Doh.. I had written out a long reply, but apparently the connection died. Well, here goes again...
I wrote about ISAC before, but that thread is probably long gone so I thought I'd give a little input to help give you guys an idea of what ISAC was like. Yosh was right about a lot of it and he knows a lot more about SAPP than I do.
As far as getting apps for ISAC, I got the feeling (but never confirmed) they sent out applications to incoming students who had certain "numbers". I don't know if anyone who applied was rejected from the course, but we didn't have as many students as the years before. Although they mention needing previous anatomy experience, they were a few of us (including me) who had never taken anatomy before and most of us did fine without it. I admit that a little anatomy experience probably helps in the beginning, but the course really takes off and no one had taken anatomy in such depth or learned it at such a rapid rate. Definitely talk to Dr. Younoszai (they will probably give you his contact phone # in a mailing regarding ISAC closer to the summer) if you are interested because he can give a good sense for the course. If you have a lot of time to spare during the summer that you would be otherwise wasting, ISAC might be just the ticket as well... as you won't be able to do much during those six weeks.
The ISAC course is six weeks, divided into three 2-week segments (paralleling the fall anatomy course which is three segments).. every two weeks you have a written and a practical exam to take. It definitely helps prepare you for the pace of medical school as it is probably faster than the average med school study day so that was another side-benefit as well as just getting used to the school and getting settled in.. meeting new classmates in an intimate learning environment, etc.
There are other benefits as well.. scoring an 80 or above allows you to become a facilitator during the fall semester anatomy course. This gives you bonus points, the advantage of not having to take anatomy exams during the fall, and a few other things. Being a facilitator does take time.. but it sort of varied on how dedicated certain facilitators were to their classmates and the task at hand. Scoring a 70-79 allows one the choice of 1) keeping your summer written exam scores and just retaking the three practical exams during the fall semester (saves you time that would be spent studying for the written exams during the fall, etc.) or 2) you can retake the entire course again.. which is what would automatically happen if you don't get above a 70. From what I remember, there were very very few ISAC'ers who didn't pass.. and the ones who ended up taking the course again during the fall probably did much better as they have had exposure to the material and dissection previously. One thing i didn't mention was that students don't get to have the chance of dissecting multiple bodies, so ISAC gives you a chance to dissect two bodies.. a bonus for those who might enjoy it or want to learn the anatomy even better. I know that I've seen students on rotations come back to the gross lab and look pretty excited because they actually got to pick around the cadavers again.
I probably left some stuff out but if you have any more questions we'll be glad to try and answer them.
Dean Guidry's title is Dean of Student Affairs for the entire Western U. campus I think. She is an extremely nice lady, but I think for more specific questions she might end up referring you to someone else who could better answer certain questions.
Personally, I'm becoming a little concerned because I want to apply to ISAC which begins around 2nd week of June.
