MS1 Class Information – July 28, 2022

Congratulations!

Congratulations, first years, on launching into classes. We hope you’re as excited as the faculty and staff who are so happily getting to know you. We also know this is a lot of hard work. So we want to remind you about a resource, the intranet page of the Academic Support team.  

Here’s what the Academic Support team has to say:

Welcome to UWSOM! As you continue to learn about the various resources available to you, we want to share some important information that will help you navigate Academic Support services: 

  • General questions: For general questions or concerns related to Academic Support services, please contact us at somlearn@uw.edu.
  • Academic Support website: To learn more about Academic Support services, please visit our website here.
  • Learning specialists: To schedule an appointment to meet with your learning specialist, please visit our scheduling page.
  • Virtual study rooms: Virtual study rooms are available via Zoom 24/7. For more information, visit our website here.
  • Group tutoring: Group sessions and drop-in tutoring sessions are offered weekly. For students who need additional support, individual sessions are available as needed as often as one 1-hour session per week. For questions or concerns about tutoring contact Dr. Yvonne Tyler, tutoring program manager at somlearn@uw.edu.

infographic about tutoring


Don’t purchase AMBOSS yet

A message from Dr. Heather McPhillips, associate dean for curriculum: You all may be hearing about the many third-party resources available for medical students to make purchases.  As part of your next block, I&I, you will be required to purchase AMBOSS which is a popular Q-bank and learning resource.

DO NOT PURCHASE AMBOSS YET! Prior to the I&I block, we will be sending out information to purchase this at a substantial discount as part of the institutional discount for UW. 

For more detail, here’s what the Office of Curriculum has to say:

UWSOM is excited to incorporate AMBOSS as a learning resource into the curriculum starting with your next block, Infections & Immunity (I&I). AMBOSS is an online medical learning platform designed to assist students in developing test taking skills and prepare for the United States Medical Licensing Exams (USMLE).

AMBOSS provides access to practice questions, medical images and clinical articles. You will receive information on how to purchase this question bank prior to the start of I&I in September. We encourage you to postpone your purchase of AMBOSS until we provide you with an institutional discount which would substantially decrease the cost of the question bank.

  • To learn more about AMBOSS, visit their website: www.amboss.com.
  • If you are interested in learning more about the incorporation of AMBOSS into the curriculum please contact the Office of Curriculum (somcurr@uw.edu).
  • If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of question banks please contact Academic Support (somlearn@uw.edu).

Seattle volunteer opportunity

The Office of Healthcare Equity is looking for early rising volunteers who’d be willing to help at the PNW African American Male Wellness Walk in Renton on Aug. 6.

UW Medicine and Valley Medical Center will be running the health screening stations for participants checking blood pressure, pulse, cholesterol/hba1c/blood sugar, and heart rate on attendees. This is a great opportunity for our medical students to get out into the community, notes Priscilla Estrada, Community and Workforce Engagement Specialist, Office of Healthcare Equity.

The team is in need for volunteers to help support the health screening stations, help attendees fill out paperwork, etc, she said.

Schedule: 6 a.m. volunteer arrival (Screenings will be done prior to the walk starting at 7 a.m.). The event ends at noon.

Location: Renton Memorial Stadium, 405 Logan Avenue N., Renton, 98057

Click here to learn more about the National African American Male Wellness Agency and the amazing work they do. Click here for the event page.

To sign up, email Priscilla Estrada here.


ICYMI: Apply for testing/classroom accommodations now, if applicable 

If you need testing and/or other accommodations for medical school, contact the UW Disability Resources for Students (DRS) office now. All accommodations are processed through UW DRS, irrespective of your Foundations site. Review and approval of the accommodations application takes four to six weeks before accommodations can be implemented by the UW School of Medicine. Contact UW DRS as soon as possible to begin this process.  

 


In case you missed it: Here is a link to the July 14, 2022 Student Newsletter Information for MS1s.


Have a great week!