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epr1
I was just wondering if anyone here goes to Mercer/ knows anything about their program. gracias
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Are you a GA resident? If not, Mercer won't take you. Most people from my ugrad go to MCG, so I can't help you very much. Have you looked at their website?
E
epr1
"Only individuals who are legal residents of Georgia at the time of application are accepted."
whoops, didn't read that the first time around. nm then =)
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I'm an MS-I at Mercer. It would take me too long to describe everything about the program that you need to know. I'm at a disadvantage to compare what it's like to other schools, but I can give you the gist.
There's essentially 3 components to the curriculum: Biomedical Problems (BMP;the case-based learning), Clinical Skills, and Community Medicine. Mercer really wants to see you go into primary care or go into the rural areas of Georgia, but that won't keep you from getting in...you just have to seem like the kind of person that will practice in Georgia when you're done and meet the current needs of Georgia patients (as far as your residency training).
The difficulty with the BMP program is that, in addition to the excessive reading/material you have learn, as a new medical student you have to learn how to "navigate" through the curriculum. Basically, you're given a lot of objectives to learn, a long list of pages of reading where these objectives can be learned, and patient cases to help facilitate your learning (you discuss these cases 3 days every week with your BMP group). Anyway, the problem is that no one tells you how fast you should be reading, whether to take notes, what detail/depth of the material you should understand...well, I could go on all day, but you're not given much. You have to figure out what works best for you....and hopefully figure it out quickly before you ruin your first exam. Even after the first exam, you probably won't have it figured out.
The truth is, I'm enjoying medical school. I know it should be challenging, but Mercer can seem 'painful' at times. I figured out during the first week that Mercer's curriculum is the best way to learn medicine....it's also probably the most difficult way to learn it.
Again, I wish I had time to tell you more details, but I have about 1000 pages of information to review by the end of the week. Good luck!
There's essentially 3 components to the curriculum: Biomedical Problems (BMP;the case-based learning), Clinical Skills, and Community Medicine. Mercer really wants to see you go into primary care or go into the rural areas of Georgia, but that won't keep you from getting in...you just have to seem like the kind of person that will practice in Georgia when you're done and meet the current needs of Georgia patients (as far as your residency training).
The difficulty with the BMP program is that, in addition to the excessive reading/material you have learn, as a new medical student you have to learn how to "navigate" through the curriculum. Basically, you're given a lot of objectives to learn, a long list of pages of reading where these objectives can be learned, and patient cases to help facilitate your learning (you discuss these cases 3 days every week with your BMP group). Anyway, the problem is that no one tells you how fast you should be reading, whether to take notes, what detail/depth of the material you should understand...well, I could go on all day, but you're not given much. You have to figure out what works best for you....and hopefully figure it out quickly before you ruin your first exam. Even after the first exam, you probably won't have it figured out.
The truth is, I'm enjoying medical school. I know it should be challenging, but Mercer can seem 'painful' at times. I figured out during the first week that Mercer's curriculum is the best way to learn medicine....it's also probably the most difficult way to learn it.
Again, I wish I had time to tell you more details, but I have about 1000 pages of information to review by the end of the week. Good luck!
Ok, so I am a 4th year at Mercer and want to give my perspective. I agree with the 1st year's comments. It is hard work. You learn very early how to do things yourself, which is scary at first. But once you figure it out, you are much better prepared to handle things on your own. We are all very independent at Mercer. Everyone is a self starter and we are VERY prepared for 3rd year when you go to the hospital. On rounds we are confident and comfortable talking about patients in front of the team. We impress lots of people in the hospital and have no problems getting excellent letters of recommendation for residency. Also, due to the small size of the class it is very easy to get involved in the school to build up your CV for residency. Overall, I feel I have gotten a good education.
As far as the primary care mission, the school weighs it heavy in the selection process. The school wants students that are commited to staying in Ga after schooling and people wanting to go into "needed specialties in rural Ga". It is not only primary care, but anything Ga needs in it's rural areas. Although, not eveyone in the school realizes that, and they still think it is only primary care.
Another good thing about mercer is our early exposure to patients. I saw patients the first week of school in our student run volunteer clinic. We also have two programs where we see patients during the first 2 years. One is a program where we work with a private doctor every other week or so for a half day. The second, we go to a rural community for 2 weeks in 1st year and 1 mth in 2nd year. We also have a very strong standardized patient clinical skills program we do every 6 weeks or so. Overall, we have great exposure to patients early on.
The best aspect of mercer is the close relationship you develop with your classmates. We are all super close, always going out together. I have made some of my best friends here. We always rely on each other to get thru the hard times. There are many days while going thru medical school, that you want to quit, but we really help each other get thru it.
There are some cons to the program too. We seem to have a lot of faculty turn over, which can be annoying. It doesn't really affect your education, but you get tired of the emails telling you about it.
Anyhow, I would come here again if I could do it again. If anyone has any specific question, just pm me.
Good luck in the upcoming months!
As far as the primary care mission, the school weighs it heavy in the selection process. The school wants students that are commited to staying in Ga after schooling and people wanting to go into "needed specialties in rural Ga". It is not only primary care, but anything Ga needs in it's rural areas. Although, not eveyone in the school realizes that, and they still think it is only primary care.
Another good thing about mercer is our early exposure to patients. I saw patients the first week of school in our student run volunteer clinic. We also have two programs where we see patients during the first 2 years. One is a program where we work with a private doctor every other week or so for a half day. The second, we go to a rural community for 2 weeks in 1st year and 1 mth in 2nd year. We also have a very strong standardized patient clinical skills program we do every 6 weeks or so. Overall, we have great exposure to patients early on.
The best aspect of mercer is the close relationship you develop with your classmates. We are all super close, always going out together. I have made some of my best friends here. We always rely on each other to get thru the hard times. There are many days while going thru medical school, that you want to quit, but we really help each other get thru it.
There are some cons to the program too. We seem to have a lot of faculty turn over, which can be annoying. It doesn't really affect your education, but you get tired of the emails telling you about it.
Anyhow, I would come here again if I could do it again. If anyone has any specific question, just pm me.
Good luck in the upcoming months!
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I just wanted to expound a bit on what others have already said. I'm an MSI as well. I went to Mercer for undergrad. so I was pretty sure this was where I wanted to be. The others have already given you the highlights of the program. I would like to specifically clear up a couple of misconceptions though.
First, people do seem to think that if you go to Mercer you lock yourself into being a primary care physician in some rural place no one has even heard of. That is not true, but like most myths it is based in truth. The school was set up with the understanding that it would produce doctors committed to the rural underserved of Georgia. Initially, primary care was the emphasis and the admissions committee considered that in the applicants they selected. However, the mission has evolved. In the first place, we are licenced by the LCME and take the same boards as any other school, so if you can get in to a neurosurgery program somewhere your medical school isn't going to stop you. Second, the mission now includes any specialty that is needed in underserved areas of Georgia. So, while the faculty will support anything you want to do, they really want students who 1. want to practice in Georgia and 2. Want to practice in an underserved area in a needed specialty.
The second rumor to be cleared up is that you will have a hard time getting published or finding good research opportunities at Mercer. While the funding for research is much more limited than a school like Emory, you can find time and resources to do research. There are faculty involved in ongoing research that are always looking for hard-working students. A lot of research goes on during the summers. In fact, a lot of undergrads get their foot in the door by doing summer research with faculty.
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good stuff, thanks. One thing though. You all say certain specialties in rural medicine but isnt there really a deficit in all of them? It seems that primary care as generalists are the ones that come to mind bc they are able to manage patients in the abscence of a specialist sometimes. Also they can work in the ER if there is a shortage. Any comments?
You are totally right, and this is why the mission has changed in the last few years. It is not primary care any more, but more so an emphasis on practicing in rural georgia, because all the specialties are needed. Due to it being recently changed, there is still a strong feeling that you are expected to go into primary care. We all go into the specialties we want, regardless of this. Even though it might seem you would not be able to get into specialties at Mercer, this is totally wrong. We have very strong match records. Last year we had 1 Derm, 6 ER, 3 Anesthesia, 3 ENT, 1 rad-onc, 2 rads, and 1 ortho. Not bad for a class of 61. This year we also have several people going into specialties. So, you can go into very competitive residencies from Mercer.
Hope this helps!
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i'm not the op, but thanks for the info!! I plan on applying to mercer during the 08 application cycle. did any of u apply early decision?
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I did apply ED...THREE TIMES! Third time was a charm as they say.
My first application cycle I had a 24N and 3.57 GPA. I applied EDP on the advice of the former Dean of Admissions. When I didn't get in EDP, I received a notice from the committee saying my file had been roled into the regular applicant pool. Though they've never told me this, I believe that actually was my rejection letter. You see, the committee rates every applicant with a number. Who knows what the algorithm is, but I'm sure GPA, MCAT, etc. factor in. Anyway, once they give you a number in the Early Decision pool that's the number you're stuck with. In other words, they don't re-evaluate you in the regular applicant pool. That I am pretty sure about. Unlike some other schools, Mercer does not encourage you to send additional information to update your file.
With that being said, my advice is that it all depends on your file. Mercer actually takes closer to 20 out of its 60 from EDP, the idea being if you like Mercer enough to choose it over any other school, they want you. So, if you're file is even average, its definately the way to go.
However, if you're like me and a little low, I'd hold off. I know one guy in the
3rd year class who got in with a 24 MCAT. I know another guy in my class right now who got in with a 21 MCAT. Both applied through the regular pool.
Good luck.
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To be rather blunt, there are people of Indian origin at every medical school by virtue of the fact that they constitute a disproportionate part of the physician population. Of the Georgia schools I know of , Mercer, MCG, Morehouse they all have Indian students. Mercer has 7 people who are Indian or of Indian descent out of a class of 66. MCG has more i believe and has a bigger class size. I met a few at Morehouse. While I wouldnt suggest basing a decision totally off race it is important when considering how youd fit in our find cultural comforts should you get multiple offers.
Talking about the score you get for your application. When I applied 1/3 of this score was based on your commitment to providing care in rural Ga. So, it is extremely important to be commited to this and express it in the interview! The other 2/3 of the score is based on your grades, MCAT and overall application. Just some pearls of knowledge......
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Would you recommend applying EDP if you had a 3.45 overall with a high upward trend (3 semesters of 4.0), 3.6 science GPA, 26-30 MCAT and tons of experience(volunteer ER, work 1500+ hrs as PT Tech)? Mercer is my #1 choice...
Absolutely! It sounds like you would be a strong applicant. If it is your #1, there is no better way to say it then to apply EDP. When you interview, make sure you know about our problem based learning system and talk up your desire to practice in rural Ga. Also, almost all the EDP, if not all of them, get an interview. So, you will have your chance to represent yourself in person.
Hope this helps!
