2017-2018 Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine - Georgia Campus

[Watson & Sick]

was there a reason for this? in your opinion do you see this as helping or hurting us?

Seems like it would help. Your 92 is the same A as someone’s 99.

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[whirlpool159]

how often are guest lectures?

 

[getfat]

was there a reason for this? in your opinion do you see this as helping or hurting us?

Its weird. So this spring administration had a talk about possibly making our DO program a true pass/fail. Our DO council and several reps sat in on it and know more about the details than I do. Apparently it was decided the 0-100 style was inappropriate because it put an toll on student health. The con was they had no way to differentiate who is at the top of the class. So it was decided a true letter grading system would be a better fit for student health.

Its really dependent on where you are. If you are low 80's, 90s then it helps because there is no point in putting extra work for a 86. If you are a the top end of a grade it is bad for you because you just put in a ton of more work for nothing.

Seems like it would help. Your 92 is the same A as someone’s 99.

Personally, I see it as a good thing. I average ~85 in most classes. So I have to do extra work/quizzes because I want to look a little better. Someone in your class that is in my position could focus more on learning the material and retaining information for boards.

how often are guest lectures?

First term there was none. 2nd term there is ~10. Possibly less. Third term (Neuro) had the most amount by far.

FYI This could change. We still don't know what your schedule is. GAPCOM is constantly looking for areas of improvement.

 

[fifthcupofcoffee]

have there been any other big changes from last year confirmed yet?

 

[MakeLifeHappen13]

All right guys we will be welcoming you soon so I'm going to share a few words of advice that was passed down to me from second years and also some things I wish I knew throughout this past year.

Structural Principles of Osteopathic Medicine (SPOM)


A large portion of your class will fail the first exam. Don't freak out. Our avg. was 69 and the year before that it was 67. The first SPOM test is something everyone struggles with because they are not used to medical school volume of material and they have not figured out their routines and study methods yet. As long as you’re near the average, don’t panic. You'll notice that people do better on the other exams.

• Do I need to buy extra books/resources? No! You will be given access to a class drive with all the materials you need, in e-book format. This includes Netters, Dr. Najeeb, Sketchy micro, First Aid, Robbins, Costanzo and tons of other resources. I did not spend a single penny on extra resources and I did not open a single paper book throughout the whole year. If you like to study from hard copy paper materials than you still don’t really need to spend on anything because the library has all the books on hand to check out for free.
• Do I need to be in the lab all the time to do well in anatomy practicals? In my opinion, no not at all. All you really need to do is study cadaver images and know your anatomy. Net Anatomy is great for this. The mock practicals are made unnecessarily difficult so don’t let them ruin your confidence, the real practical is more manageable. Again, be familiar with cadaveric images as well as origin, insertion, innervation, and blood supply, and you will be fine. No need to spend 10 hours a day in the lab despite what some people might tell you.
• Where can I study cadaver images? NetAnatomy, Rohen's, SUNY downstate anatomy website are the best resources IMO. The only resource I will stress to use is NetAnatomy which is free through the pcomlibrary website. It is really good for real cadaver images and helps a lot with anatomy practicals.
• How can I do well in the written exams? Unfortunately you are required to memorize A LOT of material and repetition is the key. All I used for SPOM was: class powerpoints, Anki, and NetAnatomy. I just made Anki cards out of lecture material and did just fine. In the beginning it might seem like this is really time consuming but once you learn how to make good cards efficiently, it is super effective. Other people would just simply go through the powerpoints multiple times while writing notes and others would make outlines out of every lecture. Figure out what works for you and stick with it. Again, repetition is key. Don't expect to do well if you're only going through the material once.

OMM

· OMM is not that difficult of a course, most of our class gets at least an 85. The practicals will be very stressful, but as long as you practice you will be fine. My major advice for this course is do not wait until the Sunday before the exam to cram all your OMM. You might get away with this a couple of times but eventually you will get burned. How do I know? Because it happened to me and I had to go through unneeded stress. After that, I would dedicate 2-3 hours per week for OMM so when the weekend before the test came around, all that was required was some review and practice. For the practicals, its simple, find a good partner or group and practice, practice, practice and you will be fine. I would practice the techniques for a couple of hours 2-3 days leading up the practical and always did well. Portray confidence during practicals.

Primary Care Skills (PCS)

· Not difficult but stressful because you have to perform in front of a real live person. For FEWs just practice typing your SOAP note multiple times and get your typing speed up. Also, make sure to be personable and friendly towards the standardized patients and smile and ask about their children/grandchildren so you can get good ‘humanism’ feedback. For OSCEs, I just practiced like an hour a day for two days leading up to it and it was fine. You literally just need to memorize the rubric and do that in under 5 minutes and you should get full credit.

Miscellaneous

· Should I pre-study? No! please just, no. I promise you it will not be useful. Enjoy your summer and show up well-rested and ready to work hard on day one.

· Should I board study during first year? I haven’t taken boards yet so take what I say with a grain of salt. I would not attempt this. I think first year is for figuring out “how to med school” and you should just focus on doing well in your courses and building good study habits. Trying to incorporate board studying during first year might just burn you out and you’ll be looking at material and questions that haven’t been covered wondering what the heck is going on. Trust me you’ll have enough material to keep you busy.

· Do I need to go to class? This is personal preference. I NEVER went to class unless it was mandatory. I’d rather study on my own time and in my own way. As long as you’re being productive with your time, I don’t think it matters. I know several people who did very well and went to class and vice versa.

· Is it true you need to study 12 hours a day just to survive? No, if you are doing this you are doing something wrong. It might feel like this at first but you’ll notice that as time goes on, you will get more efficient and adapt at knowing what and how to study. I would study on average for 6-8 hours per day 7 days a week. Always leaving a couple of hours everyday for gym, Netflix, videogames, or something to unwind. Your leisure activities are really important, don’t ignore those because you think you should be studying. You will burn out and become stressed out if you do.

· Don’t hesitate to PM me if you have any questions this upcoming year. I’m here to help.

 

[ZatAnteater]

So some new changes I want to make you guys coming here aware of. Classes are now going to be 80% mandatory. If you miss more than 20% of class, and that includes excused absences, you will get marked for unprofessionalism and it will be put on your record for residency programs to see.

A couple of our best lecturers are leaving the school. Our radiology professor has left and our emergency medicine professor has left. These were hands down the best professors at GA-PCOM, and it's not even an exaggeration.

Most of the basic sciences faculty are focused on gaining influence and power within the school. I don't know if it's like this for other schools, but it is very obvious for GA-PCOM. Good luck to you all that are coming, and for those who still have an option, choose another school.

 

[PressPforPi]

So some new changes I want to make you guys coming here aware of. Classes are now going to be 80% mandatory. If you miss more than 20% of class, and that includes excused absences, you will get marked for unprofessionalism and it will be put on your record for residency programs to see.

A couple of our best lecturers are leaving the school. Our radiology professor has left and our emergency medicine professor has left. These were hands down the best professors at GA-PCOM, and it's not even an exaggeration.

Most of the basic sciences faculty are focused on gaining influence and power within the school. I don't know if it's like this for other schools, but it is very obvious for GA-PCOM. Good luck to you all that are coming, and for those who still have an option, choose another school.

Honestly, I was really hoping to get offered an interview here. But jeez all of that sounds worrisome. Thanks for updating us. I wonder how all of the people that chose this school for no mandatory attendance and its seemingly great faculty feel now.

 

[DrBaileywillbeme]

Honestly, I was really hoping to get offered an interview here. But jeez all of that sounds worrisome. Thanks for updating us. I wonder how all of the people that chose this school for no mandatory attendance and its seemingly great faculty feel now.

I’m a current first year now, and the general feel for our class is that we are upset about it, but before they even told us, a lot said they were always going to class anyways (and we’ve got some serious gunners in our class lol). I’m not a class goer around exam time though haha. So the 20% missed will definitely be that. So far I’m happy with my choice, and I met all of the faculty and administrators with several questions (including about the retired professors and their replacements), and they genuinely seem to care about their students. However, keep in mind I’m only a first year, and haven’t really started yet.


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[Neopolymath]

I’m a current first year now, and the general feel for our class is that we are upset about it, but before they even told us, a lot said they were always going to class anyways (and we’ve got some serious gunners in our class lol). I’m not a class goer around exam time though haha. So the 20% missed will definitely be that. So far I’m happy with my choice, and I met all of the faculty and administrators with several questions (including about the retired professors and their replacements), and they genuinely seem to care about their students. However, keep in mind I’m only a first year, and haven’t really started yet.


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Most people in every entering class in all medicals schools say they will go to class and like clockwork the class attendance at all schools goes down to like 25% because these people finally realize what everyone else has been telling them about going to class being a waste of time and stupid.

They screwed you guys with this new policy so hard and you guys don't even know yet.

 

[laptoptorvesta]

Most people in every entering class in all medicals schools say they will go to class and like clockwork the class attendance at all schools goes down to like 25% because these people finally realize what everyone else has been telling them about going to class being a waste of time and stupid.

They screwed you guys with this new policy so hard and you guys don't even know yet.

What do you recommend for us M1s do? I'm heated right now