So the first thing to know is that the school has three separate intakes a year. This translates to three new classes of students in a calendar year. The intakes are in January, May, and September. UMHS works on a trimester schedule which means the the year is broken into three semesters. One semester stars within the first week of January and goes to the third week in April. Another goes from the first week in May until the third week of August and the last goes from the first week of September to the third week of December. This is the semester I am in now. Each semester is just under 4 months and you get a two week break between each semester. You actually get closer to three weeks of break for Christmas. So the year is pretty full. At this point you're probably used to having two semester in a year and over 4 months off during the summer.. so when you come here be prepared for a long difficult year. When you come in as new student, you arrive on the island with one week to go before the semester starts. So when you get here all the other students are halfway done there break between semesters. So the school itself is pretty quite. The week you arrive early is used for orientation so you are ready to start classes with the rest of the returning student body. The part I just described is the same for everyone no matter what stream or program you are in.
When I talk about streams or programs, I am referring to thee different groups that you have the potential to be accepted into. For the most part you don't get to choose which program you are accepted into. The school decides based on the strength of your application. It is determined mostly by your GPA, extracurriculars, and MCAT scores (If you're American you must have the MCATS and if you're Canadian its not a requirement. But it really does help). The three streams are the Basic science stream (MED) Extended basic science (EBS) and Accelerated review program (ARP). If accepted into MED you will complete your basic science portion on the island in 4 semesters. EBS will completes it in 5 semesters, and ARP will complete it in either 5 or 6 semesters. The majority of the student body is in the EBS stream. The difference between MED and EBS is essentially one class per semester. In MED you take 5 classes and EBS you take 4. For ARP you do a semester of review courses which gets you ready for the actual science portion of Medical school. The students who fall into this category are normally people who have taken a break after university or those who have academic histories that suggest a little extra warm up time would be helpful. After they complete the review semester they get admitted into either the EBS or MED stream based on their performance in ARP! So that is why they either take 5 or 6 semesters to complete the SK portion of med school. When you are accepted into a program you have no choice but to stay in the given program or drop down a level. So if you were accepted into MED but wanted to go to EBS that would be okay. You just can't go the other way. Once you actually start the semester however you have to pretty much stay in your program with the exception of MED. Within the first month and a half I believe you have to decide if you want to stay in MED or drop to EBS. The majority of students find that MED is too much for them. The amount of material you have to learn in such a short time makes life a tad hellish. So most will decide that dropping one course and only taking 4 courses gives them more time to learn to material to the level that they need. As an example, the semester before me started with I think 15 MED students. All the MED students who started in MED are now in EBS this semester. They decided that EBS was a more forgiving stream to be in. Also a thing to note, In first semester you are EBS 1 and MED 1. Second you are EBS 2 or MED 2 etc. ARP is only ever one semester then you turn into a MED or EBS students.
As for the actual layout of the semester, it is broken into 4 parts. There are three blocks each with a block exam, then a cumulative final at the end. I just started so I've yet to experience any block exams or finals! Ill be sure to let you know how they are.. I have heard quite a bit about them however. The block exams for the whole school are held on the same day. So you have either 4 or 5 exams all in the same day!! They are always held on the first Monday of every month.. So its quite a stressful time. The good things is that most classes build a day or two into their schedule to let you study for blocks. Im looking forwards to October 5th.. This trend continues throughout your time on the island for each semester you are here. When you finish your Basic sciences everything changes. Ill talk about that closer to the time.
As for courses, each semester has a set schedule that is made for you. For the most part MED and EBS for one acceptance cycle will follow each other around. The only difference is that MED students will take one extra class. The way it works out is the MED 1 takes the extra class (in the case of first semester Histology) with EBS 2. This is because EBS 1's don't take Histology or "the extra 5th class" until their second semester. Aside from that, you stick with your class of EBS 1 and MED 1 that were all accepted in the same cycle. ARP tend to do their own thing. ARP also is a very interesting program. They take essentially 14 mini classes in about 12 weeks. So they take math, medical terminology, physics, organic chemistry, and even take intros to courses they will be taking in EBS 1/ MED 1 like histology, cell bio, anatomy etc. So in reality, the ARP students from the semester before you who are now taking EBS 1/ MED 1 classes with you are in a much better place. They know the pace and the material is fresh in their minds. So this is a general basic overview of the St. Kitts portion. There obviously is much much more, but this is a skeleton to follow anyways. Its all a little confusing, but it makes sense when your immersed in it. Really the bottom line is that you just follow a group of students around and study every hour of the day. Its what everyone does around here...
I realize now that I didn't talk about where I am in the process. I was accepted into MED 1 and am currently taking a MED 1 schedule. There are about 13 of us in a total of just over 100 students.. So you can see that EBS and ARP really are the popular streams. We have all been warned that MED is tough, but a general consensus amongst us is that we want to try to stick with it. We have until block one or slightly after (I'm not sure the exact date) to decide what we want to do. So lets see what we can accomplish in the next few weeks!!
Whats been going on over the past two days you ask? Well school is the short answer. Some of my classes are getting much harder and some of them I'm starting to understand so much more. So I have mixed feelings. At the end of the day I'm loving every minute of it. I think about how in the world Im going to be able to retain all this material, not just for a test, but for my while career and I wonder if its even possible. Ive asked that question to upper years and the response I get is that it just happens. There are times when there simply isn't going to be enough hours in the day to study all the days material and you will be forced to fall behind. But everything has a way of working out. In order for this to happen on its own, you have to use your time to very very wisely. Take study breaks when you've hit a wall. Go for a walk, listen to the ocean, watch Netflix, whatever you need to do. Just don't make it a habit. I see people around me in lectures on Facebook or looking up pictures of wedding dresses and cats, and I wonder why they are even here.. Its obvious to see the people who aren't using their time properly. Its not even the end of the first week and if you haven't kept up with the material you are already far far behind almost beyond saving... Don't assumes either that your university study habits of cramming the night before will work. When you have 5 exams in a day, this is a very silly strategy. So remember that when you are sitting there not studying, someone else is. When down the road the day comes where you and that person are competing for a residency spot, they will get it over you because they are better! :P A little extreme but look at it that way and maybe you will open your book. Sorry that was a little tangent. Awesome day in the anatomy lab today as we isolated and viewed everything we had too. Even on days when Im not the "cutter" I always stay to the end because I find it very helpful. The anatomy lectures follow very closely to the lab so its is a great way to study for both class and practical anatomy exams. Also the majority of people tend to leave the lab early so most of the time you and maybe one or two other people get to work on the cadaver. Its also really easy to get a TA or a prof to come over when half the class is gone:P We had a white coat ceremony practice today.... They rehearsed saying all of our names and we were told how we had to walk into the theatre... The actual ceremony is on Saturday (my sisters Bday!!). We are told it will take about 1.5 hours of our day. Most people are upset about losing the study time to be honest. So lets hope its at least interesting to some degree!! So that's really all that's new. Ill let you know if something else pops up:)
Things I learned today
-There are way more mosquitoes in the south eastern corner of my study area at night...
-Almost everyone who is not from Canada apparently has never had a three hour lecture prior to coming here.
-I still have a pen that someone let me borrow in my pocket (Leaned this now)
-Its annoying not being able to call an Ottawa number without paying big bucks
-Im going to have to start looking for a place to get my haircut in St. Kitts
-Im getting annoyed with my current breakfast food selection so I'm going to need to go shopping
-I miss my dog:(
-Admitting defeat and turning on the ac every once is a while is very nice
-Ive taken too much time writing this blog. Night everyone!
ps: I saw my first lighting and heard my first thunder on the island tonight:)
Good vibes and CHEERS!
Mike