My unsolicited advice for MSUCOM 2004

[MOXIEJEN DO 2003]

Or, "Things I wish someone would have told me before I moved to Lansing." Or, "How to work the parking system.

I invite other MSUCOM students to add to my list as they see fit!

1) Get a locker upstairs by the Anatomy lab the first day of orientation. These lockers are very convenient, and get taken fast. So bring a padlock with you.
2) Buy a labcoat at a second-hand store to use for anatomy lab. That thing is going to stink so badly by the first month of school, that you will look forward to when you can burn it in December. You will be given a beautiful new coat to use for clinicals at your white coat ceremony, so save your money.
3) Get a good pair of comfortable shoes for the hours and hours you will be on your feet in anatomy lab. Make sure you don't like them too much, as you will want to burn them along with that stinky lab coat.
4) Save your money. Every penny. Loans run out so quickly. Seriously consider getting a roommate.
5) Don't register for university parking unless you're sure you want to use it. If you have a student sticker, they can ticket you for parking in meters. If you park in Lot 100, (which is located between Life Sciences -our lecture hall- and Fee Hall --Anatomy lab, etc.) you can park for free if you leave after 6 p.m., which is when they put the gate up. Which, let me tell you, it will be a good day if you leave campus before 6 p.m. as you will be living in your second apartment, known as Room E220 (Anatomy lab). Look into parking at Eyde bldg which is across the street from Hannah Plaza. It works out to be a lot cheaper than university parking, and you can park there on the days you know you want to leave before six p.m.
6) If you buy your textbooks at Matthew's Stat, you get 5% off if you pay by cash or check. Like I said, every penny counts.
7) Use the food bank on campus, It's at the Olin health center every other Thursday.
8) You can 'check out' a dog to walk at the Vet Center by leaving your ID card with them. It's how I satisfy my "pet craving" without taking on vet bills and dog food!
9) The IM (Intramural) Gym is a cheap way to work out, vs. getting a commercial gym memebership. It is a five minute walk from Fee, so you can squeeze in a workout between classes. The hours stink during the summer, but in the late fall and winter, it's open till midnight or one a.m.
10) Get an anatomy tutor. The second year students provide this for you out of the kindness of their hearts. Your big sib might be your tutor, or you can choose someone else.
11) Choose your lab partners wisely. They will most likely become your study partners, as well as your best friends. I got lucky. Very lucky.

Enjoy your summer, Good luck, and see you at orientation.

Jen

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[RYSA]

Hi Jen,

Even though your advice was unsolicited, it was very much appreciated...Thank you!!

Do you think that Matthew's Stat is the best place to buy our first year texts?

Approximately how much do you realistically estimate that we will spend for books and instruments during our fisrt year?

What instruments will be needed for second term?

What do you think are the best texts for our first year courses?

And finally, how intense is the anatomy course at MSU?

Any responses would be welcome!

RYSA
MSU-CHM, 2004

 

[DocGibby]

While visiting my friend, a first year, I had the opportunity to taste some of the food from the food bank. Eat at your own risk. That stuff was horrible.

 

[DrSRBS]

Thank you very much for your advice, Jen. I have been checking this forum for information about MSUCOM every day and this was one of the most useful posts I have seen.

I have a couple of questions myself:

What is a food bank? How much does the IM gym cost to join? When do the loan disbursements usually roll in? Are there any good discounts for students on computers?

Thanks!

------------------
Scott
MSUCOM Class of 2004

 

[MOXIEJEN DO 2003]

Rysa and Scott~
Here goes.....

I suggested Matthew's STAT because they have a good selection, and you get the 5% discount if you pay by cash or check. But there are plenty of good bookstores.

You will probably pay close to $750 for your medical equipment, which is for the rest of your med school career. Otoscope, Opthalmoscope, Stethoscope, doctor toys, you get the idea. At MSUCOM, if you join SOMA (Student Osteopathic Medical Association) then you get great discounts on the equipment, and your membership pays for itself. You will also need a pair of scrubs for your clinical skills class. They sell them cheap the day of the equipment sale.

As for books, there is another thread going on that, so you can reference that. You will spend close to $350 for coursepacks for your first three semesters.
We also have a scribe service. If you 'subscribe' to the scribe service, you get the notes for all classes for roughly $275 a semester. However, if you become a scribe, (which I highly recommend) you get paid $40 per lecture (It'll take you 3-4 hrs to do a scribe) and you get all your scribes for free. If you are an auditor, you dont' get paid, as you only proofread, drop it off to be xeroxed, and stuff mailboxes, but you do get your scribes for free.
I've spent close to $500 on texts for my first three semesters, but I got lucky and my big sib loaned me quite a few that I needed.

Yes, Anatomy at MSUCOM is intense, but the instructors are awesome. But, then again, anatomy is supposed to be intense, as it's the initiation ritual into med school. At MSU the cadavers are prosected, thank God, so you can spend your time memorizing muscle after bone after nerve after artery after structure......


The food bank is where we go to get FREE FOOD. And yes, Doc Gibby, it isn't gourmet, but staples like beans, rice, cereal, veggies, Oreo cookies

, Mac and cheese, Soup, etc. come in handy and stretch that loan money even further. And if you're a good cook like me

, you can come up with some creative good meals.
Some of the stuff isnt' bad at all, and you only have to take what you like/need.

The IM I believe is around $75 a year. (12 mos-not academic year). However, I just found out that they are opening up a Gold's Gym in Hannah Plaza across from school, and rumor has it you can get memberships for $300 a year, with better equip than the IM,(more machines, treadmills, etc.) and it's going to be open till midnight every night. (IM hours are very limited in the late spring and summer). So you will have to weigh the cost against how much you expect to use it.


Loans are disbursed usually four days after you have bounced five checks. Seriously though, they are disbursed the first week of each semester, so you don't get the money early.

I'm glad you asked about computers! Don't buy one until you get to campus! Last year they alloted us $3,000 in loan money above and beyond what your package is to buy yourself a computer. What happens is, you go buy it,give the receipt to Diane in financial aid, and they adjust your package, and cut you a reimbursement check. I didn't find out about this until after I bought a $1,000 computer with my own money. It does the job, but if I had known I had the use of loan money for it, I could have bought a better one.

Jen

 

[reddy]

Hi Jen.

That was extremely helpful. Thanks for taking the time to write it. I especially liked the tip on the "walk a dog" program. You answered all my nagging questions. I do however have one unrelated question. I hope you'll have some input.

My SO plans to move to Lansing with me and would like to get a research job at one of the bio/medical labs. Besides the campus employment office, are there other ways to find full-time research jobs? I'm thinking the bulletin boards might be one way, but maybe you have additional ideas. Thanks!

reddy

[This message has been edited by reddy (edited 06-08-2000).]

 

[MOXIEJEN DO 2003]

Reddy~
Try www.4lansing.com. They have links to local businesses. Good luck!
Jen

 

[reddy]

Thanks Jen. I'll check it out.

 

[DocGibby]

Yesterday, I thought I might review a little biochem so that I could take the waiver exam during orientation. To my horror, I could barely accomplish some simple equilibrium problems. It's a bit discouraging to say the least. Anyone else out there have similar problems recalling info learned nearly 5 years ago?

 

[DrSRBS]

Doc--

Yeah. I thought about taking the waiver exam myself. I got an A in graduate Biochem four years ago. Rather than take the waiver, I decided to take the course. I figure a review of the subject before things like molecular biology/genetics and pharmacology would be in order. I was a little worried about not being "on the same page" as my colleages.

Does anyone who's gone through a year or so at MSUCOM have any comments? Do you think it is worth going through again to refresh memories or do you think it is better to waive out of it and not worry about it?

------------------
Scott
MSUCOM Class of 2004

 

[MOXIEJEN DO 2003]

I only know of one person who waived out of Biochem in my class. The class was rigorous, and the concepts in it are linked to so many of our other classes, that unless you can call yourself "Queen Biochem" or "King Biochem"---TAKE THE CLASS! I had biochem in undergrad, did well, and I actually failed the class by one point and had to remediate when I came back from Christmas break. I know a lot of people who barely passed the class, after they gave back three points after throwing out bad questions on the final....So, if you are REALLY STRONG in Biochem, go for it. Otherwise, I say take the class. The concepts in that class are revisited time and time again, and often we'll hear ourselves say, "Oh, yeah, remember that from Biochem" or "That's just like (A_B_C) in Biochem"

I wanted to make a clarification about the IM at MSU. You can use the IM for free to play basketball, racquetball, use the indoor track, and the fee I mentioned is to use the cardio/weight room which has nautilus machines, 10 lifecycles, and 20 stairmasters.

Enjoy your summer! Your life is going to go very quickly by you from August 31st till December!!!

Jen

 

[DocGibby]

I suspect that getting us all gung ho for the waiver exam is an attempt at getting us to prep early for a really tough class. Nevertheless, I'll give the waiver a try anyway.