Bones2008 said:
yeah, how was that and what did you do? I wanted to go but couldn't because I was graduating that weekend.
it was really cool - they really, really went out of their way to make it a good weekend.
i got there sort of late-ish on friday; apparently there were financial aid reps there to go over pkgs individually. i made it to the pizza party in the evening - tons of m1s and m2s and prospectives squeezed into a lounge of sorts (that, haha, said "no eating or drinking - quiet please"
), but it was surprisingly good pizza so i was happy. later on there was the usual evening festivities, parties etc.. then sat morning (too early) we got breakfast (it sucked though - the tea water was
lukewarm ) and had dr. remick talk to us for a bit. (p.s. he's a really, really nice guy; even remembered my name and the no-name university i attended when i met him. that gets a plus in my book!
) then dr. lash talked to us about the curriculum. this guy was sooooooooo awesome. i was laughing pretty much nonstop...i'm really looking forward to having him as a prof (he teaches the clinical interludes in m1!). here are some things that i didn't know when i went:
- the "new curriculum" is integrated, meaning you study organ systems instead of the traditional discipline approach. most classes have been integrated well. a couple were problematic (embryology i think?)
- "flex time" applies to exams as well as quizzes. this means you can take your quiz/exam if you're ready friday at 6 pm (anytime until monday 8 am i think), and have an entire free weekend with no obligations or pressures. weekly quizzes, while a pain sometimes and a source of low-key stress, are good for keeping you on track.
- entire 1st year is pass/fail with NO RANKING OF ANY KIND (yay!) for the 1st year. i've also heard that after that you're only ranked in quartiles for the purposes of the dean's letter. i also heard that there's serious consideration for changing 2nd year to p/f as well. (i hope i hope i hope i hope that comes through...)
- you get "clinical interludes", 5 of 'em, during m1. This means for 1 whole week, you purely focus on clinical work, applying what you learn in the classroom. most people really, really look forward to this and it seems awesome.
- there's something called "family centered experience" (FCE) where you're matched up w/a family dealing with a serious illness. the goal isn't to participate in treating them and stuff, but to talk to them and get a perspective of what it's like from the patient side. also sounds very cool.
- year 2 will end 2 months earlier so that you have extra time for clinical electives.
- there's a thesis requirement
for our class. 15 pg paper...dr. remick said it shouldn't be a source of stress - it can be basically anything from clinical experiences to basic science research.
- international rotations/internships are becoming really popular and accessible to um students. lots do them in the summer b/t m1/m2 year or during their 3rd year.
then we had the coooooolest experience...we got to go on rounds that morning which was AWESOME. (apparently we went to areas where even the m1s/m2s don't get to go...). our group went to the trauma burn unit where this awesome doc showed us around and went over various cases.
after that we had a tour of a2 (which was also really cool - a2 is a really cool city; not what i'd imagined...the law campus is
gorgeous. really pretty place, at least in the spring.) tour of housing and apts.
then there was a student panel which was so-so....then we had a really nice dinner and "explored nightlife". All great experiences. students seem cool. i had a great time overall!
that's all i can think of for now. anyone else who was there...feel free to add
edit: oooh, and i forgot, i met sunnys81 when i was there. he was nice enough to pick us all up from the detroit airport...thanks
and this other really nice girl dropped a bunch of us off at the airport at 6:30 a.m.
so yeah, the peeps were really nice