Medicine at the Medical University of Warsaw: Everything they won’t tell you

Biochemistry with Elements of Chemistry

The Pharmacy Building at 1 Banacha Street. The subject is considered to be the most difficult element of the second year. An exam is a multiple-choice test that often uses negative scoring or a system where only ticking all the correct answers gives a point. Failure to pass biochemistry blocks entry into the third year and makes it impossible to complete clinical subjects, which de facto means a year of loss. Students most often fail on metabolic pathways and hormonal regulation – the volume of chemical details is disproportionate to the time allotted for learning.

Human physiology

Library and Information Center (CBI) and rooms in the building at Żwirki i Wigury Street. Physiology verifies the ability to think logically, not just to master facts by memory. The system of tickets for each laboratory is merciless – the lack of preparation from the regulatory mechanisms results in immediate expulsion from the room. Failure to pass the laboratories blocks access to semester colloquia. Students rely on studies uploaded on network drives, but examiners emphasize the interpretation of research results, which makes the “stock market” insufficient.

Pathomorphology

Location: Hospital at Banacha Street. A third-year subject that provides a bridge between theory and clinic. Laboratory trauma involves recognizing microscopic lesions in tissues that are cancerous or inflammatory. Colloquia are frequent and require perfect knowledge of the TNM classification. One unsubmitted description of the preparation in the e-learning system may block the possibility of proceeding to the final session.

Medical Microbiology

Department of Microbiology at Chałubińskiego Street. The item generates piles in the September campaign. The student must master not only the nomenclature of bacteria and viruses, but above all the mechanisms of antibiotic resistance. Gram staining passes are standard – a mistake in the technique results in failing the exercise. The exam is a test exam, but the questions are constructed in a case study manner, which requires clinical proficiency, which third-year students do not yet have.

Why are the third and fourth years critical points?

The belief that after passing anatomy and biochemistry “it is already downhill” is a strategic mistake that costs dozens of people every year to be removed from the list of MUW students. While the first two years are a struggle with memory, the third and fourth years verify the ability to connect facts under time pressure. This is where Pharmacology comes in, the subject with the highest “clinical block” rate. Failure to pass pharmacology in the summer or retake session automatically prevents the implementation of clinical blocks in the fifth year, which in the USOS system results in the need to repeat the whole year, even if all other modules are passed.

Pharmacology with Toxicology – “The Bible of Doses” in the Pharmacy Building

The classes take place in the Pharmacy Building at 1 Banacha Street. Pharmacology at the Medical University of Warsaw is a process of systematic destruction through details. Partial colloquia require perfect knowledge of the mechanisms of action, indications, contraindications and, worst of all, precise dosage of drugs (including pediatric doses).

• Exam format: Test 100-120 questions. Multiple-answer questions are often used, where not selecting one correct option or selecting one wrong option results in zero points for the entire question.
• Recipe. An error in the notation of units (milligrams vs micrograms) on the colloquium from the recipe results in an unsatisfactory grade without the possibility of discussion.
• Stock Exchange: Materials from previous years help to understand trends (e.g. emphasis on specific groups of cardiac drugs), but the department is famous for introducing questions about the latest guidelines of scientific societies that are not in the old databases.

Biophysics – Technical trap on Chałubińskiego Street

A subject often neglected by students focused on “pure medicine”. Location: Department of Biophysics and Physiological Physics, 5 Chałubińskiego Street. The problem is not theory, but laboratory rigor.

• Process: Each laboratory exercise must be preceded by a passed pass. The questions concern the mathematical derivation of formulas and principles of operation of medical equipment.
• Error analysis: Medical students often show deficiencies in computational proficiency. Failure to pass two laboratory reports in one semester blocks admission to the final exam. The exam is a combination of calculation and theory tasks – an error in the SI units on the worksheet ends with a point being crossed out.

Immunology – The speed of light in CBI

Immunology at the Medical University of Warsaw (Library and Information Centre, Żwirki i Wigury Street) is a time-compressed course. The material, which includes complex cytokine cascades and cellular response mechanisms, is presented at a rate that makes current analysis impossible.

• Risk: The final test is known for asking about the extreme details of immunophenotyping. Students drop out here because of cumulation: immunology is usually adjacent to microbiology or pathomorphology in the plan, which forces the selection of material. This selection usually ends with the September campaign.

Clinical Genetics – Pawińskiego Street Building

Location: Department of Medical Genetics, 3/5 Pawińskiego Street. An object-trap. Seemingly light, in fact based on very detailed tests.

• Problem: The need for lineage analysis and the probability of occurrence of rare genetic syndromes in real time during the exam. The failure to pass genetics in the first term often results from underestimating the difficulty of the test, which operates on very similar distractors (incorrect answers).

Reasons for resignation: Logistical and hospital aspect

WUM is a distributed university. A medical student becomes a nomad from the third year. A seminar in internal medicine can be held at the Central Clinical Hospital (CSK) at Banacha Street, and classes in surgery at the Bródno Hospital (Kondratowicza Street) or the Hospital of the Ministry of Interior and Administration (Wołoska Street).

• Cause-and-effect sequence: Inefficient public transport in Warsaw plus the lack of parking spaces in front of hospitals generates permanent delays.
• Specific: In many clinics, being late for a doctor’s briefing/seminar by more than 15 minutes is equivalent to being absent. Three absences (even excused) from the clinical block require homework with another group, which is technically impossible with a rigid plan at USOS. The result: failure to pass the block, not being allowed to participate in the session, having to take a condition.

Condition and repetition of the year in USOS

When the knowledge verification system wins, the student is faced with an administrative choice.

1. Conditional entry: Only possible when the object is not a so-called “sequential object”. Pharmacology cannot be taken as a condition when switching to the fifth year. You have to repeat the year (i.e. a year without promotion).
2. Costs: Repeating a year costs about PLN 15,000 – 20,000, depending on the number of ECTS credits that could not be obtained. The money must be credited to the account before the start of the semester, otherwise USOS blocks registration for clinical groups.
3. Dean’s Office (61 Żwirki i Wigury Street): Queues in front of the dean’s office in the last days of September are the norm. Appeal procedures require a written form – the argumentation must be “hard” (e.g. a documented illness that prevents taking the exam). The subjective sense of “injustice of the test” is not considered.

Correction session and September campaign

The retake session at the Medical University of Warsaw is the time when USOS becomes the busiest system in Warsaw. A student is entitled to one retake date in each subject. If the sum of the ECTS credits not passed does not exceed the deficit limit (usually 12), you can apply for a condition. The costs of repeating an item are drastic. The rate for 1 ECTS point is several hundred zlotys, which generates amounts of 10,000 – 15,000 PLN when repeating anatomy (15-20 ECTS).

The board exam (commission exam) is a final procedure, initiated at the student’s written request in the event of justified objections to the examiner’s impartiality or the course of the exam. The chances of passing the commission are minimal – it is usually an oral exam in front of a committee of professors in the Paszkiewicz Hall. Statistically, the commission ends with a positive assessment in less than 10% of cases. This is the last straight before being crossed off the list.

Technical reasons for failing

Failure in a medical field is rarely due to a low IQ. It is procedural errors that destroy the students of the Medical University of Warsaw. Collisions in the timetable are an everyday occurrence. The microbiology laboratory on Chałubińskiego Street ends at 12:45 p.m., and the clinical seminar on Banacha Street begins at 1:00 p.m. Students waste time on logistics between Lindley’s campus and Banach’s campus, resulting in late tickets.

One mistake in USOS – failure to attach a subject to the study programme or missing the deadline for registration for the exam – results in a lack of grade in the protocol. If the minutes are closed without a grade entered, the student is not admitted to the retake session. In addition, laboratories lasting until 8:00 p.m. exclude effective evening learning, which leads to a pile of material before the “colossi” finishing a given thematic block.

Frequently asked questions about the Faculty of Medicine at MUW

Do they recognize sick leaves after the deadline at the Medical University of Warsaw?

The sick leave must be delivered to the teacher or to the secretariat of the department within 3 or 7 working days (depending on the internal regulations of the department) from the end of the period of absence. Exemptions delivered after this deadline, especially after the colloquium date, are systematically rejected. In the case of the exam, the excuse must be in the form of a medical certificate, and the decision to reinstate the date is made by the examiner. If USOS records an unexcused absence, the deadline is forfeited, which de facto means that the unsatisfactory grade is entered as the first attempt.

How much does it cost to repeat a subject in a medical field?

The costs of repeating classes are determined annually by the order of the Rector of MUW. The rates for 1 ECTS credit range from 300 to 600 PLN. In the case of key subjects, such as anatomy (20 ECTS) or biochemistry (15 ECTS), the total cost of repeating the subject itself can range from PLN 5,000 to 12,000. The fee is paid to the student’s individual account generated in USOS. Failure to pay on time results in blocking the possibility of taking exams and colloquia, which leads to further failures.

Is it possible to change the dean’s group at MUW?

Changing the dean’s group is possible only on the basis of a “person for person” exchange within the same year of study, after obtaining the consent of both students and the Vice-Dean for Student Affairs. Applications are considered only in the first week of the semester. After this date, USOS blocks the possibility of migration between groups, which is related to the rigid limits of places in laboratories at Banacha and Chałubińskiego streets. Arguments about “difficult commuting” or “inappropriate plan” are usually ignored by the administration.

What are “high heels” and how to prepare for them?

“Pins” is a practical exam in anatomy at Collegium Anatomicum. The student has a specimen (a corpse or a dissected organ) in front of him/her, into which a pin is inserted. Within a few dozen seconds, write the name of the structure on the card in Polish and Latin. Naming errors or illegible handwriting result in zero points. Preparation consists of spending many hours of time in the prosectorium; using only atlases (e.g. Nettera) is insufficient, because natural preparations look different from illustrations.

Are there “kindergartens” at MUW?

Exams on the zero date (kindergarten) depend on the decision of the head of a given department. They are most often organized in subjects such as biophysics, history of medicine or first aid. Kindergarten grades are usually not entered into the USOS if they are not passed – the student simply approaches the first date in the session without consequences. However, some departments require a certain average of colloquia during the semester in order to admit a student to kindergarten.