I ended up being unable to visit because of a snowstorm that closed UM-Flint and other schools in the area. I will be visiting later this week. I did hear back from a UM-Flint 2yr DPT student and this is what she wrote to me about her experience so far. She did offer to give me a tour herself if she didn't have class when I was there- I thought that was pretty nice! I did send in my deposit. It was $200, and I decided that unless I hate it when I visit or if I get into Central Michigan University, I'll go to UM-Flint.
Why did you choose UM-Flint and are you happy there?
I went to U of M in Ann Arbor for my undergrad, worked at U of M
hospital for a year before applying to school, and decided to keep my
loyalties to the maize and blue. Location wise it was convenient
because I was able to be fairly close to home and continue playing and
coaching hockey. It just worked the best with all of the other things
I liked to do. I am not happy when school is my ONLY focus, and by
going here I was able to continue doing all of the other things I
love. It is going very well. I'm happy with my pick and everything so far!
How accessible are the PT staff (since such a large class size)?
My class only has 40 students. The class behind me has 60ish...so I
can't talk for them but I can tell you that the staff are extremely
accessible. You call them all by their first name and they are
extremely supportive. All of them have an open door policy, and you
can just walk into the PT office to see if they're there if you need
to talk. One of my professors was my PT after I had shoulder surgery,
and we are very, very close. Everyone is like a family, here, and I
don't think the slightly larger class size would change that.
How are labs set up?
When I was in anatomy we had 2 lab sections. My group had 4 people,
and we would dissect the right side of the cadaver, while the second
lab would dissect the left side. You get lots and lots of hands on
time with the cadaver, as well as with the other groups' cadaver so
you can see anatomical differences.
My class has 2 groups of 20 students for general labs. Typically there are 2 classes
going on at the same time, and then we switch. So I will be in a
musculoskeletal class for 2 hours while the other group is in a
cardiopulm class, then we switch. The new class with 60 students has 3
lab sections, so I believe there is occasionally some more down time
while your classmates are in lab, but most students study or go work
out for a few hours.
Where do most of the students live? Flint? Grand Blanc? I have some
concerns about living in Flint.
Most students live in Thornridge Apartments in Grand Blanc, at least
in my class. I live in Brighton, which is about 35 minutes away. No
one that I know of has had anything stolen or anything bad happen. The
campus is in a pretty cool part of downtown, actually. There is a
really cool apartment building across the street called The Durant
that would be a great location to live. There's lots of good
restaurants and it's just an interesting culture downtown. I actually
wish I spent more time downtown not in class so I could explore
everything. It's not as scary as it sounds--I promise!
How is the general feel of campus? Do most PT students spend a lot of
time there outside of classes?
Almost all of our classes are in the William S White building. It's
new and very nice. We sometimes go out to eat downtown between classes
but are usually busy with class. I went to U of M in Ann Arbor and it
is definitely a different feel. It's more of a commuter school so
there's a lot less people walking to class and walking all over
campus.
How is the atmosphere among your student class?
I love my class. Obviously, with everyone knowing each other so well
and spending so much time together, there is some drama but I just
stay out of it. We have lots of fun and spend quite a bit of time
together outside of class. Because about half of our class lives in
Grand Blanc, we spend a lot of time hanging out there. Everyone is
very fun--I have no complaints!
How are the clinical experiences set up? Are there certain settings
that must be done or are you able to choose?
For your full time clinicals (there are 3 10-week ones at the end of
your 3rd year) you have to do 1 outpatient orthopedic and one acute
care. The third one is your choice, and can be acute care or
outpatient orho again if you'd like. Your first few clinicals are more
like observations and they are assigned without your input, but they
make sure to make them close to somewhere you have housing. This isn't
really a big deal because you're only there for a few days. In the
spring of 2nd year, you are in the clinic for 2 weeks full time, and
you discuss what setting you would like to be in with your clinical
education advisor. They, once again, place you somewhere that you will
have housing available. The same thing happens for your 4 week full
time clinical at the beginning of your 3rd year. I just had a meeting
with my clinical education advisor to discuss strengths/weaknesses,
where i see myself, what settings I would like to experience, and kind
of come up with a game plan for my clinical sites.
How does UM-Flint help 3rd years study and succeed at the NPTE?
I don't even want to start thinking about this!! They have a mock exam
for all of the students at the end of the third year, which helps a
lot from what I hear. I am not 100% sure on this, but I think I have
heard about study groups focusing on the board exam. I'm not sure if
it is faculty led or what. I know that the last graduating class had
either a 98 or 100% pass rate for the first time the students took
their exam. Last I heard it was 98% and they were waiting for the
results of the last student's test, so if they passed it was 100%. Not
too shabby either way!
. Their program is does not have a specific focus within PT like many other schools, it focuses on the all around aspect to let the student get the feel of all aspects of PT. I on the other hand really enjoy manual therapy and opted to attend here in FL. Good school but like you said their NPTE pass rate is not the highest so take that for what it is worth... You will like the staff as I mentioned I worked with at one point or another 85% of them. Hope this helps...
