@IMGDad, how am I “narrow-minded”? Just bc I don’t agree with you? I’ve actually attended the school unlike yourself. I’m pretty sure I know the intricacies of it MUCH better than you do. Like I already said, I matched into Anesthesiology. I’ve made it quite clear the mission of the medical school is to create practicing clinicians, not specialists in competitive residencies. Thus it’s revenue it brings in is more allocated toward clinical endeavors, rather than research endeavors. The UMKC is nothing like the University of Oxford, eventhough it may be the same length of time. Just bc you’re most likely an Asian IMG Dad forcing his son/daughter to commit themselves to the program, just bc of the letters MD, doesn’t make me “narrow-minded”. I don’t live in superfluous world of if only one works hard and stays motivated, one can get any residency program in any specialty. That’s just not true at all and it is silly to believe so.
Hahaha, the response is just exactly as what I have predicted.
@IMGDad, you mean after you decided to name-call and call me “narrow-minded”, you’re surprised I responded? Wow, congrats.
This conversation is taking a rather unfortunate turn.
I think @Roentgen is just trying to talk about his/her experience in the program, however, it is just HIS opinion/experience and should not be taken as complete fact.
That being said, I really urge you @Roentgen to retract your earlier rather personal statements about @IMGDad stating “you’re most likely an Asian IMG Dad forcing his son/daughter to commit themselves to the program”. It’s not okay to bring racial stereotypes into conversations like these and I personally find this a pretty serious microagression against Asians. I don’t know what compelled you to say that, but I feel the need to interject and tell you that this is completely unacceptable and is not harmless. It concerns me that a future physician is so quick to make such racial assumptions without understanding the consequences.
@sopheebliss, thank you for your comment. I actually found what was posted rather childish and amusing. That is why I did not try to respond to it. Yes, I am Asian. Contrary to what I have been stereotyped, I am very much like my parents. They wanted me to go into Mathematics rather than medicine, and I chose medicine. Now, I want my son to go into computer science and created numerous opportunity for him to do so, and yet he has chosen medicine. I have been in medicine since 1984 and so medicine is really part of our family life and so “just because of the letters MD” is not at all a big thing in our family. I am the only MD in my family of lawyers, bankers, businessman, and everyone in my family has always felt that I “wasted” my talent being a physician. So what has been stereotyped of me was totally wrong!
Sorry I have not read all the previous posts but from standing back and looking it appears that there is wonder if this program is as worthwhile as any other. I think this question should not be discussed until an acceptance is at hand. If you are dead set on medicine then you would have applied to several programs and maybe avoided ones that are not a “good fit” with you.
I do have a friend whose D is going to this school and as a “fit” I think the first thing that a student needs to address is, “Can I handle going to school year round?” This feature of this school is the first thing that will hit students. Most students applying to these programs are AWESOME already. They do so much and do it all very well.
But how many of you have truly had very strict disciplined full time jobs? I see many excellent students just sink into deeper blahness as the days go by in the summer during internships etc and what gets them through is knowing that it is only 8 weeks long. Even though they are super busy hard working students, a full day is something they had not experienced. Well this program is 6 years long. No week long off at xmas or new years (one day for each) and no summer holidays to rest and recover. It is truly for the go-getter. Just from a numbers point of view, with the number of students they accept, there is no way they are all go-getters and they better adapt or sink.
Soooo - ask yourself if you can and if you are willing to do this?
Saying “Oh I am a hardworking and I am willing to work super hard” is only a start in your attitude. You really need to look into your personal experiences to find EVIDENCE that you can truly handle this. I knew my kids could learn to handle the work schedule but I didn’t want them to and told them upfront that I would not strongly advise against going through this program. [oops I meant advise them against this time commitment] It is not a good fit for my kids but that doesn’t mean it’s not a fit for others. Anybody know the matriculation #'s for this school?
Be true to yourself and be realistic! If you are going to work this hard, well then you can do it elsewhere too right? So then think of other advantages of any program when deciding. Good luck to all!
@Midhelper, can’t agree more. Not all programs are good fits for all students, and not all admitted students will like the program and will be happy, as clearly evidenced by the postings on this thread from one of the graduates of the program. But that does not mean that the program is bad and should be avoided since, like many other programs, there are also many who are happy with the program.
why are some of my words underlined in blue in my above post? I did not do that :-/
@Midhelper, I do not see any words underlined. It must be either your screen or your computer playing tricks on you.
Everything you all are saying is true but it does not have anything to do with what Roentgen is saying. I don’t think I have ever come across such a hateful person on this forum and I hope that it lightens up soon. He is basically trying to convince me that I will never be able to do anything great in the medical field if I went to UMKC… That is one of the most narrow minded things I have ever heard anyone say and its a direct insult to my parents as well because they attended the school.
Does any one know how they pick students to be part of the 7 year track? Also, do you know approx. what date the notifications came out last year?
Actually @PursuitToExcel, what @Midhelper said is what I am getting at - @Midhelper mentioned very useful points, often overlooked by applicants.
I never said, that you “will never be able to do anything great in the medical field if I went to UMKC.” If you are ok with aiming for the more generalist specialties: IM, Pediatrics, etc. you’ll do fine as that is what UMKC aims for as demonstrated by its curriculum. UMKC isn’t “special” and it’s medical students aren’t as far ahead as you would think when they get to internship as compared to students from other schools. Your comparison of UMKC to a top tier medical school, like Harvard, is nuts.
If you were afforded the same opportunities at both and all it takes is “hard work” and “motivation” to find opportunities, people wouldn’t pay top notch dollar to go to Harvard. UMKC’s med school is highly overpriced (esp. for regional and out-of-state applicants), and can do so bc it’s a seller’s market.
There are much better Bachelor/MD programs out there, some highly advertised, others not, that are better than UMKC. You apparently just want people to cheerlead your decisions, just bc your family went there, without real input. If you want to go to any place, just bc it offers an MD and bc you think it “saves” you 2 years, bc you’re scared of the MCAT, then that’s ok.
But then don’t be utterly shocked with red flags:
I didn’t ask that question you did.
I was looking through some of the older posts in this thread by some former students and other former graduates and it’s very interesting
These old posts do have some insights about the program for those of you who are looking for more perspective.
<a href=“UMKC 6-year BS/MD Program - #1539 by HappytoGraduate - Multiple Degree Programs - College Confidential Forums”>UMKC 6-year BS/MD Program - #1539 by HappytoGraduate - Multiple Degree Programs - College Confidential Forums;
HappytoGraduate posted in 2008 that
"The Plaza is a nice place. Hyde park already looks suspicious. You literally cross the street in KC and you’re in an area that isn’t all too safe. Trust me, my friends and I spent forever trying to find places to live next fall that are close to the med school but in safe areas (and affordable). There are a lot of pros and cons about UMKC.
Making the decision to go here is a big one. Once you’ve devoted pretty much a year to the program, you’re kind of stuck in it. You will study like you never have before. People who are incredibly intelligent find themselves taking the boards over and over–facing separation and having to leave w/ incredible debt and no degree.
There are few staff members that understand what it is like to be in this program. You really have to learn to be proactive from the beginning. Join some sort of organization with older med students, APAMSA, AMA, AMSA, MSAC, Globe Med, SNMA, etc. Make friends with older students and learn how you can get involved. Learn what you can fight in the school. Your advisors, are working for a business. It’s hard to believe but schooling is a business in the United States. They will follow the protocal for how to deal with a situation. You have to be proactive in this program. Learn what a CV (Curriculum Vitae aka Resume that you present to residency programs w/ research, clubs/organization, skills, honors, etc.) is now. Work to build your CV in the six years you are here. Make sure your professor knows who you are (sometimes it helps at the very end when you need it). Seek help immediately if you need it!! Make friends with plenty of your classmates, you never know who could potentially help you with something.
If your docent is not rewarding, make noise about it! You pay too much in tuition to not have a docent that shows you things. Basically, UMKC teaches you to grow up FAST.
People try to paint a picture that this program is all rainbows and sunshine, but it is tough. You have to be motivated. You cannot afford to slack off. Completely forget about your senior year of high school. Enjoy your last summer because vacation will soon be over. Anatomy may be easy, orgo may be easy, micro may be easy, but somewhere along the path of this program you’ll find a point that things get challenging. It might be early or it might be later on, but be prepared.
Cliff notes:
- Study hard
- Work hard
- Be proactive
- Do your best
- Best of luck!!!"
@lolzers, thank you for the very mature and helpful but cautious post.
“Out of the 110 original in the program usually only around 60-70 make it all the way through. Does anyone know why?”
OK so this is the answer to my question of matriculation rate. Not sure where this was obtained from and you should definitely confirm source of this evidence but this is not a trivial bit of information here. Evaluate yourself carefully and decide if you could be one of the matriculating in the group.
If you think you can handle it - what a great opportunity in 6 years!
During the interview, my father said he met you. Are you the oncologist?
@lolzers, are you from LR?
@IMGDAD, I am.
@lolzers, send my regards to your dad. If both you and my son get in, I will sure get my son to hook up with you. How did you find the interview? Good luck.
@IMGDAD, That sounds good.
It was kinda stressful, but I got in the groove after the 1st station or so. A couple interviewers threw me off because they had blank looks on there faces and just stared at me. There was a lot that I wanted to say that I didn’t get to say because of the time constraints and the questions. I’d much rather do a normal interview and charm the interviewer 