I'm a current M1 and would be happy to answer any questions from a student perspective. Send me a message or I can post on here.
Any M1's or M2's that can talk more about PBL, typical week here, and what they like and dislike the most? Recently accepted and heavily considering attending!
So we just finished our first semester which is known as "FBS". Lectures include a wide range of topics...Biochem, Immunology, Bacteria/Viruses, Embryology, Histology, Basic Pharmacology, etc. Anatomy lectures are included in FBS, but they have their own exams and are not on FBS exams.
Here's an "average" week:
FBS Lectures from 8-10 Mon-Thurs and 10-12 on Fri
PBL from 10-12 on Mon and Wed, 8-10 on Fri
Anatomy Lab from 10-12 on Tues
SCP on Thurs from 10-12 (basically covers random medical topics - ethics, research, statistics, etc)
Afternoon schedules vary, but mostly consists of FOM (Foundations of Medicine). You will have this class either Mon or Wed, and it usually goes from 1-3:30ish. Here, you are working with standardized patients and an instructor learning some sort of physical exam. Simulation Center classes get scheduled roughly every other week on the opposite day of your FOM day.
TL;DR: You're there 8-12 every day, and at least one afternoon a week, sometimes more.
PBL
PBL cases are small group activities (8 per group plus 1 faculty) and can be anywhere from 3-5 days long, and each case is one "patient." Basically, they give us nice little stories about someone's illness and we pretend to be the Docs treating them in real time. We also give quick 5 minute presentations for the first half of the session based on what we wanted to learn from the previous day.
So, example:
Day 1: Patient X comes in with chest pain, they give us patient history, vitals, lab work, etc etc. We come up with 8 topics we would like to learn about based on this information.
Day 2: We each give a 5 minute presentation based on 8 topics from Day 1, then move to the relevant Day 2 information. They will give us more information on the patient and we make 8 more topics to present about for Day 3.
Day 3: Present topics from Day 2, move to relevant Day 3 stuff, etc.
The 5 minute presentation thing is daunting at the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, you can throw a presentation together in an hour or two.
A lot of times the PBL cases relate to what we are covering in FBS, so it's a nice reinforcement.
Also, a few times they gave us "application sessions" at the end of our PBL cases where they would bring in patients to tell their story and do a Q&A. So if we covered a specific type of cancer in the case, they would bring in someone that had the same diagnosis. All of these sessions were really neat.
Likes & Dislikes
Likes:
1) In my opinion, the small class size is one of the nicest things about this program. We are one big family that has grown very close over the last 4 months.
2) Pass/Fail curriculum promotes a "help each other" attitude instead of a gunner mentality.
3) The faculty are VERY receptive to our opinions and readily implement changes based on our opinions.
4) The faculty is unbelievably supportive. A lot of them know all of our names and know us personally. If you are struggling or look like you've had a few bad days in a row, they will be on top of you immediately doing anything they can to help.
5) The location. Boca is a cool city, and Ft Lauderdale and Miami are close by. The beach is also about a 5 minute drive from campus.
Dislikes:
I really don't have any huge dislikes. Small things happen here and there that we like to complain about, but that's just part of Medical School, not FAU in particular. It seems like whenever we bring up complaints, the answer from staff is usually "We are aware of the problem, and we are already working to fix it."
Overall, I think all of us are very pleased with the program thus far and happy with our decision to attend here.
