*******MCW Class of 2011*********

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DoctorFunk said:
The M2s in this thread are probably just as burnt out on the basic science years as I am and find the seemingly inessential parts of the courseload right now (human sexuality course and clinical exam and reasoning) quite grating.
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actually, I find the rigors and complexities of the detailed sexual history to be highly stimulating.
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Agent Splat said:
actually, I find the rigors and complexities of the detailed sexual history to be highly stimulating.
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Hehehehehehehe. You said "stimulating."
 
DoctorFunk said:
It really depends on what your style of learning is. I attended most lectures last year and have stopped going to lecture completely during my 2nd year and I find that the best classes are (like Ashers said) those that are well-organized, and especially those that have well-done lecture notes. It is much easier for students to learn the material and for lecturers to write relevant exam questions that were actually covered in class if the material is spelled out in detail for everyone. It can be really annoying when I open our notes to a path lecture and all I have staring at me are slides with a disease name on it (without explanation for what it is) followed by a whole bunch of pathological slides.

The good news is that we have a note-taking coop here that you can join. They charge some money for the cost of copying (I think I've probably paid a total of $100 over the two years) and you have to write notes for about 4 or 5 lectures/year but they are really good for helping you flesh out incomplete lecture notes.

Overall I think the curriculum here is pretty good (especially first year with the exception of neuro) and compares favorably to those found in other schools. The M2s in this thread are probably just as burnt out on the basic science years as I am and find the seemingly inessential parts of the courseload right now (human sexuality course and clinical exam and reasoning) quite grating.
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Then there are those of us who don't get coops, and when we intentionally ditch class, the mp3 recordings don't work. (It's happened both times I've intentionally ditched to go snowboarding in 2 years.)

As for human sexuality. I wonder what'd happen if our video suddenly disappeared... can I say a psych patient ate it on the way through the in patient ward?
 
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Ashers said:
As for human sexuality. I wonder what'd happen if our video suddenly disappeared... can I say a psych patient ate it on the way through the in patient ward?
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Don't do that. They'd probably have us reenact the whole thing live in front of our group.

Now the rest of you are wondering: what exactly does this "video" for the human sexuality class entail?! Come to MCW and find out your second year! ;)
 
Because I've only been to Milwaukee once (for my interview last month), I have absolutely no idea where to begin looking for housing. I've seen posts about The Reserves and remember hearing some of the students talk about renting houses near the school. Any thoughts, ideas, opinions, information, etc. would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
acjgoblu said:
Hey guys, I'm a potential MCW Class of 2011er with a few random questions...first of all, when I came to interview in the middle of January, the guys I stayed with lived in a nice 3 bedroom house in the neighborhood just over the bridge...do a lot of people live around there? Is it possible to find a house over in that neighborhood for rent? Or, if not, are there ever people who have bought houses in that area advertising for roommates (either online somewhere or at the school bulletin boards)?

Also, I heard a few of you mention that you have a dog...I'm really hoping to be able to get one when I start med school, but I'm worried that I won't have a lot of time to spend with it (especially when the M3 and M4 years roll around)...is this a problem or do you find that your dogs adapt well to the tough med school schedule?

Thanks for any info, I look forward to joining the community in the fall!
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I lived in that neighborhood last year (I was on 71st and North)...it's great. Nice and quiet, and excellent location for school. It's pretty easy to find rentals - lots of landlords post their listings on the bulletin boards here at school, and many simply stick a sign out in their front yard, so it pretty much warrants a trip out here to find anything worthwhile. When I was in town looking for places, most of the landlords I called were pretty good about getting me a quick same-day showing.

I have a dog which we got as a puppy during the summer after 1st year. She's great, and the schedule this year has allowed me to be home when I need to in order to let her outside and whatnot. I'm not sure exactly how 3rd year is going to work out, but I'm sure glad that I have Mrs. Gimlet around to help with the dog responsibilities, because it sounds like I'll be spending a lot of LONG days in the hospital. I don't think I could handle a dog during 3rd and 4th year if I lived alone (maybe Akpete has a plan for that).

IUHoosier21 said:
Because I've only been to Milwaukee once (for my interview last month), I have absolutely no idea where to begin looking for housing. I've seen posts about The Reserves and remember hearing some of the students talk about renting houses near the school. Any thoughts, ideas, opinions, information, etc. would be appreciated. Thanks in advance
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Try checking out the attachment to get an idea - it's a survey of all the students' housing situations from 2006, with some tips for people looking to rent. I'll try to write more when I have more time.
 

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I thought your speed pulling into C lot this morning was highly unprofessional. Control that Jeep of yours, or I'll report you to the dean. You know who you are.
 
TheProwler said:
I thought your speed pulling into C lot this morning was highly unprofessional. Control that Jeep of yours, or I'll report you to the dean. You know who you are.
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I thought that person coming to a complete stop in front of me in the middle of the road to C lot was highly unprofessional. That's why I showed them that professional people know where they are going and are important enough to need to get there fast.
 
DoctorFunk said:
I thought that person coming to a complete stop in front of me in the middle of the road to C lot was highly unprofessional. That's why I showed them that professional people know where they are going and are important enough to need to get there fast.
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Cars with stickers from Hawaii can get away with anything, right? A Hawaii license plate would be even cooler, if it didn't cost 3x as much to register my car there as it does here.
 
i've now been waiting 2 hours in the freezing waiting room for my car to be done. was supposed to get an oil change and have that "check engine" light looked at. But the light went off this morning, so i figured there wasn't anything big wrong.

the guy here just popped in and said "we're still doing diagnositics...the computer is pulling out a LOT of codes." Considering the car runs fine, I find it bizarre that there is apparently a lot wrong with it. probably shouldn't have installed the hover conversion in the year 2015.
 
Agent Splat said:
i've now been waiting 2 hours in the freezing waiting room for my car to be done. was supposed to get an oil change and have that "check engine" light looked at. But the light went off this morning, so i figured there wasn't anything big wrong.

the guy here just popped in and said "we're still doing diagnositics...the computer is pulling out a LOT of codes." Considering the car runs fine, I find it bizarre that there is apparently a lot wrong with it. probably shouldn't have installed the hover conversion in the year 2015.
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I know it'll be tempting, but try not to spend too much money on your car. It's probably the massive horsepower that your V8 puts out.

Oh, wait, that's Dr. Liard's car.
 
IUHoosier21 said:
Because I've only been to Milwaukee once (for my interview last month), I have absolutely no idea where to begin looking for housing. I've seen posts about The Reserves and remember hearing some of the students talk about renting houses near the school. Any thoughts, ideas, opinions, information, etc. would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
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There are also a lot of duplexes in the area. I'm south of Bluemound Road (get a map!) about 25 blocks west of school, or 2.5 miles away. It's nice, but remember that houses and duplexes tend not to have utilities included in the rent. You can call Wisconsin energies and ask about the average utility bills at a particular address for the previous year to get an idea of your budget.

I drove all around the neighborhood in late April to apartment-hunt and looked at a BUNCH of places. If you don't need washer-dryer hookups and aren't hung up on having a lot of closet space, the world is your oyster as far as apartment-hunting. I used the roommate listing service at the school, called up someone on the list who looked like a good match for me, and we interviewed each othe on the phone and made a deal on the spot. It's turned out extremely well for me: she likes to clean when she's stressed. :)

My landlady's brother dropped by a couple of weeks ago to mention that he has 18 rental properties in the area and likes to rent to med students. I gather some of his tenants are graduating. PM me if you'd like his contact info.
 
I am also wondering about housing. I am married and am hoping to find a place where I my wife and I (and possibly kids in the future) can stay for the 4 years, where is a good place to look?
 
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LittleriRich said:
I am also wondering about housing. I am married and am hoping to find a place where I my wife and I (and possibly kids in the future) can stay for the 4 years, where is a good place to look?
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Most people live in an apt complex or a house around school. If you are looking to rent, living in tosa is close and pretty cheap. There are a lot of small apt complexes(30 units) and townhouses that dont really advertise are are prob the best in quality/price. You should be able to find a 2 br with utilities for 800-900. However, married couples tend to live all over the city because of their spouses work. Most places in the milwaukee are no more than 20-30 min commute which is nothin depend on where you are coming from. My commute was 90 mins each way in atlanta.

If you are looking to buy a house you can look in the surrounding areas of west allis, new berlin, brookfield, elm grove, ect.
 
Samenewme,
Does your landlady have apartments close to school? 1 bedroom with heat included by chance?
 
LittleriRich said:
I am also wondering about housing. I am married and am hoping to find a place where I my wife and I (and possibly kids in the future) can stay for the 4 years, where is a good place to look?
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Any of the nearby suburbs will work. If you had older kids, I'd say stay out of the city of Milwaukee, where the public schools are not so hot, but since you don't have any yet, anywhere in short driving distance of school will be fine. The East side (Whitefish Bay, Shorewood, Fox Point) is a good 20-30 minutes away and pricey, but the neighborhoods around school are reasonable. For buying, I'd say West Allis is cheaper. You can probably get a suitable duplex or rental house where you'd be happy for some time. It's ideal to come around in late April or May and just drive around. Most people don't bother to advertise; they just put up signs.
 
My wife and I are actually in town this weekend working with a Realtor to find a house. We're pretty much looking all over. Obviously Tosa, Brookfield, West Allis and Elm Grove are very close to school. Do you know if anyone from school lives in Greendale or Franklin? If so, how are there commutes given that classes begin around 8AM and I may have to deal with rush hour traffic?
 
Bucky_Badger said:
My wife and I are actually in town this weekend working with a Realtor to find a house. We're pretty much looking all over. Obviously Tosa, Brookfield, West Allis and Elm Grove are very close to school. Do you know if anyone from school lives in Greendale or Franklin? If so, how are there commutes given that classes begin around 8AM and I may have to deal with rush hour traffic?
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I moved to Oak Creek last summer, which is right next to Franklin so basically the same commute. The traffic hasn't been bad this year, but that's mostly been because classes for 2nd years start at 9am. There's usually a 15-20 minute delay on the bypass (894) from about 6:45 to 8 am. Since I don't have to leave until 8:20, I miss the traffic most days (unless there's an accident, which happens once every week or so). If I had to be at school at 8 or 8:20 for first year classes, I would be screwed most days. Like Pratik mentioned earlier, though, traffic is all a matter of your perspective. Someone from Chicago or LA would probably think a 15 minute delay is nothin'.

Coming home hasn't been bad at all...slight delays when you get on the bypass, but it clears up after a half-mile or so.
 
I am in................................................................... am gonna be a great DOCTOR!
 
Gimlet said:
Nice work! Looks like that third interview wasn't such a bad thing after all, eh?
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i almost had a heart attack during the third interview... my heart rate is now back to normal. GOD bless MCW!
 
arsenewenger said:
i almost had a heart attack during the third interview... my heart rate is now back to normal. GOD bless MCW!
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That'll pass. Just wait until you hit the lectures on head and neck anatomy in October of your first year. You'll think you're going to have a heart attack right on the spot. ;)
 
How well do you guys do in the residency matching process? Generally speaking, how do residency directors view MCW and students graduating from it? How likely is it for students to match in competitive fields? I appreciate any inputs.:)
 
Somewhere on SDN there is a thread that lists all the .pdf files that have the match lists from 2005 or 2006. They don't have names, obviously, but you can see what they went into and where they matched.

I'm sure that between 2 otherwise equal students the one from Hopkins will fair slightly better than the one from MCW but you're going to find that you are the limiting factor when it comes to kick ass residencies. So, if you are the top student and you score in the 99th percentile on step 1 you won't have a problem.
 
man...i'm glad I haven't really started worrying about residency yet.
 
Agent Splat said:
man...i'm glad I haven't really started worrying about residency yet.
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Enjoy it while you can. I've already decided residency won't be enough, so I'm worrying about fellowships!
 
Ibn Sina said:
How well do you guys do in the residency matching process? Generally speaking, how do residency directors view MCW and students graduating from it? How likely is it for students to match in competitive fields? I appreciate any inputs.:)
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We seem to do quite well in the matching process. Just from memory last year's class had a very large group of folks match into Emergency Med, had a few orthopods, and even a derm or two (probably the toughest specialty to match into other than maybe neurosurgery or plastics).

Indo is right. Having the MCW name behind your application probably isn't going to score you big points or hinder you as the school seems to be solidly in the middle of most med school rankings. Just take care of your grades, board scores, and get some research in after first year (MCW has a program set up to make this very easy) and you'll be just fine.
 
Thanks. Yes, it seems that the whole process makes you worry more than you should, especially about the distant future. I guess I just have to take it as it comes!
 
Ibn Sina said:
Thanks. Yes, it seems that the whole process makes you worry more than you should, especially about the distant future. I guess I just have to take it as it comes!
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The distant future is the only reason I'm able to get out of bed everyday. The rare clinical interjections don't really remind me of why I wanted to be a doctor so I have to imagine the light at the end of the tunnel.
 
indo said:
The rare clinical interjections don't really remind me of why I wanted to be a doctor so I have to imagine the light at the end of the tunnel.
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I've begun the slow process of making peace with the fact that there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
 
Ashers said:
for us or the patient?
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just thought i'd throw this in here....my ambulance service's motto is "Anywhere...Anytime...Where the Patient Always Comes First."

almost as good as the flooring company van I saw with the motto "we lay anything" on the side. even had my camera with me, but I was driving.
 
Agent Splat said:
just thought i'd throw this in here....my ambulance service's motto is "Anywhere...Anytime...Where the Patient Always Comes First."

almost as good as the flooring company van I saw with the motto "we lay anything" on the side. even had my camera with me, but I was driving.
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Can one of you Veterans explain to me how first semester is like?
 
arsenewenger said:
Can one of you Veterans explain to me how first semester is like?
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They ease you into med school by not trying to suck away your will to live too much. Though biochem's slightly annoying. Second year is when they clear any plugs with Dran-o and quickly suck away your will to live. Maybe path and CER will be better by the time you get to it.

Biochem 5 days/week 820am
Anatomy and lab in the afternoon usually 3-4 days a week
Human development
Psych (great teacher)
 
arsenewenger said:
Can one of you Veterans explain to me how first semester is like?
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One week of orientation filled with mind-numbingly boring talks from the administration, interspersed with "get to know you" type activities planned by the orientation committee. Then they pretty much throw you to lions when you start class. You'll have Anatomy, Biochem, and Human Development all semester, and Psychiatry and Clinical Continuum for part of the semester. CC is divided into components of Medical Information Management, Medical Interviewing, and Cultural Competency.

The pace and detail of med school takes a little getting used to, but by the end of the first block of exams, people seem to have it worked out. It's definitely not the hardest semester of med school.

Can you be more specific?
 
arsenewenger said:
Can one of you Veterans explain to me how first semester is like?
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Were you ever unfortunate enough to watch a really graphic horror movie when you were way too young, say between the ages of 6-10, perhaps through the negligence of a babysitter your parents hired or an older sibling? You might have wondered to yourself at the beginning of the movie, "Why is that guy wearing a ski mask? What is he going to do with that chainsaw?" Then upon watching what unfolds for the next 90 minutes you sit in sheer horror shocked by the depravity of it all, only to find yourself leaping in stark terror at the slightest noise in the dark, sure that your next step would be your last. The nightmares: relentless.

That's a lot like block 2 of your first semester of medical school at MCW.
 
DoctorFunk said:
Were you ever unfortunate enough to watch a really graphic horror movie when you were way too young, say between the ages of 6-10, perhaps through the negligence of a babysitter your parents hired or an older sibling? You might have wondered to yourself at the beginning of the movie, "Why is that guy wearing a ski mask? What is he going to do with that chainsaw?" Then upon watching what unfolds for the next 90 minutes you sit in sheer horror shocked by the depravity of it all, only to find yourself leaping in stark terror at the slightest noise in the dark, sure that your next step would be your last. The nightmares: relentless.

That's a lot like block 2 of your first semester of medical school at MCW.
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also, I will add that I recently acquired a pepper-spray device for various reasons, and I have continuously considered spraying myself to see what it is like, knowing that the pain can't be any worse than what I've already experienced in med school.
 
Agent Splat said:
also, I will add that I recently acquired a pepper-spray device for various reasons, and I have continuously considered spraying myself to see what it is like, knowing that the pain can't be any worse than what I've already experienced in med school.
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You could always break a bone, meet the awesome orthopaedists, then we could all sign your cast. No risk damaging your eyes then.

Funny thing is today, seeing my mentor, the neurologist, was the one thing that was worthwhile about med school (aside from company at lunch). Spent 4.5 hours in neuro, over in the ER, tagging along with the residents and M3s and M4s. Now I have to write an H&P on a person with a lacunar stroke (apparently what I learn in the neuropatholgies can be useful).
 
Agent Splat said:
also, I will add that I recently acquired a pepper-spray device for various reasons, and I have continuously considered spraying myself to see what it is like, knowing that the pain can't be any worse than what I've already experienced in med school.
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Would it be unprofessional of me to ask you for a mercy-spray just prior to the pharm final?

Oh, and for the record I think Journey's a totally sweet band.
 
DoctorFunk said:
Oh, and for the record I think Journey's a totally sweet band.
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on that note I'll also add that Joe Esposito's "You're the Best" from Karate Kid, as recommended by Gimlet, is a great power song to make me actually feel GOOD about studying.
 
Ashers said:
You could always break a bone, meet the awesome orthopaedists, then we could all sign your cast. No risk damaging your eyes then.

Funny thing is today, seeing my mentor, the neurologist, was the one thing that was worthwhile about med school (aside from company at lunch). Spent 4.5 hours in neuro, over in the ER, tagging along with the residents and M3s and M4s. Now I have to write an H&P on a person with a lacunar stroke (apparently what I learn in the neuropatholgies can be useful).
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Well, it's nice that some people are having good experiences with the H&P crap. I went for the first time today. Was told to go see patient in room #whatever. That was the only instruction I got. I wasn't even given his name or anything. Then afterwards, I got sent to a doctor who had to see 41 patients today. He asked "did you get a history from him?" I said it was difficult, but his wife helped out. I am to bring my write-up next week. And that was it. He didn't ask anything about even doing a physical exam. He doesn't even have any idea of what I did for an hour today.
 
Agent Splat said:
on that note I'll also add that Joe Esposito's "You're the Best" from Karate Kid, as recommended by Gimlet, is a great power song to make me actually feel GOOD about studying.
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Until, of course, you realize that you're not, in fact, the "best" and there is someone in our class that has probably only missed a total of 3 pathology questions so far this year, with 2 of those coming on the hem/onc test that half the class failed. Just sayin'.
 
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