Programme, Schedule and Academic Resources

[cpt.ricard]

This thread is for UAG academic programme information, including class schedule, academics and anything else.



Important phone numers:
GUDALAJARA
General phone number: 3-648-8824
CU Asuntos Academicos X32475
CU (?) X32345
CU Finanzas X32352

HAL International X1681
HAL International X1590

UAG TEXAS - SAN ANTONIO
210-366-1611

Some of these numbers are not exact - if you call and find out what they are, send me a quick email to correct it. If you have another phone number that will help others please also let me know.

[acgtacgtacgt]

Academic Calendar
This can be accessed by going to Bienvenidos a la Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (http://www.uag.mx) ( ωωω.uag.Μχ ). However, the exact address is: School of Medicine - Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara (http://www.uag.edu/medicine/med16.htm) ( uag.edu/medicine/med16.htm )."2°" and "EXT" areas are NOT part of the semester. They are for 2nd and 3rd attempts at passing a final exam.

Class Presentations and Notes
Lecture Power Point presentations and notes can be found at: UAG 360 (http://uag360.com/) ( uag360.com )Go to "Class Resources." Information is availalbe for 1st through 8th semesters.

Updates and Information from the Latin Side of the UAG
INFEMED by Gpo13 (http://www.infemed.com/inicio) ( infemed.com/inicio )From the main page, you can go to "mis materias" for some good study material. You may have to join, but it is free. They also will send you e-mail about important updates if you want.

Online Library
The school requires that you do many article reviews, etc. Most medical magazine subscriptions are expensive. Unfortunately for my semester, we we here at the UAG for three years before it was made known that we have access to online material - some from our home.

First, you have to register for an account. This is often done when you first do a teacher evaluation. However, you can register before this time.


Go to: Bienvenidos a la Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (http://www.uag.mx/)
Click bibliotecas. This will take you to Campus Digital - Red de Bibliotecas UAG (http://bibliotecas.uag.mx/)
Click Registrate and use you student I.D. number (if you are not already registered) or enter using your I.D. number and password.
Go to Biblioteca Digital
Go to areas academicas y collections
Choose ciencias de la salud

[cpt.ricard]

Medicine is a career that is undertaken in Mexico after highschool (bacilerato - confusingly same word we use for college/university undergrad), which means that you end up with very young people learning how to cure others. There are some fallouts relevant to international students:

- Sometimes some professors will act like you are an immature 18-year old unless proven otherwise (though most profs now understand the large difference due to the qualifications needed to enter and the more mature, mostly older med students that attend the international program).

-More importantly the federally-regulated education is one of six years:

Four years of identical training compared to Northern America

One year of "sub-internship," whereupon you get your titulo ("title" of MD)

One year of "Servicio Social (social service)" whereupon you get your license to practice in Mexico - This is the year you do not complete as part of an international student

With the titulo at the end of fifth, you can then apply to the ECFMG in the US, or to provincial residencies (i.e. OMSAS) in Canada.

[cpt.ricard]

The first two years are conducted at a satellite campus known as the Instituto de Ciencias Basicas (ICB). Here you'll spend four semesters before you take the USMLE Step 1 exam and proceed to the hospitals, where medicine in Mexico truly shines.

The general perception you need to have is that the ICB is a place where you must learn on your own, develop your own learning strategies (and sometimes even goals and maybe syllabus). This is a do-it-yourself university where if you don't, you'll find you get really behind really soon. Expect zero help from the structured teaching, but practically every teacher is willing to help if you see them privately in their office.

Here is a general breakdown with the highlights:

Semester 1

Biochemistry (great course - thorough!)
Anatomy
Cell Biology
Embryology
Genetics
Computers, Intro to (get the info packet to possibly pass the challenge exam and not take the course)

The first semester is a big challenge with very little free time. You will take Biochem and Anatomy (with lab) full year and then have the other, smaller courses througout the year, one after the other. Scrubs of any colour are required for anatomy lab (either once or twice a week depending on what your lab group decides), and white scrubs will be required once a week for PMC (Programa de Medicina en la Comunidad - clinic). Most students just get white scrubs and wear those for both. At lab, the rules are simply "scrubs or lab coat" whereas for PMC you will need white everything, including shoes. Most white shoes are allowed, although some doctors who will be supervising you will be more sticklers about what kind of shoes to wear (e.g. non-tennis like the handout says). The white gear you will need for all four semesters at ICB when you do PMC.
PMC will be assigned by a lottery in which you are randomly chosen, and you choose the location (all are clinics within Guadalajara) usually within the first few weeks of first term; the day of your PMC duty is decided alphabetically by last name. You will do PMC for four hours after class on the day you choose, though there are only a certain number of slots per clinic per day. At the end of the term you will be asked to present a certification, which is an exam of a patient with full write-up in Spanish. You must call to schedule this certification every term. The certification will require more areas of the body as the terms progress.


Semester 2

Histology (lab may be optional - worth it)
Physiology (well-structured and organized course)
Immunology
Nutrition
Behavioural Science
Bioethics
Public Health and Preventative Medicine

Second semester, in stark contrast to first semester, has a lot of free time that is structured that way so students can focus on Physiology. It is very well organized and thankfully so for such an important course. Those that do this do well. Bioethics is an awful course (2009) - read books instead.
PMC this semester is based off of GPA performance in semester 1 - and will continue to be this way for all following semesters.

Semester 3

Microbiology and Parasitology
Neuroscience
Pathology (the general path section is world-class)
Pathophysiology
Surgical Techniques, Introduction to

Third semester is jam-packed again with Micro and Path being taken almost the entire year, and Neuro and Pathophys only part of the year. Surgical techniques is done either once a week or for a full week but to five classes total of four hours each. Pathophysiology is an awful class (2009). It is easy to feel discouraged due to the amount of work in this semester; do what it takes for you to finish. Surgery is meant to teach you basic techniques; just do the steps in sequence and don't get frustrated. No other school that we know of teaches surgical techniques at this point in time.

(2009) This semester you will also have NPF (nociones de patofisiologia) which is a course that is meant to solidify physical examinations and history, as well as diagnostics and special manoeuvres. You will have this usually once or twice a week, with a midterm and a final exam consisting of examining a patient (another student which you typically must provide) and providing diagnosis. You must wear whites for this and are real sticklers for debatable rules, such as no long hair for males. You will also need scrubs, non-specific, for surgery.

PMC will be a GPA lottery this semester as well, however, beginning with this term you can choose to complete your PMC during your breaks as a full week, weekends, or nightly. You can also choose to complete it at a non-PMC clinic, especially cruz roja and ruz verde, etc. sites across the country. This has to be approved by the PMC office. Most students choose a nearby town like Ajijic, Puerto Vallarta (PV) or Lake Chapala. It is heavily recommended that you do this in advance of 3rd term, as this term is fairly full.

Semester 4

Pharmacology and Toxicology
Haematology and Oncology (not for credit - attendance mandatory)
Imaging (not for credit - attendance mandatory)
CICB (an internal, formalized name for the Kaplan review course)

This semester consists of only Pharm for the first portion, then the other two classes are added until the all finish. H&O is fantastic, whereas imaging is awful (2009). Once you finish, you will take the Kaplan review course until the end of the semester.

Kaplan
You will receive a UAG-specific schedule of professors who come down and teach all the topics over again. UAG right now is moving the modules around which almost all students agree is a mistake, though they have said they will correct it. As it stands this is the biggest problem with what is a great review before the step 1 exam. You will be given a midterm (which is really a full Kaplan exam even though you've only taken half of the courses), then a final at the end of the course. After this, then you will have three chances to pass a full shelf exam on your own resources. You need to pass any of these in order to get signed off by the school to take the real step 1 .
Kaplan costs an extra $2000+ dollars on top of normal tuition.

You only have until the 9th week of Fifth Semester (i.e. end of first core rotation in the hospital) to pass the step 1, otherwise you are asked to take a semester off and will not be asked to return until you have successfully passed it BUT BE CHARGED FULL TUITION (as of 2009 - prior to the new program, the step 1 was not part of the curriculum, only part of the final MD requirements, causing most students to choose to wait until after the hospital phase).
The certification this term will require a higher mark to pass (changes from 80-90%) as well as a full physical of an individual.

[cpt.ricard]

Originally posted by acgtacgtacgt on 08-13-2007, 02:43 PM http://www.valuemd.com/universidad-autonoma-de-guadalajara-uag/141086-life-uag-semester-5-hospital.html


Is there life after ICB? What are the last 2 years like at the UAG?

I vary rarely see any posts from anyone other than those at ICB (the first 2 years at the UAG). What happens to the students after the first two years? Why do they not post? Does the UAG make cadavers from them? Do they all transfer to Ross?

Well, I am now at the HAL (Hospital Angel Leaño), so I can tell you that they have not become cadavers. Some, however, did transfer to other schools (mostly Ross). Some that transferred never planned to stay the full four years here, some were tired of the UAG **, and some were afraid of the classes being in complete Spanish. For others of us that planned to come and finish at the UAG, we are still here. Even on the days that we think of transferring, many of us realistically see transferring as simply trading some issues the UAG has for new ones at a differetnt school. I will be talking to some students that transferred to see what they think. Until then, I can only tell you what I personally know about the UAG from being here

Is HAL better or worse than ICB? It is both. For example, the parking lot is nice (no more sharp rock to flatten your tires, but it is at 120% capacity and only has one entrance. Thus, it is better and worse. Are the teachers better or worse? That is difficult to answer because the entire situation is different. I will say what I think about them, but try not to compare them because it would be an unfair comparison. What is worse is the communication. If you thought that receiving your schedule the day before classes start was bad, try getting the schedule the day after they start, then having them take attendance for where you did not know you were supposed to be. The planning, attendance policy, and communication are the plague of HAL. However, before you get a negative impression, I will say that the experience and what you can learn is very good. ICB and HAL are two different things, so I cannot compare them. However, so far HAL is a VERY good experience.

A typcial day in the first weeks at HAL are like this:

05:15 - Awaken from bed
06:15 - Leave for HAL
06:25 - Welcome to the Guadalajara 500 Night Driving Street Race. If you drive Acueducto to Periferico to Tesistan to HAL, you will be in the middle of a multi-lane-changing race. Held in the dark with some cars and semis missing some or all their taillight. It is a free-for-all to the finish. If you, like me, value your car and life more than being marked late for your first class, you can take Americas until it becomes Tesistan. It is about 3 to 12 minutes longer (depending on light timing), but better roads and much safer (not as much merging -i.e. cutting off cars or being run off the road by a Lala [a milk company here] semi without lights).
06:45 - Welcome to the Guadalajara “Baja” 15. Here you will drive on a road that GM would love to have as a testing ground for testing the suspensions on their 3/4 ton trucks. Although this part is only 1.5km (about 1 mile), it is called the “15" because the UAG’s parking lot is too small and only has one entrance. Thus you sit for 15 minutes to get into the school (and they have the audacity to mark you late - 2 lates = 1 absence). Thus, thus you can see the synergy of UAG’s NAZI-style attendance policy augmented by poor planning). Photos at end of post.
07:01 - You enter the UAG and search for a place to park. There is usually a place at the bottom of the hill. The time it takes varies depending on how many rude students stop in the middle of the road to let out passengers that do not want to be late.
07:03 - Parking found, but you have to walk up the hill to class.
07:07 - Finally in class. Everyone has different teachers. This is a class of about 12 students for “Clinica Aplicada.” This may be a good class for the Latin students, but for Americans that already have had years of college and have already given presentations, this is time that we could use for studying or sleeping. Given that we (English-speakers) will now need more time to actually read subjects in books to help comprehend classes, this class takes time away from sleep and study time. This is a failure on the part of the UAG administration, relative to the American students. As for the teacher I had, she was this very cute and friendly older lady that seemed to enjoy teaching the class. She was, however, anal about being there on-time despite the parking problems. She also had a default speech rate equal to a Chihuahua with hyperthyroidism that swallowed a box of amphetamines. However, she did not do this on purpose, and when reminded, she was very happy to repeat anything we asked, and did so slowly enough that we could all understand. She was a likeable teacher, but the most difficult to understand out of all my teachers.
08:00 - Harvey. I should state that on the first day of class, we received our schedule. However, it was on CD. Since I cannot read microscopic binary, we escentually did not have a schedule this first day. When we finally did print it, it was still confusing. It gave room numbers, but did not say what building went with the room numbers, It also had changes that we learned by word of mouth. On the schedule for where were were to be at 08:00, it actually said, “Harvey.” They just assumed we would know what this meant. Anyway, Harvey is a mannequin that simulates the feel (heart, veins and arteries) and sound of the heart in normal and multiple pathologic conditions. This was actually very high-tech from what most of what was seen at ICB. This class was a lecture and then listening and working with the device. This class, too, was for a group of about 12. The teacher had attended class in Houston and spoke English, but never spoke it. However, he spoke clearly enough that the only limiting factor was vocabulary. I should also say that from the perspective of an English-speaker, it takes much mental energy to focus on what is being said in Spanish. Thus, this combined with the classes starting at 07:00 made many of us completely exhausted at the end of the day. Needless to say, many of us were behind on reading for the entire block of cariology.
09:00 - Lecture with all the Cardiology students in the auditorium. Good lectures by various teachers.
10:00 - EKG class. This was a small group of 12 students. Our teacher was the “jefe” head of the cardiology department. She spoke some English and would try to make things as understandable as possible. The was no doubt that she was interested in making sure EVERYONE understood (not just most). She, was a real expert in cardio, and did not just “know” it, but understood every aspect of what she taught.
11:00 - Lunch
12:00 - A class like what IPM or PMC should have been. Sometimes in an IPM-type room, sometimes at a “consultorio” ans some times in the hospital. A small group of 5 students working with real patients. For some reason, however, we seemed to understand these teachers much, much better than most in PMC or IPM. They all spoke some English, but the class was in Spanish (like all classes here). However, there was no language barrier. All the teachers in all the classes know how to re-word a statement, stay the term in English, or understand a word in English if we do not know the word in Spanish. With all but one class being 12 or less students, there is ample opportunity to ask any question you have.
13:00 - This last hour was our last class of the day. Here we reviewed (in sub-groups of 4) real clinical cases and tried to determine what the patient had. The next day, the teacher would discuss with us what the patient actually had. This class, too, had presentations. However, not as many as in the 07:00 class. However, this class, overall, was very informative and enjoyable.

Conclusion so far:

The bad... Planning and communication still suck - worse than ICB if you can imagine that. Babysitting attendance policies still plague us. There are also some areas of the campus that look like they lead to steps (no railing or barrier), but there are no steps (unless you consider a 1-meter drop to be a step). Swarms of “tame” bees at the outside food place.

The good... The campus is actually very nice. Although it shows signs of wear, it was VERY nice and modern when built. The student cafeteria on the 5th floor of the administration building is VERY nice and with better food than ICB. It also has windows 3/4 of the way around to give a very good view of the area. Most of all, the teachers I have had so far are 100% excellent! I will not compare them to ICB because the situation is completely different for both students and teachers. Take into consideration also that I have not interacted with teachers in other departments yet (some that do have bad reputations), the teachers with whom I dealt were all very knowledgeable (experts) in their fields, and sincerely wanted us to learn and did everything they could to help us understand. Even with all the ** that makes the UAG notorious, the teachers here at HAL make this a great place so far.
Attached Images http://www.valuemd.com/attachments/universidad-autonoma-de-guadalajara-uag/6363d1187034524-life-uag-semester-5-hospital-b4-hospital-drive.jpg http://www.valuemd.com/attachments/universidad-autonoma-de-guadalajara-uag/6364d1187034562-life-uag-semester-5-hospital-1mile-hal.jpg http://www.valuemd.com/attachments/universidad-autonoma-de-guadalajara-uag/6365d1187034640-life-uag-semester-5-hospital-still-waiting.jpg http://www.valuemd.com/attachments/universidad-autonoma-de-guadalajara-uag/6366d1187034691-life-uag-semester-5-hospital-still-waiting2.jpg http://www.valuemd.com/attachments/universidad-autonoma-de-guadalajara-uag/6367d1187034703-life-uag-semester-5-hospital-entrance-near.jpg

[acgtacgtacgt]

Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, U.A.G., UAG, Student Medical Health Insurance