of time.
 
JoaoMoutinho said:
Mine was 2+ weeks as well. They threw in a couple of (easy) class sessions to introduce people to the curriculum (or to fit things in that they didn't know where else to put them in the curriculum), and they did lots of social/"team building" type stuff. That was also when they taught us how to do a basic H&P.

Didn't quite feel like a penal colony but something tells me it could have been done more efficiently...


On the plus side that was the only time we ever had a wellness lecture, most of which was just telling us what resources are available. Our administration at least knows that everyone hates them and they are a waste of time.
Click to expand...
Based on looking at my schedule, it looks like mine is filled with similar stuff. Could be more efficient forsure haha
 
Mine was a week and two days. It was horrible. Worse than dedicated and sucked away all the excitement.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
sassystudent1998 said:
From looking up various med school orientations, it seems the average length is 3-5 days which seems like the perfect time to meet students, get an intro to the curriculum, etc…

My school orientation is two weeks (10 days), each a FULL day like 8am-4pm. This lowkey diminishes my excitement cuz I know most of this time is boring/useless 🙁

Thoughts?

Edit: I guess I'm mainly scared the school is setting a precedent for having lots of time-consuming lectures/mandatory events :/
Click to expand...

Is your school in the northeast?
 
The next 4 years of your life you’ll be frustrated at how inefficient med school is so this is totally appropriate.

The worst part will be the gunners sitting at the front asking stupid questions just to hear themselves talk and pretend to be interested. So at least it lets you know who to avoid.
 
Ho0v-man said:
The next 4 years of your life you’ll be frustrated at how inefficient med school is so this is totally appropriate.

The worst part will be the gunners sitting at the front asking stupid questions just to hear themselves talk and pretend to be interested. So at least it lets you know who to avoid.
Click to expand...
And somehow the second part of your post continues during intern orientation. I wonder if it will happen when we move to rad orientation?
 
In defense of the school, they may be trying to cram in a few LCME requirements into the first couple weeks before real studying begins. Honestly, this is probably the ideal way to handle a lot of that. Sure beats a 2-3 hour mandatory session while you’re trying to study for an exam!

There’s a certain amount of suckage that’s required but it’s up to schools how best to dole out that suckage. Given how limited time is in the first couple years and how much is already not covered, I can’t imagine any school would blow a whole two weeks on fluff unless that fluff was required for accreditation.
 
operaman said:
In defense of the school, they may be trying to cram in a few LCME requirements into the first couple weeks before real studying begins. Honestly, this is probably the ideal way to handle a lot of that. Sure beats a 2-3 hour mandatory session while you’re trying to study for an exam!

There’s a certain amount of suckage that’s required but it’s up to schools how best to dole out that suckage. Given how limited time is in the first couple years and how much is already not covered, I can’t imagine any school would blow a whole two weeks on fluff unless that fluff was required for accreditation.
Click to expand...
This gives me some hope lol….I really do hope this is the case and the school is trying to do what’s best for its students.

Based on the rest of the comments above, looks like inefficiency is a repetitive theme in med school and beyond so I’d better get used to it 🥲
 
sassystudent1998 said:
This gives me some hope lol….I really do hope this is the case and the school is trying to do what’s best for its students.

Based on the rest of the comments above, looks like inefficiency is a repetitive theme in med school and beyond so I’d better get used to it 🥲
Click to expand...
I tend to give MedEd admins the benefit of the doubt simply because most of them have been training physicians for decades and I've been a medical school Dean for... (checks watch)... never. I have to assume that whatever issues I find with how something is done, there's probably a good reason and other competing interests. The people making curriculum decisions in most good schools are very intelligent and accomplished educators so there is probably a reason behind whatever they do. Obviously things can always be better and many ideas for improvement come from students actively progressing through the curriculum, but most of the time the current system is also an improvement over the last iteration that actually sucked a little bit more.

For anyone interested, most schools do have committees of students and faculty that oversee the curriculum and implementation. I would imagine that serving on one would give an eye-opening glimpse into the decision-making process.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Is my commute to medical school too far?
Replies
8
Views
1K
Goro
Goro
D
SDN Article: How to Manage Test Anxiety in Medical School
Replies
0
Views
571
Donna Walker, EdD
D
MossyEngima
Wedding during orientation week
Replies
2
Views
767
MossyEngima
MossyEngima
P
UH fertitta medical school
Replies
3
Views
1K
wysdoc
wysdoc
Dr. Anonymouss
Is this the end of foreign medical graduates?
Replies
10
Views
3K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12