Scoob,
I hope you read this before you make a decision. I'm a T1, and I'd like to try to give you an unbiased picture (impossible!) about Tulane, and give you reasons why you should at least take the interview, and also clear up some misconceptions.
1) WE DO THE USNEWS THING NOW! This was the first year we did it. It ended up being a bad choice in my opinion, b/c we didn't clear the top 50. But, think about it: we are a school where CLINICAL experience is of utmost importance. We do not heavily invest in research, we do not receive much NIH funding. Side note: Pisano didn't agree with the USNews rating system for many years, and he still doesn't agree with it. However, I think he was tiring of getting the question asked, and so he decided to submit. But, on your own, you can compare stats and pretty much place it with the Tufts, Einsteins, and other mid-level private schools, based on GPA/MCAT.
2) It is not a systems based curriculum! It is about as traditional as it gets. We don't have as much lecture anymore (a few years ago, we had the most lecture hours in the country; now we are somewhere around the average). It is just a regular medical school curriculum w/a smattering of PBLs, small group sessions, community preceptorships, community visits, ambulance rides, service projects. It is a block schedule, so we have 5 weeks of class followed by an exam week. The first semester in 18 weeks. I have no idea what the second semester is like. I liked the curriculum, b/c I have time to do what I like to do, and not let med school rule my life.
Okay, now that those two points are settled ...
As I've said before, I love Tulane. I think the best part are the people: the faculty, the staff, and most importantly, the students.
The professors really care about you; they set up review sessions, they come find you if you do poorly on a test, they know your names, and they come in after hours. The testing/evaluation here is so fair. I never feel that I'm getting tricked or confused. Everything is straightforward. They tell you what you need to know, they teach it to you, then they evaluate you on exactly what they told you they would.
The students are amazing. We do so much community service stuff, we're involved in many organizations, and it is such a diverse group. There is a good range of ages, professions, majors, geographic diversity, religions .. there are pro athletes, teachers, financial analysts, internet startup folks .. you name it, we got 'em. We have a lot of social events, but I guess there is some complaints about everything being alcohol oriented, so we are working on more family oriented stuff next time. I'm not going to say we aren't competitive, b/c I am proud of the fact that everyone wants to do well. We are also very cooperative, and that is what makes it cool (ask if you want details). Everyone helps each other, and it is great.
The clinical opportunity here is second to none. We get to do stuff early on, including patient interviews on real patients, shadowing of physicians, going on ambulance rides, the opportunity to go on Aeromed (helicopter) rides to pick up/drop off patients, visiting Charity Hospital's ER to observe for a shift (one student got the offer to do a lumbar puncture!), intubations clinics (on real patients!), EKG reading sessions.
3rd and 4th year set you up very good for your residency, our placements are good: check the list on-line. We are respected as clinicians locally and nationally. I don't know enough about it b/c I am just a T1 ... I do know that we have our own private hospital, a county hospital (2nd busiest in America, and the oldest continuously running), a rural hospital that you live at (a great place to do surgery or OB-GYN rotation b/c there is no interns or residents - just you), the VA hospital, and options to use LSU's hospitals (University, Children's).
It's a good place. At least come visit. I know enough people who just went on a whim visit and then ended up loving it.
It's not Harvard, and it's not Yale, and it's not Duke. It's Tulane, and it is what it is ... Almost all of us here love it and will tell you that with sincerity.
If you have any questions, e-mail me at
[email protected] ...
Simul
Tulane Med '05
