Volume 124 Issue 106
kansan.com
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Campus politics
Young Democrats and College Republicans prepare for caucuses PAGE 2
LAWDEMCER
CAMPUS
nfuse
estrians
CHRIS BRONSON/KANSAN
HAWK signals have created confu-
place to cross," Woosley said. er times it's pedestrian res, but we look at the number nicles on the road to see if it's ole."
nucky and Tennessee streets between 7,000 and 10,000 day, a number not surprising by Benson, a nearby resident former University student. He were excited when we saw were putting them in at first use there are so many cars, they just fly by," Benson said. I guess I don't understand they couldn't put up a sign what each signal means."ough puzzling at first, Gaines e would rather the signals be sing than unsafe.
lo like having them there just se it does slow down traffic, see so many people using walking to campus," Gaines "It's definitely better than g someone get run over or thing."
Edited by Max Lush
Changes to MCAT will affect incoming students
MARSHALL SCHMIDT mschmidt@kansan.com
Freshmen pursuing pre-medical education at the University of Kansas will face a significantly different MCAT on their road to medical school this fall. Although recently announced changes to the MCAT will not affect current pre-medical or medical students, they do reflect a shift in the medical community to emphasize a more holistic approach to treating patients.
"Doctors need to be effectively trained in working with real people and the complex factors they face," said Dr. Jeff Koetje, the Kaplan national director for pre-health programs. "Historically, doctors have been criticized with dealing with patients as organ systems or diseases."
Changes to the MCAT will include more upper-level biology and chemistry to the biosciences, elimination of the writing portion and a new section covering behavior and social sciences, Koetje said. The added section intends to convey the complexity of factors affecting patients' health, including language, culture, economics, value systems and ethics.
While Koetje cited that 73 percent of surveyed medical school admission officers approve of the change, only 50 percent believe that undergraduate programs will have enough time to make the necessary curriculum changes.
All sections will be longer, lengthening the test from five-and-a-half to seven hours.
Paul Crosby, pre-medical advisor for the University, is excited for the coming changes but is concerned about the changes to pre-medical
"Having custom courses sounds great," Crosby said. "However, it's very expensive, and this would place a great burden on small colleges. Overly specialized courses would not prepare students as well for further learning and other career possibilities."
Heidi Chumley, senior associate dean for medical education at KU Medical Center, sees the changes as long awaited. While medical school admissions will have to recalibrate the weight MCAT scores have on admission standards, Chumley sees other aspects of admission, such as grades, the in-person interview and written answers, as continuing
The MCAT has been part of the medical school admission process for 73 years, and this is the fifth revision of the test. The last changes were made in 1991.
course work.
Last year, 173 KU students applied for medical school. Koetje encourages pre-medical students to keep up to date with changes, which are slated to go into effect in 2015.
Koetje said students can find additional information at kaplan-cat.com, or by following @kaplan on twitter and "liking" Kaplan on facebook.
"I hope the changes in the MCAT is an opportunity for all institutions to look at more holistic measures for admissions," Chumley said.
"I would encourage students at the University of Kansas to stay tuned and follow along." Koetje said.
Edited by Taylor Lewis
to be relevant.
The Kaplan Test Prep surveyed admissions officers at 69 universities with Association of American Medical Colleges accreditation about how the new MCAT format will affect test and medical school preparation. Some of the highlighted results to questions of the survey are given below.
Based on what you know, do you support the recommended changes to the MCAT set for 2015?
- Completely yes; 18%
- Generally yes; 52%
- Generally no; 3%
- Completely no; 0%
- Not sure; 27%
Do you think the changes to the test will better prepare students for medical school?
— Completely yes: 11%
— Generally yes: 62%
CLASSIFIEDS 11
CROSSWORD 4
Don't forget
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 5
Should pre-med programs revise their curricula in order to sufficiently prepare students for the new MCAT?
— Generally no: 9%
— Completely no: 0%
— Not sure: 17%
— Yes: 67%
— No: 5%
— Not sure: 29%
— Refused to answer: 8%
Which would you say is the most impor
SPORTS 12
SUDOKU 4
Which would you say is the most impor-
tant admissions factor?
— MCAT score: 43%
— Undergraduate GPA: 28%
— Relevant experience: 19%
— Interview: 9%
— Letters of recommendation: 2%
— Personal statement: 0%
Today is National Pancake Day.
Indulge in a few pancake stacks.
(On stacks, on stacks, on stacks...
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
Source: Kaplan Test Prep's 2011 Survey of Medical School Admissions Officers
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