Ok everybody as I have said before when Dr.Baldwin tells you something be careful. Just because he says it is easy does not mean it that it is easy. I found histo to be the most difficult course offered at this school. Why you may ask? Histo is mindless endless tons of memorization and even if you are really good at this there is so much nit picky details on tests that honestly it can be a crap shoot to figure out how you are going to do. For others looking endlessly at notes and text is the best way for them to understand things and they excel at this and get killed when they take med phys. There are no easy 5 hours classes. They all will be a constant battle to get any grade about a C and if you do get even a B in any 5 hour congrats because you worked your but off for it. If you encounter some body that acts like a 5 hour was cake they are lying or they cheated. Now to answer your questions...
Too much... No thats a good start. If genetics isn't your bag then let me recommend that you avoid genetics like classes. Baldwin designed this program so that when you get into medical school it is well easy. However if you follow the Baldwin plan you may find that MC is not exactly good at getting you into medical school unless you are a resident of Mississippi.
At MC there are a few different types of classes 1) Memorization 2) strong conceptual 3) undergrad review and 4) gift class... Each of the 5 hour class is a mix of at least two of these types. Histo is 98% memorization type and 2% conceptual, Med phys is 80% conceptual, 10% mem and 10% undergrad review, gross and neuro are both about 80% mem and 20% concept. Of the elective type classes endo/GI and embryo are often looked at just like the 5 hours but they are a bit easier to manage. Any class that is 3 hours or less is either undergrad review or a gift classes and are often quite enjoyable. Look at it like this the greater the amount of hours the greater the difficulty 5 is like a very bad day/fight for your life and 1 is I shows up what more do you want. Do not treat this like undergrad if you do you will get trapped and fail. Treat this as if this was a medical school try out and everything you do here will be used to prevent you from ever stepping into the halls of a medical school ..... Just kidding about the last part.... Treat it like grad school because it is. Be ready to rethink your study styles.
Ironically, I agree with saying histo is hard but I think you're forgetting another key course called Gross anatomy. Out of everyone who has taken all 4 five hour credits, they nearly all have said gross (without the crazy new lab) has been the hardest out of the four. Coming up next usually is either endo/gi (oddly) and med phys, unless your a highly conceptual person. Histo isn't hard, it is just mind numbingly draining trying to memorize diffuse amount of facts of every single organ in the body with clinicals.
I think it will be a blessing you guys are having Reiken next semester for histo since she gives out mega extra points. Although I hear she is a worse teacher than Dunigan. However, I have wanted to shoot many times I want to shoot her for needlessly hard questions by taking Dunigan. But it will probably make me a better student in the end (long as I get an A lol). I guess the great equalizer will be the shelf exam.
You cannot possibly say Embryo is on the caliber of endo/gi. The tests are not cumulative for one and its only 3 credits worth of material. Dunigan is a hard teacher but I think its a drastic overstatement to say it is anywhere near the 5/4 credit courses; excluding med micro obviously because that is truly a gift class.. or at least that is what I hear.. Out of the 3's, sure, it is up there.
Cell phys, for a 2 credit course, has been a nightmare for me. The teacher, Dr. Howell, really does not care for much of the material. His power points are disorganized and he tests concepts he does not mention. My major gripe are his wording on the tests, they become so convoluted, you don't even know what he is asking on certain questions. We just took the 3rd test, and I will say it has become better mildly and he has given people a chance to make up a crappy grade by final grade replacement. I'm not sure if I am having a tougher time with it because of taking 2 five hour courses, but his method of teaching has become foreign ground compared to the five hours and I just self-study for his class usually. None of his tests has thus far averaged anything above an 80, which majority of the students should be getting. I believe our first test averaged around 71'ish. Pretty abysmal for what should've been a undergrad review course. I only did well because I largely studied MCAT material in the summer and majored in cell biology basically. I don't mean to scare off the above poster, but if you are taking this course as a refresher for the shelf, think again. However, if you switch things out and go with Histo, Cell Phys, Immuno or Embryo, it will be a solid foundation for your other classes. You might want to just take bio seminar so it doesn't look like you're taking a low amount of credits, or possibly research? Not sure how to advice on a situation with only 10 credits.
Personally, my study methods have drastically changed by taking these courses. Although many people say it is because it is the first semester and many students will either meet up to the challenge or fail trying. I actually read the textbooks now and re-write notes multiple times. I wish I would've figured this out during undergrad because I would've whizzed through it if I studied as much as I am now. Finding good study groups and tutors are also key. I look at certain study groups and they talk probably more than they study.
The awesome fact about taking these courses are that it will make your life in medical school much easier. How many times have you wanted to say, I wish I would've retained those facts a bit more or I wished I would've paid more attention and absorbed more information in undergrad courses? Well, now is the time because by studying hard and concentrating on these courses, it will give you a leg up on other students and allow you to achieve higher scores where it will really matter. Now is also the time to address your weaknesses instead of keeping away from them. I used to have trouble understanding pre-ganglionic vs post ganglionic, why sympathetic/parasympathetics were called motor systems, upper motor neurons vs lower motor neurons of nervous system. But now I can roll all that information off my tongue.
I am going to state something that I have mentioned before. I recommend people take neuroanatomy as their first five hour course. Dr. Baldwin's class will change your life. Although I am not sure what the registrar looks like now. All slots might be filled =/
So btw Worldchanger =/ it seems you've changed your mind on the capacity of out of state students to enter UMMC?