TCOM 2013
Dear Student Doctor, I want to take this opportunity to personally welcome you to the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. I know you have waited a long time to be called student doctor. Congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. My goal is to excite, prepare, and challenge you in your pursuit to become the best physician possible. We are very proud of our students’ accomplishments here at TCOM. Our students are frequently accepted into nationally acclaimed residency programs. They often become chief residents at many hospitals. They are respected as being among the “best of the best”. I am certain that your class will carry that vision and banner forward. A couple of questions always come to me from incoming students this time of year. How should I prepare for medical school? How can I succeed? Also, there is always a great deal of anxiety about starting new programs. First things first: You are now coming into a profession, not just “attending classes in a school”. In less than four years from your starting date, you will be responsible for caring for a patient who will be someone’s father, brother, sister, child, or loved one. That’s an awesome responsibility and the learning to become a great doctor never ends. It’s really not about the grades; it’s about an attitude of life-long learning and commitment to become a great physician. Your education here at TCOM will help you achieve that. The first couple of years of medical school are often compared to “getting a drink of water from a fire hose”. There is a great deal of material and it comes at you faster than you can imagine. No matter where you went to school, you have not experienced anything like this before. Just remember, we would not have accepted you, if we did not think you were capable of handling the work. My first recommendation is to read. It doesn’t really matter what you read (it could be technical material or even Tolstoy), but get into the habit of putting in four hours per week night of dedicated reading and comprehension. You want to build up your endurance and ability to handle this material, and that is a skill that is improved with practice. Secondly, spend time with your family and loved ones over the summer. When the school year begins, you will spend much of your time with your classes and studies. Let them know that, so they can understand the demands that are being placed upon you. Time management is extremely important in medical school because, quite frankly, there aren’t enough hours in the day. The first years starts off on a slower pace, but believe me, it builds up quickly. You will amaze yourself at the amount of material you can read and comprehend at the end of the first year. It will probably be more than double where you were when you started. Year two even doubles again. To help you, we have developed a couple of pre-matriculation workshops, designed for those of you who would like to have more preparation. You can find out more about these courses below and register at: http://www.hsc.unt.edu/Sites/TCOMSummerWorkshops/ Firstly, I’d like to tell you about an online course that is designed to help those of you who want to smooth your transition. The description follows: PREP (Pre-Matriculation Enrichment Program) (ONLINE) June 8- July 2 2009 Workshop Description: This four week workshop provides the opportunity for incoming medical students to improve their transition to medical school in an on-line collaborative learning environment. Each student will complete the course assignments on their own, and meet with the class in a weekly chat. This course prepares students for the rigor of medical school with a smoking cessation curriculum that helps students enhance their study skills, increase reading comprehension and personal learning awareness, and improve critical thinking skills. This workshop is facilitated by Academic Affairs and the Center for Academic Performance. COST: $50.00 Next there is a course for those of you who may not have had biochemistry, or feel a little “rusty” in that area. Biochemistry is an important component of the metabolic pathways you will be studying. The course is described below: BIOCHEMISTRY REFRESHER WORKSHOP July 6- July 17 2009 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION This rapid two week workshop is a refresher course for students prior to medical school. It is presented by a student instructor entering her fourth year of medical school. Having had some of the same course work you will soon be taking, she will offer great insight into the material that you will be required to master. It serves as a review of biochemical pathways and biochemistry concepts. It is intended to complement an elementary foundation for students who feel weak in the area of biochemistry, and to facilitate techniques that may help the study of biochemistry in the regular medical school curriculum. COST: $75.00 Lastly, there is a free course being offered here on campus to help the transition for those of you in the area: SURVIVOR TCOM- FIRST YEAR PRE-VIEW WORKSHOP July 6- July 17 2009 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. Want an idea of the first year of medical school? This two week workshop will cover all the details of the first year including: an overview and study tips for each systems course, a preview of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine, etiquette for working in the clinics, basic clinical skills (blood pressure), preview of the Careers in Medicine program, a timeline of the next four years, and a chance to ask questions of current student doctors. If you really want to get ahead, this is the course for you! COST: FREE I look forward to meeting each and every one of you soon. We have a wonderful family here at TCOM, and I can’t wait to have you join us in this terrific medical community. Best wishes, Dr. Bruce Dubin Interim Dean Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI)
Dear Student Doctor: Welcome to the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Class of 2013! I look forward to your arrival next month. I am contacting you to request that you complete an online program (the CITI program) prior to the first day of class, July 27, 2009. This program is necessary for you to participate in biomedical research that involves human subjects. As medical students at TCOM your training will include aspects of medical research and the ethical considerations involved in conducting bio-medical research. This is a new component to our first year curriculum. This online program will provide training in research ethics. The URL for the CITI program and other information about it are in the paragraph below. You must complete this training for Clinical Medicine, a required course in both semesters of Year 1 and Year 2. The online CITI program may be found at: https://www.citiprogram.org/default.asp It takes approximately eight hours to complete, and that is why we are requesting that you complete it before the first day of class. Here are the general instructions: 1. Create your own user name and password; be sure to write it down somewhere. You can log in and log out of the site; you do not have to complete the entire program at one sitting. 2. Select the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) in the drop down box that appear on the first screen. You must indicate UNTHSC, in order to receive credit for the training. When you complete the course, the Office for the Protection of Human Subjects at UNTHSC will be notified. 3. Enter your home address and current e-mail. 4. Leave the institution identification number blank. You do not need one to complete the training. 5. Select “Biomedical Clinical” when asked about your research area. Yes, I did say that this training will take around 8 hours to complete!! You will not be able to do this in one sitting and I suggest you do this in small sessions over the next couple of weeks. There is a test component to this training after you finish specific modules. Having had this training will be valuable to you in your future research experiences, and will also be a valuable asset to your curriculum vitae when you apply to residency programs. Please contact me: bdubin@hsc.unt.edu or Dr. David Farmer, dfarmer@hsc.unt.edu, if you have any questions. I look forward to seeing you soon, and welcoming you as colleagues as you study medicine. Yours truly, Bruce Dubin, D.O., J.D., FACOI, FCLM Interim Dean University of North Texas Health Science Center Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine *When signing up for the CITI training, please sign-up under the category of Student Researcher-Graduate Level for the CITI trainining.
Hey ya'll! On behalf of the Class of 2012, I would like to welcome you to the TCOM family. Over the next four years, your class will learn together, cry together, and most importantly, make some great memories together. Take advantage of the unique opportunity that you have been afforded and make the best of your time. Always strive to help each other succeed in the classroom and push your fellow classmates to become the best physicians that they can be. Take advantage of the numerous organizations that are available on campus and get involved in anything that you are passionate about. If you have any questions, please email me at abarzin@hsc.unt.edu. Have fun, and we all look forward to meeting and getting to know you over the next few years.
Amir Barzin, MS
Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, OMS-I