Thoughts about Touro University California?

[Mochigirl]

Hi everyone!

It's been awhile since I've posted on sdn, but I recently I have found myself very frustrated with the osteopathic medical school that I am attending. Currently, I'm a OMS1. We've had school for about 2 months at this point.

I guess a big part of my frustration comes from the fact that we have long school days, most disorganized lectures and a curriculum structure that really seem to be doing more harm than helping us at this point. Since TUC is a Jewish medical school, we need to compensate for the lost class time because of the Jewish holidays by squeezing in more class time during the days we do have school. Our schedules are usually 8-5pm, with mandatory lab attendance at least 3-4days of the week. Like most schools we have about 4hrs of OMM lab, and 4hrs of science labs during the week. However, they recently changed our curriculum so that we complete human anatomy dissections in 1 semester, leaving the next semester for prosected anatomy labs. That means we usually have 8-10hrs of anatomy lab per week.

Is this something that anyone else has experienced? Having to learn anatomy in 1 semester? and some the 2nd semester? All of us have realized that it doesn't leave us that much time to study for our other classes. Most have given up studying OMM until a day or 2 before the exams. Our science classes are also hit hard because of anatomy.

The other thing that is frustrating is that I've never had so many bad lecturers in my life until I hit TUC med school. Almost every professor is pretty bad, so that leaves about only 30-50% of class going to lecture. Most of the students who seem to do well either learn on their own or watch the lectures at home, writing their own notes. I've started doing the latter, but it definitely takes a lot of time to learn something.

Is this how most of you feel about your osteopathic medical school? I've been feeling frustrated, emotionally drained and physically drained every single day. It's a constant struggle to just to figure out what to study and where to study things from. It saddens me that all of us have worked so hard to get to medical school, only to find that we're still having to learn on our own. I'll be honest, there has been countless times when I wonder if I should quit or if things would be different if I went to another medical school.

I'm also concerned that the administration hasn't done much about any of this. We have lower STEP 1 pass rates and less desirable match results that other medical schools even though our school's average MCAT is pretty good. There's an obvious disconnect which makes me wonder if our school is just not doing their job as well...

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[deleted564680]

" I've been feeling frustrated, emotionally drained and physically drained every single day. It's a constant struggle to just to figure out what to study and where to study things from. It saddens me that all of us have worked so hard to get to medical school, only to find that we're still having to learn on our own. I'll be honest, there has been countless times when I wonder if I should quit or if things would be different if I went to another medical school."

Said every medical student ever.


But, seriously. Give it time and talk to someone if you need to about the stress and what you're feeling. The adjustment is hard. All schools have some poor lecturers and lectures. Grab a First Aid, Pathoma, Goljan audios, and go to town on supplementing those with your classes.

 

[starri]

Is this something that anyone else has experienced? Having to learn anatomy in 1 semester?

Yes. TouroCOM has all of anatomy in a single semester.

 

[dfib slim]

Having to learn anatomy in 1 semester?

LMU does anatomy in 1 semester.

 

[Dr. Death]

We do anatomy in 1 semester but it is much more manageable. We only have 6 hours of anatomy lab and 2 hours of OMM lab per week. Most medical schools are a mixed bag of professors. Medical students shouldn't be going to lecture anyway, huge waste of time. And I'm pretty sure one of the tenets of osteopathic medicine is "thou shalt not study OMM until the day before the exam.

 

[hallowmann]

-Yes, LECOM does anatomy in a condensed way for 3.5 mos (not even a full semester!) and we still had to study for H&P, Histo, Embryo, OPP, and eventually PBL.

-Yes, hours are long, you're going to have to sacrifice some subjects for others, OMM is going to be one of them that you sacrifice, and its going to feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to go to class and study. Welcome to med school. We weren't joking about that whole drinking from a firehouse analogy. Don't worry, you'll get used to it.

-Bad lecturers, again welcome to most med schools. You're lucky if this is your first encounter with them. Its the reason why most med students don't go to class. Because of what was mentioned above, lecture gets sacrificed for better uses of time in this scenario. Watching lectures at 2x is also a viable option.

-No this is not how people feel at most osteopathic medical schools, this is how people feel at most medical schools in general. As far as this, "It's a constant struggle to just to figure out what to study and where to study things from," again, welcome to med school.

OP, you'll get used to it. It is draining, it is difficult, and you don't have time for it all. You're only 2 mos in. By the end of 1st year, you'll feel like you have an OK handle on everything you need to... then 2nd year will happen...

I would seek out help from others, form a study group, get a tutor, or talk to a counselor if it really starts to feel overwhelming (at least more than normal).

 

[Mochigirl]

Phew! I'm glad there's plenty of us to be on similar boats! It sounds our pain and frustration is a shared experience, across the country. I've started to see an academic counselor as well as a psychology counselor. At the end of the day, our second year class has been the most helpful in helping guide us through the year. Most of them do not attend lectures it seems, and watch it at home. The old curriculum most puts all labs on Tuesdays/Thursdays, whereas our current schedules have labs for the whole day 3/5 days of the week.

I've definitely heard many times to use Pathoma for pathology. So I'll definitely check that out.
Anatomy has been a super big soul sucker for all of us. @Dr. Death I completely agree with you! OMM theory should never be pushed to one of the last things to study! It's so important for us to learn and continue the osteopathic lineage. I for one spent a lot of studying for our previous OMM theory but had to forego studying for some of our science exams that were the same day. It sucks that it constantly feels there isn't enough time to fit everything in.

I'm also very concerned if the curriculum is really to our benefit...

 

[DO2015CA]

That's how every medschool is not just DO schools. It's time to take learning in your own hands. If they would just upload ppts without lecturing I'd be happiest. As for time, the first semester is always the worst due to anatomy lab. Mine did 1 semester of lab. After that it cools down. You're 2 months into medical school and still in the adjustment period. Don't worry youll get there.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

I completely agree with you! OMM theory should never be pushed to one of the last things to study! It's so important for us to learn and continue the osteopathic lineage.

I don't think that's what he meant...

 

[Sardinia]

So lately, I have had some friends who are discouraging me from going to medical school even though they are changing their career paths to medical school. I don't know if it is a myth or the truth and I was hoping some students in medical school could let me know. They told me in medical school, students perform medical tests on each other and themselves. for example, surgeries and etc. That's not true is it? Who do medical students practice their clinical tests and studies on? real live patients, dead patients?

Did you ever find out the answer to this question?

 

[Mochigirl]

I don't think that's what he meant...

Ohh...sorry I just reread it. I feel somewhat conflicted about this because I would like to practice OMM in the future. However, I think it's hard to learn it properly if we have to set it aside to prioritize science/anatomy.

 

[surfguy84]

As an M2 at touro CA, some professors are bad, some are amazing. The worst ones happen to lecture at the beginning of your first year. I'd say the majority of professors are solid, particularly those from the primary care dept.

And yes many med schools do anatomy all in one semester.... You'll be glad you got it out of the way when you're in my shoes next year.

 

[hallowmann]

Ohh...sorry I just reread it. I feel somewhat conflicted about this because I would like to practice OMM in the future. However, I think it's hard to learn it properly if we have to set it aside to prioritize science/anatomy.

You won't learn good OMM until you go out and see it in practice, and since the course is spread across 2 yrs when you could probably do it in 1, you'll cover everything multiple times even if you sacrifice time for it.

Don't worry. You'll have lots of opportunities to learn OMM if you want. The preclinical foundation is much more important in the longrun. Plus, studying anatomy is studying OMM. You'll need a very strong anatomy base to do it even a little bit well.