5th Semester in Portland Maine

The school in Maine is at 24 Atlantic Place in South Portland. It is a classroom and office in a business park. You will spend three days a week in class with virtual and actual patients. The staff and the professors are good, friendly and professional.Then you will spend a prescribed number of hours with a preceptor. You will need a car. And you will need professional style clothing. We met many locals that were friendly and helpful.
Housing. If you are single and can live in a dorm room environment you can find plenty of affordable housing. The Bayside has rooms for four with shared kitchen facilities. There are also some rooms in private houses for rent with shared facilities. Craigslist is full of ads for housing but we aware that anyone can post an ad on Craigslist. Start early and be careful.
Be aware that the summer season is prime tourist season and housing will be expensive if you want an apartment of your own. Portland is a very popular vacation area and the rates are at a premium. Married students or those with pets will find it very hard to find a place. Also almost no one will be willing to give you a short term lease. Some will accept short term for a monthly up charge. We found a few places that wanted an extra $300 a month for short term. Ex; a summer rental, short term in Yarmouth(14 miles away) with an upcharge was a 540 sq ft studio for $1125 a month. SHORT TERM RENTAL is going to be hard to find. I have heard that the fall and winter season is more affordable and lease terms are subject to adjustment.
THe downtown Portland, South Portland area have a lot of older houses and buildings with rental apartments and rooms. But I would caution you NOT to rent one sight unseen. Some of them are very nice and in a classic building, but some of them are a virtual nightmare. Also be aware that ON STREET parking can be a hassle in some areas. If you go in the fall or winter you should definitely look for off street parking. THere is a copius amount of snow and they need to plow everyday. If you are not used to a snowy city be sure to ask about parking, plowing, and restrictions.
Some of the areas near by that you can look for housing Scarborough, Saco, Falmouth, Westbrook, Gorham, Yarmouth. Just be prepared to go as early as possible and look for yourself. Also Biddeford has some nice areas but some Biddeford residents told us that there were some very dangerous areas as well. The beach areas like Higgins beach, Old Orchard beach are close by and off season rentals could be available. But ask about snow plowing, you may not be able to drive out to school easily.

GX225 - empty your private messages, your inbox is full.

Just a little clarification over some confusion regarding 5th semester:

On your first day of 5th semester in Maine, you will take an 8 hour full-length Step 1 Exam. It will be identical in style (but not content) to your exit exam. You do NOT need to study for this, and frankly, I would suggest you do not.
There is no use in spending the time you should be unwinding between semesters to cram for this exam. You need that time off. Please relax, as 5th semester is the biggest trial to date. In addition, studying beforehand or cramming will only distort your results, and take away from the exam's value as an evaluative tool. Without studying it indicated how much you mastered during basic sciences (highlighting your strengths), and pointing out your specific weaknesses, in a subject and systems based manner. You need to appreciate that it is NOT held against you in any way.

In addition, I do not think that the highest score on the entrance exam gets the "best" preceptor placement. I cannot comment on this with certainty however, as I don't know and obviously wasn't involved in the process of matching students to preceptors. I DO know that I was placed in the preceptors office that I requested (everyone fills out a form with their preferences).
In addition, it is difficult to even state that any preceptorship is better or worse than the others. It is completely subjective. I was at the largest hospital in the state - that doesn't mean it was the best learning opportunity. Because it offers residencies, has many other students, observers, and is more closely supervised, there was little autonomy. This is in comparison to others in my class who were at other preceptors, perhaps less glamorous placements, but were given the opportunity to scrub into the Operating Room, help deliver babies, and do full hands-on physical exams.

With respect to failing the Kaplan Exit exam. I do not know what happens when you fail the exam three times. I have been asked if you then have to return to the island to repeat basic sciences. While I do not know the answer to this, it sounds like another tall tale unfounded in truth. It probably stems from the true fact that if you fail the USMLE Step 1 three times, the school has the right to academically dismiss you. For the record, I have not heard of anyone failing the exit exam three times, nor having to return to the island under those circumstances.

With respect to "Repeating 5th semester":
Semester 5 is really two parts; there is ICM II (which includes its own exams, clinical and written, lectures, virtual patients, preceptorship, etc.), and then there is the board review/Kaplan segment, which culminates with the Exit Exam.
If you pass ICM II, that credit is applied to your transcript with a grade. You do not have to repeat that segment of the semester, regardless of your exit exam result.
Again, if you fail the Kaplan Exit exam, but pass the ICM II portion, you do NOT have to re-take ICM II.
However, you do need to pass the exit exam before the school will certify you with ECFMG to register for the USMLE Step 1.

Why so much importance placed on the Kaplan Exit exam?
It is a mechanism to protect both the student and the school - the school uses data it and Kaplan have accrued to set the score that they believe makes you "safe" to pass the USMLE Step 1. It is not in the school's interest to have people failing Step 1, as Caribbean schools are often judged by their Step 1 pass rates. It is also in the student's interest not to hurry along the process to take Step 1, and to only write when there are objective indications that they are ready. A failure on Step 1 is more damaging to the student and his aspirations than to the school's.

Thankful information.
Is there any way to know what are the options for the proprietorship and which one most of the ppl decide to go for?
if there are problems with he proprietorship is it possible to change it?

is the md5 program using the 2012 kaplan lecture notes now? Are they different from the 2010 ones? i.e. better or worse?

thanks......

Originally Posted by competitor

GX225 - empty your private messages, your inbox is full.

Just a little clarification over some confusion regarding 5th semester:

On your first day of 5th semester in Maine, you will take an 8 hour full-length Step 1 Exam. It will be identical in style (but not content) to your exit exam. You do NOT need to study for this, and frankly, I would suggest you do not.
There is no use in spending the time you should be unwinding between semesters to cram for this exam. You need that time off. Please relax, as 5th semester is the biggest trial to date. In addition, studying beforehand or cramming will only distort your results, and take away from the exam's value as an evaluative tool. Without studying it indicated how much you mastered during basic sciences (highlighting your strengths), and pointing out your specific weaknesses, in a subject and systems based manner. You need to appreciate that it is NOT held against you in any way.

In addition, I do not think that the highest score on the entrance exam gets the "best" preceptor placement. I cannot comment on this with certainty however, as I don't know and obviously wasn't involved in the process of matching students to preceptors. I DO know that I was placed in the preceptors office that I requested (everyone fills out a form with their preferences).
In addition, it is difficult to even state that any preceptorship is better or worse than the others. It is completely subjective. I was at the largest hospital in the state - that doesn't mean it was the best learning opportunity. Because it offers residencies, has many other students, observers, and is more closely supervised, there was little autonomy. This is in comparison to others in my class who were at other preceptors, perhaps less glamorous placements, but were given the opportunity to scrub into the Operating Room, help deliver babies, and do full hands-on physical exams.

With respect to failing the Kaplan Exit exam. I do not know what happens when you fail the exam three times. I have been asked if you then have to return to the island to repeat basic sciences. While I do not know the answer to this, it sounds like another tall tale unfounded in truth. It probably stems from the true fact that if you fail the USMLE Step 1 three times, the school has the right to academically dismiss you. For the record, I have not heard of anyone failing the exit exam three times, nor having to return to the island under those circumstances.

With respect to "Repeating 5th semester":
Semester 5 is really two parts; there is ICM II (which includes its own exams, clinical and written, lectures, virtual patients, preceptorship, etc.), and then there is the board review/Kaplan segment, which culminates with the Exit Exam.
If you pass ICM II, that credit is applied to your transcript with a grade. You do not have to repeat that segment of the semester, regardless of your exit exam result.
Again, if you fail the Kaplan Exit exam, but pass the ICM II portion, you do NOT have to re-take ICM II.
However, you do need to pass the exit exam before the school will certify you with ECFMG to register for the USMLE Step 1.

Why so much importance placed on the Kaplan Exit exam?
It is a mechanism to protect both the student and the school - the school uses data it and Kaplan have accrued to set the score that they believe makes you "safe" to pass the USMLE Step 1. It is not in the school's interest to have people failing Step 1, as Caribbean schools are often judged by their Step 1 pass rates. It is also in the student's interest not to hurry along the process to take Step 1, and to only write when there are objective indications that they are ready. A failure on Step 1 is more damaging to the student and his aspirations than to the school's.

100 percent accurate.

Can someone provide the dates for May's 5th semester in Portland?