Questions for UC medical students

[oblvioustigress]

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Thread inspired by EvoDevo's "Ask a Texas Medical Student" thread.

I am applying this year and will be a medical student at one of the UC's next year (accepted at UCI and offered interviews at UCSF, UCLA and UCD). The hardest part for this year's applicants (interested in attending a UC) will be to decide which UC to attend if offered multiple acceptances. I hope some UC medical students can help us make our decision by answering our questions and talking about their experiences. Please list your name, school and year if you are able to help.

***I hope my naive attempt to start a thread which would be better if started by a med student at least helps a few of us slightly... but if not, that's ok too =).

 

[Arginine]

I'm currently a 4th year med student at UCLA. Let me know if you have specific UCLA questions (and good luck with your upcoming interviews!)

 

[evade]

Second year at UCD here. Feel free to ask me anything you'd like as well! I'm very happy here. I think this will be an interesting thread, since all the UCs have a really different feel to them.

 

[Arc]

I really wonder what kind of a GPA/ stats you need to get into UCSD. Thats my ultimate goal for med school.

 

[RaaMD]

I guess its good that you're confident that you will be accepted to a UC. Many aspiring pre-meds are not able to express the same sentiment.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Sure, I'll join the party

I'm a 3rd year at UCSD

 

[notdeadyet]

I guess its good that you're confident that you will be accepted to a UC. Many aspiring pre-meds are not able to express the same sentiment.

She said she's already been accepted to UCI.

 

[Arc]

ayo, bump, I kinda wanna know what kind of stats you need for UCSD.

 

[LoneCoyote]

UCD 3rd year here. I'm happy to answer any Davis questions you have.

 

[fugazism]

edit

 

[MedvacMoney]

so if you were going to assign a phrase to describe each UC what would it be? please feel free to draw upon well known stereotypes.....like UCSD- "in class all the time"

UCLA--kicked the trojans A@@!!!!

 

[dopaminesurge]

Second year at UCD here. Feel free to ask me anything you'd like as well! I'm very happy here. I think this will be an interesting thread, since all the UCs have a really different feel to them.

I've always meant to ask what your avatar is...

Jo, I GOT INTO MED SCHOOL!! I hope everything worked out with B's final... 🙁

 

[lord_jeebus]

ayo, bump, I kinda wanna know what kind of stats you need for UCSD.

The better your stats, the better your chances, just like every other school.

Would you start slacking off if I told you 3.6 and you currently had a 3.7?

Many students here had excellent numbers, and some have numbers that you might find surprisingly low.

 

[BunnyMonkey]

Questions for UC Davis Med students:
1. I heard that the classes will be moved from the Davis site to Sacramento this coming year. How would that change the educational and social experience for an incoming first year at UCD?
2. Does that mean that 2007 students will never be needing to/able to go back to the UC Davis site for med classes? Will this be a good or a bad thing?
3. How's the student body there? What's the dynamic among the students? Are you guys mostly happy cooperative ppl or are you guys more individualist and mainly study on your own?
4. Finally, what are some of the bad aspects of attending UCD medical school? Would you have chosen another UC if you were offered multiple acceptances by the UC's?

Questions for UC San Diego Med Students:
1. One of the thing UCSD was notorious for is being too competitive with a very demanding curriculum, thus many previous students complained about being unhappy and overstressed. And I know that the new student life director has made efforts to improve the quality of student life at UCSD. Have any of you feel like there has been major improvements? Are you directly affected, if affected at all by these changes? And is the general population of UCSD med students happy?
2. How's the housing situation over there? Cheap? Accessible? Convenient?
3. Is it a benefit to have the med school be so close (or within) the undergrad campus?
4. Do you have any regrets about deciding to go to UCSD over your other acceptances (assuming you had multiple acceptances) and what are the factors that made you guys decide UCSD over all the other schools?

Questions for UCLA, UCI med students:
1. When is UCLA opening the Ronald Reagan Hospital? Are you going to have lectures there or still in CHS? What about clinical classes?
2. My questions for you guys are similar to those I've asked for Davis and San Diego. Please share your perspectives and experiences w/ us UC hopefuls (or Wishfuls).


I want to say in advance: Thank you so much for answering my questions. These will truly help me and others have better ideas of the UC's.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Questions for UC San Diego Med Students:
1. One of the thing UCSD was notorious for is being too competitive with a very demanding curriculum, thus many previous students complained about being unhappy and overstressed. And I know that the new student life director has made efforts to improve the quality of student life at UCSD. Have any of you feel like there has been major improvements? Are you directly affected, if affected at all by these changes? And is the general population of UCSD med students happy?

I know that changes have been made to the preclinical curriculum but since they don't do anything for me as an MS3 I'm not familiar with them. Personally, however, I didn't have a problem with the way things were in the first place. The main complaint in my class was that our teaching wasn't focused enough to the boards, in that we learned a lot of clinically relevant material that would not be on Step 1. "We'll never need to know this" is a common complaint, but a bold one from people who have yet to start clinical rotations. If you just want to learn the minimum for licensure this is not the school for you, even with the changes. Does this system produce better doctors? I think it does but I know people who would disagree.

I think that most students are happy most of the time.

I don't know why people say this school is "competitive," people have to work hard but the atmosphere is very cooperative.

2. How's the housing situation over there? Cheap? Accessible? Convenient?

UCSD affiliated housing is pretty nice, but the waitlist can be a problem. Finding a place to live in a convenient location at a reasonable price should not be an issue for anyone.

3. Is it a benefit to have the med school be so close (or within) the undergrad campus?

Only access to a variety of places to eat.

4. Do you have any regrets about deciding to go to UCSD over your other acceptances (assuming you had multiple acceptances) and what are the factors that made you guys decide UCSD over all the other schools?

No regrets. I chose it because of location and cost. My learning style is to learn things in as much depth as possible and so the curriculum was also a good match. I recommend it, knowing more about it now, because on the whole the residents who I work with from this school display superior clinical reasoning and fund of knowledge.

 

[LoneCoyote]

Questions for UC Davis Med students:
1. I heard that the classes will be moved from the Davis site to Sacramento this coming year. How would that change the educational and social experience for an incoming first year at UCD?
2. Does that mean that 2007 students will never be needing to/able to go back to the UC Davis site for med classes? Will this be a good or a bad thing?
3. How's the student body there? What's the dynamic among the students? Are you guys mostly happy cooperative ppl or are you guys more individualist and mainly study on your own?
4. Finally, what are some of the bad aspects of attending UCD medical school? Would you have chosen another UC if you were offered multiple acceptances by the UC's?

1. I think the move is going to be a great thing for the school as a whole. The new building is fabulous--big comfy lecture halls, state-of-the-art technology, and a really nice library, among other things. The main problem with the split campus thing was that for the first two years we were pretty isolated from the medical center. It will be nice to have everyone at the medical center. I think it will offer 1st and 2nd years a chance to get to know the medical center earlier on and to get more involved in clinical stuff aside from free clinics. It will also improve cohesion in the study body. I really know almost none of the 1st years yet since they have been in Davis.

2. As far as I know, you would be in Sac 100% of the time. Perhaps Evade can correct me if I am wrong since the 2nd year class has probably heard more about the details of the move then we have since we are in rotations this year. I think it will be good for reasons discussed in #1.

3. My class is pretty cooperative and about as laid-back as you can get for medical students. P/F first two years helps, I think. 1st year people sent out tons of study aids and posted notes on our class website. It continued 2nd year but not as much just because we were busier. Everyone gets along pretty well. We still have some class events 3rd year when we're all spread out on different rotations. Of course, everyone makes their own group of close friends, but people are friendly and mingle. On the wards so far I have not had bad experiences with people putting down others to try to get honors or anything like that. People work hard for themselves, not to beat others down here.

4. Bad aspects. Davis is a dynamic school which means things can change a lot. This can be good or bad. We had some new stuff added to our Doctoring curriculum 1st year that was not very productive and made people annoyed. Supposedly, they made some changes based on our input. Like any large public school UCD has its share of disorganization. Sometimes scheduling changes are made at the last minute or things don't happen quite the way they should. It can be annoying but nothing has ever made me regret coming here. They are also starting a new career planning system due to previous class's complaints that they felt they needed more help with residency apps. We just had a meeting about it and we'll be the 1st class to use it during 4th year. It will begin in 1st year for the incoming class. I think this will be an improvement.

Honestly, I would not have gone elsewhere. UCD was the best fit for me based on location, my personality, and my interests. This is a place to get great clinical training and also offers you the opportunities to pursue whatever you want, whether it's research, free clinics, or international travel. People here are nice and motivated and it lacks some of the pressure cooker or pretentious feeling that I have heard friends complain about at other schools in CA and out-of-state.

Hope that helps.

 

[UCLAstudent]

.

 

[UCLAstudent]

Questions for UCLA, UCI med students:
1. When is UCLA opening the Ronald Reagan Hospital? Are you going to have lectures there or still in CHS? What about clinical classes?

The Ronald Reagan hospital set to open in June of 2007. Random side note --- there was recently a fundraising event hosted at the new hospital. I know that Ellen Pompeo, Julie Andrews, Geena Davis and Alicia Keys attended. No wonder the med students weren't invited.

Lectures will still be in CHS, but there have been rumblings of a new med school building in the future --- not sure how much of this is true. Clinical classes have never been in CHS (they're in the Rehab and MedWest buildings across from Weyburn Terrace).

Let me know if you have any questions! I love UCLA and couldn't be happier.😍

 

[nairay]

Questions for UC Davis Med students:
1. I heard that the classes will be moved from the Davis site to Sacramento this coming year. How would that change the educational and social experience for an incoming first year at UCD?
2. Does that mean that 2007 students will never be needing to/able to go back to the UC Davis site for med classes? Will this be a good or a bad thing?
3. How's the student body there? What's the dynamic among the students? Are you guys mostly happy cooperative ppl or are you guys more individualist and mainly study on your own?
4. Finally, what are some of the bad aspects of attending UCD medical school? Would you have chosen another UC if you were offered multiple acceptances by the UC's?

I'm an MS2 at UCD.

Just to add on LoneCoyote's comments...
1. Classes will start in the new building on January 2nd. It's a beautiful space (lots of natural light) with lots of common areas. I think the natural light aspect will really help since many of the Davis classrooms had no windows and it got really depressing studying there. Socially, it'll be great running into upperclasspeople, and a lot easier to hold College events (or any event) involving clinical faculty.

2. Everything's moving to Sacramento. Any basic science faculty whose homebases are in Davis will lecture in the new building, have office hours in the new building, etc. Or, they can have "e-office hours" over the internet (which is pretty neat too, you or the faculty can bring up confusing slides and it'll show up on screen for all to see. it's kinda like instant messaging/chat office hours.) It's good that everything will be in one location, but you do miss out on experiencing Davis (which has its own charm, in my opinion, compared to Sacramento). What's staying in Davis is the gym until the new fitness center is done in fall 2007. Currently, we can use some facilities in the hospital, but it's nothing like the ARC.

3. The student body is awesome. We post up study guides like mad on our website still; i hear the 1st years post up mp3s of lectures that aren't recorded by the staff on their site. Everyone has his/her group of friends, but we all get along and support each other a lot. I'd say we're happy cooperative people.

It's one of the things that drew me to Davis when I interviewed; I really got a "good vibe" feeling from being around the students. We're happy, laid back, but work hard too.

4. One small detail missing in the new building are lab spaces. They are switching basic histology to virtual images, pathology is on virtual images, but anatomy lab will be at another space for the incoming ms1's and I'm not sure where neuroanatomy lab is going to be for the current ms1's. (they will be building another building adjacent to the new building for this purpose, some of the money will be coming in from the recent proposition 1...d? one of those.)

LCME is pushing for less lecture and more "case/team/self-directed based learning," and a lot of the faculty are new at this, so some things work well, and some bomb horribly. But we let them know that afterwards (but experiencing it is a waste of valuable time, especially when they make it required attendance). The faculty/admin are really receptive to our "focus groups" that consolidate course evaluations and discuss what worked and what changes can be made to the course directors.

I was accepted to UCD and UCI of the California schools. Both programs are great, the people at both were great, but I chose Davis for the change of scene (I'd gone to UCI for undergrad) and the slightly cheaper housing. No regrets here - great clinical experiences, plenty of research opportunities if you want to go that route, and lots of ways to get involved (student interest groups, clinic directorships, other community-service groups). Feel free to PM if you have any questions. Good luck!

 

[SeventhSon]

Questions for UC San Diego Med Students:
1. One of the thing UCSD was notorious for is being too competitive with a very demanding curriculum, thus many previous students complained about being unhappy and overstressed. And I know that the new student life director has made efforts to improve the quality of student life at UCSD. Have any of you feel like there has been major improvements? Are you directly affected, if affected at all by these changes? And is the general population of UCSD med students happy?

the curriculum is demanding, but do you want to do well or not? There is too much class, but I don't go to it and do fine. And rumors about competitiveness at a school are almost always false; this varies from class to class.

2. How's the housing situation over there? Cheap? Accessible? Convenient?
3. Is it a benefit to have the med school be so close (or within) the undergrad campus?
4. Do you have any regrets about deciding to go to UCSD over your other acceptances (assuming you had multiple acceptances) and what are the factors that made you guys decide UCSD over all the other schools?

Housing is about the same as most of the other top 15 med schools in big cities. I am in a 2 bedroom for 1350, which is probably a little on the low end.

Having the undergrad campus around is kind of nice, but is hardly a reason to choose the school unless you think you're goin to be sleezing on UGs

last Q i take the 5th since it was my only mstp acceptance.

 

[oblvioustigress]

Thank you for all your valuable insights!

I have a few more (general) questions.

1) What is a typical day/week like at your school the first two years? Is it the same for both years?
Ex: UCLA : 10am-12pm Lecture M-F, 8am-10am PBL Mon & Fri, 1pm-4pm Labs Tues-Thurs
UCSD: 9-5
(Please correct me if my ex's are incorrect)

2) How often are you tested and how (multiple choice, oral exams, etc)?

3) How do faculty members treat the students?

4) How do you (and your classmates) feel about the clinical years? Are the faculty members, doctors, residents (others you work with) helpful and "nice?" Do you mostly observe or actually participate? How are you evaluated - based on observations during the rotation or is there an exam at the end of the rotation?

5) What primary factor did you consider when choosing your school and would you recommend that to us?

Thank you again!!!

 

[lord_jeebus]

Thank you for all your valuable insights!

I have a few more (general) questions.

1) What is a typical day/week like at your school the first two years? Is it the same for both years?
Ex: UCLA : 10am-12pm Lecture M-F, 8am-10am PBL Mon & Fri, 1pm-4pm Labs Tues-Thurs
UCSD: 9-5
(Please correct me if my ex's are incorrect)

2) How often are you tested and how (multiple choice, oral exams, etc)?

3) How do faculty members treat the students?

4) How do you (and your classmates) feel about the clinical years? Are the faculty members, doctors, residents (others you work with) helpful and "nice?" Do you mostly observe or actually participate? How are you evaluated - based on observations during the rotation or is there an exam at the end of the rotation?

5) What primary factor did you consider when choosing your school and would you recommend that to us?

Thank you again!!!

UCSD:

1. MWF 8-5 (sometimes 8-4 or 9-5), TTh 8-12. This is not all lecture (perhaps 60%) but includes labs, problem sessions, clinical skills sessions, and even a few PBL sessions. I'm not a lecture guy so I skipped most of them and it was not a problem. TTh afternoons are for electives but at least one of them should be open unless you choose to pack them. The elective requirement can be fulfilled with remarkably little work if you are not interested in the offerings (I thought they were excellent) -- ask a student about "DOC."

2. Most tests are MC. 1st year has a lot of tests (almost every week during spring qtr), 2nd year has fewer. The more frequent tests are, the shorter they are, and the easier they are to prepare for. 3rd year has shelf exams (multiple choice tests written by the same people who write the USMLE), with oral exams in surgery only.

3. Faculty members generally choose to teach students because they enjoy it. It shows.

4. The clinical years have been excellent so far. Some residents and fellows are less than perfect, but the attendings are great. There is nothing observational about it. My first couple of weeks I did some observation on Labor and Delivery because the interns were also new and looking to do as many deliveries as possible. (I did get to deliver babies while on call.) After that I've been acting like a real "doctor in training." In clinic I see patients on my own, develop my own assessments and plans and present them to an attending, who will sometimes even approve without seeing the patient (!). With more complicated patients my attendings will come in after I'm done and take the opportunity to make a mini teaching session. On Psychiatry I got sent solo to consults in the ER and on the floor, after which a resident would go in to confirm my findings. Surgery is a lot of retraction but once I showed interest in getting involved I got to do quite a bit. On every service I have patients for which I am the primary contact, and am always involved in the planning process. Evaluations are a combination of the shelf exam (see above) and resident/attending evaluations at varying ratios, often with a minor written (History and Physicals, Psych had a short paper) component as well. I know our preclinical years are known for their intensity but they prepare us for 3rd year very well.

5. Cost, Location, what 4th years think.

 

[JennyB]

The Ronald Reagan hospital set to open in June of 2007. Random side note --- there was recently a fundraising event hosted at the new hospital. I know that Ellen Pompeo, Julie Andrews, Geena Davis and Alicia Keys attended. No wonder the med students weren't invited.

Lectures will still be in CHS, but there have been rumblings of a new med school building in the future --- not sure how much of this is true. Clinical classes have never been in CHS (they're in the Rehab and MedWest buildings across from Weyburn Terrace).

Let me know if you have any questions! I love UCLA and couldn't be happier.😍

I thought it was opening in September...maybe that's just for NPH. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if it opens even later than that. They've been pushing the date back since they started! It's ok UCLA, I still love you!!!! 😍

 

[YupGypsy]

Yo how do u get off hold at UCSD??

 

[YupGypsy]

Yo does Davis offer crap loads of scholarship & grants? I'll only go there if it costs me no more than $20k a year.

 

[UCLAstudent]

I thought it was opening in September...maybe that's just for NPH. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if it opens even later than that. They've been pushing the date back since they started! It's ok UCLA, I still love you!!!! 😍

You're right, it's in the fall. My bad. 😳

 

[YupGypsy]

yo UCLA, I haven't heard a peep from your school. Will they still interview that much after new year?

 

[notdeadyet]

Yo does Davis offer crap loads of scholarship & grants? I'll only go there if it costs me no more than $20k a year.

For an in-state student, that would be a $12/year scholarship. That's a lot for a UC for mere mortals...

 

[YupGypsy]

For an in-state student, that would be a $12/year scholarship. That's a lot for a UC for mere mortals...

Davis cost $26k a year + living expenses.

I could do the whole package around $20k attending an out-of-state.

 

[UCLAstudent]

yo UCLA, I haven't heard a peep from your school. Will they still interview that much after new year?

Definitely --- they interview into May! 👍

 

[LoneCoyote]

1) What is a typical day/week like at your school the first two years? Is it the same for both years?

UCD just instituted a new curriculum, so I'm not going to be much help to you on this one.

2) How often are you tested and how (multiple choice, oral exams, etc)?

Once again, I'm not sure of the details with the new curriculum. We had midterms and finals in most classes. In some classes we had weekly quizzes.

3) How do faculty members treat the students?

Overall, most faculty here are very approachable. Every school will have a few bad lecturers and mean attendings, but on the whole I think people here are good. UCD instituted this "family unit" system where you are put in a group starting your 1st year with one student from each year and a faculty member. You try to meet once a quarter, often at the faculty member's house, in order to make a connection with a faculty member outside of school. Faculty I have sought out have all been helpful and encouraging.

4) How do you (and your classmates) feel about the clinical years? Are the faculty members, doctors, residents (others you work with) helpful and "nice?" Do you mostly observe or actually participate? How are you evaluated - based on observations during the rotation or is there an exam at the end of the rotation?

So far, so good with the clinical years. I'm halfway through 3rd year and I have learned a lot. You definitely participate here and if you are interested and helpful you get to do even more. Of course, there will be some shadowing at first. You aren't going to walk in and deliver a baby without seeing deliveries, or sew up a wound in the ER without some instruction in suturing. But overall, there has been a lot of hands-on stuff and a lot of direct work with patients and in managing their care. Davis has a reputation for producing students who are strong clinically and it really shows in the responsibility they give us.

Overall, the culture here is not malignant. Generally, the residents seem to be happy here which makes your experiences as a student much better. Most faculty seem to like to teach and do so when they have time on rounds. I have been pleasantly surprised at how nice most attendings here are. Most of my classmates seem pretty happy with 3rd year so far. Grading is H/P/F and depending on the rotation is some mix of evaluations by residents/ attendings, shelf exams, presentations/class work, and oral/practical exams.

5) What primary factor did you consider when choosing your school and would you recommend that to us?

I picked Davis based on clinical training, location and cost.

I would HIGHLY recommend you think most about the clinical years when picking a school. Try to talk to 4th years about their experiences if possible since they will be applying to residencies, doing away rotations, and generally will have a good sense of the clinical training. I was lucky in that I did get to talk to 4th years when debating where to go and it really helped.

Curriculum is really not all that important, IMHO, because most U.S. schools are going to do a decent job of preparing you for the boards. A lot of medical school is about what you put into it because there is a lot of material to learn regardless of how it is presented to you. Of course, if a school has tons of people failing boards that is a bad sign. Conversely, just because a school has a high average in Step 1 doesn't mean that everyone will do great. Overall, I wouldn't make curriculum or board scores the most important thing you consider when looking at schools.

One last thing to consider is where you will be happiest and best supported. Medical school is not always easy and fun. If you have family, friends, significant other, hobbies, sports, whatever, that is important to you, pick a school that will enable you to maintain these things the best. In the end being happy and able to perform well is more important than the rank of the school or any of the other factors you may consider.

Hope that helps.

 

[Arginine]

1) What is a typical day/week like at your school the first two years? Is it the same for both years?
Ex: UCLA : 10am-12pm Lecture M-F, 8am-10am PBL Mon & Fri, 1pm-4pm Labs Tues-Thurs


2) How often are you tested and how (multiple choice, oral exams, etc)?

3) How do faculty members treat the students?

4) How do you (and your classmates) feel about the clinical years? Are the faculty members, doctors, residents (others you work with) helpful and "nice?" Do you mostly observe or actually participate? How are you evaluated - based on observations during the rotation or is there an exam at the end of the rotation?

5) What primary factor did you consider when choosing your school and would you recommend that to us?

I will try to answer these questions for UCLA:
1. You have the correct schedule for years 1 & 2 at UCLA; both years have approximately the same schedule.
2. In 1st and 2nd year, the curriculum is taught in 8 week blocks, and there is an exam at the end of every block. You always have a multiple choice exam (taken on the computer, usually with a 3-hr limit); sometimes there will be an anatomy practical in the lab; sometimes you will also have a doctoring exam which consists of a videotaped session with a standardized patient (usually you are conducting an H & P). In 3rd year, you take either a shelf exam or an in-house exam at the end of every clinical rotation; the shelf exams are paper & pencil, and the in-house exams are generally on computer. In 4th year electives and sub-i's, usually no exams (with some exceptions, like the emergency medicine sub-i at Harbor).
3. Faculty during preclinical years are generally very responsive to feedback from students. Every 8-week curriculum block has 2 faculty members serving as chairs; these faculty actively solicit feedback from us and generally work very hard to continually improve the curriculum. My class was the guinea pig class for the new curriculum (started 2003-2004), and I know many improvements have occurred since then.
4. During clinical years, your experience with faculty and residents will vary, depending on where your rotation is. UCLA has many affiliated hospitals, ranging from private tertiary care (UCLA, Cedars-Sinai) to county (Olive View, Harbor, Ventura) to HMO (various Kaiser hospitals) to community (Northridge) and a few VA hospitals. In general, the faculty are fairly good teachers (with some exceptions, as you will find everywhere). At the county hospitals you are more likely to get procedures, but generally if you actively show interest your residents will let you do something beyond just observing. UCLA is strictly pass/fail with the opportunity to get a "letter of distinction" (honors). You take an exam after every rotation, and you get written evaluations from faculty & residents. Your grade is a combination of these 2 factors.
5. I chose UCLA for many reasons: the pass/fail grading system takes a lot of pressure off; there is very little "cutthroat" competition. I love that my classmates are so cooperative. We often studied together during the preclinical years, and people made study guides that they shared with the entire class. UCLA does a great job of picking applicants who are really interesting and unique; the students are very social and love spending time together. I love having such a wide variety of hospitals to choose from for my clinical rotations (although the commute can be a little long for some places). I have had some outstanding lectures. As scary as it was to be the guinea pig class for the new curriculum, I think we ended up being very well prepared for the boards (though I don't have any hard data comparing our scores to previous classes).

Hope this answers some of your questions adequately.

 

[silverlining1]

For the UCLA students, although this has been slightly addressed already:

What do you love about UCLA? It's my dream school for intangible reasons... I can't seem to enunciate WHY I want to go there. The only ones I can think of are location, ranking, good hospital. As a student, what can you tell me about UCLA? Why do you love it?

Thanks... I'm hoping to have some concrete ideas when I HOPEFULLY interview there next cycle! 🙂

 

[BunnyMonkey]

::bump::

Hoping more UC med students will share their perspectives of the UC's.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

2. In 1st and 2nd year, the curriculum is taught in 8 week blocks, and there is an exam at the end of every block. You always have a multiple choice exam (taken on the computer, usually with a 3-hr limit); sometimes there will be an anatomy practical in the lab;

some UCLA questions:

Are these multiple choice tests similar in format to Step 1? I cant remember what the girl giving the tour said when I asked her (this southern boy was was too stunned that it was in the high 80s, with no humidity, in late october to really pay attention to things that mattered 😳 )

In terms of anatomy...the girl giving the tour said that you don't do the dissections yourselves? I was a bit confused at how your anatomy lab is structured, and how well one learns anatomy under their system.

 

[Arginine]

Our multiple choice exams vary depending on which lecturers are submitting questions and how the chairs of each 8-week block are managing the exam questions. Some exams do resemble USMLE question format, but not all. But I'm not sure I would want to base my entire med school curriculum on the way USMLE tests are structured (that's why we have Kaplan Q-bank & USMLEWorld😉 )

I'm not sure what's going on with the anatomy lab these days, since I haven't been in the lab for almost 2 years. But here's my best guess: ever since the cadaver scandal of 2004 (some employees of the UCLA willed body program were arrested for selling cadaver parts), the anatomy program has gone through major changes. For most of my first year, we did regular anatomy dissections like students from other schools; but after the cadaver scandal when UCLA was court-ordered to temporarily stop the willed body program, they had us viewing prosections rather than dissecting our regular cadavers. My own personal opinion is that prosections can be effective for some parts of anatomy, but for complex structures like the pelvis, you would learn so much better by dissecting it yourself.

 

[UCLAstudent]

About anatomy: when I was an MSI last year, it was a mixture of prosection and dissection --- I'd say about 60% dissection and 40% prosection. This year, everything is being done as prosection. I don't think this change has much to do with the willed body program (which reopened last year). From my understanding, it's more a matter of convenience and efficiency. It's true that some things are better learned by do-it-yourself dissection, but, overall, I would take prosections any day. The prosections this year have been well-received by the current MSIs. Also, if you're interested in dissecting, the anatomy chairs take a few student volunteers (during the summer between MSI and MSII) to prepare the prosections for the upcoming MSI class. It's a good opportunity.

 

[DrBorisCA]

About anatomy: when I was an MSI last year, it was a mixture of prosection and dissection --- I'd say about 60% dissection and 40% prosection. This year, everything is being done as prosection. I don't think this change has much to do with the willed body program (which reopened last year). From my understanding, it's more a matter of convenience and efficiency. It's true that some things are better learned by do-it-yourself dissection, but, overall, I would take prosections any day. The prosections this year have been well-received by the current MSIs. Also, if you're interested in dissecting, the anatomy chairs take a few student volunteers (during the summer between MSI and MSII) to prepare the prosections for the upcoming MSI class. It's a good opportunity.

Hi all... UCLA MSI here.... I agree...
Personally I had a lot of experience in dissection in undergrad and I remember the majority of time was spent navigating my way through fat and connective tissue without severing every single vessel and nerve we needed to know.... We are the first year to have 100% prosected cadavers. I find that we can focus more time and energy into learning the structures and their interrelationships with each other and within each organ system. As for myself, I plan to do the summer dissection program to prepare the cadavers for next year's class. As I understand it, each of us, which I dont think are too many, have contact with one of the anatomists the majority of the time, and for those interested in surgery, as I am, this time is gold. But that's just me. ;p

 

[samwise2]

Hello,

I was wondering if you get to have any level of choice about where you do your rotations during the clinical years. Also, wondering, just looking at Westwood, will I get to have a good deal of experience with underserved pops if I am interested? Thanks! 🙂

 

[photo_girl07]

I have a question for UCLA med students...any word about when the 2nd look is?

Thanks!

 

[UCLAstudent]

Hello,

I was wondering if you get to have any level of choice about where you do your rotations during the clinical years. Also, wondering, just looking at Westwood, will I get to have a good deal of experience with underserved pops if I am interested? Thanks! 🙂

Yes and yes. I'm in the process of picking my third-year rotations right now, as a matter of fact. You basically prioritize selections based on time of the year and hospital that you want to do the rotation at. The computer then tries to meet your requests.

 

[BloodySurgeon]

I don't want to say his name but did anyone take Dr. J-s--h M-l--r for Anatomy at UCLA? Try to fill in the blank or ask me to PM you. If you do know who he is, I was wondering what you thought of him? He is my prof. atm and it would be cool to hear what you have to say about him.

 

[falx]

I'm another student from UCSD here to weigh in.

So far, I've loved med school at UCSD. There are issues with the curriculum that are being addressed, but my attitude is somewhat in line with the other students - I think the info is probably a little too in-depth, but will make me a better doctor in the future.

As far as testing and such, we currently have 7 total tests this quarter (2 midterms, 5 finals, which includes 2 lab exams). That included a 4 week break without any exams. Next quarter I can't speak for. One interesting curricular issue is that we take Anatomy 2nd year. I personally don't think it really matters what year you take it, but we do it differently than others, so it's something to know about. Having said that, I think it is my 3rd favorite class so far at UCSD, after Pharmacology and Neurology/Neuroanatomy (the teacher for this class won the teaching award 10 straight years).

As for other questions, I think the other students answered them pretty well. I am open to answering any other questions people might have, either via forum or PM. I have exams the next two weeks, so I might not answer as quickly as one would like...... be patient.

falx