Guest 123helpme Posted July 6, 2004 Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 Would it be detrimental if I missed the first week of class? I thought that class started after labour day, much like undergrad, but to my surprise it's August 30th. My family has booked a vacation for a Carribean cruise starting on the 29th for a week. The boat and air tickets are non-refundable, but potentially transferrable. I'd like to take the vacation, but I'm worried about its possible effects. I've talked to Darla about it and in her email she stated... "I spoke to Dr. Silcox, Associate Dean Admissions and he said there is a high volume of work the first week of classes and also this is when you get to meet your class mates and friendships are made. The first week is when the PCL groups are formed and for our regular students, if they miss PCL, they must let the PCL group leader know. Any missed work, you will have to make up. If you decide to take the week, you will have to contact the UG office and ask them who your leader will be and you will have to contact them to let them know you will miss the first week of classes. You must attend the White Coat on the 25th of August and orientation on the 26th. I have copied the Manager of UG to let her know that you will need the names of your PCL leader." So basically, she says that I can miss class, but I might be screwed. Opinions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ninja Posted July 6, 2004 Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 You will just miss all the things they mentioned. Catching up on one week of work is not difficult. However, since the week you're missing is the first one, it's gonna be hard catching up cause you'll be going in cold. I skipped 3 consecutive weeks of class at one point this year and it wasn't a problem to catch up or keep up at home at my own pace. You can definitely manage missing one. I wouldn't recommend it cause of the non-scholarly things you will be missing but then again, family vacations are quite meaningful as well. Choose wisely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted July 6, 2004 Report Share Posted July 6, 2004 Oh my god. :eek Everything I learned in medical school I learned in the first few days. There really is nothing more to medicine beyond those three or four days. That's it - you'll never make a good doctor now! Not. Don't sweat. Other than missing a lot of important administrative stuff, there isn't an insane amount of material covered in those first few days of class. Nothing you won't be able to get from going over the notes. Bottom line! You will be a bit behind, but you should be able to recover. P.S. you might even hear some students say you could miss the entire first year and be fine. While not entirely true, missing a few days in first year will not kill you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ninja Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Please let me clarify... When I was saying you'd miss important stuff, I didn't mean the stuff you'd hear in lecture. I meant you might miss some of that touchy-feely stuff like class-bonding and friend making in the first week. Even so, you may find that the people you truly get along with are the ones you gradually get to know over the year rather than the ones you party with in O-week and the following three weeks of pseudo O-week after that (trust me, it should be called O-Month). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest therealcrackers Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Your decision is ultimately the one that matters. However, this is the first year of a slightly revised curriculum structure, so no one will be able to give you the heads-up on what it entails until you get back. If you're going to miss a week of school, the first week isn't the worst to miss. But it is nearly the worst: it helps get you into the routine, meet with your classmates, get a feel for the layout and organization of, well, everything. The touchy-feely stuff is important; like it or not, your classmates will be a huge part of your life for at least the next four years. And yes the stuff in lecture is important, especially if you're coming from a non-"traditional" background to medicine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 I agree... you aren't necessarily doomed to fail if you miss the first week of classes...but, given a choice, I wouldn't do it myself. The first week is when you get established at UWO...learn where everything is, get used to routines, what the expectations are for various courses, get your notes package, sort out textbooks, etc. There is a also a fair amount of 'fun' stuff that week that helps you bond with your classmates....a wine and cheese, the OMA dinner, etc. And there is real teaching during that week too...so you will be behind....things are covered much more quickly in med, so it will be equivalent, in terms of workload missed, to missing about 3-4 weeks of a typical undergrad program...it is also never a good thing to miss the first PCL session of the year...they will go over the structure of PCL, expectations, and how the sessions work, you will meet with your facilitator and your group, etc. If you think that you will be comfortable going through the 'transition' to UWO a week later, missing the social events where you will meet your classmates, and think that you can catch up on a week's worth of work on your own...go for it. And, as noted above, the intro to medicine block has been changed substantially from what it has been in the past....so we can't give you a for sure view of what is going to happen. Personally, I found the transition from undergrad to med more stressful than the transition from high school to undergrad in terms of increased workload.... I don't know if you will find the same. People in my class that didn't have a really strong bio-sci background were even more stressed. It is ultimately up to you, but I wouldn't personally wouldn't do it. The first week may not make you or break you academically, but it is a very important week in the life of your class and a lot of routines, friendships, etc will be established during it...that will carry through the rest of your time at UWO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lcloh Posted July 9, 2004 Report Share Posted July 9, 2004 i concur... save the cruise for december, or spring break, when you want that crucial break from all your classmates in meds and to spend some time with your family... the first week is such an important part of getting into med school... you don't want to be absent.. just my two eurocents. L from montpellier, fr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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