2017-2018 William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine (WCU-COM)

[Gatagal]

Hey guys, I just got accepted (which is my first acceptance) and have a couple more II's at Marian and lmu-dcom. I really like Hattiesburg, as well as the vibe I got from the school. I guess I am just wondering why you guys chose WCUCOM, and if i should even bother attending my other II's. Obviously it's incredibly subjective, but I would like the opinions of others who have seen either of those schools and could compare to WCUCOM

I would definitely go to LMU, I loved it!!!

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[gasman2014]

Hey guys, I just got accepted (which is my first acceptance) and have a couple more II's at Marian and lmu-dcom. I really like Hattiesburg, as well as the vibe I got from the school. I guess I am just wondering why you guys chose WCUCOM, and if i should even bother attending my other II's. Obviously it's incredibly subjective, but I would like the opinions of others who have seen either of those schools and could compare to WCUCOM

Congratulations on the acceptance! So, at least you're going to medical school. If you can have options, that's great. If you get multiple acceptances, go to the school you enjoyed the most. See my earlier post.

My hope is they form stronger relationships with whole hospital systems or physician groups instead of just singular doctors. I imagine this would include Magnolia Regional in Corinth and Merit Health Wesley/Forrest General in Hattiesburg as these hospitals have residencies. Also North MS Medical Center in Tupelo and Baptist in Columbus have some. Having somewhat of an academic atmosphere would be helpful if we can't be involved with any UMMC clinics (only other med school in the state). There are plenty of non UMMC hospitals in Jackson that I hope they are trying to push harder into as well. Mississippi just doesn't have a lot of residency opportunities in community hospitals which can make things a little more difficult for WCU DO students. I think the key is to really get established with these hospitals and, if the opportunity somehow presents itself, maybe became affiliated with a budding residency program. In Louisiana, for example, there are several community hospitals that have affiliated with LSU and Tulane regarding housing residencies, but they are much larger schools with deeper pockets and greater pull. Its just going to take time, a great deal of effort, and maybe some luck if WCU wants to expand their rotations and court more hospitals/physicians that are beneficial to students.

UMMC readily accepts WCUCOM students for rotations as long as there is spot availability.

 

[tealeafexplorer]

So WCUCOM at the interview and on their website boast a 94% comlex 1 and 96% comlex 2 first time pass rate. That seems really good to me, and nothing like what I have been reading regarding their really low pass rates. Is this true information? What does their attrition rate look like, for it was not advertised? I only ask because a lot of previous posts talk about really low pass rates and high attrition rates.

 

[Texasmedins]

Deposit paid! Is there a Facebook class group?

 

[CajunMedic]

So WCUCOM at the interview and on their website boast a 94% comlex 1 and 96% comlex 2 first time pass rate. That seems really good to me, and nothing like what I have been reading regarding their really low pass rates. Is this true information? What does their attrition rate look like, for it was not advertised? I only ask because a lot of previous posts talk about really low pass rates and high attrition rates.

I'm an OMS-4, That COMLEX 2 pass rate is new for this year. We were told that my class achieved that and our average has gone up 40 points. My understanding that is there were a lot of high scores in the current OMS-3's and their level 1 pass rate was better than ours as well. The attrition rate has been pretty high. My class is down to 89 from the 114 that started.

 

[GEToutLADYits6AM]

I'm an OMS-4, That COMLEX 2 pass rate is new for this year. We were told that my class achieved that and our average has gone up 40 points. My understanding that is there were a lot of high scores in the current OMS-3's and their level 1 pass rate was better than ours as well. The attrition rate has been pretty high. My class is down to 89 from the 114 that started.

Out of curiosity, how does the school maintain accreditation with such a high attrition rate?

 

[CajunMedic]

Out of curiosity, how does the school maintain accreditation with such a high attrition rate?

I have no idea. They don't really tell us how the final numbers are calculated for COCA, plus, the dean is on the COCA Accreditation committee. My only guess is due to how they count who repeats a year, dropping into the next class.

 

[WorldChanger36]

So WCUCOM at the interview and on their website boast a 94% comlex 1 and 96% comlex 2 first time pass rate. That seems really good to me, and nothing like what I have been reading regarding their really low pass rates. Is this true information? What does their attrition rate look like, for it was not advertised? I only ask because a lot of previous posts talk about really low pass rates and high attrition rates.

Both are par for most DO schools. While first time pass rates and attrition rates are great useful tools at determining a schools success rate you need to understand the bigger picture. The point of going to med school is not just to become a doctor but a doctor in a field you want to be in not a doctor in a field you have to be in. There are many factors that determine this. Look to see how many people match into the fields you are interested in from the school. Good way, still flawed but pretty good.

Out of curiosity, how does the school maintain accreditation with such a high attrition rate?

COCA doesnt care. AOa doesnt care. As long as payment can be made, people do graduate the worst carey or any school may get is a strong suggestion. The real accreditation body is the incoming students. People stop going, no more school.

 

[GEToutLADYits6AM]

^This man is Godsend

 

[newbietomed]

I recently decided to pursue a DO and am very interested in WCUCOM. I haven't applied because I thought they were on a more traditional med school application timeline. But I see from the web site that the application deadline isn't until March. How likely am I to get an interview and be taken seriously if I apply now?

 

[Njp46]

I recently decided to pursue a DO and am very interested in WCUCOM. I haven't applied because I thought they were on a more traditional med school application timeline. But I see from the web site that the application deadline isn't until March. How likely am I to get an interview and be taken seriously if I apply now?

They constantly evaluate and reevaluate every application they get, so it couldn’t hurt to apply. In past years, they’ve been known to interview into the summer, so I would go ahead and apply if you‘re interested.


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[WorldChanger36]

What are people’s opinions of WCUCOM vs LECOM? I just interviewed at LECOM and am kinda iffy about the school. Waiting to hear back from other schools and have an interview here in February. If it came down to it, LECOM or Here and why?

Also a big thing for me is facilities and integration of learning tools such as technology to supplement learning. Also the books and supplies offered or what we need to get on our own.

Not knowing which LECOM you interviewed at I cant really say either way because they are quite different. DO grads already have a lot of obstacles to getting into competitive residencies, do you want to go to a school that is going to make it even harder for you? LECOM-B and Carey are just about the same... Not good schools. LECOM-B is only slightly better because it is in south Florida. The other LECOMs are strong schools with great track records.

 

[WorldChanger36]

And I don’t remember seeing this being answered by you before or not but if this is someone’s ONLY acceptance and they either have a chance to try again next cycle or do a postbac, would it be better to try again or to take the WC acceptance.

Again it depends. In general you get an acceptance you take it. However should your post bac or SMP allow for a significant improvement to your application or you are in a program that accepts a high volume of its master students that would be the better option. Dont just go back to undergrad and try to work on your grades. It should be a dedicated program tied to a medical school that has a good reputation of getting people into good med schools. While in this program all you do is ace the program and improve your mcat score. Reapply after completion of the program.
If you cant get into a program like that look into doing a smaller program for a year then a bigger one that next year. Keep in mind it takes time and patience to get into a good med school.
If this is not something you can do and its between going to Carey or try again next cycle, you go to Carey.

 

[Texasmedins]

What would you say between WCU and ARCOM?

 

[WorldChanger36]

What would you say between WCU and ARCOM?

New schools are high risk. Could be awesome way more likely to be horrible. Some times it is better to go with the devil you know

 

[DrStephenStrange]

What would you say between WCU and ARCOM?

I think ARCOM has a really good Curriculum with their helix methodology, yet it is a brand new school, so they still have to prove themselves, but I do strongly believe they will do just fine though. WCUCOM have more experience since they've been here longer, but they still has some things to work on and can't seem to shake loose, like their high attrition rate and their board first time passing rates, and moreover there are limited rotation sites from what I've heard. While ARCOM have full support of everyone in their state which means you got lots of rotation opportunities and also probably even covered all the way through residency as well. That's why I think I might chose ARCOM over WCUCOM.

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[Texasmedins]

Thanks guys. Got accepted to both. Waiting on one more interview (ATSU SOMA). Skipped ACOM and BCOM interview

 

[CajunMedic]

89?!?!?!? Wow. Board failures?

We lost 2 right off the bat. One went to pharmacy school with his GF, the other decided to go back to 3rd year rotations at the Mexican medical school he was already at. Up to 8 at first semester of OMS-1 due to failing more than 2 courses. One is back though, she did an SMP and retook the MCAT. I think we were down a total of 12 at the end of the year. A couple of them were already repeating a year and failed a class. OMS-2 was more of the same. I think we only lost 3 to COMLEX failures, and one is repeating OMS-2

Apparently, we're an all around anomaly.

 

[deleted244469]

We lost 2 right off the bat. One went to pharmacy school with his GF, the other decided to go back to 3rd year rotations at the Mexican medical school he was already at. Up to 8 at first semester of OMS-1 due to failing more than 2 courses. One is back though, she did an SMP and retook the MCAT. I think we were down a total of 12 at the end of the year. A couple of them were already repeating a year and failed a class. OMS-2 was more of the same. I think we only lost 3 to COMLEX failures, and one is repeating OMS-2

Apparently, we're an all around anomaly.

 

[hogwartswiz]

Can someone post link to match list PDF please?

 

[Welp.Theres.That]

Can someone post link to match list PDF please?

Message @WorldChanger36
I had a similar question, but he/she is pretty knowledgeable about where people have gone off to post-medical school.


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[theoriginalsandman]

Hi All,

There were some well thought Q&A on this thread. I haven’t posted in at least a year. I’m a 4th year (Class of 2018) and will offer my experience and perspective. A couple quick notes: the post from gasman2014 pg. 6 is well said. I am also +1 on most of what Worldchanger36 and Cajun medic have said in this thread. This post is going to be long, so I will add headings and try to highlight point I feel were important to me. I will be as unbiased as I can. Read what you want, and I hope it helps you on your journey whether it includes Carey or not.

Getting in:

Take all the interviews you can until you get an acceptance (or 2), then you can afford to be choosey. I fully agree with gasman’s post. IMO I would NOT forego an acceptance ANYWHERE to do an MBS or the like. There is no point in adding a year of school, debt etc. to maybe have a shot at a place you may or may not like better. This process is a grind; take the bird in hand.

Getting into Carey:

If you get an interview you have a great chance to be accepted – I agree with the 80%+ chance posted earlier in the thread unless you completely blow the interview which is very unlikely because the interviews were super laid back.

It does not matter when in the season you have the interview IMO, they stop interviewing when the class is full. If you interview in March or even later there is still a spot. They may be more selective as the open seats are filling but take the interview, be yourself and you will be fine. If you are waitlisted, hang in there, you still have a shot. In my first year they added people from the list until the second day of classes.

Worldchanger36 has done a nice job answering the interview specifics in this thread.

Carey vs other DO schools vs MD vs Caribbean (classic SDN debate):

Honestly this is a tough call for me. In truth I hated the first two preclinical years at Carey, there are plenty of specifics as to why by other students in this thread. It seems like a lifetime ago, and I cringe every time someone brings up the subject. After two years of rotations / residency interviews meeting other DO, MD, and IMG grads, no one has told me their first two years of med school were fantastic. Many if not most of the things that infuriate students at Carey exist at the other DO schools as well.

Side note: Some specific DO schools were mentioned in this thread, among those people were comparing, I had interviews @ Marian, LECOMB, LECOM – seton hill and a few others. The students @ LECOMB were completely miserable to the point they couldn’t put on their happy faces like the other schools do with the interviewees. I you are invited, definitely look @ Marian. They had tons of funding and a great facility, they were my number 2 choice.

I chose Carey because of the students. Honestly, if I did not have the friends I made at Carey, med school would have been a lot harder. It is certainly not the only or maybe even the best reason to choose a school, but ultimately that was my reason. I doubt any school would have had a better group of students willing to help each other. There are gunners at every school, but I think we have fewer than most.

My MD friends at various schools in general may have had less frustration in the preclinical years and without question have a better environment to succeed on the boards. That statement is not speculative, I have seen course materials and syllabi from friends, and it is better. I believe it is because the MD programs have had more time to ferret out things that do not benefit the students and typically are set in a long established academic environment, whereas DO schools are almost universally newer and still figuring out what works. Also, keep in mind we spend 20%+ of our time on OMT material which never appears on USMLE, theoretically giving them less material to study in the same time frame.

The MD students generally have less hands-on experience in years 3-4 because there are multiple layers of students, interns, residents, fellows, etc. above them getting in on procedures and patient care.

In that regard Carey has served me very well. I have what I consider a lot of firsthand experience compared to other 4th year med students I have met on the interview trail with patient care, procedures and interactions with attendings who genuinely wanted to teach. This does vary from hub site and preceptor, but IMO if you show initiative, read ahead and are respectful and confident you will see and do a lot on rotations at Carey and likely other DO schools. I believe the relationships a student can make with a preceptor at Carey is one of the better selling points of the school. My LORs to ERAS were outstanding, and even better my preceptors discussed them with me prior to submission. Without question, they opened doors for me to residency interviews I may have not had if I only worked with residents and had cookie cutter fill in the blank LORs.

The IMG grads I have met have a rough go all around. They are basically on their own and self-study for the first two years and then struggle to get rotations in the U.S. Remember that you goal is to be a doctor and not a med student. I met an IMG MD at one of my interviews who was in her third application cycle and working as a nurse to pay loans until she found a residency. Access to good preceptors is extremely important along with a chance at an AI (acting internship) to get the attention of a specific program. The students in the Caribbean are encouraged to apply to 150-250 programs to try and get a residency spot. Again, not speculation but information offered by a Ross grad during an interview dinner. I would only consider this option as a very last resort even below adding time for an MBS. The IMGs I know lumped U.S. grads together, MD and DO when they compared their experience to ours.

Residency and beyond: the real reason you chose a med school

I would refer to the posts of gasman and the like who are in or have completed residency, but I will include the information I have gleaned at this point in the process.

ACGME or AOA?

IMO 100% ACGME. With the “merger” there is way too much up in the air for me to feel comfortable at an AOA residency, but again IMO and may not be shared by all. This is a problem that will not exist beginning for the classes of 2020.

How has attending Carey helped or hurt my interviews?

I have interviewed both AOA and ACGME. I would classify it as neutral or may have hurt me a little at my AOA interviews. Certainly not enough to stop them from offering me an interview. I did, however, receive the comment by an interviewer “I see you went to Carey, I have heard some things about it, but I won’t get into that now”. Then we proceeded to have a great interview and conversation as if the comment wasn’t made. Adding context, this was at a program who now has a former Carey prof as faculty. That is the only time it came up in any interview.

ACGME- kept me from getting one interview I wanted because they required ALL DOs to do a 1 year TRI (traditional rotating internship) year to enter the program. This is NOT a common practice and in fact was the only MD vs DO issue I have ever had.

Aside from that attending Carey was never an issue or a help. I think the ACGME residencies lump all DO schools into the same general category and don’t know enough about them to stratify schools. I would add I experienced ZERO outward bias to MD over DO in any interview or rotation.

In the end, I had interviews at nearly all my top choice programs. Aside from preceptor letters, Carey did not help open any doors. With exception of one or two places, I don’t think it hurt me either. We will see how match goes…

Remember that when you get to this point it is a job. Refer to the program director survey on the ACGME website to see what is important in obtaining a residency.

Among ALL specialties factors and importance for ranking applicants post interview # 1-4 have nothing to do with scores/ class rank (link below). I am by no means diminishing the importance of board scores. They are very important, and extremely important for a highly competitive specialty. But, keep in mind PD (program directors), faculty and residents want to know if they can work with you for long hours under high stress for 3-5 years straight. Being a decent and modest student/ person and having genuine interest in the field will serve you well in your journey.

http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/NRMP-2016-Program-Director-Survey.pdf


Best of luck.

 

[WorldChanger36]

Message @WorldChanger36
I had a similar question, but he/she is pretty knowledgeable about where people have gone off to post-medical school.


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Currently I don't have access to it / can't find the old one and the new one well hasn't happened yet but I would be very careful with this info when it does come up. This year will still have an AOA match and your year won't and this changes things. Even some people in my year when we match will have access to AOA programs so that may still throw things off. Plus you also have to keep in mind just because we have a person match or not match in a field doesn't tell you all that much but a trend over time seeing and increase in persons matching in primary care and the class size isn't changing or it being very rare that some one matches into a field is helpful. Match data gives you more work to look up, but for the lazy they will make unwise/ unfounded claims off data they just don't understand. I can tell you this we don't match well in competitive fields, that could be for a number of factors, lower boards, no USMLE scores in step 1 or 2, weak auditions or other factors. If you have your heart set on Ortho, derm, opthal and getting to the point where EM, GS and academic IM is getting nasty, you may want to not only rethink this school but figure out how to go MD.

 

[Voch119]

Congratulations on the acceptance! So, at least you're going to medical school. If you can have options, that's great. If you get multiple acceptances, go to the school you enjoyed the most. See my earlier post.



UMMC readily accepts WCUCOM students for rotations as long as there is spot availability.

From speaking with the clinical rotations department I was given the impression that we've been shut out of their clinics for core rotations (same with LSU/Tulane affiliated clinics in NOLA, I believe), but I know that UMC accepts 4th years for away/audition rotations (i.e. those going through VSAS), so pretty standard for large academic medical centers. They're also looking to move in to more of the metro Jackson area hospitals with potential agreements, so this could be beneficial for us as well. Nothing beats having a home medical center though. I wish Merit Health Wesley or Forrest General here in Hattiesbug would take on that role, but they've still been pretty amenable to hosting it seems. I believe the school is doing the best with what they have at hand, especially given the smaller healthcare environment in most of Mississippi and some neighboring states. We'll just see what the future holds in that regard.

 

[WorldChanger36]

FYI, administration has gone the exact opposite route this semester and has become "drill sergeant" like with their attendance policy. I love having my hand held like a child.

Per town hall, apparently last years board scores had little/nothing to do with the students not having an attendance policy. Administration loves to skirt around that topic.

I'd use Carey as an absolute last resort at this point. It's getting ridiculous. I also know that my class is already down at least 5 people from the fall semester.

Ha gone full circle now haven't we? Carey doesn't want to change and it won't. Its applicants will continue to decline until they can't keep the school open, then you will see them adding on things like PA and other midlevel stuff onto the school. Think parking is bad now wait until you have to share with another 100 people.

 

[Voch119]

FYI, administration has gone the exact opposite route this semester and has become "drill sergeant" like with their attendance policy. I love having my hand held like a child.

Per town hall, apparently last years board scores had little/nothing to do with the students not having an attendance policy. Administration loves to skirt around that topic.

I'd use Carey as an absolute last resort at this point. It's getting ridiculous. I also know that my class is already down at least 5 people from the fall semester.

What makes you say WC has "become drill sergeant like with their attendance policy"? Anything different that I haven't caught from last semester?

 

[WorldChanger36]

Testing of QR code scanning for attendance, taking of attendance in both Anatomy Lecture & Lab off of the top of my head.

Think thats bad wait until the first time pass rate goes down and they punish you guys for it. Think the grip of a attendance is tight now just wait until they add on extra stuff for you to do like weekly Kaplan assignments, mandatory clinical skills training and 3 hours OPP a week. Oh they are gonna hold your hand so tight you will think you are back in grade school.

 

[StudentDoctorAnon]

I second Voch119. Nothing seems different from last semester. Also, attrition happens. I think WCU went above what should be expected as far as extra opportunities for grade improvement. Last semester was tough indeed, but if you just managed your time and took care of business then you should have at least passed. I think a small percentage of outspoken people get here and just assume that the hard work is done now that they have made it into medical school and think they should get an 'A' just for showing up. I know how some of the people that struggled last semester spent their time out of class, and it def. was not studying or school related. This is medical school. Do your job.

 

[Texasmedins]

I know this may be a very basic question, and depends on a plethora of specifics, but just as a general idea: how hard will it be matching EM, from WCU? Given board scores are above average, Is it on par with other DO schools, or is there some additional disadvantage in terms of rotations, etc.?
Are the SLOEs a pain to get, specially 2 for EM?
Thank you in advance.

 

[Non-Trad2016]

Testing of QR code scanning for attendance, taking of attendance in both Anatomy Lecture & Lab off of the top of my head.

There is a good reason for the change, but you did not mention.

 

[Non-Trad2016]

Think thats bad wait until the first time pass rate goes down and they punish you guys for it. Think the grip of a attendance is tight now just wait until they add on extra stuff for you to do like weekly . Oh they are gonna hold your hand so tight you will think you are back in grade school.

Kaplan assignments, mandatory clinical skills training and 3 hours OPP a week......

These are what you should master.
Stay positive, my comrade!

 

[CajunMedic]

I know this may be a very basic question, and depends on a plethora of specifics, but just as a general idea: how hard will it be matching EM, from WCU? Given board scores are above average, Is it on par with other DO schools, or is there some additional disadvantage in terms of rotations, etc.?
Are the SLOEs a pain to get, specially 2 for EM?
Thank you in advance.

I'm an OMS-4 and I'll let you know for sure after the AOA match Feb 5th. Every year, more students seem to be matching EM. Last year, one managed EM/IM at an ACGME program. SLOE's weren't a pain to get, I did my first 2 auditions in July and August and all I had to do was request them, even the traditionally AOA programs had no issue with writing them. EM tends to be board scores get you in the door, and your audition/Sub-I is where you shine. I had no issues on auditions, and I felt well-prepared-that may tend to be more on who your preceptor is
EM is overall getting more competitive, so it will be tough to see if WCUCOM puts anyone at a disadvantage as long as your board scores are competitive.

 

[Texasmedins]

I'm an OMS-4 and I'll let you know for sure after the AOA match Feb 5th. Every year, more students seem to be matching EM. Last year, one managed EM/IM at an ACGME program. SLOE's weren't a pain to get, I did my first 2 auditions in July and August and all I had to do was request them, even the traditionally AOA programs had no issue with writing them. EM tends to be board scores get you in the door, and your audition/Sub-I is where you shine. I had no issues on auditions, and I felt well-prepared-that may tend to be more on who your preceptor is
EM is overall getting more competitive, so it will be tough to see if WCUCOM puts anyone at a disadvantage as long as your board scores are competitive.

Thank you for your reply! Looking forward to your update after feb 5th. Good luck!

 

[WorldChanger36]

Kaplan assignments, mandatory clinical skills training and 3 hours OPP a week......

These are what you should master.
Stay positive, my comrade!

Nope.....

 

[WorldChanger36]

From what I know about your class, there's a very strong chance someone will be matching ENT (I won't use names, obviously). That's pretty awesome.



And what would that be? Forcing people go to 4+ hours of classes that offer zero benefit to them???

This is professional school, not elementary school. I pay WCU $38k/yr (soon to be $42k) in tuition to provide me with the necessary tools/knowledge to become a competent physician. That's it. I know what I don't pay them to do: Hold my hand and try to tell ME how I should be learning the material.

There wasn't an attendance policy last semester (obviously), and guess what happened to Carey's COMLEX scores? They skyrocketed. You want to know Carey's rebuttal to that argument? "We think it was because our professors were kind enough to come onto the satellite campus (which was Southern Miss. at the time), and provide assistance to students." LMAO. You've got to be kidding me.

Listen, I had a decent idea of the **** storm I was in for. Have there been some aspects of WCUCOM mentioned on here that were blown out of proportion? Oh yeah. There are things I really do enjoy about Carey. A lot of our instructors are great (Physiology, Biochemistry, Pharm, and Immuno immediately come to mind), and my classmates are helpful and friendly (for the most part). It's just unfortunate that the positive qualities are shielded by the BS.

At the end of the day, I'm extremely thankful for this opportunity. I worked my tail off to repair my application/transcript after undergrad. I was only accepted to Carey and another newer school. One thing is for sure, though: I will be a physician some day.

This guy gets it. Keep your head down and Carey on sir.
FYI We rarely went to those classes when our kind professors were there to provide said "assistance". Actually 90% of the class only showed up for mandatory stuff and test day. To say or scores skyrocketed is a bit much, we did better, not as good as many other DO schools and still below average but much better. Did that lapse in attendance policy help? Yep, it even helped my grades in a few classes. Truth is that was just a one time thing that the faculty hated, they will never ease back that policy again no matter how low scores go. They may actually get stricter if scores and pass rates drop. Trust me guys you don't want this.

 

[Texasmedins]

This guy gets it. Keep your head down and Carey on sir.
FYI We rarely went to those classes when our kind professors were there to provide said "assistance". Actually 90% of the class only showed up for mandatory stuff and test day. To say or scores skyrocketed is a bit much, we did better, not as good as many other DO schools and still below average but much better. Did that lapse in attendance policy help? Yep, it even helped my grades in a few classes. Truth is that was just a one time thing that the faculty hated, they will never ease back that policy again no matter how low scores go. They may actually get stricter if scores and pass rates drop. Trust me guys you don't want this.

Is mandatory attendance mostly a DO school thing, or is it prevalent in MD schools as well? I was reading some threads on Texas schools and seems like some have a policy where you can miss 3 classes/year for lecture/lab, but that's for the first year.

 

[WorldChanger36]

Is mandatory attendance mostly a DO school thing, or is it prevalent in MD schools as well? I was reading some threads on Texas schools and seems like some have a policy where you can miss 3 classes/year for lecture/lab, but that's for the first year.

Mandatory attendance is much more popular in DO schools however it does vary from school to school and year to year. Carey is mandatory regardless. You can miss a few classes and be ok, except OPP or labs you miss that.... bad things happen. Another thing to ponder is the quality of lectures you are forced to attend. If you go to a school that has mostly high quality lectures and you can easily understand and incorporate the information the lectures are useful and the attendance policy is not that bad but say the lectures are poorly presented, information not consistent with other sources or incorrect, lectures are hard to follow or insulting, presented on completely irrelevant information, just read off power point slides, don't engage the learner, or are on information that is outside of the learners scope, these lectures are not helpful and this policy would be bad because now you have to either ignore the lecture and figure out how to study in class and/or make up for what you didn't learn in that lecture on your own after class.
It not just people that don't take information in well via lecture ( and if you don't you better get better at it because lectures are never ending in medicine) even if you do learn well in lectures the quality of that lecture has to be good.

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

Hello can one of the OSM1 or OSM2’s here please post the match list for 2017???

 

[Texasmedins]

Mandatory attendance is much more popular in DO schools however it does vary from school to school and year to year. Carey is mandatory regardless. You can miss a few classes and be ok, except OPP or labs you miss that.... bad things happen. Another thing to ponder is the quality of lectures you are forced to attend. If you go to a school that has mostly high quality lectures and you can easily understand and incorporate the information the lectures are useful and the attendance policy is not that bad but say the lectures are poorly presented, information not consistent with other sources or incorrect, lectures are hard to follow or insulting, presented on completely irrelevant information, just read off power point slides, don't engage the learner, or are on information that is outside of the learners scope, these lectures are not helpful and this policy would be bad because now you have to either ignore the lecture and figure out how to study in class and/or make up for what you didn't learn in that lecture on your own after class.
It not just people that don't take information in well via lecture ( and if you don't you better get better at it because lectures are never ending in medicine) even if you do learn well in lectures the quality of that lecture has to be good.

Thank you, that makes sense. How would you rate the lectures at WCU, as compared to maybe the ones you’ve witnessed either online or elsewhere? Maybe my question has more to do with the quality of professors/teaching.

 

[StudentDoctorAnon]

I don't have the exact list in front of me, but I was talking to the dean about it a couple of months back and wrote it down somewhere. I know it was typical of most schools with regards to the breakdown. Several went to various surgeries, several into various "-ologies", a fair amount of emergency med, I think 10 or so went into ob-gyn, internal med and family med rounded out the class. That seems to be how it is every year.....distribution is very consistent with the normal national breakdown of residency placements. They stress "primary care (peds, family med, emergency med, ob-gyn, gen surg) in underserved areas," but you can do what you want. I know a couple of people that matched derm in their first class several years ago, so you're not limited if that's what you want to know.

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

I don't have the exact list in front of me, but I was talking to the dean about it a couple of months back and wrote it down somewhere. I know it was typical of most schools with regards to the breakdown. Several went to various surgeries, several into various "-ologies", a fair amount of emergency med, I think 10 or so went into ob-gyn, internal med and family med rounded out the class. That seems to be how it is every year.....distribution is very consistent with the normal national breakdown of residency placements. They stress "primary care (peds, family med, emergency med, ob-gyn, gen surg) in underserved areas," but you can do what you want. I know a couple of people that matched derm in their first class several years ago, so you're not limited if that's what you want to know.

That’s awesome to know! Thanks for that information! With the ACGME merger coming up I was a bit concerned seeing that there would be less residency spots open in general but I don’t think being a DO will hinder you that much in the match even after 2020 as people on this site make it out to be. I think the IMG grads a pretty screwed though.

 

[WorldChanger36]

Thank you, that makes sense. How would you rate the lectures at WCU, as compared to maybe the ones you’ve witnessed either online or elsewhere? Maybe my question has more to do with the quality of professors/teaching.

Compared to online lectures and others I have had the lectures at WCU are of the lowest quality.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

Just Canceled my Interview here that was scheduled for February 16. I hope it opens a spot for one of you guys desperately waiting for an interview invite. Good luck to everyone, with patience you will make it through eventually.

Sent from my SM-G950U using SDN mobile

 

[WorldChanger36]

PS: This is officially happening in both first and second years. Grrrrreat.

Your ability to read the future is impressive.

They were talking about doing this last year just couldn't make it work. They also do this to you 3rd year but they are monthly requirements.
It would also seem that the 2nd year class will have limited release from the attendance requirements for the second semester. The requirements are similar to ours last year. Such as all lectures by non teaching faculty will be required attendance, all OPP and clinical skills classes are required attendance, students must be in good standing with out academic or behavioral warning or probation... the list goes on. This awaits final approval and may have other requirements, such as the rumored must have a GPA above 3.0 and never had to re-mediate anything. Also I am willing to bet the school will scare students into going to class by withholding the release of powerpoints or changing them ( did this to us), not record lectures or put their hand over the mic so only those in the class know a test answer to an irrelevant question ( Pharm guys do this), put people on academic warning for pathology even though they know the path guys don't update your grade until the end of the year, not let you review your test if you didn't come class, and my personal favorite change test times and locations and only tell those in class and send out an email about it the day off the test. ( A cut throats dream)

 

[Texasmedins]

Compared to online lectures and others I have had the lectures at WCU are of the lowest quality.

Thank you for all the info!

 

[Texasmedins]

What do you guys think about ATSU SOMA? I have an interview there soon. They’re only interviewing pending an open seat, so basically for the waitlist. Worth spending the $$? I gave up my ARCOM acceptance already but was wondering if ATSU SOMA is worth the trip over WCU?

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

What do you guys think about ATSU SOMA? I have an interview there soon. They’re only interviewing pending an open seat, so basically for the waitlist. Worth spending the $$? I gave up my ARCOM acceptance already but was wondering if ATSU SOMA is worth the trip over WCU?

Am in the same situation as you. I likely won’t go as I am already on the waitlist at Nyitcom-AR, and have another interview coming up at pcom philly. No point in going to atsu for a waitlist spot. I have been accepted here at wcucom.i didn’t go to my Arcom interview as I felt that wcucom was a more established program.

 

[StudentDoctorAnon]

I really like it here at WCUCOM, it's exactly the same school they told me about on my interview (no false image just for interview day), I like my peers and instructors, and I feel like I'm getting a good education thus far. With that said, I could not in good conscious tell anyone not to go check out "x" school. If you have the opportunity, then go see as many schools as you can and find what is a good fit for YOU and not anyone else. You will be at that school for 4 years.

 

[FutureDoctor5000]

So, a little update. Some progress was made today with regards to attendance.

As per the Dean, OMS-II students will now have non-mandatory attendance in all but 2 classes during the spring semester. The only exception is if you are on academic probation.

How will this impact current osm1 and the next class of 2022?

 

[Lanhaines Elsetion]

Any recent acceptances?