couple more questions...
-I can't seem to remember, is there a simulation lab/center at USF?
-How early can you do a clinical elective (like do you get the opportunity at all in 3rd yr? or early 4th yr? or after all the requirements are done)
-is the class ranked or unranked?
-Are the majority of clinicals done at TGH, or are they pretty spread out among the different hospitals/clinics? How far away is TGH from the campus?
-How easy is it to find a mentor to help you pick out and conduct a research project?
-When do people take the boards/How much time do you get off to study? Is there any built-in review/board prep in the curriculum?
still trying to get everything together to make a difficult decision... it's pretty much down to usf or osu... any help/persuasion/convincing is also welcome 👍
Yes, there's a relatively brand new simulation/clinical skills center that is very nice.
Electives are only done during 4th year. You are allowed something like 5 electives. I did 3 months of research, a radiation oncology month, and a family med independent study.
You will be ranked, and this will be reported when you apply to residency programs. Ranking is only computer from years 1-3.
You will submit requests for clinical sites during your 3rd year. Because I live in New Tampa (north of campus) I request most of my clerkships at Moffitt and the VA and I was granted most if not all of those requests. The only thing I had to go to TGH for was OB (no babies delivered at the VA or Moffitt obviously) and some neuropsychiatry stuff.
It takes about 20 minutes from USF to TGH when you don't go during rush hour. It probably takes twice as long during rush hour. Traffic on 275 is bad going south towards TGH in the morning starting around 630 and bad going north starting around 5. So if you live in south Tampa you're going against the flow of traffic in the mornings.
Getting a research mentor is easy. It's all on you to go out and find someone, but most people are more than happy to take you on or refer you to someone who will mentor you. I did plenty of research at Moffitt and it was pretty easy to get started... There's a summer research program during the summer after 1st year that's a good place to start, and plus they give you around $2500.
I got around 6 weeks before 2nd year to study for Step 1, and you realistically only need 3-4 weeks because you end up forgetting stuff after a while and you just get burned out. There's no special board prep courses - you're studying for boards as you study for med school. You'll see you really don't need any special board prep other than an online question bank (either Kaplan Qbank or USMLE World) and a review book like First Aid for Step 1. Professors throughout your first 2 years will point out questions during their lectures that are commonly asked on boards. I'd be really shocked to see a school that had a special board prep course - I don't know what they would tell you to do other than study hard and do A LOT of practice questions.
I can say that USF is a great medical school and I doubt you will find many schools that train you as well from a clinical perspective. The preclinical years are good, but the clinical years are just awesome. I'm now on a rotation that is teaching me dermatology, orthopaedics, and rheumatology. I've had 2 months of critical care this year and a month of oncology. It's because of these diverse clinical experiences that I am really proud of being a soon-to-be USF grad. USF students match into the most competitive fields. USF is continually getting more and more known throughout the nation. It's truly a great place to be. It's one of the reasons why I am staying for residency. I'd be happy to share more of my experiences if you have any other specific questions.
