For more information about PCOM's Biomedical Sciences Program, click here.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

The First Year (Volume II)

Here we go: Volume II of what to expect in your first year as a biomedical student at PCOM. A few weeks ago I talked about how things will play out at the start of your first trimester, and what kind of time constraints to expect as a student in this graduate program. I'm now going to go over each class you're going to register for over the three trimesters of your inaugural year as a biomed. There's quite a bit of info, so to condense it down, I'm going to cover things in a pretty straight forward fashion and move from course to course covering all the good stuff... like... general content overview, teaching method and if any text is truly necessary for purchase (thus helping you determine if you really need to drain your bank account).

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First Trimester: Molecular Basis of Medicine; Infectious Process

Molecular Basis of Medicine (lovingly referred to as MBM)

Think of this class as undergraduate biochemistry on [lots and lots of] steroids. You will be covering an abundance of information relating to the metabolic processes of the body and also a large chunk of molecular genetics. A solid undergraduate premedical curriculum should have you ready to tackle the rigors that are about to unfold before you, just be sure to use some time management to get through all the information that's about to be hurled your way. Class is going to generally stretch the entire four hour span here (coffee lovers, rejoice), and all of your information will be provided through Power Point presentations and teacher provided handouts (which you'll need to seek out and print prior to class). Your professors will provide you with a list of helpful textbooks for purchase, but you'd be better off saving that money for decompression post exam. You and glycolysis will soon be closer than you and your bff.

Infectious Process

For the most part, this class is not as rigorous as its first semester counterpart. A lot of immunology and microbiology will be covered here. Again, no text is really required as long as you're able to take efficient notes during lecture and utilize Google. You're more likely to get out of this class earlier than you would MBM. Although the information isn't as saturated in Infectious Process, you'll be doing yourself a disservice by not spending a good amount of time prepping for the exams. Like MBM, you will have your information provided to you via Power Points and hand-outs. A lot of students slant there studies heavily in favor of MBM only to have their final GPA broken to bits when they do poorly in this class.

Second Trimester: Human Anatomy; Histology

Human Anatomy (or Gross Anatomy)

If you've made it this far in the year, then breath a sigh of relief because the crucible known as MBM has been bested by you. However, this doesn't mean anything is going to get easier- but it does say something for your ability to ingest a lot of bio content and then regurgitate it come exam time, which is exactly what you'll be doing for anatomy. This stuff is really straight forward, but be ready for an onslaught of anatomical jargon which you've unlikely come across in your previous years of undergraduate education (yes, even if you took a "comparative anatomy" course), Things are going to get very detailed for this class, especially when it comes to your cadaver practical, so be prepared to spend a lot of time upstairs in the laboratory after-hours. Class is taught with Power Points (surprise), and for cadaver lab, you will be provided with a checklist each class of anatomical sites to identify (which are all up for grabs to be "tagged" during your lab practical). Exams and lab practicals are on the same day. I highly advise that you pick up an anatomy atlas for this class. The eighty to one-hundred dollars you drop on this book will be well worth it when it comes time for studies. Be prepared to have the smell of formaldehyde on your clothes and a craving for chicken after each class session.

Histology

By far my favorite class of the first year (and unexpectedly so because I'm not very fond of peering down microscopes for extended periods of time). Lots of visual memorization is going to be helpful here (for those that don't have a good visual memory system or some sort of photographic memory, get ready to burn the midnight oil). Each class will have a lab component. No text is really necessary as long as you utilize your PCOM internet suite sources (more info on that will be provided once you're a student). The professor is going to tell you to rent a light microscope, but many a student- including myself- did very well without the additional eighty dollar rental. In the end, it's up to you and how well you know yourself and your visual memorization ability.

Third Trimester: Neuroscience; Physiology; Pharmacology

Neuroscience

The name of the class says it all: you're going to be covering all sorts of neural synaptics and get in depth on the plasticity, and structure, of the brain. You will have two lab periods in which you dissect and identify all the regions of the human brain. The content isn't too horrible, and it's all provided via Power Point presentation. You probably won't need any text to do well as long as you attend each class and are able to use an internet search engine. Take good notes, and be sure to pay close attention when you start to get into the cranial nerve and optic lectures... they're a doozy.

Physiology

Get ready to dive into the nitty-gritty of our body's inner workings and musculoskeletal kinetics. A lot of this stuff can be quite confusing, so be sure you have a solid base coming out of anatomy and be sure to take really good notes during class and maybe even watch Tegrity and couple times over to drive all of the concepts home. Weekly exam/quiz hybrids will be given over the entire trimester (one of those double-edged swords we talked about in a previous blog post). No books will be needed to get an A in this class. The quicker you get renal physiology down, the happier you're going to be... so don't procrastinate on that one.

Pharmacology

Brute memorization. The entire trimester. Just accept that the day you're accepted into the biomed program and once pharm comes around you won't be as shell-shocked. A lot of interesting information is to be had, but it's difficult to "enjoy" what you're learning because before you can take in that fact that you know how to treat a bradycardic patient, you'll be expected to memorize appropriate dosages of alprazolam for a young adult with anxiety. Stay way on top of things and you should end up fine. Power Point lectures and hand-outs will be provided. I really did find this class very interesting, and you're going to get a lot of clinical knowledge out of it if you put the time in. No text purchases necessary.

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Yep... a lot of information was thrown at you in this post, but for those that are really interested in knowing how the year will play out ahead of time- this should give you a satisfactory idea. It seems like a lot, and definitely daunting initially, but you really just have to take it one day at a time and everything falls into place. Everything you learn builds upon previous lectures, so it does get easier once you find your "flow".

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

The First Year (Volume I)

After thinking about the amount of information I'd like to pass off, I've decided to break down my summary of the biomed program's first year into two volumes (hey.. if Quentin Tarantino could do it with Kill Bill...). By combining the info from this passage and my next passage, you'll have garnered yourself a solid understanding of what to expect as a first year biomedical student at PCOM.

I started the first year of the biomedical sciences program at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine around the end of August 2012. A week or so prior to commencing class, we had an orientation event in Evan's Hall (big building where the majority of your classes will be held). This was helpful because it allowed our class to become familiar with the campus, our fellow student body, select faculty, some of the administrative staff and a handful of biomed students from the previous year. A great deal of information was covered, and the second year biomeds and first year osteopathic medical students were nice enough to take time out of their busy schedules answering questions. The event is an excellent "kick-starter" and provides a great deal of valuable information about the coming trimesters as a biomed student at PCOM. In the following paragraphs, I'm going to cover some of the info they would touch upon and more.

I doubt you've missed it, but I'll say it again: the biomedical sciences program at PCOM is taught through a "trimester curriculum". For the most part, undergraduate schools run via a semester schedule (one local exception to the semester rule that you can reference is Drexel University, but I digress). Trimesters can be a double-edged sword: although you have the opportunity to learn a great deal of information from a wide spectrum of topics, you're going to be cramped for time (a lot). From the start of your first class, your new professors are going to be expecting you to perform on the graduate level (they're going to say that a lot, so you might as well hear it first from me). That means you'll need to really bunker down with your studies. It's not medical school (or dental school, podiatry school, etc)... yet... but there's going to be a serious flow of science related content headed your way, and it's easy to get overwhelmed quickly. Those that are most content with their final grades are the students that treat their classwork like it's their full-time job (and we're going to get into working while schooling shortly). As long as you keep on top of your work, enjoy what you're learning (why else would you be here?) and study diligently, you're going to be just fine.

Some popular questions are "Can I work?" and "How much do you really need to study to do well?". My class had around 70 students, and a great deal of us- including myself- worked part-time to pay the bills. It was a balancing act in figuring out how many hours I could work a week and still stay on top of my academics. We're all different, but I found my sweet spot to be somewhere around 20-25 hours a week spent on the job, and when finals were coming up, I would usually drop down to about 18. I think there may have been a couple people in my class that worked full-time and were able to stay on to of their grades, but I wouldn't advise it. Studying has a lot more to do with the student and less to do with how much time they put in. However, no matter how efficient your study methods or memory skills, you're still going to be sitting at a desk with your books for a very large chunk of time if you want to be pulling a 4.0. Students who performed best report having spent 20-28 hours a week on their studies (and that number likely increased a bit during any given exam week). It isn't that the information is especially hard, there is just a great deal of it being thrown at you at once (look up the fire hose analogy).

Unless things are going to change between now and when you begin class, your entire first year's schedule is going to be class on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Some days you'll be getting out early, but don't count on it (especially during the first trimester and for classes which include a laboratory component). Sometimes, namely human anatomy, students stay well beyond when class ends to go over their cadaver a bit more in hopes of getting a leg up in their studies and to solidify concepts from previous lectures. This brings us to popular question #3: "Do I really need to attend class?"... Well, yes and no... If you want to get as much out of your classes as possible and want to be able to interact with your fellow students and faculty, then yes- you really need to attend class. However, if you're sick or "sick", then you have the benefit of being able utilize a program called Tegrity. Tegrity is there to [theoretically] record each lecture over every trimester for playback by you at a more satisfactory time on your computer or portable device. This tool was very helpful for me last year around December when I came down with the flu. Word of caution to those with a tendency to play hooky: there have been a many a time when the software malfunctions and an entire four-hour class is lost to all sans those who are in attendance.

I think that's as good a place as any to stop for now. My next post will cover the classes of each trimester. I'll provide a basic overview of each class, when to expect to encounter each class over the course of your first year and some other info which may be helpful in saving you some money.

Rich

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Biomedventures: RESUSCITATED

I remember when I was trying to sort out what I wanted to do with my life after I graduated from Saint Joseph's University back in 2009... I was a younger man than I am now with spunk in my step and a motivation to match. However, I wasn't sure as to where or how I wanted to channel all of this new energy and diploma. I had completed my bachelor's degree in biology, but at the time wasn't certain with how I wanted to continue on with my education. Did I want to enter the law field... or was a career within the medicine where I would be best suited? Four years came and went too fast, and now that the day had finally arrived, I didn't want to jump into any decision with too much haste. Although only twenty-two, I was already intimately familiar with the bite and burden of student loans. As necessary an evil as they are, I was in no rush to compound what I already owed back to Uncle Sam and our [all too willing] banker friends. This called for some introspective thought; I decided on taking some time off from pursuing any type of graduate education until I was certain on what trail I wanted to blaze.

Fast forward a few years and I'm now one of many focused, hardworking students within PCOM's biomedical sciences program. After much thought, and reflection, I felt my calling was a career in medicine. The biomed program is providing me with a wide spectrum of knowledge pertinent to any individual who aspires to perform at their peak not just in the medical field, but also in areas of scientific research, leadership and forensic study. Classes range from the study of microbiology and immunology to gross anatomy with several of the classes being accompanied by a laboratory component to supplement the didactic teaching approach.

As my inaugural Biomedventures blog post, I wanted to give myself a quick introduction and also talk about some key points of the biomed degree that many incoming and prospective students often have questions about. Thusly (it's rare that I get the chance to use these kinds of words so hang with me here because you'll see them often), I decided that this posting will cover a summary of the program as a whole. I'm a second year biomed student, so rest assured that my words here can be trusted as they've been forged by experience through the "Hot Gates" of PCOM (that's a 300 reference... there are actually no flowing springs on campus aside from maybe the fountain adjacent to the Levin Administration Building).

The biomedical sciences graduate program can be completed in two ways: you can either earn a master's degree in science (two years) or be awarded a certificate of completion (one year). The certificate of study can be helpful to many in proving their grit when applying to professional school (medical, dental, podiatry, etc) and aids in supplementing their application packet and GPA. For those who go on to pursue the MS: prior to starting their second year, students must decide upon one of three specific concentration tracks: research, organizational development & leadership (ODL) or forensic biology. The name of each track is pretty self explanatory in regards to what's the focus of study therein. Important to note, unlike the ODL and forensic concentrations, those who wish to pursue the research track must make arrangements in assisting with one of the teaching faculty's specific project. There are several research opportunities to choose from every year, so if hitting the [lab] bench and getting down with the light microscope is your thing, fear not.

A very popular topic of discussion which seems to cycle within the first year biomed body is that of how acceptances correlate between PCOM's osteopathic and biomedical program. In other words: how likely it is that a biomed will be accepted into the following year's DO class. For those that aren't savvy, PCOM's MS and DO classes are in no way linked in a fashion whereby acceptance into one program is an automatic acceptance into the other. However, whether you're a first or second year biomed student, if you're in good standing with at least a 3.0 GPA and 24 MCAT, you are guaranteed an interview by the DO admission committee. Keep in mind- as with any competitive program- it's always to your benefit to try and far surpass the bare minimum.

That about sums up my introductory post on the biomedical sciences program at PCOM. My next blog will include a lot of information on what to expect as a first year biomed. Details pertaining to classes, schedule, professors and expected required text over the course of the trimesters will be discussed at length. Also some other answers to popular questions such as, but not limited to: "Can I work during my first year?", "How much do I need to study?" and "Do I really need to attend class?"

I'm going to try and blog at least once a fortnight (another underused word, imo). Eventually I'll be leading the topics of my posts towards running parallel with my current coursework within the forensic biology track. If you have any questions or comments throughout my blogging trek please feel free to post them!

Rich