Ga-PCOM Class of 2013!!!

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msw said:
I'm thinking about buying a mac... has anyone with a mac have any compatibility issues with accessing anything that the school provides? Macs can run windows so I'm guessing there shouldn't be any problems. Just making sure before I spend a whole bunch of money on it.
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i would say that about 1/3rd of our class uses macs (including me). No problemos here. would always highly recommend one.
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For you guys anxious for time to pass by, on blackboard it looks like they have yall's orientation dates as august 12-14 and first day of class is aug 17th. let the countdown commence.
words of wisdom...be excited, but dont wish your time away. it will be here before you know it...then after a few weeks you'll be like us, just wishing we had one day to not think about medical school :(
 
You mean there are things other than medical school?
 
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Jwalker9 said:
For you guys anxious for time to pass by, on blackboard it looks like they have yall's orientation dates as august 12-14 and first day of class is aug 17th. let the countdown commence.
words of wisdom...be excited, but dont wish your time away. it will be here before you know it...then after a few weeks you'll be like us, just wishing we had one day to not think about medical school :(
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:thumbup:Thanks for passing along these dates (I realize they aren't final). Did you guys have anything in the summer last year prior to orientation (parties, school functions, etc)?
 
I think they had a few things, but living in texas, with two jobs, it wasn't really feasable for me to try and attend. They also had a thing right before school started, but I didn't quite make it to town in time.

I am on social committee, so I will let you guys know if we plan anything.
 
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JixbzFjv_cU[/YOUTUBE]
not that there's anything wrong with that
 
Sorry for all of the questions.... What about time off around Christmas? I realize that second term begins sometime in November. Are you constantly studying over your xmas break?
 
Art Vandelay2 said:
Sorry for all of the questions.... What about time off around Christmas? I realize that second term begins sometime in November. Are you constantly studying over your xmas break?
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we had off 12/20 through 1/5 with tests the week before break so that we wouldnt have to study over break.
 
do you current med students know of any good books to read before next fall so that we know what were getting ourselves into?
 
rodester86 said:
do you current med students know of any good books to read before next fall so that we know what were getting ourselves into?
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Med School Confidential and House of God are two that i read. They are both insightful and one of our professors always references House of God.
 
rodester86 said:
do you current med students know of any good books to read before next fall so that we know what were getting ourselves into?
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I'm not a med student yet but I've really enjoyed reading these books:

1. Gifted Hands by Ben Carson and Cecil Murphey (Dr. Carson is a very famous pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins. Great book!)
2. Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande
3. Intern by Sandeep Jauhar
4. Hot Lights, Cold Steel by Michael Collins
 
dont read an F-ing thing.

I can't stress that enough. You know how sometimes when the President's address, or a World Series game or something runs too long
and they jump into the middle of show saying
"...we now go to Malcolm in the Middle, already in progress..."

That's medical school. For everyone. You get hit with a reading list and amount of work and you are already behind. Day one. And it will pile up faster than you can consume it.

But here's the important part: no one, now or ever, has been able to get ahead of the game. We are all hopelessly drinking from a firehose on day one, and that's how it's supposed to be.

Relax and save your eyeballs. They will be strained later. You will have you nose in a book for the rest of your life once it starts, and any attempt to avoid this feeling is futile. It is part of this wonderful ride.

Whatever stage of your life you currently are in, bask in it. Drink from it heartily and take in a long breath of it. Be silly. Be reckless and embarassing. Go outside. Go kiss your significant other. Go play with your dog. Call your relatives and ask em to tell you all about their day, why? Because right now, you have time to.

Just don't read. Anything.

...But I was you. I didn't listen. And you won't either. And this will be you later trying to tell someone else.

I am living my dream and I am loving it, but the days of old are long gone, and I wish I took more advantage of non-medical Kirk. You have the rest of your life to be a doctor. Go be non-medical for the last times you can.
 
I haven't received my binder yet, but I did receive the financial aid packet with the following:

  • FAFSA
  • PCOM FA application
  • Entrance Interview Forms
  • Scholarship info
:highfive:
 
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Art, what state do you live in and when did you get all of this?
 
Art Vandelay2 said:
I got it yesterday (Saturday) and I'm in FL. It was postmarked on 02/04.
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Hmm... I live in florida too but I haven't received one yet. Hopefully, I'll get one tom. Thanks for letting us know though.
 
According to the PCOM website, orientation starts August 12th, 2009 with classes starting August 17th.
 
I have been taking a peek at the anatomy videos at the Univ. of Michigan and Univ. of Wisconsin web sites. They are really good, and will hopefully be helpful when we start SPOM this Fall. I've also read about Acland's DVD Atlas of Anatomy, which is supposed to be awesome, so I have thought of buying it. However, rumor has it that PCOM has this available as a free resource for its students. Can any of you current GA-PCOMers confirm??? Also, can you give us a preview of which textbooks we'll need (required and optional) for the first couple of terms. Drs. McWhorter and Jenney gave me the titles of a few books, but not sure if that list is comprehensive.

Thanks!
 
yep, the acland videos are on the school library website. you can watch them once you get your network access with the binder. dont buy a netters. during orientation week you can join SOMA for 4 years and 70 bucks and they give you a new copy, which is worth 70 bucks. also, dont go out and buy a nice steth, they have always been gifted to the class during orientation. BRS books for anatomy, embryo, cell bio are pretty good. Clinically Oriented Anatomy is the SPOM main text. be weary of going and buying a ton of books though, you wont have time to read them all and the slides presented in class have all the pertinent information covered on exams.
 
Great! Thanks for the info, Jwalker9!!! Knowing that we'll get Netters for "free" is good news. Do you also use a dissector book, like Grant's dissector, or is all the needed data provided in the slides you mentioned?
 
The videos are great. All of them. I watched Acland, Wisconsin, and Michigan over and over and over.

Netter's, while a mainstay of medical education everywhere, is a worthless piece of crap. Maybe if you dissected Netter himself, he'd look like that on the inside, but actual cadavers do not. Especially after savage butchers like ourselves go to town on them.

We had one Netter's at our table that we used for reference, the dissector is a good reference, and I looked at Rohen outside of class. But the videos will be your best study tool outside of class, and the most important thing for your SPOM grade....

NO MATTER HOW TEDIOUS IT SEEMS, OR HOW GROSS YOU THINK IT IS, GET YOUR ASS TO THE LAB AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. SPEND TIME IN THERE EVERY DAY IF YOU CAN!!!!

I could read over and over and over, and look at Rohen's and Netter's, and our lecture packets, and everything else, and still know nothing. Then I'd go in and look at the bodies, and learn everything in a matter of hours. The unit I did best on was the one where I spent the most time in the lab.

Yes, you'll need the dissector. It tells you how to dissect everything. But you'll probably just get hand-me-downs from us. Which I believe we got from the class before us. I think all our crap is still in there. I sure as hell don't want to keep any of it.
 
Oh, and I have not bought a single textbook so far. All BRS, rapid review, and so-on.
 
Art Vandelay2 said:
I haven't received my binder yet, but I did receive the financial aid packet with the following:

  • FAFSA
  • PCOM FA application
  • Entrance Interview Forms
  • Scholarship info
:highfive:
Click to expand...


Got mine yesterday!
 
Buy the big green OMM book , for full price, as soon as you can.





....it also doubles as a good replacement for a cinder block, a stopper so Grandma's wheelchair won't roll backwards into the kitchen, and alternative ammo for any standard catapult.


Edit: oh and don't run with it, b/c if you fall on it, you're hurt. Period. ...But you can look up how AT Still would've treated you....
 
msw, did you get the packet or did you get your binder? i've received the packet but no binder yet
 
What's up guys, im a first year with TT and JWalker. Just to second TT's thoughts - books are only useful as paper weights or dust collectors. Unless you learn by reading the books not the notes, don't waste your money (especially the green OMM book - it' will give you a hernia when you pick it up).

TT - as far as SPOM lab, the reason we were in the lab wasn't to study. It was to draw power from Eug's awesome stache.

The most important thing you need to do before starting school is to practice your foosball skills. Get ready for some heated, intense, soul crushing games. Congrats for being accepted.
 
rodester86 said:
msw, did you get the packet or did you get your binder? i've received the packet but no binder yet
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I received just the packet.

Thanks first years and Kirk for giving us a heads up on the books.
 
I do power cleans with the big green OMM book, and I now have a 60-inch vertical leap.
 
O Binder, Binder, wherefore art thou Binder?
 
In the big green OMM book is an actual section on "Treating Injuries Incurred from the Big Green OMM Book."


Seriously, bookwise, if I could go back in time and tell 1st year Kirk one thing about books, it'd be buy First Aid for Step 1 now and put it by your toilet. Read little bits at a time throughout and constantly.
Sorry for having to paint that picture, but seriously, reading little bits at a time (particularly coinciding with when you are actually on a particular topic in lecture) would be HUGE.
And in my position, I'd love to tell you board scores aren't important and you can get by on good class grades come interview season.

Let me repeat that. I would LOVE, not like, passionately, deeply, happy valentines day LOVE, to tell you that board scores aren't the difference b/w an interview and a "no thanks, but good luck" email. Would love to.
 
Another question for current GA-PCOM students...
At my interview I noticed that most students seemed to wear nice jeans, khakis, collared shirts, etc. Are jeans, etc. the general attire for class?
I read something about shorts and T-shirts for OMM labs. Most importantly, what about anatomy lab? Do y'all wear scrubs for that? I would guess that clothes worn to anatomy lab are in danger of being unwearable later...
 
Anatomy lab: wear scrubs. I usually wore scrub pants and a t-shirt. Sometimes I'd sport the scrub top.

I see no reason that they'd be unusable later. Just wash them regularly. Hell, I wore the same scrubs to the lab that I wore when I worked at the trauma center. If they can survive all the blood, pee, vomit, and God knows what else that they got on them when I was working there, they can survive a few fragments and goo from preserved dead bodies. You probably won't get THAT dirty in lab. At least not on a regular basis.

So my previous jobs: personal trainer and in the ER. My hobbies were/are sports and outdoorsy ****. So most of the clothing I own is conducive to those activities.

When its warm, I wear shorts, t-shirt, and usually a hat.

When its cold, I wear shorts, t-shirt, and usually a hat.

When its too cold for shorts, I wear scrub pants or sweat pants, because that's what I own. Sometimes I'll wear a hoodie or a fleece over my t-shirt.

Some people like to dress nice, but that's just their preference. If you see a lot of people dressed nice, its usually for the standardized patient practical, where they apparently want us to get pimped out. Typically, it is pretty casual, which is nice.

OMM and usually PCS lab is sports-type attire. T-shirt and shorts for guys, and the same for girls, but sports bra underneath. Sweat pants that you can pull up are usually acceptable. I once wore scrub pants to PCS on knee exam day, and Dr. Sampson made fun of me in front of everyone. I am now scarred for life.
 
Gather round Grampa Kirk and let me tell y'all a story:

I was on the ground level of the "dress code" wars when the school was deciding what the policy would be.
Some faculty were total d*cks about dress and stated we were to wear "business casual" attire and scrubs when appropriate. I almost quit that day. Students were pissed and certain faculty gleemed with d*ckhead smiles, wallowing in their d*ckhead ways.

In swoops the Dean, and showed his coolness: says his philosophy is that the best learning takes place when students are comfortable. Publically vetoes the smug faculty, much to our delight, and that's a little GA-PCOM history for ya.

I wore athletic clothes everyday. every single day. Tie when PCS required.
Scrub-wise, anatomy lab days only. Wear scrubs when you are not going into the lab and you are susceptible to being called a tool. So, 2nd year, unless you are helping with lab, scrubs at your own risk. 3rd and 4th years have reason again to scrub it out. And while we're on the subject, dont wear your white coat unless told to. Ever.
Don't be the guy who wears it home for Christmas because you want Aunt Tilly to see you are a "doctor." Tool.

:laugh:
 
I wear my white coat and scrubs every day, and I always have my equipment handy, too, including my steth around my neck.

Sometimes, when there are a bunch of nervous kids sitting up front, waiting to interview, I will go up and start taking their vitals and doing an exam.
 
TexasTriathlete said:
I wear my white coat and scrubs every day, and I always have my equipment handy, too, including my steth around my neck.

Sometimes, when there are a bunch of nervous kids sitting up front, waiting to interview, I will go up and start taking their vitals and doing an exam.
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I wear my white coat to the mall when I take my wife to buy clothes at "Body Shop"
I also tattooed a Snelling Eye Chart on my bicep so when I flex, POW, the elderly can pass an eye exam now.
Your welcome, Grandma.
 
I'm enjoying reading your posts. Funny stuff! Anyway, it keeps me from thinking about when my binder will finally show up in my mailbox. At least I don't have to worry about it today (USPS holiday).

+pity+
 
oldmedicjt said:
Another question for current GA-PCOM students...
At my interview I noticed that most students seemed to wear nice jeans, khakis, collared shirts, etc. Are jeans, etc. the general attire for class?
I read something about shorts and T-shirts for OMM labs. Most importantly, what about anatomy lab? Do y'all wear scrubs for that? I would guess that clothes worn to anatomy lab are in danger of being unwearable later...
Click to expand...

You didnt get the pink GAPCOM speedos in the mail with your binder?
 
That's new. In my day we had the standard issue Dr. McWhorter yellow cheerleading shorts.

Breezy plus showed off your upper thighs. Fashion AND function.


And for the record, going commando in scrubs is rude to the general public. Especially if you are moving at a velocity above a fast walk.

Jingle jangle is bad business and no one paid for that show.
 
I must have missed the day they handed out the McWhorter shorts. Commando with scrubs would be interesting, but wouldn't do. It would be "bad form" to go commando for work.
 
True story: a girl doing her residency at the trauma center where I used to work had McWhorter for a professor in Kansas City, and had an old picture of him in a bodybuilding competition. She e-mailed it to me, and one of my friends blew it up and put it on a scrub top (one of those iron-on things I think), and we gave it to him. He was shocked that we were able to get ahold of that picture, but he got a kick out of it.

For those of you who don't know McWhorter, he is the man. He is one of the best teachers I have ever had, and I've had a lot of teachers (I think I've got like 220 hours of college credit). I'm sure there are people who don't like him, but they are few and far-between, at least in my class.
 
TexasTriathlete said:
True story: a girl doing her residency at the trauma center where I used to work had McWhorter for a professor in Kansas City, and had an old picture of him in a bodybuilding competition. She e-mailed it to me, and one of my friends blew it up and put it on a scrub top (one of those iron-on things I think), and we gave it to him. He was shocked that we were able to get ahold of that picture, but he got a kick out of it.

For those of you who don't know McWhorter, he is the man. He is one of the best teachers I have ever had, and I've had a lot of teachers (I think I've got like 220 hours of college credit). I'm sure there are people who don't like him, but they are few and far-between, at least in my class.
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What does Dr. McWhorter teach?
 
He is the main professor for SPOM and again for Neuro which we start in a week in a half. He taught us embryo, cell bio and histo, and was usually the lead dissector in the anatomy lab. I have to agree with what TT said and give my props to McWhorter...possibly the best teachers I have ever had. Always listens and encourages questions then gives good explanations. He always keeps you focused and attentive, and he knows how to laugh and have a good time to help the day go by a little smoother. Looking forward to Neuro! Death to CMBM!
 
I just read his BIO on the website. Sounds like a neat guy... Brazilian jiujitsu!?!?
 
he will take you DOWN...down to china town sir.
 
We're getting a lot of Penney for neuro. A LOT of Penney.
 
The sky is blue. The Earth is round. And Dr. McWhorter is your best friend during 1st year.

He used to wear these yellow shorts when he worked out and they were WAY too short. We actually had a cheerleader-shorts-intervention with him on the circle couch. That's love.

BTW, Study your arse off for Penney. Great lecturer. Awesome person. Hard tester.
"Which of the following statements is least false...."

:confused:
 
Does anybody know if we send our $2K deposit to Philly or ATL?
 
hah, nice avatar. goes well with the name. everything always goes to philly.
 
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