Pacific Northwest University (PNWU-COM) Discussion Thread 2014 - 2015

BU Medical Sciences
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taywest101 said:
What are all of your plans? I'm tryin to figure out how to get to the interview and save some money haha. Is everyone driving from Seattle airport? Anyone interested in driving together or splitting a hotel or something?
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I would, but I am actually from the area-ish. I am flying in to Seattle the Thursday before the interview, to spend a couple days at home with my family. I live about 1.5 hours south of Seattle, and about 2 hours *west* of Yakima. I will just be staying at home. But at the very least I'm looking forward to having a chance to meet all of you at the school!

**Edit** East-> West
 
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taywest101 said:
What are all of your plans? I'm tryin to figure out how to get to the interview and save some money haha. Is everyone driving from Seattle airport? Anyone interested in driving together or splitting a hotel or something?
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My tips for saving money:

I would try hotwire.com or a priceline bid for rental car - you can probably get one for around $10/day.

Priceline bid for hotel can usually net you one for around $40, but I wouldn't recommend going below 2.5 stars.
 
royfan said:
can any current students please comment on the research facilities and research opportunities at PNWU? Thanks!!!
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I would also be interested in hearing about this. I'd be surprised if they had labs for bench research. More than likely, you'd be looking at clinical research opportunities through local institutions - I'm sure you can find opportunities if you look. Can any current (or former) students comment?
 
Anyone know anything about Yakima? Someone told me its not the safest place.
 
FightingDingo said:
Anyone know anything about Yakima? Someone told me its not the safest place.
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I grew up in the area for 18 years. Actual Yakima isn't the safest, but not too different than most cities where you shouldn't walk around alone at night. There are a lot of smaller towns on the outskirts (where I lived) that are perfectly safe. I roamed around as a kid and was never afraid. The school itself is outside of the actual town in a safe neighborhood. You could live around the school or in any of the towns around it less than a 10-minute drive and be more than safe/comfortable.
 
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It's sweet that Feb 21st is a Saturday though! nothing has changed on my portal because I just responded to the email this afternoon. How often do they interview? Seems like only one group a month?
 
That's what it's looking like. Did you ask to be placed on a waitlist? It seems like every interview date, a handful of people are canceling their spots. I hope we can get bumped up. This school is high up on my list!

greenflash5 said:
It's sweet that Feb 21st is a Saturday though! nothing has changed on my portal because I just responded to the email this afternoon. How often do they interview? Seems like only one group a month?
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@greenflash5 did you get any kind of confirmation? My checklist on the portal still hasn't changed and I still haven't received an email.
 
I got a confirmation email and it shows my interview date on the 'checklist' You should email if you haven't received confirmation!
 
AlteredScale said:
After digging into this school a bit, this is one of my top choices. It's in a pretty neat city that reminds me of my own city (The Palm Springs of Washington!). The fact that they have their core rotations well established is great too. As a CA resident I have a pretty slim chance here but I would be ecstatic to serve the communities in the PNW.
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Still?
 
Finally got the confirmation! On the checklist under the complete folder, it's just in the "Admissions Interview" link right? Under the due date?

greenflash5 said:
I got a confirmation email and it shows my interview date on the 'checklist' You should email if you haven't received confirmation!
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thesauce said:
I would also be interested in hearing about this. I'd be surprised if they had labs for bench research. More than likely, you'd be looking at clinical research opportunities through local institutions - I'm sure you can find opportunities if you look. Can any current (or former) students comment?
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dr Diana and Jim Rhodes had anatomy research electives this last summer for students interested...there were so many interested it was almost a lottery. We also now have anatomy fellows and OMM fellows slots available for those interested.
 
Interviewed yesterday, very nice campus, all are new.
I really liked faculty and students! they are very friendly and welcoming. MMI is def stressful but you get used to it after one so it becomes easier. Drink plenty of water because you will be talking A LOT.
Great curriculum and rotation site of all NW regions!
 
Geriatricphysician said:
Interviewed yesterday, very nice campus, all are new.
I really liked faculty and students! they are very friendly and welcoming. MMI is def stressful but you get used to it after one so it becomes easier. Drink plenty of water because you will be talking A LOT.
Great curriculum and rotation site of all NW regions!
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Same! I had a really great time there yesterday. I'm from the Yakima area, so it would be nice to return there. Their students perform above the national average on board scores, they have great facilities, and plenty of plans for expansion of the campus (bringing in a pharmacy program in conjunction with WSU).

Should I be lucky enough to receive an acceptance offer here, I think I'll decline my acceptance offer at Western University of Health Sciences in Oregon.

Also, @Geriatricphysician, I think I was sitting across the table from you when we were having lunch/talking to the faculty ;)
 
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Thanks for the feedback, Hrdrock.

Hrdrock said:
Their students perform above the national average on board scores
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You'll hear this at every place you interview. There have been numerous threads on SDN discussing it as well. I would definitely take this statement with a grain of salt. Some schools have been known to omit the scores from students that fail, while others will include everyone indiscriminately.

Essentially, schools manipulate the statistics until they can make that claim. In the end, it's not so important since the boards are largely an individual effort. Thus, even if you get the straight story, I would caution against judging a school based on board scores.
 
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thesauce said:
Thanks for the feedback, Hrdrock.



You'll hear this at every place you interview. There have been numerous threads on SDN discussing it as well. I would definitely take this statement with a grain of salt. Some schools have been known to omit the scores from students that fail, while others will include everyone indiscriminately.

Essentially, schools manipulate the statistics until they can make that claim. In the end, it's not so important since the boards are largely an individual effort. Thus, even if you get the straight story, I would caution against judging a school based on board scores.
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I don't think they really showcase the board stats, but I don't think this translates to a negative connotation. Anecdotally most people I knew seemed to have great scores. You're right, though, it is an individual effort. There were definitely deficiencies in the curriculum when I was a student (like any school) and this meant that I had to study those subjects more thoroughly come board prep time. Bottom line is that nearly everyone in my class that I knew ended up where they wanted to be for residency in their desired specialty.
 
Roberie said:
I don't think they really showcase the board stats, but I don't think this translates to a negative connotation. Anecdotally most people I knew seemed to have great scores.
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I felt the same way at my school, although it could just be that people don't talk about their scores if they're bad.

Roberie said:
You're right, though, it is an individual effort. There were definitely deficiencies in the curriculum when I was a student (like any school) and this meant that I had to study those subjects more thoroughly come board prep time. Bottom line is that nearly everyone in my class that I knew ended up where they wanted to be for residency in their desired specialty.
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That's great to hear as well. I do think that people adjust their expectations based on how things turn out for them academically.
 
Hrdrock said:
Same! I had a really great time there yesterday. I'm from the Yakima area, so it would be nice to return there. Their students perform above the national average on board scores, they have great facilities, and plenty of plans for expansion of the campus (bringing in a pharmacy program in conjunction with WSU).

Should I be lucky enough to receive an acceptance offer here, I think I'll decline my acceptance offer at Western University of Health Sciences in Oregon.

Also, @Geriatricphysician, I think I was sitting across the table from you when we were having lunch/talking to the faculty ;)
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Really? were you the guy who asked why should we choose this school over another school? ;) pleasure to meet you. I hope you hear from them soon and we can be classmates!!! :)
 
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Geriatricphysician said:
Really? were you the guy who asked why should we choose this school over another school? ;) pleasure to meet you. I hope you hear from them soon and we can be classmates!!! :)
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Yep, that was me. We should hear this week! Best thing about this school is the quick turn around time after the interview.
 
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Went from committee to interview status today! Hopefully this wasn't a mistake and i'll receive an II soon! This is my first choice school and the only secondary I've submitted haha (living the dangerous life). Complete 10/7
 
Harvey Harvardson said:
Went from committee to interview status today! Hopefully this wasn't a mistake and i'll receive an II soon! This is my first choice school and the only secondary I've submitted haha (living the dangerous life). Complete 10/7
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How soon after being verified did you receive a secondary?
 
Geriatricphysician said:
Really? were you the guy who asked why should we choose this school over another school? ;) pleasure to meet you. I hope you hear from them soon and we can be classmates!!! :)
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Hrdrock said:
Yep, that was me. We should hear this week! Best thing about this school is the quick turn around time after the interview.
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Awesome for you, Hrdrock. It takes a lot of guts to ask the hard questions.
 
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Anyone from the Oct.11th interview get an acceptance call? I thought someone said we would hear back today..
 
pterop said:
Anyone from the Oct.11th interview get an acceptance call? I thought someone said we would hear back today..
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Nothing yet. All the said was the applications would be reviewed "this week". Thinking tomorrow might be our lucky day!
 
I know this topic has been hashed a couple times but would anyone from the 11th interviews be willing to share some advice on how to prepare. I'm interviewing this Saturday (18th) and just want to see if anyone has any suggestions I haven't already worked on. You can shoot me a pm if you want. I just really wanna nail the interview. (As I'm sure all of want to)
 
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Harvey Harvardson said:
I received the secondary maybe 2-3 days after I was verified.
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PNWU screens, correct? If so, would they send me an email telling me that I won't be getting a secondary? I was verified on 10/01, so I'm assuming that they've decided not to send one... Very possible, since I'm from Texas without any local ties to the northwest.
 
DrLefty said:
I know this topic has been hashed a couple times but would anyone from the 11th interviews be willing to share some advice on how to prepare. I'm interviewing this Saturday (18th) and just want to see if anyone has any suggestions I haven't already worked on. You can shoot me a pm if you want. I just really wanna nail the interview. (As I'm sure all of want to)
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I thought my interviews went well, but can't be sure since none of us from the Oct.11th group know if we got in. There were 25 of us at the interview and we were split into three groups, that took turns doing a school tour, the 4 mini interviews with individual faculty members, and a group activity that was more like a group interview. I wasn't prepared for the last part.

For the group activity, the 8 of us were given a topic to talk about for 5 minutes, then we took 20 minutes taking turns talking about the topic as a group. Three or four faculty evaluated our answers. I didn't know about this portion of the interview from reading threads. That might help you feel more prepared on Sat.

The MMI's were just like people explained in previous posts. We rotated between faculty in different rooms. We had one minute to read the question and five minutes to answer them. All but one of my interviewers were friendly.

Everyone else on campus was super friendly and made me even more excited about the school. Mike Riggin, the recruiter, told me to just be myself at the interview and have fun! I think they just want to see that you, as a candidate, would fit into the school ie. be friendly and collaborative, and you would be happy to be there.

The advice I can give is chat up your fellow interviewees and enjoy yourself. I also did practice MMIs with a couple people beforehand and that made me less nervous.

Good luck! I hope you have a good experience!
 
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pterop said:
I thought my interviews went well, but can't be sure since none of us from the Oct.11th group know if we got in. There were 25 of us at the interview and we were split into three groups, that took turns doing a school tour, the 4 mini interviews with individuals faculty members, and a group activity that was more like a group interview. I wasn't prepared for the last part.

For the group activity, the 8 of us were given a topic to talk about for 5 minutes, then we took 20 minutes taking turns talking about the topic as a group. Three or four faculty evaluated our answers. I didn't know about this portion of the interview from reading threads. That might help you feel more prepared on Sat.

The MMI's were just like people explained in previous posts. We rotating between faculty in different rooms. We had one minute to read the question and five minutes to answer them. All but one of my interviewers were friendly.

Everyone else on campus was super friendly and made me even more excited about the school. Mike Riggin, the recruiter, told me to just be myself at the interview and have fun! I think they just want to see that you as a candidate would fit into the school ie. Be friendly and collaborative, and you would be happy to be there.

The advice I can give is chat up your fellow interviewees and enjoy yourself. I also did practice MMIs with a couple people beforehand and that made me less nervous.

Good luck! I hope you have a good experience!
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Awesome! Thanks so much. :) This really helps. Another couple days and I'll be there too. You Oct 11th interviewees know when you will be hearing back about acceptance?
 
Also, I hate to prod but what were the MMI questions like? Ethical/political policy based questions? Or more typical "why medicine" sorts of stuff? I guess it could be a grab bag of stuff including all the above too.
 
Two of mine were about what I would do in a medical situation, the third was my opinion on a healthcare topic.
 
yocharlie said:
damn its been a little over a week for me...maybe ill call if I don't get anything by the end of the week
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I didn't receive a secondary from them until like a month after mine was verified. I'm interviewing on saturday as well, so I wouldn't fret too much about what time they take to send you it. If you're from the PNW and you have no red flags, you'll get a secondary. My stats are far from stellar.
 
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