Pros and Cons of your DO School

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Hello Everyone,

I hope the monitors aren't mad I'm venturing out of the pre-med forums. I am preparing my application for medical school and would love to hear the opinions about DO schools from the students themselves. I am curious what you all think about your school's curriculum, location, cost, faculty, reputation, clinical rotations, housing, study areas, social scene, local hospitals, preparation for boards and of course chances for students to attend residencies outside of primary care (if that makes sense). I found hearing the actual students speak about there school is very helpful in getting a real person perspective as oppose to statistical data. Any thoughts are more than appreciated. If the officials of SDN move this to the pre-osteopathic forum, please journey over there to list or explain your opinions. Many thanks!:)

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Hello Everyone,

I hope the monitors aren't mad I'm venturing out of the pre-med forums. I am preparing my application for medical school and would love to hear the opinions about DO schools from the students themselves. I am curious what you all think about your school's curriculum, location, cost, faculty, reputation, clinical rotations, housing, study areas, social scene, local hospitals, preparation for boards and of course chances for students to attend residencies outside of primary care (if that makes sense). I found hearing the actual students speak about there school is very helpful in getting a real person perspective as oppose to statistical data. Any thoughts are more than appreciated. If the officials of SDN move this to the pre-osteopathic forum, please journey over there to list or explain your opinions. Many thanks!:)

Let me give you my thoughts on PCOM:

Curriculum: Always adapting. Seems that since I was a first year it has become a much more student friendly curriculum. Arranging courses so that they arent so compacted. My first year we had gross anatomy and cell & tissue in the same trimester...current PCOM students should consider themselves lucky that they dont have that! Clinical coursework begins in the 3rd trimester of 1st year with the Cardiology block. I think the integration is pretty good among the disciplines from Pharm to OMM to clinical medicine. PCOM does a great job with its note taking service and lectures on MP3. Lecturers are strong and seem to have students interest at heart.

Location: Philadelphia. Though the school is on the outskirts of town, its a city school. Yes we have a nice campus (complete with multi million dollar athletic complex). You straddle the city and a very upper class area in southern montgomery county. Philadelphia is what it is...we have a high murder rate (highest in the country) but all the areas where that seems to take place are literally across town. Sports, art, culture...all have it right here. www.philly.com and www.citysearch.com will give you more info. I have been in the city for 10 years now and I own a home here. I have lived in 5 different apartment complexes prior to that. So while I am not a "local" I have a little different outlook than the typical transient student. Would I choose this city again? I think so. Do I want to live in the city the rest of my life? Probably not. Could I ever get bored of this city? I dont think so.

Cost: Around $35,000. Seems to be middle of the road for DO schools, as most are private schools. Getting loans are NO problem. Personally I like our financial aid department, but thats because I find you get further by being nice (yes, I said that...JPHazelton can be nice). I have had no problems with loans or money. PCOM has more small scholarships and awards than any other DO school, but few people know about them and apply for them. I have friends who applied for awards/scholarships that were dormant for 4-5 years...and they reaped the benefits by getting the collective award.

Faculty: Outstanding. Our clinical professors are the cream of the crop. In fact, several other newer DO schools have recruited from our campus. Other schools have based portions of their curriculum on ours. Our basic science faculty are heavy into research. We have pharmacologists teaching pharmacology, immunologists teaching immunology and perhaps the best DO pathology professor in the country (not the most famous, but he was the inspiration for the most famous name). Approachable without a doubt. Ancillary staff are excellent as well.

Reputation: Rock solid. Arguably the best DO school in the country and holds its own against the 4 MD schools here in Philly. We rotate with them and get nothing but high marks. Our students and residents rotate with some of the best MD students on the east coast and not only do we match up, sometimes we outshine. No worry that someone wont know PCOM, at least not from Maine to Florida to Chicago. Also, one stat shows that nearly 25% of all current physicians have done some or all of their medical training in Philadelphia. We are known ubiquitously.

Clinical Rotations:
http://www.pcom.edu/Clinical_Education/Affiliate_Lists_/affiliate_lists_.html
Some great facilities. Small clinics to large university based medical centers. Philly, NJ, Delaware, NY, Pitt...we are all over. Also, PCOM offers more weeks of elective & selective time than ANY other DO school. If you want freedom and the ability to make your clinical experience truly your OWN, this is the school.

Housing: $1.00/square foot to $10.00/square foot. Apartments to houses to condos...all here. The Student Affairs office has a comprehensive list. You can also find personal opinions here on SDN. If you cant find an apartment in the area that fits your finances and personal needs, then you arent looking.

Study areas: Not so great. Too many students for too few desks. PCOM has a collaborative agreement with dozens of colleges in the area to use their libraries so this helps immensely. But if you are the type who likes to study on campus, stake your claim early. Although I always studied at home, many people study in the cafeteria or local coffee shops (plenty of those).

Social Scene: Post exam parties, open bars, sports, clubs, dances...and you are in Philadelphia. PCOM definately parties. We're not a stick-in-the-mud school. No formal dress code, no attendance policy...and yes you can even walk into class with a cup of coffee. Laid back school.

Local Hospitals: Somewhere else on SDN I did a tally. Basically there are more hospitals in a 35 mile radius of downtown Philadelphia than in Vermont, West Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Hampshire...you get the idea. More hospitals than you could rotate through in a decade. And these hospitals all have DOs on staff, many from PCOM.

Board Prep: Hard to say. We dont see scores from other schools...we dont even see our own scores as a school collectively.

Specialty: PCOM sends more people into specialty fields than most other DO schools. Each year our match rate is heavier on the specialty side...or at least near 50/50. On top of that realize that many are doing internships (so they get lumped in as primary care matches) and many do internal medicine (72 this year, 35 of which listed a specialty choice). So though our match may say 50-60% into specialty, its probably closer to 65%-70% when its all said and done. Neurosurg, Rads, Anesth, Derm, Optho, Ortho, Psych, Surg...all represented yearly.

So here are my grades:

Curriculum: B+
Location: A
Cost: C+
Financial Aid: B
Faculty: A
Reputation: A+
Technology: A+
Study Space/Library: C-
Library technology/Resources: B+
Rotations: A-
Social: A
Hospitals: A-
Post Grad: A
Cafeteria Food: A-
Cafeteria Prices: D

Overall Grade: A-

IMHO you would be hard pressed to find an all around better DO school. There is a reason that PCOM has consistently recieved more applications than all the other DO schools. Does it have its problems? Sure, every school does. But you cant deny almost 110 years of tradition and reputation that survived the dark ages of osteopathy and competition with 4 MD schools right next door.
 
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excellent post JP. That was thorough!! Thanks
 
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Let me give you my thoughts on PCOM:

Curriculum: Always adapting. Seems that since I was a first year it has become a much more student friendly curriculum. Arranging courses so that they arent so compacted. My first year we had gross anatomy and cell & tissue in the same trimester...current PCOM students should consider themselves lucky that they dont have that! Clinical coursework begins in the 3rd trimester of 1st year with the Cardiology block. I think the integration is pretty good among the disciplines from Pharm to OMM to clinical medicine. PCOM does a great job with its note taking service and lectures on MP3. Lecturers are strong and seem to have students interest at heart.

Location: Philadelphia. Though the city is on the outskirts of town, its a city school. Yes we have a nice campus (complete with multi million dollar athletic complex). You straddle the city and a very upper class area in southern montgomery county. Philadelphia is what it is...we have a high murder rate (highest in the city) but all the areas where that seems to take place are literally across town. Sports, art, culture...all have it right here. www.philly.com and www.citysearch.com will give you more info. I have been in the city for 10 years now and I own a home here. I have lived in 5 different apartment complexes prior to that. So while I am not a "local" I have a little different outlook than the typical transient student. Would I choose this city again? I think so. Do I want to live in the city the rest of my life? Probably not. Could I ever get bored of this city? I dont think so.

Cost: Around $35,000. Seems to be middle of the road for DO schools, as most are private schools. Getting loans are NO problem. Personally I like our financial aid department, but thats because I find you get further by being nice (yes, I said that...JPHazelton can be nice). I have had no problems with loans or money. PCOM has more small scholarships and awards than any other DO school, but few people know about them and apply for them. I have friends who applied for awards/scholarships that were dormant for 4-5 years...and they reaped the benefits by getting the collective award.

Faculty: Outstanding. Our clinical professors are the cream of the crop. In fact, several other newer DO schools have recruited from our campus. Other schools have based portions of their curriculum on ours. Our basic science faculty are heavy into research. We have pharmacologists teaching pharmacology, immunologists teaching immunology and perhaps the best DO pathology professor in the country (not the most famous, but he was the inspiration for the most famous name). Approachable without a doubt. Ancillary staff are excellent as well.

Reputation: Rock solid. Arguably the best DO school in the country and holds its own against the 4 MD schools here in Philly. We rotate with them and get nothing but high marks. Our students and residents rotate with some of the best MD students on the east coast and not only do we match up, sometimes we outshine. No worry that someone wont know PCOM, at least not from Maine to Florida to Chicago. Also, one stat shows that nearly 25% of all current physicians have done some or all of their medical training in Philadelphia. We are known ubiquitously.

Clinical Rotations:
http://www.pcom.edu/Clinical_Education/Affiliate_Lists_/affiliate_lists_.html
Some great facilities. Small clinics to large university based medical centers. Philly, NJ, Delaware, NY, Pitt...we are all over. Also, PCOM offers more weeks of elective & selective time than ANY other DO school. If you want freedom and the ability to make your clinical experience truly your OWN, this is the school.

Housing: $1.00/square foot to $10.00/square foot. Apartments to houses to condos...all here. The Student Affairs office has a comprehensive list. You can also find personal opinions here on SDN. If you cant find an apartment in the area that fits your finances and personal needs, then you arent looking.

Study areas: Not so great. Too many students for too few desks. PCOM has a collaborative agreement with dozens of colleges in the area to use their libraries so this helps immensely. But if you are the type who likes to study on campus, stake your claim early. Although I always studied at home, many people study in the cafeteria or local coffee shops (plenty of those).

Social Scene: Post exam parties, open bars, sports, clubs, dances...and you are in Philadelphia. PCOM definately parties. We're not a stick-in-the-mud school. No formal dress code, no attendance policy...and yes you can even walk into class with a cup of coffee. Laid back school.

Local Hospitals: Somewhere else on SDN I did a tally. Basically there are more hospitals in a 35 mile radius of downtown Philadelphia than in Vermont, West Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Hampshire...you get the idea. More hospitals than you could rotate through in a decade. And these hospitals all have DOs on staff, many from PCOM.

Board Prep: Hard to say. We dont see scores from other schools...we dont even see our own scores as a school collectively.

Specialty: PCOM sends more people into specialty fields than most other DO schools. Each year our match rate is heavier on the specialty side...or at least near 50/50. On top of that realize that many are doing internships (so they get lumped in as primary care matches) and many do internal medicine (72 this year, 35 of which listed a specialty choice). So though our match may say 50-60% into specialty, its probably closer to 65%-70% when its all said and done. Neurosurg, Rads, Anesth, Derm, Optho, Ortho, Psych, Surg...all represented yearly.

So here are my grades:

Curriculum: B+
Location: A
Cost: C+
Financial Aid: B
Faculty: A
Reputation: A+
Technology: A+
Study Space/Library: C-
Library technology/Resources: B+
Rotations: A-
Social: A
Hospitals: A-
Post Grad: A
Cafeteria Food: A-
Cafeteria Prices: D

Overall Grade: A-

IMHO you would be hard pressed to find an all around better DO school. There is a reason that PCOM has consistently recieved more applications than all the other DO schools. Does it have its problems? Sure, every school does. But you cant deny almost 110 years of tradition and reputation that survived the dark ages of osteopathy and competition with 4 MD schools right next door.

I thought I was excited to start school prior to this post!!! Awesome as usual JP, cant wait to carry on the JP legacy....or at least give my best shot to being an ass and taking names :laugh:.
 
Man, do I want to see something like this for CCOM!
 
Let me give you my thoughts on PCOM:

Curriculum: Always adapting. Seems that since I was a first year it has become a much more student friendly curriculum. Arranging courses so that they arent so compacted. My first year we had gross anatomy and cell & tissue in the same trimester...current PCOM students should consider themselves lucky that they dont have that! Clinical coursework begins in the 3rd trimester of 1st year with the Cardiology block. I think the integration is pretty good among the disciplines from Pharm to OMM to clinical medicine. PCOM does a great job with its note taking service and lectures on MP3. Lecturers are strong and seem to have students interest at heart.

Location: Philadelphia. Though the school is on the outskirts of town, its a city school. Yes we have a nice campus (complete with multi million dollar athletic complex). You straddle the city and a very upper class area in southern montgomery county. Philadelphia is what it is...we have a high murder rate (highest in the country) but all the areas where that seems to take place are literally across town. Sports, art, culture...all have it right here. www.philly.com and www.citysearch.com will give you more info. I have been in the city for 10 years now and I own a home here. I have lived in 5 different apartment complexes prior to that. So while I am not a "local" I have a little different outlook than the typical transient student. Would I choose this city again? I think so. Do I want to live in the city the rest of my life? Probably not. Could I ever get bored of this city? I dont think so.

Cost: Around $35,000. Seems to be middle of the road for DO schools, as most are private schools. Getting loans are NO problem. Personally I like our financial aid department, but thats because I find you get further by being nice (yes, I said that...JPHazelton can be nice). I have had no problems with loans or money. PCOM has more small scholarships and awards than any other DO school, but few people know about them and apply for them. I have friends who applied for awards/scholarships that were dormant for 4-5 years...and they reaped the benefits by getting the collective award.

Faculty: Outstanding. Our clinical professors are the cream of the crop. In fact, several other newer DO schools have recruited from our campus. Other schools have based portions of their curriculum on ours. Our basic science faculty are heavy into research. We have pharmacologists teaching pharmacology, immunologists teaching immunology and perhaps the best DO pathology professor in the country (not the most famous, but he was the inspiration for the most famous name). Approachable without a doubt. Ancillary staff are excellent as well.

Reputation: Rock solid. Arguably the best DO school in the country and holds its own against the 4 MD schools here in Philly. We rotate with them and get nothing but high marks. Our students and residents rotate with some of the best MD students on the east coast and not only do we match up, sometimes we outshine. No worry that someone wont know PCOM, at least not from Maine to Florida to Chicago. Also, one stat shows that nearly 25% of all current physicians have done some or all of their medical training in Philadelphia. We are known ubiquitously.

Clinical Rotations:
http://www.pcom.edu/Clinical_Education/Affiliate_Lists_/affiliate_lists_.html
Some great facilities. Small clinics to large university based medical centers. Philly, NJ, Delaware, NY, Pitt...we are all over. Also, PCOM offers more weeks of elective & selective time than ANY other DO school. If you want freedom and the ability to make your clinical experience truly your OWN, this is the school.

Housing: $1.00/square foot to $10.00/square foot. Apartments to houses to condos...all here. The Student Affairs office has a comprehensive list. You can also find personal opinions here on SDN. If you cant find an apartment in the area that fits your finances and personal needs, then you arent looking.

Study areas: Not so great. Too many students for too few desks. PCOM has a collaborative agreement with dozens of colleges in the area to use their libraries so this helps immensely. But if you are the type who likes to study on campus, stake your claim early. Although I always studied at home, many people study in the cafeteria or local coffee shops (plenty of those).

Social Scene: Post exam parties, open bars, sports, clubs, dances...and you are in Philadelphia. PCOM definately parties. We're not a stick-in-the-mud school. No formal dress code, no attendance policy...and yes you can even walk into class with a cup of coffee. Laid back school.

Local Hospitals: Somewhere else on SDN I did a tally. Basically there are more hospitals in a 35 mile radius of downtown Philadelphia than in Vermont, West Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Hampshire...you get the idea. More hospitals than you could rotate through in a decade. And these hospitals all have DOs on staff, many from PCOM.

Board Prep: Hard to say. We dont see scores from other schools...we dont even see our own scores as a school collectively.

Specialty: PCOM sends more people into specialty fields than most other DO schools. Each year our match rate is heavier on the specialty side...or at least near 50/50. On top of that realize that many are doing internships (so they get lumped in as primary care matches) and many do internal medicine (72 this year, 35 of which listed a specialty choice). So though our match may say 50-60% into specialty, its probably closer to 65%-70% when its all said and done. Neurosurg, Rads, Anesth, Derm, Optho, Ortho, Psych, Surg...all represented yearly.

So here are my grades:

Curriculum: B+
Location: A
Cost: C+
Financial Aid: B
Faculty: A
Reputation: A+
Technology: A+
Study Space/Library: C-
Library technology/Resources: B+
Rotations: A-
Social: A
Hospitals: A-
Post Grad: A
Cafeteria Food: A-
Cafeteria Prices: D

Overall Grade: A-

IMHO you would be hard pressed to find an all around better DO school. There is a reason that PCOM has consistently recieved more applications than all the other DO schools. Does it have its problems? Sure, every school does. But you cant deny almost 110 years of tradition and reputation that survived the dark ages of osteopathy and competition with 4 MD schools right next door.

I was just going to say that :laugh:

JPHazelton said:
Cafeteria Prices: D

Do students ever pack their lunch?
 
Remember that these are only MY opinions. Everyone has things that they value most.

For me it was:

- reputation
- ability to specialize
- technology
- freedom in clinical years

PCOM offered more of those aspects than any other school I looked at, including a few allopathic schools.

If you want a small, hometown-feel school that is heavy in primary care teaching, PCOM may not be the place for you.

You need to heavily reasearch the schools you are considering...try to shadow a student for a day. Speak with students on their own campus. I did that at 3 DO schools and the only place I felt good after I left was PCOM.
 
as someone that is NOT from PCOM..i can say that JP's evaluation is pretty accurate...yes pcom is that good.
 
That was a GREAT review! I am looking for ALOT of the same things that JPHazelton was when he applied. I am going to apply to PCOM (that review cemented my decision) but I live in CA and would like to stay on the west coast or FL. I'm applying to Western, Touro (NV and CA), AZCOM, ATSU, NSU, LECOM Bradenton, CCOM and PCOM GA (and a bunch of allo schools). I would love to hear some input from students at those schools about research, faculty, specialty residencies, curriculum... etc. Thank you ladies and gents! Thanks again for the info doc Hazelton.
 
You're welcome.

I agree with above...more students need to post a synopsis of their school.

If someone wants me to do an all-PCOM thread like this, I will (start it up and send me the link...perhaps a "all you ever wanted to know about PCOM" thread)

But I think in the spirit of the original post, more students from other schools need to get in here!

I know first years are finishing finals and going on vaca, second years are studying for boards, 3rd years are worried about becoming 4th years and 4th years are graduating...but still, help out!

5th years like me just dont care anymore, want graduation to finally be over with and move on. :laugh:
 
All I have to say is SOLD! Wow JP, great review of PCOM! Sounds like an excellent school. It seems to have so many things I am looking for in my medical education.

Thanks for starting it off JP! I would to love hear other people's input about their school. Please keep this thread continuing. All your info is truly helpful to us applying this cycle. :D
 
I'll offer some thoughts about LECOM-Bradenton, although as a second year student, my opinions will be basically limited to the preclinical years.

Curriculum: As the only DO school with an all PBL curriculum, LECOM-B is somewhat unique in this area. Apart from those students who picked LECOM-B for geographical reasons, I would say that the PBL curriculum is the most popular reason for choosing this school. It is the reason I chose LECOM-B, and although there are some areas which need improvement, I have been very happy with my decision.

If you are considering attending LECOM-B, it is extremely important to research PBL and decide if this type of curriculum fits your learning style. I like that I can basically make my own schedule in PBL and get the chance to study the material in my own way. Our cases follow a systems approach, and as we go through each case, we touch on the related anatomy, pharm, path, etc. If you are the type of person that can go to the library and read all day and have pretty good comprehension, you will probably enjoy and do pretty well with PBL. It can be a difficult way to learn because it is a large volume of material and, without lectures, it is tough to know where to focus, but this does give you the chance to explore a lot of things you might otherwise miss. I could talk a lot about PBL, but will limit myself to cover some other subjects.

Anatomy, Histology and Embryology are taught in a lecture based format which is basically 10 weeks of lecture and lab 8am-5pm. (At least this is how it was set up for us. I think Embryo may be rolled into PBL in the future...) Anatomy professors were great, knew their subject extremely well, and did an amazing job of condensing a large amount of material into a short time. We also have lecture based "mini classes" which include Public Health, Healthcare Management, Ethics and Spirituality, and a couple others. These mini classes were in general pretty much a waste of time, IMO. I understand the need to teach some subjects that just don't work in the PBL format, but lecturers seemed weak and the classes lacked focus. Luckily, they were a small part of our overall curriculum, and to the administration's credit, they responded to student feedback by replacing some lecturers and reworking some of the classes.

Location: If you like the sun and the beach, Bradenton is a great place to be. The beaches here are among the best in the country. Traffic can be a bit heavy at times, but there are many places to live under 15 minutes from school.

Cost: The two LECOMs are the least expensive of the private Osteopathic Colleges, coming in at $26,000 OOS, and $25,000 IS. Financial Aid Office is great, and, at least this year, was able to make a lot of money available in the form of small (~$1000) scholarships.

Faculty: In my opinion, the faculty here runs a fairly wide gamut, from exceptional to marginal, with most falling in the good to excellent range. The difference here, though, is that most of your education is really done independently of the faculty, so even if your facilitator is not the best, you can only suffer so much. The classes which are dependent on faculty - ie. OMM, Clinical Exam - are well executed and definitely seem like they are preparing us well for rotations and boards.

Reputation: LECOM-B may be riding LECOM's reputation a bit, and seems to be developing a good reputation among the local hospitals, but after only 4 years, they are definitely the new kids on the block. Florida has a very active and large DO population, which definitely helps to make the school feel welcome.

Clinical rotations: All I can pass along is what I have heard from 3rd years, which is that while getting the rotations set up was frustrating at times, so far they have been pretty pleased overall. I'm sure I will have a lot more to say on this subject in a couple years...

Housing: Gulf Coast Florida in general is not a cheap place to live, although you can do pretty well if you have a roommate. I own a home here, and will hopefully turn a pretty good profit when I sell in a few years.

Study areas: The LECOM-B "campus" is basically just one building and is pretty limited as far as study areas go. Also, since there is a dress code during business hours and no food or drink except in the cafeteria, most students prefer to study off campus. Various coffee shops and cafe's are popular, as is the library at UF.

Social scene: I left my partying days behind a while back, so I will mostly defer on this one. Everyone in the class is very friendly, and since the school is relatively small, there is a close feeling among students, faculty and administration. Clubs and Student Government are active, although there is a tendency to "hunker down" especially around exam time. The School of Pharmacy will be opening next year, so there will be another 80 or so people around campus.

Local hospitals: There are quite a few around, I don't really have first hand experience with any, so I will defer on this one.

Preparation for boards: Again, not a whole lot I can say here since I am just starting to think about boards. For the previous two years, the school paid for a Kaplan review for all students, but for our class, they will be doing an in-house board review. Some people were definitely displeased about this change, but I'm rather ambivalent about it, as I don't see a lecture based board review playing a big role in my prep, anyway.

There is some data which shows a good correlation with the PBL tests we take and Step I scores, which suggests that PBL is at least somewhat reflective of Step I and should be good preparation. Much more to say here in about a year...

Chances of specializing: This is a wildcard at this point, as the first class will be matching next year.

Dress Code, Policies, Administration Even though you didn't ask, I think it's important to mention that LECOM-B has a dress code during business hours. Shirt and tie for guys, business casual for ladies. Food and drink is also only permitted in the cafeteria. There is also an attendance policy, although with so few lectures, you might not notice it. Although it's easy to complain about the dress code and rules, honestly, it hasn't affected my experience in the slightest. I treat school like my job, show up, do my thing, and then go home and study. I'm not really looking for a big campus scene, so this suits me fine.

Report Card

Curriculum: B+
Location: B
Cost: A+
Financial Aid: B
Faculty: B
Reputation: C
Technology: B
Study Space/Library: C-
Library technology/Resources: C
Rotations: ?
Social: ?
Hospitals: ?
Post Grad: ?
Cafeteria Food: B
Cafeteria Prices: A

Overall Grade: B
 
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please make this a sticky!!!! more people should do this...it is very good..
 
Thanks for the review DragonWell! Though I'm sure I'll have some PBL related questions for ya in the next few months as I get started.

It's nice to have the free time to do it. :D Yeah, there's some stuff I wish I had known at the get-go last year. I'll be sure to post some advice as D-Day nears, either here or on the SGA board. I'll also be around during orientation.
 
can we have someone write a review from VCOM???? please!
 
Anybody looking at TCOM and need info?
 
I feel that you can't be too sure about a school without being a third or fourth year that went through everything to rate/grade the criteria set above.

so without further ado... is there any more 3rd/4th.. or... 5th year MS's lurking around who would like to chime in?
 
I feel that you can't be too sure about a school without being a third or fourth year that went through everything to rate/grade the criteria set above.

Yeah, I definately agree. You cant talk about boards, clinical rotations, the match, etc.

But its important to hear from as many students on ALL levels, first years through seniors & grads about a school. Just realize who the source of the information is.

Something people dont do enough of here on SDN...look at the source!!!!
 
Can somebody say something about NYCOM :)?
 
YES, I would love someone's rant on TouroCOM as well as AZCOM, SOMA (is that the proper name for AZ's other COM now?), NSU and to beat a dead horse CCOM also.

Thanks for the info on LECOM-B, that was very helpful (I would still like to hear info on hospitals, boards and rotations from a 3rd or 4th yr though).
 
My daughter was accepted to LECOM in bradenton, anyone going there,
any thoughts, any issues she should know about. LECOM, vs maybe holding out for an MD school?
all and any answers would be nice
 
For what it's worth, I'll write one for ATSU-SOMA. The school is just accepting it's inaugural class this year, so the insight will be limited.

Curriculum: Small group, student-centered learning (neither PBL, nor lecutre format, but a hybrid). The curriculum itself is organized by system and incorporates the Clinical Presentation Model developed at Calgary University, which postulates that there are exactly 125 ways in which patients present to physicians. Also, unique is the fact that starting in the second year, clinical education will begin at a CHC (see below).

Location: First year is spent in beautiful, sunny Mesa, AZ (10min outside of Pheonix). The second through fourth years are spent at one of ten Community Health Centers (CHCs) which are located across the country from Hawaii to New York. At the time of acceptance, students are given their CHC assignment. The CHC's are part of the nation's healthcare safety net, serving the un/under-insured populations.

Cost: Middle range for DO schools

Financial Aid: Mainly Federal

Faculty: TBD....President is former head of AACOM, faculty still being assembled.

Reputation: TBD...currently riding on the reputation of its parent campus KCOM, the original school of osteopathy. How the schools own reputation grows, remains to be seen.

Technology
: Very high-tech. All students are required to purchase a tablet computer custom-made for SOMA. Patient simulators, video/podcast lectures from main campus in years 2-4, etc. School is striving to stay abreast of the best technology.

Study Space/Library: Very small library, but study rooms are sprinkled throughout the building.

Library technology/Resources:Most books are on-line.

Rotations: Rotations are based on the Integrated Clerkship Model developed by Harvard University. Rather than the traditional separate rotations, IM, Peds, OB/GYN, FP rotations will occur all at once at the assigned CHC. Hospital-based rotations such as surgery and EM will take place at an associated hospital.

Social: Should be awesome. In year 1, you're located a few minutes from Pheonix, one of the largest urban centers in the US and all the natural parks of AZ. The CHC's are mostly located in large Urban centers, such as Seattle and New York, or near beaches such as Waianae, Hawaii or Beaufort, South Carolina.

Hospitals: TBA. As mentioned most education will take place within the CHC. The CHC's serve 15 million people annually and provide comprehensive evidence-based medical care.

Post Grad: TBA. School is very primary-care, non-tertiary care oriented.
Cafeteria Food: TBA (small cafeteria)
Cafeteria Prices: TBA

Grades...to come.
 
My daughter was accepted to LECOM in bradenton, anyone going there,
any thoughts, any issues she should know about. LECOM, vs maybe holding out for an MD school?
all and any answers would be nice

LECOM in Florida is a branch campus of the school in Erie, PA.

Its tough to give up a seat at a school and hold out for something better. If she is really against attending LECOM, then that might be an option.
 
My daughter was accepted to LECOM in bradenton, anyone going there,
any thoughts, any issues she should know about. LECOM, vs maybe holding out for an MD school?
all and any answers would be nice

Tough to give much advice w/o knowing more details, but I'm very happy at LECOM-B and feel I'm getting a great education for a fair price. We'll see how things work out in the clinical years and post-grad. If PBL works for your daughter, she will probably be happy and successful here - that is the most important issue I would be concerned about. If your daughter discovers midway through first semester that she needs lectures to get through the material, she will have a big problem, as only the PBL pathway is offered.

I can't really speak to the MD thing - that's an individual choice. Personally, the initials after your name are not a criteria that I worried about when applying to med school, but, then again, I knew I wanted to be a DO, so to each their own.
 
I'd like to build up upon what JP said, leaving intact what I agree with and adding up where I see things differently:

Curriculum: I can not underestimate the value of systems based curriculum (e.i. Cardiovascular medicine (CVM) course integrates: CVM pathology, CVM physiology, CVM pharmacology, CVM microbiology, CVM internal medicine and more in one course "one exam") Clinical coursework begins in the 3rd trimester of 1st year with the Cardiology block. I think the integration is pretty good among the disciplines from Pharm to OMM to clinical medicine. PCOM does a great job with its note taking service and lectures on MP3. Lecturers are strong and seem to have students interest at heart.

Location: Philadelphia. Though the school is on the outskirts of town, its a city school. Yes we have a nice campus (complete with multi million dollar athletic complex). You straddle the city and a very upper class area in southern montgomery county. Philadelphia is what it is...we have a high murder rate (highest in the country) but all the areas where that seems to take place are literally across town. Sports, art, culture...all have it right here. www.philly.com and www.citysearch.com will give you more info. Would I choose this city again? yes. Do I want to live in the city the rest of my life? Probably not. Could I ever get bored of this city? I dont think so.

Cost: Around $35,000. Seems to be middle of the road for DO schools, as most are private schools. Getting loans are NO problem. Personally I don't like our financial aid department, and trust me, I have been nice and has not worked - my issues with the FAO are beyond being nice.

Faculty: Outstanding. Our clinical professors are the cream of the crop. In fact, several other newer DO schools have recruited from our campus. Other schools have based portions of their curriculum on ours. Our basic science faculty are heavy into research. We have pharmacologists teaching pharmacology, immunologists teaching immunology and perhaps the best DO pathology professor in the country (not the most famous, but he was the inspiration for the most famous name). Approachable without a doubt. Ancillary staff are excellent as well. We also have visiting faculty from neighbor allopathic schools.

Library staff: In one word, awesome! I have had a wonderful experience from day one with our PCOM-PA library staff. Helpful in more ways than what entails the role of a librarian. They will try to help you solve your problems even if it means directing you to another department. Corteous, professional, prompt and quite benign.


Reputation: Rock solid. Arguably the best DO school in the country and holds its own against the 4 MD schools here in Philly. We rotate with them and get nothing but high marks. Our students and residents rotate with some of the best MD students on the east coast and not only do we match up, sometimes we outshine. No worry that someone wont know PCOM, at least not from Maine to Florida to Chicago. Also, one stat shows that nearly 25% of all current physicians have done some or all of their medical training in Philadelphia. We are known ubiquitously.

Clinical Rotations:
http://www.pcom.edu/Clinical_Education/Affiliate_Lists_/affiliate_lists_.html
Some great facilities. Small clinics to large university based medical centers. Philly, NJ, Delaware, NY, Pitt...we are all over. Also, PCOM offers more weeks of elective & selective time than ANY other DO school. If you want freedom and the ability to make your clinical experience truly your OWN, this is the school.

Housing: $1.00/square foot to $10.00/square foot. Apartments to houses to condos...all here. The Student Affairs office has a comprehensive list. You can also find personal opinions here on SDN. If you cant find an apartment in the area that fits your finances and personal needs, then you arent looking.

Study areas: Not so great. Too many students for too few desks. PCOM has a collaborative agreement with dozens of colleges in the area to use their libraries so this helps immensely. But if you are the type who likes to study on campus, stake your claim early. Although I always studied at home, many people study in the cafeteria or local coffee shops (plenty of those).

Social Scene: Post exam parties, open bars, sports, clubs, dances...and you are in Philadelphia. PCOM definately parties. We're not a stick-in-the-mud school. No formal dress code, no attendance policy...and yes you can even walk into class with a cup of coffee. Laid back school.

Local Hospitals: Somewhere else on SDN I did a tally. Basically there are more hospitals in a 35 mile radius of downtown Philadelphia than in Vermont, West Virginia, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Hampshire...you get the idea. More hospitals than you could rotate through in a decade. And these hospitals all have DOs on staff, many from PCOM.

Board Prep: Hard to say. We dont see scores from other schools...we dont even see our own scores as a school collectively.

Specialty: PCOM sends more people into specialty fields than most other DO schools. Each year our match rate is heavier on the specialty side...or at least near 50/50. On top of that realize that many are doing internships (so they get lumped in as primary care matches) and many do internal medicine (72 this year, 35 of which listed a specialty choice). So though our match may say 50-60% into specialty, its probably closer to 65%-70% when its all said and done. Neurosurg, Rads, Anesth, Derm, Optho, Ortho, Psych, Surg...all represented yearly.

So here are my grades:

Curriculum: B+
Location: A
Cost: C+
Financial Aid: C
Faculty: A
Reputation: A+
Technology: A+
Study Space/Library: C-
Library technology/Resources: A
Rotations: A-
Social: A
Hospitals: A-
Post Grad: A
Cafeteria Food: A-
Cafeteria Prices: D

Overall Grade: A-

IMHO you would be hard pressed to find an all around better DO school. There is a reason that PCOM has consistently recieved more applications than all the other DO schools. Does it have its problems? Sure, every school does. But you cant deny almost 110 years of tradition and reputation that survived the dark ages of osteopathy and competition with 4 MD schools right next door.[/QUOTE]
 
Thank you Dragonwall, Greenshirt and Medhacker. Really good insight. I am excited to hear about other schools.

Greenshirt, best of luck with SOMA. I know it is brand spankin new and with a different curriculum. Let us know how it goes.
 
Will use JP's template, thanks JP. I can only comment on the PBL part of NYCOM, as it's pretty much like going to a seperate school.

Curriculum: I enjoy PBL and it's a great concept. It gets you thinking how a clinician would think from day 1. I find a lot of gaps in a systems based curriculum - for instance, if you study metabolism when doing the GI system, you will touch upon insulin; but then you have to wait till you get to ENDO to see how insulin works in with other hormones and stuff. I also like the freedom to study what you want, when you want. It's incredibly challenging, and it's a young program. You don't have nearly as much free time as the lecture kids, although that may change now that they have mandatory attendance. However, the second year PBL kids I spoke to all did well in matching at regionals for rotations. Several of the second (jeez, now third! weird, that means I'm a second year...) years thought they did well on the COMLEX, and the last few months was review for them (as opposed to still learning new, complicated systems like ENDO). So while the first year may be grueling, the second year may allow more time for review. The early clinical exposure gives you something to look forward to every week instead of having your head in a book all day.

Location: I hate Long Island. Some people like it. The bagels are good. But things just don't make sense around here... like they have these weird drive thru "Dairy Barns" where if you're too lazy to step inside a grocery store to buy milk and bread and stuff you can get it thru a drive thru... and many of the roads don't have shoulders, which is VERY annoying for running/biking. And it SMELLS. But it's close to the city, a half hour or so by train, so that's a plus.

Cost: Arm and Leg. Next year they're throwing in a newborn. If you have $ problems, don't go here. The FAO is starting some sort of a program to help out with grants if you choose a particular lender or something. I dunno, I just sign the loan papers and cross my fingers. Although they have a health insurance policy which I'm pretty sure is illegal and I think they're getting kickbacks - you have to get health insurance thru the school, medicaid, or covered by parents/spouse. No outside private insurance. This means you have to buy some uber expensive H.I. policy (almost 4k).

Faculty: Outstanding. Robbins is a great teacher. Guyton ain't bad either. Moore and Dalley do a pretty solid job with anatomy. We have several different biochem teachers depending on people's preferences, same with Histo although most people tend to like Ross and Pawlina.

Reputation: Solid.

Clinical Rotations:
Best of all DO schools. It's NY. NYCOMEC is why people go to NYCOM. Additionally, there is a possibility that NYCOM will become affiliated with Nassau County hospital, which would further boost our reputation.

Housing: Varies. I know a person that lives in Manhattan and commutes, I know others that live in the ghetto.

Study areas: The PBL kids get their own study area. It smells sometimes and theres no windows, but otherwise we get markers, white boards... not too bad.

Social Scene: As a whole, c'mon, it's a half hour from NYC. The lecture kids seem to get a chance to party more than the PBL kids - mainly b/c the day after exams, we have group and learning issues to do (ie, reading). We also have group the day before exams, and we have our own exams on top of having the anatomy and OMM portion of the lecture kids' exams. I have to say, where I live there doesn't seem to be as many sports bars, which is weird and not cool. But things are open late, which is great.

Local Hospitals: See the bit about rotations.

Board Prep: See the bit about curriculum.

Specialty: Haven't seen the match yet for this past year, but NYCOM typically does well.

So here are my grades:

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


Overall Grade: B+

Remember, this is just PBL. Can someone do the lecture part?
Things that could be better about PBL:

More lectures/problem sets on embryo and microbio, as they're just difficult to incorporate into cases.
At times b/c it's such a small group its like going to high school.. being lectured about attendance, timeliness, etc when the faculty themselves are perpetually late.
Also, the lecturers that we do have tend to be relatively unprepared to field our questions.
We should have had separate cadavers that fit our cases. Very dissapointed that this didn't happen.
Lack of direction - after you read thousands and thousands of pages, everything seems important, but there are some things that are really really important that just might not seem important b/c you don't know it at the time. The facilitators are supposed to help in this regard, but sometimes they don't. I suppose thats why we have other group members.
 
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Will use JP's template, thanks JP. I can only comment on the PBL part of NYCOM, as it's pretty much like going to a seperate school.

Curriculum: I enjoy PBL and it's a great concept. It gets you thinking how a clinician would think from day 1. I find a lot of gaps in a systems based curriculum - for instance, if you study metabolism when doing the GI system, you will touch upon insulin; but then you have to wait till you get to ENDO to see how insulin works in with other hormones and stuff. I also like the freedom to study what you want, when you want. It's incredibly challenging, and it's a young program. You don't have nearly as much free time as the lecture kids, although that may change now that they have mandatory attendance. However, the second year PBL kids I spoke to all did well in matching at regionals for rotations. Several of the second (jeez, now third! weird, that means I'm a second year...) years thought they did well on the COMLEX, and the last few months was review for them (as opposed to still learning new, complicated systems like ENDO). So while the first year may be grueling, the second year may allow more time for review. The early clinical exposure gives you something to look forward to every week instead of having your head in a book all day.

Location: I hate Long Island. Some people like it. The bagels are good. But things just don't make sense around here... like they have these weird drive thru "Dairy Barns" where if you're too lazy to step inside a grocery store to buy milk and bread and stuff you can get it thru a drive thru... and many of the roads don't have shoulders, which is VERY annoying for running/biking. And it SMELLS. But it's close to the city, a half hour or so by train, so that's a plus.

Cost: Arm and Leg. Next year they're throwing in a newborn. If you have $ problems, don't go here. The FAO is starting some sort of a program to help out with grants if you choose a particular lender or something. I dunno, I just sign the loan papers and cross my fingers. Although they have a health insurance policy which I'm pretty sure is illegal and I think they're getting kickbacks - you have to get health insurance thru the school, medicaid, or covered by parents/spouse. No outside private insurance. This means you have to buy some uber expensive H.I. policy (almost 4k).

Faculty: Outstanding. Robbins is a great teacher. Guyton ain't bad either. Moore and Dalley do a pretty solid job with anatomy. We have several different biochem teachers depending on people's preferences, same with Histo although most people tend to like Ross and Pawlina.

Reputation: Solid.

Clinical Rotations:
Best of all DO schools. It's NY. NYCOMEC is why people go to NYCOM. Additionally, there is a possibility that NYCOM will become affiliated with Nassau County hospital, which would further boost our reputation.

Housing: Varies. I know a person that lives in Manhattan and commutes, I know others that live in the ghetto.

Study areas: The PBL kids get their own study area. It smells sometimes and theres no windows, but otherwise we get markers, white boards... not too bad.

Social Scene: As a whole, c'mon, it's a half hour from NYC. The lecture kids seem to get a chance to party more than the PBL kids - mainly b/c the day after exams, we have group and learning issues to do (ie, reading). We also have group the day before exams, and we have our own exams on top of having the anatomy and OMM portion of the lecture kids' exams. I have to say, where I live there doesn't seem to be as many sports bars, which is weird and not cool. But things are open late, which is great.

Local Hospitals: See the bit about rotations.

Board Prep: See the bit about curriculum.

Specialty: Haven't seen the match yet for this past year, but NYCOM typically does well.

So here are my grades:

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


Overall Grade: B+

Remember, this is just PBL. Can someone do the lecture part?
Things that could be better about PBL:

More lectures/problem sets on embryo and microbio, as they're just difficult to incorporate into cases.
At times b/c it's such a small group its like going to high school.. being lectured about attendance, timeliness, etc when the faculty themselves are perpetually late.
Also, the lecturers that we do have tend to be relatively unprepared to field our questions.
We should have had separate cadavers that fit our cases. Very dissapointed that this didn't happen.
Lack of direction - after you read thousands and thousands of pages, everything seems important, but there are some things that are really really important that just might not seem important b/c you don't know it at the time. The facilitators are supposed to help in this regard, but sometimes they don't. I suppose thats why we have other group members.

I got accepted to DPC for the class of 2011. You basically answered all my questions I cant wait to start studying!!!:):):)
 
Would some of the CCOM people please provide some info....I would love to learn some more info
 
CCOM, Western, Touro NYC.......anyone??
 
CCOM, Western, Touro NYC.......anyone??

As for TouroNYC, i believe not many could answer your question especially since this year would be their first academic year.
 
As for TouroNYC, i believe not many could answer your question especially since this year would be their first academic year.

Haha true...forgot about that.
 
ShyRem, DocBill or shoddy, how about doing a review of UNECOM? You guys know the school the best of the people that post here I think. Here is the format:

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:
 
west virginia, DMU, CCOM, MSU-DO and all the above. I know you wanna post, don't be scared. :scared:
 
curriculum: no one is going to be able to comment on the CCOM curriculum because beginning Fall 2007 it will be changing. For us (class of 2010) it was very condensed (at least 1 test/week in fall quarter, 1-2 tests/week in winter, and 2-3 tests/week spring) I think the new class is starting a month earlier (beginning of august) and they will only have biochem and another class for that month to try and make the fall quarter easier. I am not really sure how or if this will change the winter or spring schedule.

As far as the quality of the education, I would rate it very well. My girlfriend goes to a very good MD school and I feel that CCOM does a good job giving us all the information we need to know. One thing that sets CCOM apart is the notes. There is no need to actually write notes for most of the classes. 95% of the time all of the testable information is already in the note packet. Most of the notes are written out like a text book. I really like being able to sit in class and listen without having to frantically scribble down notes.

One of the best departments in my opinion is the anatomy department. They are some of the best faculty that I have ever had and are very excited about teaching anatomy. This is a tough course at CCOM, but you learn a lot. The neuroanatomy course in the spring is also very excellent! The one class I would not rate as well is the intro to clinical medicine class during first year. It is in the process of being revamped so I think it should be getting better.

facilities: Structurally, the library is nice. It is a new building that is very clean and sharp. There is also a very good journal collection with quite a few resources since there is PA, PT, Pharmacy, PsyD, OT on campus. The one thing I dont like is the computers. They pretty slow when surfing the internet - I think this is because they are connected via wireless. Email is also pretty slow for some reason. There are lots of study areas in the library with about 9 sound proof rooms for group study and a 24 hour study. There is a 24 hour computer lab in the commons. The OMM lab is nice with tv screens all over (class is taped live). There is also a brand new recreation building with a gym, weight room, aerobic room, and 2 racket ball courts. The building that most of the classes are in is a little older but it is not bad. There is lots of leg room which is nice.
The cafeteria is not good (in my opinion). I hate the food there. I cant say much about the dorms b/c i dont live there. I have seen the on campus apartments and they are older and quite small. The one very good thing is that there is plenty of free parking in the ramp right next to campus, so driving in is no problem.

Location: the location is in a very nice neighborhood. There is a large forest surrounding the school which hides most of it. It is a safe campus with 24 hour security (although I dont know what they do). You HAVE to have your ID to get through the gates and into the library. It is about a 20 min drive downtown Chicago without traffic. ~50 min by train on the weekend. The cost of living is high. A single apartment runs 900 - 1000. Double is cheaper of course.

Tuition: Expensive. I think ~38 in state? ~41 out of state.. I have no problem borrowing enough money to pay for my single apartment and everything else I need.

I cant really comment on the clinical rotations since I will just be a 2nd year, but we rotate all over chicago so you get a lot of diversity. The match is very good here. This is probably one of the strongest parts of the school. There are always people going to large big 10 schools and I have also seen some Mayo and Johns Hopkins. I dont think you will have a problem going to a specialty that you want if you do well at this school.

The big con (in my opinion) is the computer systems. The network is slow and the website is hard to navigate or to find anything on. Expense is also a biggie, but all of the alumni that I have talked to say that this should be the least of my worries. You will pay it off no problem after you graduate they say I hope they are right because I am borrowing the max.

This school is very difficult. The tests are hard and you really have to work, but I think that it will pay off in the long run. Good luck
 
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Thanks so much for your post, laboholic! I'm excited to start at CCOM in just a few weeks!
 
what about VCOM? anyone from VCOM????????
 
Thanks to everyone who has helped out on this thread! I'm still waiting for the brilliant insight from some very kind people at AZCOM, NSU and TOURO (NV and CA)
 
Curriculum:Will be different for you. Ours was very intese, but what Med School isn't. For me it was nice it never let me get lazy it always kept me going and very close to on track. The structure it so that you really learn it although you don't feel like it.

Location: Great location suburbs are a little boring but you have a great escape just 20 min away when you have the time. It is always fun to be able to go downtown to a place like wrigleyville and watch a game or just let loose.

Cost: Yeah it is expensive but as others have said you can and will pay it off.

Faculty: Like all schools there are the good the bad and of course the ugly. Also my opinion will not be the same as others. All I can say is that I thought all the professors wanted to to teach and really enjoyed teaching us. Also they were very open and wanted to hear what people were saying about there classes and the exams.

Reputation: In the Chicagoland area and the Midwest CCOM has a very long and great history and the Docs and the rotation sites aklways talk well about the school and the students.

Clinical Rotations: All I have to dsay is that you get to rotate in the city of Chicago at a multitude of different sites. the patient population that you will see is vey large and very diverse.

Housing: Pricy when you come from areas like I did. Overall though 750 to a 1000 depending on what you are looking for.

Study areas: Alot seeing that the school is in a former college campus there is the library, the 24 hr room, Commons and othe r study rooms and meeting rooms. As for me I change it up and go to different place like coffee shops in downtown downers grove, and oakbrook terrace. Nedless to say there is always a place to study.

Social Scene: Downtown Downers Grove is quiet like any suburb but there are a couple of bars close to school that we would go just to unwind or take a break. The great thing though is being so close to Chicago its only 20 to 25 mins away.

Local Hospitals: As for hospital info I don't really know yet all I have are reports from 3rd and 4th years, and like everything else some are glowing others not as much

Grades:

Curriculum:B+
Location:A
Cost: B
Financial Aid: B
Faculty: A
Reputation: A
Technology:C one downfall is the computer system on campus.
Study Space/Library: B+
Library technology/Resources:A-
Rotations:A
Social:A
Hospitals: n/a
Post Grad: A


Overall Grade: For me its an A- I am happy I chose the school I hope this will hepl you.
 
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Curriculum:Will be different for you. Ours was very intese, but what Med School isn't. For me it was nice it never let me get lazy it always kept me going and very close to on track. The structure it so that you really learn it although you don't feel like it.

Location: Great location suburbs are a little boring but you have a great escape just 20 min away when you have the time. It is always fun to be able to go downtown to a place like wrigleyville and watch a game or just let loose.

Cost: Yeah it is expensive but as others have said you can and will pay it off.

Faculty: Like all schools there are the good the bad and of course the ugly. Also my opinion will not be the same as others. All I can say is that I thought all the professors wanted to to teach and really enjoyed teaching us. Also they were very open and wanted to hear what people were saying about there classes and the exams.

Reputation: In the Chicagoland area and the Midwest CCOM has a very long and great history and the Docs and the rotation sites aklways talk well about the school and the students.

Clinical Rotations: All I have to dsay is that you get to rotate in the city of Chicago at a multitude of different sites. the patient population that you will see is vey large and very diverse.

Housing: Pricy when you come from areas like I did. Overall though 750 to a 1000 depending on what you are looking for.

Study areas: Alot seeing that the school is in a former college campus there is the library, the 24 hr room, Commons and othe r study rooms and meeting rooms. As for me I change it up and go to different place like coffee shops in downtown downers grove, and oakbrook terrace. Nedless to say there is always a place to study.

Social Scene: Downtown Downers Grove is quiet like any suburb but there are a couple of bars close to school that we would go just to unwind or take a break. The great thing though is being so close to Chicago its only 20 to 25 mins away.

Local Hospitals: As for hospital info I don't really know yet all I have are reports from 3rd and 4th years, and like everything else some are glowing others not as much

Grades:

Curriculum:B+
Location:A
Cost: B
Financial Aid: B
Faculty: A
Reputation: A
Technology:C one downfall is the computer system on campus.
Study Space/Library: B+
Library technology/Resources:A-
Rotations:A
Social:A
Hospitals: n/a
Post Grad: A


Overall Grade: For me its an A- I am happy I chose the school I hope this will hepl you.

38-41k for tuition should not be ranked a B. :thumbdown: My decision to choose PCOM was made even easier when I realized that CCOM's tuition was 6-7k more per year and PCOM's is expensive, too!. There are only a few DO schools that should or could be ranked higher than a C or C+...

EDIT: IN TERMS OF TUITION, DAMN IT. Grr.. how could anyone misread that in context!?
 
Tough to give much advice w/o knowing more details, but I'm very happy at LECOM-B and feel I'm getting a great education for a fair price. We'll see how things work out in the clinical years and post-grad. If PBL works for your daughter, she will probably be happy and successful here - that is the most important issue I would be concerned about. If your daughter discovers midway through first semester that she needs lectures to get through the material, she will have a big problem, as only the PBL pathway is offered.

I can't really speak to the MD thing - that's an individual choice. Personally, the initials after your name are not a criteria that I worried about when applying to med school, but, then again, I knew I wanted to be a DO, so to each their own.

Well, she rented an apt in bradenton about 12 min from the school....loves the area, and the school in itself. PBL (according to her) is her type of learning, and....she couldn't care less if D.O., M.D, P.B.S. N.B.C are after her name. All she needs now is a roomie....(no guys, altho she is gorgeous).....
 
Curriculum:Will be different for you. Ours was very intese, but what Med School isn't. For me it was nice it never let me get lazy it always kept me going and very close to on track. The structure it so that you really learn it although you don't feel like it.

Location: Great location suburbs are a little boring but you have a great escape just 20 min away when you have the time. It is always fun to be able to go downtown to a place like wrigleyville and watch a game or just let loose.

Cost: Yeah it is expensive but as others have said you can and will pay it off.

Faculty: Like all schools there are the good the bad and of course the ugly. Also my opinion will not be the same as others. All I can say is that I thought all the professors wanted to to teach and really enjoyed teaching us. Also they were very open and wanted to hear what people were saying about there classes and the exams.

Reputation: In the Chicagoland area and the Midwest CCOM has a very long and great history and the Docs and the rotation sites aklways talk well about the school and the students.

Clinical Rotations: All I have to dsay is that you get to rotate in the city of Chicago at a multitude of different sites. the patient population that you will see is vey large and very diverse.

Housing: Pricy when you come from areas like I did. Overall though 750 to a 1000 depending on what you are looking for.

Study areas: Alot seeing that the school is in a former college campus there is the library, the 24 hr room, Commons and othe r study rooms and meeting rooms. As for me I change it up and go to different place like coffee shops in downtown downers grove, and oakbrook terrace. Nedless to say there is always a place to study.

Social Scene: Downtown Downers Grove is quiet like any suburb but there are a couple of bars close to school that we would go just to unwind or take a break. The great thing though is being so close to Chicago its only 20 to 25 mins away.

Local Hospitals: As for hospital info I don't really know yet all I have are reports from 3rd and 4th years, and like everything else some are glowing others not as much

Grades:

Curriculum:B+
Location:A
Cost: B
Financial Aid: B
Faculty: A
Reputation: A
Technology:C one downfall is the computer system on campus.
Study Space/Library: B+
Library technology/Resources:A-
Rotations:A
Social:A
Hospitals: n/a
Post Grad: A


Overall Grade: For me its an A- I am happy I chose the school I hope this will hepl you.


Where are most of the rotation sites of CCOM? Are they in the downtown chicago area or are they in suburbs around downwtown? Do most of the 3rd and 4th years continue to live in downers grove or do they move to downtown?

Thanks.
 
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Where are most of the rotation sites of CCOM? Are they in the downtown chicago area or are they in suburbs around downwtown? Do most of the 3rd and 4th years continue to live in downers grove or do they move to downtown?

Thanks.



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.
 
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Where are most of the rotation sites of CCOM? Are they in the downtown chicago area or are they in suburbs around downwtown? Do most of the 3rd and 4th years continue to live in downers grove or do they move to downtown?

Thanks.

Like labaholic said they are all over the Chicagoland area. Most of the stdents do in fact move downtown during there 3rd and 4th years not many stay in Downers Grove. If you have any more ques feel free to PM me.
 
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