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The Commonwealth Medical College

Scranton, PA

Allopathic Medical Schools | Public Non-Profit

📚 General Info

What graduating class are you in?

2018

Are you pursuing any joint degrees (MD/PhD, MD/MPH, etc.)?

MD/MPH

Are you considered in-state or out-of-state for tuition purposes?

in-state

What is your race/ethnic background?

Caucasian

Overall, how would you rate this medical program?

10 out of 10

What is the reputation of the school in the medical community?

10 out of 10

What is the reputation of the research that goes on at this school?

10 out of 10

What was your MCAT score?

511

What was your undergrad GPA?

3.8

What was your undergrad science GPA?

3.8

What was the zip code of your residence in high school?

15221

What do you like most about this school?

The small close-knit community is extremely supportive and not competitive. It makes life much less stressful.

What do you like least about this school?

I wish the cafeteria was open later.

Please provide any other general comments on your school

No responses
Curriculum

How is the curriculum structured?

Systems-based

How many courses are taken at a given time?

1

How long are you typically in class per day?

3-4 hours

Are courses recorded for medical students?

Video recording

How many days per week is anatomy lab?

2

How many students per cadaver?

3-4

How long (in months) do you have anatomy?

6 months

Is the curriculum lecture-centric or small-group centric?

7 out of 10

Are standardized patients used?

yes

How much patient interaction is there in the pre-clinical years?

10 out of 10

Are syllabi provided for the student?

yes

How frequently do pre-clinical medical school activities have mandatory attendance?

not often

What books are necessary?

I've never purchased any books.

What books are unnecessary?

All of them.

Is the curriculum designed to promote a specialty? If so, which specialty?

No.
Location & Housing

How do you feel about the location of the school?

6 out of 10

Do you feel safe on campus?

10 out of 10

How available and convenient is public transportation?

5 out of 10

Is a car necessary at any point during your education here?

Clinical years

If a car is required for education, how available and convenient is the parking provided to students?

10 out of 10

Is on-campus housing available?

no

What is the quality of available on-campus housing?

5 out of 10

What percentage of your medical school classmates would you estimate live on campus, if on-campus housing is available?

0 out of 10

Is couples housing available?

no

Is nearby off-campus housing available?

yes

How expensive is nearby off-campus housing?

2 out of 10

Please describe the on-campus housing if available (i.e., cost, type - studios, 1-br, 2-br, etc.)?

not available
Cost/Financial Aid

Are fees/tuition expensive?

7 out of 10

How is the cost of living (rent, food, bills, etc.)?

2 out of 10

Are many institutional scholarships/grants available?

10 out of 10

Is institutional aid need-based or merit-based?

Both
Faculty/Grades

Are faculty members very open to students during office hours?

10 out of 10

Are faculty members very available to students via email/message board?

10 out of 10

Are there many opportunities to shadow/work with clinical faculty?

10 out of 10

Are the faculty willing to mentor students in regards to career guidance?

10 out of 10

Is the class ranked?

no

How is the instructional faculty during pre-clinical years?

Mostly great.

How is the instructional faculty during clinical years?

Mostly great.

What is the grading scale used during pre-clinical years?

P/F greater than 70 is passing.

What is the grading scale used during clinical years?

Honors/High Pass/Pass/Fail
Clinical Rotations

Are the desired rotation sites easy to obtain?

10 out of 10

Is desired rotation order easy to obtain?

10 out of 10

Are the elective rotations easy to obtain?

10 out of 10

Is there substantial hands-on experience for medical students?

10 out of 10

Are the rotation sites conveniently accessible for medical students?

10 out of 10

How far are the clinical sites from the main campus?

5 out of 10

How are clinical rotations scheduled? What are the required rotations?

We have 1/2 year of traditional block schedules for inpatient care and 1/2 year of longitudinal integrated curriculum where you have all 6 core specialties at the same time for outpatient care + ER shifts. The required rotations are family med, peds, surgery, psych, ob/gyn, and internal med.

What responsibility do med students have on the wards?

Tons. Most of the hospitals are community hospitals with little or no residents so medical students are 1st assist in surgeries and procedures all the time.

What is the status/condition of the affiliated hospital(s)?

There are a lot of them and many are fantastic, especially the Guthrie health system that has a partnership with the MAYO clinic.

What is the typical patient population medical students work with?

Because there are multiple campuses it varies from rural, white to small city population with a rapidly growing hispanic population.
Social Environment

Do students do a lot of activities outside of school together?

10 out of 10

How would you rank student involvement in extracurricular clubs?

9 out of 10

What is the range of extracurricular clubs available?

9 out of 10

Is the student body cooperative or competitive?

10 out of 10

Is the environment supportive for underrepresented minorities?

10 out of 10

Is the environment supportive for lesbian/gay/bisexual/transsexual students?

10 out of 10

Is the environment supportive for students with disabilities?

10 out of 10

Is the environment supportive for married students?

10 out of 10

Is the environment supportive for older/non-traditional students?

10 out of 10

What do the students typically like to do in the area?

Lots of outdoors stuff like hike/bike/run/play soccer/rugby/etc. go out to the bars, dance classes, see shows at Scranton Cultural Center.
Post Graduation

How do graduates from this school fare in residency and clinical practice?

Match lists have been fantastic.

Is this school known for producing physicians strong in a certain area? If so, which area?

I'm not sure actually. Since we're newer and have only had 4 match classes it's hard to say.

What do you believe residency directors think about graduates from this program?

They do a residency director survey for the students during their 1st year of residency and they've gotten fantastic reviews, especially with physical exam skills and patient interactions.