Wayne State worries

[tigerlily23]

Hi Wayne Staters,
I am most probably going to Wayne State this coming fall, as it is my top choice right now. But I do have a few questions about things that have been floating around my ears about this school and I wanted to ask current med students there about your opinions and experiences. I am already excited about the school but still uncertain about what to expect. Okay here goes:

1) I know wayne state has a traditional curriculum. Has that posed a major problem for/really helped anyone? I know that I don't mind being in large lecture based classes but I also enjoy the small group sessions we occasionally have in undergrad. Are there any opportunities for that at wayne state?

2) Has the large class size been a problem for anyone? If so, then what are ways to meet people and feel less like one of many?

3) I hear that the administration is very nice but is it possible to form a closer relationship with the professors?

4) I know you probably don't get a lot of free time but are there opportunities in Detroit to really enjoy the little free time you do have?

5) I can't for the life of me find a match list for wayne state. What are some of the residencies that students from wayne state have been placed into?

6) Are there many opportunities to get into the community and gain more experience that way during the first two years? How competitive are those positions?

7) Has anyone felt really unsafe or personally threatened when living by the university?

Okay, those are a lot of questions but I didn't know who else to barrage with questions like that. Feel free to answer any or all of them but please, please do answer if you have one.

Thanks all,
tigerlily23

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[Finally M3]

1) Honestly, I wasn't enamoured with the teaching at Wayne. I was pretty much a correspondance student (ie never went to lecture, learned off of the online slides, tapes of lectures, and the lecture notes and did just fine). So I'm not the best person to ask about this...

2) There are tons of social events your first month at Wayne...I will warn you, however, that everyone I've talked to in different classes acknowledge the fact that the student body is very click-ish...kinda like a small high school.

3) All you have to do is ask....a good way to get to know faculty is to get involved in one of the student orgs or interest groups that require a faculty sponsor.

4) There's plenty of free time...after anatomy.

5) Browse around on their website, they had a list of last year's match online, it was pretty impressive. At the place I'm doing my medicine rotation, there are a couple of Wayne transitionals and they are doing RadOnc at UFlorida and PMR at UCSD. Not bad.

6) There is a free clinic you can volunteer at on weekends, tons of stuff at Children's, different student groups where you teach to local schools, etc. etc. etc. If you're interested, there is a spot for you. They always want more med students to get involved in any of the activities. You'll find it gets harder and harder to be motivated in extracurrics as you progress through school, however.

7) I feel fine downtown....although there have been isolated break-ins to people's cars. There is a police precincts devoted to the Wayne Campus, and there are lots of cops runnign around due to our proximity to Receiving.

Hope this helps.

 

[BatmanMD]

1) There is mostly just large lecturers, with the occasional small groups for some classes that try to reinforce certain points. An example would be in micro, they still try to have a "wet lab", where you get exposed to gram stains, the tests, cultures, ect... to try to understand why it may take a day or 2 to get results.

2) With a class size of 256, it is EXACTLY like high school all over again. I cannot overemphasize this b/c here the bar is raised b/c everyone (for the most part) is really bright. You get put into groups at the beginning of the 1st year of ~20 students and thats the people you get closest to usually. I hated high school, so this is a problem for me. But, there are people who will feel the same, so it does work out.

There are lots of groups to meet people and all kinds of after-tests parties to go to. The ad-coms do a great job of selecting people.

3) All the teachers are great. Very personable and you can talk to them easily. some even give out their home phone #'s.

4) You will have more free time than you think. Just as Finally said, you have to finish gross. Wayne stills has you disect everything out and labs will take up tons of time. It ends ~thanksgiving, so after that there are literally countless things to do. Don't worry about that.

5) People have gone into everything imaginable, from derm to Family practice. You have a GREAT asset in the DMC and local hospitals.
For example, Chicago has several med schools in it, with the med students competing for interships in the city hospitals. so say there are 4 schools with all their students trying to get in.
Wayne is the only school in Detroit, with the DMC, beaumont, St. joes,...so all the students can PICK what hospital they go to. The advantage is that you can get a LOR from the hospital that you want to have your residency in. BIG ADVANTAGE.

6) If you mean more medical exposure (hospital rounds), you will not have time for this. there are other things you can do, for example volunteer in clinics and do basic things like this.

7) I have never had a problem with this. The school has a "safe-walk" program if you stay late, they will walk you to your car, and security is always around. Dont worry about this either.

I'm a 2nd year, so you can PM me and i'll give you my email address (or leave yours in the PM), if you have any more ?

Good luck. (sorry about the length of the post)

 

[tigerlily23]

Thanks to both of you for your extensive and interesting replies. I am glad to know that safety has not been such a big issue, at least for the two of you. That is one of the primary concerns my parents have and I'm glad I can reassure them with firsthand experiences of those who are actually there. I am a little concerned about the whole high school atmosphere because I was one of those that wasn't too enamoured with high school and enjoyed the big 10 university atmosphere much better. But, I'll deal I want to encourage still others to share their experiences and opinion of wayne state. This is really helpful to me.

 

[joshua_msu]

I dont go to wayne, but i lived in the immediate area for about a year. As long as you are on or near campus, it is pretty safe. You will always notice a strong police presence. If your lookin to live in the area, second ave has some nice apartment builings and your only about a 10 min walk away.

 

[hopper]

just in case you didn't find where wayne students match.

http://www.med.wayne.edu/Scribe/scribe00-01/scribesu01/matchday.htm

 

[tigerlily23]

Thanks hopper!!

Do most students not want to go out of state or is competition really bad for people to want to match out of state?

 

[SeeDiph]

Originally posted by tigerlily23
Thanks hopper!!

Do most students not want to go out of state or is competition really bad for people to want to match out of state?

Yes the competition is horrible! People from other medical schools hate to have to compete with Wayne State grads!

Just kidding, the reality is that Wayne provides Michigan with >60% of its physicians. The majority of folks are from Michigan and choose to stick around. I had no problem interviewing at very competitive (Duke, BWH, U of Chicago, etc.) out of state programs as a WSU 4th year.

I'm getting ready to graduate, but I hope that you decide that Wayne is the place for you. It is a great school and I wouldn't trade my last four years for anything!

 

[tigerlily23]

SeeDiph, I sent you a pm