Boston University Medical Campus
Admissions

Student Life at Boston University School of Medicine

Interactions Among Students

BUSM is known for the very warm and collegial relationships that are established among students. The class is very diverse and students generally place great value on the opportunity to meet and work with people of so many backgrounds. The new introductory module at the start of the 1st year gives students ample opportunity to develop friendships and establish study groups. The curriculum incorporates many opportunities for working teams and study groups. This approach is specifically encouraged by the faculty as it is a prelude to the collaborative nature of the modern practice of medicine. Virtually all students had other opportunities that they declined in order to choose BUSM. They are in the class by choice and are fully engaged, both personally and professionally.

Faculty Student Interactions

• Strong and collegial relationships between faculty and students are a high priority throughout the entire 4 years of the program. Both the clinical and the basic science faculty are involved in advising and mentoring activities and participate in the Informal Curriculum, allowing substantial interactions with students outside of the structured environment of the classroom or the clinical service.
  • The student government sponsors a spring dinner with faculty.
  • Each student is a member of an Academy of Advisors, participating in an ongoing series of activities, both on-campus and in faculty homes.

Governance and Activities

• SCOMSA (Student Committee on Medical School Activities)
  • Curriculum Committee
  • Executive Committee – 1 representative/class
  • Admissions Committee – 2/5 representative/class (spring)
  • General Committee – 6 MD and 1 MD/PhD students from each class
    • Approve funding for organizational events, and conferences
    • Plan events:
      • Barbeque – spring and fall
      • Faculty dinner – spring
      • Informal and semiformal – spring and fall
      • Skit night
    • Funds are allocated for each class to promote cohesiveness, sponsoring a variety of activities such as: a ski trip last year for 1st year students- 70 participated, and an Alternative Spring Break that took students to Nicaragua to work with Habitat for Humanity.

Interest Groups

34 student organizations are currently active on the medical campus, including ACOG, AMSA, Anna Bissonnette House, Armed Forces Medical Society, Asian American Medical Society, AAMC-OSR, Geriatrics, Integrative Medicine, Adult Immunization, Business and Medicine, Christian Medical Assoc, Clinical Neuroscience, Creative Arts Society, Domestic Violence Awareness Project, Family Medicine, International Health Organization, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual People in Medicine, MMS, Medical Students for Choice, Environmental Awareness, Outreach Van Project, PEDS, Physicians for a National Health Program, Primary care Society, American Heart Assoc., South Asian Medical Student Assoc., Neurology, Student National Medical Association, Surgical Society. Psychiatry Interest Group. Approximately 85% of students participate in one-or-more groups in a substantial way during their 4 years at BUSM. Click here to view the Student Organizations.

Service Learning

At BUSM, service-learning offers medical students a unique educational experience through engagement with community-based medicine and social advocacy.  These experiences encourage the development of professionalism, ethics and humanitarian values. A description of service learning opportunities may be found at http://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm-osa/servicelearning/.

Advising and Support

• Careers in Medicine – AAMC program with an active chapter at BUSM.
• Peer Advisors, 2nd year students who volunteer their time, assist incoming students in accommodating to the many demands of entering medical school.
• Academies of Advisors, is a program initiated during the 2003-2004 academic year. There are 6 Academies, each with a Dean and 5 other faculty in a variety of specialties. Faculty membership is considered prestigious, and the participants are our most talented teachers and advisors. Students are assigned to an academy on entrance to BUSM. The program is designed to increase personal and professional interactions between faculty and students, improve advising and mentoring, and expand career counseling. Feedback has been very positive both from students and faculty, and the program is being expanded.
• Each student has an individual faculty advisor assigned within his/her Academy of Advisors. In addition, students select field-specific advisors during the core clinical clerkships of the 3rd year as he/she begins to focus on a career path.

Special Pathways and Their Impact on Student Life

BUSM has multiple tracks leading to the MD degree. These tracks, along with our various combined degree programs (MD-PhD, MD-MPH, MD-MBA), contribute to diversity of educational background, perspective, and career goals, producing a lively and challenging academic environment. The following special pathways, as a group, typically constitute up to about 30% of the entering class.

• Seven-Year Liberal Arts/Medical Education Program (SMED)
  • Opportunity for exceptional high school seniors to obtain both the baccalaureate and medical degrees in 7 years. There are flexible opportunities to pursue and develop academic interests and potentially decompress the first year of medical school.
• Modular Medical Integrated Curriculum (MMEDIC)
  • Boston University students who have completed 2 years of undergraduate study in the College of Arts and Sciences may apply for early selection to the School of Medicine. MMEDIC integrates the study of traditional arts and sciences with the study of medical science. This may result in decompression and enrichment of the BUSM, but does not shorten the total educational sequence below the traditional 8 years.
• Engineering/Medical Integrated Curriculum ( ENGMEDIC )
  • Students who have completed 2 years of study in biomedical engineering at the College of Engineering may apply for early selection to the School of Medicine. The curriculum integrates biomedical engineering courses with liberal arts, sciences and medical courses, again allowing decompression and enrichment of the curriculum without shortening the time required to obtain the two degrees.
• Early Medical School Selection Program (EMSSP)
  • Students from a consortium of undergraduate schools (Clark-Atlanta, Dillard, Hampton, Morehouse, Morgan State, Morris Brown, North Carolina Central, Spelman, Tougaloo, University of the Incarnate Word, University of Texas at El Paso, University of the Virgin Islands, and Virginia Union) may apply for early admission during the sophomore year of college. They spend 2 summers and the senior year at Boston University. They may earn double credit for selected BA/BS and MD courses as a college senior, allowing them to decompress and enrich the medical school schedule.

How Well We Do on National Measures

• National Board Licensure Exams (USMLE): In recent years, BUSM students have achieved a 91-94% pass rate for first time takers on step I and 92-94% for step II – both are at or above the average for U.S medical schools. In 2006-2007, the pass rate reached 99%, with a similar jump in mean scores.
• Internship and Resident Match (NRMP): Survey of graduating students in recent years indicate that 85-89% had matched in one of their top 3 choices and 90% or more were satisfied or very satisfied with the results. Moreover, as BUSM students are encouraged to apply to the top programs in their field of choice, the very high match rates above are all the more extraordinary. A full match list for the most recent graduating class is available on the Office of Student Affairs Home Page.