Review:
I've always felt that your view of a professor depends on the attitude you have going in, but that is only true to an extent. Being a community health major I was really excited about this course and paid attention in all the lectures but I came out rather disappointed. McKissick taught us the most common-sense information in lecture and filled his powerpoints with obvious statements and statistics. He managed to take readings that were often brilliant and enlightening and teach us only the most useless, trivial points from them. Unfortunately that was also the material that was tested on the midterm and final. Discussion in the recitations was a bit better but this course never really lived up to its potential, and that is surely because of the way McKissick taught it.

Workload:
There was a lot of reading compared to some courses at Tufts but it was always manageable- about an hour a night if you kept up. The reading was enjoyable so there was really no reason not to do it, though I'm sure you could get by without doing a lot of it. Grading was based on two essays (15 and 20%), two exams (20 and 30%), and participation in recitation (15%).

review a class you took with Gary McKissick - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
I'm not sure where some of these reviews are coming from. Prof. McKissick was probably one of, if not the best, professor I've had at Tufts. His class was amazing, and even though you probably could have done fine without doing the reading, it was so interesting that you wanted to do it. His lectures were very engaging and he made you truly care about the healthcare system. He would spend as much time as you needed out of class if you wanted to discuss anything with him. He even made us pie and spent two hours talking about the new Mass. healthcare bill. I would highly recommend taking a class with McKissick.

Workload:
Lots of reading assigned (which definitely added to lecture if you read it), one short paper on the readings, a term paper and a midterm and final. Honestly, it sounds like a lot, but the workload never felt overwhelming and tests were very easy if you studied.

review a class you took with Gary McKissick - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
Really, I think that all of you who had a bad experience in this class are haters. I didn't even do very well, yet it was my favorite class of the semester. There is no way anybody can honestly say they didn't learn alot in his class and I think that those who claim that he was arrogant are mistaking this "arrogance" for what is really his passion for the healthcare system.

Workload:
N/A

review a class you took with Gary McKissick - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
I read some of the reviews, and I am shocked, really. Let me put this into perspective... I am not one of those nerdy kids that ruin the curve for everyone--I'm actually the person at the bottom. But this class was just too easy. When I took it Spring 04, people did surprisingly bad on the midterm. Surprisingly, because although McKissick told us that we shouldn't base all our studying on the review sheet, that was all the midterm was. Plus, we had the choice to study hard for the final and not let the midterm count. We also had this choice for our final paper--if you felt you did better on the final paper than on the first one, you had the choice to make the final paper count for both (that is without knowing your grade on the final paper, of course). So he gave us opportunity after opportunity to improve our grade, so whoever's crying needs to stop. Seriously. Plus it's US healthcare for crying out loud! It doesn't get more complicated than that!!

Workload:
A small paper about communities, a midterm, a bigger paper about something (can't remember) and a final. Nothing much at all.

P.S. - we got a series of readings, and I probably did like 2 - just get a good T.A. that makes his students outline them, and you're set.

review a class you took with Gary McKissick - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
I was a senior when I took this class, and I assure you, you want to avoid this class. In my opinion, McKissick is the most arrogant, unfocussed, and unnecessarily disorganized professor I've had at Tufts. He made everyone stress out so much over their grades by taking off lots of points for missing details that questions didn't call for. I thought he was extremely pompous in class and office hours, and I came to dread the class, despite my interest in the topic. (PS I got an A in the class, so I'm not saying this to complain because I didn't do well).

Workload:
Fair amount of reading, but must keep up. Two papers, one short, one long (but only 10), and two exams.

review a class you took with Gary McKissick - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
While he may not have presented the information in the best way, he is straightforward and passionate about healthcare. He truly wants his students to do well and expects a lot from them, but it's certainly not easy. He is always available for extra help and genuinely cares about his students and their progress.

Workload:
A lot of reading. Papers were reasonable, but exams were difficult. They were short answer and he wants very specific answers that aren't always the most obvious or the most stressed in class.

review a class you took with Gary McKissick - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
I dreaded going to class to hear him ramble on about things not related to the topic. I definitely didn?t think the class was difficult at all, and the material was interesting in itself, but poorly presented.

Workload:
A normal amount of reading, a small paper, a midterm, a final paper and a final. It is very easy to do well in this class but I would not recommend this class.

review a class you took with Gary McKissick - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
He was pretty hard on us but is an excellent professor. He really knows his stuff. Sometimes he goes on tangents and his powerpoints weren't great to study from but he's always really interested in helping you as a person and a student. He has a really great, fair attitude. Our class for some reason had a hard time getting A's (for the first time in all of the classes he's taught) but he was very fair in trying to make us still learn while not killing our grade. I really learned a lot more about healthcare and politics and the terms involved. I liked it a lot.

Workload:
Lots of reading and tests although seemingly straight forward, I think he expects very detailed answers. I don't know if he expected more out of our class but sometimes he would ask a question on a test and I wouldn't know either what he was asking or into how much detail he wanted me to go since he didn't like too much detail but I didn't want to lose points. There are two papers and two exams and recitation with TA Zach Baker was awesome!

review a class you took with Gary McKissick - help your classmates make informed decisions!

Review:
Prof. McKissick is a very fair teacher who really cares about his students. He places their understanding at the top of his list and even holds Sunday brunches for all interested students. I plan on seeking out courses taught by him in the future.

Workload:
The work load was not bad. There is weekly reading, a midterm, a final, and two papers.

review a class you took with Gary McKissick - help your classmates make informed decisions!