Yeah, I tend to be critical
The great things about OSU, from the point of view of an IP student:
1. You dont have class ALL day - that means you have time to work out, go shopping, study, go to doctors appointments, have a life
You'll see when you get here that there's kind of a IP vs. ISP "battle." They say the "smarter" kids do ISP... but I dont think that's necessarily true (it's not like the other 75% of us are idiots!). It's all about the way you learn. The best thing about IP, I think, is that you get exposure to clinical faculty all throughout your first two years - and they tell you stories about their patients to help you learn the material. Also, the notorious pharm test for ISP does not apply to you!!! Dr. Fertel teaches a large amount of the pharm, and he's awesome, and you WILL learn from him
You get a GREAT ophthalmology module at the beginning of your 2nd year, led by the former chair of the department and the current vice-dean, Dr. Weber. You will get to know Dr. Lynn, who is awesome, who is not only in charge of the 12 week neurology block, but also in charge of the 3rd year neurology rotation. You actually get to learn stuff as it is explained to you in class. I think it's great cause you get to hear and see the material besides just reading it.
2. Faculty - if you're not a jerk, they are VERY receptive to you. Dr. Hitchcock (IP director) will listen to your feedback and take it into consideration. Dr. Stang will be your number one advocate no matter what kind of problem you have - from personal to academic - he will help you in ANY way he can. All of the administrative staff is VERY nice - Sharon, Maryanne, etc. they are VERY helpful.
3. Clinical experience during M1/M2 years - you can VERY easily gain clinical experience on your own during the first two years. I emailed a few people in the fields i was interested in and they all responded positively. Again, another good thing about IP - if you actually talk to them in person after class and express your interest, they're more likely to help you out - it's easier than dealing with their secretaries. But most of the clinical faculty are more than happy to have you - either to see an autopsy, go to the OR, go to clinic with them, etc. If you take the initiative, you will have no problem finding the field that's right for you
4. The new garage with the food court
trust me, it's awesome - you'll love it
5. Students - most students here are nice. I have found that about 95% of students who are a year ahead of me or more have been really nice and helpful. They usually will give you good tips
6. The hospitals - the new Ross Heart hospital is THE nicest hospital!!! The James is pretty nice too
7. The patients!!! You may think that going to a school that's ranked in the top 10 is super important - but when it comes down to it, it's the patients you see that determine what kind of education you're going to get. People will drive from HOURS away to come to the OSU hospitals - with many different diseases and conditions. You will see things that are really rare (I saw a patient the other day with a condition that only had a 0.1% chance of developing).
8. OSU is a nonranking school. This is FANTASTIC. Not becuase it gives you an excuse to be a slacker, but it gives you the chance to learn without having to worry about every last point. I mean, how mad would you be if you missed being in the top 25% of the class by ONE point? And I think it takes away some of the competition as well - I honestly dont care how my classmates do on their exams, I dont care about the mean, I dont care about where I fall in the class. But I do care about how much I've learned and if I get a question wrong on a test, I dont care about the point value of missing that question, but I get to care about why I missed it and what I needed to have learned from that question. I also think that this let's you have a life. Some people say that when they start med school they have to give up their lives - that may not be possible. If you have an ill grandparent/parent/sibling/etc; if you have an illness yourself, be it chronic or acute; if you have any sort of emergency... you dont have to worry about your rank on top of all the other problems in your life. I know this has helped me tremendously over the past few years... You can pay attention to the things that are important - you have the opportunity to keep school, family, personal life on the same priority level. They will talk to you about "balance" a LOT during orientation, and being a nonranking school really helps with that. During my years in med school at OSU I was able to attend to all the important things in my life while still learning what I needed for the boards and wards. This way I have no regrets and I am not penalized for caring about things like my family or my own health.
9. The PCM (patient centerd medicine) classes are GOOD. This is something you will hear a LOT of people complain about. "why do i have to take pcm, my parents raised me right" or "i hate pcm, who cares about spirituality?" etc etc. I have interacted with students at other schools, both in social situations and in patient care settings, and I have found that the OSU students are the nicest. Dr. Stone does a good job teaching you that your role as a physician is to take care of patients. While some students will continue to be arrogant jerks no matter what you teach them, I think that OSU does the best job in preventing that from happening. OSU teaches you to have pride in being a physician, but to remember that it is an honor and privilege as well. By going to OSU, you will not only be prepared to take your USMLE and to match at a residency program of your choice, but you will be an intelligent, knowledgable, CARING physician. And when you interact with physicians or students from other places, you will realize that you made a great choice in going to OSU.
and... for completeness
10. OSU students do GREAT in the match. Go to medicine.osu.edu and search for "residency match results" to see how they do. The main thing to keep in mind when looking at any residency match list is that people are only going to match where they have ranked - which means where they WANT to be... so it all depends on that student, if they want to be close to home, or in a particular city, or what. But overall, students do GREAT in the match coming out of OSU
Overall: I am VERY glad I go to OSU. The classes seem to have gotten more competitive year by year... But hopefully the class of 2009 will be really nice to each other. While I do have some legitimate complaints regarding OSU, it is impossible to find a school where you will be completely 100% happy, and if you claim you are, then you are simply deluding yourself. With any med school you go to, you gotta take it with a grain of salt. But overall, I would highly recommend OSU to anyone who asked
