I imagine once the Facebook group page for the UMKC BA/MD Class of 2022, gets created, which will be after that May 2nd deadline when you have to make a decision and put down a deposit for the dorms, that’s when people can start requesting or not, to be with a specific person. Oh and unless you get a single, you’ll be in a 4 person suite: http://info.umkc.edu/housing/housing/oak-street-hall/
@Roentgen, I was looking here: http://med.umkc.edu/curriculum/info/#six, and for Year 5, I don’t see a Vacation month like it is for other years, is that an error of some kind?
So I think that diagram representation is new on the website. The actual course listing below that diagram is more accurate with respect to the actual listing of courses on the MD degree side and the BA degree side. You can see under Year III, IV, V, VI, it says “Vacation (1 month)”, although for Year III that vacation is kind of split up among holidays and break time before course beginnings/after course endings in that year, since we’re still going on a semester schedule at that point. It’s not until Year 4, when things start going more on a month-to-month basis.
I don’t know if it’s an error, but do I think it’s more just trying to show that you can (it’s an option) waive a vacation month and do something like turn it into a 1-month clinical elective, so you could effectively get 2 elective months during Year 5 (not that it’s necessary depending on your schedule). The same way Year 4 shows a summer campus, when a lot of the class will probably be doing a Fall/Spring campus anyways. IPE, I believe is new and is for “interprofessional education” - https://www.mededportal.org/icollaborative/resource/3956; http://med.umkc.edu/health-sciences-schools-bring-interprofessional-education-in-focus/ (so many eyerolls on this for so many reasons :-@ ). I don’t know what CPA is in this context. The only CPAs I know are accountants, lol. I think they meant PBA if you look at the bottom, but it got mistyped, since it matches up with the second half of Year 4 DoRo. The PBA we have is used in order to be able to sign up for the USMLE Step 2 CS exam.
I thought this might be helpful here to those who are comparing USMLE Step averages among different medical schools with BA/MD programs in the Top 25, here is the one for 2016, which was posted in one of the thread above:
http://bit. ly/1TbtW7g (Top 25 schools); remove the space when entering the URL in your browser
http://www.best-medical-schools.com/Reviews.html (all med schools)
Hmm UMKC just emailed me saying they couldn’t find my technical standards form, but they found it 2 days later. Now why would they be looking for my technical standards form almost a month after I got waitlisted?
@Watang, crossing my fingers for you. My guess (and only my guess, which is a complete shot in the dark) is they are getting everyone’s papers ready just so that if in case they do need to press the button to convert a waitlisted applicant to an accepted one (depending on how far down the wait list they have to go in each pool) they can do so without delay after May 2 (although not necessarily the day after that date), without any hiccups.
Part of that is just making sure that all the paperwork is in order and that you do indeed agree to and meet the technical standards necessary, which all med schools have their students sign: [url=<a href=“https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en#hl=en&q=medical+school+technical+standards%5DGoogle%5B/url”>https://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en#hl=en&q=medical+school+technical+standards]Google[/url], before any offer of acceptance can be given. This is all needed as medical schools (just like other educational institutions) must comply with evolving law in this area: [url=<a href=“https://members.aamc.org/eweb/upload/Medical%20Students%20with%20Disabilities%20A%20Generation%202005.pdf%5DAAMC%5B/url”>https://members.aamc.org/eweb/upload/Medical%20Students%20with%20Disabilities%20A%20Generation%202005.pdf]AAMC[/url].
Hmm they just told me that I passed the Toledo with a 47/60…
@Watang, by email or just in your portal?
@Watang, well I’m surprised they sent an email just to tell you your Toledo score (without giving any other information), although it’s not like it takes long to machine grade a scantron and just send an email thru the automated portal. I’m sure applicants have been calling the admissions office for feedback on their MMI as well.
Do you think we could get feedback on our interview even if we were accepted already? (I’m kind of curious idk lol)
@farehahasan, according to @OmniaMed’s post you do get to go through your interview file in terms of the committee’s comments on your MMI: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19277615/#Comment_19277615
How competitive is a USMLE Step 1 score of 233? My brother received his today
@Watang, depends very much on which specialty he is aiming for, although Step 1 is only one metric in the entire application package, although an important one. Right now the national USMLE Step 1 average from 2015 is 229.
Wants to go into Cardiology, so he will try to match into Internal Medicine
@Watang, yeah, that will be no problem, as Internal Medicine (as a whole) is a relatively non-competitive specialty overall (the top tier programs in IM will always be competitive), although the match is starting to tighten, but he’ll have no problem getting into a university-type IM residency which has a Cards fellowship program in-house. His boards score by itself won’t hold him back in that regard, being a little bit above the average. I would try especially to do well on Year 5 DoRo as well as get involved in some type of Cards related research, if he hasn’t done so already. We’re actually pretty good in Cards (shockingly) due to St. Luke’s Hospital (the one in the Plaza) and their Mid America Heart Institute, which is #20 in Cardiology, and with Cards research being one of UMKC’s foci: http://med.umkc.edu/research/chronic-disease/. I would have him get in contact with Dr. Spertus who has been with UMKC and St. Luke’s for a while, if they already don’t have a designated person for med students.
Hey guys! I’m a current first year in the program (soon to be second year) with a free room to rent out over the summer, so if any new first years are looking to take chem 1 or soc, etc. over the summer, send me a private message on here! Rent is $650 a month + electricity and gas, rent covers water, trash, etc. There is a parking space, 5 min drive to volker campus, 5 min drive to hospital hill.
Hey guys, so I thought I would point this out with regards to research at UMKC that’s been discussed before. They call it the “Health Sciences Student Research Summit” which I believe started in 2012 (It was just called Student Research Day before that: http://med.umkc.edu/student-research-day-takes-on-new-format/), to try to bring together research from different areas together into one venue: Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Pharmacy, as well as Engineering and Arts & Sciences from the main campus: http://med.umkc.edu/med-students-present-34-posters-at-2016-student-research-summit/. If you click on the link and then click the link at the bottom you can see the posters that were done in different areas, both clinical and basic science research.
Coming to the UMKC 6 Year Medical Program was the worst decision of my life thus far.
Now, let’s be real here, I’m in my early 20s, no debt, doing well academically, no legal troubles or health problems, loving family, involved in organizations on campus, currently dating, have some friends here, and am going to be a doctor soon, so it’s not like I’m doing terrible by any means.
Still, I’m posting this because I don’t want others to make the same mistake I did…
I think about it a lot, but I’m not really sure why I came here. I was kind of an in betweener in high school, maybe I wanted to impress people, maybe it was because I was good at science, I’m not really sure, but I am 100% sure that I wouldn’t do it again.
It’s such a weird feeling, to get nearly straight A’s, lots of honors in clinicals, great letters of rec, leadership positions at the med school, all the while not even enjoying what I’m doing. It’s not that I hate it, I mean, I think being a doctor has the potential to possibly be a better job choice for me than the majority of other jobs out there… throw in the job security and pay and could make a somewhat reasonable choice. But at what cost?
To the point where I have to deactivate my Facebook bc I get sick to my stomach seeing how much fun people at other schools are having? Where I have to leave groupchats with non-6 year kids because their constant talk about going out and having fun while I have to study almost makes me cry? Where I’ve spent more time in the library since I’ve started here than with friends/family/exercising/doing hobbies combined?
Don’t get me wrong… if you looked at my social media you’d probably think I’m a regular college kid like anyone else. But this feeling of regret… of missed opportunity, friendships I never had, a true college experience I missed and that I’ll never be able to have again, all while chasing a career I’m not even sure if I want (and every 18 year old isn’t sure if they want) is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
I know this is a random post. I guess I’m just doing it to be cathartic. If you’re thinking about applying, I really don’t think you should. If you are in your 1st or 2nd year and are not enjoying yourself, I really think you should consider switching schools. And if you’re further along like I am, try to make time for fun. I just wouldn’t want anyone else to feel the way I do now.
Hey @cakapripi! Thanks for giving your unvarnished perspective on the program. I hope you continue to contribute to the thread as I think your perspective being a current student is very valuable to the CC population in this forum who are considering many combined programs including this one, those who are now evaluating a few combined program acceptances including this one, and those who are evaluating doing medicine as a physician as a career, vs. other professions in healthcare or outside of healthcare.
I think one of the stark realities students realize, and that finally medical schools have caught onto, is that students need to be able to achieve and have real skills to be able to achieve some type of balance (whatever it may be for that person) as they progress, as burnout can be very high in this profession. That balance isn’t a switch that happens magically at the end of 6 years when you graduate. If you’re a person waiting for that switch to happen on its own, you’ll be waiting a long time. It’s much different than even at the high school/college level, where you’re “on” for 9 months w/weekends off from school, and then “off” for 3 months in the summer, in terms of classes. Getting into this program, isn’t the panacea many people think it is, in which all your problems are over. In many ways, new problems take their place.
I also do think that running 6 years long with no summers off, wears and tears at even the best of students. And contrary to what some UMKC BA/MD students may want to admit, the social life and life balance possible in this type of program and in the KC area (it’s actually improved now as a city, if you can actually believe that) is much different than for those in other combined programs, and regular undergraduate students both in KC and in other cities. It’s a few of the very real compromises that students make in this program, that may not be as apparent initially. The medical school does have a wellness program in place since 2010, but I don’t know how successful it has been, if a majority of students have been taking advantage of it, or what they truly think about how effective it is.
Several questions, if you could answer, that I think will be helpful to our parents and students here who are deciding this type of program, since you are in it currently:[ul]
[]Is there something about the combined program or even something about medicine you wish you, yourself, had known before matriculating, that might have maybe changed your mind to either doing this program besides what you have stated above or doing medicine in general?
[]Did you go into the program liking medicine?
[]What other compromises did you think you made in this program, that maybe you didn’t know about?
[]How does the student body feel about the medical school administration in terms of helping them get to where they want to go and as they are progressing in the program?
[li]What are your opinions of the BA/MD student body itself, or those in your class, that you think might be relevant for people trying to see how it’s like and evaluate the program to see if they fit in?[/ul][/li]All this being said, I think one thing is that you’re lucky to be in the position of still being able to do well academically within the program (even though you don’t like it) and not having any debt (this usually is not that common, although it seems like more and more students have parents who can pay the entire tuition bill in cash, since 40% of the class is now outside the state of Missouri). I’ve actually seen more of the opposite - not so great academics due to whatever issues there might be, filled with debt, and miserable, so I guess your scenario is a little better in that respect.
Luckily in medicine, there are myriad of specialties available for every personality type (thank goodness), so usually everyone finds something they like when it comes to practicing clinical medicine. And since debt is not an issue for you, you can always do an MBA, MHA, etc. to where you can work on the business side of medicine as well, which is applicable to many arenas in healthcare.