As many of us are partial, I sound insincere in this response, but you have described much of KCOM's identity.
We start seeing model pts our first quarter, in addition to the school physicals we do our first quarter. By the second year, we are seeing actual patients in a controlled environment. The idea is to get us comfortable with the interface before third year rotations start. We have anywhere from 1 to 4 hours per day of lecture (mon-fri) accompanied by up to 4 hours of lab some days. Most of our classes incorporate some form of PBL studies into our curriculum so that we work in groups, but most of your learning comes from independent group study that you arrange yourself.
The majority of points to be earned is in the form of tests, but group work counts, too. We attend classes 12 months per year, so we utilize a modified block/quarter program. We may attend 4-5 courses at time, rather than the 9 a lot of med schools have. However, there is little free time. Our longest break (three weeks) is perforated by a 1-week preceptorship (a chance your first year to work in a REAL office). I prefer less breaks and a more spread-out schedule. Don't let it fool you though; the profs take advantage of hte situation by going more in-depth into the material, which is probably why we have the highest average score on the COMLEX and score higher than the allopathic average on USMLE!
