<p>She discovered that family could have attended (argh! yes, we would have attended had we known in advance) and had a tour and at least exposure to what she'd be doing for the next 4 years. Guess we'll have to wait for the "white coat" ceremony in the next few months.</p>
<p>Some neat items at FSU Med include:
* "tablet" style laptops for all students
* PDAs with medical applications - these may be Apple iPhones which would serve as a multifunction communication and information tool
* A large number of scholarships to help defray the expense of a medical education<br>
* Medical-social groups; some of which perform medical missions work overseas
* A highly integrated, technologically based training system (very tough from what I hear)</p>
<p>And the usual traditional classes and training.</p>
<p>This is a really insightful post. I was just wondering if you have an idea, maybe from your daighter’s experience of the school, of FSU’s position in getting students into medical schools (obviously it mostly depends on student’s motivation and personal choices). I was wondering this cause I am now choosing between FSU and UF for premed and while i love both schools , FSU gave me a large scholarship and UF has great medical concentration (idk much about fsu’s).</p>
<p>My opinion is…between FSU and UF it dos not matter which you choose. Neither will get you admitted to an allopathic med school without the GPA, MCAT score, maturity and clinical experience required by virtually any med school.</p>
<p>I suggest you get the best education for the least expense. FSU does allow very significant advantages in undergraduate research. D1 selected FSU over UF for her own reasons, not the least of which was ug research and perceptions about the campus and students.</p>
<p>If you are a Florida resident I do most certainly suggest you try for a Florida state med school. Tuition would be somewhere around $18K vs $53K per year for resident compared to non-resident - a significant savings.</p>
<p>I actually wanted to apply to that program but missed it…gah…and I am a florida resident and am planning on a florida med program…if where you get your undergraduate really doesn’t matter, I am leaning towards FSU because of the $24,000 scholarship and especially because I liked it a little more than UF (the environment is comfortable and chill while UF felt so rushed and impersonal…idk)</p>
<p>and sorry for interrupting the direction of your thread…=]</p>
<p>Well, D1 reports that despite the earnest efforts of faculty to establish a mutually supportive student environment there is a very strong competitive atmosphere among the students.</p>
<p>Need some new (old) shoes for anatomy class. Yuck. You don’t want to know why.</p>
<p>[Dr</a>. Lynn Romrell](<a href=“http://med.fsu.edu/facultyprofiles/FacultyProfile.aspx?activedirectoryid=lynn.romrell&directoryid=0]Dr”>http://med.fsu.edu/facultyprofiles/FacultyProfile.aspx?activedirectoryid=lynn.romrell&directoryid=0) is the professor of Anatomy for FSU Med and directly teaches the class. D1 was introduced to her first patient Friday by Dr. Romrell, who read a letter from a family member related to the person who donated their remains to the med school. The family member did not want their loved one to donate their remains. The letter spoke of the commitment the deceased person had to serving others, and overrode the wishes of the family. The group grew a bit misty as the letter was read, as it was very touching. Thus D1 became acquainted with her first patient. The students were not told why or how the person died and that they had to figure it out.</p>
<p>It was also emphasized that the extreme competition between the students, that may have gotten them in to med school, now needs to be set aside and a cooperative supportive spirit developed in its place. Further, that each student was entering a position of high trust and responsibility (lots about this).</p>
<p>D1 was interviewed at a number of other med schools, which she discovered is a mutually selective process between the student and the school. She is extremely glad she elected this program.</p>
<p>On technology to date, D1 has received a new tablet-style laptop computer that is loaded with medical related applications and integrated with the LAN at the med school. It is rumored that all students will also receive an Apple iPhone with med-related apps. No further on the iPhone yet, but it is under active consideration and students do receive some type of pocket technology. I have heard from other friends who are MDs that the iPhone is becoming very popular for this purpose even amongst practicing MDs.</p>
<p>D1 reports that the information fire hose is now open. Its only been three real work days after the week of orientation. They are all struggling with the information load. Lots of adaptation is going on now. Learning what to study and what to defer.</p>
<p>I suspect they are becoming a lot more efficient in using their energy, too. Her words are now becoming more clipped and focused. No wasted effort. Her previously long phone calls are getting very short.</p>
<p>We were in Tallahassee this weekend and visited with D1. She gave us a tour of the med school on Saturday afternoon. We saw the new, huge, impressive facilities and it was first class. I’ve seen some advanced training space before and this was certainly at the top of the list. She was immediately recognized by security personnel on entry to the school and it was obvious that each interior space was controlled by need of access. They divide M1s into small study groups and each group shares with another group a central lounge equipped with food service areas, lockers and even showers.</p>
<p>The research areas were unavailable to us as would be appropriate, but were equally impressive from the outside. The new Psychology building is across the lawn and of similar size and appearance. The new huge Chemistry research and Biology research buildings were adjacent or close by. I was in awe of the new facilities, even as a graduate, as I’d never visited this campus within a campus before. World-class capability, and this is not an exaggeration.</p>
<p>D1 had her first “quiz” last week and she said it felt like an undergraduate final exam. All the M1s were completely paranoid about the test, but the school encourages upper-level med students to mentor newbies and this eased some tension. However, the exam was really tough as there was no mere regurgitation of information but a very involved application and extension of what they’d learned so far. They had to rip the essence of the question out and think like MDs through to an appropriate medical conclusion. She said you needed not only to totally master the material, but know what happens if a certain injury occurs. Very tough, given the volume of information they had to digest.</p>
<p>Some of the M1s were older students (some with PhDs or other professional training) who were much more at ease than the fresh-from-undergraduate-school students. This maturity seems to influence and stabilize the group, which is a significant help.</p>
<p>On the lighter side, the med school has its own StarBucks stand in the building. One M1 within D1’s group is a coffee aficionado, however. This student has provided the group with advanced caffeine supply equipment. :)</p>
<p>D1 was told that while students have something of a regular graduate student schedule in this first semester, the Fall semester will not allow for a “normal” schedule. </p>
<p>Anatomy class is divided into very small groups (6 or fewer students). Each group rotates among all the “patients” so each student is hands on with at least 20+ different patients. Students are then rotated among hands-on dissection tasks. (I think I’ll leave out the details, but I’m sure you get the idea).</p>
<p>Students are apparently evaluated by instructors and staff and even by each other. Some students are extremely skilled already, having come from other related fields or industry.</p>
<p>The “white coat” ceremony is coming up. In this ceremony the newbie med students are issued their medical doctor style white coats (can you feel your bp going up at the thought? :D) for the first time. This is a big deal for the students and their families, but we have since learned that the newbies receive short length med coats, while graduated and practicing docs have long white coats…as perhaps an indicator of educational status. Most curious…now that I am cognizant of this difference, it is amusing to see who wears what. Higher education turns out to be very traditional! It occurs to me that an amusing prank would be to switch coats around…it may well be a good thing it’s D1 in the program and not me. ;)</p>
<p>Quick update…the second exam - a Monday exam - (not quiz) just took place. D1 says they were warned it was going to be hard and it was even harder than they estimated. Several students are trying to relax tonight after a weekend of studying. D1 says it all starts over again at 0745 tomorrow so she’s skipping all socializing but some time with her (new) husband and a little supper out. No let up. Oh, and this is the easy semester!</p>
<p>MDs have to be totally committed. Be forewarned, all who want to be MDs.</p>
<p>Side note - any med students on the shy side are spotted and encouraged to speak their minds…as it may save the life of a patient. This is no profession for the faint of heart.</p>