Hello, Dear Readers,
The Dis-Orientation (Dis-O) Guide is a yearly tradition at the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM), coordinated by the M1 class. (M1 is med-school slang for first years — don’t worry, you’ll learn the lingo soon.) It will not only introduce you to life in Saint Louis, to our wonderful faculty, and to other unique aspects of being a student at WUSM, but also will serve as a glimpse into the lives of the fascinating people who make up our class.
You’ve just made it through one of the hardest portions of your academic life — getting into medical school! Now you’re up against your next challenge — the M1 year. Lucky for you, we were in your
shoes just one short year ago! This guide has all of the information that we think will help you make the transition into medical school and fall in love with WUSM like we all have. As you flip through, you’ll find descriptions of what attending (or not attending) WUSM classes is like, as well as letters full of advice from our course masters and older students. You’ll come across information on living expenses and housing options, awesome restaurant recommendations and grocery store locations (both regular and ethnic). Definitely don’t forget to check out our list of awesome Saint Louis events and fun places we’ve explored around our wonderful city. On a more personal level, you can read the Perspectives section to learn about the people who will be your “big sib” mentors next year.
The great thing about the Dis-O Guide is that it is written by real WUSM students giving honest opinions about their experiences thus far in medical school. While there’s no way that one booklet could totally encompass the wide variety of backgrounds, beliefs and life experiences that make up our class, we hope that as you read through our guide, you get a sense of who we are and get excited to get to know us better next year, as a member of WUSM’s M1 class!
Sincerely,
Nirbhay Jain, Nitya Sreevalsan and Kat Zhang
Dis-O Editors-in-Chief