UNC School of Medicine Class of 2012

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I didn't see a thread for UNC yet, so I thought I'd start one. I know it's a bit early with only a few UNC acceptances posted, but I figure they will start rolling out much quicker as the semester progresses.

Anyhow, UNC will be my home in the fall!

-RS

edit: Under the acceptance thread in Pre-allo I'm listed as NCPreMed85, but I changed accounts due to hating the generic name from several years back. The only posts were on the acceptance thread, so it seemed a good time to change names.

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Hey RS, thanks for starting the thread! I am so excited about UNC. See you in the fall!
 
Congrats guys!

I'm an MS1 at UNC, please feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
 
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Congratulations to you all who have been accepted so far. Like CT, I'm an MS1 as well so if you have questions for us just PM away.
 
First of all, congratulations to my possible-future-classmates! ;)
I'm still in the interviewing process, but UNC is definitely at the top of my list.


So, question to the current medical students. During 3rd year, do a lot of the physicians encourage hands-on patient interaction and problem-solving (for example, you say to the resident and/or attending "I think this patient has xyz because of abc"), or do students basically watch from the sidelines and run errands?

And last question, how many students to a cadaver?

Thanks!
 
First of all, congratulations to my possible-future-classmates! ;)
I'm still in the interviewing process, but UNC is definitely at the top of my list.


So, question to the current medical students. During 3rd year, do a lot of the physicians encourage hands-on patient interaction and problem-solving (for example, you say to the resident and/or attending "I think this patient has xyz because of abc"), or do students basically watch from the sidelines and run errands?

And last question, how many students to a cadaver?

Thanks!

Question 1: About 3rd year
-hard for me to answer this one, since i'm still a lowly first year. However, I would bet that this is HUGELY dependent on the rotation, location, or even the time. I've even heard students who rotated in the same location with the same attendings/residents say they got completely different experiences. One thing I have heard is that you tend to get a little more attention at the Hospitals away from UNC (less busy maybe), though again, this too varies.

Question 2: Anatomy
-We have 8 people per cadaver. The group of 8 is split into 2 groups of 4 an "A" and a "B" group. Each day of anatomy one group will dissect, then one member from the group will stay after dissection to identify the structures for the other group (we call this prosection). Thus, on Monday A group might dissect in the morning (2-3 hour lab) then someone would stay around after lunch to go over the material with B group (<1 hour). I think this is definitely a positive, as dissection is cool, but as you'll quickly learn it isn't terribly efficient for learning and most of your time is spent cleaning away fat/fascia to identify a few structures. Additionally, having to "teach" the material to your classmates also helps you really learn where the structures are/where to find them.

Hope that answers your questions and please post any others.
 
Hey, current students, thanks for your help!

Here's my question: I'm a non-trad and I've been out of school for a while, and I'm wondering if there's anything I can do in the next several months to help me get ready for medical school in general, or UNC SOM in particular.
I know the prevailing advice is "Don't even bother, because there's no way you can prepare," and I understand that -- but I sure would like to get my brain ready to go:) I don't have a ton of free time between now and August, but I could certainly read a few books, etc.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
 
Hey, current students, thanks for your help!

Here's my question: I'm a non-trad and I've been out of school for a while, and I'm wondering if there's anything I can do in the next several months to help me get ready for medical school in general, or UNC SOM in particular.
I know the prevailing advice is "Don't even bother, because there's no way you can prepare," and I understand that -- but I sure would like to get my brain ready to go:) I don't have a ton of free time between now and August, but I could certainly read a few books, etc.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!

First I'd have to second the "DON'T DO ANYTHING", enjoy your time free from school, take extra vacation (if you can) and hang out with your friends/family. First year isn't going to rule your life, but definitely demands more time than undergrad.

But if you're looking to get back in the swing of things educationally, picking up a biochem book (I've heard Lippencott's (sp?) is good) or physiology book (or some old notes) would be the only really useful thing I could think of to do.
 
Thanks! I will try to brush up on those 2 subjects.

And I will definitely make some time for just having fun:)
 
First I'd have to second the "DON'T DO ANYTHING", enjoy your time free from school, take extra vacation (if you can) and hang out with your friends/family. First year isn't going to rule your life, but definitely demands more time than undergrad.

My goal is to follow this advice as closely as possible between now and August. I should be quite good at Rock Band before school begins.
 
This is somewhat random, but did it take a long time for UNC to receive anyone's deposit? I got my packet on a Saturday, put my check in the mail on Monday, and it's been about two weeks yet it's still not posted (and I'm mailing it from Chapel Hill). My acceptance form has been received, but not my deposit card.

I called the cashier and she had no idea what I was talking about, and when I called the admissions office, Eric said something about 30 days. I don't want them to take my acceptance away because they didn't receive everything in two weeks. Unless that 2 week deadline was just for the postmark date...

On a side note, anyone know where they're gonna live yet?
 
Not to worry -- the same thing happened to me. I got the e-mail confirming receipt of my acceptance form, but didn't get the deposit confirmation until a few weeks later. I guess it just takes them a while ...


This is somewhat random, but did it take a long time for UNC to receive anyone's deposit? I got my packet on a Saturday, put my check in the mail on Monday, and it's been about two weeks yet it's still not posted (and I'm mailing it from Chapel Hill). My acceptance form has been received, but not my deposit card.

I called the cashier and she had no idea what I was talking about, and when I called the admissions office, Eric said something about 30 days. I don't want them to take my acceptance away because they didn't receive everything in two weeks. Unless that 2 week deadline was just for the postmark date...

On a side note, anyone know where they're gonna live yet?
 
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The deposit goes through the cashier's office while the acceptance form goes through the med school admissions office. Since the cashier's office runs the WHOLE university it makes sense that they had no idea what you were talking about. If you don't receive confirmation of it within a few weeks and are concerned I would suggest calling the med school admissions office and having them check on it for you, they're much much more likely to be able to take care of your problems than the cashier's office.
 
Does anyone know the dates for the second look weekend/day? Thanks!
 
Does anyone know the dates for the second look weekend/day? Thanks!

What I do remember is that last year it was on the same day as UConn's. No Joke.
 
anybody figure out where you are going to live?
 
I was planning on an apt. a mile or two from campus, but that may change. My fiance will most likely be going to grad school at NCSU next year, so I think we will try and split the difference. NW Raleigh is roughly 20 minutes from UNC and State, so that may be where we live.
 
I'm planning on living in Southern Village. I was really hoping for something walking distance, but I'll only be about 2 miles away, and the buses run from the PR lot there every 10 min or so. Surprisingly, the rates are really reasonable.
 
So, a question for those familiar with Chapel Hill...

Due to my fiance going to grad school at State, we'll be living ~ 20 minutes from both campuses. I've heard (and experienced) that parking around UNC is darn near impossible, but I believe I heard something about a park and ride deal with the bus system or something similiar. I assume that there is a parking lot you pay to park in and then ride the bus to campus, or something like that. Does anyone know if that does exist? Just trying to figure out the best way to work not living near enough to hop on a bus.

Thanks!

-RS
 
This is what their website says about M1s and M2s:

"Medical Students I & II Year Allocation

There are 40 permits assigned to this group, which represents 1% of the student allocation. These permits are assigned on a lottery basis."


There is a transportation alternative program: http://www.dps.unc.edu/dps/alternatives/unc_transportation_alternatives.htm

Here is the website for parking information:
http://www.dps.unc.edu/dps/2ndparkingpage.asp


**If anyone is interested in car pooling, I'll be living in North Raleigh with my parents.
 
So, a question for those familiar with Chapel Hill...

Due to my fiance going to grad school at State, we'll be living ~ 20 minutes from both campuses. I've heard (and experienced) that parking around UNC is darn near impossible, but I believe I heard something about a park and ride deal with the bus system or something similiar. I assume that there is a parking lot you pay to park in and then ride the bus to campus, or something like that. Does anyone know if that does exist? Just trying to figure out the best way to work not living near enough to hop on a bus.

Thanks!

-RS

You can enter the lottery for parking on campus since you'll be far enough away. I'm not sure how many students get spots, or how close they actually are to the medical school, but it's something worth looking into. There are also lots of private and public lots on Franklin and Rosemary that lease spots out on a monthly/semester/yearly basis. That's what I do now since there isn't enough parking at my apartment building. You'd still have a ~15 min walk to class, but at least that would get you a parking space in Chapel Hill. As far as the PR lots go, there's several of them around Chapel Hill. It's free to ride the buses around CH and Carrboro, and I'm pretty sure you don't have to pay to park in the lots either.
 
So, a question for those familiar with Chapel Hill...

Due to my fiance going to grad school at State, we'll be living ~ 20 minutes from both campuses. I've heard (and experienced) that parking around UNC is darn near impossible, but I believe I heard something about a park and ride deal with the bus system or something similiar. I assume that there is a parking lot you pay to park in and then ride the bus to campus, or something like that. Does anyone know if that does exist? Just trying to figure out the best way to work not living near enough to hop on a bus.

Thanks!

-RS

Most people who live farther away (Raleigh/Southpoint/Mebane) all drive to one of the park/ride lots (one on 54 at the friday center, one at NC 86 by Eubanks Rd, One on Jones Ferry Road, one at Southern Village) which are free. For the 54 lot you need no permit, for the others you need a free CAP permit which you can get at DPS on UNC campus.

I really wouldn't recommend going for one of the campus spots. They're in the S11 lot near the Dean Dome which is at least a 15-20+ minute walk to the med school, so essentially you're going to have to take a bus (U or RU) from there anyway. Buses run slightly more frequently there (especially during the middle of the day), but run every 10 minutes or so to all the farther away lots during rush hour.

I live on 54 in Chapel Hill, but just outside where the buses run so I drive to the 54 lot then take the bus (S or HU) in when it's raining. When it's not raining I use the real solution . . .

MOTORCYCLE! permits are easy to get and parking all over campus.

Feel free to PM me any questions or just keep posting them here. I'll try to catch up here every week or so. Again, congrats to all, hope to see you in Chapel Hill next year!
 
There's the PR lot in the lottery system or free park and rides off-campus (or like skinnylindsey said, other parking lots available around campus). I had the PR lot my freshman year - it wasn't what I wanted, but it turned out to be okay.
 
Thanks for all of the comments on parking! It sounds like it shouldn't be to big of a deal, and I have a couple of options to look into.

-RS
 
Hey guys! I just got my call last night, and barring any earth shattering news, I should be in Chapel Hill in the fall. I'm totally pumped. Hopefully I'll see you all at second look. Congratulations!
 
Hey guys- I am a 4th year at UNC right now with lots of free time on my hands. I posted this in the pre-med forum too, but now that you are admitted you may some questions. I have been in Chapel Hill a long time so fire away. I will answer anything you ask as best and honestly as I can.

There was one earlier question about 3rd year rotations that I feel like addressing. Most residents and attendings want you to be as involved with your patients as you can- a common phrase is to "take ownership for your patients." What that means is often you get to be the first one to see your patient when they come into the hospital or in the morning, and you always present your own patients to the team on rounds. Also, you will only carry 2-4 patients at a time so you will actually get more quality time with them than your residents do. I spent several hours of one quiet call day playing UNO with a 13 year old patient who at the end of the day told me I was going to be the best doctor ever. I probably should have been studying, but I'm sure you get the point. Also, you will get to deliver babies, learn to suture and hopefully other procedures (but most of these you won't really get until residency- unless you are really enthusiastic or confident)

Any other questions? Bring it on!
 
Hey guys- I am a 4th year at UNC right now with lots of free time on my hands. I posted this in the pre-med forum too, but now that you are admitted you may some questions. I have been in Chapel Hill a long time so fire away. I will answer anything you ask as best and honestly as I can.

There was one earlier question about 3rd year rotations that I feel like addressing. Most residents and attendings want you to be as involved with your patients as you can- a common phrase is to "take ownership for your patients." What that means is often you get to be the first one to see your patient when they come into the hospital or in the morning, and you always present your own patients to the team on rounds. Also, you will only carry 2-4 patients at a time so you will actually get more quality time with them than your residents do. I spent several hours of one quiet call day playing UNO with a 13 year old patient who at the end of the day told me I was going to be the best doctor ever. I probably should have been studying, but I'm sure you get the point. Also, you will get to deliver babies, learn to suture and hopefully other procedures (but most of these you won't really get until residency- unless you are really enthusiastic or confident)

Any other questions? Bring it on!

Thanks for taking the time out, TarheelMD08! I do have another question:

What the typical class day like first and second year? In other words, do they give you enough time to study after they cram all of this information down your throat? Thanks!
 
Thanks for taking the time out, TarheelMD08! I do have another question:

What the typical class day like first and second year? In other words, do they give you enough time to study after they cram all of this information down your throat? Thanks!

I can field this one.

First year
You will have class most days from 8am-12pm, and occasionally (depending on the block) from 1pm-2pm (12-1 is sacred lunch time, and when most of the student groups have meetings, often with "lunch provided"). That 3-5 hours of class will generally be mostly lecture, and will include 1-2 hours of small group activity about 2 days a week. Some blocks (anatomy) have small group stuff every day (i.e. dissection), while some (block 1 and block 3) have small group stuff less often. So, most days you'll be done at 12 with the afternoon to yourself except for one day a week (Monday-Thursday) where you'll have your ICM (Intro to clinical Medicine) class in the afternoon from 2pm-4:30pm. Tests are every other Monday first year and are generally NON-CUMULATIVE, except for block 4. Thus, you also get a full weekend to study for each exam without having to learn new material.

Second Year
I can say a lot less about this since I'm still in first year, but second year is HIGHLY VARIABLE depending on what block you're in. There are something like 8-12 blocks second year which run between 2-7 weeks each. Each block is a new organ system and is run completely differently. Some still hold true to the Monday exam thing, while most don't. Class time is still AT MOST 8-12 and 1-2, but again will vary as will small group time. General feeling is that MS2 stuff is more work, but more clinically relevant and generally more interesting.

So . . . In general, medical school is much more info in much less time than any of my undergrad classes. However, the material really isn't very conceptually difficult and it's mostly a game of who can memorize the fastest. As always, thinking can reduce your memorization load, but there's still a heavy memorization burden. From the schools I looked at, UNC kept us in class less than average which was good, because most of your learning (memorizing) will occur outside of lecture. Small group activities (at least during first year) are interesting and generally worth going to, but will be frustrating because they are not very efficient vesicles for learning. I think we have a good balance here, and would certainly NOT wish for more small group time. Ask around to current medical students who use PBL more and I think you'll find they echo my sentiment.

Great questions guys, keep 'em coming.
 
im not sure where the best place to post this is... so im copying what i typed in the thread over in pre-allo

how would you classify the student body? Are there lots of cliques? Is it like high school again in terms of gossip/incestuousness? Are a lot of the students already married in entering class or is the class mostly single? do students actually have time to go out on the weekends?

how do you think the work load compares to other med schools- meaning are UNC students more or less stressed out than your friends at other places?

how much time did you spend away from UNC during 3rd and 4th year?

where do most students live? is living far away (north chatham county or near southpoint) a problem? is it super important to be on the bus line- or can you rent parking from private lots in CH?

do most students want to end up practicing in NC?
 
im not sure where the best place to post this is... so im copying what i typed in the thread over in pre-allo

how would you classify the student body? Are there lots of cliques? Is it like high school again in terms of gossip/incestuousness? Are a lot of the students already married in entering class or is the class mostly single? do students actually have time to go out on the weekends?

how do you think the work load compares to other med schools- meaning are UNC students more or less stressed out than your friends at other places?

how much time did you spend away from UNC during 3rd and 4th year?

where do most students live? is living far away (north chatham county or near southpoint) a problem? is it super important to be on the bus line- or can you rent parking from private lots in CH?

do most students want to end up practicing in NC?

wow . . . lot's of questions . . . OK.

Student Body: Ours was a little on the younger side but I'd say that there are maybe 10-20 married people in our class. The most common student in my current class would be the unmarried 22-24 year old student who graduated college in 2007 or 2006. Cliques form in the sense that you have people who you generally hang out with more, though parties, etc. that people hold are generally more inclusive than exclusive. We definitely still have time to go out (and we do!) though it tends to be on the "off week" / "on week" type system depending on exams. As for gossip, it's worse than college (because you see the same 162 people ALL the time) but it is in general MUCH more mature than high school. That said, yes, if you hook up with one of your classmates, rest assured most people will know about it, I think this goes for any medical school.

Work Load: Hard to compare, I don't know a lot of people at other places. But what I can say is that frequent exams can be a pain, though they keep us from getting really stressed out for mid terms and finals. It keeps the work load manageable, you can never get more than 2 weeks behind. Most of my classmates are not stressed out, especially because we have a pass/fail first year.

3rd/4th Year: Hard to say (I'm only a first year). They've told us that we should expect to do 60% of our required rotations away from UNC and 40% at UNC. I've also heard that 3 months away from UNC is the norm. Generally I've heard positive things about doing rotations at the other sites (more attention from attendings, smaller groups, etc.).

Living: Most students live either in Chapel Hill/Carborro, or Southpoint. You can definitely live away from Chapel Hill and use the FREE park and ride lots and FREE busses (see my earlier posts).

Life after UNC: See our match list:

http://www.med.unc.edu/md/residency-match/residency-placements/.

I think that a lot of people end up staying here because most of the people are from here originally and want to stay close to family etc. We do place people in other states and parts of the country routinely though. Going to UNC will not mean you will be stuck here forever, though UNC likes to admit people who have an interest in sticking around. As the major state supported medical school UNC has a mission to provide physicians for North Carolina.

Hope I answered your questions. If you have anything more specific feel free to PM me.
 
Hey- I posted answers to anotherpremed's questions in the pre-MD forum so I won't repeat them here. It's funny that most of my answers agreed with CT tarheel but we still have slightly different opinions. That's good- the truth probably falls somewhere in there. (plus, I never hooked up with a classmate, so I will defer that one to him/her)

I will make a comment on 2nd year since I actually did it. The classes are more interesting than 1st year but probably also harder (they changed 1st year since I was there- a much needed good change) Almost all of the blocks (there are 10) are 3 weeks long with a midterm and a final, and if the final is on a friday you get thursday off to study. I actually liked second year.

And 4th year is the promised land!
 
Hey guys, super excited about UNC! I have some questions about financing med school:
As an OOS, I would be paying a ridiculous amount first year, but do most OOS get in-state status after the 1st year? How can you claim in-state status? Does UNC offer much financial aid? Is there both merit and need-based aid?

Also, do many students get dual-degrees? I know the school of public health there is top-notch, and it's something that I'm interested in, but does that typically take an additional year or two years?

Can't wait for second look, see you guys there!
 
Congrats, hooraysimpsons!!

longhorn: I'm just a lowly undergrad entering in the fall, but I can answer one of your questions:

I came to UNC as an out of state student and earned my residency this year. It is not easy, per se, but it can be done. You have to demonstrate that you are in North Carolina for more than educational purposes for a period of at least 12 months. That means on top of changing your car registration and drivers license, you should also register to vote and vote (that shouldn't be too tough this year!).

In addition, you must demonstrate financial independence from your parents if they live out of state. You will also be required to list every place you've spent four or more days for the last three years. It is good if while in NC, you spent some time in places other than Chapel Hill, i.e. vacationing in state. I know this is a long response, but if you're thorough you will have no problem getting residency. The residency forms can be found at: http://gradschool.unc.edu/pdf/residency/residency_long_form.pdf
Just make sure that for the 12 months you will have been in NC, EVERYTHING says North Carolina, and you're golden!
 
I'm so excited that I want to make a bunch of posts to help release some of the excitement but there really isn't much to say. Thanks stardancyr for the congrats.

As far as getting in state residency for tuition purposes... I'm not sure about UNC b/c I didn't have to worry about it but for some medical schools you can't change your residency status for tuition purposes once it has been decided for the first year.
 
I'm so excited that I want to make a bunch of posts to help release some of the excitement but there really isn't much to say.

...And I thought I was the only one that felt like that. :laugh:
But yeah, I don't have too much to say either. It does feel nice to post in the allo threads, doesn't it!?!

Here's a lame and pretty pointless question: How long will the USPS take to deliver my acceptance letter if they made the decision Monday evening? I need to see it in writing to believe it!!!!
 
Here's a lame and pretty pointless question: How long will the USPS take to deliver my acceptance letter if they made the decision Monday evening? I need to see it in writing to believe it!!!!

I got called on a Monday, and received my letter on Saturday. I'm in Chapel Hill though, so it didn't have far to go.

I definitely know what you mean though about needing to see it in writing. I was paranoid all the way up until my deposit was cashed haha
 
I'm also wondering when the packet will arrive... hoping it will settle me down

Anyone have advice on housing?
 
I'm in Raleigh so it doesn't have too far to go either. Of course I will be obsessively checking my mailbox everyday this week anyway!

Hooraysimpsons - I'm with you - I need housing advice!
I have no idea where to look! The only places I know in Chapel Hill are the med school and... really, that's about it. (I don't get out of Raleigh much.)
 
Rottiesrock and hooraysimpsons -- Congrats and welcome to the thread!
As far as housing goes, there are of course lots of rentals in Chapel Hill, but you might want to check out Carrboro too. I haven't looked at rentals there lately, but when I was in undergrad there were lots of cute houses good for sharing. It's close to campus, with lots of good places to eat, etc.
(And like skinnylindsay, I got my packet the Saturday after my Monday phone call. I know what you mean about the paranoid waiting! I kept thinking, "I just need to see it in writing...":))
 
Thanks for the congrats and the welcome! I've been browsing craigslist and mapping out areas and looking for 'on bus line' tags. I'll probably take a Sunday drive with some friends and check out the neighborhoods before I really start the search.
 
Congratz to all the new people who've been accepted! Anyone else planning on going to the second look saturday? I'm pretty sure Ill be there.

Regarding housing...

My fiance and myself just decided on our future residence today. Contrary to earlier threads, we decided to live in Chapel Hill (well, carrboro technically). It was difficult to find a one bedroom that was reasonable and allowed three cats. Alot of the places were pretty nazi about a two pet max. That being said, the two places we found that we really liked were on smith level road in carrboro. The villages (where we will be, I think) and bridges seemed like great apartments. A one bedroom with a loft in the villages with 915 sq. ft. ended up at 709 a month after the $20 pet rent. Really nice places too.

If pets arn't an issue, we found a few other places that were really great. But all things considered, the villages and bridges were what we found to be the best places, atleast for our needs.

I definatly got the feel that finding out where you want to live now so you can get your name on a waitlist was the best thing to do.

-RS

ps- I should qualify my statements with mentioning that I've been in Chapel Hill a total of 5 times in my life, including one time for my interview.
 
I have friends who live in both The Villages and The Bridges. From what I've heard, they really like them and are planning to continue living there. In addition to being on bus lines, they have a lot of grad students so they tend to be quiet. I think I already mentioned it, but I applied for an apartment at Southern Village. It's only about 2 miles away from campus and right at a PR lot.

Just a word of advice, finding housing in Chapel Hill can really be a pain. So if you know you'll be in Chapel Hill this fall, I'd definitely start trying to finalize housing sooner rather than later, especially since you're competing for housing with undergrads.

If you're looking for a house or condo, rather than an apartment, you can access the The Daily Tarheel online and there are tons of rental properties advertised in the classifieds. Craigslist is pretty good too.
 
What is the second look weekend and how did you find out about it? I just got called this last week to notify me that I was accepted and I am still waiting for the packet of info. Is there information in your acceptance letter about it? I would be very interested in a second look.
 
Second look is March 29 -- the info came in an e-mail. It's just a one-day thing.
If you don't get the e-mail soon it probably wouldn't hurt to ask. The invitation came from Randee Alston -- I think he (she? just realized I don't know for sure...) in the admissions office.
 
Are there multiple days for second looks? Or is that the only day they do it?
 
The invitation didn't mention any other dates.
 
This may be a 'weird' question but does UNC require a big tuition deposit during the summer? I am trying to figure out my finances for the summer and don't want to end up with no money until loans are dispersed because I didn't factor in a tuition pre-payment.

Thanks!
 
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