Current or former OHSU students who are willing to answer questions?

[molang]

Hello! I was wondering if any former or current OHSU students would be willing to answer some questions and experiences about the program. I had searched through the other threads trying to contact students who said they'd be attending, but unfortunately no one has responded/don't log onto this forum anymore.

Your time and experience would be greatly appreciated, thanks ! :)

 

[kmash]

I recently visited Portland and was provided a tour of the campus by a current OHSU student and I asked a bunch of questions, so maybe I can help?

[FoodAsMedicine]

Hey there! I'm a current student and would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. I really relied on this forum a lot when I was applying, so hopefully I can return the favor a bit. We are kept pretty busy, but right now I am procrastinating.... 

Send your questions my way! I'll try to get back in a reasonable time frame

 

Best of luck on the process!

 

[bruinpa]

16 hours ago, FoodAsMedicine said:

Hey there! I'm a current student and would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. I really relied on this forum a lot when I was applying, so hopefully I can return the favor a bit. We are kept pretty busy, but right now I am procrastinating.... 

Send your questions my way! I'll try to get back in a reasonable time frame

 

Best of luck on the process!

 

Please post your questions publicly so we can all benefit! Thanks!

[fireman2241]

18 hours ago, FoodAsMedicine said:

Hey there! I'm a current student and would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have. I really relied on this forum a lot when I was applying, so hopefully I can return the favor a bit. We are kept pretty busy, but right now I am procrastinating.... 

Send your questions my way! I'll try to get back in a reasonable time frame

 

Best of luck on the process!

 

 

Thanks for offering to give us some insight! Can you give us an idea of a typical day in the program during the didactic year? Does the schedule vary each day? And what would you say makes OHSU so successful with first-time pass rates of the PANCE? Have you noticed anything in your experience so far that really stands out from other programs? Thanks for all of your help! 

[FoodAsMedicine]

On 9/27/2017 at 3:01 PM, fireman2241 said:

Thanks for offering to give us some insight! Can you give us an idea of a typical day in the program during the didactic year? Does the schedule vary each day? And what would you say makes OHSU so successful with first-time pass rates of the PANCE? Have you noticed anything in your experience so far that really stands out from other programs? Thanks for all of your help! 

Absolutely -- sorry it has taken so long to get back online here.

So, we just wrapped up our summer term a few weeks ago, and that was an awesome, powerful, out-of-your-comfort-zone, can't-believe-what-i-just-learned type of whirlwind; I had a lot of fun and it has been great getting to know everyone in the program.

During summer we took a lot of different courses, some of which included....

Physical diagnosis, physical diagnosis lab (learned how to do a complete physical exam), medical genetics, epidemiology (learned how to critically analyze a scientific paper or study), pathophysiology (that was a doozy), pharmacotherapeutics, and of course, a crash course in anatomy coupled with lab/donor dissection. 

Most days start between 8 or 9 AM and we are in lecture until lunch, (hour break) and lectures or lab through til 4 or 5pm, and Fridays we are typically done by mid afternoon unless you have to remediate an exam. Of course, we also have various physical diagnosis lab practices and lab exams interspersed throughout the week, or time set aside for anatomy prep and/or lab, or occasionally a few hours set aside to study. 

The exams for summer term were interspersed throughout the week, which was sometimes tough when we had 3 exams in a week (it happens). Summer term is kind of like a crash course 'first pass' of a lot of the foundational information, and now in fall term the schedule is more regular. For example, we now have 'modules' --- right now, we are in the 'allergy, immunity, infection' module --- and we have all of our lectures for the week Mon, Tues, Wed, then Thursday we have more applied clinical medicine courses, where we start practicing to build our differential diagnoses for various clinical presentations; and Fridays we have our exam over all of the material from the week. 

 

I obviously haven't taken the PANCE yet, but from everything I have experienced so far, OHSU is a phenomenal program with a plethora of resources for students. We take our exams online to (I presume) somewhat simulate what taking the PANCE is like. Summer term was a whirlwind of information, but everything we will be learning in the modules throughout the rest of the year will continue to build upon eachother. We will end up seeing ~70 clinical cases for which we will build differential diagnoses by the end of the year, so we will have exposure to thinking through a differential. Things that seemed hard at first are now starting to become second nature as we see the same information multiple times as the year goes on. The anatomy course is very intense and challenging, but increased my understanding of the body IMMENSELY, and I know that not every program has an in person anatomy lab or not every program gets to do dissection. We had a ratio of 3 students to 1 donor, and we worked through all the major regions except head and neck (dental students do those dissections, we will look at prosections). Also, OHSU puts together these amazing things called OSCE's (Objective structured clinical exam) that are structured similarly to the MMIs for interview day; we read a scenario, then enter a room with a standardized actor as the patient, and we get to practice our clinical skills. There are so many things that go into this program and I haven't experienced hardly any of them yet, but so far I am beyond impressed. I think it comes down to resources too. When I was applying to schools, I didn't know if it mattered whether I went to a program tied to a medical school or not ------ the nice things about OHSU being such a big institution (in my opinion):

1. We have our very own tech guy (he posts all the lecture videos, links up to the required reading for the day, keeps our webpage working smoothly, etc)

2. We get lectures from experts in their field (i.e., the top pediatric infectious disease specialist who cares for all of the HIV patients in all of Oregon who has 20+ years of experience, for example) 

3. The anatomy lab is stunning ------- it is a state of the art surgical suite --- with views of the trees! Anyway, much nicer than a basement

4. Lots of other great student interest groups ---- ultrasound workshops, wilderness medicine interest groups, etc...

5. We get into the clinic right away, as early as fall term, for 'mentoring', so that we can remember why it is we are doing this and so we don't go a full year without being around patients

Some of the smaller schools I looked at certainly did not have so many opportunities available to students, and I really think all of these things make OHSU a great program. 

 

I had a tough time deciding between several schools, and at a later time I can go into the pros and cons (from my opinion) of each and what I learned from the interview process, if thats helpful to anyone. 

We just had the first round of interviews at OHSU earlier this week, so good luck to everybody!

Cheers! Keep your heads up! Interviewing is truly the hardest most stressful part of the process, but have fun with it and stay posititve :)

 

 

[DDoc-Skyline]

On 10/3/2017 at 9:59 PM, FoodAsMedicine said:

Absolutely -- sorry it has taken so long to get back online here.

So, we just wrapped up our summer term a few weeks ago, and that was an awesome, powerful, out-of-your-comfort-zone, can't-believe-what-i-just-learned type of whirlwind; I had a lot of fun and it has been great getting to know everyone in the program.

During summer we took a lot of different courses, some of which included....

Physical diagnosis, physical diagnosis lab (learned how to do a complete physical exam), medical genetics, epidemiology (learned how to critically analyze a scientific paper or study), pathophysiology (that was a doozy), pharmacotherapeutics, and of course, a crash course in anatomy coupled with lab/donor dissection. 

Most days start between 8 or 9 AM and we are in lecture until lunch, (hour break) and lectures or lab through til 4 or 5pm, and Fridays we are typically done by mid afternoon unless you have to remediate an exam. Of course, we also have various physical diagnosis lab practices and lab exams interspersed throughout the week, or time set aside for anatomy prep and/or lab, or occasionally a few hours set aside to study. 

The exams for summer term were interspersed throughout the week, which was sometimes tough when we had 3 exams in a week (it happens). Summer term is kind of like a crash course 'first pass' of a lot of the foundational information, and now in fall term the schedule is more regular. For example, we now have 'modules' --- right now, we are in the 'allergy, immunity, infection' module --- and we have all of our lectures for the week Mon, Tues, Wed, then Thursday we have more applied clinical medicine courses, where we start practicing to build our differential diagnoses for various clinical presentations; and Fridays we have our exam over all of the material from the week. 

 

I obviously haven't taken the PANCE yet, but from everything I have experienced so far, OHSU is a phenomenal program with a plethora of resources for students. We take our exams online to (I presume) somewhat simulate what taking the PANCE is like. Summer term was a whirlwind of information, but everything we will be learning in the modules throughout the rest of the year will continue to build upon eachother. We will end up seeing ~70 clinical cases for which we will build differential diagnoses by the end of the year, so we will have exposure to thinking through a differential. Things that seemed hard at first are now starting to become second nature as we see the same information multiple times as the year goes on. The anatomy course is very intense and challenging, but increased my understanding of the body IMMENSELY, and I know that not every program has an in person anatomy lab or not every program gets to do dissection. We had a ratio of 3 students to 1 donor, and we worked through all the major regions except head and neck (dental students do those dissections, we will look at prosections). Also, OHSU puts together these amazing things called OSCE's (Objective structured clinical exam) that are structured similarly to the MMIs for interview day; we read a scenario, then enter a room with a standardized actor as the patient, and we get to practice our clinical skills. There are so many things that go into this program and I haven't experienced hardly any of them yet, but so far I am beyond impressed. I think it comes down to resources too. When I was applying to schools, I didn't know if it mattered whether I went to a program tied to a medical school or not ------ the nice things about OHSU being such a big institution (in my opinion):

1. We have our very own tech guy (he posts all the lecture videos, links up to the required reading for the day, keeps our webpage working smoothly, etc)

2. We get lectures from experts in their field (i.e., the top pediatric infectious disease specialist who cares for all of the HIV patients in all of Oregon who has 20+ years of experience, for example) 

3. The anatomy lab is stunning ------- it is a state of the art surgical suite --- with views of the trees! Anyway, much nicer than a basement

4. Lots of other great student interest groups ---- ultrasound workshops, wilderness medicine interest groups, etc...

5. We get into the clinic right away, as early as fall term, for 'mentoring', so that we can remember why it is we are doing this and so we don't go a full year without being around patients

Some of the smaller schools I looked at certainly did not have so many opportunities available to students, and I really think all of these things make OHSU a great program. 

 

I had a tough time deciding between several schools, and at a later time I can go into the pros and cons (from my opinion) of each and what I learned from the interview process, if thats helpful to anyone. 

We just had the first round of interviews at OHSU earlier this week, so good luck to everybody!

Cheers! Keep your heads up! Interviewing is truly the hardest most stressful part of the process, but have fun with it and stay posititve :)

 

 

@FoodAsMedicine For your lectures that are taught by guests, how much access do you have to them if you would like to ask them questions after lecture? Like in undergrad or other PA programs have most classes taught by the faculty and students have access to the professors anytime they want. Is it just certain lectures on a topic that are taught by experts or whole class?

[lilmems]

Quote

 

 

On 10/3/2017 at 11:59 PM, FoodAsMedicine said:

Absolutely -- sorry it has taken so long to get back online here.

So, we just wrapped up our summer term a few weeks ago, and that was an awesome, powerful, out-of-your-comfort-zone, can't-believe-what-i-just-learned type of whirlwind; I had a lot of fun and it has been great getting to know everyone in the program.

During summer we took a lot of different courses, some of which included....

Physical diagnosis, physical diagnosis lab (learned how to do a complete physical exam), medical genetics, epidemiology (learned how to critically analyze a scientific paper or study), pathophysiology (that was a doozy), pharmacotherapeutics, and of course, a crash course in anatomy coupled with lab/donor dissection. 

Most days start between 8 or 9 AM and we are in lecture until lunch, (hour break) and lectures or lab through til 4 or 5pm, and Fridays we are typically done by mid afternoon unless you have to remediate an exam. Of course, we also have various physical diagnosis lab practices and lab exams interspersed throughout the week, or time set aside for anatomy prep and/or lab, or occasionally a few hours set aside to study. 

The exams for summer term were interspersed throughout the week, which was sometimes tough when we had 3 exams in a week (it happens). Summer term is kind of like a crash course 'first pass' of a lot of the foundational information, and now in fall term the schedule is more regular. For example, we now have 'modules' --- right now, we are in the 'allergy, immunity, infection' module --- and we have all of our lectures for the week Mon, Tues, Wed, then Thursday we have more applied clinical medicine courses, where we start practicing to build our differential diagnoses for various clinical presentations; and Fridays we have our exam over all of the material from the week. 

 

I obviously haven't taken the PANCE yet, but from everything I have experienced so far, OHSU is a phenomenal program with a plethora of resources for students. We take our exams online to (I presume) somewhat simulate what taking the PANCE is like. Summer term was a whirlwind of information, but everything we will be learning in the modules throughout the rest of the year will continue to build upon eachother. We will end up seeing ~70 clinical cases for which we will build differential diagnoses by the end of the year, so we will have exposure to thinking through a differential. Things that seemed hard at first are now starting to become second nature as we see the same information multiple times as the year goes on. The anatomy course is very intense and challenging, but increased my understanding of the body IMMENSELY, and I know that not every program has an in person anatomy lab or not every program gets to do dissection. We had a ratio of 3 students to 1 donor, and we worked through all the major regions except head and neck (dental students do those dissections, we will look at prosections). Also, OHSU puts together these amazing things called OSCE's (Objective structured clinical exam) that are structured similarly to the MMIs for interview day; we read a scenario, then enter a room with a standardized actor as the patient, and we get to practice our clinical skills. There are so many things that go into this program and I haven't experienced hardly any of them yet, but so far I am beyond impressed. I think it comes down to resources too. When I was applying to schools, I didn't know if it mattered whether I went to a program tied to a medical school or not ------ the nice things about OHSU being such a big institution (in my opinion):

1. We have our very own tech guy (he posts all the lecture videos, links up to the required reading for the day, keeps our webpage working smoothly, etc)

2. We get lectures from experts in their field (i.e., the top pediatric infectious disease specialist who cares for all of the HIV patients in all of Oregon who has 20+ years of experience, for example) 

3. The anatomy lab is stunning ------- it is a state of the art surgical suite --- with views of the trees! Anyway, much nicer than a basement

4. Lots of other great student interest groups ---- ultrasound workshops, wilderness medicine interest groups, etc...

5. We get into the clinic right away, as early as fall term, for 'mentoring', so that we can remember why it is we are doing this and so we don't go a full year without being around patients

Some of the smaller schools I looked at certainly did not have so many opportunities available to students, and I really think all of these things make OHSU a great program. 

 

I had a tough time deciding between several schools, and at a later time I can go into the pros and cons (from my opinion) of each and what I learned from the interview process, if thats helpful to anyone. 

We just had the first round of interviews at OHSU earlier this week, so good luck to everybody!

Cheers! Keep your heads up! Interviewing is truly the hardest most stressful part of the process, but have fun with it and stay posititve

 

 

Wow! Thank you so much for this post, OHSU is one of my top choices & it's so great to hear all this from a current student! 

[Oregoncoast]

I'm happy to answer any questions you all may have as the application season winds down and interview invites go out. Feel free to PM or post here and I will try to get around to answering sooner than later.

[FoodAsMedicine]

On 1/26/2018 at 9:41 PM, DDoc-Skyline said:

@FoodAsMedicine For your lectures that are taught by guests, how much access do you have to them if you would like to ask them questions after lecture? Like in undergrad or other PA programs have most classes taught by the faculty and students have access to the professors anytime they want. Is it just certain lectures on a topic that are taught by experts or whole class?

You typically have 5-10 minutes after the lecture ends or during a break to ask questions, and nearly every lecturer has also shared their email and emphasized that they are open to questions from students at any point, so I feel like we have pretty good access. We also have several core faculty members that will teach on their areas of expertise, or other clinical topics; we often had 3 to 5 lectures a day, so i'd say at least half were from other clinicians with specific experience in the given field that is being discussed. 

[denisejean]

Does OHSU have any rotations abroad? Or have any students managed to do this? Thanks for the input!

[aaronk22]

On 11/7/2019 at 10:43 AM, denisejean said:

Does OHSU have any rotations abroad? Or have any students managed to do this? Thanks for the input!

Current first year here - I believe there are no existing international rotations. I suppose you could try to set one up yourself if you really wanted.

[jsaile]

Hi all! I will be at OHSU on Friday 1/17 and I am wondering if there are any current or graduated students who will be in the area to briefly meet up and discuss the program with me/answer some questions?

Edited January 13, 2020 by jsaile