Tulane Letter of Interest

[FowlersGap]

I wanted to write a letter to Tulane in hopes of scoring an interview; but i don't know too much about the school...
what opportunities are there to serve the underserved; and what makes the school stand out?

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[Megalofyia]

Charity hospital is a good hospital for serving the underserved, but that's about all I know about Tulane.

 

[SonGoku]

Actually somebody at my interview asked Dr. Pisano (director of admissions office) if there was a free medical clinic to volunteer at, and he said that Charity is their free clinic. If you were a student there, you could volunteer at Charity, as well as rotate through in your 3rd year.

 

[FowlersGap]

awesome; does anyone else have any similar info about tulane; current students or accepted students?
thanks for all the help

 

[geromine]

Tulane is one of the premiere institutions in the nation for people that are going into medicine for the right reasons. New Orleans is a city with an alarmingly large population of people under the poverty line. Throughout new orleans, you'll find plenty of opportunities to serve underserved populations either through charity hospital or via other free clinics. Tulane is one of the few schools in the nation that requires community service as part of their curriculum. Through this program you get the opportunity to reach out to the community and volunteer your time to efforts like free TB testing for homeless, free day clinics, free depression screening, health fairs, etc etc where you not only get to serve but also will gain valuable hands-on experience and patient contact that you're unlikely to gain elsewhere.

Its a great school and I love it for these reasons:
1. Diversity of class contibutes to the laid back atmosphere and the work hard, play hard mentality. We have a tremendously outgoing class and it definitly makes life easier when you actually have classmates that are fun to hang out with outside of class.
2. Hardcore clinical training owing it to the patients (this is actually really sad but in no other hospital will you see as many gun shot wounds as you would in charity. Tropical diseases are also more prevalent than in most areas of the country. Poverty also contributes to higher rates of out of control diabetes, TB etc etc.)
3. Public health program is fantastic. Dual degree in four years...
4. New orleans is an awsome city and the art and the food are dangerously good.
5. Minimal number of GUNNERS. we don't like them, they don't like us. So if you are one, stay away. (just kidding...oh wait...no I'm not.)

Weakness:
1. This is NOT a school focused on research. I'm sure there are some labs that are exceptions to this rule. But overall research funding is subpar and facilities for it are not that great.
2. Depending on your personality, the student body maybe considered too laid back. But most people will find that they can find the right niche for themselves
3. New orleans is not the safest city in the world. Although if you don't buy or sell drugs and don't walk alone at night, you'll probably be fine.

hope you can get an interview, pm me with questions.

 

[Samoa]

What he said. I'm kinda still looking for my niche, and I probably play less than most. But gimme a break, I'm still a 1st year. I do think I have awesome classmates, though. All in all, it was a very good decision to come here.

 

[johnstoner]

though i tend to take school a little more seriously than most students in my class, i am a lot more laid back than i would have been elsewhere. I think i found my niche, well a group of students/friends that i can hang out with when i'm not studying. also its amazing the amount of exposure you get to medicine so early in your career

just yesterday i saw the most disturbing ortho surgery. It was a pelvic fracture with open wound just below the scrotum to 2 cm or so below the anus. The skin on the thigh was completely shredded and gone except a small flap which was dead. That was my first intro to ortho surgery!

Another time, I saw 2 ophtho surgeries...cataract and glaucoma, hung out with a bunch of residents in the OR...they were really awesome and open to having you around.

The professors in different departments are pretty open. I'm probably going on an ambulance ride this friday. Our school has a contract with the city so that you can ride an ambulance and see gun shot victims and all that bad stuff.

YOu can go to charity anytime you want to hang out and the residents there are really awesome about having you hang out...they teach you a lot of stuff if the place is slow and if its not slow you can see a crap load of stuff.

There are tons of volunteering for homeless stuff that you can get involved in. Then there are block parties, every fridays at joes, wednesdays at bulldogs, and if you like gambling...you have harrahs.

 

[bbawco1]

I wanna read more......
I'll be going next year and ya'll are really making me feel more and more like this is the place for me...

 

[OB1🤙]

Well, why don't I chime in along with the rest of my esteemed colleagues. To answer the OP's question- one good idea might be to check out our student affairs website at: http://www.som.tulane.edu/student.html . Check out the electives (in the Office of Student Affairs link), the MD/MPH program, click on "student organizations" and see all the different things you can do outside of school, etc. This will give you a good idea as to what's out there, in addition to the other things already mentioned.

What I like about this place is that there's something for everyone. You wanna shadow surgeons, cool. You wanna intubate and put in IV's (in your first year!), cool. You wanna do H&P's at local halfway houses, cool. You wanna spend time tutoring low-income kids, cool (very fun & rewarding). You wanna teach CPR & BLS in public schools, cool. You wanna play in the ER at Charity, cool. You wanna get an MPH, cool. You wanna double down your 11 on a dealer 6, cool. You name it, you can do it. And if there isn't already an organized program to do what you want, bring it up to the faculty, and chances are you can organize it yourself. They got a sports medicine shadowing program going last year that way.

The bottom line is that this is a great school for becoming a clinician. You're in a sane, non-competitve environment, with a ton of things to do outside of school, with great, supportive faculty. Put it this way- where else is it a Friday tradition to grab some pitchers with your professors? Work hard, play hard, baby.

 

[boomuntilnoon]

My heart swoons for Tulane.

Tell me, if it is so laid back and mellow, why are there grades? Is it just a matter of checks and balances?

Did y'all current students score any scholarship monies?

 

[MErc44]

i knew i wanted to go here. F$ck why did I have to get put in the acceptable range category? Oh yea, what's with canal street. I almost got mugged there in borad daylight the night before my interview.