KCU-COM class of 2020

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justkeepswimming said:
Just wanted to weigh in on this- you can and should have free time in med school, even when you're at the top of your class. School shouldn't replace family, health, friends, etc...you just have to be more intentional about your time since it's a lot of material. I'd recommend making sure that any time you're doing something for school, you're really focused on it. Put your phone away, try to stay off fbook and SDN, group study only if you're actually studying, actually pay attention to the lecture if you go to lectures. If you make your study time matter, you don't need to spend excessive hours in the library or the study hall.
FWIW, I was in the top 10% of my class the last 2 years and really only did schoolwork from 7 am-6 pm (weekends too)- and that includes going to lecture and lab. Sometimes your days have to be longer, but for me the key was really trying to focus on what I was doing and then noticing when I wasn't actually retaining information anymore and stopping there. And I'm not one of those crazy naturally smart people...I rode in here on 3.4 GPA from undergrad. I still found time to be part of a gym, have a relationship, do a dual degree program, and go enjoy KC nightlife (though not quite as often as some of my friends, I have to admit). It's worth putting in a lot of work during classes because now that we're in dedicated prep time for boards I feel super prepared - I actually moved my test up sooner because I decided I didn't need so much time to review haha.
Message me if you want any more info on managing time during school, but really what it boils down to is just be smart with your time and try to make every minute count, because more free time = happier student = better experience in med school.
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I totally agree with this. It does all have to do with time management. If you are very disciplined, sure you will have free time. If you study 8 hours straight and then take the night off...that's your free time. Others will study steady throughout the day- all day- and then not have as much "free time" at the end of the day because they took "free time" throughout the study day. That is what I have to do cause I can't sit and focus for that long without taking some sort of break.

Let me retry this:

Yes, you do have some free time even if you want to be at the top of your class, but I would say the better you want to do, the less you will have which should be obvious. During the week, I usually am only focused on school. I don't go to class, so I will study pretty much all day (making up for the lack of going to lecture). When my wife gets home, I always take time to have dinner and hang out with her for a while and I rarely study past 8pm or 9pm (cause I just don't retain stuff that late). I usually study Saturday and Sunday even on weekends where we don't have exams coming up. I think that this is where you can really get ahead and make up ground. I have noticed that a lot of people don't study much on weekends where there isn't an exam, so if you put in the time on the weekends, you most likely will be more prepared come test day because you have that extra time leading to a great score. Also, if you are "prepared" for the exam 1 day early, you can use that extra day to do practice questions and review instead of learning new material. I am not trying to sound "gunnerish," but that is the reality for many people who want to be at the top. You have to study more than the other people in the class (unless you're brilliant where you don't need to study more cause you just get it).

On Friday and Saturday nights of weekends where we don't have an exam on Monday, I always do something (dinner, downtown, drinking, etc.). However, the key is to not let that night out roll over into Saturday where you're in bed till 2pm. Again, time management. Talking about time management, we have an exam coming up and I am here wasting time on SDN.

However, if we have Friday exams.....go HAM that weekend.
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SynapticDoctah said:
I totally agree with this. It does all have to do with time management. If you are very disciplined, sure you will have free time. If you study 8 hours straight and then take the night off...that's your free time. Others will study steady throughout the day- all day- and then not have as much "free time" at the end of the day because they took "free time" throughout the study day. That is what I have to do cause I can't sit and focus for that long without taking some sort of break.

Let me retry this:

Yes, you do have some free time even if you want to be at the top of your class, but I would say the better you want to do, the less you will have which should be obvious. During the week, I usually am only focused on school. I don't go to class, so I will study pretty much all day (making up for the lack of going to lecture). When my wife gets home, I always take time to have dinner and hang out with her for a while and I rarely study past 8pm or 9pm (cause I just don't retain stuff that late). I usually study Saturday and Sunday even on weekends where we don't have exams coming up. I think that this is where you can really get ahead and make up ground. I have noticed that a lot of people don't study much on weekends where there isn't an exam, so if you put in the time on the weekends, you most likely will be more prepared come test day because you have that extra time leading to a great score. Also, if you are "prepared" for the exam 1 day early, you can use that extra day to do practice questions and review instead of learning new material. I am not trying to sound "gunnerish," but that is the reality for many people who want to be at the top. You have to study more than the other people in the class (unless you're brilliant where you don't need to study more cause you just get it).

On Friday and Saturday nights of weekends where we don't have an exam on Monday, I always do something (dinner, downtown, drinking, etc.). However, the key is to not let that night out roll over into Saturday where you're in bed till 2pm. Again, time management. Talking about time management, we have an exam coming up and I am here wasting time on SDN.

However, if we have Friday exams.....go HAM that weekend.
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BOOM!


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Simply put it's like taking 25 credits first year and 28 credits 2nd year. You manage your time and decide the grade you're happy with. Some exams will have 80 questions that cover 20 lectures. That's a small amount of questions for a vast amount of information. It's a point of diminishing returns. Do you want to study 40 hours and get a B -, 50 hours and get the B, or 70 hours to get those extra questions that land you an A-?

You will have people in your class that worked 90 hour weeks before coming to school so studying for 60-80 hours isn't to bad. Others will need more free time and decide 50 hours is their max before their lose their minds.

It gets a little harder in 2nd year. Hopefully they will change this for c/o 2019 but in 2nd year we had an exam every 7 days on average.
 
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chizledfrmstone said:
Simply put it's like taking 25 credits first year and 28 credits 2nd year. You manage your time and decide the grade you're happy with. Some exams will have 80 questions that cover 20 lectures. That's a small amount of questions for a vast amount of information. It's a point of diminishing returns. Do you want to study 40 hours and get a B -, 50 hours and get the B, or 70 hours to get those extra questions that land you an A-?

You will have people in your class that worked 90 hour weeks before coming to school so studying for 60-80 hours isn't to bad. Others will need more free time and decide 50 hours is their max before their lose their minds.

It gets a little harder in 2nd year. Hopefully they will change this for c/o 2019 but in 2nd year we had an exam every 7 days on average.
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You find a balance and you stay there. I have pretty much found a place where I am comfortable, not at risk of failing, and still able to know a good deal of material at the end of the day.

That being said you need to go overboard your first few months until you adjust. In biochem I was putting in maybe 4-5 hours a day after class and for the tests 8ish hours a day on the weekends. It helped break me into the schedule and I cut back from there.
 
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BassAckwards said:
So,

I'm pretty bummed that Dr. Dubin is leaving. It seemed like he was doing great things for the school. That, and a lot of students told me that he was talented at pushing students and producing great results (even students from RVU-COM told me this). That most recent residency match was pretty shweet.

Am I attributing too much of the school's success to the man at the top?
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I think so. You have to remember that it was a team of people who are holding this curriculum together (dr kruse, dr mccormick, dr puthoff) and they arent leaving. So I wouldnnt worrybecause right now it seems like the curriclum is holding still and they will find a decent dean to take the reigns from dr dubin.Its still sad though.


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BassAckwards said:
So,

I'm pretty bummed that Dr. Dubin is leaving. It seemed like he was doing great things for the school. That, and a lot of students told me that he was talented at pushing students and producing great results (even students from RVU-COM told me this). That most recent residency match was pretty shweet.

Am I attributing too much of the school's success to the man at the top?
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This year's (and next year's) match list/stats are from the old curriculum. The current second years that will be taking their boards in the coming weeks will be the first group to have gone through the new curriculum that Dr. Dubin brought with him.

If the pattern holds, board scores should only be going up.
 
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BassAckwards said:
So,

I'm pretty bummed that Dr. Dubin is leaving. It seemed like he was doing great things for the school. That, and a lot of students told me that he was talented at pushing students and producing great results (even students from RVU-COM told me this). That most recent residency match was pretty shweet.

Am I attributing too much of the school's success to the man at the top?
Click to expand...

Some of our class is bummed and some of our class isn't. It all depends on how you learn, I guess. However, if you start school with a good attitude and work hard, you WILL do well. It doesn't matter if your dean is Dr. Dubin or Dr. Seuss, if you think that the dean is going to make you successful, you should rethink that.
 
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SynapticDoctah said:
Some of our class is bummed and some of our class isn't. It all depends on how you learn, I guess. However, if you start school with a good attitude and work hard, you WILL do well. It doesn't matter if your dean is Dr. Dubin or Dr. Seuss, if you think that the dean is going to make you successful, you should rethink that.
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I won't lie, I feel like he was a great spokesman for our school. Hopefully we get someone who's as strongly about improving our match prospects and advancing the school though.
 
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Where is the best place to get groceries in KC? I'm more concerned with the food quality than the pricing.
 
Mantis_TobogganMD said:
Where is the best place to get groceries in KC? I'm more concerned with the food quality than the pricing.
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HyvVee is great. There is a trader joes but its 25min away. Constantinos is in downtown and reminds me of Whole Foods. Hope this helps!


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Do we have any updates on whether or not the ipad will be a 9.7 pro or the air 2?
 
Previous posts suggest it will be the Air 2


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AlteredScale said:
HyvVee is great. There is a trader joes but its 25min away. Constantinos is in downtown and reminds me of Whole Foods. Hope this helps!


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Costco is 10 minutes away from Downtown.
 
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The Ipad Pro is overkill for what you'll be using your ipad for ( note taking, test taking, using a few apps).
 
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Drrrrrr. Celty said:
The Ipad Pro is overkill for what you'll be using your ipad for ( note taking, test taking, using a few apps).
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Not really. Check out the Apple Pencil. The pro beats Air 2 by a mile in note taking.

Anyways my main concern is that the iPad Air 2 would be 6 year old technology by the time we are in our 4th year. (I think we still need it then?)

The iPad 1 is 6 years today. You wouldn't want to do any school work on that would you. Or using an iPhone 4...

It would cost 100$ more for the upgrade... Not a small amount but reasonable for a 4 year investment perhaps?
 
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Poro said:
Anyways my main concern is that the iPad Air 2 would be 6 year old technology by the time we are in our 4th year. (I think we still need it then?)
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The ipad really is needed for the first two years when you are taking the in class exams aligned with ExamSoft in which the software is continuously updated. You won't need it third year and you def. won't need it fourth year.

Yes, it sucks that you won't the get the newest one but I think it'll suffice for testing purposes.
 
AlteredScale said:
The ipad really is needed for the first two years when you are taking the in class exams aligned with ExamSoft in which the software is continuously updated. You won't need it third year and you def. won't need it fourth year.

Yes, it sucks that you won't the get the newest one but I think it'll suffice for testing purposes.
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Ah if it's the first two years it's not as bad. Still sucks because with the pro is was a possibility to not need a laptop. At least for me.
 
I have no doubt that those of you attending KCU next year are smart, but that only gets you so far when it comes to medical school. The common denominator of those who failed/dropped out of our class was constant complaining and bad attitude. Those two things are hard to overcome no matter how brilliant you think you are. We've seen it happen to our fair share of classmates. You are all adults and the quicker you start acting like one the easier medical school will be and the better Doctor you'll be. What will you do when you open up your iPad and it's not a pro? Fold your arms and stomp your feet in protest, or start to preparing to succeed in your first class.


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Poro said:
Not really. Check out the Apple Pencil. The pro beats Air 2 by a mile in note taking.

Anyways my main concern is that the iPad Air 2 would be 6 year old technology by the time we are in our 4th year. (I think we still need it then?)

The iPad 1 is 6 years today. You wouldn't want to do any school work on that would you. Or using an iPhone 4...

It would cost 100$ more for the upgrade... Not a small amount but reasonable for a 4 year investment perhaps?
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Well, it's not 6 year technology. The Arm chip inside it has been updated multiple times including this year when the pro came out, and while it's cpu and cpu power are less than the iPad pro ( By between 15-20%), the notion that it is in any way useful productivity wise or for your use in KCU is not really there. You're not going to be running adobe on your iPad, and you're not going to be gaming on it. You'll be listening and watching videos, taking tests, and possibly putting a few personal things on there like your own music or some apple store games which could have probably have been run natively on the nintendo 64.

Also writing notes is extremely slow. Typing it up is nearly twice as fast and if you're not good at type fast, then you need to learn how to do it regardless.
 
Poro said:
Ah if it's the first two years it's not as bad. Still sucks because with the pro is was a possibility to not need a laptop. At least for me.
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It's an iOS based system though. If it were running OS X, I'd argue that it'd maybe be good enough for a replacement, but even then you'd need another computer to transfer files and data over to your iPad since it lacks any ports i.e usb, sd card readers, etc.
 
Higherprimate said:
I have no doubt that those of you attending KCU next year are smart, but that only gets you so far when it comes to medical school. The common denominator of those who failed/dropped out of our class was constant complaining and bad attitude. Those two things are hard to overcome no matter how brilliant you think you are. We've seen it happen to our fair share of classmates. You are all adults and the quicker you start acting like one the easier medical school will be and the better Doctor you'll be. What will you do when you open up your iPad and it's not a pro? Fold your arms and stomp your feet in protest, or start to preparing to succeed in your first class.


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Never get complacent and never assume that because you already have a background in a certain material that it means you shouldn't study it.
 
Higherprimate said:
I have no doubt that those of you attending KCU next year are smart, but that only gets you so far when it comes to medical school. The common denominator of those who failed/dropped out of our class was constant complaining and bad attitude. Those two things are hard to overcome no matter how brilliant you think you are. We've seen it happen to our fair share of classmates. You are all adults and the quicker you start acting like one the easier medical school will be and the better Doctor you'll be. What will you do when you open up your iPad and it's not a pro? Fold your arms and stomp your feet in protest, or start to preparing to succeed in your first class.


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I think it's an unfair generalization to say that all the people who have failed or dropped out were constantly complaining and having a bad attitude. I agree that has a lot to do with it, but not everyone that we've lost fits that description, and certainly many of the people still in our class are chronic complainers (sometimes myself included). I agree with your sentiment that complaining about something just because it's not what you wanted is immature and doesn't breed success, I just think it's an injustice to the classmates we've lost to generalize them like that.

But Higherprimate is right! No matter how smart you are, having a bad attitude is hard to overcome. Find positive people in your class to stick with! It makes all the difference, trust me!
 
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Higherprimate said:
I have no doubt that those of you attending KCU next year are smart, but that only gets you so far when it comes to medical school. The common denominator of those who failed/dropped out of our class was constant complaining and bad attitude. Those two things are hard to overcome no matter how brilliant you think you are. We've seen it happen to our fair share of classmates. You are all adults and the quicker you start acting like one the easier medical school will be and the better Doctor you'll be. What will you do when you open up your iPad and it's not a pro? Fold your arms and stomp your feet in protest, or start to preparing to succeed in your first class.


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I think as students and people we are allowed to be upset about this if we want to be. If we had any power in this situation I would try to change it. But for now I am laptop shopping.
 
Poro said:
I think as students and people we are allowed to be upset about this if we want to be. If we had any power in this situation I would try to change it. But for now I am laptop shopping.
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You could always ask and maybe that might help? Email the administration and ask why the Ipad Pro isn't the one you are receiving.
 
AlteredScale said:
You could always ask and maybe that might help? Email the administration and ask why the Ipad Pro isn't the one you are receiving.
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It's because the air 2 meets the spec for all that is needed. As I said before I was under the impression we needed it all 4 years. Since we only need it for two years I think all of us will be fine.

And not everyone would use the pro for notes anyways. Everyone has their own learning style.

I think the main disappointment is that we were told we would get the latest model that came out March 2016. And the pro 9.7 inch did come out March. March 31st. Haha.

I'll get over it. And so will everyone else prob.
 
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I'm glad, we're getting something at least! lol
 
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SuperMan12345 said:
I'm glad, we're getting something at least! lol
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I absolutely agree with you. Our school could instead make us use a mandatory laptop which costs a pretty penny and doesnt even work well (looking at you TUN).
 
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Maybe some of the current class can answer this…what type of iClicker is needed. I have the original already. Will that work or am I going to have to get a clicker+ or clicker2?


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Snoozer33 said:
Maybe some of the current class can answer this…what type of iClicker is needed. I have the original already. Will that work or am I going to have to get a clicker+ or clicker2?


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I've had the original all year and haven't had any issues :) it's not ever for a grade either, so I would try it in class first and worst case, if it doesn't work, you can look into getting a different one.


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mamit1001 said:
I've had the original all year and haven't had any issues :) it's not ever for a grade either, so I would try it in class first and worst case, if it doesn't work, you can look into getting a different one.


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What it for then? Attendance?


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Poro said:
What it for then? Attendance?


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For many blocks, professors hold "CIS" which is a lecture based on giving cases and questions. It's a good way for you to take what you learn in normal lecture and apply it to cases like you will see on the exam. The iClicker is so that you can choose which answer you want. No, it is not for attendence. If I were you, I wouldn't buy anything until after you have tried the one you have. If that one doesn't work, then get the one they listed on the site.


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AzizImSorry said:
Did one prof not post multiple lectures because they didn't like the low attendance?
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It depends on the professor or when the lectures happened. But no, they were seperate occasions. However 2 of the lectures not posted were during Endo or Repro.
 
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Drrrrrr. Celty said:
It depends on the professor or when the lectures happened. But no, they were seperate occasions. However 2 of the lectures not posted were during Endo or Repro.
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Was it possible to catch up on the missing lecture?


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