Originally posted by czarbasch
Thanks for the accurate info. The information I posted is just what I learned from the interview.
Could you list any other pros or cons about Stony Brook? Do you like it there? I interviewed there in October and have not a got a decision from them yet, but they are one of my top choices.
I am unable to give you any information regarding admissions since I have no idea what goes on in the admissions office. I can only give you information regarding my own experience. It took me three weeks to find out I was accepted- however, keep in mind that I found this out towards the end of the interview season. I sent my secondary out the day before it was due via fedex, so I interviewed later and acceptances are most likely sent out relatively quickly at that point during the interview season.
I do like it at Stony Brook. I think the strongest reason for my liking Stony Brook is that I like my class for the most part. There are many people in my class who did not go straight into medical school from undergrad- and I think it is quite refreshing to be around people who have had a multitude of life experiences.
I hated the first semester of school due to many reasons, some being personal and some due to just trying to get acclimated to a overwhelming amount of work. I did like second semester-on in school though. However, don't read that as my saying that I've loved every class that I've taken after first semester. One of my biggest dislikes is the structural components of some classes taught at Stony Brook. I hope that the administration will try to enact positive changes to the curriculum in the future so that incoming students won't have to deal with some of the BS in the curriculum. The administration seems to be trying, but I do believe that they need to try harder. Specifically some of my gripes: we are not given quality syllabi in all of our classes- some classes seem to distribute syllabi for the sake of saying 'here is a syllabus'; some of the teaching is really bad (renal in physiology, preventative medicine, etc..); in some classes, what is taught is so not what is tested (oh boy is preventative medicine a big example of this); professors whining that students don't come to class (well if the class was actually useful, people would really show up- preventative medicine is once again a prime example of this); too much didactic learning and not enough of small group sessions of TRUE QUALITY.
I don't want anyone getting the impression after reading this that I hate my school or that the education is subpar. As I've said before, change takes time and patience. However, I do believe that the administration is not doing enough. I don't believe that it can be excused that course directors are handing out crappy syllabi for the sake of doing so b/c the administration told them they had to do it. I don't know if this is the root of all the problems, but I'd venture a guess and say that course directors are not held accountable enough for the quality of the material and the method of delivering it.
A prime example of some positive change that was instituted by the course director and the faculty may be illustrated by the second year course pathophysiology of GI. This year for the first time they had us use an excellent syllabus, and we also had only three hours of small group learning a day. During those three hours the faculty would only discuss key points that they felt were necessary to discuss and they left it up to us to learn the rest of it at home. We then discussed a couple of cases. I absolutely loved the format and thought it was the best class that I have ever taken while in medical school. It had the perfect mix of independent learning and 'true active learning' in a small group setting. After having spoken to the course director, he told me that they instituted these changes hoping to get students more involved in the learning process and this was also done b/c attendance in class during the previous years was poor. So, it was done b/c the course director took it upon himself to change the course to reach a better outcome with the students- it wasn't done b/c the administration was pushing them (I'm pretty sure of this since it is not hard to reach such a conclusion if one looks at the way other classes are run).
I wish all of you luck, and please don't think that I'm bashing my school. I'm simply relaying to you what I believe could be fixed in order to provide a quality education that is enjoyable and not agonizing.
