Bonjour Fellow Colleagues,
I heard from the great vine that the 2019/2020 Advanced MD (4 year) program at Jagiellonian University may be cancelled this year (application for the 2019/2020) due to updated regulations. Can anyone confirm if this is true? If so this is a great disappointment.
Hello, as far as I know this is not true.Quote:
Originally Posted by vegok
You will be credited first 2 years of 6-year degree depending on the pre-requisite courses you have completed.
The 4-year program is not accepting future classes. The current first year class is the final 4-year class. Future students are being directed to a new "6-year program for college graduates". The application requirements remain the same as for the former 4-year program: MCAT, GPA, pre-med courses, etc. This program has space for 40 students, but will not be held unless there are at least 10.
I would provide you a link to the details, but I do not have permission to do that. There is a pdf called "Recruitment Regulations 2018/2019". It is on the "Prospective Students" page of the UJ Medical School in English website.
It's just as well that they are ending the 4-year program. What was an amazing program just a couple of short years ago has gone down hill very fast. The current students are in for a very rough ride.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DieBart
The information in this pdf is definitely confusing, I agree.
However my interpretation is that they will switch to a 6-year "Advanced MD" like Poznan does where the program is in theory 6 years, but you are credited the first 2 years or premed requirements so in effect complete it in 4 years.
It really would make no sense to require people to repeat 2 years worth of courses they have already taken. I could be wrong, but that is my guess at least. You could contact them directly to find out more.
That's not exactly how Jagiellonian works.Quote:
Originally Posted by elldeezz
The 6-year program for high school graduates does not start with North American style pre-med courses. After a month long crash course in general and organic chemistry first year students go straight into bio chem, physiology, cell biology, histology, etc. 4 year students have the same courses (minus the crash course).
In fact after recent changes the 6-year and 4-year curricula are almost identical. The 4-year program crams 6 years into 4. That is why is was branded as a "Accelerated MD" program on Jagiellonian's website in the last recruiting cycle. As you can imagine, these changes were not very popular with students. They now have to take classes, and do clinical rotations in fields that do not appear in North American curricula, but do appear in many European 6-year curricula.
So it would make sense for the school to drop the 4-year program all together, and space out the courses over 6 years like they were meant to be. The interesting questions now are - how will the 6-year college graduate vs. high school graduate programs differ? and will there be any interest at all from North American students in Jagiellonian? Maybe if they transform the program into a joint MD-PhD program over those 6 years. Jagiellonian certainly does engage in enough research to make that possible.
thanks for sharing your insights about how Jagiellonian works.Quote:
Originally Posted by DieBart
it will be interesting to see what happens. I believe the School will release more information in December for the upcoming cycle.
just to make things more confusing, the pdf you referred to on their website is dated from May 2017 and outlines the admissions procedures for 2018-19 onwards, for which there was indeed a 4-year course entering (even though there is no mention of 4-year course in the document)
in any case spending 6 years on MD in Europe would not likely be appealing to North Americans with a BSc and MCAT. I'm sure most people would still prefer to condense the 6 year course in 4 years, as it is far more cost-effective.
6 years would be too short for MD/PhD imo even if the medical curriculum is a bit lighter. a PhD project even without lab rotations requires (at least) 3 years of full-time research. securing funding for the PhD research is also an issue.
Well I hope they stick with the first 2 years being credited as a result of the undergraduate degrees. Seems to be the only thing that makes sense. A 6 year medical degree after an undergraduate just seems pointless and will direct students towards other international medical schools. Crossing my fingers that the program will still be 4 years after the 2 year crediting. I really don't feel like doing organic chemistry all over again.
Do any of you know if they give higher points if you have a Masters degree in Biology?
Well I agree with you that keeping it 4 years is the only thing that makes sense in terms of retaining BSc holders with completed MCATs and premed courses... now we should find out in a few weeks whether that is what they have decided to do or not... Out of curiosity, @vegok how did you come to find out the program might be cancelled in the first place?Quote:
Originally Posted by vegok
They used to consider applicant CV as part of the assessment, so they would notice your Masters degree. Don't think it would affect the GPA calculation however.
Heard from a friend who goes to the school. Hence why I'm a bit scared. Had my eyes and heart set on Jagiellonian University.
With regards to the Masters/GPA, I was wondering as medical schools in Canada add a specific amount to your GPA based on if you achieved a masters or a phd. (just curious if the same applied)
Anyway lets hope for the best here. They should keep this program alive as the school is great, the city is great, and that alone will make a great experience.
Did anyone hear any updates? It's January 01 and it seems like there is no news at all on the website for anything to do with the Undergrad/College program.