Only 1 test for Gross?

[Hercules]

Hey everybody,
It's been a while since I've posted on here, and now I'm an MS-I finishing up with Gross Anatomy. Just for my personal information, do the majority of you other MS-I's have your tests in a block format or in one big final? I ask b/c 70% of my grade hinges on my upcoming final, and I'm wondering what all schools run Gross like this.

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[Billie]

Howdy!

At WVSOM, we have block exams. I think Gross was given over 3 blocks, but I must admit I can't remember it very well. I think I have surpressed that memory

Good luck on your tests!

Billie, MS-IV

 

[lilycat]

Hey Hercules! Good to hear from you.

At Baylor, it's block format, which I'm definitely glad about right now -- the more chances to get my act in gear, the better. My roommate is at UT-Houston, and it's block for them as well.

Take care and good luck.

 

[AJM]

At Stanford, the Anatomy course is based 100% on the cumulative final. There is an oral midterm that's only used for self-assessment and for the professors to identify who needs extra help before it's too late. But I must say that having your entire class performance of such a huge class based on one exam is extremely stressful!

Even 4 years later I see it as kind of a war trophy. But I, too, feel like I've supressed my anatomy knowledge. (Maybe I have PTSD...)

Good luck, Hercules!

 

[ckent]

At U Maryland, we have a block system but our anatomy grade is derived from 3 non-cumulative tests.

 

[Soupbone]

At UAB you used to have Anatomy, Biochem, and a couple of other courses at the same time (a sligtly different beast than the one you have now ). I remmember there used to be 6-8 hours of lecture a day.

The curriculum has evolved to the one test starting with your class. I think the increased study time is great ...I dont know how I would handle one "big" test for the course.

Soupbone
UASOM '02

 

[kd]

At East Tennessee, we have a total of 4 anatomy exams, one after each unit (back & thorax, head & neck, abdomen & pelvis, and extremities). A portion of our grade- I think 15-20% comes from the USMLE shelf exam, which we take in December.

 

[Hamster]

At Morehouse, We have block exams ( 5 of them I think). Each one is supposed to be about 10% cumulative, with the final being the USMLE Mini Board exam.
I couldn't imagine taking just one final exam. But I guess some advantages of that system may be, at least you get to integrate all of your info in a wholistic way, instead dividing a person into parts. So the good news maybe when you confront some one in the clinic you would be able to better assess their symptoms and determine one cause, where as I would sit around say " OK Sir, you have radiating pain down the arm and SOB well that sounds like Brachial Plexus and Lungs to me!

 

[Starflyr]

here at UTMB, we have 2 exams in anatomy - one is the midterm - worth 18% of our grade - over thorax, upper limb, back, and abdomen. Our final - cumulative, and worth 20% - is over pelvis & perineum, head & neck, and lower limb. We have 2 lab practicals - one with each exam - each worth 18% of the grade. The rest of the grade is based on PBL stuff and evaluations. Its not that bad - though it IS VERY fast - our final exam and lab practical are on Friday. Then we start a whole new course (molecules, cells and tissues). Good luck with your final!

Star

 

[Cobragirl]

Here at UF we have 3 block exams and then the "shelf" exam at the end of November (our final block exam is the day before the shelf exam...so much for studying)

 

[kris]

Hercules and ajm, all I have to say is "YUCK." One exam sounds like a raw deal to me.

We have 4 block exams, 5 hours each on Saturdays. Now that I know what your schools do, I'm really liking my situation!

We also have an end of the year final and a surprise shelf test to go with it. This means we are not told the shelf topic ahead of time. We need to pass these to go to 2nd year. I wonder how much gross I'll remember in May? Bets anyone?

--kris

 

[Cobragirl]

How much anatomy will we remember by the time the REAL boards roll around after 2nd year?????

We had a mock "Weakest Link" game with some of our 2nd years a couple of weeks ago. With the exception of some BLATANTLY OBVIOUS anatomy questions (i.e.-what is the large bone in the thigh called?) the 2nd years couldn't remember a thing! eeek!

 

[Vader]

At UCSF, we are in the first year of a new curriculum. For this block, we just had a 2-part midterm. The first part was a lab practical on anatomy and histology, and the second was a written exam covering anatomy (thorax, upper & lower limb), histology, cell biology, and some physiology, pharmacology, and behavior/social sciences. We have a final exam coming up in a couple of weeks. I think we have to get 70% or higher on each exam to pass.

 

[Cobragirl]

yeah, our 4th year TA's are pretty awesome too...but then again, most of them are going into Radiology, surgery, etc, and have kept up with the stuff via their rotations (they also study our materials every night just like we do so they know what's going on in lab the next day AND they have little "cheat" books in their pockets )

Oh oh oh to touch and feel....gotta love those cranial nerves!

 

[ckent]

Originally posted by Cobragirl:
•

Oh oh oh to touch and feel....gotta love those cranial nerves! •

Hey, I thought that we made that up! Amazing how good acronyms can go around the country.

 

[Cobragirl]

I think that one (and a few others!) have been around for some time! I actually learned that one 4 years ago while taking Comparative Anatomy...and had forgotten it completely...until last week when other people started reciting it again! Oh well, it'll last through the next block exam anyway!



My mother says marry money but my brother says big boobs matter most!!

 

[Cobragirl]

How 'bout "two zebras bit my c@#k"?

(actually there's several "clean" versions of that one, but for some reason the dirty ones always seem to stick better!lol)

 

[ppz1974]

Not for nothing, but I think you med students have it easy! I'm a first year veterinary student and we have a SINGLE anatomy test at the end of the course that's based on FIVE different species.

 

[kris]

ppz,
I kind of agree. Anatomy is tough enough, let alone comparative anatomy. Better you than me!

kris

 

[Cobragirl]

Hey...don't knock me! I started off pre-vet (I still LOVE animals and have a ZOO at home!) so I already DID comparative anatomy!

Hardest damn class I ever took (including NOW!)...but the BEST class I ever took! Our instructor was tough (real tough!) but AWESOME. He taught us so well that he would put disarticulated bones into a crown royal bag (during exams!)and we could tell him what it was, what species it came from, what side it was, and what connected to it! Talk about having to know EVERYTHING! I can honestly say that his class was MUCH harder than my med-school anatomy...and I'm not exactly breezing through anatomy right now! I'm glad I took comparative though, it certainly makes human anatomy alot easier to understand! I have classmates that just don't "get" the whole pharyngeal arch/pouch/cleft thing!

Congrats on vet school! In case everyone else doesn't realize it, vet school is actually MUCH harder to get into than medical school (hence my extremely high "pre-med" GPA ) There's only 27 schools (at my last count a couple years ago!) in the nation, compared to our 127, or so....

PS- Are you at Tufts?

 

[ppz1974]

Hey Cobragirl,
I'm not knocking anyone here at all, I know all of you are working super hard! And no I'm not at Tufts, I'm at Cornell (love every minute of it-it's an AWESOME vet school.)
I too have not only taken comparative anatomy before, but taught human anatomy and physio lab, and can say those experiences somewhat prepared me for this stuff here, but I still sruggle at times. Actually knowing human anatomy is often detrimental for me at times! You're anterior/posterior is my cranial/caudal as one simple example of my pain!
Sometimes I wonder about people saying it's harder to get into vet school that med school. I personally don't think it's true, and I think it's a lot harder to get into medical school. For one thing we take the GRE not the MCAT, which saves us a tremendous burden since the MCAT is orders of magnitude harder than the GRE. My undergraduate record is NOT stellar by any stretch (straight C's in orgo, a lot of B's in bio/physics/etc.) which I think I would have had to retake prior to applying to medical school. Also, I left a PhD program to come here to vet school without actually finishing the degree, which I understand would have severely diminished my chances of admission to medical school. And yes, there are only 27 schools, but there are far less applicants (in total about 6,500) so the overall acceptance rate is close to medical school (about 35%.) I think vet schools tend to REALLY look at the whole applicant, simply because they have less applicants to deal with. I know that goes on in med school too, but at the same time if one med school gets the same number of applications as there are TOTAL applicants to vet school, I would think the medical school has a harder job and has to kinda week out by numbers more often. Lastly (on't know if you already know it) but all veterinary schools are state subsidized (even the private ones), so they are preferentially admit in-state residents. The general gist is that you have the best chance of admission to the school that is in your state, or the school your state has contracts with. It's the out-of-state schools that are hardest to get into. For example a school like UC Davis admits something like 10 out of state people in a class of 110.
Well this is probably more information than anyone on this forum wanted to know about the application process to veterinary school, but I think vet students could conceivably be a part of SDN too right! I personally like to peruse the forum and I do find it interesting and helpful at times.
Good luck in school