My congratulations to the first group of interviewees...and my humblest apologies for not being there. Also, please forgive this long missive.
I am in Washington, DC for the AMA's Third National Congress on Health System Readiness: Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness in the 21st Century. The late Dr. Strosnider appointed me as the AOA Liason for this group...exciting conference and good curricular material that you will receive in school.
The tone set at the interviews is one of hospitality...if not we want to know about it.
I enjoy Mythbusters and will now comment on some of the postings in the thread.
- "less inclined to sift through the applications..." This clearly is not the case. Dr. Weir, Associate Dean, Student Affairs has a keen sense for applicants. He and Ms. Bennett have spent hours on the applications and in selecting those who will be interviewed. Each application and applicant receives individual and personal review. It is not beyond Dr. Weir to call an applicant who looks good but is missing something from the secondary.
-"...generous acceptances..." There is nothing generous about them. If you got accepted (not just here, but anywhere) you were found deserving of the opportunity to study medicine...you earned it. Others have invested their lives in you (and you in your own), and this is the payoff. We will interview until the class is full. The Dean will call you if accepted...if the Dean is tied up with AOA or other business, I will call you.
- "Class size of 100." The initial class size is 100 and will remain so for the next five years. COCA has approved the COM for 100 seats and it permits eight percent overage to allow for attrition. Thus, WCU-COM can accept 108 students.
- The building is coming along...I just checked our website and Facebook and see that we have not got the most recent pics in queue. I will send Emily an email...she's getting ready for next week's interviews.
- The interview really is about assessing fit. We are looking at you just as much as you are looking at us. If not accepted, it is not necessarily because you couldn't do the work...it might be because in the eyes of the COM it is not a good fit. If accepted and you do not choose to come to WCU...ultimately it is because you decide that it is not a fit.
Shakespeare said "Brevity is the soul of wit." I have been to long...but thought it important enough to comment.
Slainte,
DrL