Pikeville College SOM- 2011-2012

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Charlie,

Thanks for the info. I have a question about living arrangements. Firstly, I am married with a 3 year old daughter. When we chose our house to rent, we wanted to get a good neighborhood and especially a yard. Because rentals in Pikeville are hard to find, we settled on a house about 15-20 minutes from the campus. Its about 15 minutes to exit 23 and another couple to get to the parking garage.

My question is --- how often are you on campus outside of normal Monday-Friday hours? Do you have to frequently make trips in the evenings/nights/weekends to campus? I am fine with the commute if its mainly Monday-Friday or even a weekend day as well. Im just afraid there may be times when I need to go on campus at night or on the weekends for short trips to study, lab, etc. Trips for all day or something wouldnt be bad but are there times when you go to campus several times a day for short amount of times?

If you had a 15-20 minute commute, how would this have affected things for you? I just want to make sure before I get in the thick of things that we didnt mess up by choosing a place a little further away from campus. But, we also really wanted a decent yard for our daughter because she loves it outside and we are happy where we are renting now.

I wouldn't stress about it if I were you. I do most of my studying at home, so I'm rarely on campus for anything other than lectures or labs. The only time this year that I spent a significant amount of time studying on campus was for gross anatomy lab (for obvious reasons). On days we finished lecture fairly early, I would just stay on campus and go down to the lab for review. I typically didn't stay down there too long, but if you can make it down there for an hour or two at a time, the hours will start to add up and you won't have to spend as much time down there at the end of the block when everyone in the entire class is down there cramming.

I have classmates who make similar commutes daily, so I don't see the 15-20 minute commute having any negative impact on you. In fact, the time you spend in your vehicle might actually be somewhat therapeutic for you (i.e. get your mind ready to work on your drive to school, decompress on the drive home). You'll learn what routine works best for you and your family, and I'm sure things will go smoothly for you. Don't sweat it.

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Thanks for all the detailed responses!

Few more questions:

1. Have you moved into the new building? If so, how is it?
2. Do you know anything about the Christian Medical Association?
3. Can you get old exams for review before block exams?
4. Are the professors easily accessible?
5. Can you address the rumors about COMLEX pass rate being low?
6. Is there a note-taking service? Required attendance?


... and lastly I have to ask:

Is it worth it to pre-study any anatomy, biochem, physiology, etc?
 
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Thanks for all the detailed responses!

Few more questions:

1. Have you moved into the new building? If so, how is it?
2. Do you know anything about the Christian Medical Association?
3. Can you get old exams for review before block exams?
4. Are the professors easily accessible?
5. Can you address the rumors about COMLEX pass rate being low?
6. Is there a note-taking service? Required attendance?


... and lastly I have to ask:

Is it worth it to pre-study any anatomy, biochem, physiology, etc?

1.) We have not moved into the new building yet, but move-in is scheduled for sometime next month I believe. I'm really looking forward to it. From what I understand, the plan is to begin classes this fall in the new facility and have an official dedication ceremony for the new building the day of the white coat ceremony.

2.) CMA is a great organization. There's usually one meeting per block at the Pikeville United Methodist Church where we will eat, fellowship, worship, and share testimony. There are also community outreach projects throughout the year depending on what the needs of the community are (this year, we raised money and supplies for the tornado victims in our area). While they are two seperate organizations, CMA works very closely with our mission team in fundraising and planning for KYCOM's annual medical mission trip to the Dominican Republic. You can't go wrong with this one. I highly recommend.

3.) Nope. From what I understand, faculty are not permitted to release old exams to students. Most faculty will, however, provide sample test questions (i.e. questions that have been used in the past but are not used anymore, questions of comparable difficulty to actual exam questions, etc.). Plus, there are study guides and practice quizzes (made by students) that have been passed down from previous classes that are still being used. Trust me, you will be provided with more than enough resources to do well. Just put in the work, and you'll do great.

4.) Absolutely. Unless they are out of town for a conference or something of that nature, virtually all faculty are in the building throughout the day. You'll pass them in the hallways, ride with them on the elevators, park beside them in the parking garage, see them at the grocery store - it's kind of difficult to avoid them actually. You will get to know them on a personal level, and they will know you, too. Any time that I've needed to schedule a meeting with a professor, it has never been a problem. Most of the time, you can just walk right into their offices and strike up a conversation, but if you'd rather be more formal about it you can always email them to set up an appointment. You should never have trouble trying to hunt down a professor to schedule a meeting.

5.) COMLEX doesn't report their scores to me, so I can't give you guys the concrete answer you're looking for. I know the pass rate isn't 100% because I've spoken to a 4th year student who was working in our OMT clinic during his OMM rotation who failed Step I his first time. He was dealing with some issues in his personal life and just wasn't able to put his best foot forward. He took the exam again, and did just fine. By the way, he also matched into his first choice program (IM at an allopathic institution). What's my point here, exactly? For one, the name of your institution has very little to do with how hard you work to prepare for your boards, rotations, residency interviews, etc. - if you don't put forth the effort it doesn't matter if you go to school at Hopkins or on Pluto. Second, and I think I mentioned this previously, KYCOM will provide you with literally everything you could ask for in preparation for COMLEX (laptop computer, iPad, textbooks, board review books, access to online databases, COMLEX review courses). You will be given all the tools you need to succeed; it will be up to you to put those tools to use.

6.) For every single lecture, you will be given a hard copy of the lecture notes, online access to the powerpoint presentation, and oftentimes both. Some professors will post video lectures online as a supplemental resource for their class. Also, many students use their iPads to record each lecture and then post the lectures onto a file sharing website that is available to everyone in the class. If it's talked about in class, you'll have access to it. As for the attendance issue, we do currently have a strict attendance policy. There have been talks of amending it, but as of today attendance is still required at all lectures and labs. Some professors don't take attendance, so technically you could choose to not attend class and not get penalized for it. I don't necessarily agree with the attendance policy; I think at this level in my academic career I know myself well enough to be able to decide if I can skip lecture and still learn the material. But rules are rules, and I respect the administration enough to comply with their policies. It's really not too much to ask.

Lastly, NO!!! You will have plenty of time once classes start to worry about studying, and it really won't give you any significant advantage over your classmates. Enjoy the time you have off - you'll regret it later if you don't.
 
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What is the passing rate on COMLEX or USMLE step 1? Most schools publish this on their website. Can you ask the admin and find out because admissions won't pick up whenever I call.
 
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CharlieHustle,

Regarding attendance and the sample schedules I've seen, do you think the fact that

1) attendance is required, and
2) all days pretty much seem to have a schedule from 8:00am - 4:00pm

makes it hard for you to get as much studying as is needed. I've seen from other schools that the days end earlier and/or attendance isn't required so more study time is permitted.
 
zach175: He said earlier that attendance is required but some teachers don't take up regular attendance. However that might be changing (required attendance) in the next year or so.

FuturePharm21
: Last I heard the COMLEX rate at Pikeville was 79-81%, however that wasn't from the school itself.
 
Have any of the deferred folks heard any news? :luck:
 
Have any of the deferred folks heard any news? :luck:
I heard back from them last week and will be starting this year. I was accepted originally into the class of 2017. I interviewed in February.
 
I heard back from them last week and will be starting this year. I was accepted originally into the class of 2017. I interviewed in February.


Congrats! I was accepted for 2017 as well but I interviewed in March. So I know that there are some people from Feb that have priority over those of us who interviewed in March. I'm just really glad to hear that there is at least some movement occurring! Thanks for your reply. :xf: that more people can move up to this yr!
 
From what I remember, they might take 2017 kids if there are seats that open up in 2016
 
Was initially offered acceptance for c/o 2017. Received a call today stating that there had been movement in the class, and was invited to begin this year for the c/o 2016. Respectfully declined. Good luck to the rest of you deferred acceptances! Hope someone who really wants it, gets it!
 
I too was offered a seat in the Class of 2017 pending an open seat. I was just offered a seat but respectfully declined. I hope the seat goes to one of you that has been waiting.


KCUMB Class of 2016
 
Hey, gang. I'm sure you guys check your email religiously, but just in case you missed the memo, here goes:

The college is currently in the process of moving from the Armington Science Center into the new medical facility. Everything should be back up and running by next week, but in the meantime you should expect a slight delay in correspondence from the admissions office, administration, or anyone else with whom you're trying to make contact. So if you're trying to double-check if Angel received that Hep B titer, don't freak out if you don't hear anything for a few days.

I hope you guys are getting excited! It's okay to be a little nervous too, but you should all be really looking forward to the opportunity you have in front of you!

Take care,
CH
 
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After some googling, I found the 2012 Match List for those that are interested...

CONGRATS TO KYCOM CLASS OF 2012!!! This is just a simple list of the KYCOM Class of 2012 Match Results. After graduation, many of us will not see each other again. It would be nice to see where everyone is going. Add your specialty and location to the comments section and I will update the note. Obviously this list is incomplete, so corrections/additions are needed.
Specialty Location
1. OBGYN University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
2. Path University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
3. IM University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
4. Path Penn State, Hershey, PA
5. IM/ER St. John Medical Center, Cleveland, OH
6. PM&R Louisiana State University, New Orleans, LA
7. IM Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, OH
8. Rad University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
9. PM&R University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
10. FM University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
11. Peds University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
12. IM University of South Carolina, Greenville, SC
13. Anes West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
14. Peds University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
15. ER Adena Health System, Chilicothe, OH
16. ER Marietta Memorial Hospital, Marietta, OH
17. PM&R University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR
18. OBGYN Toledo-Mercy St. Vincent, Toledo, OH
19. Peds St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO
20. IM Des Peres Hospital, St. Louis, MO
21. IM Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
22. FM Kent Hospital, Warwick, RI
23. Gen Surg St. John Health System, Detroit, MI
24. Uro St. John Health System, Detroit, MI
25. ER Indiana University - Bloomington, IN
26. ER Grandview Medical Center, Dayton, OH
27. Psy University of Illinois, Chicago, IL
28. Peds Georgia Health Sciences University, Augusta, GA
29. Intern Charleston Area Medical Center, Charleston, WV
30. IM Wright State University, Dayton, OH
31. don't know
32. FM Columbia Hospital, Port St Lucia, FL
33. FM Akron City Hospital, Akron, OH
34. FM Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital, Ashland, KY
35. Peds University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
36. don't know
37. Peds Sparrow Medical Center, Lansing, MI
38. IM Pontiac Medical Center, Pontiac, MI
39. IM Norton Community Hospital, Norton, VA
40. Gen Surg Dayton, OH - Military
41. don't know
42. don't know
43. Gen Surg Grandview Medical Center, Dayton, OH
44. Intern Garden City Hospital, Garden City, MI
45. FM Southern Ohio Medical Center, Portsmouth, OH
46. don't know
47. don't know
48. don't know
49. don't know
50. don't know
51. FM University of Kentucky, Hazard, KY
52. don't know
53. Tamera Spangler FM Methodist Hospital, Henderson, KY
54. don't know
55. Med/Peds University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL
56. dont know
57. FM Westview Hospital, Indianapolis, IN
58. Gen Surg Philadelphia, PA - Military
59. FM Pikeville Medical Center, Pikeville, KY
60. IM Norton Community Hospital, Norton, VA
61. IM Norton Community Hospital, Norton, VA
62. ER Adena Health System, Chillicothe, OH
63. IM East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
64. FM Pikeville Medical Center, Pikeville, KY
 
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After some googling, I found the 2012 Match List for those that are interested...

CONGRATS TO KYCOM CLASS OF 2012!!! This is just a simple list of the KYCOM Class of 2012 Match Results. After graduation, many of us will not see each other again. It would be nice to see where everyone is going. Add your specialty and location to the comments section and I will update the note. Obviously this list is incomplete, so corrections/additions are needed.
Specialty Location
1. OBGYN University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
2. Path University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
3. IM University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
4. Path Penn State, Hershey, PA
5. IM/ER St. John Medical Center, Cleveland, OH
6. PM&R Louisiana State University, New Orleans, LA
7. IM Christ Hospital, Cincinnati, OH
8. Rad University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
9. PM&R University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
10. FM University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
11. Peds University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
12. IM University of South Carolina, Greenville, SC
13. Anes West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
14. Peds University of Toledo, Toledo, OH
15. ER Adena Health System, Chilicothe, OH
16. ER Marietta Memorial Hospital, Marietta, OH
17. PM&R University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR
18. OBGYN Toledo-Mercy St. Vincent, Toledo, OH
19. Peds St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO
20. IM Des Peres Hospital, St. Louis, MO
21. IM Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
22. FM Kent Hospital, Warwick, RI
23. Gen Surg St. John Health System, Detroit, MI
24. Uro St. John Health System, Detroit, MI
25. ER Indiana University - Bloomington, IN
26. ER Grandview Medical Center, Dayton, OH
27. Psy University of Illinois, Chicago, IL
28. Peds Georgia Health Sciences University, Augusta, GA
29. Intern Charleston Area Medical Center, Charleston, WV
30. IM Wright State University, Dayton, OH
31. don't know
32. FM Columbia Hospital, Port St Lucia, FL
33. FM Akron City Hospital, Akron, OH
34. FM Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital, Ashland, KY
35. Peds University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
36. don't know
37. Peds Sparrow Medical Center, Lansing, MI
38. IM Pontiac Medical Center, Pontiac, MI
39. IM Norton Community Hospital, Norton, VA
40. Gen Surg Dayton, OH - Military
41. don't know
42. don't know
43. Gen Surg Grandview Medical Center, Dayton, OH
44. Intern Garden City Hospital, Garden City, MI
45. FM Southern Ohio Medical Center, Portsmouth, OH
46. don't know
47. don't know
48. don't know
49. don't know
50. don't know
51. FM University of Kentucky, Hazard, KY
52. don't know
53. Tamera Spangler FM Methodist Hospital, Henderson, KY
54. don't know
55. Med/Peds University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL
56. dont know
57. FM Westview Hospital, Indianapolis, IN
58. Gen Surg Philadelphia, PA - Military
59. FM Pikeville Medical Center, Pikeville, KY
60. IM Norton Community Hospital, Norton, VA
61. IM Norton Community Hospital, Norton, VA
62. ER Adena Health System, Chillicothe, OH
63. IM East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN
64. FM Pikeville Medical Center, Pikeville, KY

:thumbup:
 
I was waitlisted at Pikeville for the Class of 2016. I interviewed in January. I know they're already moving accepted students for 2017 into this upcoming class, but I was wondering if any of you know if they have begun accepting waitlisted students yet, and if not, if there are not too many 2017 students left to move into this upcoming class so they can start accepting waitlisted students such as myself. Thanks!
 
im pretty sure the class is 99% finalized. there may be a spot here or there but i wouldn't expect much if any movement
 
Hey gang. For those of you who haven't seen the progress that has been made on the new medical building, I've attached a PDF file with some interior shots of the facility. These pictures were taken early last month, and from what I understand a lot of progress has been made in the past month. I'll post updated images as they become available.
 

Attachments

  • KYCOM Coal Building Images.pdf
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I know of two ppl who dropped this week so someone out there might be getting a call soon
 
Greeting All,

This is my first time posting on SDN. So please excuse me if I make any errors. I'm a first year at Barry University School of Podiatic Medicine and i'm the president of the 2016 class. This year we have a new gross anatomy professor Dr. Carlos Soneira-Ruiz, who used to be the anatomy professor at Pikeville from what we were told. I'm posting this as representative of the entire class, since we have 32 failures on the first exam largely due his terrible structuring of the course. There seems to be absolutely no type of instruction going on, and the lab and lecture material do not correlate with each other. In addition, his exams are entirely composed of tertiary level multiple choice questions, with less than a minute to answer each one. We're about to approach the head & neck exam, and needless to say, the entire class is completely flabbergasted. With that being said, can anyone who has taken Dr. Soneira for anatomy in the past provide some helpful insight on how to deal with his methods of teaching and how to go about answering his tests. Any solid advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Pete
 
Greeting All,

This is my first time posting on SDN. So please excuse me if I make any errors. I'm a first year at Barry University School of Podiatic Medicine and i'm the president of the 2016 class. This year we have a new gross anatomy professor Dr. Carlos Soneira-Ruiz, who used to be the anatomy professor at Pikeville from what we were told. I'm posting this as representative of the entire class, since we have 32 failures on the first exam largely due his terrible structuring of the course. There seems to be absolutely no type of instruction going on, and the lab and lecture material do not correlate with each other. In addition, his exams are entirely composed of tertiary level multiple choice questions, with less than a minute to answer each one. We're about to approach the head & neck exam, and needless to say, the entire class is completely flabbergasted. With that being said, can anyone who has taken Dr. Soneira for anatomy in the past provide some helpful insight on how to deal with his methods of teaching and how to go about answering his tests. Any solid advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Pete

Did you expect him to just give you cupcake questions? I don't know what to tell you other than to find a different way to study. You're in professional school now, and you need to step up your game accordingly. His exams are challenging, but he forces you to learn the material forwards and backwards. He doesn't pull any sneaky tricks or try to mislead you about what will be tested on the exam; he tells you exactly what he expects you to know. While he was challenging, he was consistently the most beloved professor at KYCOM during his tenure, and he is missed dearly by everyone who had the privilege to learn from him.
 
Did you expect him to just give you cupcake questions? I don't know what to tell you other than to find a different way to study. You're in professional school now, and you need to step up your game accordingly. His exams are challenging, but he forces you to learn the material forwards and backwards. He doesn't pull any sneaky tricks or try to mislead you about what will be tested on the exam; he tells you exactly what he expects you to know. While he was challenging, he was consistently the most beloved professor at KYCOM during his tenure, and he is missed dearly by everyone who had the privilege to learn from him.
Clearly you mistook my question as a personal attack against the professor when that is not at all what my post was about. My relationship with Dr. Soneira is nothing but respectful, and he has been more than receptive with the student body. I'm well aware of the fact that this is a professional school, and of how to study for this class. I'm currently working on my third graduate degree so if I am familiar with what challenging course is like. However, when you have almost half the class failing an exam, there's clear evidence of lack of communication between the professor and the class as a whole. As class president, I am tasked with addressing these issues before they get out of hand, hence why I thought it would be beneficial to reach out to his previous students for HELPFUL advice. There is indeed a complete lack of structure to the course, and unless you count reading off a powerpoint presentation to be instruction, then I stand firm on the fact that there is very little instruction going on in the class. Once again, my motives are not to bash Dr. Soneira. He is by far one of the most intelligent professors that I've had the pleasure to learn from. My concern is that the majority of that class is not benefiting, and that is the issue I am trying to address. So if you have any advise that can actually be beneficial to my class , we would highly appreciate it. Thank you
 
Clearly you mistook my question as a personal attack against the professor when that is not at all what my post was about. My relationship with Dr. Soneira is nothing but respectful, and he has been more than receptive with the student body. I'm well aware of the fact that this is a professional school, and of how to study for this class. I'm currently working on my third graduate degree so if I am familiar with what challenging course is like. However, when you have almost half the class failing an exam, there's clear evidence of lack of communication between the professor and the class as a whole. As class president, I am tasked with addressing these issues before they get out of hand, hence why I thought it would be beneficial to reach out to his previous students for HELPFUL advice. There is indeed a complete lack of structure to the course, and unless you count reading off a powerpoint presentation to be instruction, then I stand firm on the fact that there is very little instruction going on in the class. Once again, my motives are not to bash Dr. Soneira. He is by far one of the most intelligent professors that I've had the pleasure to learn from. My concern is that the majority of that class is not benefiting, and that is the issue I am trying to address. So if you have any advise that can actually be beneficial to my class , we would highly appreciate it. Thank you

Since you're working on your third graduate degree, why don't you try the same strategies that worked for your previous degrees? The material is not any more difficult; the volume is just much larger. Our students who aced Dr. Soneira's courses routinely spent several hours a day working in the gross lab and plowing through the course materials until it became second nature. There really shouldn't be any lack of structure or communication - he gives you the material, you learn it by heart. I don't know how it could be any simpler.

I'm not trying to bash you or argue with you. I'm just sharing my experience with Dr. Soneira's courses. You're obviously an intelligent guy, so you should know that your strategy for the first exam didn't work and you need to modify your game plan.
 
Greeting All,

This is my first time posting on SDN. So please excuse me if I make any errors. I'm a first year at Barry University School of Podiatic Medicine and i'm the president of the 2016 class. This year we have a new gross anatomy professor Dr. Carlos Soneira-Ruiz, who used to be the anatomy professor at Pikeville from what we were told. I'm posting this as representative of the entire class, since we have 32 failures on the first exam largely due his terrible structuring of the course. There seems to be absolutely no type of instruction going on, and the lab and lecture material do not correlate with each other. In addition, his exams are entirely composed of tertiary level multiple choice questions, with less than a minute to answer each one. We're about to approach the head & neck exam, and needless to say, the entire class is completely flabbergasted. With that being said, can anyone who has taken Dr. Soneira for anatomy in the past provide some helpful insight on how to deal with his methods of teaching and how to go about answering his tests. Any solid advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Pete

Hi. Congratulations on your first year at Barry University of Podiatric Medicine and on being the president of your class. With regards to Dr. Soneira, he is one of the best professor that I have had the opportunity to learn from. I was a medical student at Pikeville in 2005 and had difficulty initially with his lecture exams, but no problem with the lab. First you have to find out how your learn; I am visual learner; so what I did was I would print out his handouts and images he referred to and outline those words with different colors on the printed images. It might sound silly but it worked for me...why? Dr. Soneira does not ask straight forward questions. For example: the muscle that inserts into the floor of the intertubercular (bicipital) grove of the humerus..
.A) is innervated by the dorsal rami of thoracic spinal nerves.
B) adducts the arm of the shoulder joint.
C) is innervated by the spinal root of the accessory nerve.
D) laterally rotates the arm at the shoulder joint.
E) originates form the external occipital protuberance and the ligamentum nuchae.
(ans: B)
Hence, you may have to know what muscle is next to what nerve that innervates the muscle in question; that's what makes his exams difficult.
this is why I used my netters and printed out the images and used different colors to highlight the different muscles as I read his notes. This is how I did well in his exams and was able to remember it because I could see the image in my mind. Other thing you can do is talk to him about your concerns and if he has any recommendation...he doesn't bite! :) He is really nice and welcomes his students.
BTW tell him Kemi says hello.
 
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