Medical College of Wisconsin class of 2013

[45408]

I have to ask this. Do you M3s and M4s who post on SDN know who each other are in real life? I know Kernal, a fellow M1 who posts once and a while on SDN. But nobody else.

I met Ashers and Agent Splat within a week of starting school. I knew samenewme from undergrad, and I figured out who indo was after a month or two. I met Xandie (recognized her in the library), donnyfire (recognized me in the library) and yeasterbunny (test drove his car) through SDN. DoctorFunk is friends with Ashers and Splat, so that's how we met. He gave me a bunch of textbooks too. Oh, and Ashers introduced me to akpete. I knew who Gimlet was for a while, but I didn't talk to him until this year. I met pratik7 last year.

Edit - actually, I forgot. I met Ashers when I interviewed at MCW - she was my tour guide. Her sister and I had both interviewed at Northwestern two weeks before, and her sister interviewed at MCW with me.

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[45408]

Like Arsewanger? I can't believe that kid goes to our school.

Yeah, it took me a while, but I figured out who he is.

 

[badasshairday]

I met Xandie (recognized her in the library), donnyfire (recognized me in the library) and yeasterbunny (test drove his car) through SDN.

Dude, how did you recognize people without ever seeing them??? And man, that sounds awesome, setting up a test drive through SDN. Cool **** like that never happens to me.

 

[45408]

Dude, how did you recognize people without ever seeing them??? And man, that sounds awesome, setting up a test drive through SDN. Cool **** like that never happens to me.

He left enough clues. His username was the last clue.

 

[Ashers]

Dude, how did you recognize people without ever seeing them???

He lives up to his SN

 

[badasshairday]

He lives up to his SN

So if you guys see and M1 with messed up hair, you will assume it is me?

 

[Ashers]

So if you guys see and M1 with messed up hair, you will assume it is me?

I've met a few M1 dudes with messed up hair, but none are from CA.

One told me I should only apply to 10 programs for residency -- IF I really am competitive.

 

[indo]

So if you guys see and M1 with messed up hair, you will assume it is me?

when you say "messed up" do you mean that it took you 30 minutes to fine tune your intentionally messy look?

or

 

[Gimlet]

I haven't touched a comb to my hair (or otherwise styled it besides running my fingers through it after showering) since high school.

 

[45408]

I just use my hands to fix my hair. I'm not planning on letting it get curly again for a while.

 

[Delo_Ohm]

My hair care is somewhat lack luster as well.

How much longer will is it acceptable to go from very short hair to very long hair as I take 4-5 months between cuts... Only the very important events really get a cut - Wedding, interview, and I can't think of any other reason??

 

[Gimlet]

My hair care is somewhat lack luster as well.

How much longer will is it acceptable to go from very short hair to very long hair as I take 4-5 months between cuts... Only the very important events really get a cut - Wedding, interview, and I can't think of any other reason??

Your hair can be any length during med school, as long as you can make it look presentable. Just because I don't comb my hair ever doesn't mean it always looks messy.

That being said, you will have attendings during 3rd and 4th year that will look down upon longer hair whether it's politically correct to do so or not. I have a friend who generally kept his hair longer during 1st & 2nd year, but started getting cuts on a more regular basis during 3rd year. This was in part due to perceptions of patients and attendings on the wards, and part due to not wanting to have to wear the bouffant hairnets in the OR.

 

[Ashers]

Your hair can be any length during med school, as long as you can make it look presentable. Just because I don't comb my hair ever doesn't mean it always looks messy.

That being said, you will have attendings during 3rd and 4th year that will look down upon longer hair whether it's politically correct to do so or not. I have a friend who generally kept his hair longer during 1st & 2nd year, but started getting cuts on a more regular basis during 3rd year. This was in part due to perceptions of patients and attendings on the wards, and part due to not wanting to have to wear the bouffant hairnets in the OR.

I've seen dudes with buzz cuts wear bouffant caps, and I've seen guys in serious need of a haircut wear the other type with their locks flipping out the sides.

There are regulations for girl's hair cuts. At a bunch of places, they've had regulations that if your hair is longer than shoulder length, it MUST be pulled back... not too much of a problem for me since mine is almost always back. I'm not taking the time to dry it straight every day.

 

[Agent Splat]

I've seen dudes with buzz cuts wear bouffant caps, and I've seen guys in serious need of a haircut wear the other type with their locks flipping out the sides.

Hate the bouffants. Hate. Hate!!! Nobody keeps the man-caps in the central line carts

 

[Gimlet]

Hate the bouffants. Hate. Hate!!! Nobody keeps the man-caps in the central line carts

Same here, dude. I love how guys will tell you, "it takes a real man to wear the bouffant," as they put it on so it doesn't mess up their pretty hairstyle. Real men shouldn't care about scrub-cap hair.

 

[Agent Splat]

Same here, dude. I love how guys will tell you, "it takes a real man to wear the bouffant," as they put it on so it doesn't mess up their pretty hairstyle. Real men shouldn't care about scrub-cap hair.

i fail to see the "real man" connection to the bouffant. Hair issues aside, I think they just look stupid on guys with short hair.

 

[akpete]

There are regulations for girl's hair cuts. At a bunch of places, they've had regulations that if your hair is longer than shoulder length, it MUST be pulled back... not too much of a problem for me since mine is almost always back. I'm not taking the time to dry it straight every day.

really?? i had no idea. is that here?

 

[ceetothe]

My hair care is somewhat lack luster as well.

How much longer will is it acceptable to go from very short hair to very long hair as I take 4-5 months between cuts... Only the very important events really get a cut - Wedding, interview, and I can't think of any other reason??

I am the same way. I have been rockin the curly fro since high school. I only cut it my soph. year when I could not see outta my helmet anymore. If the residents dont like it, then I guess I wont be well liked....does'nt bother me, wouldnt be the first time.

 

[Ashers]

really?? i had no idea. is that here?

At Racine for sure, and then I'm pretty sure also at Tosa Plank Road clinic I was told to always have my hair back. I kinda don't pay attention to people telling me it, since i just have my hair back anyway when I see patients --> non-issue.

 

[samenewme]

At Racine for sure, and then I'm pretty sure also at Tosa Plank Road clinic I was told to always have my hair back. I kinda don't pay attention to people telling me it, since i just have my hair back anyway when I see patients --> non-issue.

I always have my hair back when I see patients, too. I shed like a cat, and I don't want to be sending people home with long blonde hair in their business.

 

[Delo_Ohm]

Wow, I hope I don't ever have to worry about my hair ending up in someone's "business." That sounds like a rather intimate or intense encounter.


(PS. is there a good way to signal my sarcasm... not much I say is free from at least some level of sarcasm, so I hope it has not been taken the wrong way - just trying to stay friendly)

 

[Ashers]

Wow, I hope I don't ever have to worry about my hair ending up in someone's "business." That sounds like a rather intimate or intense encounter.


(PS. is there a good way to signal my sarcasm... not much I say is free from at least some level of sarcasm, so I hope it has not been taken the wrong way - just trying to stay friendly)

Ahh so. You must be new to the magical place called the "Internets."

The key is emoticons.

There are other ways, which you will never see used in the MCW threads since no one here is sarcastic, but they do exist. [/sarcasm]

 

[45408]

ugh, don't go to med school. these early morning hours just drive me crazy. I want to sleep.

 

[Agent Splat]

ugh, don't go to med school. these early morning hours just drive me crazy. I want to sleep.

you could sleep in a tad longer if you didn't peruse SDN in the morning.

 

[Agent Splat]

Attention all current and future students! Don't miss out on your chance to win a "big, mofo hug" by partaking in a most boring contest in the MCW 2009 thread!

 

[badasshairday]

ugh, don't go to med school. these early morning hours just drive me crazy. I want to sleep.

What are you on this month?

 

[Delo_Ohm]

Ahh so. You must be new to the magical place called the "Internets."

The key is emoticons.

There are other ways, which you will never see used in the MCW threads since no one here is sarcastic, but they do exist. [/sarcasm]

Forgive me Ashers, but as far as "inter-web experience" I think I out-seniority you (Feb '06 vs April '06)?[/sarcasm] Granted you have out produced me about 200:1, so I will yield to your expertise.

Anyway, I was hoping the answer would be, "don't worry about it, we'll catch on" but I will work on emoticon-ing my posts. Thanks.

 

[Delo_Ohm]

Attention all current and future students! Don't miss out on your chance to win a "big, mofo hug" by partaking in a most boring contest in the MCW 2009 thread!

Link??

(Is that too lazy to be a successful student at MCW?)

(I guess the emoticon thing can get my point across)

 

[Agent Splat]

Link??

(Is that too lazy to be a successful student at MCW?)

(I guess the emoticon thing can get my point across)

Only because I want you to have a chance at that big mofo hug.


And yes, not only too lazy to be an MCW student, but to even get up in the morning, so I'm not sure how you got here.

 

[Ashers]

Forgive me Ashers, but as far as "inter-web experience" I think I out-seniority you (Feb '06 vs April '06)?[/sarcasm] Granted you have out produced me about 200:1, so I will yield to your expertise.

So you found the internet in Feb 06? I knew how to show sarcasm on the internet before I found the forums, but I found the internet waaaaayyy before that -- I was required to use in in jr. high, and each project I did had to have 1 source from the internet. I just didn't use the forums then. Ask Splat -- he kept trying to get me to join. I used all the interview pages though in 2005 for my interviews.

 

[Agent Splat]

So you found the internet in Feb 06? I found it waaaaayyy before that -- I was required to use in in jr. high, and each project I did had to have 1 source from the internet. I just didn't use the forums then. Ask Splat -- he kept trying to get me to join. I used all the interview pages though in 2005 for my interviews.

I had America Online before it was cool to have America Online...and had it when it was most definitely no longer cool to still have America Online. I remember when it got so popular we had busy signals 4/5 times trying to dial up. That was so long ago...I think 7th or 8th grade. We had a 14.4 modem. It made all the cool sounds.

Once I used it to hack into a game software company to play some unreleased games, and ended up activating a military supercomputer which thought that the Russians were launching a global thermonuclear war. Luckily I convinced it to stop by inducing a game of Tic-Tac-Toe against itself in which it learned that in global thermonuclear war, there cannot be a winner, so it aborted the missile launches.

 

[Delo_Ohm]

Wow, you folks are rough. I guess I have been put in my place.

Or maybe I still don't understand the sarcasm?

 

[Delo_Ohm]

Only because I want you to have a chance at that big mofo hug.


And yes, not only too lazy to be an MCW student, but to even get up in the morning, so I'm not sure how you got here.

Did I miss the link?

Also, how many of you went to class 1st year and 2nd year? I'm just curious. (I have a disease that prohibits me from ever missing class, though I can sleep through it.)

 

[Agent Splat]

Did I miss the link?

Also, how many of you went to class 1st year and 2nd year? I'm just curious. (I have a disease that prohibits me from ever missing class, though I can sleep through it.)

no, you didn't miss the link. I got wrapped up in being awesome as usual and forgot it. I'm proud of you for making the effort though. bonus life points to you!


as for your disease, I had the exact same one, until about 2.5 months into 2nd year when I got over it and stopped going. My grades improved.

 

[Delo_Ohm]

... I had the exact same one, until about 2.5 months into 2nd year when I got over it and stopped going. My grades improved.

Well, that seems to be the consensus. Is that your advice, or just your narrative?

What was it that helped you get over it? I am in a stats course that is useless to even sleep through - I still go.

 

[samenewme]

Well, that seems to be the consensus. Is that your advice, or just your narrative?

What was it that helped you get over it? I am in a stats course that is useless to even sleep through - I still go.

I mostly went to class. I skipped Bolander's Devo lectures because it was more efficent to stay awake and listen to them double-speed than to go to them,fall asleep, and have to go home and listen to them double-speed. There are lecturers you won't like, and you shouldn't go to those. But if you find yourself consistently falling asleep in a particular class, either get more sleep, or go home. If you're going to sleep, BE IN BED AND DO IT RIGHT.

 

[Agent Splat]

Well, that seems to be the consensus. Is that your advice, or just your narrative?

What was it that helped you get over it? I am in a stats course that is useless to even sleep through - I still go.

That's my narrative. Overall, I learned though that for whatever reason, be it my falling asleep or my poor attention span, the time I spent in lecture was not teaching me anything. I was not retaining anything so i basically wasted that time in the day. So I skipped lectures and listened to the recordings when I was mentally ready to focus, and then I could speed through or slow down parts until i made sure I had them down. That way the first time through a lecture was actually useful and I had a meaningful understanding. Before that, when I "reviewed" a lecture I had attended, it still felt like the first time through.

 

[Delo_Ohm]

... There are lecturers you won't like, and you shouldn't go to those. But if you find yourself consistently falling asleep in a particular class, either get more sleep, or go home. If you're going to sleep, BE IN BED AND DO IT RIGHT.

... So I skipped lectures and listened to the recordings when I was mentally ready to focus, and then I could speed through or slow down parts until i made sure I had them down...

Thanks for the input.

 

[Ashers]

no, you didn't miss the link. I got wrapped up in being awesome as usual and forgot it. I'm proud of you for making the effort though. bonus life points to you!


as for your disease, I had the exact same one, until about 2.5 months into 2nd year when I got over it and stopped going. My grades improved.

We used to use compuserve for the longest time, until Maui got Roadrunner in like 2002 or 2003. I was well into college.



As for class. The only classes I intentionally skipped were MIM. I have the same disease. I like going to class, even if I'm not fully paying attention to lecture (psych, ethics), I'd learn something. I don't like playing catch up with lectures because I'd just listen to the lectures if I missed it.


And we're not rough -- we're actually all very nice -- we've just perfected the art of sarcasm. Any fan of dry humor (and the random stupid joke) would probably love to see a conversation between Funk, Splat and me.

 

[Delo_Ohm]

And we're not rough -- we're actually all very nice -- we've just perfected the art of sarcasm. Any fan of dry humor (and the random stupid joke) would probably love to see a conversation between Funk, Splat and me.

That is good to hear, and in that case, I suppose I am the one who will have to learn to read your tone.

 

[Agent Splat]

That is good to hear, and in that case, I suppose I am the one who will have to learn to read your tone.

no kidding.

 

[Delo_Ohm]

Any thoughts about MCW's anatomy lab experience? Having toured a few places recently I have seen people bragging about having a camera on the instructor so you can see up close (via monitor) while standing at your station, having computers at each individual station, or drastically reducing student:instructor ratio. I don't know that any of those are necessary, or even helpful, but how did your experience differ? I am curious and regrettably I neglected to ask during my tour, thanks.

 

[akpete]

Any thoughts about MCW's anatomy lab experience? Having toured a few places recently I have seen people bragging about having a camera on the instructor so you can see up close (via monitor) while standing at your station, having computers at each individual station, or drastically reducing student:instructor ratio. I don't know that any of those are necessary, or even helpful, but how did your experience differ? I am curious and regrettably I neglected to ask during my tour, thanks.

I'd say none of that fancy stuff is necessary. For our anatomy lab, the first week (I think), M2s come in and help you out, and faculty will advise you on how to go about the dissection, but there's no main dissection table that you must emulate or something. Faculty wanders around and helps out. I never thought that I couldn't get help when needed. The anatomy lab is very self-directed. You don't learn anatomy by watching a dissection, it's by actually doing it and figuring out if your cadaver has things where Netter says they should be.

Oh, and I only went to class for block 1 of m1 year and never after that. I get in the zone at Starbucks.

 

[Delo_Ohm]

I'd say none of that fancy stuff is necessary. For our anatomy lab, the first week (I think), M2s come in and help you out, and faculty will advise you on how to go about the dissection, but there's no main dissection table that you must emulate or something. Faculty wanders around and helps out. I never thought that I couldn't get help when needed. The anatomy lab is very self-directed. You don't learn anatomy by watching a dissection, it's by actually doing it and figuring out if your cadaver has things where Netter says they should be.

Oh, and I only went to class for block 1 of m1 year and never after that. I get in the zone at Starbucks.

Thanks -

By the way, if you were at Starbucks rather than class, could you reapply your student fees accordingly?

 

[akpete]

Thanks -

By the way, if you were at Starbucks rather than class, could you reapply your student fees accordingly?

oh that would be awesome.

 

[45408]

Any thoughts about MCW's anatomy lab experience? Having toured a few places recently I have seen people bragging about having a camera on the instructor so you can see up close (via monitor) while standing at your station, having computers at each individual station, or drastically reducing student:instructor ratio. I don't know that any of those are necessary, or even helpful, but how did your experience differ? I am curious and regrettably I neglected to ask during my tour, thanks.

gadgetry in anatomy lab is not even remotely important in the scheme of things

 

[Agent Splat]

the finger is the most powerful dissecting tool.

 

[badasshairday]

Any thoughts about MCW's anatomy lab experience? Having toured a few places recently I have seen people bragging about having a camera on the instructor so you can see up close (via monitor) while standing at your station, having computers at each individual station, or drastically reducing student:instructor ratio. I don't know that any of those are necessary, or even helpful, but how did your experience differ? I am curious and regrettably I neglected to ask during my tour, thanks.

Not exactly computers at each individual station. More like a TV mounted on the wall at each station. They use it once in a while, not too often. Another cool thing though is when residents or attendings come in and let us do cool stuff like lapro surgery on a fresh very lightly embalmed (so it's like real) body.

 

[Delo_Ohm]

the finger is the most powerful dissecting tool.

The same thing I have learned with the numerous cats and pigs I have seen. It just takes the initial meeting to get acquainted before "digging in."

gadgetry in anatomy lab is not even remotely important in the scheme of things

I tend to agree with you, in any class you need to learn the way that is best for you.

Thanks for the insight.

 

[Delo_Ohm]

Another question or two for all you vets...

1- Does MCW provide USMLE prep to any degree? I noticed something about getting access to prep books. Do they run any classes (would you have / did you use them)? Also, it looks like the curriculum schedule allows for adequate study time before step 1, does that seem like an accurate observation?

2- Also, I know that you can "opt-in" to the MD/PhD program at MCW, but that is the traditional basic science research track. Have you heard of any MD students pursuing the new community and public health PhD program simultaneously?

Thanks.