I am finishing up my first semester at PUCE in Quito, Ecuador and wondering if I have made a serious mistake. I am beyond disappointed in my classmates and my professors. The school keeps touting some award for being the best med school in “Iberoamerica”, but seriously a lot of stuff they do here is BS. For example, for my class on the morphology of skin, I had to make a mock-up of a melanocyte. For the same class, we had to do a mock trial of the sun. Is this elementary school?
We are supposed to be in exam period, and two of my professors are STILL giving lectures because they haven´t finished the material. And, one of these gave 24-hour notice of an exam.
On top of that, many of my classmates are quite lazy. There are CONSTANT group projects where we have to give powerpoint presentations. Some of these kids show up 15 minutes - literally - before the presentation without having done an ounce of work, and just read the text that I and, perhaps, one other diligent person have prepared. It´s is freaking ridiculous and utterly discouraging.
Excuse me. I have to go prepare for my morpho exam AND prepare the powerpoint slides for my presentation on female genitals for tomorrow.
http://news.uky.edu/news/display_article.php?artid…
Relevant excerpts:
- In reply to:
UK [the University of Kentucky] has a formal relationship with the PUCE Medical School in Quito for the exchange of faculty and students. [...]
For more information, call Young at (859) 288-4057.
If I were in your position, I would be on the phone tomorrow with Dr. Young, asking if he could suggest any options or point me to someone who could. Hope this is of some use to you.
That’s a good tip. I interviewed at U of K and was pretty impressed with them.
Kate
That’s a good tip. I interviewed at U of K and was pretty impressed with them.
Kate
Spoxjox,
thank you for your response. I thought that your idea was a good one. However, I decided in the end not to contact Dr. Young. I couldn´t think of anything to say that didn´t sound like one long whine. And, I didn´t believe there was anything that the Dr. could have done.
After having set the 3rd quiz for 24-hours from the day of notice, my anatomay (or, Morphofunction as they call it here) here professor then set the final exam for 2 days later. That is, 3rd quiz Wednesday and final exam Friday. I took the 3rd quiz, but decided to not take the final exam. It was just too ridiculous. So, I will re-take the class next semester, be prepared for craziness and hopefully get my “A”, which is where I was headed before these shenanigans.
For one brief shining moment, I think I forgot that I was in the Third World. They do a lot of complaining here about being treated as Third Worlders, but moves like this explain why Ecuador and countries like it are where they are.
I spoke to the asst dean of the medical school about my professor. He did not help at all. And, after hearing what other professors have done and got away with, I am not surprised.
I have decided to convert a blog that I had been using to help my fellow med students in order to keep a record of my stay here at PUCE. I think that will help me vent as well as warn foreigners (at least North Americans) to stay the heck away from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador. The medical school is not worth their time or money.
Thanks again and take care
- pucemed Said:
You're welcome. In case you're curious, here is what I would say to Dr. Young:
"Hi, Dr. Young. I'm Spox Jox, and I'm a medical student at the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador in Quito. I've been here for a year now, and the experience is not quite what I had expected or had been described to me. I read an article from a UK site online that the University of Kentucky was affiliated with the PUCE school of medicine and sometimes did student exchanges. I would be very, very interested in such an arrangement. Can you tell me if such a thing is possible, or give me any other guidance on how I might continue to pursue medical school at UK or another stateside school?"
- pucemed Said:
You may well be right, but you can't know that until you ask. And the only cost is the price of a phone call and the time to write a follow-up email. (If you can't catch him on the phone -- after all, he is a physician and therefore likely very busy -- write the email anyway and tell him what you would have said over the phone. Your odds of getting a response are very high*, and just maybe he will have something important to tell you.)
(*I once wrote a Nobel Prize winner in biochemistry with a question. Got an answer within 24 hours. No kidding.)
Best of luck to you, whatever course of action you choose to follow.
- spoxjox Said:
(*I once wrote a Nobel Prize winner in biochemistry with a question. Got an answer within 24 hours. No kidding.)
Best of luck to you, whatever course of action you choose to follow.
Judy Colwell, one OPM's long-time supporters and on admissions at standford medical school, always says, if you don't ask, they can't say yes.
last year I asked the the president-elect of the American Osteopathic Association to speak at the OPM conference and got a "yes" back in about 24 hours.
Ask Dr. Young........
Your statement" for one brief shining moment, I think I forgot that I was in the Third World" might be one of the best realization that you have had thus far. It is my opinion, that if you think of this medical school in the context of medical schools in this region, you might have a easier time fitting in the program and thus become a more sucessful student.
For someone who is significantly older than my classmates, has a small business and a small child and hasn´t studied this material at all or in more than 20 years, I consider myself fairly successful. I hope to do well enough to qualify for a scholarship in the coming semester.
I have become somewhat comfortable with the random silliness of the projects although, when I think about my colleagues in other countries focusing on more important material and, perhaps, receiving more information, I do become frustrated. However, what I find enfuriating is professors not showing up to class, professors randomly changing exam schedules (24 hrs notice for a quiz, 72 hrs notice for a final), professors not covering material at all or adequately because of failure to adequately PLAN the class, etc.
This is a private institution, and I am paying for my education. Even if I´m not paying $35k per year, I´m paying a significant amount. And, one could argue that I am paying the monetary equivalent for the region of $35k per year. So, I think that I deserve better.
With respect to fitting in, (1) my goals are a bit different from those of my students and (2) I am psychologically wired to be a better kind of student than a lot of the kids here. With respect to the first point, I hope eventually to return to the U.S. and be able to work there. My long-term goal is to be able to practice in both countries. With respect to the second point, I don´t mean to denigrate my fellow students, however, I don´t cheat on exams; if I am assigned a group project, I contribute rather than expecting my colleagues to carry me and cover up in front of the professor; and, I am trying to do more than just pass.
But, perhaps, I misunderstood your comment. Could you help me understand?
I emailed Dr. Young. My goal is not to study in the U.S., so I changed your message a bit. But, he did respond to the original email and several follow-ups. He gave me the names of some folks to talk to and, hopefully, I will get some comfort regarding continuing to study at this medical school or, perhaps, changing to another one.
Thanks for all your comments!
I know this is an old post, but I cannot find any information through a google search.
Does this school, PUCE, teach in English?
Also, can you use US financial aid to pay for the school?
Thanks,