University of Wisconsin 2010

[PH7.4]

Greetings from Madison, WI, where it is currently eight degrees F.

My apartment features a view of the giant crane that is building the new research facility. It's a giant crane.

Woo.

-pH7.4

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[MollyMalone]

Now it's currently 2 degrees.

Come to Madison! We're really cold, but that just means we're really cool!

Thanks, I'll be here all week.

 

[pike1]

I'm glad to see that somebody finally started this thread! I will be joining you in the UW-madison class of 2010. I am excited about meeting my new classmates.

 

[MollyMalone]

Hooray! I was happy to see it go up, too. I am not sure that I'll be at UWisc next year but it's definitely a strong possibility.

Happy (frozen) holidays!

 

[liverotcod]

I'm glad to see that somebody finally started this thread! I will be joining you in the UW-madison class of 2010. I am excited about meeting my new classmates.

Cool. Any questions for a current first-year, let me know.

 

[pike1]

Hey Darkside! I hope that you do decide to come to madison, judging by your applicant profile it sounds like you have a really cool background. Plus your more of a non-trad, just like me!

 

[pike1]

liverotcod- what are your thoughts on the summer anatomy option? I am pretty sure that I am going to take advantage of that to help ease me into the rigors of med school. (Although I'm not sure that it is ever possible to ease into med school ).

 

[MollyMalone]

Cool. Any questions for a current first-year, let me know.

Heh, I was going to PM you but might as well get it out for everyone to take advantage of...

I've heard less than flattering things about the anatomy facilities from a couple of different people. What do you think about them and do you think the quality of your anatomy education was significantly affected by them?

One concern I have is that the students I met there seemed more stressed out than students I met at other schools. I know it's hard to compare, but would you say that your experience has been more stressful than average?

How is the competitiveness, really, and how do you think the grading scale plays into that?

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it!

 

[liverotcod]

liverotcod- what are your thoughts on the summer anatomy option? I am pretty sure that I am going to take advantage of that to help ease me into the rigors of med school. (Although I'm not sure that it is ever possible to ease into med school ).

I think summer anatomy is a great idea. The people that did it had a much more relaxed first semester, and also got to know each other pretty well. I must say, I hated each and every one of them when their semester was over after our last biochem was over, while the rest of us struggled through one more week of anatomy.

 

[liverotcod]

Heh, I was going to PM you but might as well get it out for everyone to take advantage of...

I've heard less than flattering things about the anatomy facilities from a couple of different people. What do you think about them and do you think the quality of your anatomy education was significantly affected by them?

One concern I have is that the students I met there seemed more stressed out than students I met at other schools. I know it's hard to compare, but would you say that your experience has been more stressful than average?

How is the competitiveness, really, and how do you think the grading scale plays into that?

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it!

The anatomy facilities are fine. Some schools with newer labs have computer monitors at every tank, but I can't see how that's much of an improvement over paper dissectors - the focus should be on the cadaver, anyway. Each cadaver has two teams of 3 or 4 assigned to it, and the teams alternate dissections. The dissecting team teaches the dissection to the non-dissecting team. This means less time in the lab, which is good. For me, I found that I learned the dissections that I personally completed and then taught more thoroughly than the ones taught to me. The anatomy instructional staff is first-rate. Check out the UW dissection videos for a (much dryer than in real life) example of how the course is taught, at http://www.anatomy.wisc.edu/courses/gross/index.html. Overall, I was very pleased with the anatomy course.

Here's the thing about grading scales. Almost without exception, schools base their class rank on raw exam scores rather than actual grades earned. So it doesn't much matter whether your school is pass/fail or H/P/F or A/B/C - if you're top third, then you're top third whether you got an A- average or a simple Pass. I find that having letter grades helps motivate me to study harder and therefore to learn the material better. Also, the choice of grading scale has no meaningful relationship to board scores. At UW, grades are unscaled, so you are not competing with your fellow students for grades. But as noted above, at essentially all schools (maybe not Yale) you ARE competing for class rank, no matter the grades.

I thought first semester was reasonably stressful. But I think it should be a little stressful. The learning curve is steep, and having a little edge of stress helps keep one going. I perceive it as a bunch of high-achieving young people trying to do their best. But there's no lack of sharing of study resources among students, nor any sense of competition among us, as far as I can tell. Reminds me of, say, a basketball team, where everyone is aware of their individual stats, but as concerned with the success of the team as they are with their own success.

 

[MollyMalone]

Thanks! I appreciate your insight!

 

[pike1]

liverotcod-
How do you like the learning community setup at madison? do you think that it does a good job at allowing you to get to know the students who are not in your class (ex M3's and M4's)?

 

[PH7.4]

I love asking questions!

Could you tell us a little about how much patient contact you get and how early it starts?

Thank you!

Cool. Any questions for a current first-year, let me know.

 

[pike1]

anybody know anything or have any advice in terms of getting an apartment in madison?

 

[izibo]

anybody know anything or have any advice in terms of getting an apartment in madison?

I'm going to need some advice on this one too, although I will probably be buying a house since I am in for the long hall (MD/PhD program)...

 

[MollyMalone]

I'm living in Madison right now, so I can help with housing advice. Feel free to PM me with more info about what you're looking for sizewise and budgetwise. I'm also happy to host anyone who comes for an interview or a second look.

 

[pike1]

Where are the rest of the folks who will be joining us in the class of 2010?
I know that their must be more of you on here. Come on and post to introduce yourself.

 

[liverotcod]

liverotcod-
How do you like the learning community setup at madison? do you think that it does a good job at allowing you to get to know the students who are not in your class (ex M3's and M4's)?

It definitely helps with the M2s. As for the M3s and M4s, they are 1) really busy, 2) started UW before the learning communities existed and thus have little commitment to the idea, and 3) are often on rotations throughout the state. We have had two planned sessions when they came in and talked about the transition to third year and about the process of selecting a specialty. But day to day there's not much contact with them.

By the way, the away rotations are something to think about. I think it's a great idea, but it may be a pain in the rear for some. Personally, I'm going to try to schedule as much as possible in Madison for the sake of my wife and children, but in general you're going to be away about half the time.

The learning communities are a pretty new idea for UW, and are still being worked out. The M2s are, happily, really taking charge of making improvements to the system. Next semester, for example, we will have an interhouse competitiong (yes, the House Cup).

 

[liverotcod]

I love asking questions!

Could you tell us a little about how much patient contact you get and how early it starts?

Thank you!

There are both formal and informal avenues. As part of the clinical sciences course, "Patient, Doctor and Society," you will spend at least 3 afternoons per semester with a GP who is assigned to you for at least M1 and M2. Then of course there are standardized patients and hospital visits with your PDS small group leader.

Informally, there are great extracurricular activities that involve patient contact, the best (arguably) or which is the MEDIC program in which med, pharm and allied health students go to free clinics throughout Madison and see patients, then present them to a voluteer attending. It's cooler than it sounds, and I especially liked working alongside PA, PT, pharm etc. students.

Also, there is unlimited shadowing at the hospital. Last week I scrubbed in on a liver resection and a Whipple procedure. My first surgeries, and a total and complete rush. But I don't think there is any situation in the world more likely to cause a person to feel unbelievably stupid than scrubbing in for the first time and then being handed retractors and a suction tube.

 

[liverotcod]

anybody know anything or have any advice in terms of getting an apartment in madison?

There is a good resource for apartment-hunting available off the med school web site. What my family did is get a short lease (7 month) and then shop for houses after we knew the area better. We're closing on our house in Middleton on Friday.

Most students seem to like living with other med or grad students, and there are always people looking for roommates. I'm not the best person to ask, though, given my own situation.

 

[liverotcod]

I'm going to need some advice on this one too, although I will probably be buying a house since I am in for the long hall (MD/PhD program)...

I just wanted to point out that the MD/PhD folks I've met (including one in my anatomy tank) are great. I think you'll really enjoy the program. For many, many years.

 

[pike1]

Hey thanks for answering my question liverotcod! In regards to the away rotations, I am really looking forward to that opportunity. I hope to practice in a smaller community one day, so the away rotations seem like a good way to get a feel for that. I think that a rotation at the marshfield clinic would serve as an excellent way to talk with some docs who are in private practice in a smaller community. Although, I can see how away rotations would be more of a hassle for someone with a family. I also wanted to ask you which class, in your opinion was the hardest of the first semester?

 

[pike1]

liverotcod-

That is pretty cool that you had the opportunity to scrub in on a surgery in your first year!! If a person is interested in this type of shadowing, how do you go about getting setup with someone? Also are you free to pick the specialties that you would like to shadow in? This is pretty cool to hear about, I am glad that I picked UW .

 

[liverotcod]

liverotcod-

That is pretty cool that you had the opportunity to scrub in on a surgery in your first year!! If a person is interested in this type of shadowing, how do you go about getting setup with someone? Also are you free to pick the specialties that you would like to shadow in? This is pretty cool to hear about, I am glad that I picked UW .

The various specialty interest groups all have residents come in fairly early in the semester. In each of those meetings I've gone to (which is quite a few because of the free lunches they offer) the residents have offered to set up shadowing with med students. The particular program I did last week was set up by the M3/4 rotation coordinator, and was successful mainly because the upperclassmen were off for winter break as we were, so there was less demand. I was pretty surprised they invited me to scrub in, especially for something as complicated as the Whipple. I was expecting to just observe.

 

[liverotcod]

I also wanted to ask you which class, in your opinion was the hardest of the first semester?

That's really going to depend on your preparation. I had had biochem in post-bacc, so the first couple modules were (relatively) easy. But then the testing in biochem was pretty difficult. I should think a CVA or undergrad human anat course would really help with anatomy. My best grade was in Histology, even though at the beginning of the semester I had absolutely no clue what I was looking at.

 

[pike1]

liverotcod-

Thanks for answering our questions and sharing your experiences with us! I'll let you know when I think of some more questions.

 

[bootz]

I had an interview in Madison a couple of weeks ago. I loved everything about the school. It is definitely at the top of my list.

 

[pike1]

I had an interview in Madison a couple of weeks ago. I loved everything about the school. It is definitely at the top of my list.

LT8R- I wish you the best of luck, it would be great to have you as member of the UW class of 2010 In case you're wondering about time frame, I interviewed on October 14 and received my acceptance letter on November 5th. I would guess that as the application season progesses, it takes them longer to get back to you. Also, my acceptance offer came in a small, thin, regular sized envelope. I assumed that it was a rejection letter at first!

 

[SCSlug]

It definitely helps with the M2s. As for the M3s and M4s, they are 1) really busy, 2) started UW before the learning communities existed and thus have little commitment to the idea, and 3) are often on rotations throughout the state. We have had two planned sessions when they came in and talked about the transition to third year and about the process of selecting a specialty. But day to day there's not much contact with them.

By the way, the away rotations are something to think about. I think it's a great idea, but it may be a pain in the rear for some. Personally, I'm going to try to schedule as much as possible in Madison for the sake of my wife and children, but in general you're going to be away about half the time.

The learning communities are a pretty new idea for UW, and are still being worked out. The M2s are, happily, really taking charge of making improvements to the system. Next semester, for example, we will have an interhouse competitiong (yes, the House Cup).

liveritcod:

How hard is it for M3 and M4's with Family living with them in Madison to get rotations in Madison or within driving distance?

SC Slug

 

[pike1]

liverotcod-

I know you are an M1, but I was wondering if you knew the degree of freedom that we get in selecting where to do our away rotations? Do we get to pretty much pick our away rotations or is there some sort of lottery system that randomly assigns us to a site somewhere in Wisconsin?

 

[liverotcod]

liveritcod:

How hard is it for M3 and M4's with Family living with them in Madison to get rotations in Madison or within driving distance?

SC Slug

Slug and Pike, my experience with this is nil, of course, but I'm told that people with "special circumstances" - which includes having a family - get extra consideration. Other than that, you get a certain degree of freedom in choosing rotations. But sites with more students than slots are decided by lottery.

When asked, both the administration and students just say that it's really complicated. So unfortunately we're all a little in the dark.

 

[pike1]

liverotcod-

Thanks for trying to answer my question! Are you guys back at it already in terms of classes?

 

[liverotcod]

liverotcod-

Thanks for trying to answer my question! Are you guys back at it already in terms of classes?

Tomorrow
But also

 

[pike1]

liverotcod-

Good luck with the rest of your M1 classes! Just think, in a few months you will be 1/4 MD

 

[owenmichael]

Hey thanks for answering my question liverotcod! In regards to the away rotations, I am really looking forward to that opportunity. I hope to practice in a smaller community one day, so the away rotations seem like a good way to get a feel for that. I think that a rotation at the marshfield clinic would serve as an excellent way to talk with some docs who are in private practice in a smaller community. Although, I can see how away rotations would be more of a hassle for someone with a family. I also wanted to ask you which class, in your opinion was the hardest of the first semester?

Marshfield Clinic isn't really a "private practice." It is like any normal clinic but coins itself as physician run. Regardless, I would say you could garner much better experiences elsewhere (personal opinion).

 

[PH7.4]

liverotcod,

Thanks again for all of the good info. I have one more selfish request. Could you tell us what your schedule has been like as an M1? I don't know if you have a class schedule you'd be able to link to or something similar, I'm curious about how early things start and how late they finish.

Many thanks,
7.4

Tomorrow
But also

 

[bootz]

Waitlisted into top 1/3...ouch! Anybody know how much movement there is on the waitlist? I'm trying to figure out what I am going to do at this point. Any suggestions?

 

[MollyMalone]

Waitlisted into top 1/3...ouch! Anybody know how much movement there is on the waitlist? I'm trying to figure out what I am going to do at this point. Any suggestions?

Sorry to hear that, LT8R.

Last year there was no waitlist movement. This year my understanding is that they are accepting much more conservatively, so there is at least a decent chance of some waitlist movement this year. I think all you can do at this point is keep them aware of your interest in the school and hope for the best.

Good luck!

 

[Ashanti Rock]

Waitlisted into top 1/3...ouch! Anybody know how much movement there is on the waitlist? I'm trying to figure out what I am going to do at this point. Any suggestions?

Sorry to hear that LT8R. If you don't mind my asking, when did you interview and when were you notified? I also agree with darkside, the top third can be a good thing, if i'm correct this is the extent that wisc. ranks, so showing interest could definitely help! Best of luck with the rest of the process.

 

[bootz]

Thanks for the luck!

 

[liverotcod]

liverotcod,

Thanks again for all of the good info. I have one more selfish request. Could you tell us what your schedule has been like as an M1? I don't know if you have a class schedule you'd be able to link to or something similar, I'm curious about how early things start and how late they finish.

Many thanks,
7.4

One of my few gripes with UWSMPH (everyone's really excited about the new name. Seriously.) is the calendar system. It's a logon-controlled web system that instructors always seem to be updating without telling anyone. So for example, our 10 AM lecture gets changed to 11 AM in the scheduling system the day before, but because most of us have already downloaded our sched for the week, everyone shows up at 10 and we wind up watching an hour of Family Guy that somebody has downloaded. Whatever.

So if you're asking about daily schedule, I can't just point you to the site. First semester it was lectures 9-12, and afternoon activities 1:30-4 or so 3-4 times a week. This semester, it's 8-12 lectures, and afternoon activities 2 times a week. I would say that we're relatively rich in scheduled class time relative to the average school. But of course, most of this stuff is not really required and for sure many people don't go to lectures.

If you're asking about academic calendar, we have Aug 16 - Dec 12 and Jan 4 - May 9.

 

[liverotcod]

Thanks for the luck!

Sorry to hear about your waitlist, and add my luck in there with the rest. Do you have other schools lined up?

 

[Makaka]

Hey yall,
I am flying out to UW from CA in February for an interview. Can anyone offer any helpful advice? What should I avoid or stress? They'll be asking why UW, are there any outstanding attributes of the students, school, or faculty? Any programs anyone can mention? Anything at all will be helpful. Just reading this thread has already given me some idea of what to expect.

 

[liverotcod]

Makaka,
Don't stress the interview. As you may have heard, it counts only as much as a LOR in the process. As far as plusses, the school has incredible facilities, a strong research program (in stem cells in particular, but look it up), above average residency placements, and Madison is a really cool small city. Good luck.

 

[bootz]

Hey yall,
I am flying out to UW from CA in February for an interview. Can anyone offer any helpful advice? What should I avoid or stress? They'll be asking why UW, are there any outstanding attributes of the students, school, or faculty? Any programs anyone can mention? Anything at all will be helpful. Just reading this thread has already given me some idea of what to expect.

Just be yourself! Everything you need to know is in the interview feedback section of SDN and on the medical school website. Good luck with the interview.

 

[MollyMalone]

Hey everybody,

I thought I'd put together a little list of potentially useful and/or entertaining links about life in Madison.

The Daily Page : The website of Madison's alternative newsweekly, Isthmus. Has a database of restaurants, listings of movie theatres and showtimes, current events, club calendar, classified ads, a forum, and more.

madison.com : A general site with content from the two largest local newspapers, The Capital Times and the Wisconsin State Journal, as well as the local NBC 15 TV station. Classified ads here, too.

startrenting.com : An apartment search site. Good for a general idea of prices, locations, etc. For apartments closest to the medical school you'll want to look at the Near West listings, or the Central listings if you want to be close to the downtown action.

Metro Transit : Madison Metro is the city bus service. I'm pretty sure that students ride free (undergrads do, at least, and I think grad students do as well).

The Madison Bar Tour : This is a blog by a group of friends who decided to systematically visit every bar in Madison. As of today, they're 53% done.

Eating in Madison A to Z : In a similar vein, this is the blog of a couple who have decided to eat their way alphabetically through the city. This is challenging, since Madison has the most restaurants per capita of any city in the US.


I guess that'll do for starters... I'll update if I think of anything else!

 

[bootz]

Hey everybody,

I thought I'd put together a little list of potentially useful and/or entertaining links about life in Madison.

The Daily Page : The website of Madison's alternative newsweekly, Isthmus. Has a database of restaurants, listings of movie theatres and showtimes, current events, club calendar, classified ads, a forum, and more.

madison.com : A general site with content from the two largest local newspapers, The Capital Times and the Wisconsin State Journal, as well as the local NBC 15 TV station. Classified ads here, too.

startrenting.com : An apartment search site. Good for a general idea of prices, locations, etc. For apartments closest to the medical school you'll want to look at the Near West listings, or the Central listings if you want to be close to the downtown action.

Metro Transit : Madison Metro is the city bus service. I'm pretty sure that students ride free (undergrads do, at least, and I think grad students do as well).

The Madison Bar Tour : This is a blog by a group of friends who decided to systematically visit every bar in Madison. As of today, they're 53% done.

Eating in Madison A to Z : In a similar vein, this is the blog of a couple who have decided to eat their way alphabetically through the city. This is challenging, since Madison has the most restaurants per capita of any city in the US.


I guess that'll do for starters... I'll update if I think of anything else!

Thanks T.D.S - I guess your new avatar means that you are going to be attending UW in the Fall? Great choice, congrats!

 

[pike1]

Darkside-

Thanks for the links!

 

[MollyMalone]

Thanks T.D.S - I guess your new avatar means that you are going to be attending UW in the Fall? Great choice, congrats!

Heh. It's not 100% yet but it's likelier and likelier as time goes on. I just thought it was silly that my rotating avatars did not include one for the only school to thus far accept me!

 

[Ashanti Rock]

I'm in!!!!! Yay, can't wait to go back for second look weekend! I'm so grateful, never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that I would be in the position that I'm currently in! G'luck to everyone still waiting and perhaps I'll see some of yall at second look!