University of Oklahoma -- everyone welcome -- Part 4

[Gotaro]

Would anyone mind PMing me about the cost to attend OU's medical school? I've been searching their site for a long time and thought I had it for a while, found a pdf that listed $9k tuition. But I think that's Physician Assistants, not MDs.. I wasn't sure if there were other costs or anything, either. Hope to hear from someone soon! Thanks .

http://www.ouhsc.edu/sfs/costs.asp
and
http://www.ouhsc.edu/financialservices/Downloads/Bursar/TF_FA_09.pdf

I didn't read the pdf, but that nearly has to be per semester, i.e. 1/2 to 1/3 of your cost, depending on the year. I take the full Stafford, and I'd be curious what they are doing with the rest of my money if my tuition is only 9k. I get about 16k back. Or did in years past. I think.

I'd like to repeat this question. It has come to my attention that I never got an answer lol. So how much does it cost per year? I know tuition, cost of living, and books from the information given. What about fees? Or just a total would be fine.

Also, if I already had $100k of loans from undergrad, would it even be possible (or feasible) for me to continue on to med school?

Thanks!

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[Doctor Bagel]

I'd like to repeat this question. It has come to my attention that I never got an answer lol. So how much does it cost per year? I know tuition, cost of living, and books from the information given. What about fees? Or just a total would be fine.

Also, if I already had $100k of loans from undergrad, would it even be possible (or feasible) for me to continue on to med school?

Thanks!

You know, unfortunately this information is harder to find out than it should be. I think tuition with fees is around $20k/year for instate people, and you can borrow $20 to $30k for living. I believe they give you a budget sheet at your interview that's current. The stuff online is always dated. Also tuition goes up about 10% each year. It didn't go up at all this year, but it'll probably go up next year.

It would be possible to go regardless of previous debt assuming your credit is decent. You can borrow GradPlus loans up to the total amount approved by your school with no lifetime limits. Staffords have a lifetime limit of I think $220k now (it was just increased from $189k for med students).

 

[Amxcvbcv]

Also, if I already had $100k of loans from undergrad, would it even be possible (or feasible) for me to continue on to med school?

Thanks!

I don't want to imagine paying back $100k+ in loans without a doctor's salary, even if we have to wait 3-7+ years to realize it.

 

[Mr. Freeze]

Full Stafford has been around 40k; 40-16=24k-ish per year. Somewhere around there anyway. Exact numbers are superfluous information.....

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Full Stafford has been around 40k; 40-16=24k-ish per year. Somewhere around there anyway. Exact numbers are superfluous information.....

It's $40.5k for the first 2 years and somewhere around $48k for the 3rd and 4th year.

 

[Amxcvbcv]

Step 3 is in the bag.

I really hope I don't have to take that sucker again. I think it sucked more life out of me than 1 and 2 combined.

Now to enjoy the rest of this awesome internship.

 

[Mr. Freeze]

It's $40.5k for the first 2 years and somewhere around $48k for the 3rd and 4th year.

Sweet! I just take the full amount and get back what I get back; I didn't know it changed, despite tuition being higher for 3-4.

 

[Azadi]

Um. I just wanted to say hi.



Haven't been back since before med school started.


Anyway, hello.

 

[Jwax]

Um. I just wanted to say hi.
Haven't been back since before med school started.
Anyway, hello.

Hello to you as well.

Got EM for my selective! That should certainly make the away rotations and sub-I that I intend to do July - September of next year go smoother. I think I've gone ahead and given up on anything else. Had a nice chat with the hubby and some soul searching throughout the break and really, EM is where it's at. There are some awesome things about other fields (ob/gyn, urology, and anesthesia top my mind), but really... I've been stuck on EM so long I think I'm just going to quit pretending anything else is going to happen. Started looking more seriously at away locations and application info this break as well, though I was advised we won't start doing apps for that until March, apparently.

Just thought I'd share.

Back to studying for the 4 separate quizzes we have to take for neuro tomorrow.

 

[Mr. Freeze]

Three pieces of advice for VSAS:
1. Each program has their own app opening date. Be ready to submit your app on it. Don't apply to so many that you have to turn down a crapload either; there is a thought that once you turn down an away, you kinda write your own denial later. Dunno if I buy it, but I haven't heard from the ones I turned away either.
2. Each program has their own vaccination form and requirements. It would make WAY too much sense if there was only one and there was reciprocity among schools. Instead, look at the forms for each of the places you are applying to, and get copies of your shot records from Green Clinic early.
3. If you are AT ALL debating between two or more specialties, apply for away rotations in each. You can always cancel. Otherwise, you are left cold calling places that don't use the VSAS in July, begging for a spot. Ask me how I know. Think of the money spent as insurance against indecisiveness...

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Jwax, did you get EM here in Tulsa or in OKC? If it's in Tulsa, then you can get letters from that, which should decrease your need to do aways. On the importance of aways in general, it really depends on what you want to do. In lots of specialties, they're not very important. I don't know where EM fits in that whole thing. But of course you do need to rotate at some place with a residency in the specialty you're going into, so I guess you have to do something either in Tulsa or elsewhere.

 

[Jwax]

Three pieces of advice for VSAS:
1. there is a thought that once you turn down an away, you kinda write your own denial later.

Good point. I was thinking of applying broadly for aways, but that is a really, really good point. I can understand why it could be true, although I see validity in it's being a part of the fear-motivated rumor mill. Thanks for the tips.

Jwax, did you get EM here in Tulsa or in OKC? If it's in Tulsa, then you can get letters from that, which should decrease your need to do aways. On the importance of aways in general, it really depends on what you want to do. In lots of specialties, they're not very important. I don't know where EM fits in that whole thing. But of course you do need to rotate at some place with a residency in the specialty you're going into, so I guess you have to do something either in Tulsa or elsewhere.

I'm doing EM here. I didn't have the two selectives back-to-back to do it in Tulsa and decided it was just too much to try and arrange a 4-wk rotation in 2-wks. Plus, I'd probably prefer to go ahead and do a sub-I in Tulsa and I'd like to use OKC as a dry run for how to be a sub-I when it isn't quite as important to be impressive. I'm wanting to do aways more for my own benefit than intention of boosting my chances at any given location. I'd almost prefer to do an away somewhere I don't want to go so I don't blow it though I've already pretty much set myself up to apply to Corpus Christi. Apparently they just set themselves up with the VSAS system and I contacted them right after it was set, so they requested I be their guinea pig in the process to determine if VSAS is working smoothly for them. Kinda fun to get a phone call from the clerkship director from an ED residency program I'd like to become a part of call me up and ask to play guinea pig.

Some random goodness I'd like to share. So, I started of the year with the absolute worst presentations of anyone on our peds team. It was terrible. My attending thought I was an idiot for the majority of the time (I improved a bit in the last few days so it wasn't all lost). I've gone from that to having someone ask me for tips on how to present in a more organized fashion. I'm not sure how I went from ultra-suck to good enough that someone else is asking for my advice, but I am grateful. I know very little about neurology, but I at least look pseudo-intelligent in rounds because I know my patient and can present. If only I could answer the DLG's questions.... (ex: is a subarachnoid hemorrhage inside the brain or outside the brain? me- uhhhhhhh inside? )

 

[Mr. Freeze]

Pfft, the obvious answer to that q was "abdominal migraine".

 

[Jwax]

Pfft, the obvious answer to that q was "abdominal migraine".

It's funny how much influence the DLG has had on the residents. They are hardcore about acquiring possible migraine sx.

I think I'm actually starting to get the hang of this whole neuro thing. The infarct of this artery --> damage at this places --> these manifestations is becoming a little more logical. Thankfully.

 

[Amxcvbcv]

It's funny how much influence the DLG has had on the residents. They are hardcore about acquiring possible migraine sx.

I think I'm actually starting to get the hang of this whole neuro thing. The infarct of this artery --> damage at this places --> these manifestations is becoming a little more logical. Thankfully.

Neurology was one of the best rotations from an education standpoint. Are you guys doing the 2 week version, or did they already get it up to 4 weeks?

 

[soonereng]

Neurology was one of the best rotations from an education standpoint. Are you guys doing the 2 week version, or did they already get it up to 4 weeks?

The 4 week version.

 

[Jwax]

Neurology was one of the best rotations from an education standpoint. Are you guys doing the 2 week version, or did they already get it up to 4 weeks?

I think I agree with you. The DLG is an incredible teacher and is wonderful with his patients. He is also ridiculously funny and so I'm entertained almost the entire time during rounds. I think the organization of this rotation is what makes it so valuable. I think they went a little overboard on the busy work though.

 

[ad_sharp]

Neurology was one of the best rotations from an education standpoint. Are you guys doing the 2 week version, or did they already get it up to 4 weeks?

Changes to the curriculum already.....I'm becoming a dinosaur.

Glad you're enjoying the internship. I'm happy that you got that Step 3 mess finished with early. Don't even think about it, you did fine. You're going to love Radiology when you get to it.



Also, If any of you guys/gals from OU might be thinking of going into Radiology or are currently interviewing. I'd be happy to help if I can. Just send me a message.

 

[PreMedMommy]

So as I am sitting here studying for Pharm, a police helicopter is cirlcing my house with a spotlight on. Am I really that doomed?

 

[Jwax]

Putting the x through neuro though I'm still a few hours away from done. Pretty excited that we're getting to finish on Thursday instead of Friday since they have some xmas thing tomorrow. The neuro experience wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be, and I even enjoyed it to an extent. They certainly have some of the nicest residents around, only surpassed by perhaps the urology residents. Plus there's the DLG.

Beautiful 2 weeks of sleep, shopping, cleaning, family, friends, and New Orleans ahead. Followed by 4 months of sleeplessness and anxiety.

 

[soonereng]

Followed by 4 months of sleeplessness and anxiety.

I take it you have surgery and medicine after the break then....they really aren't as bad as advertised IMnotsoHO.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

So as I am sitting here studying for Pharm, a police helicopter is cirlcing my house with a spotlight on. Am I really that doomed?

Ugh, Oklahoma City, how I don't miss you. We had the freaking stupid ghetto bird circling our house all the time when we lived there. I swear the cops pulled that thing out just to play.

So I don't feel like I'm a med student anymore. I guess that's a normal fourth year experience.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

More 4th year fun -- I don't have to borrow money for next year. We just got that financial aid email, and it doesn't affect me at all! I will say, though, that they should have started offering direct loans years ago because for at least the last 2 years, their terms have been better than FFEL loans. But better late than never.

 

[Amxcvbcv]

Happy New Year!

 

[ITreat]

Hey fellow Sooner. I will the an applicant next year (or this year since it is new year! ) and have several questions.

First, I would like to work in TX or OK, eventually. I have pretty competitve stats and is planning to apply boardly. So I am likely to have a choice between OU and some top 20 medical school. If the tuition is pretty close (like baylor's), would you recommend staying in state or try something new? (I while I was just randomly browsing, I see a OU COM graduate at Duke Dermatology so I guess there really is no glass ceiling) Any experience of discrimination from programs in the East or West coast who may not be familiar with OU COM?

I know alot of first/second year (some even from my high school), most people I would consider my friend, but there are also people that I am not very fond of. So I am kind of leaned toward getting a completely fresh start, if you know what I mean.

Second, is there a way to shadow at resident? I kind of just want to see what resident's life is like. I may already have the paper work done for shadowing there (I shadowed pathologist last year at OU)

Third, what specialties do OU excel?

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Hey fellow Sooner. I will the an applicant next year (or this year since it is new year! ) and have several questions.

First, I would like to work in TX or OK, eventually. I have pretty competitve stats and is planning to apply boardly. So I am likely to have a choice between OU and some top 20 medical school. If the tuition is pretty close (like baylor's), would you recommend staying in state or try something new? (I while I was just randomly browsing, I see a OU COM graduate at Duke Dermatology so I guess there really is no glass ceiling) Any experience of discrimination from programs in the East or West coast who may not be familiar with OU COM?

I know alot of first/second year (some even from my high school), most people I would consider my friend, but there are also people that I am not very fond of. So I am kind of leaned toward getting a completely fresh start, if you know what I mean.

Second, is there a way to shadow at resident? I kind of just want to see what resident's life is like. I may already have the paper work done for shadowing there (I shadowed pathologist last year at OU)

Third, what specialties do OU excel?

Couple of thoughts -- one, why do you really want to shadow a resident? Committing to OU for med school is not committing here for residency, so the two really aren't related. Also, for the same reason, specialties OU excels at don't really matter for you at this point in your training. Medical school is about learning general medicine -- specialty training comes in residency.

As for OU vs. other schools, if you get into a better school, and it costs the same, go for that school. If it costs significantly more, OU's probably a better deal. I don't know about discrimination per se, but I've been on interviews where I go to the less known school, and I'm applying in psych. Name always matters somewhere, but it might not matter enough to make up for paying extra money for it.

 

[ITreat]

Couple of thoughts -- one, why do you really want to shadow a resident? Committing to OU for med school is not committing here for residency, so the two really aren't related. Also, for the same reason, specialties OU excels at don't really matter for you at this point in your training. Medical school is about learning general medicine -- specialty training comes in residency.

As for OU vs. other schools, if you get into a better school, and it costs the same, go for that school. If it costs significantly more, OU's probably a better deal. I don't know about discrimination per se, but I've been on interviews where I go to the less known school, and I'm applying in psych. Name always matters somewhere, but it might not matter enough to make up for paying extra money for it.

Well the thing is if I go to a school I prefer to staying in that school because I am likely to buy a house there (I am going to be married and stuff.) I would prefer getting a residency there as well

And as far as shadowing resident, I want to get a glimpse because it is the hardest part of medicine. I think it would be good experience that set my expectation straight.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Well the thing is if I go to a school I prefer to staying in that school because I am likely to buy a house there (I am going to be married and stuff.) I would prefer getting a residency there as well

And as far as shadowing resident, I want to get a glimpse because it is the hardest part of medicine. I think it would be good experience that set my expectation straight.

Honestly, that's just thinking too far ahead. One, you're really not going to know what you want to do until 3rd year (lots of people think they know and change their mind), and two, you're not going to know what the program in whatever you're interested in is going to look like in 4 years. You don't have to buy a house -- you can rent a nice house for pretty cheap in OKC, and if you do buy a house, you can sell it.

But if you want to know some OKC basics if you're dead-set on staying where you go to school, here's the few I know (I'm in Tulsa for clinicals, so I'm not an expert). There's no EM program in OKC, surgery in OKC is supposedly a little more on the old school/intense side of things, the derm program is really small (they only took one person in the last match). IM/peds/ob/gyn are all fine but nothing spectacular. So if you want derm or EM, you likely can't stay in OKC. If you want derm you should be willing to look anywhere since it's so competitive. The same is probably true for ORL, urology, ortho, opthal, etc.. Anesthesia is supposedly OK but used to have issues (was on probation at some point).

 

[ITreat]

But if you want to know some OKC basics if you're dead-set on staying where you go to school, here's the few I know (I'm in Tulsa for clinicals, so I'm not an expert). There's no EM program in OKC, surgery in OKC is supposedly a little more on the old school/intense side of things, the derm program is really small (they only took one person in the last match). IM/peds/ob/gyn are all fine but nothing spectacular. So if you want derm or EM, you likely can't stay in OKC. If you want derm you should be willing to look anywhere since it's so competitive. The same is probably true for ORL, urology, ortho, opthal, etc.. Anesthesia is supposedly OK but used to have issues (was on probation at some point).

Thanks, that is exactly the kind of info I am looking for. I am really surprised that such a large hospital doesn't have EM program??

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Thanks, that is exactly the kind of info I am looking for. I am really surprised that such a large hospital doesn't have EM program??

The EM program is in Tulsa. Apparently there was one in OKC before, but it closed down. Editing to add that it's very possible you'll rotate through something and decide you wouldn't want to train at that program if you did that specialty, even if there's nothing horrible about the program. I didn't like the general atmosphere of the peds program here in Tulsa and wouldn't want to train there. Other people like it there. Also, even if there's nothing wrong with the program, you might realize it's not the best fit for you or your career goals. I love the psych program in Tulsa, but I've decided I want a bigger program and one that might open more doors for me if I decide to go for an academic career. I didn't really clarify what I wanted in a program until I started applying for programs.

However, if you're really opposed to moving after medical school, if you do get into a place like Baylor, it might be a better option. In general, their residency programs will be stronger than OU's (however, they're having some weirdness there with the whole Methodist/Rice deal). Also, Houston's a huge city, and there are residency programs outside of Baylor in town.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Ugh, Oklahoma City, how I don't miss you. We had the freaking stupid ghetto bird circling our house all the time when we lived there. I swear the cops pulled that thing out just to play.

So I don't feel like I'm a med student anymore. I guess that's a normal fourth year experience.

That just cracks me up. The helicopter was a fairly normal part of my late night study sessions on Fridays and Saturdays. I used to wave when they'd shine the spotlight on me and Jesse in our backyard. I don't think they did it for fun in my part of town, though - I used to have cars come down N.W. 15th at 80 or 90 mph after the bars closed. Took me a while to realize that they were evading the OKC police on N.W. 10th and N.W. 16th.

I went down to OKC to interview in IM today. OUHSC is such a huge academic medical center - I do think it has some advantages that a small program like OU Tulsa doesn't have. But the thought of living in OKC again was just so overwhelmingly depressing. I hate to offend any OKC natives - I remember my time down there fondly. But sometimes I think the entire city is constructed of those baby-**** light brown bricks they used for the Health Sciences Center. There are fun things to do in the City, but picturesque it is not.

I'm getting crabby about the old "where does OU rank" questions in my old age. There are, what - 130 allopathic medical schools in the United States. OU is solidly in the top half, and everyone's heard of it. Take 2 residency applicants - one from Johns Hopkins with mediocre board scores, and one from OU with kick-ass board scores. The OU applicant wins every time - except perhaps at some ivy-league schools in the Northeast, which never interested me much. My education at OU got me interviews in Beverly Hills and that was good enough for me.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Thanks, that is exactly the kind of info I am looking for. I am really surprised that such a large hospital doesn't have EM program??

It happens. There was a great deal of chaos in the program and now the entire Emergency Medicine department was farmed-out to a 3rd-party for-profit emergency room management company. Unless and until H.C.A./OU Presbyterian makes that contract go away, an emergency medicine residency on the OKC campus is, in my opinion, very unlikely. This is not necessarily a bad thing - the Tulsa residency is based at Saint Francis Hospital. Saint Francis, although they've dropped the formal Level I designation due to cost, is moving past 80,000 ER visits per year. For a variety of reasons due to the paucity of services available in the rural areas, Saint Francis ranks as one of the busiest emergency departments in the country. It is about as "big city" as it gets. Cedars-Sinai in L.A. has nearly 1,000 beds but they still don't do as many ER visits as Saint Francis.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

It happens. There was a great deal of chaos in the program and now the entire Emergency Medicine department was farmed-out to a 3rd-party for-profit emergency room management company. Unless and until H.C.A./OU Presbyterian makes that contract go away, an emergency medicine residency on the OKC campus is, in my opinion, very unlikely. This is not necessarily a bad thing - the Tulsa residency is based at Saint Francis Hospital. Saint Francis, although they've dropped the formal Level I designation due to cost, is moving past 80,000 ER visits per year. For a variety of reasons due to the paucity of services available in the rural areas, Saint Francis ranks as one of the busiest emergency departments in the country. It is about as "big city" as it gets. Cedars-Sinai in L.A. has nearly 1,000 beds but they still don't do as many ER visits as Saint Francis.

Rumor I heard from a very reliable source a few months ago -- they're looking to move the EM medicine residency mainly to St. John since they're having some issues with SFH. I guess they'll still use SFH, but the bulk of time will be at St. John. From what I've seen being in Tulsa, I've got to say SFH doesn't have a culture of being very supportive of medical education. I think I still resent not getting access to the floors on peds.

 

[DrMom]

Last I heard (from someone who has a relative that is an attending in that program) was that the EM program is actually going to move to Hillcrest, not St John.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Last I heard (from someone who has a relative that is an attending in that program) was that the EM program is actually going to move to Hillcrest, not St John.

Interesting. I noticed on their website that they mention all 3 hospitals with no mention of SFH being their base.

 

[DrMom]

My understanding is that they are completely cutting ties with SFH. Sounded like OU was moving all of their residencies to Hillcrest. I'm not sure about the peds program, though, since SFH has the only PICU.
Keep in mind I'm getting this all 3rd hand, but the EM program info is from a very reliable source.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

My understanding is that they are completely cutting ties with SFH. Sounded like OU was moving all of their residencies to Hillcrest. I'm not sure about the peds program, though, since SFH has the only PICU.
Keep in mind I'm getting this all 3rd hand, but the EM program info is from a very reliable source.

I'm guessing psych will continue to work there, too. With peds, they really need SFH because the other peds units are so small (St. Johns has like half a floor for general peds). Also, SFH doesn't have any hospitalists for their peds service, so they're pretty reliant on the residents (both OU and OSU) right now. But who knows. I'm rotating in EM next month, so maybe I'll get the scoop.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

SFH does do what they want to do. St. John would not surprise me - Hillcrest would. They do not currently have the volume or severity of trauma for the residency. Ardent has been trying to ease HMC out of being an ER competitor for a long time. I may be surprised, but I know my friends on the administration side usually have info that the docs do not.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Heard about the EM move to Hillcrest from another source recently. Interesting.

And, dude, some school lameness. The OKC people had a presentation where they were told to "just say NO to the scramble." Uhm, I don't think anyone wants to scramble because it's pretty miserable from what I've heard. And from the presentation, it looks like 10% of the class had to scramble last year, which fits with the rumors we heard.

 

[soonereng]

And from the presentation, it looks like 10% of the class had to scramble last year, which fits with the rumors we heard.

That's almost reprehensible...10%! Was everyone trying to go into derm or something?

 

[Amxcvbcv]

That's almost reprehensible...10%! Was everyone trying to go into derm or something?

The three I know of personally were anesthesia, ORL, and derm. I don't know what the final outcomes were.

 

[Mr. Freeze]

At least one ortho scrambled into a prelim surg. At least for us, and I'm sure most fields, this usually means year of slave labor and re-entry into PGY-1 process all over again, only now you can't hide your Step 2. If you are lucky, you find a PGY-2 opening where you did your intern year and that year met the ACGME req's for your field.

I was on the trail so I didn't go to the meeting. Ok, let's be real; I wouldn't have gone if I was on campus. I'm curious about what they said, but not so much that I will watch the video. I get the impression that our administration is acceptably adept at giving us sound advice regarding entry into less competitive fields, but those of us who can't imagine life in those fields tuned out a long time ago. Which is understandable because they don't want folks going into subspecialties; they want homegrown primary care docs that are willing to work in Gotebo. Not a knock on people that do, but just as not everyone has the stomach for surgery and its lifestyle, not everyone has the desire to manage diabetes for years and years in 15 min time slots. I've been asked several times on the trail, "What did you think of X rotation?" and it is always something I hated. "Well sir, I am glad that there are people willing to do X for the rest of their lives. During my # weeks on X, (length omitted to protect the tender hearts of people enamored with such things ), I thankfully learned that I am not one of them."

I'm open to suggestions as to what to do other than scramble if you don't match into your chosen specialty. It's ok; I'll wait.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

At least one ortho scrambled into a prelim surg. At least for us, and I'm sure most fields, this usually means year of slave labor and re-entry into PGY-1 process all over again, only now you can't hide your Step 2. If you are lucky, you find a PGY-2 opening where you did your intern year and that year met the ACGME req's for your field.

I was on the trail so I didn't go to the meeting. Ok, let's be real; I wouldn't have gone if I was on campus. I'm curious about what they said, but not so much that I will watch the video. I get the impression that our administration is acceptably adept at giving us sound advice regarding entry into less competitive fields, but those of us who can't imagine life in those fields tuned out a long time ago. Which is understandable because they don't want folks going into subspecialties; they want homegrown primary care docs that are willing to work in Gotebo. Not a knock on people that do, but just as not everyone has the stomach for surgery and its lifestyle, not everyone has the desire to manage diabetes for years and years in 15 min time slots. I've been asked several times on the trail, "What did you think of X rotation?" and it is always something I hated. "Well sir, I am glad that there are people willing to do X for the rest of their lives. During my # weeks on X, (length omitted to protect the tender hearts of people enamored with such things ), I thankfully learned that I am not one of them."

I'm open to suggestions as to what to do other than scramble if you don't match into your chosen specialty. It's ok; I'll wait.

So now I'm wondering if people at other schools get more specific advice about this stuff. The majority of OU grads don't go into primary care, so if we're not addressing it, is anybody? My hunch is that instead of encouraging us to go into primary care with their advice, it's just some sort of laziness in advice giving, so you get info that it's really revolutionary or useful. Adding to the fact that the people giving the advice haven't been through the match in decades doesn't help.

As for the 10% not matching, I'm also wondering if other schools saw an increase in people not matching. This last match was weird in that some specialties got notably more competitive (gas being a big one), and there were no spots in the scramble for traditionally non-competitive specialties like psych.

 

[Jwax]

Holy S*it. I forgot why I had distanced myself from sdn. I wandered around while wasting time tonight and found myself reading a surgery shelf discussion thread and all the people with their rockin' scores and their reading multiple novels x3... vomit. I forgot how it made me feel like the worst student ever and how over that I am. Ugh.

Anyways. Surgery is a blast, other than the excessive downtime that I am completely incapable of utilizing to study. Instead, I go to the traumas or hang out in the trauma ICU. I hope that I get awesome evals to make up for my F on the shelf.

 

[Mr. Freeze]

I can't remember what I made on the shelf, but I remember it not being good at all. But yeah, everything is weighted such that if you only botch one aspect, you'll be quite pleased.

But I'm confused; excessive downtime? Have they just completely changed the curriculum for third year?

 

[Doctor Bagel]

OMG, I hated trauma. I hated sticking a foley in some freaked out guy who'd just been shot who kept on yelling about me messing with his dick. And I hated scrubbing and standing in on cases doing practically nothing except retracting and listening to the most inane conversations on the face of the earth. So I scrubbed as little as possible, hid out and studied.

 

[soonereng]

But I'm confused; excessive downtime? Have they just completely changed the curriculum for third year?

I personally think relative to say medicine there is more time spent waiting for your surgery, waiting for afternoon rounds, etc.

 

[soonereng]

I wandered around while wasting time tonight and found myself reading a surgery shelf discussion thread and all the people with their rockin' scores and their reading multiple novels x3... vomit.

My personal unrequested advice for the surgery shelf (and too late now but I think I told you this in person already maybe). Read NMS fully (and not the crappy NMS casebook or that ugly black book with the scary cover). Read Pestana at least 2X. Do questions til your sick of it...oh yeah...and have taken IM before surgery cause that test is a lot of IM stuff IMHO.

 

[Amxcvbcv]

My personal unrequested advice for the surgery shelf (and too late now but I think I told you this in person already maybe). Read NMS fully (and not the crappy NMS casebook or that ugly black book with the scary cover). Read Pestana at least 2X. Do questions til your sick of it...oh yeah...and have taken IM before surgery cause that test is a lot of IM stuff IMHO.

Surgery really comes down to the medical management of surgical patients, at least as far as the shelf is concerned.

 

[Jwax]

OMG, I hated trauma. I hated sticking a foley in some freaked out guy who'd just been shot who kept on yelling about me messing with his dick. And I hated scrubbing and standing in on cases doing practically nothing except retracting and listening to the most inane conversations on the face of the earth. So I scrubbed as little as possible, hid out and studied.

Exact opposite feelings. I'm highly amused by what the drunk knife & gun club members scream at you while you try to do your abcde's/lines/etc. I would rather get to do more in surgery, but I'm content to retract and close skin. It's the best on the rare cases where I get to first assist the residents. If only that could be every case...

My personal unrequested advice for the surgery shelf (and too late now but I think I told you this in person already maybe). Read NMS fully (and not the crappy NMS casebook or that ugly black book with the scary cover). Read Pestana at least 2X. Do questions til your sick of it...oh yeah...and have taken IM before surgery cause that test is a lot of IM stuff IMHO.

Not sure what NMS you are referring to. I've only seen a giant black one (that there is Zero chance I will ever read) and the nms casebook. Got pestana, which I'll read. Not sure where to find questions to do. No chance I'm buying any uworld type things. I'm really just trying to use the surgical recall and nms casebook so far. Opened up first aid for the wards the other day. Really not all that into studying for this exam since you can fail and still do just fine in the rotation, though I really would like an A in this course.

Surgery really comes down to the medical management of surgical patients, at least as far as the shelf is concerned.

That's what they tell me.

I wish I could do two months at Presby instead of going over to the VA. I HATE the VA. Plus I can't really make it to the traumas during downtime at the VA.