WVSOM Class of 2008

[michDO'08]

Just curious...for those starting med school soon, are you doing anything to prepare? If so, what?
When I asked this of the student that I had lunch with on my interview day, she said if she could do it over again that she would've prepared for anatomy by at least knowing the locations of all of the bones. She had never had any anatomy during college. She also said that she would've gotten a medical terminology book to study, b/c it is something you really have to do on your own. I had med.terms already, and so I wonder, what are others doing to possibly prepare themselves for what lies ahead?

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[Aaron Earles]

Congratulations on your acceptance to WVSOM. It is a great school. I wish you luck!

Aaron

 

[michDO'08]

Thanks, Aaron--good luck to you at PCSOM!! I've read a lot of your posts on sdn. So, are you doing anything to prepare for this fall, or are you just taking it easy? I'm on vacation til Aug. 9...

 

[Amy B]

Hi and congrats to you for your acceptance.

I will admit I have been reading a basic anatomy book. It is kinda like anatomy for dummies. It has some humerous parts spread throughout it. I have been also skimming through my old immunology book and my micro book, just for a general refresher rather than trying to memorize things. That way once classes start I will somewhat rememeber reading about those things. But in no way am I actually studying.

Not me, no way

 

[michDO'08]

Hi AmyB, I've seen you on sdn alot, and also on opm.

What type of basic anatomy book do you have? I have never had immunology, but I did have micro--I really enjoyed the lab. So interesting.

 

[Aaron Earles]

Hey Drbertha,

Thanks for the good luck tidings. I wont be doing a lot of studying, however, I will probably review some of my anatomy. It has been about 3 or 4 years since I had my anatomy course and we didnt do gross dissection. I need to review some of those muscles and the nervous system. Anyway, I will be working up until mid to late July and will probably just do some light anatomy review just to re-familiarize myself with some of the obvious features.

Anyway, you have a great day and enjoy your summer break. BTW, did you see the new fitness center/basketball court they built for the students at WVSOM. It is very, very nice.

Take care.

Aaron

 

[Amy B]

Hi AmyB, I've seen you on sdn alot, and also on opm.

What type of basic anatomy book do you have? I have never had immunology, but I did have micro--I really enjoyed the lab. So interesting.

Here is a site I posted in another thread. It is really cool, especially if you haven't had gross anatomy as an undergrad. I didn't and I was a bit scared about seeing a dissection of a human being This site has helped prepare me a bit more.

The book I have been reading is Anatomy & Physiology made incredibily easy. I also bought the medical terminology made incredibily easy. Got them through amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_6/002-9623201-1071250?v=glance&s=books

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_4/002-9623201-1071250?v=glance&s=books
This group has a number of books. I like how they flow. really easy reading with a lot of great info.

 

[MEDIC060406]

I do not know when you interviewed. If you interviewed recently you may not have gotten the medical terminology information. WVSOM students have a med terminology test the first week of orientation. They sent out information regarding what book to buy and a list of osteopathic specific words to know. I heard from some student it is pretty easy. Maybe some current students will get on here and give some inforamtion on the format of the test. I am going to PM you e-mail adress. PM or e-mail me if you have not received the information.

 

[rchrest1]

OK here's the scoop: Most students get 100% on the medical terminology exam. Please please don't stress about this test. There will also be plenty of old exams floating around when school starts.

Quick & Easy Medical Terminology by Peggy C. Leonard
Amazon.com
You can shop around now and get a beat up, used book as cheap as possible. Trust me, you'll never pick this book up again. I think there might be a 4th edition out... it isn't necessary, the 3rd will work. Spend a few hours working through the exercises in the book. If you do this a week or two before school starts you won't have to study it a second time.

Gross Anatomy:
This is a 9 hour course that you'll get to endure 3 days a week from 1-5pm. Most of the time there will be an hour or two of lecture before lab. My only advice for this course: be ready to hit the ground running. You'll need to learn a ton of osteology over the first weekend of school to be ready for the first lab on Monday, so don't stress out about it now. You will have an atlas at your dissection station, so go ahead and buy one to keep at home and study, you'll need it. You will find that whatever you have in the lab you will not want in your apartment. Books and notes get pretty nasty. Some purchase the full anatomy textbook, but it really isn't necessary. This recommended text is Moore's Clinically Oriented Anatomy. Netters is hands down the best atlas in my opinion with Rohen a close second (it is a photographic atlas).

You will be given a dissection manual written by the WVSOM staff that has pretty much everything in it. Pretty intimidating at first but give it some time and everything will come together.

Other books:
Whatever you do, don't take the bookstore's advice on what books you need. Remember, they do make a living from selling books. Netter's and the Biochem text got me way into the first year. Since then I have purchased some board review books which are helpful to study for exams. They simplify the most confusing topics in all subjects. The main point here is that you are tested about 99% from the lecture notes. You won't have time to read the books other than for clarification.

Forget studying for now!! My most important word of advice is this: Don't move to Lewisburg (or any new town where your school might be) at the last minute!!! I was here a month early and each day up until school started there was something that needed done to get my apartment in order, etc. Yes, some students move in the week before school. If you do this, you'll have no time to study for the first week or two. Also, don't worry about quitting your summer job early. After the first year of medical school you'll be either 40 or $60,000 in debt anyway, so a month of work isn't going to make a difference. Spend some time with your family and friends this summer because you won't have weekends to spare once August rolls around!!


I would be happy to answer any more questions you have about anything!!!

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Hey gang,

Just got accepted to WVSOM back in Feburary and am going PBL track. I'm half way through that medical terminology book also. For you SBLers, I have news from my best friend who's in the class of 07 at WVSOM. Prepare for Anatomy cause they make it really hard there.

I feel like I'm taking the plunge by going PBL track but I think maybe it'll pay off in the end by giving me a different way to learn.

Congrats to all those who are in WVSOM I'll see ya'll up there soon.

Best Regards,
Richie

 

[docslytherin]

congrats!! my advice to you, honestly, is to take the summer off... read, go to the beach, RELAX!!!! don't try to get ahead on studying. you can't imagine the workload and you'll end up driving yourself crazy if you try to do it all.

read some stuff on osteopathy if you'd like something to get you going. read the gevitz book "the d.o.s" or read some older texts from the pioneers at http://www.meridianinstitute.com/eamt/files/contents.htm

for some fun, try sam shem's "house of god". try to stay light and enjoy yourself. there's plenty of time to study after they pile the work on you.

good luck...

 

[rchrest1]

Congrats Richie! Who is your friend? They weren't completely right... it's not meant to be really hard here. We have an excellent anatomy faculty and their goal is actually to make it as easy as possible. They will give out their home numbers and Dr. Nemitz has on more than one occasion come to the anatomy lab to help us study in the middle of the night. One time was even on his birthday. However, anatomy is a ton of material and WVSOM prepares you very well... there's just only so much they can do to simplify the material because it is tough!!!! See you in August!

Hey gang,

Just got accepted to WVSOM back in Feburary and am going PBL track. I'm half way through that medical terminology book also. For you SBLers, I have news from my best friend who's in the class of 07 at WVSOM. Prepare for Anatomy cause they make it really hard there.

I feel like I'm taking the plunge by going PBL track but I think maybe it'll pay off in the end by giving me a different way to learn.

Congrats to all those who are in WVSOM I'll see ya'll up there soon.

Best Regards,
Richie

 

[Richie Truxillo]

rchrest1

My best friend is Jade Hoy 8)
Need to goto bed, work in the AM ( can't wait to quit my job! )

 

[Aaron Earles]

Congratulations Richie on your acceptance!

Aaron

 

[rchrest1]

rchrest1

My best friend is Jade Hoy 8)
Need to goto bed, work in the AM ( can't wait to quit my job! )

You'd admit to hanging out w/ him!!! He lives downstairs, he's a good fellow.

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Omg! You're the roomie who lives above him hehehe
Well, not only do I hang out with him I used to hang out with him everyday through undergrad!

All I can say if you think he's crazy, you should see me LOL His sparkling verbal skills rubbed off a smidge on me

On a positive note, WVSOM's staff rocks everyone else. I've interviewed at alot of M.D. Schools and most of them aren't exactly friendly.

Oh and add this to the list. I emailed Dr. Lemley cause I have a 2mm urinary calculus in the distal UVJ. He said there's no OMT technique that can help me out. Doggonit, now I'm gonna have to have a ureteroscopic basket retrieval if it doesn't pass in the next month. The lesson learned is this:
Never drink protein shakes three times a day! Curse you Gold's Gym!

Grats to the rest of you who are at WVSOM or are coming to the class of 2008

The corporate world sucks, be a doctor!

 

[Richie Truxillo]

P.S. Thanks Aaron!

Live from Work,
Richie

 

[rchrest1]

You weren't consuming 3 a day when that picture was taken were you?? You'll find that your problem is more genetic than anything else. I'll take 175g of protein and 2k calories just in powder each day plus my meals for 6 months at a time. Also a gallon of H2o each day.... and no problems. Jade yelled at me for my protein obsession until we learned in class that it's OK if you're not prone to stones. Good news is that gaining size isn't about g of whey, it's all about the calories. Sorry there isn't OMT to relieve you of your stone! Then again, he's not going to tell you too much over email, as docs will tell students to come see them at the clinic since malpractice casts a huge shadow these days. Don't take study advice from Jade or you'll be making As.

RC

Omg! You're the roomie who lives above him hehehe
Well, not only do I hang out with him I used to hang out with him everyday through undergrad!

All I can say if you think he's crazy, you should see me LOL His sparkling verbal skills rubbed off a smidge on me

On a positive note, WVSOM's staff rocks everyone else. I've interviewed at alot of M.D. Schools and most of them aren't exactly friendly.

Oh and add this to the list. I emailed Dr. Lemley cause I have a 2mm urinary calculus in the distal UVJ. He said there's no OMT technique that can help me out. Doggonit, now I'm gonna have to have a ureteroscopic basket retrieval if it doesn't pass in the next month. The lesson learned is this:
Never drink protein shakes three times a day! Curse you Gold's Gym!

Grats to the rest of you who are at WVSOM or are coming to the class of 2008

The corporate world sucks, be a doctor!

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Hehe we have different study habits. I am a big picture learner and he learns all the little details first. It worked out well though as we were able to bounce ideas off of each other in our Chem classes and Immunology. Though I will say Jade is very dedicated and is an excellent student. He rocked through college and I expected nothing less from him in Med school.

You're right, I wasn't on whey Protein at that time! I was trying to bulk up a little bit at the time. Now I am trying to slim down at the waistline first to gain by my endurance I lost after my car wreck back in september. I'm a pretty short guy but can do alot for my size. I love fitness and I feel that exercise is the key to stress management in alot of cases. It's been a lifesaver in my high-stress sales job I have now.

Glad to hear there are a bunch of people that hang out at the gym I will definately have to join you all!

-Richie

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Are there any others going to WVSOM? Make yourself known!

Dang, SDN is a freakin addiction!

-Richie

 

[michDO'08]

Hey Richie,

How were you notified that you had been accepted into PBL? I emailed my essay yesterday, and I'm wondering how long it'll be before I find out.

Michelle

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Hi Michelle,

I called Dr. M. and he told me, I also got an email too saying I was accepted. They still have slots I believe. Toss me a private message with an email and I'll share with you the communications I have.

Live from Work,
Richie

 

[rchrest1]

Hi Michelle,

I called Dr. M. and he told me, I also got an email too saying I was accepted. They still have slots I believe. Toss me a private message with an email and I'll share with you the communications I have.

Live from Work,
Richie

Oh you crazy PBLers.

 

[Richie Truxillo]

I am one insane PBLer Here's some stress relief in a box I just modded out my xbox woo hoo! Got it for trading in 7 old games.

-Richie

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Michelle,

You are looking for this:

Richie,

I have asked that you be put on the PBL roster. Congratulations! I will be
in contact with you again soon. Feel free to contact me at any time! Nice
web pages.

Malcolm C. Modrzakowski, Ph.D.

Best wishes to you on getting into the PBL program. I'm pretty stoked about it myself as it seems like a change from what I am used to.

-Richie

 

[mamitch4]

Hey gang..
Glad to see some WVSOM chatter on here. I have just returned from a month long road trip and am going to goof off as much as possible for the remainder of the summer before school starts in Aug. Look forward to meeting everyone. I am super psyched about PBL...

 

[rchrest1]

Hey gang..
Glad to see some WVSOM chatter on here. I have just returned from a month long road trip and am going to goof off as much as possible for the remainder of the summer before school starts in Aug. Look forward to meeting everyone. I am super psyched about PBL...

Interesting that PBLers are the only ones that know how to use a computer.

 

[Richie Truxillo]

yeah I know bro. I wanna meet everyone in the class

 

[tarheel04]

I will be in the lecture based class next year. Does anybody know which cell phone service (if any) is available in Lewisburg?

 

[Richie Truxillo]

You get U.S. cellular or Singular wireless. I can verify SunCom does NOT work up there

So much for the 60 dollar UnPlan!

-Richie

 

[rchrest1]

I will be in the lecture based class next year. Does anybody know which cell phone service (if any) is available in Lewisburg?

You'll want to go with US Cellular. They have the market in this area and their plans are excellent compared to my old plans with AT&T (unavailable here also). It's a CDMA network, don't expect any fancy GSM phones. Also, pick the phone you want to stay with because if you go to buy one later the prices are very inflated without introductory rebates. Unlike AT&T, USC will prorate your early cancellation fee should you need to interrupt your service.

Cellular One is here, but it really doesn't count. The calling plans are about 3 years behind and speaking of behind... they just recently added custom ring tones.

 

[tarheel04]

Thanks for the info. Anybody know anything about apartments close to the school?

 

[michDO'08]

hey tarheel04,

you can contact angie rees in the registrar's office about a housing directory, that lists places in the town that are available. that's how i found my apartment. it's only 2 miles from the school, in a trailer park owned by a great family. you can get angie's email here--http://www.wvsom.edu/computerservices/directories/direct.htm

good luck in your search!

~Michelle

 

[tarheel04]

Thanks, I got the housing dir. but I don't know anything about the area there, so I was wanting to get an idea of what's available from a student's viewpoint or anyone who lives there and knows about the area. I was wondering more about which ones are close enough that you can walk to school and which ones are the better ones in terms of things being included in the apartment (such as heat/ac, dishwasher, and washer/dryer)?

 

[rchrest1]

Tarheel, check your PM.... You'll find that most apartments/houses/rental properties around here are pretty close to the school. I live 2 blocks away but don't usually walk since we only have an hour for lunch. Spend the lunch break walking and not eating... now that sucks.

 

[Richie Truxillo]

I'm high on the waiting list at Woodland Akers, which is a nice complex. 500/month with some utilities included. Currently I'm also looking into a 2 bedroom house. I also had a couple people ask me about becoming roommates. At this point I am not sure if I want one or not, but this may change soon.

-Richie

 

[rchrest1]

OK I can offer a little advice here even though you didn't ask for it. The nice thing about living alone is that you can have peace and quiet and get stuff done when you please... and if you get bored, then you can go visit your buddies at school and hang out. You won't have time to be bored. Also, living alone gives you the option to study anywhere in the apt, areas that will be common areas if you have a roommate. I set up my extra bedroom as an office.

 

[Richie Truxillo]

I love you man! ROFL

Richie the lone ranger!

Though Angie gave me a list of potential roommates to look over hehe

-Richie

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Begin Edit: I received two PMs regarding the post I made regarding schools (including ours) checking SDN. You should be aware that it is regularly done. In fact I heard about SDN from Dr. Peden at ECU. Any posts you write ALSO show up in Google queries (with a visibility score of 8301 as a matter of fact!) As somoene who specializes in network security ( and other things that are best left unsaid ) let me emphasize that if you post here, anyone and everyone can read it. "Caveat Postar"...let the poster beware.

End Edit:

This week is hectic, I'm preparing for my last business trip, The American Urological Association Annual Conference in San Francisco. I fly out Saturday.

On the plus side, I went to a drug company talk on Levitra last night....it was so much fun, more bawdy jokes and laughs than you could shake a prosthesis at

-Richie

 

[dowiattp]

hey everyone, im headed to wvsom as part of the class of 2008. im a huge procrastinator, so if i find a place to live by the end of july, ill be impressed. and it doesnt help that i absolutley must have every creature comfort known to man (ok, maybe i could get by with out a trash compactor). im still mulling over the roommate thing, and considering im from out of state (and paying out of state tuition), keeping the cost down might not be such a bad thing. im looking forward to meeting you guys...

-pete

 

[rchrest1]

Congrats Pete!

hey everyone, im headed to wvsom as part of the class of 2008. im a huge procrastinator, so if i find a place to live by the end of july, ill be impressed. and it doesnt help that i absolutley must have every creature comfort known to man (ok, maybe i could get by with out a trash compactor). im still mulling over the roommate thing, and considering im from out of state (and paying out of state tuition), keeping the cost down might not be such a bad thing. im looking forward to meeting you guys...

-pete

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Hi pete!

Congrats on your acceptance I think alot of us are procrastinators but we're gonna have to change when we start school. It's a MASSIVE bombardment of material to cover

Feel the WVSOM love

-Rich

 

[dowiattp]

hey guys-- its been a while. anyone had any luck finding a place? im probably going to make a trip down in the next few weeks to look. any suggestions? also, does anyone know how well verizon phones work in lewisburg? see you guys soon...

pete

 

[Richie Truxillo]

No place to live yet buddy. I also just got waitlisted at another school in NC also ( it's only 2,000 bucks a year ) so you can imagine the stress now hehe. I will probably go up there the first week in June with my friend Naomi to find some digs.

Lewisburg is awesome. Only thing is your Verizon phone is gonna have issues there. U.S. Cellular is like the only reliable game in town. My SunCom phone (member of AT&T wireless network) sucked in lewisburg. I will say that the verizon DSL is rockin though

-Richie

 

[Saffron304]

Fellow PBLer here. Didn't know this thread was going on...wouldn't have posted mine with the same title. New to posting and all.
Looking forward to meeting everyone. Best of luck on finding a place....
I'm having a poopy time myself.

 

[dowiattp]

sorry to hear about the waitlist richie. hopefully it will work out and youll be able to go to school for what, under 50k? i just got booted off my last ohio waitlist... looks like ill be paying the big bucks to go to wvsom.

im from the city, so you're really going to have to explain to me the awesomeness of lewisburg. it will be a pretty big change for me. as beautiful as it is, im definately going to miss the awesome indian/arabic/thai food here. ill be up for it though. i mean come on, i probably wont even have time to eat...

my verizon phone worked in lewisburg, but of course i was only in a small area. we'll have to see. and thank god for dsl. im not sure how people lived with dial up!

-pete

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Pete,

Well Lewisburg is really small but it isn't as small as I had originally feared. They do have a Wal-Mart (the center of civilization in most places these days) and they have a few restaurants also. What you trade off for entertainment you gain back in country friendliness and charm. I'm from a moderately sized city of 120,000 (Wilmington, NC) and yes I enjoy being able to goto the Beach and taking people out to movies and shopping around town for all my geeky electronic stuff (Lord I am gonna miss Best Buy *cry cry cry*). But in terms of a lil country town, so far I think Lewisberg is awesome. Hey, we're not moving there to live there but rather to goto medical school Look at it this way, it's the antithesis of the party school...but I heard they make do ;P

If I get into ECU, it's 2000 bucks a year in tuition. Which roughly brings the 4 year total to 100,000 when you include living expenses and such. That's 148,000 bucks saved. Whee!!! Ah a boy can hope though ;P

-Richie

 

[dowiattp]

medical school? oh right.... i finally ordered the terminology book. yea, life without best buy will be difficult, but at least you can still order online. is the wal-mart one of those super-wal marts that have groceries? i have a friend from charleston and he's intent on bringing the guys down to go white water rafting. he doesnt exactly understand how much time i wont have. not that i think i do either. im glad that theres a lot of outdoorsy stuff to do, especially skiing relatively newby. thats gonna become my new favorite hobby if i have the time. and yea, wvsom might be the antithesis of a party school, but we'll have to see about raising the bar up a little from just making do

thats nice to hear that ecu is so cheap. good luck!

pete

 

[Richie Truxillo]

It's one of them real-deal-holyfield SUPER WAL-MARTS! Ya know, with the video rental store, the florist, and the fast food and the grocery store inside of them.

Some of my favorite places to eat in town are:

The General Lewis Inn
Applebees
Food and Friends (downtown area)
Hardees (don't laugh, they make GOOD biscuits)
There's a pizza place too but I cannot remember the name of it now.
Oh, they have a nice sized Dairy Queen too!


I've never been skiing. Of course, a certain somebody has decided that if I end up at WVSOM that I *WILL* learn to ski with her LOL

If there are bears on rollerskates..I wonder what animal sucks at skiing....

Another philosophical question for yet another day at work.

Any questions about Lewisburg? Post em here and I'll give you the outsider's perspective

-Richie

 

[rchrest1]

. is the wal-mart one of those super-wal marts that have groceries?

Groceries? Yep. Store packed wall to wall with backwoods folk on the weekends? Yep. You'll find that the groceries are much better at Krogers. Plus, I prefer not to, as much as possible, give my grocery money to WM. This place has the lowest wages of any retail chain, health insurance so expensive that no one can afford it, "full time" not even close to 40 hours a week. An average Wal-Mart associate makes about $8.00 an hour with about 32 hours a week--a monthly gross of barely $1,000. So where is the money going? It's going to the Walton family, not Lewisburg.