Webinar Q & A
Watch the Webinar Video:
Q. How many students are generally taken from the waiting list?
A. This differs from year to year. Unfortunately, there is no way to determine your chances of being accepted from the waiting list. We expect to make additional offers after May 15th. We will continue to accept candidates from the waiting list until the first day of Orientation, which is August 16, 2010.
Q. What is the advantage of taking Step 1 so long after students completed the courses that it tests on?
A. Schools that have moved to this have found that board scores increased for their students. Many of the questions on Step 1 have “Clinical Stems” that are better understood after clinical clerkships are completed.
Q. Will we be doing clinical rotations while we study for Step 1?
A. No
Q. Will we have time off to study for the boards?
A. Yes, we will continue to give students 6 weeks or so to study.
Q. How many students pursue a dual-degree program?
A. Currently about 5-8 per year, but we anticipate this number will increase.
Q. If students are not in a formal dual-degree program, may they still enroll in healthcare related classes at NYU Graduate Schools?
A. Currently no, not while medial school is in session.
Q. What type of exposure has the medical school provided for students in terms of understanding and participating in the current healthcare debate?
A. Optional lectures and seminar series as well as curriculum in our PPS 1 module.
Q. How does NYU prepare students for the STEP exams?
A. Very well, our class average is always significantly above the national average.
Q. What percentage of students participate in research?
A. About 70-80%.
Q. Are research opportunities readily available?
A. Yes
Q. How many students take advantage of the International Health Programs?
A. About 60 students go abroad each year through the program.
Q. When can students participate in the International Health Program? Is it only during the 3rd and 4th years? May you only go during the summer, or could you go during the 4th year electives?
A. Most common times are between 1st and 2nd year of medical school and during 3rd and 4th year.
Q. What kind of financial support is available for students participating in the International Health Program? Is financial support available if I choose to pursue a place where NYU does not have a partnership?
A. We fund 85-90% of most students’ trips. Yes, you can be funded at a location that hasn’t had NYU students before.
Q. Is the hepatitis student project run through the free clinic?
A. No, separate.
Q. Is there a waiting list to be involved in the NYC Free Clinic or can everyone who wants to be involved participate?
A. Over 100 students participate each year . Most students who are interested can participate.
Q. Is tutoring available for medical students?
A. Yes, when appropriate, and as approved by the Dean’s office.
Q. How are students matched with their primary preceptor for the PLACE program?
A. Currently students are matched according to foreign language skills and attempts are made to minimize travel time for students living off campus.
Q. Are students matched based on their interests in certain areas of medicine?
A. The nature of the program will allow students to experience various elements of medicine. As such we do not match students based on their specific area of interest during such an early phase of their medical training.
Q. What input do students have in terms of choosing patients they follow in PLACE?
A. Students work very closely with the preceptors to agree on the patients who are suitable for their panels.
Q. How much exposure will first year students have in PLACE?
A. All first year students participate in PLACE. Each student will have contact time with the preceptor and patients at least once a month. The option for more frequent contact with the patient may arise based on scheduled appointments with other services.
Q. How many patients we will be following and what sort of patients we will typically be consulting with at Bellevue or other affiliated hospitals?
A. The typical student panel consists of three patients with medical conditions that require follow-up. Students are exposed to patients with a wide variety of conditions in general medicine, cardiology, oncology, gastroenterology, endocrinology, surgery, neurology, psychiatry, among others.
Q. How is the subject material condensed, reorganized and fit into 1.5 years and how would this affect a student pursuing a dual degree in 4 years?
A. The material is not being condensed but rather redistributed across the four year curriculum. Some material we currently teach in the basic science years would best be taught after the student has been exposed to their clinical clerkships. Students pursuing a dual degree at NYU would be able to accomplish the task in 4 years. Pursuing a dual degree at another institution (say an MPH at Hopkins or Columbia), would still require the student to take a year off to complete the dual degree in five years.
Q. In this curriculum, when would MSTP students do clerkships and take Step 1?
A. MSTP students, like all our students, would take STEP 1 at the completion of their clerkships. A major advantage of this curricular reorganization is to allow MSTP students to enter the laboratory/research environment 6 months earlier. MSTP students would enter their clerkships in January of the year they return from the PhD portion of the program. At times, we may need to customize a clerkship schedule if they do not enter the clerkship arena in January.
Q. When do first year students start the anatomy lab and how long does it last?
A. Students will have Anatomy at discrete times throughout the 18 month continuum. First year students will have thorax/abdomen prior to the cardio/pulmonary/renal/GI organ system block; pelvis and perineum will precede the endo/repro organ system block. Second year students will have head & neck anatomy prior to Nervous System and then the limbs prior to their musculoskeletal organ system block.
Q. To what extent does your curriculum address alternative medicine?
A. We expect portions of this to be covered in our intersession weeks.
Q. What years in medical school will students use the sim models?
A. Our new Simulation Center will be up and running in August 2011. Until that time our students, across all four years, will continue to use the space we currently have available for simulation exercises.
Q. Do you see any pitfalls to the earlier exposure to clinical clerkships?
A. No. All the schools that have undergone this change have not seen any problem with students entering the clerkship arena earlier. The advantages of this curricular change, to the students, are numerous and will provide them with a more flexible education customized to their interests.
Q. Will the fact that the year ahead of us will be starting their clerkships just a semester before us impact where our class is able to conduct our clerkships?
A. While there will be an “overlap” between the entering class of 2014 and our current class of 2013, we are working extremely hard to address this issue so that our student’s educational experience will not be impacted during this time.
Q. What is the structure of “Foundation” and “Organ System”? Are these blocks several classes with several exams or just one exam for all of the material –intermittently throughout the block?
A. These are integrated and multidisciplinary blocks. There will be only a single integrated module given at a time. Afternoons will be set aside for clinical experiences in our hospitals and clinics. There will be several exams given.
Q. Based on the curricular changes, how would the class, labs, exam schedule during the first 1.5 year change? When would the schedule be published?
A. The schedule will look very similar to our current curriculum (i.e. Lectures the AM with labs and/or small group exercises in the afternoons). We will publish it as soon as we complete it. Our faculty is diligently working on this major undertaking as you read this!
Q. How much time do students spend in class on a typical day during the preclinical training?
A. Approximately 20-22 hours/week (two hours of lecture/day and small group exercises in the afternoons). An additional 2 hour block, once a week, for a students’ clinical experience.
Q. Are new thematic pillars going to be added next year? If so, what will they be?
A. Yes...one will be added next year. Microbial Pathogenesis with the exemplar being Tuberculosis.
Q. During the organ system blocks, are normal physiology and disease states taught at the same time?
A. Yes
Q. What types of procedures can be practiced at the new simulation center?
A. Basic (e.g. Cardiac life support, surgical suturing) and advanced techniques (e.g. Obstetrics, surgical laparoscopic procedures)
Q. Do you think cutting the pre-clinical program by 6 months will impact that STEP 1 pass rates?
A. No, that has certainly not been the experience of any school that has restructured their curriculum in this manner. One needs a very strong foundation in basic science to be successful in patient care. Taking care of patients forces students to go back and review areas of basic science they feel deficient in. Hence, they relearn the basic sciences in a clinical context.
Q. How much of each clinical rotation is spent at Bellevue as opposed to Tisch/HJD/VA/etc?
A. That will vary among clerkships. It will, however, be a significant part of your training.
Q. What are the other hospitals in which students have clerkships and electives?
A. Tisch, Bellevue and the VA. Some clerkships use Lenox Hill too. Ambulatory care will use many different venues including private physician offices and community healthcare clinics.
Q. What is the process in choosing the location of each individual clerkship?
A. We keep our students, for the most part, at our three Core Hospitals (Bellevue, Tisch and the VA).
Q. Is the 18 month curriculum going to apply to our class?
A. Yes!
Q. Are there “away rotations” or are all student rotations done at Tisch, Bellevue and the VA?
A. There are some rotations at Lenox Hill (Neurology for example) and we have numerous ambulatory sites throughout the area. However, most of your training will occur at Tisch, Bellevue and the VA.
Q. What are the benefits of students taking computer-based exams?
A. They can be taken asynchronously (at any time during the "open" window) and at any place throughout the country (if student happened to be away) or, given our school's honor code, even in their dorm room.
Q. Are the computer-based tests formatted in a style similar to that of the USMLE?
A. The format for computer based testing is quite variable. Exams could contain multiple choice, fill-in or essay type questions.
Q. How do you ensure that students are integrated during their rotations, given that we rotate between very large hospitals?
A. While you may rotate through very large hospitals the students are integrated into small "teams." The "teams" are composed of residents at different levels of training, medical students and other healthcare workers.
Q. Are the exam questions integrated, or are there separate exams for each subject such as biochemistry or genetics?
A. While we try to write "integrated" questions, at times the questions are discipline oriented.
Q. Could you please clarify how a selective is different than a traditional elective during the fourth year?
A. A selective is a rigorous four week experience and is graded like a clerkship (H, HP P, F). Electives, which can be either 2 or 4 weeks in length, are simply graded P/F. Selectives give you the opportunity to "customize" your educational experience by allowing you to choose among a palette of choices (Radiology, Emergency Medicine, Surgical sub-specialties, etc.)
