TUCOM-CA Discussion Thread 2011-2012

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Invite as well! If offered a spot, does anybody know how long you have to decide? I know some of the other TUCOM's require a deposit within 2 weeks.

Thanks!!

Interview invite today as well.

When were you guys complete?

Originally Posted by klm527

Invite as well! If offered a spot, does anybody know how long you have to decide? I know some of the other TUCOM's require a deposit within 2 weeks.

Thanks!!

2 weeks from the date the letter is written.

Ahhh! Just had my interview! Cannot wait to find out!!!

The interview was really rather easy, so dont stress! They are just asking about yourself and why you want to become a DO. Be an active listener and smile!

Secondary completed over a month now, no interview yet. You guys know whats going on?

Originally Posted by jdang

Secondary completed over a month now, no interview yet. You guys know whats going on?

Interviews are still happening every monday and tuesday (just saw a group earlier today) and the admission committee still meets every other friday.

So wait for your chance I guess?

Does anybody know how many seats have been offered?

II today. . Complete Sep 21.

Hey all...I will be giving up my acceptance today, so one of the 1,000 who are on the waitlist can get it.

I was a little shocked about just how/why they did that...but who am I to judge. Good luck everyone

Would anyone care to comment on the current rotation situation? I read some students gripping about them a couple years ago, then last year some students said things were getting better. Anyone have any more recent input? Also, are the lectures recorded or transcribed at all? Also, correct me if I am wrong but the curriculum is lecture-system based right? Thanks !

Originally Posted by Thespunger

Would anyone care to comment on the current rotation situation? I read some students gripping about them a couple years ago, then last year some students said things were getting better. Anyone have any more recent input? Also, are the lectures recorded or transcribed at all? Also, correct me if I am wrong but the curriculum is lecture-system based right? Thanks !

Rotation for the last year was 90% in state, the other 10% were out of states. Everyone was happy (correct me if I'm wrong).
Lectures are recorded and distributed by the students using school resources (trying to get approvals for video recording). All power points are available through blackboards.
All labs are mandatory (OMM lab, anatomy lab, doctoring lab, Early Clinical experience lab, micro lab, path lab etc...)
Some lectures are mandatory attendance (they have sign in sheet and announce it ahead of time).
All others lectures are optional.

what do you mean lecture-system based?
if you're talking about how we are learning our anatomy, then it's no, it's not system based, we go region by region.
if you're talking about "system based learning" that are being adopted by more and more schools, then yes, it is integrative.

Does anyone know how many people they interview and the ratio of those accepted?

Originally Posted by whyrms

Rotation for the last year was 90% in state, the other 10% were out of states. Everyone was happy (correct me if I'm wrong).
Lectures are recorded and distributed by the students using school resources (trying to get approvals for video recording). All power points are available through blackboards.
All labs are mandatory (OMM lab, anatomy lab, doctoring lab, Early Clinical experience lab, micro lab, path lab etc...)
Some lectures are mandatory attendance (they have sign in sheet and announce it ahead of time).
All others lectures are optional.

Thanks!


if you're talking about "system based learning" that are being adopted by more and more schools, then yes, it is integrative.

That is indeed what I meant.

does anyone know what open interview dates we're looking at at this point? I forgot to call, and I want to try to work it into my schedule

Interview Invite yesterday... Will be calling to see avaliable dates, not sure if I will take this one due to cost and already being accepted elsewhere.

ditto. trying to weigh it all out with the available info

Originally Posted by sunshine 3

ditto. trying to weigh it all out with the available info

Accepted!

anyone interviewing on Tues Nov 1????

What the hell does this mean? does anyone know if they ever pull off the medium wait list? If so what did you do to get pulled off of it?

Accepted!!!!! Wooohoooo!!!!!

Hey! I got an email today saying I was on the "high waitlist". Does anyone know what the chances are of getting an acceptance from this list?

Originally Posted by soni88

Hey! I got an email today saying I was on the "high waitlist". Does anyone know what the chances are of getting an acceptance from this list?

when did ya interview?

Hey, I interviewed on October 17th!

Interview. On. November 8. Anyone else going? Can anyone give some advice for interviews

For those of you interviewing this coming week, I interviewed around the same time last year (Tuesday, Nov 2, 2010). There are least 3 other people with me in class this year that were in my interview group.

I'd highly encourage you guys to come and visit the campus, if possible, before your interview. Take care and good luck this week!

Congrats to those accepted and good luck to everyone else! I just wanted to repost the 2016 class facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/groups/TUCOM2016/

They did not see my email telling them to notify my admission status electronically, and after some back and forth with Lynn, I just found out that I got accepted here today!! yay~. However, look like I will have to give up my acceptance here, and I hope that one of you guys will get my spot!

Touro CA is a pretty cool place! the anat lab is awesome..you get to do your own dissections!

Im trying to look up some information about this school so that I can be better prepared for my interview. Im having a hard time because they dont say much on the website. Can any of you give me reasons why you really like it here or provide a place I can look at to find better information about this school.

Originally Posted by jflash

im trying to look up some information about this school so that i can be better prepared for my interview. Im having a hard time because they dont say much on the website. Can any of you give me reasons why you really like it here or provide a place i can look at to find better information about this school.

+1

Hello All, I was hoping that some current students could answer my questions. I've been accepted at Touro, and I only have 7 days before I am required to make a deposit.

1) Can most all rotations be done in the Bay Area? If not, can all at least be done in California?

2) Does Touro do rotations at the Kaiser Hospitals located in the Bay Area? I have heard of many students getting residencies in primary care at Kaiser, so I was just curious.

3) How do students do on the boards compared to other DO programs? I am sure that Touro has a decent pass rate, but how high are the passing scores at Touro versus some other schools? I have tried very hard to find information on how students do on the boards at DO schools, but there doesn't seem to be any information anywhere. Any insight would be extremely helpful.

4) When I interviewed I noticed that Touro, by far has the worst Anatomy Lab of any other DO school I have interviewed at. Have the facilities at Touro gotten in the way of your education?

5) Any regrets about going to Touro? I currently have acceptances at NSUCOM, AZCOM, WVSOM, and an interview at WesternU this weekend. I would like to practice medicine in the Bay Area so currently Touro-CA is my likely my top choice. Is this a bad idea considering Touro is not as well established as some of the other schools I have been accepted at?

Thank you all for taking the time to read my questions! I hope to hear back soon!

Originally Posted by IamKing

Hello All, I was hoping that some current students could answer my questions. I've been accepted at Touro, and I only have 7 days before I am required to make a deposit.

1) Can most all rotations be done in the Bay Area? If not, can all at least be done in California?

2) Does Touro do rotations at the Kaiser Hospitals located in the Bay Area? I have heard of many students getting residencies in primary care at Kaiser, so I was just curious.

3) How do students do on the boards compared to other DO programs? I am sure that Touro has a decent pass rate, but how high are the passing scores at Touro versus some other schools? I have tried very hard to find information on how students do on the boards at DO schools, but there doesn't seem to be any information anywhere. Any insight would be extremely helpful.

4) When I interviewed I noticed that Touro, by far has the worst Anatomy Lab of any other DO school I have interviewed at. Have the facilities at Touro gotten in the way of your education?

5) Any regrets about going to Touro? I currently have acceptances at NSUCOM, AZCOM, WVSOM, and an interview at WesternU this weekend. I would like to practice medicine in the Bay Area so currently Touro-CA is my likely my top choice. Is this a bad idea considering Touro is not as well established as some of the other schools I have been accepted at?

Thank you all for taking the time to read my questions! I hope to hear back soon!

1) as I mentioned before, the last class that went on rotation, 90% was in state, most were in the bay area. The dean of clinical eduction said that his goal is to make the rotations to be 100% in the bay area. Although they don't advertise this, but we put more people in residency positions in california than any other medical school in the US.

2) as for this question, I do not know, I suggest contacting Dr. Hartwig, as he is the dean for clinical education.

3) again, i'm only a first year, I don't know, but i feel that we get what we put in. In general, most of the professors try their best to make their questions and teaching mirror that of the board. We also have just switched our testing to computer testing to simulate the board. We're the first year to do this, so there's a lot of kink to be smoothed out. I think it's going great, there's a lot of feed back from the students and the faculty is doing their best to accomodate us.

Our website is also going under a lot of change, the new web site should be ready by the early of next year. It'll be much more accessible and modern looking.

4) I'm puzzled by this...the anatomy lab is one of the most well ventilated anatomy lab i've ever been to. It's very accessible, you come and go when you like and you're free to do any dissection you wishes as long as you're sticking to the guidelines. Which part of the lab did you not find suitable? Did you envisioned it to have more models and electronic gizmo?
The anatomy lab here is focused on hands on, 5 people per cadaver and you are responsible for every single dissection. It nurtures hands on learning. I will say that from experience, I've became much more accustomed to the scalpel than I ever though I would be. All the touching, pulling, and blunt dissection really gives you a visceral sense of the human body. The anatomy faculty is always there to help you learn and will do extra time with you if you ask them to come (even on weekends), and they're always passionate about what they teach.
We as the students are also trying our best to bring changes to the school. The facility is being developed because we just got the deeds to the land last year, changes are coming steadily.
The facility is not a concern for me.

5) Any regrets? Not for me, personally, but some class mates have expressed continual dismay in the focus in OMM this school emphasize. I think they regretted not going to another DO school, one that doesn't place emphasis on OMM. If you are one of these people, please do yourself a favor and go else where. Saves your future classmates the pain of having to listen to the constant complain about OMM. If you're not one of these people, then come on over to TUCOM-CA, we'd love to have you here.

Although there are times that i wished there would be some sort of store on the island itself, so I wouldn't have to cross the bridge into vallejo everytime i want a snack or a drink.

If you can't find your answers on SDN or tu.edu, go to the Touro California Student Life site and check out the forums. You can ask Touro student questions and will will respond, and you will know it's from us

Also, you can see all the clubs we have and what we do on campus. For those who get accepted, we are working on a housing review section and a rental section so you can find places to live on Mare Island and around Touro.

http://www.tustudentlife.com

Originally Posted by IamKing

5) Any regrets about going to Touro? I currently have acceptances at NSUCOM, AZCOM, WVSOM, and an interview at WesternU this weekend. I would like to practice medicine in the Bay Area so currently Touro-CA is my likely my top choice. Is this a bad idea considering Touro is not as well established as some of the other schools I have been accepted at?

Thank you all for taking the time to read my questions! I hope to hear back soon!

If your goal is to become a primary care doc in the Bay Area, then Touro-CA is for you. That is the Touro-CA mission.

Originally Posted by whyrms

1) as I mentioned before, the last class that went on rotation, 90% was in state, most were in the bay area. The dean of clinical eduction said that his goal is to make the rotations to be 100% in the bay area. Although they don't advertise this, but we put more people in residency positions in california than any other medical school in the US.

2) as for this question, I do not know, I suggest contacting Dr. Hartwig, as he is the dean for clinical education.

3) again, i'm only a first year, I don't know, but i feel that we get what we put in. In general, most of the professors try their best to make their questions and teaching mirror that of the board. We also have just switched our testing to computer testing to simulate the board. We're the first year to do this, so there's a lot of kink to be smoothed out. I think it's going great, there's a lot of feed back from the students and the faculty is doing their best to accomodate us.

Our website is also going under a lot of change, the new web site should be ready by the early of next year. It'll be much more accessible and modern looking.

4) I'm puzzled by this...the anatomy lab is one of the most well ventilated anatomy lab i've ever been to. It's very accessible, you come and go when you like and you're free to do any dissection you wishes as long as you're sticking to the guidelines. Which part of the lab did you not find suitable? Did you envisioned it to have more models and electronic gizmo?
The anatomy lab here is focused on hands on, 5 people per cadaver and you are responsible for every single dissection. It nurtures hands on learning. I will say that from experience, I've became much more accustomed to the scalpel than I ever though I would be. All the touching, pulling, and blunt dissection really gives you a visceral sense of the human body. The anatomy faculty is always there to help you learn and will do extra time with you if you ask them to come (even on weekends), and they're always passionate about what they teach.
We as the students are also trying our best to bring changes to the school. The facility is being developed because we just got the deeds to the land last year, changes are coming steadily.
The facility is not a concern for me.

5) Any regrets? Not for me, personally, but some class mates have expressed continual dismay in the focus in OMM this school emphasize. I think they regretted not going to another DO school, one that doesn't place emphasis on OMM. If you are one of these people, please do yourself a favor and go else where. Saves your future classmates the pain of having to listen to the constant complain about OMM. If you're not one of these people, then come on over to TUCOM-CA, we'd love to have you here.

Although there are times that i wished there would be some sort of store on the island itself, so I wouldn't have to cross the bridge into vallejo everytime i want a snack or a drink.

Thank you for your detailed response! I was referring to the lack of "gizmos" in the anatomy lab as an indicator of a poor facility. I do agree the lab was well ventilated, however there were other schools that I went to that also had excellent ventilation such as Touro-NV and WVSOM. You must understand that with no prior knowledge as to how the curriculum in this lab differs from others my only point of comparison was what the lab looked like. So you are saying that this is a much more hands-on lab than many of the other DO schools provide? How do you know this as a fact?

Do you believe that within three years all rotations can be done in Northern California? I am also intrigued by your statement that Touro-Ca puts more people in residencies in California than any other school. This is fantastic if true! Why wouldn't Touro-Ca advertise this point more? Is there somewhere I can look this up to confirm?

Thank you again for your response. You have convinced me a little further that Touro-Ca is the best school for me.

Originally Posted by IamKing

Thank you for your detailed response! I was referring to the lack of "gizmos" in the anatomy lab as an indicator of a poor facility. I do agree the lab was well ventilated, however there were other schools that I went to that also had excellent ventilation such as Touro-NV and WVSOM. You must understand that with no prior knowledge as to how the curriculum in this lab differs from others my only point of comparison was what the lab looked like. So you are saying that this is a much more hands-on lab than many of the other DO schools provide? How do you know this as a fact?

Do you believe that within three years all rotations can be done in Northern California? I am also intrigued by your statement that Touro-Ca puts more people in residencies in California than any other school. This is fantastic if true! Why wouldn't Touro-Ca advertise this point more? Is there somewhere I can look this up to confirm?

Thank you again for your response. You have convinced me a little further that Touro-Ca is the best school for me.

Oh, I wasn't trying to say that Touro has the best anatomy lab compared to other school.
Just trying to say that that touro emphasize of learning through hands on, that's why they don't have that much electronic gizmo.
In fact, this way of teaching might be a little frustrating for people who are used to learning through watching prosections and instructor's dissections.
I'm trying to point out that: through my experience from working hands on, I've found it to be more rewarding, and for me, it's better that I had to dig to the liver myself, crack open the rib using bone saw myself, removing the lung and heart myself, because it gave me a better sense of where everything is and that i had to develop different ways of knowing where every organ is, because a 80 year old woman is very different from the perfect cadaver you see in text books, and most of the time if you follow the land marks in the book, you'll end up in the wrong place on my cadaver. I've learn to appreciate the distinct differences in bodies, and I feel that it'll make me a better physician because of it.

As for the statistic about residency in California and information regarding rotation; you should email Dr. Hartwig and ask him about that statistic, you can find his email on the tu.edu website, under faculty & staff.
He's the assistant dean of clinical ed.

On average, how long does it take to receive a secondary from Touro-CA?

Originally Posted by BlindPilot

On average, how long does it take to receive a secondary from Touro-CA?

I think it took me 2-3 weeks after my primary was released to get the secondary via email. I mailed the secondary in and about a week later I emailed Lynn to ask if I was complete and an hour later I received a complete email. I hope that helps.

Originally Posted by LabLuvr

I think it took me 2-3 weeks after my primary was released to get the secondary via email. I mailed the secondary in and about a week later I emailed Lynn to ask if I was complete and an hour later I received a complete email. I hope that helps.

Thanks! That helps.

I'm preparing for my upcoming interview and I was wondering if those of you who have already interviewed were asked questions regarding healthcare?

Originally Posted by Sumo12

Hi Everyone,

I know this question gets really old and redundant, but I would like to know what you guys think my chances are of getting into Touro with these stats. I applied for the 2011 class however, I applied a month before the deadline. Thanks any help is appreciated.
I am from UCR
My Cum GPA is a 3.42
my SciGPA is a 3.5
my MCAT is a 23R(PS 9 V 6 BS 8)
My EC activities include:
Currently I work as an EMT and have been doing so for the past 4 months
On campus Tutor for the subjects of General Chem, OChem, Biochem for 3 years
Supplemental Instructions leader for Biochem course offered at my university for 1 year
I was the volunteer and fundraising chair for a organization on campus
I was health science mentor
I was in Alpha Phi Omega Community service fraternity
3 years of Organic Chem research
1 year as an intern for Clinical Care extender( hospital experience)
1 year Intermural basketball
was placed on dean's honor list 6 different quarters and chancellors list

Everything else is great, but you've GOTTA improve on the 23!!! SERIOUSLY!

Originally Posted by Sumo12

Hi Everyone,

I know this question gets really old and redundant, but I would like to know what you guys think my chances are of getting into Touro with these stats. I applied for the 2011 class however, I applied a month before the deadline. Thanks any help is appreciated.
I am from UCR
My Cum GPA is a 3.42
my SciGPA is a 3.5
my MCAT is a 23R(PS 9 V 6 BS 8)
My EC activities include:
Currently I work as an EMT and have been doing so for the past 4 months
On campus Tutor for the subjects of General Chem, OChem, Biochem for 3 years
Supplemental Instructions leader for Biochem course offered at my university for 1 year
I was the volunteer and fundraising chair for a organization on campus
I was health science mentor
I was in Alpha Phi Omega Community service fraternity
3 years of Organic Chem research
1 year as an intern for Clinical Care extender( hospital experience)
1 year Intermural basketball
was placed on dean's honor list 6 different quarters and chancellors list

The MCAT is a little low but I would apply anyway if I were you. It's best to apply early at Touro-CA because when there are a lot of seats open, there is nothing holding them back from offering you an acceptance. The later you wait, the less seats and the more stringent they get.

You can view the TUCOM-CA GPA/MCAT trend here: http://www.tustudentlife.com/forums/....php?f=13&t=14

Originally Posted by Member 886201

I'm preparing for my upcoming interview and I was wondering if those of you who have already interviewed were asked questions regarding healthcare?

Every question I got was simply about my application. Talked about ECs, Personal Statement, College...etc... Just know how to expand on what you wrote.

There's direct flights to SFO (United) and Oakland International (Southwest) from where I live. Where did you guys fly into?

Any current students I can PM questions to, email, or possibly call?

The only thing that I am a little worried about at Touro-Ca is the ability to do all my rotations in the Bay Area without moving. I have tired emailing the people that are in charge of rotations, however I have gotten no responses. I know that it is the goal of Touro-Ca to get more rotation spots in the Bay Area, however is this a practical goal for the next couple of years?

Would any of you have gone to WesternU in Pomona over Touro? Why or why not? I'm trying to make a decision between the two.

Reading last year's thread earlier today, they're currently at 90% Bay-area rotations, and their goal is 100%. Apparently (but don't quote me), they have more in-state residencies than any other school in California even though they don't advertise it. Call the clinical director for all the info.

Originally Posted by dannydickman

Reading last year's thread earlier today, they're currently at 90% Bay-area rotations, and their goal is 100%. Apparently (but don't quote me), they have more in-state residencies than any other school in California even though they don't advertise it. Call the clinical director for all the info.

Do you know how spread out the rotations are? The Bay Area is a big place.

Dial up and call the clinical director and get the info from the horse's mouth.

Originally Posted by dannydickman

Dial up and call the clinical director and get the info from the horse's mouth.

I will do this first thing tomm