Western COMP vs. Touro CA

[missDO2018]

Hello everyone,
I wanted some advice from applicants or medical students of recent cycles about the dilemma between western and touro. I did my undergrad in los angeles and lived in the bay area before that. I really cant choose between these two. I really dont care about the appearance of the school just the program and they are pretty much the same. Touro has DO/MPH and they offer rotations out of state. I might have missed it on western website/orientation but does western offers out of state rotations?
this might be a stupid questions........can i get rotations in the hospitals that are not on the list of Western or Touro?
Thank you for your input in advance

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[Oo Cipher oO]

First off, are you accepted to both schools? What were your impressions about the interview experience? I'm a WesternU student and most of our core rotations are within 45 minute driving distance. This is a big advantage as you don't have to move around as much as you might if you have a lot of out of state rotations. If you really want to do out of state rotations then we do have two elective rotations during 3rd year if you put in the work to get permission from the out of state hospital. It is work to get agreements from hospitals that WesternU students have not been at before but it is not impossible and just has to be done way in advance. Most choose the easier route and go with established sites.

 

[missDO2018]

First off, are you accepted to both schools? What were your impressions about the interview experience? I'm a WesternU student and most of our core rotations are within 45 minute driving distance. This is a big advantage as you don't have to move around as much as you might if you have a lot of out of state rotations. If you really want to do out of state rotations then we do have two elective rotations during 3rd year if you put in the work to get permission from the out of state hospital. It is work to get agreement from hospitals that WesternU students have been at before but it is not impossible and just has to be done way in advance. Most choose the easier route and go with established sites.

Yes i am accepted to both. I liked both schools. Im so concerned about the quality of residency sites!! Like UCSF fresno for touro.... Im dont really know abt socal hospitals! Im sorta freaking out lol i dont want to choose based on reputation and regret it after

 

[Seth Joo]

Yes i am accepted to both. I liked both schools. Im so concerned about the quality of residency sites!! Like UCSF fresno for touro.... Im dont really know abt socal hospitals! Im sorta freaking out lol i dont want to choose based on reputation and regret it after

Western is the better school. There is no comparison. Western is much more established. Touro has a lot of issues with its clinical education. Touro's facilities are among the worst of any school, even worse than medical schools in third world countries.

 

[missDO2018]

Western is the better school. There is no comparison. Western is much more established. Touro has a lot of issues with its clinical education. Touro's facilities are among the worst of any school, even worse than medical schools in third world countries.

really ? they showed themselves pretty solid lol are you a westernU student?

 

[HopefulReapp]

really ? they showed themselves pretty solid lol are you a westernU student?

He is a troll, look at his past posts. You are going to get the same education at any DO school and rotations are often what you make of them. Go with your gut on which school you liked better.

Personally I was sold on tucom from the interview day. The students were very casual, the faculty during the MPH presentation and dean talk were fantastic with their honesty, the anatomy professor had a certain aura of passion that I can't pinpoint, and they are active in wet lab research. Lectures are recorded and attendance is optional for the most part, and the advisers are very active in their student's studies if requested.

You can go on and on about the history/legacy of the school, the number of students, etc., but I don't think you can go wrong with either school as long as you are dedicated to becoming a physician.

 

[Seth Joo]

really ? they showed themselves pretty solid lol are you a westernU student?

No, I am an AZCOM student. I chose AZCOM over Touro CA. Several people in my interview group did the same. I knew one person who got into Western and she went there.

Western has been around for a while, Touro is relatively new, I was not impressed with their facilities, and even their Dean was saying there were "issues" with clinical rotations. Touro's facilities were run down, plus its located in a pretty dangerous town. Many students live far from campus as a result.

 

[TreadLightly]

Many students live far from campus as a result.

For the record, Western isn't in the nicest area but is located pretty close to some nice areas. It's probably a lot better than the area around Touro, but fyi. I have heard bad things about rotations at Touro CA also.

 

[Seth Joo]

For the record, Western isn't in the nicest area but is located pretty close to some nice areas. It's probably a lot better than the area around Touro, but fyi. I have heard bad things about rotations at Touro CA also.

Pomona is nowhere near as bad as Vallejo. Vallejo is ranked up there with Detroit and Oakland as one of the worst cities. It ranked in the top 10 in the Forbes miserable city list. Pomona is not that great but I never saw it listed with Detroit.

The clinical education at Touro has issues, even though the school is near SF, its not easy to stay there for the clinical years. The facilities at TUCOM were run down and shoddy looking, paint was peeling off the main building. It just did not give off a good impression.

 

[missDO2018]

For the record, Western isn't in the nicest area but is located pretty close to some nice areas. It's probably a lot better than the area around Touro, but fyi. I have heard bad things about rotations at Touro CA also.

Pomona is nowhere near as bad as Vallejo. Vallejo is ranked up there with Detroit and Oakland as one of the worst cities. It ranked in the top 10 in the Forbes miserable city list. Pomona is not that great but I never saw it listed with Detroit.

The clinical education at Touro has issues, even though the school is near SF, its not easy to stay there for the clinical years. The facilities at TUCOM were run down and shoddy looking, paint was peeling off the main building. It just did not give off a good impression.

Like what they said about the rotatations?
Yeah the buildings were so old
My family is living in bay area n they want me to go to touro. The research opportunity n dual degree w MPH is making me lean toward touro but i dont know if i m going to have time to use these opportunities! What do u guys think?

 

[Seth Joo]

Its up to you as to where you want to go, but Touro made a poor impression on me when I saw it. From the people I know who go there, its not easy to remain in the Bay Area for your clinical rotations, they also seem to lose some sites and get new ones, a good number of rotation sites are at outpatient clinics rather than teaching hospitals. There are other issues that they complained about.

The facilities of the school are just poor, their library is tiny. The town where the school is located is dangerous as well. Several years ago the school was planning to upgrade the campus but the plans were cancelled after the recession began in 2008.

Anyway its your choice as to where you want to go to school. I am simply sharing my own opinion.

 

[HopefulReapp]

Pomona is nowhere near as bad as Vallejo. Vallejo is ranked up there with Detroit and Oakland as one of the worst cities. It ranked in the top 10 in the Forbes miserable city list. Pomona is not that great but I never saw it listed with Detroit.

Fort Lauderdale is number 8 on that list. Is Nova now bad as well?

 

[Seth Joo]

Fort Lauderdale is number 8 on that list. Is Nova now bad as well?

Nova is actually in Davie FL, not Ft. Lauderdale. Nova has some of the best facilities of any medical school in the country.

Any its up to the OP as to where she wants to go, I was only sharing my opinion.

 

[TreadLightly]

Pomona is not that great but I never saw it listed with Detroit.

People that don't live in CA might get the wrong idea about Pomona. When people say it's not a "nice" area, that's meant in the context of southern CA (which has some really nice areas). It's not any worse than some places in Orange County (Santa Ana) and it's a hell of a lot better than San Bernardino.

 

[pattr]

OP, I'm a fourth year at Touro-CA in the DO/MPH program. I'm applying for internal medicine now and all anyone can talk about during my residency interviews (I applied to only CA programs and so far have done very well) is my MPH work. It's a big resume builder. And you can do both degrees in 4 years. So if you are truly interested in public health I say go for it!

I chose Touro over Western four years ago. It is a difficult decision I understand. I also did undergrad in SoCal but never lived in NorCal before. Vallejo really isn't that bad as long as you aren't strolling into downtown in the middle of the night. Plenty of places to live and hang out around the area.

Western is probably the better and more established school but it too has its own problems. I have a lot of close friends who are western students/grads. I would be wary of trusting someone like Seth Joo's advice on this issue only bc he's not a student so he doesn't know what our school is actually like. Ultimately you will have to decide between the two for yourself.

Feel free to PM me if any further specific questions.

 

[bionerd89]

People that don't live in CA might get the wrong idea about Pomona. When people say it's not a "nice" area, that's meant in the context of southern CA (which has some really nice areas). It's not any worse than some places in Orange County (Santa Ana) and it's a hell of a lot better than San Bernardino.

I agree.. Pomona is not bad at all...its obviously not as fancy as other parts of LA but its not bad..I definitely felt safer there then when I went for my KCUMB interview

 

[Seth Joo]

OP, I'm a fourth year at Touro-CA in the DO/MPH program. I'm applying for internal medicine now and all anyone can talk about during my residency interviews (I applied to only CA programs and so far have done very well) is my MPH work. It's a big resume builder. And you can do both degrees in 4 years. So if you are truly interested in public health I say go for it!

I chose Touro over Western four years ago. It is a difficult decision I understand. I also did undergrad in SoCal but never lived in NorCal before. Vallejo really isn't that bad as long as you aren't strolling into downtown in the middle of the night. Plenty of places to live and hang out around the area.

Western is probably the better and more established school but it too has its own problems. I have a lot of close friends who are western students/grads. I would be wary of trusting someone like Seth Joo's advice on this issue only bc he's not a student so he doesn't know what our school is actually like. Ultimately you will have to decide between the two for yourself.

Feel free to PM me if any further specific questions.

I actually interviewed at Touro CA, I did not like what I saw, the school's facilities did not make much of an impression, and even the student tour guide was not every enthusiastic. I actually matriculated at AZCOM, there were a couple of other people in my interview group who got into TUCOM and AZCOM, and chose the latter.

I have some friends in clinical rotations there at TUCOM, and they have been complaining about the clinical education at the school.

Say what you want about Vallejo, but it has a bad reputation in the Bay Area.

 

[pattr]

I actually interviewed at Touro CA, I did not like what I saw, the school's facilities did not make much of an impression, and even the student tour guide was not every enthusiastic. I actually matriculated at AZCOM, there were a couple of other people in my interview group who got into TUCOM and AZCOM, and chose the latter.

I have some friends in clinical rotations there at TUCOM, and they have been complaining about the clinical education at the school.

Say what you want about Vallejo, but it has a bad reputation in the Bay Area.

Interviewing/hearing complaints from friends is different than actually attending the school. I'm sure you will have complaints about AZCOM's clinical education once you are at that stage as well.