chief_agith said:
i was just looking for some feedbackk from ppl who have been in the program before...any comments woudl be appreciated. thanks!
I did the IMS program a couple years ago. It is a great program for people who truly feel they are academically capable of handling the rigorous medical school curriculum. As their website says, the program works best for students who feel that they are smarter than what their undergrad gpa shows. Basically, you need to go into the program with the mindset that you will be working as hard as a medical student. In other words, just because you are taking a fraction of the 1st year curriculum doesn't mean you only have to study a fraction of the amount of 1st year medical students. You will get letter grades and a gpa each semester, and there are schools, particularly on the west coast, that are not familiar with our program, and they assume that as a grad student you should have at least a 3.0gpa. But, the mean of the medical students is the B in IMS. The successful students who get into allopathic schools are those who get a B or better in all their classes.
There are many common complaints, and some of which are well founded. The medical students are given a lot of support from the administration of the medical school. In the IMS program, I found that I was pretty much on my own. But, that really was not a problem for me, as I am a very independant person. Also, the facilities that the IMS program uses are older, as they were previously used by Hahnemann Univ. medical school before it merged with MCP. But, you should realize that PA, PT, nursing, 3rd and 4th year medical students, undergrads, and physicians also use the same lecture halls, classrooms, labs, and library. I found that on occasion, there were technical problems with the streaming video, but that was pretty rare and usually fixed pretty rapidly whenever someone complained over the microphone to the Queen Lane lecture hall.
I think the biggest mistake you can make is having the attitude of just passing your classes. I watched many people in my class get C's and B's and wonder why they weren't getting into med schools since they were passing the same med school classes. Don't forget that you need to have a competetive gpa just like every other regular applicant. The difference is your gpa from the IMS program is trying to make up for a few bad years in undergrad. Get a tutor right away if you think your grades aren't good enough. Tutors are free for you, and did well in those same classes. I have tutored many IMS'ers, and I know that they did better because I was able to explain to them what was important and what wasn't. Lastly, the IMS program generally requires an MCAT of a 27, but med schools, including Drexel, want a 29-30. Since you are doing a post-bac, it is safe to assume you are trying to improve your gpa, so you really can't afford a lower MCAT.
If your MCAT is good, and you have EC's, then the IMS program is great. If you have the work ethics of a medical student, then you will soon become one. Good luck!
