TouroCOM-NY Class of 2014

[gsmiles88]

Anybody else get accepted to TouroCOM-NY for class of 2014 and thinking about going?

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[Aiming4theStars]

Hi everyone, I was wondering where we are supposed to address the letter of acceptance to? Is it the admin office or 230 west 125th?

Very excited to start at Touro! Hope more students start posting on this thread

 

[tourobot]

I am a student at tourocom. Please think about your acceptance. The school has an attendence polciy checked by finger scanning trying to force student to go to 70% of classes. The professors are almost all new and untesteed on their training of students for the complex. The worst problem is the admin. They are punative. They are un willing to commit themselves to the true interests of their students. They threw out a pregnant student that could not make commit to the attendence policy. They keep records of the negative things you do, one student was asked to get a lawyer becuase he refussed to scan his finger as part of the attendence policy.

Choose wisely you can easily ask for a student's email address to verfiy this. Ask a 2nd year student class of 2012

 

[SmokD]

I'm just a lowly first year at tourocom, but this is the first I've heard of half of the stuff mentioned above. And it's true, the professors are new and "untesteed" on their training for the complex. This might be an issue when the complex becomes a standardized test.

 

[ejay1518]

the first year professors are great for the most part; and the ones that are not will probably be replaced. Also as a DO student - you should know its COMLEX not complex.

All of the incoming students who choose to attend for the class of 2014 know of the 70% attendance policy. As far as the whole lawyer thing - i believe it was a bad joke. I havent scanned in since september and they have not said a word.

As for the pregnant student, I highly doubt they "threw her out". Especially since they are not enforcing the attendance policy this year. Maybe she decided to take a year off. There have been a couple of first years that needed time off and needed to reschedule their exams - Dean Cammarata (though he doesnt do much for the most part) - made all the necessary arrangements and let the students take the exams when they were ready to (one person even took an exam 3 weeks later).

though I can understand why some of the class of 2012 is upset because they just sprung the whole attendance policy thing on you guys. But as fro the class of 2013 it doesn't matter as much because we were not used to the other way. Also a lot of things have changed for first years since the class of 2012 was there. Great new professors (for the most part), also we don't have that whole BSOM thing anything more, etc.

Yeah people should know that TouroCOM is only 3 years old and does not have a set in stone routine so things will change (for the better) from time to time...however, you should have known that before you decided to attend.

 

[sss349]

,

 

[Doc2BNYC]

As for the pregnant student, I highly doubt they "threw her out". Especially since they are not enforcing the attendance policy this year. Maybe she decided to take a year off. There have been a couple of first years that needed time off and needed to reschedule their exams - Dean Cammarata (though he doesnt do much for the most part) - made all the necessary arrangements and let the students take the exams when they were ready to (one person even took an exam 3 weeks later).

I am friends with the student you mention and your assessment is completely wrong.

While you are entitled to your opinion of TouroCOM, you are posting about a situation that you have absolutely no direct knowledge of whatsoever. I am genuinely glad that you are happy with your choice to attend TouroCOM. However, you should not cloud the facts of other people's situations simply because you are pleased with the school and haven't experienced anything negative yet.

The FACT is that this student was not given any sort of maternity consideration whatsoever. She did NOT choose to take a year off.

 

[gabeva]

Wow, reading so much negative feedback about the school does make me really nervous since I'm thinking on going there. Touro was not my only option, but the location is the most suitable for me and my family. All I want is to get a decent education and match into a good residency. Now I'm worried if i'm asking for too much

 

[Doc2BNYC]

All of the incoming students who choose to attend for the class of 2014 know of the 70% attendance policy. As far as the whole lawyer thing - i believe it was a bad joke. I havent scanned in since september and they have not said a word.

Again, you are completely wrong. You were not involved in that situation and I can tell you with certainty that the student involved in that was genuinely concerned at the time. He was advised to get a lawyer directly by a Dean.

The fact that you have the luxury of being able to ignore the attendance policy is the direct result of efforts of the student government and individuals in the Class of 2012. A number of students in the Class of 2012 took the risk and refused to fingerprint from day one despite the continuous threats of expulsion. The American Civil Liberties Union also became involved due to privacy issues. These pressures put on Administration are what allow you to not fingerprint. It is not because Administration just decided they don't care any more.

Again, I am glad that there are students who like TouroCOM and there are certainly good things about our school. However, you are not helping any student make a properly educated decision by commenting on situations that you have no direct knowledge of. You don't know what happened so you can't downplay it as insignificant.

It was a very stressful situation for the student who was advised to get legal counsel and demoralizing to the class when it happened.

I would fully expect that the attendance policy will be strictly enforced for any students entering into the Class of 2014. To say otherwise would be misinformation to potential students who deserve accurate and honest information.

 

[BrainBox]

Again, you are completely wrong. You were not involved in that situation and I can tell you with certainty that the student involved in that was genuinely concerned at the time. He was advised to get a lawyer directly by a Dean.

The fact that you have the luxury of being able to ignore the attendance policy is the direct result of efforts of the student government and individuals in the Class of 2012. A number of students in the Class of 2012 took the risk and refused to fingerprint from day one despite the continuous threats of expulsion. The American Civil Liberties Union also became involved due to privacy issues. These pressures put on Administration are what allow you to not fingerprint. It is not because Administration just decided they don't care any more.

Again, I am glad that there are students who like TouroCOM and there are certainly good things about our school. However, you are not helping any student make a properly educated decision by commenting on situations that you have no direct knowledge of. You don't know what happened so you can't downplay it as insignificant.

It was a very stressful situation for the student who was advised to get legal counsel and demoralizing to the class when it happened.

I would fully expect that the attendance policy will be strictly enforced for any students entering into the Class of 2014. To say otherwise would be misinformation to potential students who deserve accurate and honest information.

Question....

What do you think will happen if few students from the new incoming class will refuse to get fingerprinted too?

If you had to do it all over again, would you have gone to this school?

What are the down falls of this school?

Thanks.

 

[Doc2BNYC]

Question....

What do you think will happen if few students from the new incoming class will refuse to get fingerprinted too?

If you had to do it all over again, would you have gone to this school?

What are the down falls of this school?

Thanks.

I would expect that they will fingerprint 2014. Administration has likely given up on 2012 and 2013 to adhere to the policy since we didn't know about it when we matriculated but any incoming student will be well aware. I mean, the fingerprint scanners are hard to miss. I'm sure it raised questions on interviews.

I'm not sure what they'll do because an incoming student would have for refusing to fingerprint when he or she is aware of the policy before hand. The school hasn't complied with student privacy law with regard to the scanners, so that could always be raised as an issue, as we have raised numerous times but the argument probably loses some validity with forewarning of the policy.

In so far as getting an opinion on TouroCOM, please solicit more opinions than just mine. Getting a few opinions from different ends of the spectrum will help you best make a decision.

Personally, I regret going to TouroCOM. It wasn't my only option, but I wanted to be in NYC. Little did I know that my 3rd and 4th year would be taking me to NJ, Upstate, or Long Island.

The positives:

I really like many of my classmates and I feel that my education in Pharm, Immuno, and Path is top notch. I think that my professors are truly great educators. NYC is a great place but you will only be in Manhattan for the first two years.

The negatives:

I'm very self reliant and probably could get by with bad professors and just text books so the drawbacks, for me, are outweighing the value they are adding. The real problem with TouroCOM is the Administration and the direction they are taking. I worked before going to medical school and dealt with crappy bosses, coworkers, clients, etc. and I can honestly say that I've never dealt with such unprofessional, disrespectful, and dishonest people as the Administration at TouroCOM. And they don't seem to be getting any better.

Everything at TouroCOM that involves Administration feels adversarial - from asking why a test was graded a certain way, to finding out where tuition money is going, to finding out why we have such crappy and limited clinical rotations. The story always changes and never seems truthful - as an example that you can see for yourself: look how many different board passage rates were quoted to interviewees who posted on this website. It's varied from 90% down to 80% despite the fact that the student body was given a final number of 78% months ago after much persistence. There is no excuse for ANYONE working for TouroCOM to give an interviewee incorrect information and especially not a Dean. The 78% pass rate has been well known for a while now.

The new administrative hires also seem to tow the line just the same as the rest of the deans. The new pre-clinical dean is not a physician and doesn't seem to understand the demands of medical school and the new clinical dean doesn't seem to even really be involved in the development of clinical rotations while there are other doctors who seem to carry so much weight at school and yet have no official function. While others may disagree, I feel like everyone in Administration is using the school as a money maker, a political spring board or a combination of the both.

What is also infuriating is that there are so many Administrators doing an obviously poor job and yet they pretend that they are making the world turn. It's gross incompetence compounded with arrogance and I find it frustrating. Professionalism has become the mantra for the unprofessional at TouroCOM. This also bears out with other students interview experiences, as you can find in other posts.

That said, you need to get more opinions and try to evaluate what is really important to you and your goals. If being in NYC is paramount, remember that you will not be in Manhattan or most likely not even in any of the boroughs for your 3rd and 4th year at TouroCOM. If you want to create connections for a residency in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens it may be a better choice for you to attend NYCOM so that you can network on clinicals in the 3rd and 4th year. They have a MUCH better offering of clinical rotations.

No school is perfect but given the chance to chose again, I would've gone to NYCOM or gone out of NY.

I'm happy to answer any questions as honestly as I can. I hope that helps.

 

[Gold 5]

Question....

What do you think will happen if few students from the new incoming class will refuse to get fingerprinted too?

If you had to do it all over again, would you have gone to this school?

What are the down falls of this school?

Thanks.

Count on fingerprinting to continue. They are not keen on kicking out students for failing classes like other schools so they are trying to enforce mandatory attendance to try get the information into your heads. I got the feeling from the last Dean's meeting with the class that folks over 3.5 may be cut some leeway to do what they want.

Would I go here again? The short answer is yes. I came here because it was financially the best school for me to go to(& yes I did get into other schools). The school has issues but most schools do. In fact some schools forbid their students from posting on SDN any dirty laundry that happens in the school and staff actually patrols these boards.

Cons of school= no rotation sites in manhattan, new school issues (see above), close to 3K in fees that are mandatory (the only perk in the fees is the kaplan review class at the end of the year)

pros= Most of the instructors are very good, Dr Bahri in path, Dr Prancan in pharm, Dr Jones in imuno & a new microbiologist professor starting in January who guest lectured once and appeared very good. The clinical Systems lectures are a bit hit or miss dependening upon who is teaching since it is taugh by specialists. They do stream classes for review latter but sometimes the streaming systems gets messed up and a lecture will be missed.

Good luck

 

[BrainBox]

Hi

Thank you so much for both of your honest posts.

I hope you all had wonderful holidays. ;-)

 

[rwlevin]

Third year chiming in here.

First, screw professionality. If you go to any school or hospital for interviews, you'll find doctors answering phone calls and stepping out for emergencies. I do admit that our deans do need a lesson in hypocrisy but alas that is one lesson that they will never receive.

Second, knowing what I know now, I think I made the right choice in schools. I had to decide between this and NYCOM and I chose Touro more for money and proximity reasons than anything else. After hearing what BonesDO went through at NYCOM, I worry what would have happened there. And I honestly believe the education that the class of 2012, 2013 and 2014 are receiving/will receive is far better than what we got. I do not doubt board scores are going to go way up this year, mostly because our former micro teacher didn't really teach us any micro and that's a big chunk of step 1 and the first thing the new micro teacher did this year was send us 3rd years surveys on how well prepared we were in respect to micro. (hint: unless it had to do with HIV, we weren't)

Third, after talking to students from other schools, we Touro students are not nearly as screwed over with rotations as we think we are. Students at Einstein don't know what rotation they're going into until right before that rotation. I know this because I talked to the students I worked with at BL - one of our hospitals. And the hospitals are not as hard to get to as people think. I mean sure, Trinitas is far and I made sure I wouldn't end up in Far Rockaway but I live downtown and it takes me less than 45 minutes to get to BL and it'll take me less than that when I start at Palisades next month. It would be harder for me to commute to NYCOM for classes.

And as far as the pregnant student goes- it really sucks for her but she's not an isolated case. I knew a girl in my pre-med days who was pregnant and due to give birth in October and she was very high risk. She was planning on attending Columbia dental school. Now Columbia refused to let this girl defer for a year and she felt that in her condition she would miss too much school due to her condition. What happened to her? I honestly don't know. And I knew another girl who found out she was pregnant right before her first year started. She couldn't even go into the anatomy lab except for the nights before practicals to cram like crazy. You have to remember, as a first year you're in anatomy and formaldehyde is very very bad for the baby.

Now does the school piss me off? Oh, hell yeah. They've lied to us, they've promised us things they never deliver, they keep saying they're working on hospitals but never tell us which ones and I am just as upset as everyone else that only 1 hospital on our original list is a rotating site but now that I'm at the hospital, I am quite happy. But then again, I'm being taught by faculty from Albert Einstein and that's pretty cool.

 

[KGB]

After reading some of the forums here, and observing people going nuts its nice to come upon someone like rwlevin who obviously is independent of the herd. Anywhere you go, be is MD/DO private or public institution there will be a percentage of people who will find it difficult to swim in the sea of medicine. The more you hussle, and the earlier you do it, the more you will learn about navigating these waters of life which will help you in you practice, in your rotations,residencies, etc.
No one is 100% satisfied.EVER! I work at a med school ( MD ), and up and down you hear studetns complaining. there is always some higher strata to achieve.
I also understand that administratin at Touro is flaky, but guess what, its ok. You will get your degree, and you will get your education no matter what. If this is not fullfilled by the school it looses its accreditation, so trust me you will get enough support, maybe be not like in NYCOM or PCOM, but hence its in NYC and much cheaper then NYCOM. I got accepted to NYCOM, but why would I pay extra 100K over 4 yrs for my education? I will bust my ass on rotations, perform well didactically and will end up with a residency in my class ( DO ) and choice.
SO if they want to finger print my ass, go ahead I don't plan to miss more then 30 % of classes anyway.

 

[Kingstonhopeful]

Hey everyone,
For those accepted to Touro, just a question. I have a strong GPA (3.8-3.9ish) and 25 MCAT and have had my primary into Touro for about 5 weeks now but have yet to receive a secondary. Does Touro screen primaries?

Thanks

 

[Bones DO]

Hey everyone,
For those accepted to Touro, just a question. I have a strong GPA (3.8-3.9ish) and 25 MCAT and have had my primary into Touro for about 5 weeks now but have yet to receive a secondary. Does Touro screen primaries?

Thanks

I'd bet my left, no my right kidney that you'd get in with those #'s.

 

[ejay1518]

Hey everyone,
For those accepted to Touro, just a question. I have a strong GPA (3.8-3.9ish) and 25 MCAT and have had my primary into Touro for about 5 weeks now but have yet to receive a secondary. Does Touro screen primaries?

Thanks

To answer your question, yes touroCOM does screen primaries. If you get a secondary application it means that you WILL get an interview.

 

[trag08]

im a first year at touro. its quite funny to stop by this website as i haven't since my interviewing process last year and still see the back and forth battles taking place. i am very pleased with our new professors, except for a couple of them. anyways, throughout my education i have done 90% of the learning independently. administration? i don't really deal with them and most of my classmates don't either. some are good and some aren't. we all took the chance of going to a new school for different reasons and we will deal with whatever is handed down to us. if you have any specific questions besides rotations, feel free to ask.

 

[xxgursharonxx]

Accepted TOUROCOM-NY Class of 2014!!!

 

[reese07]

How does Touro NY treat OOS applicants? Is it instate preferred like how NYCOM is?

 

[SmokD]

In the 2013 class we have a ton of people from the west coast, I'm assuming because the other touro schools are out there. But to answer your question, it doesn't seem to be instate preferred.

 

[snurpy]

First year TouroCOMer chiming in...

As anyone can tell, there's a lot of disagreement between the second and first years about how Touro is. I understand that the current third and second years were burned a lot by false promises from Touro, and yes, that pregnant girl getting thrown out was real, and only added to the tension between the admin and the second years. I feel bad that you guys have been jaded to a point that a lot of second years I talked to just want to wash their hands of Touro and move on to clinical rotations to a point that classes are being skipped, fingerprinting is being boycotted, etc.

However, I have to say that the administration was particularly more receptive to the first years. Lenihan said it himself that the admin understands the first years are different from the second years, and acknowledges that we're trying to succeed. If that means "copping out" and scanning in, so be it.

I think abiding by the rules we were made aware of before attending the school (we were told about the fingerprinting during interviews) has worked in our favor. Our class senators were able to effectively reverse rules that said no food in the lecture halls. There is also improved communication with the admin b/c of monthly / weekly meetings (I'm not sure how often they meet, but it's now a regular thing). However, I can also understand how if these rules were suddenly enforced after attending the school, even little things become huge issues.

What I AM disappointed in though is the lack of unity in the second years. I feel like they're so fractured and that cheating scandal a few weeks ago was horrible. Seriously guys? Why would you try to screw your classmates like that?

 

[bellybutton]

accepted with TouroCOM NY class of 2014!

i am confident that the school is moving in a positive direction. however, all the negativity surrounding it's growth has created some lingering doubts about coming here over other DO schools. anyone else feeling the same way?

 

[TruNewYork]

I hear the school is preparing for a visit from their accreditors. Is this ture? If so, I would not believe too much about the sincerity of current presentations to students. Regarding how the first year is not like the other classes it is probably because they just started. I would listen to the classes that have the experience.

 

[ejay1518]

I believe COCA already came to TouroCOM for this year. COCA visits each new school every year until it gets fully accredited - this is nothing new, it is a part of the accreditation process. Also the class of 2013 has been here for about 6-7 months now so it's not like we don't know what we are talking about. Some of the class of 2012 may not like the 'new rules' TouroCOM set during their second year because it was different than their first year. As for 2013 the rules were there when we started so it is not that big of a problem for us. And the rules are the least of the worries for the class of 2012.

 

[sss349]

,

 

[TruNewYork]

Thanks you for the feedback. I am trying to make the best decision possible. This is my career and my decision to attend medical school can not be a quick thought. Regarding some of the first year students perception. I hope they don't believe that they are any different from the other students. The second and third years are all 'Students' . The difference is some of them have more experience. When I interview I will look pass the smiles and congenial ways. I need to attend a school that is challenging but is experienced. Do you feel TouroNY finally knows how to run a medical school? Are the other Touro school's like the N.Y site.

 

[Doc2BNYC]

I believe COCA already came to TouroCOM for this year. COCA visits each new school every year until it gets fully accredited - this is nothing new, it is a part of the accreditation process. Also the class of 2013 has been here for about 6-7 months now so it's not like we don't know what we are talking about. Some of the class of 2012 may not like the 'new rules' TouroCOM set during their second year because it was different than their first year. As for 2013 the rules were there when we started so it is not that big of a problem for us. And the rules are the least of the worries for the class of 2012.

COCA hasn't come. They're here the last week of February.

If you're referring to the mysterious group of suits that came at the end of December and again two weeks ago, rumor has it that they're from the Caribbean schools and might be looking to buy the school.

 

[Doc2BNYC]

Some inaccuracies in your post:

First year TouroCOMer chiming in...
As anyone can tell, there's a lot of disagreement between the second and first years about how Touro is. I understand that the current third and second years were burned a lot by false promises from Touro, and yes, that pregnant girl getting thrown out was real, and only added to the tension between the admin and the second years. I feel bad that you guys have been jaded to a point that a lot of second years I talked to just want to wash their hands of Touro and move on to clinical rotations to a point that classes are being skipped, fingerprinting is being boycotted, etc.

The pregnant student was not kicked out. She was forced to take a year off against her will. While I'm no Admin fan, they didn't go so far as to kick her out.

Yes, many second years just want to get out of the building. And many third years just want to graduate. This isn't the student body's fault. That so many students spanning two years are so dissatisfied and unhappy is quite suggestive.

I've spoken with many unhappy first years. There may be less dissatisfaction with 2013 than 2012 but I'd say that 2013 is far from universally happy. And again, Admin thought we were much better behaved than 2011 until we reached our second year.

However, I have to say that the administration was particularly more receptive to the first years. Lenihan said it himself that the admin understands the first years are different from the second years, and acknowledges that we're trying to succeed. If that means "copping out" and scanning in, so be it.

Ha. Wait till you guys push back. Just wait. Admin told us the same thing last year when they were fighting with 2011. We were told many times to not be like 2011, and here we are being characterized to 2013 as a poor example just the same.

I think abiding by the rules we were made aware of before attending the school (we were told about the fingerprinting during interviews) has worked in our favor. Our class senators were able to effectively reverse rules that said no food in the lecture halls. There is also improved communication with the admin b/c of monthly / weekly meetings (I'm not sure how often they meet, but it's now a regular thing). However, I can also understand how if these rules were suddenly enforced after attending the school, even little things become huge issues.

The fingerprint scanners were not installed until the middle of the summer, so I'm not sure how you were aware of fingerprinting when interviewing. In fact, I heard the decision on fingerprinting was not made until the summer. If you were informed that here were going to be fingerprint scanners when you interviewed, that is very interesting because Admin didn't even officially announce an attendance policy to the student government until a few weeks before school started and they never mentioned fingerprint scanners. I've spoken to NUMEROUS first years who had no idea about attendance and scanners until school started.

Improved communication? What weekly/monthly meetings? Are you talking about the breakfasts? SGA is very proactive and more effective than you may realize. The fact that some students are enjoying the luxury of ignoring the scanners is a direct result of the efforts of SGA. 2012 was threatened many times over the scanners but because of activity of SGA and resistance of some students no action has been taken against the students who choose not to scan.

What I AM disappointed in though is the lack of unity in the second years. I feel like they're so fractured and that cheating scandal a few weeks ago was horrible. Seriously guys? Why would you try to screw your classmates like that?

Wow. Cheating scandal? Not quite. If that is how it's being portrayed to 2013 it's again quite inaccurate. The administration of that test was a complete mess and a failure. They actually had students take the same exact exam the next day despite already having seen the entire thing. You were not present for the problems that occurred and your generalizations of 2012 are off, especially to call it a cheating scandal.

 

[Doc2BNYC]

Do you feel TouroNY finally knows how to run a medical school?

No, I don't think they do. I know many other medical students, MD and DO, and have doctors in my family and none of them have dealt with or currently deal with what we do.

 

[Doc2BNYC]

And the rules are the least of the worries for the class of 2012.

What are 2012's worries?

 

[drbuckingnicks]

Does anyone have information about Comlex Pass Rates for Touro? Also if any of the current students performed on the USMLE part 1. Do you think the current curriculum prepares you well for the boards?

Do the courses have syllabi with the course materials condensed, or do the professors only supplement their lectures with additional textbook readings.

Just want to get an idea of the teaching style.

 

[TruNewYork]

I read a blog that stated after retakes they are now at 82% passing rate

 

[SmokD]

Do the courses have syllabi with the course materials condensed, or do the professors only supplement their lectures with additional textbook readings.

Just want to get an idea of the teaching style.

Yes, there is a pretty comprehensive book of syllabi that overviews all the courses in detail.

 

[FrankenPad]

I read a blog that stated after retakes they are now at 82% passing rate

That passing rate is still pretty pathetic. I hope the 82% is attributed more so to the intellectual capabilities of the class of 2011 and not to the school's teaching curriculum.

I love the fact that the school is so close to where I live, but I'm also worried about the future of the school with all the rumors (buy out... etc...) that surround the school.

What do you guys/gals think?

 

[Imlost]

The rumors are pretty much rumors. When I interviewed there, the place is improving regarding to the staffs as well as technologies. When I was there there was many unopened boxes that we were told that it was used for research and teaching equipments. LAb is particularly new. Many students complain about it being 1 building, but to really have a big campus in NYC is nearly impossible with the program being a few yrs old. It is really different campus life style because if your school is in Middle of nowhere they usually have bigger campus life style, but not in NYC. It cost $$ to have big campus in NYC. The passing rate is due to the fact that students that had failed multiple classes was not dismissed by TOURO, which I believe they want to keep their students in and work with them. It is always a working process regardless new or old school, it will get better with time and experience.

 

[mike10980]

I'd like to second the notion that not all of the first years are enamored with TouroCOM and its administration. I have plenty of second year friends and acquaintances who tell me (and other first years) about the woes encountered by second year students.

Sure, things are well and dandy for first years. We have to scan in four times a day, fine, no big deal. We have to have a ridiculous number of classes (instead of block scheduling), fine. It takes at LEAST one week to get our scores back (recently it's taken more than double that), fine. We have a certain lovely professor copying her exams verbatim from the internet, only to cause a big uproar, and the weightage of that exam to randomly change (from the values given on the syallabus), fine. The new computer exams that were recently implemented have been disastrous for some students, as answers would randomly be lost, hmm fine. Students who reviewed their answers later on found that the computer randomly/magically changed answers around (and administration isn't doing much about this) and the grades have dropped, err fine. Not to mention the questionable quality of some of our faculty, and the ever-constant quizzes (which, if missed, can be punative). Don't forget professors calling on you like they did in elementary school (and if you're not there, they throw a hissy fit...hmm, aren't we allowed to miss 30% of classes??). So, as you can imagine, this is just the beginning. Wait for us to become second years and we don't know where we're rotating, and our rotation schedule.

Honestly, some of the first years have put on the blinders about the things going on right now, and the potential problems that may arise. Maybe, it's time to learn a few things from our second years, and try to be prepared for the impeding issues that may arise. It's time to wake up and smell the coffee, so to speak. I really do hope things turn towards the better, but even this early in the game, I am becoming jaded.

 

[FrankenPad]

So do you regret having gone to the school? Sounds like the school doesn't know what they want or what they're doing. I sure hope that's not the case.

How is the faculty? Are they a bunch of loonies? I have read that some of them teach at more reputable schools, is that true?

 

[drbuckingnicks]

The dean was speaking to my interview group about accepting medical facts in terms of pharmacology and how a physician has to have a great amount of blind faith to administer a drug and believe it will work. In the midst of his story he gave an example that went along the lines of if you saw another man with your wife/gf or woman with your husband/bf you shouldn't jump to conclusions, as it could be their sister or brother or family members. Basically its that same blind faith we have in the ability of medicine to cure..... A little round a bout..... Then he said something along the lines you should really be thinking I'm glad I found my bf with a girl, god forbid it was another man, or your girlfriend was holding hands with another woman.

I found it a little odd, that last part, so I couldn't help but be curious to ask how the faculty/school views homosexuality and public health issues faces by same sex communities. Or was it most probably just an innocent awkward sentence in the anecdote.

 

[SmokD]

Sounds like the school doesn't know what they want or what they're doing. I sure hope that's not the case.

I do agree that some of the things the school is trying to do are not always executed well. The computerized test thing was just a total mess. Personally, i don't think the computers magically changed the answers, but the logistics of it did not work out.

Some of the faculty are loonies, a good number are really good.

I found it a little odd, that last part, so I couldn't help but be curious to ask how the faculty/school views homosexuality and public health issues faces by same sex communities. Or was it most probably just an innocent awkward sentence in the anecdote.

Can't speak for the personal views of the faculty or school, but there haven't been any issues with discrimination or prejudice if thats what you mean.

 

[sss349]

,

 

[drbuckingnicks]

Was this dean Goldberg or Cammaratta?

Actually TouroCOM does not allow the formation of a LGBT club. One of our students worked around the system and instituted a LGBT 'position' in the AMA club - but there is no official club, nor is there allowed to be a formation of one. This is not uncommon in the Touro community - the Touro California school had legal problems over the same issues, until they were forced to allow the club to form both from the community and their students.

Being politically correct is not in the repertoire of the deans here. There have been outrageous things said and done to the women here, as well as the minority students.

Sorry if you don't mind me asking, what they were the things said and done to women and minority students? It was Dean Goldberg.

 

[bellybutton]

any third years here willing to chat with an incoming class of 2014-er deciding between here and another school, please pm me. i'd like to have a conversation with someone about their decision to attend touro and their experience at touro for the past 2/3 years. there is a lot of helpful information on this thread, but i would like to delve deeper into some of the issues people keep bringing up.

thanks!

 

[Gold 5]

That passing rate is still pretty pathetic. I hope the 82% is attributed more so to the intellectual capabilities of the class of 2011 and not to the school's teaching curriculum.

I love the fact that the school is so close to where I live, but I'm also worried about the future of the school with all the rumors (buy out... etc...) that surround the school.

What do you guys/gals think?

I believe the number was 78% passing first time and that the number of folks who passed overall is now in the 90's %. Per higher authority (not school admin) for a first year class, this is pretty much the norm for the passing rate. While their might have been a few individuals in 2011 that where different than what you might expect, I would not dismiss the whole class based upon this. They did go through a lot and from all I have heard are performing well on rotations. Since the quality of teaching has improved vastly, the board pass rate should go up.

As for the future, Touro just bought NY medical college. I can't see this place failing

 

[TruNewYork]

Does anyone know where you can find medical school's ranking? What is the best and worst DO school? What is the best and worst MD school?

 

[rpggirl88]

Hey everyone!
Anyone have any good recommendations on finding an apartment? I had heard that Lenox Terrace was near the school, any reviews of that place or suggestions of other places to look? Thanks!

 

[SmokD]

Hey everyone!
Anyone have any good recommendations on finding an apartment? I had heard that Lenox Terrace was near the school, any reviews of that place or suggestions of other places to look? Thanks!

I know a couple of people that live there. It's a really nice place to live in Harlem. The units are fairly new(that I've seen), and the security there is good. If i remember correctly its gated, and there are full time doormen.

 

[DocEspana]

I want to set one thing straight as someone deeply involved with both the class of 2013 and 2012 (can't speak for 2011 at all). The school is new and because of it situations change dramatically year to year. What this has lead to is the class of 2012 getting a completely unfair break throughout most of their experience here. They had poor teachers, rapidly changing policy and the admin decided to not let them be an active part in the "shaping" process of their rules and curriculum.

This lead to the students of that class being hostile to the admin and the admin cutting them out of the loop. Alternatively the admin may have cut them out pre-emptively and then they became hostile. The order is unclear and greatly unimportant. The important part is the result: 2012 is constantly butting heads with the admin. They have full right to given how they were treated.

Now on the other side of the coin, 2013 is being treated fantastically. We don't have blinders to the problems. We see the 2012 problems, but they don't apply to us. We see an admin that is hesitant to work with us, but we actively reach out to them to cooperate with us and it has lead to FANTASTIC success and cooperation. Plenty has gone wrong. It's a new school. We switched to a testing system that needed more beta testing. A problem happened where people's answers all became D if they scrolled down with a mouse wheel. This problem was dealt with as best as it can be (by throwing out the test). We have 8 out of 10 teachers being fantastic. the 9th is a PhD who is an expert in some fields and teaches from the book in others and the 10th is a genius in her field but very bad at translating that to teaching. This stuff happens.

What needs to be said though, is that 2013 has problems that any med school has. A glitch on a test making some poeple unhappy. A prof or two out of the entire faculty that you dont like. But for the most part we are very happy because our facilities are state of the art. Most of our teachers are amazing and, frankly, the admin has pledged to work with us and trust in us to not give them the same problems 2012 gives them.

again, 2012 has full right to be like that. i don't blame them. I would do the same if i was in their class. But I am thankful to not be. But this is a school with two FULLY different and, frankly, opposite, experiences. We even sometimes have two different sets of rules. and its to due with us being the third class, where the kinks have been worked out and we came in knowing that actively engaging the admin was the way to not be left out of the loop... and its worked wonderfully.

 

[TruNewYork]

There seems like there is so much going on. Yes it is a new school but do you feel its worth it to take out so many loans in a place that is not staple. Do you feel that you will be prepared for boards and residency wont be a problem? Are the rotations all in NYC. Can someone please confirm. I do not want to wind up rotating upstate. Thank a bunch.