jscott, when did we speak regarding Nova?
feel free to email me and we can discuss its pros and cons completely, i just dont recall ever speaking with you so was somewhat confused by your posting, also I would be glad to direct you to some first years that would be willing to give you their opinions...not my own...the biggest beefs I have heard thus far revolve around:
1. poor handouts in the physiology department (actually they have improved drastically in the last two years, so quinns points may hold more weight) This year, one of the first years told me (ironically he has the initials JS LOL) that as a former teacher, he was very disappointed in the teaching quality from a educators viewpoint...also being from a teaching background i tended to agree)
2. Bad attitudes by some of the clinical practicum instructors (not just dr. SS, but a couple of others,
3. the plethora of "alternative" type courses that detract from the time necessary for studying and that often are condescending in presentation...e.g. Ethnocultural medicine, Medical Ethics, Rural medicine, and some of the other courses that are not basic science or medicine related.
Those have been the biggest complaints, that and the student representative and several others felt they were not able to talk openly on the internet because of some things the dean said.
They also seem happier now that they have backed him down regarding mandatory rotations in an inherently dangerous environment.
The big thing to focus on in the first two years is that MOST of your learning is NEVER in the classroom (nor has it ever been) therefore the ideal EFFICIENT student is one who uses classroom hours only when there is information to be learned...A mandatory attendance policy restricts this freedom and places the mature postgraduate student in an auditorium with 180 students (many barely out of diapers) making noise and playing computer games....not an ideal learning environment and not a sound educational policy in postgraduate coursework.
The postives are: lots of nightlife, good weather, good facilities, free use of very good microscopy, extended lab hours (these often are UNDERUTILIZED). Histology and Anatomy are strong. Biochem and Physiology are not. Neuroanatomy could be better, but is pretty good. BUT I am hardly in a position to say that any one particular course is better or worse than what CCOM has, that wouldn't be an honest assessment.
Second year is very haphazard educationally, many of the professors dont seem to prepare very hard for their lectures (as with elsewhere, cancellations occur more frequently in second year) it doesnt do a great job of transitioning people to third year, some professors who are poor presenters are kept on as lecturers due to some debt or relationship they have to the university not due to their ability to disseminate information (this also seems common industry wide).., but it wouldn't take much tweaking to make the transition easier and there are clinical professors here fighting very hard to make this change
Some of the Third year tracks seem very good.
People at North Broward tell me they like it despite the rough call schedule. Palmetto and Mount Sinai seem good. West Palm Beach would probably be good as an intern, but is very weak for third year (imho), I hear lots of good things about suncoast and the New Jersey track, Orlando seems very well organized and structured, with PAID faculty (which is a rare bonus). You apply to whatever track you desire but NO ONE is guaranteed a particular track, however a majority get their first or second choice.
Hope this helps a little. Dont put money down as a reason not to interview...you are gonna be 120,000 dollars in debt fairly quickly, dont base your decision on a $1000 trip. Above all else, remember that your education is YOUR education, If YOU take responsibility for it early, it completely anhilates any false sense of loyalty or reliance upon the school...These schools are in it for money, not your development as a physician and there are 3 applicants for every position filled...While they all would like to be ranked number one educationally, it is only natural that there is much less incentive for this than if there were 3 positions for every applicant. This should continue to improve however at Nova. The merger of southeastern which was a wholly market driven health professions university with Nova which is a much more sophisticated CENTER FOR HIGHER LEARNING (albeit market driven, the larger variety of programs means that the less market driven programs depend more on the POSTIVE REPUTATIONS of the market driven programs) this means that there is now a much greater demand on the HPD for quality in the medical education industry than if HPD were a university unto itself.
good luck. shoey.
