3. I heard although this may be astupid question is it true you don't use cadavers? I was hesitant to ask thisduring my interview but how are you expected to learn if you don't usecadavers. I've seen both plastic models and cadavers and those are 2 differentthings????
Cadavers yes lol, I am surprised your asking about this
not many peopleseem to ask, and end up being surprised in the end (I knew when I came in, butmany didnt). Yes, the university doesnt use cadavers, Is this a problem? No,not at all. MUB literally has invested in hundreds of thousands of dollar ingetting top notch model for us to learn from. The models that they use areexcellent and you can learn all your anatomy from there. They are always accessiblein the lab, and you can book the labs whenever you like and work through them.Even Dublins anatomy lab from what I heard has 5-6 cadavers to work (for theentire school).
Ok see the thing is, that when you learn anatomy
you need to learn themuscle insertion and origin, nervous supply, blood supply, muscle action etc
all these things are very difficult to see in the cadavers. But with the modelseverything is labeled, with detailed diagrams of every model uploaded online.Yes true, with the cadavers you can appreciate the individual differencesbetween the human bodies
but for learning purpose they arent that great.Since bodies are so hard to come by, 20-30 people would be working on onecadaver, do you learn anything from this
NO
yes it would be cool, but not goodlearning tools. they have models for everything... from the hand, to the arm,the brain, eyes, knee joint, you name it, MUB has it. Plus RCSI are providedwith dissection videos from Dublin that are uploaded online for those who are eager.Cadavers are only important if youre doing postgraduate training in surgery.
4. What would you pack with you? Forfirst year? What should you definitely bring? Anything that you would bringthat you didn't have?
k, lets see
for first year
Well ifyoure going to live in one of the apartments in busaiteen, then bedsheets,pillows, etc
will be provided by the landlord (if not ask for them). Pots,pans, plates, etc.. will be provided as well. You can always buy yournotebooks, pen, pencils and what not, from Bahrain. Textbooks can be brought atthe campus book store. A laptop will be provided by the school (we got a dell, dontsure what you guys will get). Pack your clothes I guess loll 😛
Bringsomething to entertain yourself, Bahrain can be a pretty boring placesometimes.. so like books, your xbox (off course bring this at your know risk,youre in med school, So you got some serious work to do). Anything I didnt haveI brought from Bahrain, so dont worry too much about this
5. Any advice for us? Anything thatyou would recommend? Anything that you would do differently?
Not much really, med school will definitely be a different experience, but Imsure you will enjoy. Just please do work from the very first week, its hard sometimesI know when your settling in a new country and stuff... but your hardwork inthe beginning of the semester will pay off in the end. Study like a couple ofsolid hours every day, and your good J.
6. How is the match rate for theupper years? Have you heard anything about residencies and how easy is it tocome back to the US?
The residency issue is an interesting one. Some students this year havemanaged to get spots in Canada (which is motivating)... Some also got in the US(in addition to last years batch) and other places in Europe. For exact matchrate you should email the school, because unfortunately they dont publish theirmatch rates anywhere. It is getting tough to get back to north America as timegoes on because, every state is increasing its number of seats, opening moremedical schools
so the window of opportunity is closing slowly. But thats notto say its impossible to go back. Doing electives (in the location where youwhat to work), doing observer-ships, research etc
getting good grade, allincrease your likely-hood of going back. I am not going to sugarcoat it, its atough road ahead
make sure your ready for it and enjoy it.. And everythingwill fall in place.
7. Living if you could please commenton this or recommend a cheap apartment close to the school?
There are tons of buildings around the campus for you to live in. Theuniversity usually has a list of apartment building around the campus whichthey update every year
email them and ask for the list for the most currentinfo (my info is probably dated). Thereis a huge price rate around the area for 200-250 BD per person to 300-400 perperson. Honestly you would have to check around a bit.
8. How is the general student lifethere?
Student life is good. Most people are studying most of the time, so peoplereally dont get time to do stuff. Like I said before we have an active studentcouncil and there will always be something for you to do on campus.
9.Can you comment on the schedule? Doyou like it? Is it from 9-5? what about labs? Any helpful information?
Well schedule like I said before can change on the last moment, this has todo with lecturer not being available since they would go on call at the lastmoment (they are doctors after all)
or some random rearrangement. Classes onsome days can run from 8-4 or whatever, and some days you will only have oneclass, so its different every day, but rest assure you do get all the lecturedelivered to you. You do get labs, anatomy labs where you work on the models,with an excellent instructor (a doctor) once a week.
