Interview Experience: Saint Louis University

Saint Louis University 9/18/12

For this interview, I was able to stay with a student host. I flew in the afternoon before my interview, took the metrolink to Central West End Station, and my host picked me up there. We drove back to his apartment, which he shared with another student, and pretty much spent most of the afternoon talking. That evening, we went out with a group of med student hosts and their "interviewees." He drove me around the downtown area, which was nice. Overall, the city seemed like a very liveable place with decent rent and lots to do.

We ate at a place called Fitz's--they make their own root beer...and it's good--and grabbed some ice cream at Ted Drew's. The students all seemed like cool, laid-back people, and we had a good time.

The next day, my host drove me to the school and I went to a lecture with him, which was cool. Eventually, I meandered over to the admissions office and checked in. I thought I would be early if I showed up 15 minutes ahead of the recommended 15-minute buffer suggested on the schedule....but nope. Even though I was a half hour early, most of the 30+ interviewers were already there. Neurotic premeds, all of us...

Anyhow, the day started with a tour. Our mega group was split into groups of eight, and an MS4 led our group around the campus. The facilities were all pretty nice. They just built a new lecture hall/study area/hang out/cafe for the students, which was really nice and modern-looking. We also saw the library, a lab room, and SLU hospital--all of which were obviously a bit older, but still pretty nice. The clinical simulation lab was sweet, but apparently first and second years don't use it much, unless you're in an interest group or reserve it. They do practice on standardized patients, though. The campus itself was beautiful, green, and open.

After the tour, there was a luncheon. They had pre-packed bags with sandwiches, a cookie, and chips. At each table, one or two med students camped out and answered questions--I've heard conflicting reports as to whether or not they have any input to admissions, but they were helpful and seemed happy with the school.

SLU SOM, by the way, is pass/fail. They are on a block system, with the first year consisting of classes like metabolism, anatomy, pharm, path, etc. Second year is an organ-system based curriculum. Class seemed to go from about 9 am-2 pm, with some days shorter and some days longer. During anatomy, you're at school till about 3 pm. Tests are on paper, and you have the day off before a test.

Finally, I had my interview. My interviewer was really nice, and basically just asked questions about my application, why I want to be a doctor, and why SLU. We started early and ended early, going for somewhere around 40 minutes. After that, I hopped on to the free shuttle SLU runs up to the Grand Station, and took the metrolink back to the airport.

Overall, I would rank SLU as a close second to Temple. I really liked the campus, the students, and the city--and the pass/fail system is great. The new education building is really nice. However, I still really like Temple's integrated block curriculum and clinical training in early years. Also, SLU doesn't give out merit scholarships. They're reasonable as far as private tuition goes, but still....

I could see myself at either school. I really did like Saint Louis, and am looking forward to October 15.

Interview Experience: Temple University

Temple University 9/13/12

Had my interview at Temple today. Since the school didn't have their host list up yet, I had to stay in a hotel. I ended up staying at the Motel 6 near the airport... it was decent enough, other than the aura of sketchness and the cigarette holes in the comforter. It sort of looked like the kind of place I would go if I ever needed to hide out from the cops...

I used the public transportation system, SEPTA, since that was the cheapest option. It worked out okay, other than my bus being half hour late on the morning of my interview. I was on the verge of calling a taxi when the bus finally showed up. I took the bus to downtown Philly, where I hopped on the subway, which was pretty easy to figure out. Then, I rode the subway up to Allegheny station, which pretty much drops you off at the southern border of the Temple campus and northern Philly.

I had heard quite a bit in preparing for my interview about North Philly being kind of sketchy area. And it's true, by the way. However, the actual Temple campus, which is pretty big, is really nice. Big sidewalks, big buildings, lots of people, and quite a few little food carts on the side of Broad Street. There were flood lights on top of the main hospital, which supposedly light the place up like day at night. That said, the area surrounding the campus is...less than safe. I wouldn't really want to wander out there in a suit.

I walked to MERB, the new medical education building, and checked in. I got there early enough to talk a little bit with the group that was interviewing that day. Everyone was really nice, and we all got to know each other a little bit better throughout the day. The day started off with the financial aid talk, which was fairly informative. It was supposed to start off with the welcome talk, but that gal was running a little bit late. She did get there, though, and talked about about Temple, the new curriculum, the new building, the class profile, etc. Then, the students tour guides showed up, introduced themselves, and showed us around. They were actually very helpful, knowledgeable about the school, and seemed excited to be going there.

The MERB building was shiny and beautiful, as advertised. All of the lectures, studying, labs, etc, happen here. The lecture halls were big and modern-looking. All lectures are recorded online, which is a nice feature. The curriculum itself is organized into several blocks, with each block composed of an integrated course of study (i.e. you learn everything about a particular organ system at one time, instead of pulling a bunch of information from different classes for the same organ system). The exams are in blocks too, and you don't have a bunch of exams in different subjects occurring at the same time. In fact, it seems like most blocks only had a final, and maybe a midterm. The first two blocks were a bit different, with the first being 7 weeks of anatomy and the second being about 4 weeks of biochemistry, if I remember correctly.

Class last from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. 5 days a week, with 2 afternoons being taken up with a doctoring class. This is where students learn to obtain histories, perform physicals, etc. There are also a number of electives that students could choose to participate in-- these seem like they occurred about 6 Fridays a semester, and were pretty much "showing up = pass."

The anatomy labs, by the way, were very nice. They keep the rooms smelling fairly decent, considering the multitude of preserved bodies lying around. Each station had its own computer with internet access and access to an interactive anatomy reference, dissection instructions, etc.

We also toured the clinical simulation center, which was awesome. This is where the students first practice patient interactions skills, exams, procedural skills, etc. They use standardized patients and had a pretty high tech simulation manikin that breathes, has a heartbeat, vitals, can die, can be intubated, poked, and prodded. It seems like an awesome resource to have for your preclinical years. Residents use the center to practice their skills as well.

At one point in the tour, the students took us over a sky bridge that connected for the new building to some of the other facilities. Looking out to one side, you could see the expansive, nice-looking Temple campus. On the other side, though, you could see a run down, sketchy-looking neighborhood. It was a pretty stark contrast. Most of the students, it seems, live about 10-20 minutes away from the school in the surrounding suburbs, which is a reasonable commute.

The students then took us to a conference room, where sandwiches were laid out for us. They were the sticky kind that got stuck in your teeth.

After that, I had my student interview. The girl that I had was nice enough, but seem tired. The people who interviewed with me said their student interviews were really conversational. Mine was to some degree, but she also asked a lot of a kind of vague questions that I didn't feel like I had amazing answers for. Finally, I had my faculty interview. I don't know if they purposely did this, but I had somebody who was working in the field that I am interested in, which gave us quite a bit to talk about. We actually ran about 15 minutes over and had a pretty good time. It wasn't really stressful at all; it really was more of a conversation.

After the interview, I took public transportation back to my motel room. For most trips, I normally flew out in the evening after the interview, but this time there were no flights that worked with my schedule, so I ended up flying home early the next morning. That meant navigating the public transportation system again at 3 am. This would have been totally doable...if the bus actually showed up. It didn't, and after forty minutes of waiting, I ended up bribing a shuttle driver at another hotel to let me ride along with him to the airport.

Overall, I was really impressed with Temple. I love the new curriculum and the facilities. There were some pretty awesome resources to help students, including the new anatomy lab and the clinical simulation area. It seemed like the school is really concerned about its students. The location is questionable, but you can live elsewhere, and it does provide some awesome clinical opportunities. The only major downside is it's really expensive... rain down the money, Temple. 

Here goes nothing…

Welcome to yet another (future) medical student blog. After thinking long and hard about starting a blog, I finally decided—after some encouragement from my beloved wife—“Eh….why not?”

I enjoy writing, though I make no claim to any outrageous literary skill, and this could be a good outlet to just to record some thoughts and experiences that I might have as I pick my way through this whole process of medical education. And if in the process of me spilling the innards of my mind out into the internet someone is helped or perhaps learns something, then it’s doubly rewarding.

Of course, I suppose a little about me might be helpful. I’m currently in my final year at my state university, where I’m majoring in Biology (just like all the other little premeds) with a minor in Chemistry. I’m married to the most beautiful, amazing, intelligent, and loving woman in the history of forever (I suppose my opinion might be a bit biased, but so what? It’s true.). For the past two years, I’ve been working as an emergency department scribe, where I basically follow docs around in the ED and do all of their charting in real time for them. You might hear a bit about that later, as well as some other hobbies or past jobs that I have had.

Finally, I’m just wrapping up the process of applying to medical school. So far, it looks like I'll be attending Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago next year. I'm still waiting to hear back from one school (looking at you, Boston University), but my wife and I are excited to have at least a general idea of how the next four years are going to look. Should be...interesting, to say the least. As I write this, I'm just plodding through my last semester (with an annoying case of Senioritis, I might add...) and we're gearing up for a cross-country move this summer.

So here we go. Welcome aboard.

--eefen