Pros and Cons of your DO School

[Hernandez]

OSU-COM

Curriculum: For the most part, it has a traditional curriculum. Lecture based with lab for the usual classes.

Anatomy & Histo were solid. There was a high student/cadaver ratio, but I preferred that as it cut down on dissection time and increased learning time. Histo is extremely tough but you learn the material. Biochem isn't bad, but probably could be a little more detail oriented. Neuro was the beast of 2nd semester, but well done.

Pharm, Micro, Immuno, psych, & epidemiology were tedious but manageable and you learned what you needed to learn

There were several busy work classes which I disliked and questioned their placement on the curriculum. Health promotion and Disease prevention was not very useful in my opinion. Multicultural studies basically consisted of reading the Spirit catches you and you fall down.

Pathology: Goljan. Nothing else needs to be said.

CPS: A small group PBL based learning with 5 hours of lecture and 2 2hour sessions of small group learning. The lectures followed the organ systems along with pathology and often had practicing specialized physicians come in and give the lectures. One of the better classes to actually integrates everything in and very useful since they follow the same basic schedule of topics as Goljan.

OMM: Lectures are highly variable based on who gives them. Testing was inconsistent and often of poor quality. They frequently had duplicate questions, questions with no correct answer, or questions with multiple correct answers. Lab was better, but again, practical testing was inconsistent and frequently consisted of -1 point for "student being too tall" or other fictitious deductions. I personally felt that this department was less than stellar in addressing our concerns and issues with the classes. And on several occasions students were accused of being "hostile" when calmly asking for clarification of offering suggestions on how one might improve the quality of the course.

Clinical skills: Dr Eddy absolutely loves to teach, he might be a little too lenient, but we still learn a lot in the class and lab.

Overall, the quality of the first 2 years at OSU-COM are great. There is room for improvement, but show me any school that doesn't have areas which could be improved.

Location: Personally, I liked Tulsa. But I'm originally from a very rural area and Tulsa is huge by my standards. The town is very well laid out, there is much to do ranging from music concerts at the historic Cain's Ballroom, to Opera, to plays, to hiking, camping, boating, etc.

Cost: Instate tuition is great at ~16K/year. Out-of-state is average at around 34k/year

Faculty: Overall, good. Plus there is Goljan.

Reputation: Even on SDN, OSU-COM seems to be overlooked. Not that this matters much.

Clinical Rotations: There is an emphasis on Primary care as this is the mandate the school was given by the state when it became a state school. The FM clinic is ok, the IM program is strong, and there is plenty of time for electives. They mandate 1 month of vacation, but you can take two. And they also allow you to take a month for "research". They mandate 2 months of medicine (1 Teaching svc, 1 specialty) 1 month of surgery, 1 month of obgyn. 2 months of FM (1 clinic, 1 rural) 2 months of community hospital, 1/2 month of OMM, 1 EM, 1 Psych. Then they mandate that 2 of your electives be primary care.

Housing: Tulsa is one of the cheaper housing markets

School Policies: No formal dress code. Scrubs are fine, some classes adopt an informal dress code. There is lots of socialization, lots of post test parties, etc.

Study areas: The library has multiple study carols, but they are assigned to those who apply for them. There are several "break out rooms" which can hold 10 or so people. And there are several areas with couches, tables, chairs. I never could study at school, so I can not get more detailed than that.

The librarians and Dave are great resources and can help you find anything you need.

Local Hospitals: OSU-MC is now an affiliated hospital. It's currently in the process of being updated and there is 40 Million dollars being pumped into this system. This is also the hospital where most of the core rotations are spent. Has several residencies. Including: FM, EM, IM, Surg, ENT, Optho, Rads, Anesth, Ortho, Peds, ObGyn. Fellowships include: Cards, Invasive Cards, IR, Pulm, Nephro. They are working on GI which is rumored to start in 1 year, and turning Pulm into Pulm/CC.

St John's: has some associations with OU's medical school, so getting rotations here require jumping through several extra hoops.
St Francis: Great EM elective rotation, but that's all I know about this hospital.
South Crest. Not a ton or rotations to be had here.

Board Prep: Given mostly by Goljan for Step1 & 2. So top notch.

Specialty: We tent to go PC, but there are lots of IM subs, there was a Allo Neurosurgery match this year, optho, ENT, surgery, rads, anesthia, they are all represented.

Grades:

Curriculum: B+
Location: B-
Cost: Instate A+, Out-of-state C
Financial Aid: B- but improving
Faculty: A-
Reputation: Who's actually heard of OSU-COM? C, instate we have a great reputation
Technology: C
Study Space/Library: B-
Library technology/Resources: B+
Rotations: B-
Social: dunno
Hospitals: C+ but improving
Post Grad: B+​

Overall Grade:
B+

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[acrunchyfrog]

Thanks for your review!

 

[docbill]

OSU-COM

Curriculum: For the most part, it has a traditional curriculum. Lecture based with lab for the usual classes.
Local Hospitals: OSU-MC is now an affiliated hospital. It's currently in

Grades:

Curriculum: B+
Location: B-
Cost: Instate A+, Out-of-state C
Financial Aid: B- but improving
Faculty: A-
Reputation: Who's actually heard of OSU-COM? C, instate we have a great reputation
Technology: C
Study Space/Library: B-
Library technology/Resources: B+
Rotations: B-
Social: dunno
Hospitals: C+ but improving
Post Grad: B+​

Overall Grade:
B+

Wow if OSU-COM only got a B+, then you guys should do grade inflation like at UNECOM.. we got "A"

 

[docbill]

Again, I would be interested in knowing who you are exactly!!! Cause it just tell me who to believe. You know who I am .. and it is not my first post. I think UNECOM is a GOOD school... but it doesn't mean that we should ignore the things to make it better.

BIOCHEM IS IMPORTANT, I hate medical students that say its NOT ON COMLEX so we don't need to know it. BAD excuse.. BIOCHEMISTRY IS A MAJOR SUBJECT.. get it!!! NOOOO maybe because you did not do biochemistry!!!

Do you know how Biochemistry is involved in coxsackie virus.. well I am published in that subject so look it up. And I will b**h about it.. cause it costs 5k for this course alone.

Rumors are fabricated and possibly by people at the school.. like that movie with the baby sitter and the calls are coming from inside the house. Just because the new President is making some people move a bit.. they are spreading rumors.. Oh Sally I saw her after school in the playground and she was talking to the bully guy... Oh my G^D can you believe her.. she is such a B***

YES, GREAT ANATOMY.. you guys did not have this problem, but how about doing Histology at the same time.. that may help!!! Not after we finish Anatomy like we did.

For CLinical rotations you said "A lot of autonomy to choose your sites come 4th year". I recently learned what this means. You pay the money.. and we will let you do the work.. btw, MMC is off limit. Maybe new intern dean can help change that.

Hi guys,

Biochem is not stressed on the COMLEX. Hence, it is not stressed in our curriculum so stop b****in' about it everyone. You're a DO student, not an allopath, so don't whine about the school not prepping you for the USMLE. You should be proud to have the chance to take the COMLEX.

Reputation:
In the medical world, it is quite good. Good enough that there are rumors floating around that an institution as tight assed as the AMA would like to recruit UNE as an MD school. DO's from here get great residencies and there are an assortment of high profile doc's who came out of UNE. As for a premed's view of it, you tell me...

I do know that we have one of the best anatomy programs in the country, with the most touch time available to students. It's very modern and very clean in that lab.

Clinical Rotations:
so far so good. A lot of autonomy to choose your sites come 4th year. And the 3rd year cores seem pleasing. A few people get shafted into sites I don't think they want, but the school does a good job getting in with hospitals around New England and elsewhere and providing students with some options.


Housing:
Great rental properties right on the Beach. Don't get fooled into renting an apartment in the town of Biddeford. Seasonal Beach houses are available and usually more cost friendly than those in the center of town.



Board Prep:
The pharm Department gets an A+ here. Also, the systems have a great website that offers you an index of diseases and all there is to know about them. All of the classes and websites associated with them are available to you as long as you are registered on webCT (the online system used by the school for students). The bookstore also offers all the books you could ever need.


Specialty:
They say family practice, but I don't know how true that is. I'd say about 1/3 of our class will actually go into it. But I do know that students generally get good residencies coming out.

Grades:

Curriculum: B+
Location: geo=A+ urban life=C
Cost: D
Financial Aid: A
Faculty: B+
Reputation: B+
Technology: A-
Study Space/Library: A
Library technology/Resources: A-
Rotations: B
Social: B
Hospitals: B+
Post Grad: A


Overall Grade:[/B] B+ to A-

 

[Hernandez]

Wow if OSU-COM only got a B+, then you guys should do grade inflation like at UNECOM.. we got "A"

I was trying to be honest. But the + was more because I liked the school overall as opposed to the grades averaging out to that. Had I done an average of the grades, it would probably be a B or B-

 

[Army DOC DO]

docbill,
we did do Histology during anatomy, out first year... So I am not sure what you mean about your comment about that. we had Histology throughout Anatomy, plus Embryo? So I am not sure where you are going with that? Also, you can go to MMC for 4th year if you can set it up, not sure what you mean about that comment either.

oh well, after next year I will not be heading back to unecom until senior week..
So what ever the school does or does not do it doesn't matter to my career direction.

 

[ShyRem]

Docbill, a lot of things changed for our class. They may change back the next one -- one of the reasons they moved histo was because lots of students said it was too much to have anatomy AND histo at the same time. Both lab intensive and not enough time. So they moved stuff around. Education is a fluid thing, and I'm sure more changes will be coming for next year's class.

As for MMC off limits, you can absolutely do rotations there, its just not a core rotation site. I asked. Perhaps you did also and got a different answer? I am unaware of any place being "off limits" for your elective rotations (although there are some places that will be more difficult to do a rotation at than others - Denver Health for one).

As for setting up your fourth year rotations yourself, this may seem to be a pain right now, but when you're looking to apply for residency it would be nice to do a rotation early in the year where you're applying, or do a rotation in the midwest during a month where you have interviews set up in that area of the country so you are more centrally located for your potential residency interviews. It's not a bad thing.

 

[ShyRem]

And everyone, remember these "grades" are very subjective. It's pretty apparent docbill wouldn't grade UNE as highly as Army Doc. And I'm sure someone at OSU would grade it higher than Hernandez did. Also remember that docbill just finished MSI year -- which by all accounts sucks moldy monkey butt. I'm relatively confident in saying that any review by an MSI will be somewhat skewed to the lower end, while a review by an MSII will be somewhat skewed to the higher end. (BTW: I hear MSIII year is pretty tough too, but MSIV is pretty sweet.)

So remember everyone, to take these "grades" as what they are -- opinions. And everyone's opinion will be different. As for those of you arguing: play nice. Don't attack other people's opinions. Or schools.

 

[toothless rufus]

"Moldy Monkey Butt" rocks! Great band name!! And visual!!

 

[NjD00]

Actually, JP, it was "rumor" enough that the President of the college sent out a letter denying it and there was a meeting on campus with several of the local folks who had also heard the rumor.

No offense to you, ShyRem, but it almost seems that by saying this, you (anyone, in fact) elevate MD programs above DO programs by sounding like you are bragging that UNE was rumored to be possibly "recruited" to become an MD school. That would imply that MD schools are a step up or more prestigious in some way. When I head to DMU this year I would discount any rumor like that if I heard it, rather than herald around telling it to people.

DO pride.

 

[ShyRem]

No offense to you, ShyRem, but it almost seems that by saying this, you (anyone, in fact) elevate MD programs above DO programs by sounding like you are bragging that UNE was rumored to be possibly "recruited" to become an MD school. That would imply that MD schools are a step up or more prestigious in some way. When I head to DMU this year I would discount any rumor like that if I heard it, rather than herald around telling it to people.

DO pride.

Not at all. Merely replying to the derision regarding the rumor. I am aware this rumor goes around at many DO schools, but this one was beyond an in-school rumor. I actually heard it from an outside source not attached to the school. I never stated an opinion either way as to whether it was good or bad, nor as to whether DO or MD was better or worse than the other, and nor will I. It takes more than certain letters behind your name to make a good physician.

And, for the record, I didn't start this topic. See post #83. No offense.

Now can we get back to the topic of this thread please? What schools have we not had an opinion on yet?

 

[NjD00]

And, for the record, I didn't start this topic. See post #83. No offense.

I know, but I didn't feel like going back to find the specific one.

 

[Ilikescience]

I do not go to DMU, I'm posting it on behalf of a current DMU student. This post was summited anonymously because the admin monitors the forums. I will do this again for other students who wish to remain anonymous as well. Thanks oh mysterious one!

DMU

Curriculum: The first year curriculum is fairly well done. Physiology is extremely well done, as is Immunology and Geriatrics. Anatomy and Neuroanatomy are weak. The second year curriculum varies widely. Pharmacology is well taught, GI, Endocrine, and ENT are well done as well. Cardiology, Hematology/Oncology, and Rheumatology/Orthopedics are disasters. The classes are poorly organized and poorly taught. The biggest problem with the second year DMU curriculum is that guest lecturers teach most of the systems classes and the quality of these lectures is inconsistent. In general, the students would be better served if they hired James Earl Jones to read Robbins out loud for four hours a morning.

Also, second year, there is a month long, 24 class hour surgery lab. Interesting information, but it really has no place in a second year curriculum and it significantly takes away from board prep time.

OMM: With the departure of Dr. Boseler, it's in a state of change. If you like OMM and are considering PMNR, it's a great choice. If you just want to be a doctor, you'll probably want to find a school with more perspective as to the proper place of OMM in the curriculum.

Clinical skills: You spend more time learning how to look like you know what you're doing than actually mastering the skills you'll need to know what you're doing.

Location: Des Moines isn't bad. It's small enough that cost of living is reasonable and there are numerous decent apartments within walking distance of campus.

Cost: For a private medical school, middle of the road.

Faculty: Inconsistent

Reputation: ?

Clinical Rotations: One of the advantages of the school since you can schedule rotations at a wide variety of sites around the country.

School Policies: No formal dress code, for now. No mandatory class attendance, for now. Seems like every year, someone in the administration makes a push to try and change this which is unfortunate. So far they've been unsuccessful, but this doesn't mean it won't change in the future. Last year, apparently the second years were threatened with "either attend class or we'll stop posting MP3s, Powerpoints, Notepool."

Study areas: High quality - everything about the physical plant of the campus is the best there is.

The bookstore ladies are extremely helpful.

Local Hospitals:

Board Prep: The school pays for a mini Kaplan course.

Specialty: Primary care for the most part.

Grades (where a C is average):

Curriculum: D
Location: B
Cost: C
Financial Aid: C
Faculty: D
Reputation: C
Technology: A
Study Space/Library: A
Library technology/Resources: A
Rotations: B
Social: C

Overall Grade: C-

 

[NjD00]

I do not go to DMU, I'm posting it on behalf of a current DMU student. This post was summited anonymously because the admin monitors the forums. I will do this again for other students who wish to remain anonymous as well. Thanks oh mysterious one!

ha, are you serious? thank you mysterious one, I'm sorry you hated your time at DMU

p.s. I hope to God that they actually aren't thinking of making anything mandatory

 

[Krazykritter]

Wow...I'm a little surprised at that review.

Maybe I'll post an objective one here after this weekend...

 

[simpleman]

These details below are on behalf of psychbender, a 2nd year VCOM student


Curriculum
1. Are there any special programs for which this medical school is noted?

VCOM likes to talk about its systems-based blocks. It also likes to talk about its commitment to rural and underserved regions in Appalachia, yet seems to like to talk about international missions even more. Sometimes I have to wonder if the dean has lost sight of the stated mission of this school when trying to set up sites in Latin American nations. By putting bodies into the community hospitals of SW Virginia, we are helping the area re: medical care, but I think more could be accomplished if we focused on problems at home, rather than the looking to build more glamorous international medical mission sites.

We have a number of excellent faculty members, though I do not know if any are particularly well-known in their line of work (honestly, I don’t care whether or not the professors are well known, so long as they can teach me what I need to know). There are also some not-so-stellar professors; but that’s life, and why we have textbooks.

2. Describe this school's curriculum in the pre-clinical and clinical years. Are there any innovations, like Problem-Based Learning?

Pre-clinical: Divided into 12 blocks (6 each year), you hit each major organ system twice, going through the anatomy/physiology the first time around (yes, we do Anatomy and lab January through September), then doing pathology and pharmacology in second year. First block is filled with all the basic sciences—biochemistry, immunology, genetics, micro (I hear that’s going to block 2, for future classes), and epidemiology (not sure where that’s going). Histology was previously included in anatomy, but is now its own course. Principals of Primary Care (with OMM) and Clinical Case Correlations are also throughout each year. CCC delves into the various diseases/disorders from a clinician’s standpoint (versus a pathologist’s or pharmacist’s standpoint). We usually go for 5-10 weeks on, one week off; lather, rinse, and repeat. Our summer after first year was three weeks long, but I think it’s a whole month for class 2010. We also have five weeks between second and third year (for boards), and a month between third and fourth year (again, for boards). Spring of second year also sees the arrival of Early Clinical Experiences: we spend Fridays either doing clinical skills labs (IVs, sutures, casting/splinting, etc), or spending the day in some part of the hospital or outpatient setting (hospice, free clinic, IM, radiology, pharmacy, etc). These vary greatly in how much they are actually worth doing--but they're all required.

Clinical: All I can say is, each clinical year is divided into 9 one-month rotations. Third year is all core rotations: FM, EM, Surgery, Psych, OB/Gyn, Peds, Geriatrics, Rural PC, and IM. Fourth year is 2 surgical selectives, 3 medical selectives, 4 electives. Can’t comment further about rotations, ask me again next year.

3. Are there opportunities for students to design, conduct, and publish their own research?

I’m sure there are, as with any medical school. It’s just not laid out there with a big red sign saying “Student Research Here!” you have to go looking for the opportunity. I know of some classmates involved in faculty research projects (and several have presented original posters at some conferences), and we have a DO/PhD program, as well.

4. Is there a note-taking service? If so, is it university-run or student-run?

There is no note-taking service (since we're expected to all show up here with bright, shining faces, eager to learn ), but all lectures are required to be made available in powerpoint or word document format (usually ppt) online before class. This usually happens. When it doesn't, those lectures are posted by the end of the day. These lectures then remain online throughout the block. Some people record lectures, and generally let others know that they have them, should anyone really want to listen, for that complete grey-box experience.

5. Is there flexibility in the coursework (the number of electives) and the timing of the courses (accelerating, decelerating, and time off) during the pre-clinical and clinical years?

The extent of preclinical flexibility is that you aren’t quite sure what's in the later blocks, as they may change on you (constantly trying to find the best fit). Though, I wouldn’t call this ‘flexible’ so much as ‘dynamic’ (love those spin-words).

As far as the school being flexible, should life gets out of hand, admin has been fairly reasonable. If you don’t pass a course, you may be allowed to remediate during the break between classes (often consists of retaking the final, or doing some other coursework). If you pass the remediation, you are allowed to continue with the rest of the class. A few students from my class were allowed to remain at VCOM, but are now one class behind us (various reasons as to why). Two other notables were absent for prolonged periods of time due to medical issues, and have been allowed to stay in our class. They just had to make up all the missed work on their own, in addition to all the normal coursework—which can be extensive, as one of them missed an entire block.

In the clinical years, you don’t have any electives 3rd year--9 core rotations at many different sites, but you get more than a fair bit of input into what region you go. Fourth year has 5 selectives (2 surgical, 3 medical), and 4 electives, so you can pretty much do as you wish, where you wish.

6. Has this medical school, or any of its clinical departments, been on probation or had its accreditation revoked?

We just got started, and just got accreditation (first class graduated June 2007, so we are now fully accredited).

7. How do students from this medical school perform on the National Board Examinations? How does the school assist students who do not pass?

Too early to tell, as only 2 classes have taken COMLEX 1 so far, and the school won’t give us the hard numbers (just gave us some fluffy statistics about them doing ‘well’ and that there was a high-correlation between boards score and performance in pre-clinical years…Naw, you don’t say?). There was, apparently, a substantial increase in scores (along the lines of 50 points) between the first and second class, though.

Not sure what they do to help those that don’t pass (and I hope I never find out). This year, the school decided to give each of us $500 to put toward whatever board prep program we want (most of us chose one form or another of Boards Boot Camp), so that’s pretty sweet.

Evaluations
8. How are students evaluated academically? How are clinical evaluations performed?

Preclinically: GPA based on 4-point scale (A = 4, B = 3, etc). This is based on exams, quizzes, pre and post cases, and/or practicals, depending on the class in question.

Clinically: At the end of each month, the preceptor is supposed to fill out an evaluation form for each student. This does not factor into GPA, but decide the whole Pass/Fail/Honor thing. There is also a “shelf” exam of VCOM’s own creation that (as of this year) will be graded, and factor in to GPA—or so we’ve been told (previously, it was just graded as Pass/Fail). I have been told that in previous years, some of the questions on the exam were just plain ridiculous…like WTF was that?! kind of ridiculous. Now that they actually count, I really hope they fix this (let’s all cross our fingers).

9. Is there a formal mechanism in place for students to evaluate their professors and attending physicians? What changes have been made recently as a result of this feedback?

Not anymore. We used to have an extensive online questionaire at the end of each block to evaluate each professor using several standard questions, and one large comment section at the end. In order to receive grades, 75% of the class had to submit the evals. Now, each course eval is reduced to just a few general questions about the course as a whole, and no comment section…this does not make me a happy camper. Also, questions from non-final exams may be challenged, and will be dropped if the challenge is accepted. I believe that there is still a student evaluation of each site and preceptor, but I cannot comment on this, as I have not yet started the third year.

There were huge changes made due to feedback (some professors no longer teaching as much, or changing lecture/exam styles). Students were required to sit on at least one Continuing Quality Improvement meeting, where they went through all the feedback for a given class, digested it, and summarized it for the administration. I believe this is still done, but I have not had to take part since the first time (was it something I said?). The biggest example of feedback in action is the change from multiple exams each block to a midterm week and finals week, to take effect 2007/2008 academic year. Gone will be the days of 3+ exams nearly every week. Now, there'll apparently be two weeks of nothing but exams. I'd rather be tested more frequently, but I don't have to put up with the new policy, anyway, so it matters not to me.

Counseling/Student Support
10. What kind of academic, personal, financial, and career counseling is available to students? Are these services also offered to their spouses and dependents/children?

I can’t speak too much about this, as I haven’t used any of them.

11. Is there a mentor/advisor system? Who are the advisors—faculty members, other students, or both?

Each incoming student is assigned two ‘big siblings’ in the class above, and two faculty advisors (one academic, one clinical). My big siblings really weren’t involved with me, but I give old exams/notes/assignments to my little siblings, when I can. The extent of involvement varies between advisors/mentors. At the end of first year, you are reassigned a new advisor, and involvement varies again. They sometimes try to match you to a clinical advisor that matches your interests—example: most of the EM club officers and active members were assigned the head of the EM department.

12. How diverse is the student body? Are there support services or organizations for ethnic minorities and women?

Each class is hugely different. My class was a little bit older than the next, and had a lot of second-career/non-traditional students in addition to those straight from undergrad. I believe over half the class is women, and we have a good number of minorities. Yes, there are student organizations specifically for minorities and women.

Facilities
13. Tell me about the library and extracurricular facilities (i.e., housing and athletic/recreational facilities).

The library is small, but has access to a fair number of texts electronically, which you can access from anywhere. There is also a large room next to the library for study space, with individual computer cubicles (power outlets in each; wireless throughout the grounds). There is no local VCOM housing, and I cannot speak yet for VCOM housing for clinicals (which would vary by site, anyway). There are no VCOM-specific athletic/recreational facilities, though we have grad student privileges at Virginia Tech, and can use their facilities (and go to their games, do intramural sports, etc).

14. Are there computer facilities available to students? Are they integrated into the curriculum/learning?

The library has a half-dozen desktop computers, but it is expected that you use your laptop on campus. Most people use these computers to quickly check email when stopping by, or to print something off in the library (used to be free, now they charge). Each table in the gross anatomy lab also has a computer with VH dissector installed, and instructions for the lab, so that those not involved in actually dissecting can follow along on the computer.

15. What type of clinical sites—ambulatory, private preceptors, private hospitals, rural settings—are available or required for clerkships? Does this school allow for students to do rotations at other institutions or internationally?

VCOM currently has 6 different regions for rotations (each region having several hospitals), with sites varying from outpatient clinics, to VA hospitals, to private hospitals, to rural community hospitals. All students have one required month of rural primary care, but some regions end up having a lot more rural medicine. Fourth year rotations can be just about anywhere (including overseas), but it takes a lot to get third year rotations outside of the standard VCOM regions (can be done, though). However, if you are military, you can do up to 3 months each year at DoD sites which have an MOU with the school (such as Portsmouth, Womack, etc).

16. Is a car necessary for clinical rotations? Is parking a problem?

A car will be necessary for most rotations. For some, VCOM housing is apparently right next to the hospital, so you should be able to walk. Parking will, of course, vary based on the hospital in question.

Financial Aid

I really can’t answer these questions. I sold my soul to the Army (HPSP).

Student Involvement
23. What medical school committees (e.g., curriculum committee) have student representation?

Some committees have student representation (Via Wellness Committee comes to mind), but I don’t know about any curriculum committees, or anything of the sort. The Council of Presidents (the Presidents of each student organization) also meets regularly to discuss issues that pertain to more than one group.

24. Are students involved in (required or voluntary) community service?

Students can be involved in whatever they want, but no one is holding a gun saying “Sacrifice for the community, or this cute, little puppy gets it!” I volunteer 100+ hours per month serving the town of Blacksburg, but I’m weird, in case you can’t already tell (this town has been my home for seven years, and I’ve been a medic with the rescue squad here since undergrad). Most students aren’t heavily involved in community service (though community service of one form or another is common enough). There are a few other sick freaks, though, that can’t seem to get enough to do at school, so pile on more and more (yeah, you know who you are…hard working bastards).

25. How active is the Student Council/Government? Are there other student organizations?

Not sure just how active our class officers are. They have a lot of meetings with admin that we are not privy to (but the report back to us fairly regularly). We have a plethora of student organizations, with activity level varying greatly from organization to organization, and year to year. There’s an organization for most medical specialties, and others for major areas of interest (SOMA, military medicine, Virginia Rural Health Association, etc).

Policies
26. Is there an established protocol for dealing with student exposure to infectious diseases? Is disability insurance provided to cover this exposure?

I’m sure there’s a policy, most of us just don’t know it off the top of our heads. As for insurance, we all have to have our own health and life insurance prior to matriculation, so I would assume that this comes under one of those headings. I have no idea if the school or hospitals have any additional coverage for exposure.

27. Does this school provide, or does the student pay for, vaccinations against Hepatitis B or prophylactic AZT treatment in case of a needle-stick or accident?

All students are required to have HepB immunization, along with many others, before coming to VCOM. The school does not pay for this (that I recall). I have no idea about post-exposure prophylaxis, and I really hope I never need to find out.

28. Is there a school Honor Code? Is there a grievance process/procedure? Are the students involved?

Oh yeah, there’s an Honor Code, alright. Student-written, and student-run. There are also some peasants with pitchforks and torches (“she turned me into a newt”), but we try not to pay too much attention to those.

Residency
29. May I see a list of residency programs to which this school's recent graduates were accepted?

It’s posted somewhere here on SDN, and I don’t have a copy readily available, myself.

 

[Hernandez]

Oh yeah, there’s an Honor Code, alright. Student-written, and student-run. There are also some peasants with pitchforks and torches (“she turned me into a newt”), but we try not to pay too much attention to those.

 

[psychbender]

These details below are on behalf of psychbender, a 2nd year VCOM student

Huh. Well, I was saving that to convert it to the format used in this thread, as opposed to the one in the Mentors forum. Ah well, the basic message and review still made it through, regardless.

 

[simpleman]

my bad!!!

 

[Pansit]

I do not go to DMU, I'm posting it on behalf of a current DMU student. This post was summited anonymously because the admin monitors the forums. I will do this again for other students who wish to remain anonymous as well. Thanks oh mysterious one!

DMU

Curriculum: The first year curriculum is fairly well done. Physiology is extremely well done, as is Immunology and Geriatrics. Anatomy and Neuroanatomy are weak. The second year curriculum varies widely. Pharmacology is well taught, GI, Endocrine, and ENT are well done as well. Cardiology, Hematology/Oncology, and Rheumatology/Orthopedics are disasters.

Can someone explain to me how a student can say this particular course is weak or this particular course is strong for a school unless they have experienced that similar course in another medical school. It seems like it would be based how on someone might have done (ie. they struggled, class seemed very disorganized...etc) or their perception on how that course should be taught (although someone else could easily disagree)

 

[luckystar]

Just want to say that the reputation of DMU is much stronger than a C, based on feedback I got from residency interviews and away rotations.

It's hard to gauge how effectively classes are taught, especially the second year clinical courses, as Pansit stated. Especially at a school where most classes are not mandatory attendance. There is so much emphasis on self-learning throughout med school.

Don't really have time to go through all the questions, but overall, my opinion is DMU gets an overall grade of B+. They could do better in helping students understand how to manage student loans post-graduation, and having more clinical faculty on staff for 2nd year. The fact that they lost a great OMM professor also kicks the grade down a notch. However, they did an excellent job with ERAS and the match, being very supportive throughout the whole process and most importantly, being efficient and having a very detailed Dean's letter. The large amount of elective time you have during 4th year is invaluable. To me, being taken care of during your 3rd/4th year is much more important than being coddled the first two years.

 

[docbill]

Also remember that docbill just finished MSI year -- which by all accounts sucks moldy monkey butt.

Oh NOOO you didn't!!!! You are a monkey butt!!!

You forgot to say:

...docbill also qualifies to teach Basic science courses in a medical school!!1
...docbill is also Canadian so he is use to very high level of teaching
...docbill is also a guy who is willing to work on making things better.. and not just Bit$Hing ... he has served for many years on university boards.. and he is GREAT!!! A jerk.. like HOUSE, but GREAT!!! (if you know what I mean)

 

[white_n_nerdy]

I do not go to DMU, I'm posting it on behalf of a current DMU student. This post was summited anonymously because the admin monitors the forums. I will do this again for other students who wish to remain anonymous as well. Thanks oh mysterious one!

Always be very suspect of any information that you get from an anonymous post.

 

[docbill]

By the way.. the best thing I was tought from someone at my school.. 7 - 0 - D - O

So B+ is pretty good.

 

[Hernandez]

Always be very suspect of any information that you get from an anonymous post.

This is the internet, you are anonymous to me. But the posters concern is valid. My own school's student affairs monitor SDN's feedback section and do read the forums. I do not know to what extent, but they monitor it enough that my school found out who I am and let me know that they knew.

 

[docbill]

This is the internet, you are anonymous to me. But the posters concern is valid. My own school's student affairs monitor SDN's feedback section and do read the forums. I do not know to what extent, but they monitor it enough that my school found out who I am and let me know that they knew.

Wow that is interesting. My school also monitors this site, and THEY know who I am. It is not difficult to find out EH!!! I would not be surprised if they even post on here making it look like they are students. Hence why I questioned some posts.

I find that sneaky and if they do it to keep tabs on students.. and include it in their so called student file.. then it is unethical.

 

[toothless rufus]

I do not know to what extent, but they monitor it enough that my school found out who I am and let me know that they knew.

This is sadly pathetic and...kinda creepy!!

 

[Orthodoc40]

This is sadly pathetic and...kinda creepy!!

I'm paranoid enough to feel fairly sure that someone at my first choice school tried to find out who I was last year and may have hindered my application there.
Then again, I could just be plain ol' paranoid.

 

[toothless rufus]

I'm paranoid enough to feel fairly sure that someone at my first choice school tried to find out who I was last year and may have hindered my application there.
Then again, I could just be plain ol' paranoid.

Wow. Why? What tipped you off? And hey, paranoia can be fun in the right hands!

On second thought: don't answer that!!

 

[docbill]

Wow. Why? What tipped you off? And hey, paranoia can be fun in the right hands!

On second thought: don't answer that!!

That is funny after everyone found out about Administration being sneeky and monitoring here... everyone stoped posting.

 

[medhacker]

That is funny after everyone found out about Administration being sneeky and monitoring here... everyone stoped posting.

Amen!!

and I heard some even got an alternate username, or so I heard...

 

[docbill]

Amen!!

and I heard some even got an alternate username, or so I heard...

Yeah easy for you to say.

This is what I found posted at UNECOM today. I am F$#%ed

http://imagesource.art.com/images/-/Family-Guy---Stewie-Most-Wanted-Poster-C10378191.jpeg

 

[Ilikescience]

That is funny after everyone found out about Administration being sneeky and monitoring here... everyone stoped posting.

Why is that so bad if they do view your opinions?

 

[docbill]

Why is that so bad if they do view your opinions?

Because once they know you .. and that you are bitching online.. or have disagreements with them. Then they will make sure you have a difficult time and as soon as you make a mistake... good luck!

Politics sucks, but get use to it. I personally don't care if a school doesn't appreciate your opinion, if so they are definitely not the right place to be.

 

[Orthodoc40]

That is funny after everyone found out about Administration being sneeky and monitoring here... everyone stoped posting.

Watch it at UNE - students there knew who I was when I went to interview there!!!

Toothless - I figured it out b/c of a few PM's that were sent to me.

 

[acrunchyfrog]

Spooky. Perhaps the reviews could be submitted to a mod, who would post them without student screennames. Kinda sad that we have to go to those lengths to avoid issues, tho.

 

[Ilikescience]

For those of you that have not posted yet and have a moment to spare, please post your thoughts.

I have been going to interviews and talking to students about the school, but am looking for more opinions. Your opinions help all the students that are in the application cycle. So far I'm really interested in hearing about Touro-NV, Western, Nova, and CCOM.

If you don't want to post directly on this thread, please PM me and I'll do it for you without disclosing your user name.

It would be helpful to use this formula when posting:

Curriculum:

Location:

Cost:

Faculty:

Reputation:

Clinical Rotations:

Housing:

Study areas:

Social Scene:

Local Hospitals:

Board Prep:

Specialty:

Grades:

Curriculum:
Location:
Cost:
Financial Aid:
Faculty:
Reputation:
Technology:
Study Space/Library:
Library technology/Resources:
Rotations:
Social:
Hospitals:
Post Grad:


Overall Grade:

 

[Meatwad]

For those of you that have not posted yet and have a moment to spare, please post your thoughts.

I bet you'll get into RFU, Tulane, and Drexel. Good luck

But sorry, I don't go to any of the above three schools you mentioned, so I guess this post is useless to you!

 

[Beau Geste]

The sites range from the North suburbs (Lutheran General) to downtown (Cook County, Mt. Sinai) to south side (Olympia Fields, Advocate Christ) to southwest suburbs (Provena St. Joseph.) Of course these arent the only ones. There are really a wide variety spread all over Chicagoland

Im not sure about the moving. You might want to move more south to be in a more central location, but Downers Grove is right on I88 and I355 so you can get about anywhere from there.

just wanted to add here that I-355 now connects w/ I-80, so Olympia Fields will be a lot more accessible, as will other southern/southwestern hospitals.

 

[waytogoo]

Any lake erie or azcom out there

 

[zch76]

I second that for AZCOM and NOVA specifically with their clinical rotations and elective time.

 

[zch76]

Can anyone out there comment on the rotation sites NOVA provides for someone who is not familiar with any Florida hospitals

 

[gmard33]

One downside to pcom is we have a lot of rotations we have to complete to graduate. Talking to people from other schools they have more months off or start their rotation cycle later. This isn't always a bad thing because of the exposure you will get, but it needed to be mentioned

Can all rotations be completed in Philly or will students have to travel to other cities? Also, I know there are a lot PCOM students in Pittsburgh for rotations, do they have affiliated hospitals there as well?

 

[fireflygirl]

Can all rotations be completed in Philly or will students have to travel to other cities? Also, I know there are a lot PCOM students in Pittsburgh for rotations, do they have affiliated hospitals there as well?

From what I have learned, it's a lottery system. You are put into small groups for your rotations. Once you get your hospital for a given specialty you can trade within your group to get into another hospital if it's absolutely essential you go to that hospital for a given rotaion. So they send you all over - for me, I have a sig other in Pittsburgh so wanting to complete a good portion of my rotations out there is essential if we ever want to get married so I would request before the lottery system starts that people in my group be aware that I would like as many Pittsburgh or near Pittsburgh hospitals as possible. So if someone from my group gets Geisinger in Danville which is halway between Philly and Pittsburgh and doesn't want to be there, I may be willing to go instead.

Also, you can check out their other clinical sites at this link: http://www.pcom.edu/Clinical_Education/Affiliate_Lists_/affiliate_lists_.html
but UPMC Horizon and UPMC Shadyside are definite affiliate sites.

 

[Sassybird]

This is my first post, and I need input...I am trying to decide between Western and Touro-CA, and I need to decide fast (by the 14th of Dec)!! I am not super concerned about the first two years, however, I would like to know what to truly expect for the 3rd and 4th years regarding quality of hospitals, the necessity to move, reputation post graduation, and just students' happiness in general. If you are a student, or more knowledgeable than I, I would appreciate the help.

Thanks for any input you can offer!

 

[oreosandsake]

This is my first post, and I need input...I am trying to decide between Western and Touro-CA, and I need to decide fast (by the 14th of Dec)!! I am not super concerned about the first two years, however, I would like to know what to truly expect for the 3rd and 4th years regarding quality of hospitals, the necessity to move, reputation post graduation, and just students' happiness in general. If you are a student, or more knowledgeable than I, I would appreciate the help.

Thanks for any input you can offer!

Last I heard, touro students were running all over the state for their required rotations.

you should double check this.

 

[Sassybird]

Last I heard, touro students were running all over the state for their required rotations.

you should double check this.

Thank you for your input, I decided on Western between those two schools, but I still have outstanding applications, so time will tell!

 

[Dr1216]

Does anyone have a review for UMDNJ-SOM? I noticed that no one has done one yet.

 

[AwesomO]

Some of my friends told me that there school has someone surfing SDN to look for negative comments. Could be all hot air but sounds scary.

 

[Lamborghini1315]

Some of my friends told me that there school has someone surfing SDN to look for negative comments. Could be all hot air but sounds scary.

haha classic. I am really not comfortable with anyone actually pointing out the positive and negative aspects of a school due to the very fact that these responses are relative.