Questions regarding the Jagiellonian 6 Year English MD Program

[Lipowicz91]

Hey I'm a high school student living in Toronto, Canada. I'm in my final year (grade 12) and will be graduating in June this year. I'm taking all science/math courses as well and am very interested in attending Jagiellonian's 6 year English MD program. So here are my questions:

1. In order to gain acceptance, apart from having to take the entrance exam is any interview needed? If so, please elaborate on the expected interview attire as well as normal questions to be asked and overall experience if you've already gone through the process :)

2. How difficult is the entrance exam, as in how difficult is it to score well enough on the exam in order to be accepted? With the knowledge I have from grade 12 chem/bio and the reference material they provide, how much studying is needed (roughly)?

3. Is any attention paid to my high school grades or is the admission entirely dependent upon the exam results?

4. Is it true that you have the option of taking the exam either in Poland OR Chicago?

5. What is the ratio of applicants to seats available in the 6 year English MD program?

6. When does the first semester begin and end, and when does the second semester begin and end? When do clinicals begin and end? How much time is allocated to the Christmas holidays as well as any other breaks (march break)?

7. How manageable is the curriculum, and on average how much time will you spend each day studying?

8. Any other input you'd like to add concerning the medical school and your experience thus far would :D

Thanks a lot for taking the time to respond to these questions, any input is greatly appreciated!

[Dave_MD]

I'm in the 4 year program so i dont know too much, but i'll comment where i can

1. No interview, just entrance exam results.

2. From what I heard it wasn't very hard, though I can get you more info about it at a later time.

3. What matters most is the entrance exam

4. Yes they offer different dates for you, 5 i think, to take the exam in either Krakow or Chicago.

5. School doesn't post numbers BUT be aware that the school has an agreement with Norway and Malaysia such that something like 75% of the class is norwegian, 10% is Malaysian, and the remaining spots are free spots, usually for north american applicants. Therefore in a class of about 90, really only 15 spots or so for north american applicants, therefore making the north american applicant pool quite competitive.

6. I have attached the 1st yr/6 yr schedule for your questions regarding breaks and such. You will get your first taste of clinical action in 3rd year.

7. Compared to the 4 year, quite manageable I would say. I haven't heard of many people leaving the 6 year program because it was too intense.

8. jag is great and krakow is one of the finest cities in europe. you won't be disappointed coming here.

[som10]

dave_md what is the tuition fee for the 6 year and 4 year programme per year? thanks for your input

[Dave_MD]

4 year: 12,200 for first year. 12,000 every year after that
6 year: 11,200 for first year. 11,000 every year after that.

all prices in EURO

[som10]

thanks dave_md for replying to the question, i really appreciated. thanks again:D

[Lipowicz91]

Thanks a lot for the quick response Dave! Helpful as always, and more info on the exam would definitely be helpful as its really hard to find specifics about it. Also, I'm curious about your situation. So you did an undergrad and decided to go to Jag right? How are you finding it so far, ya like it? How doable is the work / what is YOUR normally routine in terms of classes / studying? Thanks.

[bigndude]

Well I'm not Dave, but I am one of his classmates, so I will take a turn at answering your questions best I can. The exam I can't really comment on, but I can tell you what I was told during my interview (for the 4 year program). I was told that usually the 6 year program is Norwegians and South Asians (as Dave said) and that U.S. and Canadian students have a hard time with the exam, and due to this there aren't many people who get in from the U.S./Canada. Add to that the limited places, and you can see its hard to get in. But, if you study, and do well on the entrance exam, you'll probably get in as long as you have good grades and some extracurriculars.

I did undergrad in the U.S. (I'm from the U.S.) and decided to come here after that. I had thought about doing the 6 year program, but decided against it since I wanted a fallback option. The workload, for the 4 year program I can comment, and I can say it is hard, very very hard. We have a pretty full schedule and some days we are in class from 8am-7pm with minimal breaks in between (a few 15min breaks, and a 30min break). It is very intense course wise, we did head and neck over the course of a month in anatomy. We did upper limb and thorax over the 2nd month. Now we are on abdomen and lower limb and we will finish after Dec. break in early January. We just had a histology exam, we have a physiology and biochemistry exam coming up over the next 2 weeks. Overall, if that gives you any idea, its pretty tough. It's pretty much non-stop studying.
How doable is the work? Very if you are dedicated, and study a lot. Some professors are difficult (exam question-wise) others less so. It's just like any school in that sense.
A comment for the 6 year program is that in general the 6 years have a slightly easier schedule and have more time to learn things. Instead of having anatomy jammed together like we do they have it spread over the whole year. And in general the 6 year program is not as intense, its more at a pace for someone who is out of high school, or someone who likes to take their time.
How do I like it so far. I'm enjoying it a lot. I have great classmates, the professors are very supportive, some seem less so, but in the end all of them want us to succeed and are pushing us hard to do it. They really seem to care for us and quite frankly its very nice. They do not in the slightest seem like they look at us like money bags, instead they really give a great atmosphere of wanting to see you learn the material. Overall, I'm happy I picked Jag. and I think I will be very well prepared for both the USMLE and going back to the states for residency. Sure it's not perfect, but I don't think any school is. There are always things that could be better, but overall, I would say it is just as high level as any U.S./Canadian school.
Routine in terms of class/studying. Well at times it seem my routine is class-->study-->eat-->study-->sleep--> repeat. Quite frankly the time commitment is huge, but thats what it takes if you want to learn it. Some days are very hard when you are in class and lab all day and your brain can't take anymore info in, but you just gotta push yourself. In the end it should all be worth it.
If anyone else has any questions, shoot away. Just finished studying and taking one exam and I don't want to think about what awaits next week.

[Dave_MD]

good post John, couldn't have said it better myself

[Lipowicz91]

Bigndude thanks so much for the very detailed response It answered pretty much all of my questions :). Very in depth. I was expecting a 'study 24/7' response, especially for the 4 year program but I just wanted to make sure. Anatomy in the course of half a year sounds really intense, question on that matter though: If you've heard of the anatomy book Gray's Anatomy, which is 1500 pages in length detailed the entire human body's anatomy, is the textbook that you use similar to that / do you need to memorize ALL of that information?

[bigndude]

People use various books, like Netter's, Thieme atlases, Rohen, and thats pretty much it as far as I know. It's really a matter of preference, me personally, I liked Netter for head and neck, and then for lungs and heart it was good as well, although at times it was not detailed enough. But for upper limb I used Rohen picture atlas. Overall though, yes we need to know all the details. It seems overwhelming at first, but after a while its ok, its just the way med school is.

[Dave_MD]

yea it takes a little bit to adjust to the idea that you actually need to know EVERYTHING, but you learn it soon enough.

as for anatomy atlases, Netter and Rohan are what a lot of students swear by. I haven't seen the recent Grays atlas so i cant comment there, but i do have the flashcards and it just seems like they dont go into enough detail.

[Lipowicz91]

Ah gotcha, thanks again for the responses. Question about the 'knowing everything' in med school. Well my question is apart from anatomy, do you need to know EVERY single detail about every single subject I.E. Histology, Embryology, Neurology. I'm speaking comparatively to Grade 12 High school bio where it seems you're supposed to know a lot, excluding minor/insignificant details. As in do you need to literally memorize an entire textbook in every detail to succeed, or can you extrapolate / gather concepts while remembering particular critical features.

[Dave_MD]

ahh yes and no. of course not the ENTIRE textbook is taught for most classes (anatomy and histology are exceptions), so in that sense no you dont need to know 'everything'. but in the sections that are covered by the course, you definitely do need to know everything. some of the exam questions are literally lines out of the book, and if you can remember what was written in the text, you will get the question right. seems a bit intense, and believe me, its quite overwhelming. but again the 6 year course moves a lot slower than the 4 year, giving more time to focus on the minute details.

but memorizing textbook after textbook is not only impossible, but also a terrible study habit. most students choose so called "high yield" texts, aside from the ones that are recommended by the professor, which condenses the most important info from the bigger books into a smaller, more easy to read alternative. by doing this, you can go ahead and read that 1000+ page medical physiology book (Guyton and Hall) if you want, but in doing so you might miss the big picture, which is where something like a Pre-Test Physiology or BRS review book might be useful.

not sure if this helped you with the workload at all. you really have to experience it to understand.

you have to know minute details and be able to work it into the big picture...so in that sense you do kinda need to know everything haha.

[mag09]

what are my chances of getting in, if i'm in grade 12 right now in ottawa, canada, and i'd like to apply for the 6 year program, and i have an 85 average?

[Dave_MD]

your high school grades are irrelevant. what matters is the entrance exam for the 6 year program. only after you know your score on that can you ask "what are my chances"

[Lipowicz91]

Thanks again DaveMD for the quick / detailed response! I will be applying to Jag / Lublin / Poznan shortly; ideally I'd like to go to Jag though. Hopefully everything is going well for you and your friend Dave, good luck!

[cortex_london_uk]

Is there an entrance exam for UK students?
I have done BSc and 2 x MSc in the UK from top uni's.

Really the fees for the 4 year MD are as much as 12,000 euros?? thats quite a lot :-/