Thread: Q's for current 2nd & 3rd Year Students in the English Program

Hello there,

I'm considering into applying to Lublin and I understand that HMI has negative points however, at the end of the day it's applying a service to people to help them achieve their goal and the more important question to ask is about LUBLIN quality of education not HMI.

So about the quality of education, I would like any current student to tell me how was the classes over there and the quality of the education they received and whether they felt they were being prepared for the USMLE or not. Are the teachers good? what's the cadavers per group ratio and if there are labs with classes and shelf exams incorporated and when you finished the 2 years how long on average does it take a student to sit down study for the USMLE and pass, in another words I understand they have like 30 students per semester so how many of these actual students make it?

Now moving on to rotations, how long did it take HMI to grant you a rotation spot after you passed USMLE? did they make you wait for couple months? are they all green book? are we NY approved? I understand the school is CA approved but, can we do a rotation there if spots were available or can we get a residency and practice there?

Next tuition wise, how much does it cost yearly to attend there and how much does FAFSA give you per year so in total. If someone can break it down how much it costs in poland and how much does it cost in rotations.

Finally, with your honest opinion would you recommend someone going there and would you do it again? and can you tell me a little bit about the city, things to do to unwind and what to expect from there and are MCAT's required for admission?

I know I could have all these questions answered by the school but, I rather hear it from a student. I understand med school is an individual work at the end of the day and you have to study on your own. Thank You for your time and I hope I get a prompt response.

99 people read my post and yet no one answered any of my questions? I understand that some of the answers are in the forum but, they're outdated so I would like a new response. Common people spill out the goods. Also pictures from the school and town would be really appreciated.

if you do your thing.. such as go to class study hard, i am sure you will pass your USMLE on first try.. but if you do the opposite then even god cant help you.. the education system is okay here... i am sure if you do come here you will adapt to it..

In terms of clinicals, HMI is actually really good- compared to all the other carib schools (can't speak for St George's though bc we don't rotate with them). HMI students are one of the few that actually get to start clinicals on time, most other carib school students will wait for months and months for a rotation and they won't be all in one spot even if they want them all in one location, and they won't be back to back. So in terms of that, HMI is really good. You will get to start your rotations about 2 months after you take your step I and that's due to the paperwork/processing bc it takes 1 month to get your score and then another month to get approval to study in a US hospital (legalities). You know your schedule in advance which is really good bc other students, as you will see, won't know which city/state they will end up in a few days later. The only thing is, HMI doesn't have that many hospitals and that's why it's like this. It's NY approved, you can do all your clinicals in NY without a problem. And you can also do your residency in CA bc we are CA approved.

Answers to your questions:

1) So about the quality of education, I would like any current student to tell me how was the classes over there and the quality of the education they received and whether they felt they were being prepared for the USMLE or not. Are the teachers good? what's the cadavers per group ratio and if there are labs with classes and shelf exams incorporated and when you finished the 2 years how long on average does it take a student to sit down study for the USMLE and pass, in another words I understand they have like 30 students per semester so how many of these actual students make it?

Answers to this question are completely subjective. Everyone learns in their own way.

I was satisfied with my education at MUL (year 1 wasnt that great, but year 2 was awesome)


The questions asked on tests are very relevant to usmle topics, but they are not necessarily in usmle vignette format.

The teachers were "ok". What specifically do you want to know.

The number of cadavers is irrelevant to your education. There were enough specimens to disect, but there are rarely whole bodies to dissect because Poland is very strictly Roman Catholic (the lack of full cadavers to dissect is also shared by the polish md program) Having said that, this is not a huge issue because it is only relevant for anatomy (year 1), and in that class you have access to the parts of the body you are covering for the weeks you are covering it. Ex: if your class is covering lower limb, you can examine precut lower limb specimens. The exception to this is during neuroanatomy, where there are plenty of brains to section and analyze.

In my opinion, the lack of full cadavers did not hinder my education in anatomy.

The NBME shelf and comp exams are now required after each class and before step 1 and 2ck/cs

After my 2 years at MUL, I took 6 months off before I took Step 1. The average is 4-6 months. I took Kaplan, and it was helpful but not mandatory.


THIS IS JUST A GUESS:
The regular yearly class is about 30 people. I would guess that 20-22 pass step 1 the first try, 5 the second time, 3-5 stay in Poland to do rotations.

The bottom line is that if you work hard, study the material when you are supposed to, and have an undergrad science background, there is no excuse not to pass step 1 on the first try coming from MUL.



This took way more time than I planned, i'll answer the rest later