my 2 cents (as a current student.. kind of in between 1st & 2nd year)
the waiver exam IS do-able for people. However, there are many students I currently am with who have their degree in biochem and still took the class. Theres no one that I know specifically that took it (or at least took it and passed it). It is a complete foundation for the rest of your first 2 years. As for genetics, I had a 300 & 400 level genetics course before coming here. While that helped me, topics were very different and covered in different aspects.
One waiver exam to take for sure... Epidemiology.
Pass/fail.. while it is true that you get a P on your transcripts, you are mis-informed on other things. If you receive a 90% or above in the class (or are in the 90th percentile for the class) it will be mentioned in your dean's letter that is sent with your residency application materials. This is true for ALL "science-based" courses. Scoring in the 90th percentile is pretty difficult to do.. but getting a 90% in the course is do-able for people. Whatever percentage you get on your waiver exam is the percentage recorded for you. And it IS compared to the other students who take the class rather than the waiver exam (for class percentiles).
Research: have you talked to people about research you are planning to do?? or are you a DO/PhD student? There's not a whole lot of hard-core research opportunities so far.
electives: sounds great to do a ton of electives. BUT! we were limited (as i'm assuming you will also be) in the number of electives you can do fall semester.. i believe we were allowed ONE shadowing experience. Also, a shadowing experience is generally ONE day. This had to be an office setting. We were not allowed to do any shadowing in a hospital until semester 3... that throws out your OR plan for the extra credits. Most surgeons don't just let you come on in to the OR. Generally you have to shadow them in the office and get to know them first and eventually they will allow you to come shadow in the OR.
There's a lot of information that you don't get until you are here. Just wanted to give you a heads up. If you signed up for a big sib you will be getting them soon and they will be able to answer any questions you may have about stuff. Until then, feel free to message me if you have any questions.
Last but not least... ENJOY YOUR TIME OFF! summer anatomy isn't bad.. and fall isn't too bad either. After that it gets busier and busier. Enjoy the summer while you still can (and you're not cooped up in a building and/or lab all day)!! =)
ok so here's the thing...there is officially now some confusion about the waiver exams based on what you have just said. I had contacted Dr. Bill Falls about the grading system and he explained it all to me, and yes the percentage grades for the courses you take DO get put on what he called a college transcript. And the Deans letter thing you outlined is pretty much on point too. However, he did not mention anything about the hazard in taking waiver exams or the scores on those waivers being included in any way on any official documentation associated with MSUCOM. Dr. John Wang, who is responsible for the waiver exam's sent an email to me, which is on an earlier post in this forum. He clearly stated that you simply get a P or F and the percentage score is irrelevant, but just in case I misinterpreted this, I have sent an email to Dr. Bill Falls asking for clarification on the issue. I will post that email in this forum for all to see when I get a reply from him.
Also, you are completely right that biochem is a firm foundation for medicine in the pre-clerkship years. I can tell you that I would not ever take the waiver exam even if I had one iota of reasonable doubt that I did not master the fundamentals of the subject in undergrad. I am completely confident in my foundation for this subject in every way possible. genetics may be another story...I don't have as much experience but I have tutored students in the subject AND have taken 200, 300 and 400 level courses in the field at UM in ann arbor. I am assessing my foundation in this subject area by studying the material outlined in the syllabus and taking the practice exams shown on the website. If I feel that I have not mastered it in undergrad, I will not take that waiver, however right now my confidence in this subject is NOT shattered.
In regards to research, I anticipated this being a problem at MSUCOM (since it is geared more towards primary care) and setup several interviews with research labs at other Universities including my alma mater. These positions involve both clinical and basic science positions and projects with a high likelihood of getting published within 1-3 years. I outlined strict criteria for a research position and am working on attaining one in my field of interest with a good mentor/PI.
As for electives, again I anticipated this and called the office. I spoke to two people at the Macomb and DMC site and they both said there will be no elective credits in the summer but they WILL allow electives in the fall. The amount of electives (for shadowing and whatnot) you can take in a term is 3 and they are 4 hours in duration each for 1 academic credit each. There is paperwork you have to fill out and a CIM orientation you have to go to. I will re call the DMC site tomorrow and ask them to confirm the 3 electives per credit limit that was stated to me earlier. Also, I spoke to Robin Hastings at the EL site and she told me electives are only granted to students who perform well in anatomy and prove they are good at time management (which is prolly why they don't want you takin electives during anatomy). She also stated this for fall semester, and did not distinguish between the OR and the clinic, however I will ask her to clarify this.
I have shadowed several surgeons already this summer and spent a good part of my undergrad in both the clinic and the OR with passive shadowing experience (simple observation) for 3 years. This helped me get to know surgeons affiliated with the statewide campus system and I have thus spent this summer setting up arrangements for active shadowing experience in the OR once I get the elective credit hopefully (very, very hopefully) in the fall. Also, in case you're wondering..I can't just dive in and do active shadowing without the elective credit because I have no malpractice insurance...I want everything done by the book and when I contacted MSUCOM they told me liability coverage is given to you when you sign up for elective credit and specify the dates you will carry out that elective credit. If this weren't the case I wouldn't even be chasin after the elective credit and would just dive right in..but alas lawyers make everything complicated.
Lastly, I can assure you that my drive to become a surgeon isn't just a knee jerk reaction to me being a wide eyed first year medical student who thinks slicing and dicing is "so rad," rather it is a culmination of years of hard work, dedication and a true passion for the art and skill required in the field of surgery. of course I do recognize surgery is competitive, especially for DO's and ACGME residencies..but it is a goal I have held for a very, very long time and being admitted to MSUCOM has given me an ever sharper laser-like focus to attaining it.
Thanks for all the help though, you definitely bring up some important points and I will call and ask the office for a comment on these matters. If what you're saying is true, it will cause me to adjust some of my strategic contingency plans this summer. I'm also surprised with all the help you second years are giving us...seriously thank you so much for taking the time out to write that post, it will help us all get some things in order. And sorry if my post seemed a little off putting...i really don't mean that and I just want you to know where I'm coming from. I'm seriously not combative at all haha.
You guys are definitely putting me to shame though. I appear to be the only one fitting into what I thought would be the norm of someone who still isn't sure what they want to do. You all seem so much more prepared than I am. I am currently an athletic trainer and I've had a lot of exposure in the clinical setting and am thinking about ortho surgery or pain management. I, unfortunately, have never been able to see the inside of an OR yet, but I have spent a lot of time shadowing orthos in the clinic as well as a little bit of time shadowing a pain management specialist. Anyone else looking at either or these specific specialties that might have some experiences they'd like to share?
