Kansas City University College of Osteopathic Medicine

Tell me about yourself. Why medicine? How will you handle the volume of information you will be required to learn in medical school? How do you spend your leisure time?

What do you think of the uninsured patient? What does society think of the uninsured? Have you ever lived away from home? Do you have any more questions about the school?

What osteopathic schools are located in (Your State)? How much is the tuition at those schools? Do you have any state medical schools? Name them. How much are those? Wouldn't it be wiser to attend a state school, considering the difference?

I don't know much about osteopathic schools, can you tell me if there are any in (Your State)?

What does society think of the medically uninsured?

Read my file, looked over all my extracurriculars and research, went over SDN Interview Feedback, and prepared my answers mentally

The curriculum is systems-based, consists of an integration of basic and clinical sciences, board scores are extremely high (~98%), the fourth year is flexible in terms of clerkship locations and electives, examinations are given at the end of each section (usually a month time lapse), the attrition rate is low, facilities were new, the school has an extensive amount of funding and is in the process of creating a new research building, the students all seemed to be very supportive of each other, and the faculty were also very nice. The anatomy lab is also equipped with good ventilation and many screens for viewing.

The curriculum is based on letter grades, approximately eight fail per class (graded on a bell-curve), quizzes are given every two weeks per section and are more representative of tests, the third year clerkships are assigned via a lottery system, the campus does not have wireless internet access, there are not enough computers on-campus either, some of the traditional first year lecture rooms tend to be overly huge (class size is 225) and not very modern, the school tends to be somewhat isolated from the community and does not reside in the best location, the housing located across from the school was originally a hospital (now renovated), and the weather can be quite cold during winter.

That Kansas City doesn't have much to offer, and that the weather would be freezing cold.

The day started out with transportation from the hotel to the school via the KCUMB van, and afterwards an hour-long presentation covering the history of osteopathic medicine, the curriculum of the school, and a list of the sacrifices required of a matriculant. The next three hours consist of talking with the student ambassadors about any questions (off-the-record), a tour of the campus, lunch, and finally a look at the housing offer across from the school. At approximately 1:00 PM, all the interviewees wait in the student lounge, get fitted for their white coats, are assigned an interviewer, for which the student ambassadors may be able to give you information about them, and then you basically wait till you're called. Once everyone has finished interviewing, transportation is provided back to either the Quarterage or the Holiday Inn Express. The actual interview was low-stress. I was assigned two PhD's who were both very nice. One had kept interrupting me though, probably because my explanations were a bit on the lengthy side. However, every time he did interrupt me, he also complimented me on all of my accomplishments and how I was able to do so much in such a short time. The other interviewer was the main person asking all the questions. I thought some of the questions the interviewer asked were a bit strange (see Question 2), and then I found out later in the interview that both of them were from my own state. It made me feel like they were kind of messing with my head, but all in good fun. Be sure to have many questions for your interviewer(s) about the school. I was asked to respond to this approximately 3-5 times. I had said I had read much of the information of the website (to which one interviewer agreed with me), yet I still asked them a few things about the housing, electives, etc. Both interviewers were research oriented and one proceeded to tell me about what they had to offer in the summer session transition to Year 2. The way it was said implied that they expected to see me there next year and to participate in some of the research opportunities. I left the interview with a good impression; both interviewers gave me water and some candy to start off the interview, and both left by leaving me with their cards and urging me to contact them if I wanted to ask them anything at all.