- Joined
- Dec 18, 2004
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Some of my friends told me that there school has someone surfing SDN to look for negative comments. Could be all hot air but sounds scary.
I bet you could take 'em.
Some of my friends told me that there school has someone surfing SDN to look for negative comments. Could be all hot air but sounds scary.
ditto, Nova would be great, thanks.Can a current student please do this thread for Nova? Gracias!!!!
Id like to know about LECOM E and AZCOM please. Touro NV too.
I have to disagree with the last poster on DMU perhaps thats because my perception is from 4th yr and Im a bit more optimistic because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel Ive had my share of complaints, but I dunno about C-.
Curriculum: First year (mine was 2004 so keep in mind theres been some faculty turnover since) is fairly decent.Physiology is well done; biochem & micro are a load in info but doable. Anatomy I found quite good, actuallynot sure how the new prof is but hes from U of MD med school so cant be that bad. It was my strongest course and undoubtedly had some impact on my decision to go into pathology vs surgery.
Second year has recurrent issues, depending on which guest lecturers can/cannot help to teach a course, but in retrospect doesnt matter as long as you study like youre supposed to for boards. I felt I learned more in the 3 months I prepared for boards (with Qbank, FA, HY, BRS, KAPLAN and Goljan) than in the previous 6, but not because of the quality of the coursesthe content is so fast and furious you dont have time to LEARN all of it. One thing that also hurts is that DMU doesnt have a central teaching / research hospital from which it can draw professors (like most DO schools). Listening to guest lecturers (often just community docs) means the material is more clinically oriented.
Overall, I think the first two years give you the information necessary to pass USMLE, but how much of that you retain depends on what board exam you plan on taking because the emphasis is on passing the COMLEX, which is an entirely different test (USMLE = much more biochem, basic physio, biostats, neuroanat you need to UNDERSTAND the material; COMLEX = much more clinical, random out-in-left-field questions you need to KNOW the material).
The surgery coursethough irrelevant at the time you take it and may be hard to balance with courseworkis great prep for rotations. I felt MUCH more prepared for surgery rotations, and didnt feel like an idiot because I knew the ins and outs of the OR. The 25-hr investment is worth it, trust me.
Other clinical-prep courses (OB, ENT, ophtho) I felt werent as helpful, but were only a few hours long.
OMM: OMM is pretty big here, though I was a Boesler student, so I have no idea how the dept is now. I didnt go to DMU because of the OMM, and will be going into a field that has absolutely no use for OMM, but cant say it didnt give me a better understanding of applied musculoskeletal medicine. I could care less for cranial, which was a hard unit for me because the prof that teaches it is rather intense. But, like they say, its still tested on boards all 3 steps thats a whole nother debate.
Location: I was rather bitter about moving to Des Moines and had a rough first year, but Im sad to think Ill be moving in a few months and think Des Moines is a great place. Plenty to do, and though its not exactly a vacation destination, its a place you can live quite comfortably. People underestimate the Midwest, which is fine with me because it keeps the wackos out.
Cost: Kinda sucks. $34k is a helluvalot to spend / yr on tuition, especially if you have to take out another $20k for living.
Faculty: Some are stronger than others; the turnover is regular a few come and go every few yrs. Im partial to the anatomy dept; the phys dept is great; I enjoyed micro & viro & biochem (though am biased cuz its my undergrad degree). They could use some better path teaching the 1st yr course is too much info too quickly, but taught by a practicing pathologist (as are the 2nd yr systems-based path lectures), though the anatomy dept is all PhDs. Again, theres no big research / teaching hospital that provides such faculty, just community pathologists.
Overall, the first two years (didactics) were pretty good, but that was supplemented with massive amounts of board prep. Part of that is because the faculty are preparing you for the COMLEX, which is much less basic-science oriented than the USMLE (IMHO).
Reputation: Beats me compared to other DO schools, Id rather go to DMU than many other schools Ive read about, but its a matter of opinion any arbitrary rankings dont matter much. Compared to allopathic schools in the area (IA, NE, MN, WI), guess it depends on your perception of the DO degree vs the MD degree.
Clinical Rotations: Big plus or minus depending on how you look at it. Plus: theres no big teaching hospital, so most of your rotations, youre not competing against interns, residents, etc, for experience. Minus: theres no big teaching hospital, so most of your rotations will not be supplemented with didactics, and the variety of specialty experience available is quite frustrating. Des Moines has little or no (closer to no) radiology, derm, anesthesia, OB, ophtho, etc youre best served doing an away rotation for many fields, unless youre lucky enough to have an in at one of the practices in town.
[EXAMPLE: I did a gas rotation with a group in town that normally doesnt take students, and my experience afforded me much more OR time / intubations / teaching than the standard gas rotation most students in town do.]
This CAN be a plus, too, and may afford you the opportunity to do away rotations at potential residency sites, granted you know what you want to go into when theres opportunity for away rotations.
Another plus and minus: the program allows for much more elective time, though I understand theyve been modifying the clinical requirements recently. The only experience I had in IM my 3rd yr was 4 wks with a subpar group at the local hospitalteaching was scant to absent. This isnt a big deal if you do elective IM rotations with some better groups in town, but theres no required several-month block of IM in a large teaching hospital.
Many students travel across the country for 3rd and 4th year, andthough I understand theyre changing this for 3rd yr students , 4th yr is still open.
Housing: Quite cheap, depending on your taste. I live close to school and its $525 / mos heat and water included. ½ block away are $200k condos. Take your pick.
Study areas: Phenomenal. The new student activity center is a major upgrade from what was there previously. Then again, youre only there the first 2 yrs, and occasionally for board prep if youre still in Des Moines. Large library with plenty of cubicles, lots of study rooms pretty nice. The facilities in general are great: the gym is top notch (full court with 6 hoops, ¼-mile track above, free weights, few dozen treadmills and PreCor machines.
School Policies: Like others have said No formal dress code. No mandatory class attendance, for now. Seems like every year, someone in the administration makes a push to try and change this which is unfortunate. Media includes MP3 lectures, Powerpoints, and Notepool.
Social Scene: Its pretty crazy around here about every four years, so if you hit a caucus year, brace yourself. The class size is ~200, so plenty of people from which to choose your crowd, but theres several school functions / yr, some black tie, more that are quite informal.
Local Hospitals: Mercy and Methodist are the two main hospitals, but Mercy is the one most students rotate at for core hospital. They have an allo FP residency and an AOA gen surg residency, but its a private hospital with lots of private physician groups, so experiences on rotations can vary a lot. Methodist has an allo peds, IM and gen surg residency, but the gen surg is rather anti-DO most of the peds and some IM residents are DMU grads, however, and students often rotate there. Some specialty services (nephro, heme/onc) require students to be committed to applying to their IM program in order to rotate why, Im not sure its a stupid rule. Theres also a VA and a county hospital, the latter of which is very popular with students requests for rotations often outnumber requests for Mercy. There are also many surrounding communities, 15-45 minute-drives away, which offer lots of various experiences including core hospital blocks. Basically, if you want to stay here for your entire 3rd and 4th year, its doable, but you may want to branch out to larger facilities for gas, rads, heme/onc, OB and a few others.
Board Prep: KAPLAN teaches a COMLEX 1 prep course: lectures, Qbank and plenty of big fat books. Some like it, some dont most at least attend the lectures. Its included in our tuition, so you dont have to worry about fin aid for it.
Specialty: I guess primary care like most DO schools, but plenty of people do other things. My best friends are doing gas, ortho, ENT, rads, gen surg, peds, and 3 are doing FP. Im doing path (which I branched out for and did away rotations at some big universities as well as local community hospitals).
Grades:(C = avg , B = above avg) I hate + and -
Curriculum: B
Location: B
Cost: C (but its a private school what do you expect)
Financial Aid: A (?...I dont get how this matters what bank is not willing to loan you $$)
Faculty: B
Reputation: ?
Technology: A
Study Space/Library: A
Library technology/Resources: A
Rotations: C to A (depending on how willing you are to travel and how motivated you are)
Social: A
Hospitals: C to A
Post Grad opportunity: D
Overall Grade: B
PM me with disputes or questions.
This is just my experience someone else might give it a D and others an A.
A few things to keep in mind: 1.)if youre thinking allopathic ortho or gen surg, Des Moines is not going to help you. If youre thinking DO ortho, be willing to travel (eg. to Michigan) for rotations showing your face prior to residency apps is huge with DO ortho. Many 3rd yrs re-locate to Michigan or Ohio for the sole purpose of getting an early start with the abundance of programs in those states. Away rotations in general can be big (though arent essential as a general rule): I know for a fact I wouldnt have gotten interview offers from 2 places had I not rotated there / had a contact there.
2.) most people change their mind from pre-med to residency selection I was leaning ER or gen surg with absolutely no intent of doing path. Where you go to school doesnt really matter as long as your grades a good, your boards are good, and youre not a complete tool.
If youre going to pass boards, its not because of the strength of your schools didactics, its because youre a type-A person who generally does well, and you want to pass so you take initiative to study hard. If youre a borderline student, this might be different, and the first two years may be more crucial.
Something to always ask in interviews is first time board pass rate for step 1 AND step 2. That should give you a generic picture of the didactics at the school.
Tcom! Tcom! Tcom! Tcom!
I do not go to DMU, I'm posting it on behalf of a current DMU student. This post was summited anonymously because the admin monitors the forums. I will do this again for other students who wish to remain anonymous as well. Thanks oh mysterious one!
DMU
As for the worst, I would list Histology and Hematology.
Reputation: Its the oldest Osteopathic School.
I agree with the comment about the bookstore ladies, they rock and they know it. They will tell you what books everyone is buying and which books they recommend.
Overall Grade: A-/B+ (A- if the rotations are good and B+ if they are average)
Con: its not MD
Con: its not MD
No KCOM yet??
Anyone from DMU care to chime in?
No KCOM yet??