University of Colorado

[Apparition]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Does anyone know what the curriculum is like in Colorado med school or where I can find this information. Trying to answer the "why Colorado" question in their secondary.

Thanks. 🙂

 

[DianaLynne]

Boy, doesn't CU have the least informative website out there? I interviewed there last week and we talked about the curriculum a bit. It is being changed, so by the time the class of '09 starts, we'll be doing the new curriculum.

It's a much more progressive one now. One afternoon a week is Foundations of Doctoring where students work with a local doc and get practice doing patient contact. And it's moving to a more systems-based approach with problem based learning. Of course, these are my impressions about what I heard them saying, so don't necessarily quote me. CU is very primary care oriented, ranking in the top 10 in US News's list. They're also very into rural care.

Hope that helps a little... 🙄

Diana

 

[bigdan]

the out of state price is a reason NOT to go there...

 

[Mumpu]

Out of state tuition is only for the first year since you become a resident after that. 20% of class is out of state so the costs are not THAT prohibitive (especially compared with private schools which cost $50,000+ per year EVERY year).

The curriculum for the first two years is being changed. They are trying to integrate more, etc. I'm past the preclinical years so I can't give you any specifics. I can tell you this though... Foundations of Doctoring is one of the best early contact programs in the nation. Starting at the end of your first month of school, you will spend half a day a week in clinic with a family/IM/peds/OB doc seeing patients and honing your interview and exam skills. There are also integrated sessions on special interview skills, physical exam, etc. After the first year, you can switch to a specialist preceptor (I was with a cardiologist, a friend was with a cardiothoracic surgeon, a lot of people did full 12-hour shifts in the ER, many at the Level 1 trauma center at Denver Health). Ask about the details of early contact at other schools and you'll see a lot of half-assed efforts (e.g. one patient per year at Case Western... every student there hated it, a friend at Harvard told me they have no formal contact at all, just a lot of "opportunities") -- Foundations was one of the main reasons I picked the school. Denver is also a nice place to live -- great weather, cheap housing, mountains 30 minutes away if skiing/biking/hiking is your thing.

Primary care is not shoved down anyone's throat -- I'm interested in hospitalist IM and I've never felt forced to do something I didn't want to do.

 

[MeowMix]

I posted a long post about the CU pre-clinical curriculum a few weeks ago. I'm replacing that with a suggestion that if you want to know more, you should:

- look at http://mama.uchsc.edu/student/
The "First Year Students - MSI" headline is actually a link too, although it doesn't look like it.
The current MSI class schedule is on there. Much of the specific info about courses is now outdated, but you can get a general feel about the school.

- PM me with questions

Possibly Good Things
Students in the current MS1 class are very diverse in age, background, family, marital status, etc.. Median age is 24 or 26, but there are a ton of people who are 30+. Lots of former engineers, plus electricians, pilots...
Housing is relatively inexpensive and very easy to find, right next to school.
Lots of clinical opportunities to work with underserved populations and speak Spanish.
The issue of the campus moving is not at all an issue for us right now. We never have to go over there anyway. It will be an issue within the next few years.

Things You Might Not Like
Like every school, we have great faculty and crappy faculty. We have some older facilities, which don't look great. Because it's an underfunded state school, you will not have some things that you could take for granted elsewhere. Student services are pretty minimal (e.g. they organize intramural sports). There is no on-site housing and no on-site recreation facility. The student body is relatively non-diverse culturally and ethnically. Available financial aid is limited to loans and small scholarships (generally <$2500). No full-ride tuition scholarships. You won't find out about financial aid awards until June, at the earliest. The state of Colorado is strapped for cash and tuition keeps going up.

Things You Should Think About
A wide range of clinical opportunities in 3rd and 4th year. Mumpu can tell you way more about these.