2017-2018 Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine (MWU-AZCOM)

[_HH_]

Got off the waitlist today!! Interviewed late Feb!

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[Annie Yellow]

Has anyone had any experience with applying for on-campus housing this late in the year?

I called and sent an email and they said it was full

 

[PodDoc in progress]

I'm curious what the wl looks like now.

 

[PNWDoctor]

Just accepted off the waitlist via voicemail!

 

[thezilchplatypus]

Just accepted off the waitlist via voicemail!

Do you mind sharing your stats?

 

[PNWDoctor]

Do you mind sharing your stats?

MCAT 511 gpa 3.27 sgpa 3.26. Killed the interview but my gpas were holding me back according to an admissions counselor.

 

[Whitelighter]

Has anyone been accepted in the past weeks? I’m very curious to what wait list looks like now.

 

[nb23]

does anyone know if the exams here are NBME based?

 

[Whitelighter]

does anyone know if the exams here are NBME based?

What I heard from 2nd year students, the mock exam before Step 1, provided by AZCOM, would be based on NBME. But the regular class exams have questions style like Step 1 but they are not necessarily based on NBME. Exams occur here frequently every two weeks due to quarter base system. The classes are letter graded and you will get ranked at the end of each year.

 

[Whitelighter]

Apparently, several second years who are taking board exam right now, told me that AZCOM started requiring all DO students to take both board, USMLE and COMLEX.

 

[PodDoc in progress]

Apparently, several second years who are taking board exam right now, told me that AZCOM started requiring all DO students to take both board, USMLE and COMLEX.

I heard that the cost of each exam comes out of our pocket and all exam prep material is self purchased, with the exception of one COMLEX website. Is that true? I was already worried about the cost but didnt realize I would have to pay even more later on.

 

[Ochem Love]

Does anyone know what to expect as far as amount of time spent in school each day? Welcome packet makes it look like 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday. Is that how it actually is? Or does block scheduling cut that in half?

 

[nb23]

Apparently, several second years who are taking board exam right now, told me that AZCOM started requiring all DO students to take both board, USMLE and COMLEX.

I’m honestly very happy to hear that. It signals to me that AZCOM really takes into account the extra work DOs need to put in to be as competitive as possible in the match.

 

[nb23]

Can any MS2/3/4s comment on how well they felt the curriculum here prepared them for the USMLE? I assume since the curriculum is so test heavy it goes into much more depth than is needed for Step 1. I’ve heard people say this is frustrating since it doesn’t allow them to use board review materials to study, but I’ve also heard others say it is more important to lay down a strong foundation in the basic sciences in the preclinical years and then use review materials to actually review as opposed to learn from. I think my learning style is more in line with the latter school of thought.

 

[Whitelighter]

Does anyone know what to expect as far as amount of time spent in school each day? Welcome packet makes it look like 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday. Is that how it actually is? Or does block scheduling cut that in half?

Most classes, except biochemistry, are recorded. you don't have to go to class if you don't want to. But it is required to attend anatomy's lab and OMN.

 

[thezilchplatypus]

has anyone heard of any recent WL movement?

 

[ERinspired]

Apparently, several second years who are taking board exam right now, told me that AZCOM started requiring all DO students to take both board, USMLE and COMLEX.

Sorry to jump in late but this isn’t true. Most will choose to take both USMLE and COMLEX however.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[DODoc2Be91]

I heard that the cost of each exam comes out of our pocket and all exam prep material is self purchased, with the exception of one COMLEX website. Is that true? I was already worried about the cost but didnt realize I would have to pay even more later on.

Yes, that is true, but I believe that's the same across all schools. You can always ask your student council to set up bulk purchases on subscriptions to save a little $$.

Does anyone know what to expect as far as amount of time spent in school each day? Welcome packet makes it look like 8am-5pm, Monday through Friday. Is that how it actually is? Or does block scheduling cut that in half?

A lot of the classes are optional so it's based on your study preference. Classes can be from 8-5 if you make it that way. I personally just don't show up to classes if I dont have to so my days run around 2-5 hours of classes.

Can any MS2/3/4s comment on how well they felt the curriculum here prepared them for the USMLE? I assume since the curriculum is so test heavy it goes into much more depth than is needed for Step 1. I’ve heard people say this is frustrating since it doesn’t allow them to use board review materials to study, but I’ve also heard others say it is more important to lay down a strong foundation in the basic sciences in the preclinical years and then use review materials to actually review as opposed to learn from. I think my learning style is more in line with the latter school of thought.

You can't get a definite answer here because it's all personal preference.

 

[DrDahlia]

has anyone heard of any recent WL movement?

I haven’t heard of anything moving in three weeks.

Anyone know of someone who put a deposit down but is planning on attending another school?

 

[Dr. Donezo]

Very frustrating experience with AZCOM here. Recently graduated so I'll share my opinion with the hopes that you don't make the worst mistake of your life coming here like I did. There is a little research among the basic science faculty but practically nothing clinical going on that I was ever aware of. Good luck trying to get a publication with their poor quality faculty, many classmates wasted plenty of summers and study time on research that went nowhere. The school lacks many important departments so if you're seeking to enter a specialty like radiology, etc the advising will be poor/none. The administration has a pervasive condescending tone that becomes more prevalent and disappointing around your second year on. This, in my opinion, is top-down from the dean. In terms of student clubs and affairs, admin is unhelpful in getting you affiliated with clubs or getting your business sorted out if you run student clubs. The assistant dean for student affairs rarely answers her emails if at all. Most admin people on campus work from about 9-10am to 3-4pm. But hey they'll be happy to tell you while you're interviewing that the school is so expensive because they pay their employee's enough to answer all your questions, work longer, and answer all their emails.

Any big decisions like refusing to cover board study materials or closing the gym's free-weight section are made on their own without any input from student government. Any complaints brought to their attention are usually dismissed, especially regarding proposed curriculum changes. I heard our dean just decided they will no longer be providing UWorld, an essential board resource tool because they are not scoring well enough in OMM. OMM is a fractional component of boards and arguably irrelevant to clinical practice, and still, this decision was made without any student government input. Most people would try to improve the OMM department rather than discontinuing their Uworld subscription in place of combank, a poor quality second rate DO specific study tool that the majority of students in the nation believe is inferior to comquest, which is far inferior to UWorld... But I digress.

Tuition: $68,000+ yearly now which increases by about 5-8% each year (about $5k spike my last year there). At this rate, the school will soon be the most expensive in the country. You will also be paying out of pocket or via additional loans for all board exams, expenses, and travel. Be prepared for major additional fees on top of all this.
Reputation: a DO is a DO is a DO is a DO is a DO... half the country's residencies won't even interview you on those grounds alone... You think the school's reputation amongst the DO community matters? Of every email I get from "The DO", not one reports that AZCOM is a leader in anything like grants received, number of students with first-choice matches, etc. This begs the question, where does the notion that "this school's reputation is good" come from?

Clinical years: damn near impossible to get them to let you set up your own rotations as third-year electives. Less than good when trying to get them to approve paperwork for 4th-year audition rotations. This is a major limitation and setback of the school and something important to consider if you're thinking about going here. They are more interested in saving time and money than doing the paperwork to get their students out in meaningful clinical experiences that will likely bring you strong LORs.

Big mistake coming here without knowing all this. For the amount we all pay for this place to claw atop our shoulders, I am very disappointed in how little they do to help us settle into medical careers and our residencies. Be prepared to do everything yourself and still get told "no" by them because it's "just their policy".

Do yourself a favor and go to the cheapest school you can, because, at the end of the day when you have to set up everything on your own and learn everything on your own, you don't want to be 400k+ indebted to people who have helped you as little as possible along the way.

Ouch

 

[xnnsx1]

Any current students willing to answer some of my questions about this school?

 

[Annie Yellow]

Yeah! I don't check SDN that often but, you can dm me on Instagram @alifeinair

Any current students willing to answer some of my questions about this school?