Visiting Sackler and BGU in 10 days -- any questions you want me to ask?

[marvinGardens]

I am visiting Israel late March to check out both Sackler and BGU. I'll be meeting staff and students from the schools and hopefully sitting in on classes, checking out facilities and seeing what the apartments are like. I have plenty of questions to ask them but I thought, since I am going so far, maybe some people on this site that have questions or suggestions on things to check out in person. I'm trying to get the most out of the trip so let me know what you can think of...........

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[jonathani1]

I'd love to hear your report on the learning environment (classes, labs, dorms).

 

[wiscobadger]

dont bother visiting the dorms...no one lives there past orientation (first 2 weeks of your stay)..and theyre nothing like the dorms in the states

 

[jd778877]

On visiting BGU, The building is a little hard to find if you don't read Hebrew. Ask where Aroma is when you get to the hospital and the MSIH is in that building, 6 floors above i think. I stayed with some Israeli students i met through couch surfing and really got the feel for what it was like to live in Be'er Sheva. Good luck with your visit

 

[MDeity]

University politicks:
-Ask them about the ongoing Israeli university professor strike and how that is affecting MSIH lectures/activities and clerkships. Likewise, find out what has been done to rectify the lost affiliation with the Jerusalem hospital and the subsequent doubling-up of students on rotations this year.
-Press them on why--after some 10+ years of measured success of the MSIH--Columbia still hasn't agreed to award a joint MD with BGU, even though similar programs offered by Cornell and Duke have given their full support of their respective overseas programs, with Duke approving joint MD's with NUS before the charter class has even hit the clinics. Apparently all it takes is a nod from the Board of Trustees...


Student life:

-Find out when the Caroline House/Health Sciences Student Center will be finished.
-How many students have cars and/or motorbikes?
-How much interaction is there between the Israeli and MSIH medical students?
-Does MSIH use the (seemingly nice and newish) Goldman facilities?
-Is BGU still a commuter college, in that most students go home/to Tel Aviv for the weekend?
-Can and do students take 5 years to graduate? Can 4th years+ do more than one IHM capstone clerkship? Is there a reduced tuition for a fifth year?

 

[marvinGardens]

Excellent questions, I'm glad I posted. I'll ask many of them and will get back to you guys. I'm visiting next week so if anyone has any other suggestions post away.

 

[sharkchaser47]

I'm just going to reply to one question/point. The Israeli proffessor strike ended about 1.5 months ago and never affected MSIH. Because we pay tuition separately from the rest of the Israeli university students we were not affected. All of the professors showed up and taught our classes in first and second year. The strike also didn't affect any students (Israeli or American) who were already in the clinical years.