<p>What do you mean by “SLU is old-fashioned”? Don’t the med schools pretty much follow similar req’ts.</p>
<p>Although the material is more or less the same, there are a variety of approaches to it.
Different way of organizing the material (systems vs. traditional). Different ways of teaching it. (Like using practice-based learning [PBL] vs. standard lectures.) Early exposure to clinical experiences vs. a standard 2 + 2 curriculum.</p>
<p>I’m thinking kristin means SLU uses a very traditional approach in its teaching. (lectures, 2 +2…)</p>
<p>"Don’t the med schools pretty much follow similar req’ts. "
-While they are the same for most basic parts, there are considrable differences. In addition, they might change / add all of a sudden, you need to be in close relationship with your pre-med advisor to react timely. It has happened to my D. She had to completely change her senior schedule after he has already registered for fall. She even had to drop one of her minors. All because one of Med. Schools that she has ALREADY APPLIED, added to it’s requirments. Well, she got accepted there, but decided to attend somewhere else. So, you have to be flexible, open minded, contact Med. Schools’ adcoms in case of questions about fullfilling requirements (D. contacted several) and never look back with any type of frustration, whatever done is done, cannot go back in time to change it. On top of all D’s ptroubles, Med. School had to drop additional requirements because UGs in our state simply could not accomodate additional students in certain classes on such a short notice. So, Med. School changed additional requirments to additional strongly recommended. Actually one of the classes that D. added to her senior schedule has helped her in Med. School anyway. It was Anatomy. She said that it was helpful to be familiar with vocabulary at some level. So, her efforts were somewhat awarded after all.</p>
<p>Maybe “classic” sounds better than “old-fashioned”. ;)</p>
<p>Haha, OK I’ll go with classic 
It’s convenient for the purposes of this thread that I happen to know quite a bit about SLU and about Mizzou, schools which are approximately peers when it comes to GPA and MCAT but have quite different approaches. I applied to both, attend Mizzou, and have lots of friends at SLU.</p>
<p>SLU has a “classic” curriculum. For the first two years, they’re in lectures approximately 8-5 with some breaks. They have tests and quizzes all the time. They have a systems-based approach that is mostly lectures. They rarely work in small groups. I would consider their environment to be pretty competitive, but not as competitive as WashU. They don’t see patients or learn most clinical skills until third year (I believe they learn histories/interviews second year). They have a pretty big program (175/class) and gorgeous new facilities. It’s in an urban area.</p>
<p>Mizzou has an “integrated” curriculum (my phrase). For the first two years, they spend about 10h per week in lectures and about 10h per week in small group sessions, which they call problem-based learning (PBL). They mostly have a systems-based approach. They have three free afternoons (done at 12:00) a week to pursue whatever they want, which may or may not be studying. They do not have quizzes and have one set of 4 (long!) exams every 2 months, at the end of a “block.” They spend at least half their time doing small group work. I would consider the environment to be friendly and collaborative, rather than competitive. They begin learning clinical skills day 1, start seeing standardized patients during the second week, and start seeing real patients in October of their first year. They have a pretty small program (100) and their facilities are modest (but are being remodeled). It’s in a “big town” area.</p>
<p>So, when I was researching schools, I figured out that I wanted a small program with an innovative curriculum. In the end, I interviewed at schools that met those criteria and withdrew from the others (SLU included). I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the “classic” approach, it just doesn’t really fit with my goals or how I learn. When I was applying a few years ago, Loyola was pretty similar to SLU.</p>
<p>Good discussion, Kristin . Med schools do have distinctive differences in curriculum, style , and feel. Some will appeal to you, some won’t.</p>
<p>Yes, D. also mentioned that porograms are different from school to school and she considered the differences when she was choosing her school. The “different” aspect of her school is that program is exactly the same for first 2 years (2nd year is only 2 blocks), 2nd year is not any different from 1st year as they study “normal” and “abnormal” at the same time (to me it translates to “healthy” and “sick”, but I am not too much into her curriculum, we kind of stopped understanding her vocabulary). They have scheduled groupd discussions devoted to cases as far as I know. Groups are switched from block to block, allowing everybody to learn to adjust to different personalities. Sometime it is harder than other times to adjust to different personalities and social styles, specifically it was harder for my D. in the last block, but she welcomed this type of challenge as a learning tool. Her class is “normal” size of 170. They have clinicals and this part D. enjoys the most.</p>