UQ-Ochsner 2019 Cohort

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Can someone explain the UQ grading system for years 1 and 2? I understand that it's a 7 point scale, but what qualifies as a "good grade" or an A/A-? What would be considered honors (if any). Also, how do current students manage school with research? Lastly, do MSIII and MSIVs get opportunities to do away rotations with other specialties not specifically listed in the curriculum (radiology, rad-onc if that even is a rotation?, med onc etc).

Honestly, even applying feels like a new job lol, so I seriously appreciate everything you are all providing on this forum, y'all are the best!

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Grades don't particularly matter once you get into med school as long as you are passing; however, a 7 is an 85%, 6 is 75%, 5 is 65%, and a 4 is whatever their hofstee pass mark is based on stats, usually somewhere in the 50-60% range. <4 sort of depends, with a 3 usually allowing for someone to sit for a supplemental with the understanding that regardless of your supplemental grade, the highest you can get is a 4 still. 2 and 1 typically are straight fails. With that said, you need to average a 4.5 or higher for student loans. Some courses are P/F, some are graded, and they aren't all equal in terms of credit hours. 7's are incredibly hard to get, and that is mostly due to the way that the tests are written, largely due to many of their 'difficult' questions not related to actual conceptual application of learned ideas but dumb factoids that are arguably not relevant to anything. Part of your first 2 years, there is a required research component/class, and typically during that time they will go over how to get on elective research projects and where to find current projects/contact info. It's not hard to get involved, but is it necessary - well that's up to you. Most Americans wait until they are back at Ochsner before they start research. There is a portal there to find current projects, and there are lists shared amongst residents who need student help.

Away rotations have been discussed before, but the program is changing and there is now a required elective rotation that is built into the program. You can still do an optional elective between MS3 and MS4 and after MS4 (insurance covers us until the end of the calendar year). How the built-in elective works out is anybodies guess. It hasn't happened yet, but it's supposed to offer the opportunity to do things that Ochsner doesn't offer as part of their normal rotation schedule, like interventional rads or derm etc or I suppose being able to do an additional away rotation in something you want to match into, ED is the big one that requires aways due to their strange application requirements. One of the current MS4s did an away in interventional rads for his optional so it is available.

Y'all really need to look at previous UQO threads. So many of these questions have been answered multiple times. The shift in clinical years is new though, so nobody is going to be able to answer that until next year.
 
Grades don't particularly matter once you get into med school as long as you are passing; however, a 7 is an 85%, 6 is 75%, 5 is 65%, and a 4 is whatever their hofstee pass mark is based on stats, usually somewhere in the 50-60% range. <4 sort of depends, with a 3 usually allowing for someone to sit for a supplemental with the understanding that regardless of your supplemental grade, the highest you can get is a 4 still. 2 and 1 typically are straight fails. With that said, you need to average a 4.5 or higher for student loans. Some courses are P/F, some are graded, and they aren't all equal in terms of credit hours. 7's are incredibly hard to get, and that is mostly due to the way that the tests are written, largely due to many of their 'difficult' questions not related to actual conceptual application of learned ideas but dumb factoids that are arguably not relevant to anything. Part of your first 2 years, there is a required research component/class, and typically during that time they will go over how to get on elective research projects and where to find current projects/contact info. It's not hard to get involved, but is it necessary - well that's up to you. Most Americans wait until they are back at Ochsner before they start research. There is a portal there to find current projects, and there are lists shared amongst residents who need student help.

Away rotations have been discussed before, but the program is changing and there is now a required elective rotation that is built into the program. You can still do an optional elective between MS3 and MS4 and after MS4 (insurance covers us until the end of the calendar year). How the built-in elective works out is anybodies guess. It hasn't happened yet, but it's supposed to offer the opportunity to do things that Ochsner doesn't offer as part of their normal rotation schedule, like interventional rads or derm etc or I suppose being able to do an additional away rotation in something you want to match into, ED is the big one that requires aways due to their strange application requirements. One of the current MS4s did an away in interventional rads for his optional so it is available.

Y'all really need to look at previous UQO threads. So many of these questions have been answered multiple times. The shift in clinical years is new though, so nobody is going to be able to answer that until next year.
Thank you I appreciate you answering these questions (even if repeated lol). I think some of the difficulty is the fact that things ARE changing and uncertainty is always going to cause some level of uneasiness. However, I am excited to pursue this opportunity if I get in! Thanks for the grades explanation and the away rotation info update - I will be as engaged as possible going forward.
 
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Grades don't particularly matter once you get into med school as long as you are passing; however, a 7 is an 85%, 6 is 75%, 5 is 65%, and a 4 is whatever their hofstee pass mark is based on stats, usually somewhere in the 50-60% range. <4 sort of depends, with a 3 usually allowing for someone to sit for a supplemental with the understanding that regardless of your supplemental grade, the highest you can get is a 4 still. 2 and 1 typically are straight fails. With that said, you need to average a 4.5 or higher for student loans. Some courses are P/F, some are graded, and they aren't all equal in terms of credit hours. 7's are incredibly hard to get, and that is mostly due to the way that the tests are written, largely due to many of their 'difficult' questions not related to actual conceptual application of learned ideas but dumb factoids that are arguably not relevant to anything. Part of your first 2 years, there is a required research component/class, and typically during that time they will go over how to get on elective research projects and where to find current projects/contact info. It's not hard to get involved, but is it necessary - well that's up to you. Most Americans wait until they are back at Ochsner before they start research. There is a portal there to find current projects, and there are lists shared amongst residents who need student help.

Away rotations have been discussed before, but the program is changing and there is now a required elective rotation that is built into the program. You can still do an optional elective between MS3 and MS4 and after MS4 (insurance covers us until the end of the calendar year). How the built-in elective works out is anybodies guess. It hasn't happened yet, but it's supposed to offer the opportunity to do things that Ochsner doesn't offer as part of their normal rotation schedule, like interventional rads or derm etc or I suppose being able to do an additional away rotation in something you want to match into, ED is the big one that requires aways due to their strange application requirements. One of the current MS4s did an away in interventional rads for his optional so it is available.

Y'all really need to look at previous UQO threads. So many of these questions have been answered multiple times. The shift in clinical years is new though, so nobody is going to be able to answer that until next year.


I saw that people have matched Neurosurgery, vascular surgery, and interventional rads at other institutions. How would this have been possible without multiple 4th year away rotations? Especially curious about the guy that matched neurosurgery at Tulane.
 
I saw that people have matched Neurosurgery, vascular surgery, and interventional rads at other institutions. How would this have been possible without multiple 4th year away rotations? Especially curious about the guy that matched neurosurgery at Tulane.
Rotations are done in the Ochsner hospital system, the same system shared by LSU and Tulane.
 
I would ignore the Vascular and Neurosurgery matches, those are not indicative of typical matches. Tulane and LSU are easy to do away rotations at in the current system, especially for optional between ms3/4 and 4th year like surg spec. You can currently do up to 3 away rotations in the current system - no idea how that is going to change which is why I didn't bring it up before. Currently, if you want to do aways, especially if you want to match into surgery, it's recommended you do an away in Surgical spec and at least crit care, plus your optional between MS3/4. He also checked the required boxes, like research, high step scores, making positive relationships in the department, and the Ochsner admin work their butts off to get people matched.

If those hypercompetitive matches are something you want to do, and you are already a UQO student in MS1/2, before you get your heart set on anything make sure you check the step 1 box of getting a score that doesn't automatically get your application filtered out. After that, you can talk to the admin and tell them your plan, and they will help you figure out the best pathway. This is not really something that can be answered on a forum.
 
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I would ignore the Vascular and Neurosurgery matches, those are not indicative of typical matches. Tulane and LSU are easy to do away rotations at in the current system, especially for optional between ms3/4 and 4th year like surg spec. You can currently do up to 3 away rotations in the current system - no idea how that is going to change which is why I didn't bring it up before. Currently, if you want to do aways, especially if you want to match into surgery, it's recommended you do an away in Surgical spec and at least crit care, plus your optional between MS3/4. He also checked the required boxes, like research, high step scores, making positive relationships in the department, and the Ochsner admin work their butts off to get people matched.

If those hypercompetitive matches are something you want to do, and you are already a UQO student in MS1/2, before you get your heart set on anything make sure you check the step 1 box of getting a score that doesn't automatically get your application filtered out. After that, you can talk to the admin and tell them your plan, and they will help you figure out the best pathway. This is not really something that can be answered on a forum.

Thank you for the info!

Vascular and Nsurg won’t be typical of marching at any school even in the US because of how competitive. It’s just nice to know that being an IMG from UQO doesn’t exclude you if you have everything else.
 
Rotations are done in the Ochsner hospital system, the same system shared by LSU and Tulane.
Maybe you're thinking pre-UQ-Ochsner, when Ochsner trained LSU and Tulane students.
 
Hey guys, anyone hear back yet from MedEdPath regarding acceptences yet?? The wait is intense rn
 
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Hey guys, anyone hear back yet from MedEdPath regarding acceptences yet?? The wait is intense rn

Nothing yet. I guarantee I'll be refreshing my email every five minutes for the next two weeks.
 
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Nothing yet. I guarantee I'll be refreshing my email every five minutes for the next two weeks.
Literally have been doing this since last week.... god I hate the wait, gonna develop clinical generalized anxiety disorder in the next couple of days btw i’ve been looking at the past UQO forums, and they’ve been getting accepted this date and tomorrow, May 9th, so hopefully we hear a reply by then! Fingers crossed its an acceptence and not the saddest rejection ever lol
 
Literally have been doing this since last week.... god I hate the wait, gonna develop clinical generalized anxiety disorder in the next couple of days btw i’ve been looking at the past UQO forums, and they’ve been getting accepted this date and tomorrow, May 9th, so hopefully we hear a reply by then! Fingers crossed its an acceptence and not the saddest rejection ever lol
I heard that acceptances likely won't start coming out until later in the summer
 
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I heard that acceptances likely won't start coming out until later in the summer
That’s totally wrong. They said early summer, between late april, early may. I contacted MedEdPath a week ago and they said within the next couple of weeks. And if you look at past UQ-O acceptances, they happened this current week we are on.
 
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been glued to my phone bc I keep refreshing my email every 5 min. typical millennial lol. if anyone hears please post and let us know
 
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^Us analyzing when we should hear back from MEP.
Mission Failed, we’ll get ‘em next time.
 
I saw that people have matched Neurosurgery, vascular surgery, and interventional rads at other institutions. How would this have been possible without multiple 4th year away rotations? Especially curious about the guy that matched neurosurgery at Tulane.

The guy who matched neurosurg at Tulane was going in every weekend and break week working with that department. The vascular surg match was a combination of luck and hard work. She matched at a program that had recently had some accreditation issues so stronger US grads were scared off from it or had other options so the pool she was competing with was a bit diluted. But it was a great match in her case (being an IMG) and lucky due to some of those outside factors that year that made it less competitive than previous years. Still taking nothing away from the applicant I'm sure she was stellar regardless.

The IR match was a stellar applicant. Don't know much else about her.

A lot of very competitive matches also have some degree of networking. Medicine like anything else is also about who you know not necessarily what you know.

Surgery is also a bit of a self selecting field in that you have to REALLY want it in order to do it in that you can't see yourself doing anything else so you are more likely to do what it takes to become that competitive applicant. A lot of students enjoy their surgery rotation and like it, but don't love it enough to do what it takes or they get scared off by the lifestyle.
 
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Congrats - they might have made a facebook group already. OMSA usually makes one for the incoming class pretty early since it becomes the official group for the UQO students for disseminating information.
 
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anyone know if we really have to pay for 51 months of overseas student health cover? since we're only there 2 years
 
anyone know if we really have to pay for 51 months of overseas student health cover? since we're only there 2 years
Yup.

ed - It's not just 2 years. You do 2 years plus at a minimum 1 rotation in 4th year, and it has to cover the entire duration of your visa which you definitely want.
 
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anyone know if we really have to pay for 51 months of overseas student health cover? since we're only there 2 years

Yes, you pay for 51 months due to that final rotation in Australia. However, my understanding is that it's possible to get 2 years refunded.
 
There are always more people in the fb group than people in the class because kids from the year above you will be in there to give advice and answer questions.
Lol Nah messed up there, deleted it to not confuse anyone, we're the Class of 2023, not 2019, we still don't have a group just yet
 
Sorry pretty confused about this Australian school year... So we're the class of 2022? not 2023 because a school year is basically throughout the year, doesn't extend into two years, right? Like in the US, one school year would be 2018-19, but there, its only 2018, right?
 
Sorry pretty confused about this Australian school year... So we're the class of 2022? not 2023 because a school year is basically throughout the year, doesn't extend into two years, right? Like in the US, one school year would be 2018-19, but there, its only 2018, right?
That's what I was thinking.
 
I submitted my application right when it opened and recently scheduled an onsite interview for March. I’m excited to see the campus and meet some new people!

For anyone wondering. Their interview schedule system can be cumbersome. Basicly, once invited, you still have to follow the link and reserve a date. They seem to fill up really fast, however, they keep adding additional dates so don’t be too woried. If you want an early interview slot, I would recommend creating a filter on your email to automaticly alert you (ring your phone etc) so if it comes out at night or while you are busy with something else so you can quickly grab a slot. I only went to this extreme measure because I am hoping to recive an earlier admissions decision so I can make the future decisions I need to. If you look over the thread for last year, they keep adding more and more interview slots throughout the year and the later dates fill up much slower.

Also? Anyone here interview last year? If so, how was it?

How many days/weeks after your interview did you find out about your acceptance/denial?
 
How many days/weeks after your interview did you find out about your acceptance/denial?
I interviewed April 13, was informed that I passed my interview on April 20, and was accepted yesterday (three weeks later).
 
Is there any online apartment searching link or something like that for UQ Ochsner med. students or UQ med students or just UQ apartments? lol know its confusing, but wanna have an idea of what i'm looking for in living there.
 
Is there any online apartment searching link or something like that for UQ Ochsner med. students or UQ med students or just UQ apartments? lol know its confusing, but wanna have an idea of what i'm looking for in living there.

realestate.com.au is what I used

or any other broker used websites. Very few people live in school owned housing, its mostly undergrads and its expensive for what it is. On fb people might be renting out rooms too.
 
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Anyone else anxious for the creation of the FB group to start making friends/living arrangements? I just want to make plans already!
 
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