hmm now it's time to play detective and figure out who you are
Okay. my views!
Location: We are basically on Auburn's campus. We will have our own dedicated parking that is only for us. They said there would be about 500 spots, so ample parking for staff and students considering not all students will have cars, many will carpool, etc. Auburn students won't be able to park in our lot, pretty sure we wouldn't be able to park in their lots either, but that's fine because we have our own! I think we'd be able to park in our lot for gameday situations too, which would be great. Auburn is a smaller town that may or may not exist if the college wasn't there lol. I went to UG in a city (or a village, as someone in my interview group called it! rude lol jk) of about 11,000 people, so I'm used to the small town atmosphere and I love it. That being said, Auburn has quite a bit to offer in terms of amenities like Kohls, plenty of grocery stores, a Sams Club, Target, lots of restaurants (Chipotle, Panera, more local ones, etc), a couple of movie theatres, etc. You'll be busy, so you won't have a TON of time to go do extra stuff anyway. There is plenty of nature type stuff to do nearby as well. One of my interviewers said the smoky mountains are just a few hours away and the camping and trails are great. Unless you are somebody that NEEDS some crazy techno rave dance club nightlife, you'll probably be fine. Talking with the staff at the Waffle House (yes lol, don't judge.. I wanted the experience), there are a few bars around town that people go to. There aren't a ton of options, but they are there. You will likely spend a lot of time with friends at their houses, etc as opposed to "going out".
Campus: Auburn's campus is beautiful! Everything looks to be in good shape, and Jasmine said that people basically just walk everywhere on campus. There are shuttles that can take you to different parts of campus, but walking it isn't tough at all. She said more people use the shuttle to get to and from campus rather than through campus. Lots of trees and green space.
Our building: Just under 100k square feet (making it the largest out of all 3 VCOMs), 4 floors, basically modeled after the other buildings I believe. Patient simulation, anatomy labs with individually vented cadaver stations (4 or 5? to a cadaver) w/ computers at each station. OMM rooms, group study rooms, typical lecture halls, etc. Nothing too special I don't think, but it will all be brand new! Obviously we didn't get to tour the building because it's not done yet.
The staff: everyone was very warm in my opinion. I think that it's the Southern hospital shining through. I felt very welcome and everyone was very receptive to questions, etc.
Curriculum: same as VC and CC, so proven results. the presentation of the curriculum can vary by campus, but the information is the same. they said it would be a mixed curriculum here, so PBL, lecture, etc. Grading is by letters.
Interview: Two, 30 minute individual interviews. My first one ended up being mostly about academics in the beginning, then we got into some ECs and general conversation about hobbies, what he did before this, his role at VCOM-Auburn, etc. The second was mostly EC and conversation. Was told in this one that while my MCAT (24 8/7/9) was not going to be keeping me out of the school, they focus mostly on sGPA. That may have just been his personal opinion, but he did say "we" not "I", for what it's worth. Neither interviewer seemed worried about my MCAT. The second interviewer also gave me a proposed medical situation.. like a PBL quiz. eeek
was not expecting that. So you might want to run through some basic medical situations in your head and think about what you'd want to do in each case. Can't go wrong with saying you'd start with a history/physical exam and then move into imaging and more diagnostic testing as you see fit. He was very understanding that I didn't have a clear plan laid out.. I wanted to say "Wait, am I not supposed to be learning this AFTER you accept me?" but I bit my tongue
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Cost: They estimate total cost of attendance to be just under $75,000 for the upcoming year. Jasmine gave us rough estimates for housing that she has lived in previously. Two bedroom one bath condo (an older house that was split into two units I believe) that was around $400-500 per month and another that is 3 bedroom 2 bath house for about $800 per month) so housing is very affordable in my opinion. Obviously this will depend where you are from. This is an n=1 situation, but basically there are affordable options available.
Rotations: They said they already have some VCOM students from the other campuses doing rotation in and around auburn where we would be going. There is a 400 bed hospital in auburn (EAMC East Alabama Medical Center). They said that they have enough spots for us. They seemed confident in that. Some people (here on SDN, not there at the campus) seem worried about the availability of residencies since ACOM is relatively new as well and both are in a relatively low population state. I think those worries are well-founded, but I think as long as you are open to at least being a little further away that it won't be a big deal. I believe rotations are split up into 4 or 8 week blocks (I think 4) for both core rotations and elective rotations.
Extras: Lots of community involvement as far as free health clinics on fridays (or a different day), womens clinics, summer programs for aspiring scientists, etc. Also the already existing trips to central america (honduras, el salvador, and ?costa rica?). Those international trips are available in 1 week blocks for years 1 and 2 and one month blocks for years 3 and 4 (so i'm guessing that is the 4 week rotation block that i talked about).
Emphasis: They have expressed a very clear tie to auburn athletics and sports medicine/orthopedics. They already have been hiring for these positions even though that staff wouldn't be needed until years 3 and 4 for rotations. That is how dedicated they are to it. They have recently established an orthopedics rotation? residency? that they talked about as being their first fully established one. That is not to say that they aren't interested in general family med, etc... they are (look at the mission) but due to the proximity of auburn, they are also very involved with the athletes. Since I am especially interested in sports med/ortho, I asked specifically how much contact we would have with auburn athletes for OMM and general treatments. I was asked "well, do you mean auburn athletes or football players?" haha, touché... no but she was kidding, we are going to have year round contact with the athletes for this kind of stuff. primarily non-football athletes, but they are working on that relationship. they mentioned off-season work, and pre-, intra-, and post-game treatments as necessary as well. we would also be able to work in the student health clinic if i'm not mistaken.
Overall: I would be TOTALLY down going here.
