Will schools say anything?

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Dr_Feelgood

It never ceases to amaze me the things that schools will say to get students to attend. Some of the things that I've heard (through here-say or in person) are:

1) Scholl students don't dissect in gross lab.

2) That some schools will fudge their rate of passing the boards by not allowing some students to take the boards.

3) NYCPM is the only school with a clinic on campus.

I can say that 1 and 3 are untrue, but I just read about the second "rumor." Does anyone know about this? Or have you heard anything else that seems skewed.

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It never ceases to amaze me the things that schools will say to get students to attend. Some of the things that I've heard (through here-say or in person) are:

1) Scholl students don't dissect in gross lab.

2) That some schools will fudge their rate of passing the boards by not allowing some students to take the boards.

3) NYCPM is the only school with a clinic on campus.

I can say that 1 and 3 are untrue, but I just read about the second "rumor." Does anyone know about this? Or have you heard anything else that seems skewed.

Yes, I was asked about #2 various times by students from other schools at the national meetings. When I was involved in the interview process at DMU, some applicants asked about it as well. I have no idea how that rumor got started.
 
Yes, I was asked about #2 various times by students from other schools at the national meetings. When I was involved in the interview process at DMU, some applicants asked about it as well. I have no idea how that rumor got started.

So they think that this occurs at DMU? Or which schools?
 
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As for rumor #2 about schools not allowing some students to take the boards, that's just not true in a literal sense. Anyone who passes the basic sciences (1st and 2nd year) will be allowed to take the exam. The school has to give them a letter from the dean or registrar stating that they did pass 2 years of pod school and took the requisite classes before they can register with NBPME for the exam, but all schools have to give that letter if you do pass the first two years.

In a figurative sense, it's entirely true that schools will prevent certain students from taking the board exam to protect the school's board pass rates. Those are simply the students who fail a course or two and flunk out of the programs entirely. The schools have deemed from their performance that they don't have the knowledge to move on, so they never make it through the basic sciences and couldn't sit for the boards anyways by NBPME standards. The same thing occurs at some Carribean MD schools: they might accept 450 students, but some students are weeded out and only about 150 or 200 of them are still around in the program to take the USMLE. Those schools, like the pod schools who admit too many students, know that they'd rapidly lose their accreditation if board pass rates were too low; they have to get the riff raff out of there and can't do a disservice to the profession by graduating unqualified doctors.

I think where this "the school won't let you take the boards" rumor got started is with comprehensive basic science exams which some schools administer towards the end of the second year spring when boards are a couple months away. I know Barry and OCPM do it, and other schools might also. The general stated reasoning behind the "comp exam" is to gauge the strength of the school's instruction in each of the sciences (a second obvious reasoning is to possibly scare students who bomb the comp exam to really kick into gear on studying for the NBPME part I). It has been rumored that "if you don't get a certain score on the comps, the school won't give you the letter to register for boards," but that has not actually been instituted at any school I know of - nor can it be even if faculty desired it (read bottom). If you ask me, it's probably just another student rumor and hearsay as the original post suggests. The podiatry school's options are basically to flunk you out before you complete the second year coursework, or you must otherwise be allowed to take the boards. If you pass your classes, they can't deny that you are registered and passed them:

"...A candidate is eligible for the examinations when certified as a second-year (Part I) or fourth-year (Part II) student by the dean or registrar of the candidate's college. The certification indicates that each candidate is enrolled in college at the time of the test administration. Second-year students must have passed the coursework related to the material in the Part I examinations..."
http://www.nbpme.org/PDFs/Bulletin2007final.pdf (page 5)
 
I agree that rumors and gossip about programs is just plain dumb and can be detremental to people who foolishly believe such outlandish statments. Rumors are always present in any setting, and they seem to flourish in a medical program when many students are stressed out and looking to blame other people besides themself. I usually bite my lip, but I get very sick of rumors.

Here's a few of the dumbest ones I've heard;

"School A is the only school that takes summer courses."
(a simple look at the curriculum on the school websites or a call to the admissions offices let you know this is not true at all)

"The board exam might start earlier for western schools and eastern schools can cheat because they take it a couple hours later."
(ok, this might have happened to a small degree years ago, but it has obviously been corrected now. A simple look at the NBPME bulletin shows you that the exam starts instantaneously across the nation.)

"School X has you seeing patients in clinics and cutting in the OR by the second or third semester."
(I sure hope I'm never one of those patients!!!) :oops:

"I heard that you're going to fail histology if you don't write the research paper."
(This one made me laugh first semester and was actually told to me by multiple classmates. That paper was 10% of the grade as were 10 other components for a total of 11 components. The lowest scoring component was dropped when the final grade was calculated. I had already spoke to the professor in his office and he ok'd my decision to not write the paper and accept the other 10 components as my grade because I had other anat and bioch exams to focus on. Judging by my 3.7 that semester, I think I did ok.)

People seem to like making up answers for questions they do not know the answer to. I just wish they would not spread those made up answers or rumors as fact. A simple talk with the dean/professor/upperclassmen etc is the easiest way to get the real answer.
 
I agree that rumors and gossip about programs is just plain dumb and can be detremental to people who foolishly believe such outlandish statments. Rumors are always present in any setting, and they seem to flourish in a medical program when many students are stressed out and looking to blame other people besides themself. I usually bite my lip, but I get very sick of rumors.

Here's a few of the dumbest ones I've heard;

"School A is the only school that takes summer courses."
(a simple look at the curriculum on the school websites or a call to the admissions offices let you know this is not true at all)

"The board exam might start earlier for western schools and eastern schools can cheat because they take it a couple hours later."
(ok, this might have happened to a small degree years ago, but it has obviously been corrected now. A simple look at the NBPME bulletin shows you that the exam starts instantaneously across the nation.)

"School X has you seeing patients in clinics and cutting in the OR by the second or third semester."
(I sure hope I'm never one of those patients!!!) :oops:

"I heard that you're going to fail histology if you don't write the research paper."
(This one made me laugh first semester and was actually told to me by multiple classmates. That paper was 10% of the grade as were 10 other components for a total of 11 components. The lowest scoring component was dropped when the final grade was calculated. I had already spoke to the professor in his office and he ok'd my decision to not write the paper and accept the other 10 components as my grade because I had other anat and bioch exams to focus on. Judging by my 3.7 that semester, I think I did ok.)

People seem to like making up answers for questions they do not know the answer to. I just wish they would not spread those made up answers or rumors as fact. A simple talk with the dean/professor/upperclassmen etc is the easiest way to get the real answer.

Those are some good ones. :thumbup:

I can say that in the three years I have been here DMU has never stopped a student from taking part I boards no matter if they have previously failed a course or not.
 
Another option is they could strongly recommend the student adopt the 5yr program if they're not ready for Part I, which would give them another year to prepare.

One thing I was wondering about was on the pass rates that schools report, is this on the first try or does it include multiple attempts? That might give the numbers a skewed spin.
 
I don't know how every school reports it. I would look for things like "first time or sitting" and class pass rate. If you can find DMU's stats you can compare them to this the class of 2008 had a first sitting pass rate at 98% and a 100% pass rate for the Class of 2008.
 
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