Evaluation of Saint James School of Medicine MD2 Classes

Overall SJSM is an OK medical school; however the material few of the classes provides us is really weak when it comes to being medically relevant. I’m going to go through the second semester classes and provide insight on the strength of the class based on its materials and the teacher.

Medical Genetics class is taught by our dean. It is a difficult class because the instructor challenges us so we would learn the materials inside and out. I compared what he teaches and what Kaplan teaches and not to my surprised it’s the same material but he teaches to a greater extent when it comes to details.

Journal Club class; this is a new class they added to our curriculum. It’s more work for us but in general it’s not bad. Each student can work by his or her self or be in a small group and find a medical journal and present the journal to the class. This is medically relevant because it keeps us updated on the latest research or what’s going on in the medical field.

Physiology class is very weak to what needs to be taught so we can grasp the full knowledge of the material. The instructor is very knowledgeable and very friendly; however, the entire class agrees that he does not do a good job in teaching us what needs to be taught so we can be prepared for pharmacology class next semester. For that reason the entire class except for the first row does not pay attention. If anyone walks around during Physiology class they’ll see that, unlike the first row, everyone else is studying for something else, playing games, or watching videos. I’ve talked to enough medical professionals to know that physiology is the basis for being a physician because a doctor has to do than just memorization he also has to know how things work. One of the doctors, I forgot his name, said Physiology is the foundation for medicine. Apparently there was an announcement that there will be a Physiology lecture from Chicago. I don’t know why headquarters is doing that but I think they know of the weak teaching of Physiology and so they want to try something new.

Biochemistry class is not so much is a weak class but what is being taught is not quite medically based. What’s being taught in that class is more college based biochemistry than the medical school version. There is no complete clinical side to the materials.

Neuroanatomy class is now another weak class. The teacher we previously had was very good and he taught well. He made sure we learned the materials inside and out. I busted my butt studying for his last test and I passed with an A. However, there was a change in classes and our instructor was assigned to teach MD1 Gross Anatomy class. In exchange we got another teacher, who is too quiet, and his voice does not project well in our class. So, just like Physiology class, over 90% of my classmates do not pay attention.

After all this I learned that at the end of the day, it's what you make out of it. And if you work hard you'll pass the Unites States Medical Licensing Examination.