Sounds like you've had a "salesman" talking to you
What I am going to tell you is truth. Because you posted here, you are someone who is on the cusp of a decent mcat score. You're a really "nice" person, have a great personality and would make a great doctor! And, you really, in your deepest darkest thoughts, want to go to KU, but...If that doesn't work out, KUMCB is a pretty good school too. And, you really like the people you've met over there. They are all interested in you and all the students you've met are really nice and cool. The administration really seems to "care". If you are a non-traditional, you know how the world works, you've been burnt a couple of times and you are skeptical, because you know its "All about the money $$!" And you would be right. It is ultimately, all about the money. They like you because you are a paycheck! learn to appreciate that fact and know the alternative motive of all people and organisms. Self preservation! Now...
You really need to evaluate yourself to know whether you are a person who needs a lot of support from administration or whether you like to chart your own path? Can you develop your own team? or Do you want to have a system in place that puts you within a group that is "conducive to learning"? Do you want to hear lectures from someone who is doing research on the topic/subject of your lecture or do you want a person who will be with you throughout the year? Are you 80% sure you are going to go into a primary care field or are you not sure? Do you want to get into a highly competetive residency?
Does KU support you? Yes, but they don't hold your hand. They have a department dedicated (and super nice) of docs and masters of psychology and learning specialists who will bend over backward to make sure you are doing well emotionally, physically and mentally. Then give you skill sets to succeed.
At KU you are assigned to groups to complete labs, clinical cases/skills and discussion groups, but if you want to put a study group together, you are going to have to open your mouth, b/c you aren't assigned those type of groups. Our class is great! I have walked into the cadaver lab on a weekend and just jumped in with a group of people who were going over structures. We all put together study tools (pwr points, word docs, quizzes, etc..) and send them out as mass emails to our comrades. But, most people study on their own and get together a few days before exam blocks to reinforce stuff (if time allows
) Laugh you say...but you are doing very well to cover each lecture in detail & finish the objectives. Time is not on your side.
Here is the truth. If you are going to go into a primary care type field, either school will get you there. If you want to go into a more competitive field, KU gives you a better shot at getting there. Is that wrong. Probably. But, the truth is, there are 10x more MD's than DO's out there and people "in general" are more comfortable with what they know. What they know, is "DO = primary care". And many of our older population still see's a DO as someone who is a chiropractor or not a doctor at all. Wrong perception? yes. I would say, that approximately 70% of the general population couldn't tell you what the difference is between an MD and a DO, but if they went into a town that had two doctors, one and MD and one a DO. If they didn't know anyone and had never had any kind of experience with a DO, you and I know which one they would go to first. Is that wrong. Yes, but that's life. A DO will constantly carry a small chip, if they let that kind of thing get to them. They will constantly get the question...Why didn't you become a doctor?
"Are the prof's more interested in their research? or teaching?" That is the sales pitch you heard from KUMCB, right. Anyway, That is prof to prof. Some would much rather be stuck in a lab. But, they chose to pursue medical research at a public research and medical school, so they knew they would be teaching and most of them like to see the light come on and know they were responsible for hitting the switch. And, most prof's like the "stage". Honestly, most of them are so damn smart, when they are teaching the basics, its boring. Boring to them and boring to us, too! When they get to going on some of the cutting edge stuff, you can see their hair stand up
.
Now, if I haven't put you to sleep and... that was my intention, you should be worried about the new curriculum. I wouldn't want to be the 1st year to do it and there have been battle royals in departments over how much "teaching" time each department gets within each block of material. There are some fantastic profs that will not be teaching next year b/c another department thinks they could cover that in their lectures or...it could be covered in less time
or self-study is just as effecient for the student
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Will the new curriculum be good? They will be teaching you to the boards and national tests. Whatever that means. The truth behind ALL the integrated approaches is it allows for larger class sizes = more doc's produced = more dollars coming through the school. And the legislature is demanding more docs to come out of KU for KS. So, how do you do that? You do the "integrated approach".
..i.e. you put kids in groups and give them the basics through lecture, give them a bunch of objectives and let them hash through them and find the answers. And, you can do that. I've done that, many of my classmates miss class and do that.
Will it work. yeah. But, there will be a number of your classmates who are going to have a real hard time with it. And, I've heard they are going to "dumb" up the tests to accomadate students until they have their feet under them. As for us, they smashed us in the face with so much material the first week of class i thought my head was going to explode. And it kept coming and hasn't stopped. They wanted to make the last class to do the classical education suffer and see if they could drop our scores on their tests to justify the decision to make the move. Didn't work. We've done as well as any other class to come through. Your brain adjusts to the level of intensity required to do the job.
I've got great friends and have met some really great people at KU. Would I come here again? In a heart beat, no questions, no reservations! best decision I have ever made. Would I come back here next year, if I were in your shoes? Yep. More opportunity! Remember...self preservation rule. KU opens more doors and gives me more options. If you end up here, the only difference is you must take more control of your destiny. But, that's why they pay 20G more a year over there.
You would think that this would make studying for the GI block miserable. and it is. but at least now i'm somewhat interested in the material. for instance, i finally learned why i keep puking up a "coffee ground" substance. and why my stomach is so distended that i can't see my private parts. i feel better now though.
