Quoted: In need of some serious advice

[Doodledog]

A first year osteopathic medical student asks:

I am currently a first year medical student at one of the new osteopathic medical schools.

I've run into MANY worrisome situations and events in the past few weeks and would like some advice on how to handle it.

These include:

1) There is much construction going on and much of the facilities are not functional and/or not even ready yet. This includes the anatomy lab, histology lab, OMM lab, library, and even many of the features in the lecture halls.

2) Noone, and I do mean Noone, seems to know what exactly is happening and noone is able to give an accurate or correct answer when addressed with questions/concerns about the status of the building.

3) Because of the construction, much of the curriculum has been shifted or nonexistent. (ie. OMM labs have been so rushed, no actual learning is being taken place, Anatomy Lab has yet to begin, etc...)

4) Administrators always seem to give the roundabout answer and never fully answer the question.

5) the one thing that worries me the most is the fact that I am concerned that the curriculum here is not preparing it's students to pass either the COMLEX or USMLE tests.

My question is, what should i do? We do not currently have advisers, and the school has not set up anybody to handle these concerns. Furthermore, the administrative staff (associate deans, director of admissions, head dean) can't seem to give any answer but "it's being worked on, or it's being handled, or the curriculum has some kinks but will be worked out".

A good friend of mine has suggested transferring out, however, I know how hard this is. But is "I don't believe the school I'm attending will prepare me enough my future career as a physician" be a valid reason for transfer?

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[Shaolin80]

First I will assume that we all have "no idea" what DO school the first year med student is talking about. So as a first year DO med student at a new DO school that could be the one mentioned, I feel compelled to clarify a few things.

1) Anatomy lab as I am aware will be ready to be used as scheduled based on the curriculum that was established. Histo is next semester, so I don't know why someone would bring that up yet. OMM is ready except for the video system connected to the two large plasma's screen will have to better see the Prof manipulate.
Lecture Hall the only thing lacking is the video system to record lecture. There were some technical difficulties the first couple weeks with operating the brand new AV (projector/mic), which is all working perfectly.
The school was tauted to have a virtual library, what we lack at the moment is simply more studying space that the library will provide and that will me up and running in less then a week based what I've last seen.

2) and 4) Admin can only tell people so many times that things are being worked on and that it is a brand new school. I'm sure they told everyone this during interviews, so for someone not to expect any hiccups when starting a brand new school is insane.
The fact that most of the "real" issues students have had minus real-time video streaming and blackboard have been rectified expeditiously is a testament to the Admin working to provide the students with what they need and more.

3) A couple lectures were shifted due to unforeseen circumstances relating to the fire alarm and I think something else. But as a class we are back on schedule and to my knowledge nothing has been skipped
OMM feels rushed b/c you're just starting a practice that is quite intensive, and that happens to every student regardless of whether they have large plasma screens displaying what the prof is demonstrating. The Cadaver lab has not been used b/c the course syllabus states that the first Cadaver lab is on Oct 1st after we've gone over Embryology and the Vertebrae.

5) I really think this is a premature statement by someone who is obviously concerned and bordering on hysteria, maybe rightfully so. The admin have provided all the tools required at present to do well in our first semester thus far. Are all the amenities advertised up and running NO but to say that not having real-time video streaming up and running or plasma screen TVs in the OMM lab yet, will hinder your COMLEX/USMLE score is ubsurd. [edited out comment]

 

[MaximusD]

I honestly don't see why a medical school would open up while it's still under construction. Seems haphazard and unfair to incoming students, IMHO.

Good luck getting through the situation. I would try to ride it out and see if things improve.

Best of luck with whatever you choose.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I honestly don't see why a medical school would open up while it's still under construction. Seems haphazard and unfair to incoming students, IMHO.

Good luck getting through the situation. I would try to ride it out and see if things improve.

Best of luck with whatever you choose.

Yeah, this would be advice, too, just because transferring is so hard and not guaranteed. Unfortunately, it sounds like you're going to have to focus on learning what you need to do on your own for now. Find good books for everything you're studying and use those as your primary source.

I'm hoping the situation gets better shortly.

 

[Doodledog]

First of all, this forum is specifically for support and handling of difficult questions and situations. Although it is acceptable to tell people "hard truths", it is not acceptable to imply or state dislike or animosity for a poster due to the situation they have posted. If we were to allow that, then we would defeat much of the purpose of this forum. In other words, this forum is moderated, as is the mentor forum, somewhat differently than other areas of SDN. Please respect this different standard.

As for the the original poster, I too recommend some patience. Anyone who has been part of a new school or new curriculum knows that there are growing pains that often include the types of things you mentioned. Sometimes they are resolved quickly, other times not. You have a right to a good education and a right to voice your opinion, but try to focus your criticisms and give the school a chance to respond.

Ultimately, it is very unlikely that problems in the first few months of school will affect your long-term education or opportunities to do well in finding a residency and developing a career. Changing medical schools is nearly impossible at the point you are at, and, it is entirely possible you will have a very different view of things in a year or two.

 

[fdonkor]

I must say I had the same concerns when going to a new school. I almost did not apply to LMU-DCOM last year. I am glad I did. So far the problems stated above that I was expecting, I haven't seen. They seemed organized from day 1. The only construction going on is the 4th floor which is being prepared for PA program starting in 2009 and the nursing students are on the 3rd floor. The construction outside on the roads don't affect our studying. Ofcourse there are painting going on sometimes but but that is ignored in the midst of our soon head and neck examination where everyone is trying to survive.Everything seems perfect, I don't even feel like I am in a new school. We have already have two nice lecture halls with all our lectures recorded, actually they are live streamed and about 7.5% of our class watch the lectures from home whiles classes are going on. Our anatomy and OMM lab were up and functioning from day 1.
I am really impressed with the adminstration and how they are handling the school. They planned the curriculum well and organized the exams to prepare us for the boards. We have well experienced professors who are very helping and working with us to see this work. They also have very good rotation sites set up for us and well planned ahead. I am not saying that its a 100% perfect but I must say that its close to that for a new school. There are problems with the new technology of course here and there but the computer tech people get on it right away. They even have overnight on call service for our labtops with any problems we might have overnight. We did have new labtops(Tab PC) for the inaugural class, not anymore for the upcoming classes.
For someone who was nervous about coming to a new school, I have never been happier, I am actually content.
Hang in there though, things will get better.