KYCOM vs. WVSOM

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doublefrick

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Overall for both...discuss, please :)

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WVSOM, there's no debate, KYCOM is literally the worst DO school across the boards, though that may be just because generally it's students are the worst, but I digress. That's just the first two years performance, it gets even worse during the clerkships, literally I've been told all of their rotations are in small clinics and almost all of your rotations are tenured towards family/rural medicine ( You'll literally need to do away rotations for all and any decent rotation sites).
 
WVSOM, there's no debate, KYCOM is literally the worst DO school across the boards, though that may be just because generally it's students are the worst, but I digress. That's just the first two years performance, it gets even worse during the clerkships, literally I've been told all of their rotations are in small clinics and almost all of your rotations are tenured towards family/rural medicine ( You'll literally need to do away rotations for all and any decent rotation sites).
This is echoed throughout SDN. Not stating any original knowledge on my part.
 
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WVSOM, there's no debate, KYCOM is literally the worst DO school across the boards, though that may be just because generally it's students are the worst, but I digress. That's just the first two years performance, it gets even worse during the clerkships, literally I've been told all of their rotations are in small clinics and almost all of your rotations are tenured towards family/rural medicine ( You'll literally need to do away rotations for all and any decent rotation sites).

I don't think I would ever come out and express it like this, but that doesn't mean I can't agree. Thanks to serenade for doing it for me. I didn't apply to KYCOM so I didn't interview and haven't seen it or looked into it, but it is pretty unanimous for many many reasons. Good if you didn't get in anywhere else, but like I said in your other thread, try to get into a better school.

WVSOM for sure.
 
This is echoed throughout SDN. Not stating any original knowledge on my part.

The sad thing is that the school tries its hardest to hide all information pertinent to it's students. It literally takes about an hour of searching just to find something pertinent such as the 84% pass rate on the COMLEX -2, which is generally passed in significantly higher quantities as compared to the COMLEX-1.


I'll also note however the report did not include the words "First-Time". So that 84% could be pass within 3 times before failing out. *
 
The sad thing is that the school tries its hardest to hide all information pertinent to it's students. It literally takes about an hour of searching just to find something pertinent such as the 84% pass rate on the COMLEX -2, which is generally passed in significantly higher quantities as compared to the COMLEX-1.


I'll also note however the report did not include the words "First-Time". So that 84% could be pass within 3 times before failing out. *
Wow that is rough... where did you find that (just out of curiosity)?
 
Wow that is rough... where did you find that (just out of curiosity)?

I googled it a while ago when we were all talking about KYCOM and it's statistics, genuinely no one has any data on it so I tried to look or it and I could only find a COMLEX-2 score.
 
WVSOM, there's no debate, KYCOM is literally the worst DO school across the boards, though that may be just because generally it's students are the worst, but I digress. That's just the first two years performance, it gets even worse during the clerkships, literally I've been told all of their rotations are in small clinics and almost all of your rotations are tenured towards family/rural medicine ( You'll literally need to do away rotations for all and any decent rotation sites).

Thank you for bashing my school. I will let you see the residency placement list for the past 2 years...http://www.scribd.com/doc/90058310
 
Thank you for bashing my school. I will let you see the residency placement list for the past 2 years...http://www.scribd.com/doc/90058310

I am not saying this document is invalid, but when interviewees complain that the school wouldn't tell them the pass rates nor will they release any match lists, it seems really dodgy to me.
 
What's the distinction between students in program and DO students? Can you clarify?

In program is the total number...DO is the number which are from the osteopathic match. So if 6 are number in Ortho...5 of which are DO...than One match into an allopathic residency
 
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In program is the total number...DO is the number which are from the osteopathic match. So if 6 are number in Ortho...5 of which are DO...than One match into an allopathic residency

Can you post where they matched?
 
Thank you for bashing my school. I will let you see the residency placement list for the past 2 years...http://www.scribd.com/doc/90058310

A match list tells me nothing, especially when all of these residencies could be at very weak programs. How about telling me the retention rate of people in your school? I've heard people say that nearly 1/4th of your class fails to finish their education.
Though admittedly the 3 ENT positions is impressive, but again I'm not being told whether these are PGY-2 or preliminary spots. Point being is that unlike every other DO school in the nation, KYCOM is without a doubt the one that tries it's best to not desiminate information about it's self, then again with a rumored 60% COMLEX-1 Step pass rate, that's probably for the best.
 
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How about telling me the retention rate of people in your school? I've heard people say that nearly 1/4th of your class fails to finish their education.

I'm not one to make assumptions, but KYCOM would be the last osteopathic school I would attend. This wouldn't be the case if I were from the area.

With that said, WVSOM and run with it. I've been noticing a trend among KYCOM on this board (take that with a grain of salt) and the first thing that popped into my mind was "What's their attrition rate?".

Through my job I met an EM Pikeville grad. She was the only physician I've gotten to know that made me feel like she should have never made it through medical school. Not because because of her skillset as much as her complete apathy and unprofessionalism. The two weeks I was there, she was 30+ minutes late for her shift three times, and went home early (unannounced) twice. She was terrifyingly lazy. :laugh:

Relevant? Of course not. But her carelessness stuck in my mind ever since. :scared:
 
A match list tells me nothing, especially when all of these residencies could be at very weak programs. How about telling me the retention rate of people in your school? I've heard people say that nearly 1/4th of your class fails to finish their education.
Though admittedly the 3 ENT positions is impressive, but again I'm not being told whether these are PGY-2 or preliminary spots. Point being is that unlike every other DO school in the nation, KYCOM is without a doubt the one that tries it's best to not desiminate information about it's self, then again with a rumored 60% COMLEX-1 Step pass rate, that's probably for the best.

If this is the case, then how are they accredited?
 
WVSOM. I think you will have many more opportunites there. I did not apply to that school due to state residence requirments. I know they have a PBL option if your interested in that. Also, I have heard Lewisburg is a great town. I had a similar problem trying to choose between DMU and CCOM, but I dont think your choice should be as difficult.
 
WVSOM. I think you will have many more opportunites there. I did not apply to that school due to state residence requirments. I know they have a PBL option if your interested in that. Also, I have heard Lewisburg is a great town. I had a similar problem trying to choose between DMU and CCOM, but I dont think your choice should be as difficult.

Can you elaborate on this?

I thought WVSOM is an OOS friendly school.
 
I really liked WVSOM when I interviewed there. I don't consider it low-tier
 
I really liked WVSOM when I interviewed there. I don't consider it low-tier

I seriously have to lol @ people trying to put DO schools into "tiers". What's the point?

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wvsom unless location issues restrict you to kentucky.
 
I seriously have to lol @ people trying to put DO schools into "tiers". What's the point?

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Although people may not want to admit it "tiers" do exist. WVSOM is the better choice. Its hard to rank the DO schools but some are obviously better than others. I seriously have to lol @ people who don't realize this.
 
OP, I am a current first year at WVSOM, am from KY and was accepted at KYCOM when I was interviewing. For me, I didn't really like the town of Pikeville, I didn't feel like there was much to do (when I had free time haha). As far as the school, I enjoyed the people there and someone I graduated from college with went there but for me they just didn't seem to have as many opportunities and facilities as WVSOM did. Also Lewisburg is a great town to go to medical school in. There isn't so much going on that you feel like you are missing out on stuff but there are things to do when we get a free weekend. Ultimately I would say go where you feel comfortable! If you have any questions about anything to do with WVSOM feel free to message me!!
 
OP, I am a current first year at WVSOM, am from KY and was accepted at KYCOM when I was interviewing. For me, I didn't really like the town of Pikeville, I didn't feel like there was much to do (when I had free time haha). As far as the school, I enjoyed the people there and someone I graduated from college with went there but for me they just didn't seem to have as many opportunities and facilities as WVSOM did. Also Lewisburg is a great town to go to medical school in. There isn't so much going on that you feel like you are missing out on stuff but there are things to do when we get a free weekend. Ultimately I would say go where you feel comfortable! If you have any questions about anything to do with WVSOM feel free to message me!!

I'm an incoming first year at WVSOM. Just got my apt in ronceverte and am reaaaallly excited to start school :)

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It's about 58 K a year now. And you cannot become a resident after one year. That is probably what the previous poster was referring to about the residency requirements.

Residency requirements are often dictated by the state. Since WVSOM gets quite a bit of mony from WV, it follows the requirements. They say that you have to have worked (and paid taxes) in WV for one year PRIOR to acceptance to be considered a WV resident. Whatever residency status you have at the time of your acceptance is your status for all 4 years (sucks!). There are a very few exceptions - if you owned property in WV, or married a WV resident you might be considered for change in status.

It is OOS friendly as far as acceptances.

Surfactant mentioned a PBL track - that stopped being an option with my class in 2014 - there is only one track. It did, however, get redesigned (with a view towards fewer classroom hours and more case-based learning)....still lots of lecture.

Hope that helps!

Kate
 
I was faced with the same decision, OP, and have chosen to attend WVSOM starting this fall.

My decision was based off the campus facilities, surrounding area, and the staff that I dealt with during the process.
Also, they are switching to a new integrated curriculum which sounds interesting and is supposed to be better apt in helping with the COMLEX.

*49k
 
RadOnc at IU-->categorical
GS at Vanderbilt--categorical
Path at Duke-->categorical
ObGyn at Vanderbilt-->categorical
GS at St. Elizabeth Med Center (MA)-->categorical

Impressive!
 
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I really liked WVSOM when I interviewed there. I don't consider it low-tier

I seriously have to lol @ people trying to put DO schools into "tiers". What's the point?


Although people may not want to admit it "tiers" do exist. WVSOM is the better choice. Its hard to rank the DO schools but some are obviously better than others. I seriously have to lol @ people who don't realize this.

gotta agree with cpg
 
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I mirror the thoughts of the first few posters here. I've talked to 4 or 5 Pikeville students and they had horror stories about their clinical educaiton. BUT... 4 or 5 does not a class make. Still everyone seems to have have a different reason to avoid pikeville. If everyone was echoing the same thing, it would be different. But in this case we are echoing different sentiments.

IDK how much this plays into it all, but a good friend of mine from my school has failed first year twice. After both failures the school requested he leave rather than try a third time. He's a smart kid, just something didnt work out his way and he came up short both times. KYCOM has since taken him into their class, despite his twice failing first year. I have no clue the exact specifics of his switch over the KYCOM though, so it may not be as dire as the implications may seem, it may be worse. I can't tell you. But a school taking on a kid who failed twice doesnt look great unless they saw something special in him (I saw a good friend in him, but I never followed his academics that closely so I cant comment on if he got a tough break at touro, or if he didnt make it under fair circumstances)
 
RadOnc at IU-->categorical
GS at Vanderbilt--categorical
Path at Duke-->categorical
ObGyn at Vanderbilt-->categorical
GS at St. Elizabeth Med Center (MA)-->categorical

Impressive!
Last one isn't in the same league as the first 4, and the rest of the list is quite unremarkable. So averaging 1-2 good matches a year per class isn't exactly reason for cheer.
 
This whole thread is ridiculous generalized nonsense. If your planning to match at some premier spot like lets say Johns Hopkins, and your arguing between WVSOM and KYCOM your a complete idiot because your not getting in with either. KYCOM promotes rural medicine because that's the mission statement of the school. They are trying to get doctors into undeserved areas. You can rotate anywhere you want as a 3rd & 4th year pending you complete your core rotations at one of their hub sites, which might I add are not all in rural areas. Yes they have some low MCAT scores but that doesn't represent the entire class, they just choose candidates based on more than just MCAT score so it skews the averages. The classes aren't any easier, it can actually be more difficult because they are a clinically focused school you have to learn how to be a clinician while your learning the science of medicine. Either way people should not be discouraged from reading this thread I'm 3rd year at KYCOM, and I had no problems passing boards and learning everything I needed to know to start on the wards in 3rd year, plus KYCOM's new school is absolutely amazing...
 
KYCOM.....Is that Pikeville? I heard they have a 23 average mcat. Do they only take applicants from Kentucky?
 
Did we not end this thread? Let's end this thread :)
 
This whole thread is ridiculous generalized nonsense. If your planning to match at some premier spot like lets say Johns Hopkins, and your arguing between WVSOM and KYCOM your a complete idiot because your not getting in with either. KYCOM promotes rural medicine because that's the mission statement of the school. They are trying to get doctors into undeserved areas. You can rotate anywhere you want as a 3rd & 4th year pending you complete your core rotations at one of their hub sites, which might I add are not all in rural areas. Yes they have some low MCAT scores but that doesn't represent the entire class, they just choose candidates based on more than just MCAT score so it skews the averages. The classes aren't any easier, it can actually be more difficult because they are a clinically focused school you have to learn how to be a clinician while your learning the science of medicine. Either way people should not be discouraged from reading this thread I'm 3rd year at KYCOM, and I had no problems passing boards and learning everything I needed to know to start on the wards in 3rd year, plus KYCOM's new school is absolutely amazing...

Nitpicking semantics here...but JHU is pretty DO friendly and WVSOM has sent more than 1 or 2 there over the past few years. (See attachment for most recent)
 

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  • WVSOM 2012 Match.xls
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Sorry I guess I chose a bad example, but likewise this is arguing semantics. The people that got in there did so on their own, meaning took the initiative to get an audition, and stay in touch with the residency director, and probably kicked ass on rotation. My point was these schools are not gearing you for an IVY league residency, but you probably know as well as I do you can do anything in medicine if your motivated enough no matter where you go to school. I just didn't like the fact that people are on here bashing the school without any actual evidence.
 
Well, I just weeded out KYCOM out of my list of med schools I'm applying to next year. Thanks for the enough, people. :thumbup:
 
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