Hey, incoming first year students,
Congratulations on your acceptance and on beginning your journey toward becoming a physician. I remember this time quite well; it was very sweet and wonderful. You should definitely pat yourself on the back, since you've all come a long way, through thick and thin, to arrive at this particular doorstep.
I want to say that I think KCUMB is a good school, but it is not without it's issues, some of which you should be familiar with before signing on. My impression is that it there may be some systemic problems that could impinge on your enjoyment, if you should choose to matriculate. You'll probably make it through without a hitch, but it may be a bit painful at times due to these issues. I'm going to be as honest with some negatives as I can here without getting myself into trouble. If you want the real scoop, talk to a 2nd year, or higher, student. You can't expect to get a balanced point of view of the school from adcom members and student ambassadors, who are undoubtedly and expectedly trying to sell their program. Again, I think KCUMB is going to be a fine choice, but you should know exactly what you are paying for, should you choose to matriculate.
Caveat Emptor.
1) KCUMB may have a problem of "
the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing." My impression is that there is very little coordination between departments; very few folks seem to know what is going on and/or try to pass the "buck" onto someone else (instead of taking responsibility). There are exceptions, of course, but in general, folks just don't know how to work together that well. What happens, as a result of this apparent deficiency of coordination, perhaps, is that unexpected issues can arise and things may go unnecessarily awry, which directly effect you, such as with scheduling, curriculum, etc. And when you try to inquire about it, practically nobody seems to know what happened, or is somehow unwilling to talk about it in any detail. It's not that enjoyable, folks. This sort of thing tends to add red tape and complication to an already stressful time. The worst part is that, I think, it doesn't need to be this way, if folks only learned to work together and communicate better. Heaven forbid, if you try to go outside of the menu, so to speak. Anyway, I think it's manageable, but be prepared to have the carpet pulled from underneath you; it probably isn't going to be like the impression you received at your interview.
The school is pretty good about eliciting student feedback (i.e., CQI, surveys), but they seem to be really reflexive with their changes to the curriculum, or other things. How about some greater investigation before screwing the next year's class with changes that may, or may not work? There is something to be said for consistancy in a curriculum, etc. It often seems like one big experiement and we are the guinea pigs.
2)
KCUMB may have control issues (
a la Orwell,
1984; read: Big Brother is watching). The administration loves to control and regulate almost EVERY aspect of your academic experience and they take great steps to monitor everyone in the name of "professionalism" and "doing what's good for you." You tend to feel like you are being surrounded and watched; it's eerie feeling and a bit absurd. Okay, think George Bush and how he runs the administration and Homeland Security. Now, add the feeling that you are being treated like high school students (there is even a bell that rings every 50 minutes
). The administration loves to make students attend certain events by using brute force (assigning points by attendence). Sometimes, they may use negative-type reinforcement and might even talk down to you. If you are out-of-line in some way (behaviorally or academically) you may get sent to the professionalism office (kind of reminds you of high school, right?). There is always someone sitting the in back of the classroom monitoring everyone and taking notes for "professionalism."
It's stiffling at times, but I suppose you get used to it. It's just that you feel like you can't breathe sometimes, without it being noted on a list.
3)
KCUMB lost a whole bunch of good professors a few years ago due to unspecified issues. Now, the school is left with a whole bunch of new and sometimes junior professors, who have to wear multiple hats, adjunct professors with little to no teaching experience, and old professors who aren't the best communicators/instructors. There are still some good professors, but overall, it's not that impressive. Really, some of the instruction is definitely questionable, or at least borderline. You might think, with all this, "what kind of ship are they running here?"
The school got rid of the OMM department some time ago and merged it with the FM dept. Also the OMM instruction is not that exemplary; you tend to leave the lab not having much of an idea of what's going on and the TA's and fellows are sometimes pretty apathetic and unhelpful, although there are exceptions. You end up having to learn it all yourself from tutors, each other, or books, right before the practical. You might expect this somewhat, knowing that this school isn't very OMM-heavy. Just so you know.
Also, we just effectively lost our academic dean. She took a sabatical to pursue a master's degree in bioethics. Cool. Now we don't have one of the folks who actually stood up for the students and tried to keep things running smoothly.
4)
KCUMB has a large class size (250+), which is divided into relatively equal groups of 4 (A, B, C, and D). It's not exactly a problem, but I thought I'd bring it up, in case you didn't know. Cadavers are shared by 5-6 people per lab group; there are two lab groups, each doing some dissection, so you are sharing your cadaver with up to 11 other people. Additionally, the second years, who also have two lab groups, also share the same body, but don't dissect on the same region. Anyway, I hypothesize that the school is interested in having a large class size for economic reasons (i.e., "let's squeeze in lots of cattle...").
5)
Out-dated technology/equipment. Some of the computers/printers the school provides for student use are very old; they badly need to be updated. There are few computers/printers around, so sometimes, if it gets busy, you have to wait. You have a printing budget (everytime you print a page, it gets subtracted from a printing account), which if you exceed, you must pay extra. There is no color printing. Computers and printing are just two examples of it's frugality. The school is pretty frugal about it's resources for such a high tuition.
By the way, Smith Hall isn't as grand as it seems folks. Good luck finding a spot during quiz/practical time.
6)
Strange spending habits/focus. The school just built two new buildings, a clinical research center and an auditorium, which is to be used, in part, for community activities (non-school-related stuff), and there is also other non-academically-related spending. Okay. How do these things help the students? Not much. How about spending some money building a few nice classrooms, updating the technology, getting better and more qualified teaching staff, etc., instead of all this external nice-looking stuff? How about trying to lobby for a stop-sign, or do something about to help the folks cross the street from the first-year parking lot to the campus (it's dangerous)? Are the students just "cash cows" that they can stuff into an annex building? The school looks nice on the outside and they put on a good show, they even treat you nice at the interview, but when you arrive, you might become surprised.
By the way, I think the president makes some real bank. It's notable. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
7)
Curriculum issues. As noted above, there is a lot of reflexive changing, which can sometimes complicate things, create new problems, and compound existing issues. Sometimes, there is weird scheduling of classes/subjects. The units can feel disjointed and there is a lot needless repetition of subjects (Jimminy Cricket...how many times do I need to hear about Rheumatoid Arthritis?). You get quite a few guest lecturers, which can add to the confusion. Sometimes, you get multiple and uncoordinated takes on a given subject. I get the feeling that this curriculum would be awesome if lecturers learned to work together and did some tag-teaming. Instead, it's illogical at times and can be a disjointed mess. You'll learn, alright, but it is probably harder than it has to be. All I have to say is, thank God there are tutors.
Also, it should be noted that grading works by letter grades, with +/-. Letter grades are scaled based on the class average, which usually is scaled into a "B." The standard deviation is used to determine the other grades relative to that average score.
Lastly, the academic schedule needs more breaks, spread out. It's like a dayam marathon.
8)
Rotations. Works on a lottery-based system. You pick your top three locations and it is chosen by random from there. Most folks get their first choice. You pretty much have to pick one from the list during your third year, but there is some variability in the fourth (you can go outside of the list). I don't know, the OCCE seems pretty willing to work with you, if want something outside of the list, but it has to pass certain standards. However, I'm just not that impressed by the choices; they seem to be predominately small hospitals with few beds. I've even heard horror stories of folks not matching and the school having to actually find a place for them to rotate. I'm sure this is pretty rare, but it's not cool at all, if that should happen.
9)
Library is very tiny (as is the campus) and has very old and out-dated books. Currently the library is too small for 500 students, in my humble opinion. Also, what is it doing with grossly-outdated books from way back when? Outdated editions of textbooks need to be trashed and replaced with more relevant material.
Also, there isn't much of a campus to speak of. It's small, folks. Also, the neighborhood that it is in sucks monkey balls.
There is a new library in the recently constructed auditorium, so hopefully this is larger and better.
Okay, this is enough for now. Take this post for what it's worth; it's speculative and consists primarily of hearsay. Remember, folks, take all the information in this post and on SDN with a grain of salt. Do some investigation and ask lots of questions. Don't settle for a faulty impression that you received during interview day; it's too long of a road and too expensive for that. I hope I have at least whet your curiousity.
I can't wait to meet you all. Does anyone know if KCUMB will help find roommates for those wanting them who are going to live in CT?
