What you wish you knew day 1

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One thing I wish I did was being consistent with exercise at the beginning instead of finding excuses (read: drinking instead). JK.

Seriously though, it only takes like half an hour and you'll feel a lot better. You will look sexier in OPP lab. You also won't be a huge hypocrite when you tell all your patients to engage in 30 mins of physical activity 3-5 days a week.

Oh and another secret from a wizened upperclassman--study in the undergraduate library. Never, ever study in the library for your medical school. For me, that was my secret study spot for the first two years. It doesn't have to be the undergraduate library, just anywhere that's not the medical school's library. Things get too hectic around exam time with people freaking out, pulling all nighters and screwing around on FB. Studying away from that will help you to keep your mind right.
but most DO schools aren't affiliated with undergrad universities. what then?

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I wish I would have known how humbling and eye open med school is and how much people will sacrifice for something that doesn't matter that much. I've seen too many people divorce and lose families just for a better grade. I wish I would have started from day 1 to not care about rank and grade at the expense of my family. Luckily, I learned this rather quickly but many didn't. I also learned that medicine will take every single ounce of energy that you give it. Don't give too much and lose yourself.

I wound up getting a divorce when I told my wife I was going to medical school. I have to say though the people I have met in medical school are not the most happy go lucky people you can meet. I have met some pretty miserable people.
 
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but most DO schools aren't affiliated with undergrad universities. what then?
You don't have to be affiliated to go to a university library to study. At LECOM a lot of the students went the the Mercyhurst univ library since they were open 24/7 and the LECOM library closed at 10pm. A lot of people studied at the deli at the local grocery store since there were tables, internet access, and the deli closed at 8pm so you weren't taking away from customer seating. You will figure it out.
 
You don't have to be affiliated to go to a university library to study. At LECOM a lot of the students went the the Mercyhurst univ library since they were open 24/7 and the LECOM library closed at 10pm. A lot of people studies at the deli at the local grocery store since there were tables, internet access, and the deli closed at 8pm so you weren't taking away from customer seating. You will figure it out.

Not to mention the use of public libraries, starbucks, etc.
 
but most DO schools aren't affiliated with undergrad universities. what then?
At Western, you could either go to the arm pit known as Pomona and have a 50/50 chance of being robbed after dark, or go to the Claremont Colleges library where the worst you might get is a dirty look when someone recognizes the medical books and realizes you're squatting in their library.
 
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I don't get the Pomona hate. The city may be ugly, but there is some serious exaggeration from people on SDN about how rough the place is.

If you're in Pomona, just head over to Mt.Sac's library. Its big enough and It's almost always empty.
 
I don't get the Pomona hate. The city may be ugly, but there is some serious exaggeration from people on SDN about how rough the place is.

If you're in Pomona, just head over to Mt.Sac's library. Its big enough and It's almost always empty.
Ever been in the neighborhood south of Mission?
Ever seen the number of prostitutes on Holt and on Mission?
..and yes, I've had my car broken into... in the school's parking structure and I know a classmate who had her laptop stolen out of a study room during the day. Sure, there are nice parts of Pomona, but the school is physically on the wrong side of the tracks (and for those not familiar with Pomona, Western is right next to the tracks.).
 
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Ever been in the neighborhood south of Mission?
Ever seen the number of prostitutes on Holt and on Mission?
..and yes, I've had my car broken into... in the school's parking structure and I know a classmate who had her laptop stolen out of a study room during the day. Sure, there are nice parts of Pomona, but the school is physically on the wrong side of the tracks (and for those not familiar with Pomona, Western is right next to the tracks.).

I lived right next to Pomona for a decade, so I'm familiar with the area. I agree about being extra cautious and aware of your surroundings, but your anecdotes aren't enough to justify the gross exaggeration on SDN about the city. Pomona is no different than many other cities out there.

I've had my car broken into 3 times while at school in Miami, which has considerably rougher parts than Pomona could dream of, yet no one complains on SDN. Pomona is ugly and has a few iffy parts. Use common sense and for the most part, you're fine.

I just don't want incoming students to think they're going to the hood of all hoods.
 
I lived right next to Pomona for a decade, so I'm familiar with the area. I agree about being extra cautious and aware of your surroundings, but your anecdotes aren't enough to justify the gross exaggeration on SDN about the city. Pomona is no different than many other cities out there.

I've had my car broken into 3 times while at school in Miami, which has considerably rougher parts than Pomona could dream of, yet no one complains on SDN. Pomona is ugly and has a few iffy parts. Use common sense and for the most part, you're fine.

I just don't want incoming students to think they're going to the hood of all hoods.

Same thing with Touro-NY (Harlem). No one ever complains about safety because every one is cautious and smart how to go about things (not walking alone at 3am for many blocks or keep to busy avenues whenever possible for example )
 
I lived right next to Pomona for a decade, so I'm familiar with the area. I agree about being extra cautious and aware of your surroundings, but your anecdotes aren't enough to justify the gross exaggeration on SDN about the city. Pomona is no different than many other cities out there.

I've had my car broken into 3 times while at school in Miami, which has considerably rougher parts than Pomona could dream of, yet no one complains on SDN. Pomona is ugly and has a few iffy parts. Use common sense and for the most part, you're fine.

I just don't want incoming students to think they're going to the hood of all hoods.
Uh no, Pomona is a dump. There's no two ways around that.
 
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For the people who think class rank actually matters….i have news for you, it doesn't even make the top 5 for most residency directors. And while i can't speak for every residency director in the country, my family has been in healthcare on the west coast for 25 years and run multiple residency programs. Most of the directors i've met say that they barely look at class rank. Now for something like plastic surgery or some extremely competitive it doesn't hurt, and might be weighted more (but not by much), but for the most part it doesn't mean anything. No reason to kill yourself in order to jump up one or two spots…..just crush your boards and do well on your audition rotations and you will be just fine. Tired of SDN scaring people…..
 
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Westwood area and the areas adjacent to UCLA are arguably the nicest parts of LA, whether it's Bel Air (right on the northern boundary of UCLA), Beverly Hills, Westwood, Brentwood, and Santa Monica. it's about a ten minute drive to the beach, twenty minutes to Malibu. there is no other part of LA I would want to call home. and having lived in Irvine for close to a decade at UCI, it is by far one of the most boring parts of southern california. everything closes at 10pm, you gotta go to Newport beach to have a fun time, but not too fun cuz you don't want to get a DUI by one of the overzealous cops bored to death of Pleasontown.
 
To be fair, every med school in CA is located in a crappy area, except maybe Irvine.

Irvine is its own special crappy seeing as it's so boring. It's a bedroom community without the nearby metropolis.
 
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the only concievably crappy campus neighborhoods in California are Pomona, Loma Linda, and USC (though USC is showing some major improvements, especially with downtown becoming the awesome party/club scene lately)

edit: OH how could i forget, Touro in Vallejo
 
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Irvine is its own special crappy seeing as it's so boring. It's a bedroom community without the nearby metropolis.

The problem with UCI is do you count the campus in Irvine or the medical center in Orange? Also, while traffic isn't bad going from Irvine to Orange in the morning (and the opposite way at night), if you're working over night in Orange, you might as well just go to sleep in a call room because it's going to take a long time to go South on the 5 and 55 during morning rush hour.
 
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The problem with UCI is do you count the campus in Irvine or the medical center in Orange? Also, while traffic isn't bad going from Irvine to Orange in the morning (and the opposite way at night), if you're working over night in Orange, you might as well just go to sleep in a call room because it's going to take a long time to go South on the 5 and 55 during morning rush hour.
I know this all too well having lived in Orange and commuted to UCI daily. I got so fed up with the ridiculous traffic that I started biking to school and back, through Santa Ana. a 30 mile round trip that would take an hour to accomplish each way. lost 25 pounds in two months and it would take me the same amount of time to get to school if I drove. that's how crappy the traffic is, biking is faster than the freeway on average
 
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Which used to be a DO school, back in the day. Damn you California, why did you take one of the only really good ones away!!!
Blame DOs for not jumping to the opportunity that the University of California gave them at the time to build a DO school in the campus of their choice. I understand they must have been afraid to be re-hijacked, but imagine the payoff if we had UCB-COM
 
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Blame DOs for not jumping to the opportunity that the University of California gave them at the time to build a DO school in the campus of their choice. I understand they must have been afraid to be re-hijacked, but imagine the payoff if we had UCB-COM
i know right...but if any UC had a DO school it would certainly be ridiculously hard to get into
 
Ever been in the neighborhood south of Mission?
Ever seen the number of prostitutes on Holt and on Mission?
..and yes, I've had my car broken into... in the school's parking structure and I know a classmate who had her laptop stolen out of a study room during the day. Sure, there are nice parts of Pomona, but the school is physically on the wrong side of the tracks (and for those not familiar with Pomona, Western is right next to the tracks.).

The main WesternU building got hit by stray bullets once
WesternU campus is visible in a gangster rap video
A car chase ended with the perp crashing into a COMP student as they were pulling out from campus
WesternU security guards got robbed so many times that the school equipped them with safety whistles (lol)

Any more Pomona stories? Love this stuff. Everyone lives off campus or right next to it and then leaves if they're going to do anything so it's not as bad as it sounds.
 
The main WesternU building got hit by stray bullets once
WesternU campus is visible in a gangster rap video
A car chase ended with the perp crashing into a COMP student as they were pulling out from campus
WesternU security guards got robbed so many times that the school equipped them with safety whistles (lol)

Any more Pomona stories? Love this stuff. Everyone lives off campus or right next to it and then leaves if they're going to do anything so it's not as bad as it sounds.


i believe this is what you're talking about. it's pure gold.
 
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