Can anybody please tell me about Juarez campus? I'm hearing lots of negative things. How safe is it to live in Juarez and attend school? I need HONEST opinions. Thanks.

You don't live in Juarez, you live in El Paso accross the border. Classes are mon-fri in Juarez. The campus there is non-existent basically sharing space with a nursing school. However, this information comes from a cousin who graduated from there and is now in pp in AR.

it's safe, just don't drive a really nice car, and lock up. there is no nursing school (that was a while ago), students study in that part of the school now too.

classes...

neurology... we had a neurosurgeon teaching us who failed 1/2 the class. he's hard, but i liked him.

cardiology - awesome, teaches you everything.

psychiatry - guy wants to make a 60 hour course 100+ hours, he's crazy, but then again, what psychiatrist isn't.

legal medicine, great

radiology, loved it

obgyn - he is tuff on you, but that's good

peds - same thing, very dedicated teacher

mol bio - lots of oral questions, liked that one

etc etc etc.

the nice thing is, you have more teachers who actually are in practice in the particular specialty they are teaching. some really care about teaching you, some do not (they just want a paycheck). a good number of our teachers also teach at UACJ (universidad autonomus de cuidad juarez) medical school, which is approved in all 50 states. of course, we are not, but that's life.

the only advice i can give you... study your trash off. once you finish studying for a test, or whatever, get right back to studying for step 1. do not party, don't slack. from 3rd semester to 5th, i woke up at 4am constantly to study for step 1, in addition to my normal studies. it takes dedication. and no one is making you do it. i'm writing my boards in 2 months, and i will be in the 90+ range, definately.

your education is what you make it... some people here will slam this school. i'm not some troll who looms around this forum making sure no one says anything bad about this place (and trust me, i'm not some recruiter either, i'd rather study), it's not all flowers and roses. but it will get you to where you want to go, but it's your responsibility. and if a teacher doesn't push you, push yourself! thank goodness for dr. goljan, HE was my pathology teacher.

i will say this much, right after 5th semester (no kaplan course), if i took step 1, i would have passed... not with flying colors, but i would have passed. and the school has helped me to do that. now that i've taken more time to solidify knowledge, and do many questions, i'm much more prepared.

i think the people who are the most bitter around here are the ones who cannot pass their boards, and expected the school to powder their butts like babies all the way to prometric, and help them take their steps. they think you will learn by osmosis, almost like, if you're just "around" long enough, the info will just sink in. take responsibility for your own education. not that comparing this school to harvard has it's place... but at harvard most of the students are self-taught. granted, they are already extremely talented students, but their curriculum, and their teaching method requires a great deal from the students own initiative.

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M.D., PGY-1
Internal Medicine / future interests - Infectious Diseases Fellowship