Hey @NervousDad01, Imma let you finish (hat tip Kanye) looking at @AtticusFinchh’s posts above that explains it more accurately, but it looks like in terms of being able to ask questions and get information, you have more than enough time to be able to do that on interview day and probably if you decide to go on the tours as well, which I think you should.
So you can ask questions to several people:
- Current BA/MD students (Years 1-6) - see below
- Medical school faculty (clinicians/basic science faculty/administration)
- Alumni (those who have graduated - both in the past and recently)
As you can imagine, their opinions won’t all be of equal value to you (you may not even have access to all of them anyways), but it’s always good to ask as many people as you can, to get their views on different aspects of the school that are important to you and your son. That being said, your time to ask questions and get answers should not just be on interview day. Remember after April 1, you get about 1 month to decide whether or not to accept the offer. Even if you end up going the traditional route, these same questions will pop up again in some form, when you’re evaluating different medical schools, so you’ve already done a lot of the legwork already.
One of the huge benefits I think in terms of finding information about the UMKC program in particular is that almost everyone who attends here is a combined BA/MD student (MD onlys, who are traditional applicants, only serve to make up for any BA/MD attrition that occurs in Years 1-2 to bring the class size back up to the original number).
So here are the aspects of the school that I think each year is good at giving you a relatively accurate and realistic picture of:[ul]
[li]Year 1: The Docent Experience, coursework, undergraduate student life, Financial Aid available at undergrad level[/li][li]Year 2: The Docent Experience, coursework, undergraduate student life, some of the beginning basic science classes (Biochem & HSF), maybe research, maybe med school organizations, Financial aid available at undergrad level[/li][li]Year 3: Docent Clinic, basic sciences (the above + Micro, Neuro, Path), learning physical diagnosis skills, Research, Specialty Interest Groups, Med School Organizations, Financial Aid[/li][li]Year 4: Docent Clinic/Docent Rotation (DoRo), basic sciences (the above + Pharm, Behavioral), USMLE Step 1, Research, Specialty Interest Groups, Med School Organizations Financial Aid[/li][li]Year 5: Docent Clinic/Docent Rotation (DoRo), Year 5 required clerkships, Specialty Matching resources, USMLE Step 1, Research, Specialty Interest Groups, Med School Organizations, Financial Aid[/li][li]Year 6: Any and all of the above + USMLE Step 2, any and everything about the residency Match, Financial Aid[/ul][/li]So, for example, don’t be asking a poor Year 2 student about the USMLEs or DoRo – they’ll will have no useful information to give you, since they haven’t experienced that part of the curriculum yet. Obviously with a graduating Year 6 or an alum, you can ask all these things, and you’ll have the added benefit of getting their perspective AND retrospective, although their memory may be faint in certain areas. You also will have the benefit of getting their opinion when they are no longer under the auspices of the university.
If you’re going to contact an alum, I would go by recent match lists that have been posted in this thread and on the UMKC Med website. Many of those who have matched will have done so at university affiliated programs and thus will have a university email. Universities tend to have directories which you can then search the name. I would then type an email and then politely introduce yourself, tell who you are, tell them you’re trying to find out more information on the program and that you noticed that they graduated from the program, and would like to get their perspective whenever it is convenient for them. If you want, you can give them your phone number to contact you when convenient as that will probably much easier. Remember, if it’s an intern/resident, they’re very crunched for time in their life with their 80+ hour work weeks. They’re doing you a favor, and likely contacting you on their “off” day from residency or maybe post-call.
If you or your son are going to contact a current BA/MD student (I would have your son do thism since he’s the one who be going thru the program), he can probably go on the Facebook UMKC BA/MD group class pages they have now, and send a message to whomever he feels comfortable asking. Again, he needs to introduce himself, tell that he’s trying to find out more information, yada yada. Since you said you’re out-of-state, he should get in contact with those who are out-of-state first, although in-state people are also good to talk to as well, but may not be as well-informed of the finances that those in the regional/out-of-state category have to deal with.
More likely than not, on average, UMKC students/alumni will respond to you with their opinions, perspective, and be more than happy to answer any questions you may have about the program when you contact them. I’ve never met a student or alum from UMKC who didn’t want to help at all in any way, shape or form, to those who are trying to find out about the program. The more people you ask, the more you’ll be able to see trends and commonalities from their answers.