2022-2023 Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine (DMU-COM)

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premedvybes101 said:
Do they consider people with 3.5-3.6 gpa and 503-505 mcats?
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I got accepted - I had a 504 and 3.48 GPA. So, yes. Yes they do.
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Hi, was wondering if anyone that got the "still interested" email received an interview or R yet?
 
Yup received the still interested email in Nov and again in Feb and received interview in March
 
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Do they have different questions for every person that takes kira, is it like specific to them?
 
Pre-Medical Giraffe said:
Random question, but could a current student explain what is going on with the Winter break for 1st year students? It looks like the "semester ends" December 8th, but the break doesn't start until December 23rd?
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Your breaks are based on your semester end and start dates. The DMU breaks indicate time that the school requires every student to be off (ex. PAs get shorter breaks as do students on clinicals). However, you would have December 8-January 2 off as an OMS1 (assuming you pass finals and do not have to use the remediation week)
 
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premedvybes101 said:
Can you clarify what that means?
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I mean that they most likely have a pool of "what would you do if..., Tell me about a time that...questions which will be presented to applicants and not every person will have the exact same questions to reply to
 
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I received the following questions from a prospective student and thought that everyone might benefit from seeing my answers so here they are:
1. How do clerkship assignments work? I understand it's lottery style at DMU, but about what % of typically gets to be at one hospital for the entire 3rd year? I am a bit concerned about having to travel like over an hour to get to some rotation sites, and preferably would like to be in one place for a whole year? But I also know that's not often possible at a lot of DO programs.

I actually have a youtube channel and just posted a video about this very topic a couple weeks ago! There are about 90 students in the Central Iowa Cohort this year (220 in our class total). If you have any other questions about rotations that aren't covered in my video let me know!

2. How do you feel about the letter grading system? I keep hearing it is so much better stress wise to attend a p/f school, but so many DO schools do an internal rank anyways so it doesn't really seem all too different to get letter grades instead?

I'm not sure if p/f schools still do a rank. I may be completely wrong on that, but I believe you need to get grades to have a rank system. Grades are becoming less and less relevant as many schools are moving to P/F, so when residency programs look, they can't really compare your grades to someone else's passes. That being said, grades are still important, but won't have as big of an impact on your applications. I don't feel any more stressed than I feel I would be with a p/f system, and if you are interested in something competitive, the class ranking can help a lot on your applications.

3. Is your class close or collaborative? I know DMU is on the larger end for class size, which in some ways I think I would prefer, but do you find it harder to stand out or even make friends?

Our class is super collaborative. Everyone has their group of friends that they study and work with. I actually created a resource for the 1st years this year to help them organize their whole curriculum which I've heard has been extremely helpful. You can also find that on my YouTube channel, but I'm planning to update it after I take boards in June so wait to download it until then!

4. Are you involved in research at all? What resources exist for pursuing research either at DMU or externally?

I'm just getting started in some research through outside connections that I've made. There are a number of research options at DMU, but I am very interested in orthopedics, and because we don't have a home program, there isn't a lot of opportunity for orthopedics research. We have a PT department, so you could easily do some biomechanics research and spin it to ortho, but that's not the route I wanted to go. Many of my friends ended up doing a research internship of sorts between 1st and 2nd year where they went to a different medical institution and conducted research for about 8 wks. Some of those projects lead to publications right away, and others are still in contact and working on papers. I absolutely would have pursued this route, but I got married this summer and between planning the wedding, having the wedding, and going on a honeymoon, I just didn't have the time to make it work.

I'm currently doing a lot of networking through social media and finding that many people across the country are eager to help, it can just take quite a bit of leg work on your end to find and reach out to the right people. Again, there are resources available here, just none that I wanted to take advantage of.

5. How much of class is in person/mandatory lectures, vs learning you can do at home or on your own time?

I do absolutely everything from home/on my own time. We have 1 required OMM lecture a week, but as of right now, you can attend via zoom or in person. During 1st year there is another "class" that is meeting with a small group of students to discuss the transition to medical school among other things. That one is required in person, but you meet less frequently throughout the year and now in 2nd year it is just once a semester. There are labs that are required in person. Anatomy is 2 hrs if I remember correctly, OMM is 1.5hrs, and clinical medicine is 1 hr. You have OMM and ClinMed labs every week and anatomy kind of depends but it is usually every or every other week.

Everyone learns differently and has a system that works for them. I haven't even watched a lecture from school this semester and it has been working super well for me. Other people have to attend lecture in person to get the content down. If you plan to attend, there are 4 lectures a day held consecutively so you can knock out all 4 in a 4hr block. Some days in the spring of 1st year and more commonly in 2nd year you will have up to 7 or 8 lectures in a day, so be prepared for that. In 2nd year, we often have 5 lectures and 1 or more of them will overlap with a required lab or small group activity so you will end up missing the lecture and having to make it up on your own time anyway.

6. A bit of a loaded question, but are you happy at DMU and would you choose DMU over other options again?

TL : DR - Yes!

I am absolutely happy with DMU. I didn't have any other options lol, but among DO schools, I would absolutely choose DMU again. There are so many discussions to be had about MD vs DO and we don't need to get into that, but I do love the DO philosophy. The only issue is that the NBOME and many of the generational DOs still seem to think that there is a difference in the way that we practice medicine and this just couldn't be further from the truth.

With all residency programs falling under the ACGME, everyone is trained in the same manner, and just this week I asked a few of my MD friends about their thoughts on the 4 tenets of Osteopathy that are preached to us since day 1 of school, and not a single one of them disagreed with these tenets (which just goes to show that MDs and DOs have the same goals and approaches to treatment).

The reason I would go to an MD school over a DO school (at this point in time) would be to avoid the bureaucracy that is the NBOME and COMLEX. This could change by the time that it matters for you and your class, but for us (the Class of '25), if you want to go into even a semi-competitive specialty, you should be taking both USMLE (because this is what programs care about) and COMLEX (because you have to) exams. This means double the fees and double the headache when studying for them.

There is still a 'DO Stigma'. Most physicians you meet will say that they love DOs and they see no difference. This is all fine and dandy until you decide you want to go into a competitive specialty at your dream program that has never had a DO in the program. You might be the trailblazer that breaks through the barrier, but more than likely you won't be (just trying to be realistic). If and when you break through the barrier, there's no difference, everyone is equal, and everyone lives happily ever after.

These are all problems that might be solved by the time it matters for you. If you are obsessed with primary care, most of these won't apply to you. If you already have an acceptance, go the DO route, there's too many risks with trying again, but if you have the MD option, I personally would suggest you take it (there are many factors that go into this, I'm just being simple and blunt).

Hope this helps! Don't be afraid to throw more my way!
 
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Took the interview definitely feel like I bombed it.. anyone else feel like that here? I'd be surprised if they even WL me
 
premedvybes101 said:
Took the interview definitely feel like I bombed it.. anyone else feel like that here? I'd be surprised if they even WL me
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username1999 said:
I felt the same and completely gave up hope. Ended up with an A
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Would you guys mind sharing what you mean when you say you think you bombed it? I'm not really sure how to feel about mine at all and I kind of just want to talk to others who have done it.
 
My group interview was on the third of March and I still have not heard anything yet. When do they usually get back to you?
 
premedvybes101 said:
What kind of questions?
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Questions you have about the program. There's a session with a faculty member then one with students. I personally researched DMU and noted down some things I wanted to know/get clarification on. Just make sure you participate and seem genuinely interested.
 
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Anyone actually get invited to interview after their second are you interested email? Lol
 
GopherIt96 said:
Anyone actually get invited to interview after their second are you interested email? Lol
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Yup! In the most respectful way possible, if you just scroll up a few posts or go back a few pages or even type in “interested” or “survey” or “email” into the search bar you will see multiple posts from people reporting interview invites after receiving that email.

I submitted my app in August, received two surveys between then and March, and received my interview in March.
 
TiramisuLover99 said:
Yup! In the most respectful way possible, if you just scroll up a few posts or go back a few pages or even type in “interested” or “survey” or “email” into the search bar you will see multiple posts from people reporting interview invites after receiving that email.

I submitted my app in August, received two surveys between then and March, and received my interview in March.
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I just noticed that they sent the second survey exactly 3 months from the first one. Like down to the exact time. I kinda figured it was automated and didn’t really mean anything, perhaps I’m wrong. I was complete at the end of June and wish they would either reject me or interview me lol.

Thanks for the response! Maybe there’s still hope for me!
 
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SnowKones said:
Questions you have about the program. There's a session with a faculty member then one with students. I personally researched DMU and noted down some things I wanted to know/get clarification on. Just make sure you participate and seem genuinely interested.
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Do they care if it's general questions or does it not matter as long as you're engaged?
 
premedvybes101 said:
Do they care if it's general questions or does it not matter as long as you're engaged?
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I didn't ask any questions or even say anything beyond the intial question asked of everyone and was still accepted. So, theres that.
 
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what interview dates are expected to hear back this week
 
plsacceptme16 said:
what interview dates are expected to hear back this week
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Not sure for all of them. I group interviewed 02/23 and when I emailed them, they said they didn’t expect to have decisions until this week. Not sure if that means we will hear back this week tho or if it is just the earliest they were expecting to have decisions. The waiting game is rough!
 
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Not sure if I'm allowed to post this on this therad but i'd appreciate if anyone can look at my "help me decide" post. Trying to decide between this school and one in Texas. You can click on my profile to view it. Thx!
 
I'm wondering how much the group interview really matters in your overall review. I feel like with 20-30 students, and barely enough time for even half of the people to get their questions in, there's not really as much they can evaluate you on besides looking engaged, right? The Kira is where they actually ask the questions they want to know the answers to from you. I just don't know what to think because I've seen people on this forum say they thought they did badly on Kira, but then got accepted, or they thought they did well on Kia but they got rejected.
 
TiramisuLover99 said:
I'm wondering how much the group interview really matters in your overall review. I feel like with 20-30 students, and barely enough time for even half of the people to get their questions in, there's not really as much they can evaluate you on besides looking engaged, right? The Kira is where they actually ask the questions they want to know the answers to from you. I just don't know what to think because I've seen people on this forum say they thought they did badly on Kira, but then got accepted, or they thought they did well on Kia but they got rejected.
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Not sure how much weight they put on it, but I don’t think asking a question, or not asking a question, during that time will make or break your chances of getting in. After all, the most difficult part of the application process is over by the time of your group interview. And our own perceptions of the Kira interview is arbitrary, we may never know how the admissions team interpreted it. (Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think we receive a score on it unlike Caspr). I felt the point of that session was to learn more about the school and what they have to offer in a professional way. I could be wrong. But best of luck with everything!!
 
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sydsquid9 said:
Not sure how much weight they put on it, but I don’t think asking a question, or not asking a question, during that time will make or break your chances of getting in. After all, the most difficult part of the application process is over by the time of your group interview. And our own perceptions of the Kira interview is arbitrary, we may never know how the admissions team interpreted it. (Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think we receive a score on it unlike Caspr). I felt the point of that session was to learn more about the school and what they have to offer in a professional way. I could be wrong. But best of luck with everything!!
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Agreed. It’s a really good chance to learn more about the school. There’s always top questions about research volunteering etc that everyone’s curious about that get asked right away. If your questions are asked by another person before you can, I don’t think asking different questions just for the sake of saying something is necessary or beneficial in such a short time span. Good luck!!
 
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TiramisuLover99 said:
I'm wondering how much the group interview really matters in your overall review. I feel like with 20-30 students, and barely enough time for even half of the people to get their questions in, there's not really as much they can evaluate you on besides looking engaged, right? The Kira is where they actually ask the questions they want to know the answers to from you. I just don't know what to think because I've seen people on this forum say they thought they did badly on Kira, but then got accepted, or they thought they did well on Kia but they got rejected.
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Yeah the Kira is the main one but it's still part of the interview process, so I prefer to err on the side of caution and remained engaged as much as I could. Different approaches have worked, so do what you feel is best.
 
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has anyone received their financial aid package who interviewed during the winter? i got an estimation email but it was not personalized so im assuming they sent this to everyone?
 
Do you know if they are still sending out interview invitations? I have received the interest email twice, and have not heard a thing from them.
 
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