DO schools in outdoorsy locations?

[Crookster]

Just wanted to see if DO students could comment on schools that are located in beautiful, scenic outdoorsy locations or close to 30mins-1hr drive away? I have a dog and we pal around everywhere together, we like to go hiking, visit streams and lakes for a swim (he loves the water), mountain biking, fishing etc.

I know I'm not going to have the amount of time in med school as I do know to do these things but it would be nice to get away for a Saturday every so often to do things like this. It is also a great stress reliever for me. So if I could get a list of names of schools and areas that support this that would be awesome.

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[Tri4thlete]

Current WVSOM student here, can confirm it's beautiful here. Ample hiking and biking opportunities. Of course, you can hop on the Appalachian Trail which is about an hour drive depending where you want to hop on. I live about 30 seconds from the Greenbrier River Trail. I run on it almost daily, but people love to bring their pets on it for walks. You pretty much go to WVSOM if your outdoorsy, not much else to do here

 

[trs88]

First year student in the middle of orientation at LMU-DCOM, and I'm not kidding when I say that there is literally nothing but trees, trees and more trees here and mountains. It is so pretty. There's the school that is nestled in the valley of some mountains and in order to leave the area, you have to go over some mountains. But let's say you wanted to go grocery shopping, you get to drive through a tunnel (through a mountain) in order to get to another town that will have what you need. There is a national park, the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, maybe 10 minutes away from the school.

 

[Mad Jack]

UNECOM.

We're right on the ocean, a half hour from many great camping and hiking areas, a half hour in the other direction from Portland, which is a great small city, and less than two hours north of Boston if you end up craving some city culture.

Touro-Middletown is also in a pretty good location if you'd like to do stuff in upstate New York but still be close to a city.

 

[NontradCA]

UNECOM.

We're right on the ocean, a half hour from many great camping and hiking areas, a half hour in the other direction from Portland, which is a great small city, and less than two hours north of Boston if you end up craving some city culture.

Touro-Middletown is also in a pretty good location if you'd like to do stuff in upstate New York but still be close to a city.

That looks badass

 

[LuluMed]

VCOM VC for sure. Plenty of mountains and hiking nearby. Plenty of lakes also in the surrounding area. And these things are within a couple of minutes of campus. Though you can explore further into VA/TN for weekend adventures/camping easily as well

 

[abolt18]

KCOM with thousand hills state park right next door, sounds perfect for you.

 

[fingerscrossedpremed]

LMU-DCOM. It has several hiking trails within a few miles of the school. It's a beautiful area. Also, Knoxville, Tennessee, is only 1.5 hours away.

 

[dfib slim]

.

 

[Goro]

LMU
MUCOM
RVU
AZCOM
VCOM
LECOM
At Still
SOMA
TUNCOM
CCOM
Touro-Middletown
Western-OR
NYITCOM (yes, there are nice outdoorsy places on LI...inf act, right around the campus, located in the old Gold Coast)
UNECOM
CUSOM
PCOM-GA

Just wanted to see if DO students could comment on schools that are located in beautiful, scenic outdoorsy locations or close to 30mins-1hr drive away? I have a dog and we pal around everywhere together, we like to go hiking, visit streams and lakes for a swim (he loves the water), mountain biking, fishing etc.

I know I'm not going to have the amount of time in med school as I do know to do these things but it would be nice to get away for a Saturday every so often to do things like this. It is also a great stress reliever for me. So if I could get a list of names of schools and areas that support this that would be awesome.

 

[costales]

UNECOM and LMU-DCOM have the best views, hands down.

 

[SLC]

If I were you, I'd shoot for COMP-NW for the best all round environment for an outdoors enthusiast. Plus it's close enough to Portland to not be boring when you don't feel like roughing it.

 

[NurWollen]

Montana COM. You might just have to wait a while though.

 

[IslandStyle808]

Pretty much all the rural schools (WVSOM, KYCOM, LMU etc.) have beautiful scenery and a lot of outdoor stuff to do.

 

[koan]

PNWU, or COMP-NW as mentioned above. The mountains of Oregon and Washington are epic, the coasts are beautiful and have great surfing, and Seattle / Portland are just a few hours away.

 

[deleted407021]

PCOM-GA is within driving distance of a variety of state parks in North Georgia as well as Tallulah Gorge.

 

[Seth Joo]

Just wanted to see if DO students could comment on schools that are located in beautiful, scenic outdoorsy locations or close to 30mins-1hr drive away? I have a dog and we pal around everywhere together, we like to go hiking, visit streams and lakes for a swim (he loves the water), mountain biking, fishing etc.

I know I'm not going to have the amount of time in med school as I do know to do these things but it would be nice to get away for a Saturday every so often to do things like this. It is also a great stress reliever for me. So if I could get a list of names of schools and areas that support this that would be awesome.

AZCOM, you cannot do better than Arizona. Western's Oregon campus and ATSU SOMA is another good bet.

 

[NurWollen]

AZCOM, you cannot do better than Arizona. Western's Oregon campus and ATSU SOMA is another good bet.

I've noticed people either love Arizona or hate it. I love it here. Depending on how you feel about the state, it's either the biggest pro or second biggest con (tuition being the biggest) to AZCOM.

 

[Crookster]

Just got an invite to COMP-NW so I'm pretty stoked to check out the school and area. I went to Olympia, Washington last summer and absolutely loved it, the Pacific Northwest is definitely someplace I could see myself living.

 

[Stagg737]

KCU(mb) actually has a decent amount of hiking/outdoors stuff in the area too. I know several classmates that hike or kayak every once in a while. I'm sure it's nowhere near as 'outdoorsy' as RVU or some of the other places, but it's available for those interested.

That looks badass

Biddeford in general is pretty beautiful, at least before it hits -5,000 degrees. Imho the campus as a whole was gorgeous, but I was very underwhelmed by the COM itself. It looked like the oldest building on campus and not exactly what I expected from a med school. They did have a pretty kick-ass looking health sciences building though, so if med students get to use that it would probably be a lot cooler.

I've actually been curious about whether DO students use that building a lot or are mainly in the 'Stella Maris Hall'. Maybe @Mad Jack could give a little more insight?

 

[Mad Jack]

KCU(mb) actually has a decent amount of hiking/outdoors stuff in the area too. I know several classmates that hike or kayak every once in a while. I'm sure it's nowhere near as 'outdoorsy' as RVU or some of the other places, but it's available for those interested.



Biddeford in general is pretty beautiful, at least before it hits -5,000 degrees. Imho the campus as a whole was gorgeous, but I was very underwhelmed by the COM itself. It looked like the oldest building on campus and not exactly what I expected from a med school. They did have a pretty kick-ass looking health sciences building though, so if med students get to use that it would probably be a lot cooler.

I've actually been curious about whether DO students use that building a lot or are mainly in the 'Stella Maris Hall'. Maybe @Mad Jack could give a little more insight?

Stella Maris Hall is an administrative building. We don't use it for anything, it's where the professor's offices are. Leonard Hall, the newest building on campus, is where most of our lectures are. The anatomy and OMM labs are in Alfond, which is a fairly nice building that was constructed in 1996.

Alfond

Leonard (there are six projectors, two side on each long wall, one front, one rear, and the tables are usually set up in circular pairs in a decentralized fashion so that anyone in the room can get a good luck at the lecture; in this picture it's set up for a conference, not for a medical class, so the layout was arranged differently). The entire surrounding wall is whiteboard, so we can draw out our pathways or whatever with ample room. Oh, and those windows have automated shades that can be opened or closed whenever you feel like it, so most days we get natural light when they're not doing a powerpoint.

 

[sandstone]

RVUCOM is awesome for outdoorsy stuff. Good hiking, rock climbing, and mountain biking within an hour of campus, the closest being maybe 30 minutes away. Tons more within 2-3 hours. Skiing within 2 hours of campus. Then of course there's great weekend roadtripping opportunities (if you find the time) to Moab and Wyoming 6 hours away.

 

[Seth Joo]

I've noticed people either love Arizona or hate it. I love it here. Depending on how you feel about the state, it's either the biggest pro or second biggest con (tuition being the biggest) to AZCOM.

Glendale is reasonably safe, the campus is modern, clean, and, secure. Arizona is a good place, its not perfect. Its not California, which to me is a great thing because California is overcrowded, polluted, dirty, crime, gangs, weirdos, idiots, *****s, and not such a nice place. Sure they got coastline, but its ruined anyway, I rather go to the Caribbean for beaches.

 

[deleted707454]

So... how are the winters at UNECOM?

 

[deleted407021]

So... how are the winters at UNECOM?

I heard 3rd years can only get to clinicals via dog sled.

 

[AsianPersuasion]

I heard 3rd years can only get to clinicals via dog sled.

Dead. LMAO

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

PNWU, or COMP-NW as mentioned above. The mountains of Oregon and Washington are epic, the coasts are beautiful and have great surfing, and Seattle / Portland are just a few hours away.

West Washington is beautiful, Yakima is not... Yakima is kind of the armpit of Washington I feel. Comp NW would be gorgeous

 

[Seth Joo]

So... how are the winters at UNECOM?

Its three hours north of my hometown, I was offered an interview there several years ago, Maine winters are long and cold, longer than other parts of the country with winter, if you are not used to New England winters it can be an adjustment.

 

[lyana]

West Washington is beautiful, Yakima is not... Yakima is kind of the armpit of Washington I feel. Comp NW would be gorgeous

I think Eastern WA is beautiful in its own way.
Eastern Washington has TONS of outdoors stuff to do. Sure Western WA is beautiful, the most amazing place to live ( Please, please do not come here tho, the traffic is getting ridiculous!)
While Oregon is also awesome, and COMP NW is located in a beautiful place, one downside that it rains ALOT! While Yakima has around 300 days of sunshine a year, and also very close to Mt. Rainier, Columbia George, Wenatchee, Snoqualmie Pass, etc.

 

[anktheonc]

TouroCOM NY

just keep your dog away from the Asian street vendors

 

[IslandStyle808]

TouroCOM NY

just keep your dog away from the Asian street vendors

When you walk your dog and you start hearing it whine, that is when you know your close...

 

[deleted407021]

TouroCOM NY

just keep your dog away from the Asian street vendors

I'm sorry -- and I know they match great and are a good program -- but that's so dodgy looking it's hilarious.

 

[AlteredScale]

KCU is kind of outdoorsy.

Whoops wrong picture:

 

[deleted407021]

KCU is kind of outdoorsy.

Whoops wrong picture:

The strategically placed burning dumpsters provide ample natural lighting to the area!

 

[AlteredScale]

The strategically placed burning dumpsters provide ample natural lighting to the area!

Literally rolling. HAHAHA. I totally agree tough. Somtimes the bullets act like flares in a way.

 

[deleted407021]

Literally rolling. HAHAHA. I totally agree tough. Somtimes the bullets act like flares in a way.

That can a talking point next time you lead an interview day tour

 

[AlteredScale]

That can a talking point next time you lead an interview day tour

Oh it will be LOL

 

[deleted407021]

Hard to beat living within driving distance of the N. GA mountains.

 

[sharpstickie]

I've heard Grenada is pretty nice. They tell me it's nice to study on the beach.

 

[Ho0v-man]

I really liked the scenery in las cruces. I'm not overtly outdoorsy but I went to a couple of the nearby parks and white sands. Really pretty. I called my wife and was like "Babe! This place is majestic as f*(<!"

UNECOM is gorgeous!


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[SLC]

Nothing will beat the new RVU campus in southern utah if outdoorsy is the qualifier.

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

Not sure if it's been mentioned but Western Lebanon campus has some of the prettiest hiking you'll ever see

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[drdecaf]

Tossing in some more BCOM love. High desert isn't too shabby.

 

[NurWollen]

Tossing in some more BCOM love. High desert isn't too shabby.

How often is there actually snow on the mountains though? I can imagine it's more than intermittent for 2 or 3 months in the winter. Alas, I have driven through Las Cruces at least 4 times, but only at night.

I agree though, high desert can be pretty nice.

 

[drdecaf]

How often is there actually snow on the mountains though? I can imagine it's more than intermittent for 2 or 3 months in the winter. Alas, I have driven through Las Cruces at least 4 times, but only at night.

I agree though, high desert can be pretty nice.

It snows a couple of days almost every year but it doesn't stick much– elevation is shy of 4,000ft. Being at that elevation in the desert also means dust in the spring though. I live in FL right now, but I'm from Texas and went to school in AZ so I think I can adjust.

 

[Roxas]

I've heard Grenada is pretty nice. They tell me it's nice to study on the beach.

The beach is also nice for contemplating what to do when you don't match

 

[NurWollen]

The beach is also nice for contemplating what to do when you don't match

Lol. And after much contemplation, decide to keep your butt parked right there on the beach and count yourself lucky.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Campbell is out doooooorr see

 

[lyana]

Nothing will beat the new RVU campus in southern utah if outdoorsy is the qualifier.

Soooo beautiful, Utah is very high on my list to visit!

But again, you can not beat PNW!

 

[deleted707454]

How about the school where I can walk out of the classroom, hop on my mountain bike, and be trailside within minutes?
(every time I am stuck in traffic, I die a little inside...)