Indiana

[gonakillmcat]

hey guys those of you at IUSM just wanted to know what an average day is like for you? how is the atmosphere (at indianapolis) and where did you decide to live the first year. I am excited to be going their next year so i wanted some info... thanks

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[Hoosierdaddy]

gonakillmcat,

Congrats on getting accepted to IU. Your typical day for the first two years will vary greatly depending on which campus to which you are assigned. Many of the regional campuses require attendance at all lectures, so a good chunck of your day will be spent sitting in the same seat in the same classroom, day after day. If you are assigned to the main (Indy) campus, though, very few people go to class every day. Many people study at home during the lectures and only show up for required labs and for exams. If you really want to be assigned to the Indy campus for the first two years, make sure you send in your campus preference form as soon as you get it. Assignment to the Indy campus is on a first-come, first-served basis, and the main campus fills up very quickly. Let me know if you have any more questions about IU, and I'll try to answer them.

 

[gonakillmcat]

Thanks for your reply.. Where do you live? on campus off campus? can you tell me a little more about the school, enviornment... etc.. I sent in my campus selection form right away.. Thanks again

 

[Hoosierdaddy]

I'm a third-year right now, and this is my first year in Indianapolis. A lot of med students live downtown since that is where the med center is located. There is no on-campus housing available that I'm aware of, but Lockfield is practically on-campus. I live on the Canal, which is only a few blocks from campus. I don't really know much about the environment in Indy for the first two years since I was at one of the regional campuses for my first two years.

My class had 16 people in it, and we all became very close over those two years. Unfortunately, attendance was required at all of our lectures, so we spent about 6-7 hours a day listening to lectures in the same room, day after day. I've heard that no one really cares if you show up to class at the Indy campus, so that might be a plus if you don't learn well from lectures. Otherwise, I think the school just adopted a policy stating that every med student in the state has to take the same state-wide finals in all of their classes. This helps equalize the grades for students at the regional campuses.

If you have any other questions about IU, just let me know.

 

[Soleil9]

Hey Hoosierdaddy et. al.,

I'm interested in attending IU at South Bend to be close to family. Can you choose which campus you attend? Is there high demand for the South Bend campus? Gary wouldn't be to far away from family either, so I'm also interested in that location.

Where do you do your 3rd and 4th yrs?

Thanks for your help!

Soleil

 

[Soleil9]

Ok, just read from another post that 3rd and 4th years are in Indy. Isn't it crowded? I'd hate to be a patient in Indy when the 300 new 3rd yrs get in the hospitals! Does anyone do rotations in other places? I'd really like to do my four years in the South bend area!

Thanks for your help!

 

[NDESTRUKT]

Hey Hoosierdaddy et. al.,

I'm interested in attending IU at South Bend to be close to family. Can you choose which campus you attend? Is there high demand for the South Bend campus? Gary wouldn't be to far away from family either, so I'm also interested in that location.

Where do you do your 3rd and 4th yrs?

Thanks for your help!

Soleil

The south bend campus is actually at Notre Dame, not IUSB. I don't think the demand is that high. If you put it first on your ranking list you most definitely will get it.

 

[Hoosierdaddy]

Actually, the South Bend campus is usually one of the top three requested campuses due to the large number of Notre Dame alumni in IU's med school. However, if you are from South Bend or the surrounding area, you will probably get South Bend if you rank it first. The school tries very hard to place people in the same part of the state that they are from.

In regards to third year, you are required to do the following rotations at the med center in Indy: OB-Gyn, both months of surgery, inpatient peds, inpatient medicine, psych, and neuro. Family practice, outpatient peds, and ambulatory medicine can be done elsewhere in the state.

Almost all of fourth year can be done somewhere else in the state. You are only required to do the three required "core" electives in Indy (medicine sub-I, radiology, and emergency medicine). Most of the major cities in Indiana offer at least a few electives to fourth years.

 

[LukeWhite]

Soleil,

Another nice advantage of the ND branch is that you get all the benefits of both schools--you'll be treated as an ND student, with the guaranteed football tickets, library card, gym access, etc.

I'm also a Michigander who went to ND for undergrad...I have no experience with the med program, but you'll certainly love ND if you choose it. There's not much in the area, but the general facilities are beautiful. When I was there the med school facilities were a little run-down, but I heard they were building new ones which may well completed now. Hopefully someone else can chime in with info on this.

 

[Soleil9]

Hey Luke and anyone else,

Did you apply to IU? I know they say that if you have connections to Indiana they give you special status, not sure exactly what that means... I graduated from an Indiana HS in the S.B. area, and my parents still live there. I've been out of the state (in Michigan!) since I graduated from High School, about 8 yrs. I'm assuming I can get that special consideration, but probably not residency... Anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you!

 

[LukeWhite]

Soleil,

What HS, out of curiosity? I went to St Joe before going to ND.

I did apply to IU; (this won't be encouraging) but they rejected me out-of-hand with a little postcard saying that they accept primarily only residents. However, they certainly do accept a fair number of out-of-staters. You just need great stats, and mine weren't uniformly great.

The trick is getting to the interview phase. If you can get an interview, you can parlay that connection to your advantage. It's probably harder to do so before that, unless you've got exceptional stats.

So it's hard, but possible! You might also look into getting residency, and ask them if they'd treat a new resident on equal par with a long-time one given your association with the area. That would also have the advantage of saving you several extra tens of thousands of dollars.

Best of luck!

 

[NDESTRUKT]

Hey Luke and anyone else,

Did you apply to IU? I know they say that if you have connections to Indiana they give you special status, not sure exactly what that means... I graduated from an Indiana HS in the S.B. area, and my parents still live there. I've been out of the state (in Michigan!) since I graduated from High School, about 8 yrs. I'm assuming I can get that special consideration, but probably not residency... Anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you!

Perhaps you can regain your resident status somehow, that would help lots.

 

[Machiavelli]

South Bend is probably the 3rd-most requested campus site, after Indy and Bloomington, because of the annual influx of ND grads. I went to ND for undergrad, and the run-down/depressing facilities were one reason I chose to go to Bloomington for my M1 and M2 years. However, I have several friends who went to South Bend and they have told me that a renovation project is being done, and may be done in time for you to start med school. My advice, if it's possible, is to go take a look for yourself.

If you end up on the Indy campus, there are several different spots around town that the medical students cluster. Lockefield apartments are directly across the street from the med school, so they are good if you don't have a car/like to walk into class 5 minutes after waking up. There are a few more apartment complexes a little bit further away but still within a 20 minute walk. Some of my friends lived in Canal Courts and were happy with it. Away from campus, lots of people live in the Eagle Creek area, including myself. It is about a 15 minute commute to campus, and I-65 goes directly past campus. I also know several people who live on the South Side/Greenwood and use I-65 north to get to campus. Broad Ripple is also a fairly popular place to live because of the high concentration of 20-something people who live there, although it's a little bit longer commute (30 minutes) because you have city traffic and stoplights the whole way. The only place I wouldn't recommend unless you are a masochist for traffic/have some other overriding reason to live there is the Northwest side; Carmel, Castleton, Fisher, Noblesville, etc. The traffic there is the worst in the city and you could easily spend 45 minutes each way if you are travelling during the peak times.

As for the annual influx of 280 M3's, there are four main hospitals (Wishard, University, VA, Methodist) that the students and residents get spread out across, and some M3 rotations are available at other community hospitals (St. Vincent's, St. Francis, Community East). Also, everybody is used to seeing a bunch of students running around, since it happens every year. It all works fairly well and I never felt like there were too many students on a rotation for me to get as much hands-on experience as I wanted.