Marshall University School of Medicine

[idadoc]

Does anyone know, or has anyone heard anything about the Joan C. Edwards Marshall University School of Medicine? Is it a good school? How is their residency placement etc.?

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[ArchiMed]

Does anyone know, or has anyone heard anything about the Joan C. Edwards Marshall University School of Medicine? Is it a good school? How is their residency placement etc.?

Are you interviewing there? If so, they will give you all that info...Yes, it is a good school. There main focus is on rural medicine and family practice, and while most students match in primary care residencies it does look like the other students match in almost every other specialty (and at good programs too I might add). It is a small school and they are all really friendly there. I had a really great experience when I interviewed there...

 

[OCallag]

It's supposed to be a really good med school. Small, so if you're wanting an intimate feel then you're looking in the right place.

I'm really hoping for an interview there. I called a week ago and was told they were hoping to figure out OOS interview invites within the next couple weeks. Guess we'll know soon enough. Any other OOS out there hoping for some Marshall love?

 

[Ilovethemcat]

It's supposed to be a really good med school. Small, so if you're wanting an intimate feel then you're looking in the right place.

I'm really hoping for an interview there. I called a week ago and was told they were hoping to figure out OOS interview invites within the next couple weeks. Guess we'll know soon enough. Any other OOS out there hoping for some Marshall love?

Got an invite via email fri. evening. I'm OOS.

 

[vector2]

At my interview we got a packet that contained some of the match results. My scanner is on the fritz, so just quickly going through the 2006 list for non-primary care I see: surg, gas, rads, path, EM, rads, gas, rads, psych, pm&r, EM, psych, surg, path, ortho, psych, em, rads, rads, em, em, em. Not too bad for a class of ~60-70 at a West Virginia school whose main emphasis is primary/rural care. I believe their average step 1 score last year was a ~217.

 

[idadoc]

Thanks for all of the info, I am an OOS and recieved an interview invite, but I have already been excepted to some schools that I liked. So, I was trying to decide whether or not to go to this interview.

 

[ArchiMed]

Thanks for all of the info, I am an OOS and recieved an interview invite, but I have already been excepted to some schools that I liked. So, I was trying to decide whether or not to go to this interview.

excepted?

 

[momofrona]

i know about school,very good 3 students this yr prematch for neuro residency ,i dont know where,i forgot.u'll love it

 

[ArchiMed]

let me know if you guys with interviews get accepted and decide to go there...I've sent in my letter accepting their offer so I am curious who else will be going!

 

[Doc11Hopeful]

Thanks for all of the info, I am an OOS and recieved an interview invite, but I have already been excepted to some schools that I liked. So, I was trying to decide whether or not to go to this interview.

I was in the same boat too but I decided to go to my interview. I have been surprised at schools that I have fallen in love with this year so maybe Marshall will be one of them!

Any tips on the interview guys? The feedback is pretty bare. Thanks so much!

 

[Roothlus]

Really relaxed!!! They don't show you much of anything else besides the office of two people, but it is quick and pretty painless.

I gather that they have great Huntington pride, so if you are from there then talk it up and make it known you have no intention of leaving.

 

[Firebird]

Really relaxed!!! They don't show you much of anything else besides the office of two people, but it is quick and pretty painless.

I gather that they have great Huntington pride, so if you are from there then talk it up and make it known you have no intention of leaving.

This is definitely good advice. I graduate from MUSOM in a few months and it's important to be enthusiastic about staying in Huntington or WV. It's a very good school with some truly outstanding, world-class faculty.

For some reason, we have a reputation for pushing rural medicine. This is not really true, though. The Family Practice department, which is extremely highly regarded nationally, is very heavy into rural medicine. The other departments do not really give it a second thought.

And there's more than an office of 2 people. Roothlus just didn't get to meet them all because the MUSOM interview is so informal.

 

[Roothlus]

First off, thats what I was saying about the interview, the two interviewer's offices are all that you really get to see during your interview.

Second, its great to hear from someone that actually went there. Can you fill us all in on your experience and where you are headed next year?

Also how about the facilities, any problems, anything to look out for?

 

[Firebird]

First off, thats what I was saying about the interview, the two interviewer's offices are all that you really get to see during your interview.

Second, its great to hear from someone that actually went there. Can you fill us all in on your experience and where you are headed next year?

Also how about the facilities, any problems, anything to look out for?

My experience at MUSOM was great. I'll tell you, from my perspective, what makes it stand out.

1. Interaction between students and attendings. In many institutions students only interact with residents. At Marshall, there is never a rotation where you only work with the residents. You are always able to rely on the knowledge and experience of the attending.

2. Small class size. You never get lost at Marshall, and almost always the attendings know you by name. Several program directors and department chairs will know your name as well.

3. Lots of procedures. As the student, you get to do lots of procedures because there aren't many fellows who need to do the procedures for certification. During my EM rotation, I placed a chest tube, inserted several central lines, floated 3 or 4 transvenous pacemakers, did sutures all the time, did an LP, and did a few I&D's. Many residency programs say that Marshall students are more apt at procedures than their residents.

4. Friendly administration.

5. Awesome faculty. As with any place, there are a number of faculty that are very average. However, we're a very small school and yet we have a number of world class physicians.

Anyway, next year I plan on doing residency at Marshall. There are a number of students who plan on ranking MUSOM at the top of their list, too.

Facilities are all very good. The two private hospitals are always building new wings or treatment centers. Marshall itself has recently completed two new buildings for medical education. One of them has a patient lab with paid actors as patients. As I understand, there will be a number of new models to practice procedures as well.

I hope this was helpful...it was a very long post but it didn't cover everything. Let me know if you have more questions.

 

[vector2]

Which specialty are you attempting to match into if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Firebird]

Im

 

[peabos]

Marshall is where I will be attending medical school. Class of 2012. YAY!

 

[ArchiMed]

congrats peabos....I guess I'll be meeting you this fall!!!

....and thanks firebird, I was already excited about the school b/c I have had such good experiences with it but it's really nice to hear it from an insider....do you have any tips for surviving the first year?

 

[Firebird]

congrats peabos....I guess I'll be meeting you this fall!!!

....and thanks firebird, I was already excited about the school b/c I have had such good experiences with it but it's really nice to hear it from an insider....do you have any tips for surviving the first year?

Yes, I think I can help a little. On the open forum, I'll be general, but I'll send you a PM later with more specific info. Just remind me if you don't hear from me in the next couple days.

1. Find a place you can comfortably study without interruption. I did well at Starbucks. The main campus library will be good now that the first years are on that particular campus.

2. Preread the notes they hand out before class. If I had it to do over, I would have done this.

3. Study harder than you think you need to.

4. Make sure you keep up and don't get behind. This is important for obvious reasons, but if you get behind, you'll never have a time to relax for a day or two. Tests come about once a week. If you have to take a test and immediately start studying for the next one, you'll get sooo burned out.

5. Flashcards are helpful, whether you think they are or not. I thought they were stupid, but now I realize they would have been much more helpful than I thought.

I'll try to get more specific later about individual classes.

 

[ArchiMed]

Yes, I think I can help a little. On the open forum, I'll be general, but I'll send you a PM later with more specific info. Just remind me if you don't hear from me in the next couple days.

1. Find a place you can comfortably study without interruption. I did well at Starbucks. The main campus library will be good now that the first years are on that particular campus.

2. Preread the notes they hand out before class. If I had it to do over, I would have done this.

3. Study harder than you think you need to.

4. Make sure you keep up and don't get behind. This is important for obvious reasons, but if you get behind, you'll never have a time to relax for a day or two. Tests come about once a week. If you have to take a test and immediately start studying for the next one, you'll get sooo burned out.

5. Flashcards are helpful, whether you think they are or not. I thought they were stupid, but now I realize they would have been much more helpful than I thought.

I'll try to get more specific later about individual classes.

awesome!...thanks firebird...its much appreciated....and I am so happy to hear flashcards are helpful....that's always been my method...although I have been known to have a tendency to over-study...hopefully that will work out for me in med school!

 

[vector2]

hey firebird, while you're on a helpful advice kick is there any chance you could go ahead and add me to your PM list?

 

[Roothlus]

I say just continue to post here. We certainly appreciate the info and I think it is really useful to everyone that would be on this thread.

 

[Jimmy Paige]

Just curious, is there anyone here that has not been accepted to Marshall and waiting to hear from them after they re-review your application?

If so, do you know if they've started re-reviewing?

 

[Firebird]

I say just continue to post here. We certainly appreciate the info and I think it is really useful to everyone that would be on this thread.

Ok, I'll do that...I was going to use specific professor names, but in an open forum I think that is less appropriate. Remember, my experience is nearly 4 years old, so there will be some differences, esp in Anatomy since it has changed from full body cadaver dissection to prosections only.

Anatomy. The notes are very good but you need to know all the details. The majority of the questions on the tests will cover these details. They assume you know the main points. Remember to keep up with embryology because if you get behind, it's easy to get completely lost. Go to lab as much as you can because honestly, if you put a fair amount of time into the lab, you should be able to get A's on the practicals. On the flip side, if you don't put a good amount of time into studying the labs, you'll do very poorly as there are ways to make the practicals more difficult than you'd expect. But if you go to lab, the professors will help you quite a bit. As you would expect, the entire class is rote memorization.

Biochem. This class is slightly less detail oriented, but is more conceptual. They will give you a list of objectives that the students are supposed to learn from each lecture. When it comes test time, they'll tell you that if you know those objectives and the details surrounding them, you'll know everything on the test. Do not buy into this. Again, know all the details in the notes and you'll be ok. Study hard for the quizzes and it will make the tests a little easier since you'll already have studied each section seriously.

Neuroscience. There are two components to this class...the physiology and the anatomy. The same rules apply for neuroanatomy as for gross anatomy. Know the notes. Neurophys, however, is more reasonable. The person who teaches this does a great job of cutting through the needless details and getting the important stuff across. His notes are far more concise. Also, neuroanatomy is more clinical than gross anatomy. Frequently the questions will describe a pt who has some sort of neurologic deficit, and they'll ask you to find the lesion. Gross anatomy does this to some degree, but they still ask some nonclinically oriented material.

Physiology. This class is tough. There's lots of rote memorization as well as difficult concepts. Each section is taught by a completely different person so it's difficult to generalize about the class. Work hard though because there's a fair amount of clinically useful information here. I think it would probably be good to use a review text because sometimes the notes are not that helpful.

Histology Psych and Cell Biology. These classes are a little easier and you can get by with a little less effort. But again, details are emphasized but there's much less to know.

Intro to Patient Care. This class is not very hard at all and is enjoyable. You get to learn how to use your stethoscope and stuff like that. Just don't let the midterm or final creep up on you because they're both more difficult than you'd think.

I probably skipped something, and if I did, I'll add something later.

I hope this is helpful, although I feel like I was just restating the obvious. Know the details very well and you'll do well on the exams. You should have the Pretest series of books for all the major classes and you should do every question if you want to get an A.

Let me know if there's any other info you all want. I'm glad to help any way I can.

 

[ArchiMed]

Ok, I'll do that...I was going to use specific professor names, but in an open forum I think that is less appropriate. Remember, my experience is nearly 4 years old, so there will be some differences, esp in Anatomy since it has changed from full body cadaver dissection to prosections only.

Anatomy. The notes are very good but you need to know all the details. The majority of the questions on the tests will cover these details. They assume you know the main points. Remember to keep up with embryology because if you get behind, it's easy to get completely lost. Go to lab as much as you can because honestly, if you put a fair amount of time into the lab, you should be able to get A's on the practicals. On the flip side, if you don't put a good amount of time into studying the labs, you'll do very poorly as there are ways to make the practicals more difficult than you'd expect. But if you go to lab, the professors will help you quite a bit. As you would expect, the entire class is rote memorization.

Biochem. This class is slightly less detail oriented, but is more conceptual. They will give you a list of objectives that the students are supposed to learn from each lecture. When it comes test time, they'll tell you that if you know those objectives and the details surrounding them, you'll know everything on the test. Do not buy into this. Again, know all the details in the notes and you'll be ok. Study hard for the quizzes and it will make the tests a little easier since you'll already have studied each section seriously.

Neuroscience. There are two components to this class...the physiology and the anatomy. The same rules apply for neuroanatomy as for gross anatomy. Know the notes. Neurophys, however, is more reasonable. The person who teaches this does a great job of cutting through the needless details and getting the important stuff across. His notes are far more concise. Also, neuroanatomy is more clinical than gross anatomy. Frequently the questions will describe a pt who has some sort of neurologic deficit, and they'll ask you to find the lesion. Gross anatomy does this to some degree, but they still ask some nonclinically oriented material.

Physiology. This class is tough. There's lots of rote memorization as well as difficult concepts. Each section is taught by a completely different person so it's difficult to generalize about the class. Work hard though because there's a fair amount of clinically useful information here. I think it would probably be good to use a review text because sometimes the notes are not that helpful.

Histology Psych and Cell Biology. These classes are a little easier and you can get by with a little less effort. But again, details are emphasized but there's much less to know.

Intro to Patient Care. This class is not very hard at all and is enjoyable. You get to learn how to use your stethoscope and stuff like that. Just don't let the midterm or final creep up on you because they're both more difficult than you'd think.

I probably skipped something, and if I did, I'll add something later.

I hope this is helpful, although I feel like I was just restating the obvious. Know the details very well and you'll do well on the exams. You should have the Pretest series of books for all the major classes and you should do every question if you want to get an A.

Let me know if there's any other info you all want. I'm glad to help any way I can.

Sorry...I haven't been on in awhile....I just saw this....good grief! this is awesome!....thank you (again)....I already saved this info on my computer for this fall....

Also, I was wondering...the nerd in me wants to get a jump start on looking over stuff just to familiarize myself with what we will be seeing so I was thinking of buying some usmle review guides (plus, I figure they will come in handy later!)....is there a specific one that you would recommend? thanks!

 

[ArchiMed]

oh and one more question (this might be a dumb one)...what is the pretest series of books? Are you referring to the usmle study guides?

 

[Firebird]

I'm not sure what company publishes pretest, but they're just a set of paperbacks that have nothing but questions (usually about 600 per book). They are very representative of the level of difficulty at which Marshall tests. They are pretty close to the USMLE as well.

I would honestly not bother familiarizing myself before school starts. Take the time now for recreation. I say that because come August, you'll have very little time for fun and any stress free time now will be best spent without a text. I also say that because it will be easy to underestimate the level of detail that you'll be expected to know. So if you don't already have an Xbox 360, buy one and don't look up from it until August.

However, if you really just can't stand to wait, I would consider buying the BRS (Board Review Series...aka gridbooks at Marshall) books for Anatomy and Biochem and start reading them. Get the big picture now and memorize the details when class starts. An anatomy atlas (Grant's or Netter's) would possibly be helpful too. Seriously though, don't over do it.

 

[ArchiMed]

not an xbox360 person myself...but I did just get a wii so I will be spending most of my free time on that

 

[Firebird]

Interestingly enough, a recent study showed that using the Wii improved residents' laparoscopy skills. At least this is what I was told.

 

[ArchiMed]

Interestingly enough, a recent study showed that using the Wii improved residents' laparoscopy skills. At least this is what I was told.

Sweet...so when I am seemingly wasting my time playing on the wii I am really honing my future laparoscopic skills...or at least that is what I can tell myself!...

 

[jacquelinefaith]

Does anyone know when Marshall is done interviewing out of state students?...... And has any out of state students interviewed in Feb-March heard anything since their interview?

 

[DoubleBundle]

Does anyone know when Marshall is done interviewing out of state students?...... And has any out of state students interviewed in Feb-March heard anything since their interview?

I think they said at the interview they would be done interviewing in mid-March so I assume that date has passed.

I interviewed in Feb. and have not heard anything either.

 

[Jimmy Paige]

I emailed them a couple weeks ago. They said that they were done interviewing the Tuesday before last and are starting their 2nd reviews this week.

good luck to everyone!

 

[EyeDocPlus]

Great! Hope to hear something soon. I interviewed February 18th and the waiting has been brutal. So many things hinge on my acceptance at the MUSOM!