2018-2019 University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine (UNECOM)

[SerenityB]

While I agree with some of @Mad Jack to some extent, I disagree in the fact that you don't see these as UNE specific issues. I mentioned this in a previous post. Even schools with some of the most strict disciplinary and academic policies (see: LECOM) have pathways that cater to different learning styles. That is all we are asking the administration to recognize. Implementing a poorly organized policy after we have already committed to coming to a school under the pretense that attendance wasn't mandatory in second year is far more problematic, in my opinion.

I can't comment on the Deans at other schools, but it feels as if we are being silenced. I mentioned that we've exhausted all avenues of trying to voice concerns, but I feel that I need to be more specific. We have coordinated meetings with course directors and the deans, only to have them filter what items we can/cannot add to agendas. "Attendance" is an off-limits topic that they refuse to comment on. This is entirely ignorant: 120 students from our class show up to a meeting to express concerns only to find out that we'll be discussing furniture in the student lounge instead. So we arrange follow-up meetings, form committees, only to have these ideas completely dismissed as well. If you have suggestions for a better way to approach these issues, I am open ears.

In other news, this whole situation is very real and not being exaggerated. Lawyers are getting involved on both the University and student side of the spectrum. It is a shame that the University has let it come to this.

There's a point where going about things the "right way" just no longer works. This is why students are posting on these forums. The "right way" has not worked, and does not seem poised to change any time soon. People keep making comments about how we are "derailing" the purpose of this thread. In fact, as a prospective medical student weighing my options on which schools to attend, these are exactly the pieces of information I would want to know. Please stop giving folks a hard time for offering genuine feedback that is designed to be beneficial. I wish I had this information prior to applying here, I know it certainly would have impacted my decision on which school to attend.

The tone of this post compared to the tone of the others is vastly different. This one I'm sure prospective students are willing to take into consideration. It actually gives us very valuable information on the infrastructure of the school.

Yelling at students to never ever considering going to this school and telling them to run far away, however, is detrimental. I know this is an emotionally charged moment for many 2nd years at UNE, but the last couple of posts have in fact derailed. This thread is to give information, but it's also to guide and congratulate those that have worked hard and made it this far. Imagine it being the only option you have and being excited to start a new chapter in your life, then coming here and seeing this mess. Not every have the luxury of waiting it out another year.

You guys need to give your opinion maturely and soundly like you did here. Medical school is no different than the rest of the workforces in the world, and much like them many /real/ issues will be ignored by administration in favor of their own agenda.

We want to hear about the issues and decide on our own. What we don't want is people telling us we are buying a one way ticket to the purgatory. Believe it or not, some people have more things in their life to worry about than a mandatory lecture policy. For some it is not a deal breaker and that's okay. But putting those people under stress by saying the entire system is flawed and will go down in flames is neither mature nor helpful.

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[DRRCKCLMBR]

But you do see how this childlessness and immaturity reflects the student body at this school right? Multiple students came here to post their dissatisfaction. And some are frustrated. That cannot be a coincidence.

Shutting down negative reviews on a school is the height of intellectual dishonestly. Imagine Amazon deleted all its negative reviews...

Let me give my experience in my UNECOM interview. They said that students must pass a pre-board exam to be allowed to pass the board exam. And even among those who passed the preboards and got to take the boards, only 94% passed—I find this VERY concerning. https://www.une.edu/com/admissions/comlex-usa-and-residency-match-results Even worse this school doesn’t publish average scores where some DO schools choose to mention this.

This does not belittle those who want to come to this school. I still want to go here—and it would be an honor if I were accepted here. This just gives valid criticisms which is always useful.

Never withhold data. Full disclosure is important. I wish schools were forced just tell us all their stats and publish them—board scores, grades, failures, successes etc

I can see it. I am dimply saying that presenting useful information to be weighted is different than an all caps "never come, run away" without many specific details beyond saying the "so called administration " is useless and doesn't see our point. Im all for open information, and don't want to shut that down I just don't need it in the form of an emotionly charged rant... Ya know? And i get emotions are high. And hard to not involve in all of this, but an anonymous online forum is an imapropriate place to come to just tell students to" avoid this place like the plague"

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[Thyr0id]

Like I said, I do not find these grievances surprising. Survive, and vote with your dollars by never, ever giving them a dime of donations. Alumni giving is the life blood of medical schools, any that chose to survive on tuition alone are foolish and destined for trouble.

Ain’t that the truth.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

As an outsider and student at another school, I would avoid this school like the plague if these reports are even half true. Run. Your tuition money is not worth it, trust me, you might say now “I’ll be so happy at any school because I’ll get to be a doctor” and that is simply not true. You’ll find that out really quick once you start.

 

[Confuzzledmed]

As an outsider and student at another school, I would avoid this school like the plague if these reports are even half true. Run. Your tuition money is not worth it, trust me, you might say now “I’ll be so happy at any school because I’ll get to be a doctor” and that is simply not true. You’ll find that out really quick once you start.

So what do you suppose an applicant should do if this school happens to be their only acceptance thus far.... turn it down and hope another school accepts them or go through another application cycle ?

 

[Xanias]

As an outsider and student at another school, I would avoid this school like the plague if these reports are even half true. Run. Your tuition money is not worth it, trust me, you might say now “I’ll be so happy at any school because I’ll get to be a doctor” and that is simply not true. You’ll find that out really quick once you start.

It looks like you have too much free time at your other school they might have to make your attendance to class mandatory. Thanks a lot for your input you’re a huge help to everyone on here.


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[AnatomyGrey12]

So what do you suppose an applicant should do if this school happens to be their only acceptance thus far.... turn it down and hope another school accepts them or go through another application cycle ?

If it’s your only acceptance then I would still go and make the most of it, however if you get another acceptance I would heavily consider all of this.

 

[Confuzzledmed]

If it’s your only acceptance then I would still go and make the most of it, however if you get another acceptance I would heavily consider all of this.

Exactly ... if a student has more than one acceptance consider both the pros and cons and definitely consider the negatives that one has to say about a school. But for you and other users blatantly say avoid the school like the plague is honestly not good advice especially since no one knows what an applicants options are .

 

[Blanky]

If it's your only acceptance then just toe the line and become a doctor with a smile.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

But for you and other users blatantly say avoid the school like the plague is honestly not good advice especially since no one knows what an applicants options are

It absolutely is good advice. People with options should choose not to go here, and if you don't have options you go and toe the line. That's the advice. If I were applying next cycle then I wouldn't even submit an app.

Quite frankly if the stated issues are even half true then UNECOM has some very very serious issues and make it not worth it to apply there. Don't get all upset just because the school you go to has made themselves into a terrible option for pre-meds. It doesn't reflect on you and you don't need to go all internet warrior and defend the school.

 

[Confuzzledmed]

It absolutely is good advice. People with options should choose not to go here, and if you don't have options you go and toe the line. That's the advice. If I were applying next cycle then I wouldn't even submit an app.

Quite frankly if the stated issues are even half true then UNECOM has some very very serious issues and make it not worth it to apply there. Don't get all upset just because the school you go to has made themselves into a terrible option for pre-meds. It doesn't reflect on you and you don't need to go all internet warrior and defend the school.

It is bad advice for future students. Expressing your concerns vs telling people not to go here is simply not good advice especially if you don’t even attend the school. No school is perfect I have heard horror stories from friends at other schools but guess what they are sucking up and doing what they have to do to become a doctor. I am not a student at unecom, I’m an applicant but seeing all these people bashing a school and telling people not to go here frankly upsets because I am one of those people with limited options and if this is my only acceptance or my only option compared to a new school or carribbean ... I would choose here. Of course I am going to take account what people or saying and taking it as at least I know what to expect if I do go here .

 

[Witty_Username]

Really didn't want to reactivate my account, but this is getting out of hand. Current 2nd year here. I love this school and wouldn't trade it for any other DO school. The school is a well established osteopathic medical school that educates us well enough to get into competitive specialities/residencies. This thread is a poor portrayal of the school and I sincerely hope those bashing the school realize they are not only doing the school a disservice, but also themselves by appearing immature and unprofessional. The vast majority of the student body are good people who just want to become the best physicians they can be, but unfortunately some of these posts make us all appear like goons. So to all of my classmates posting here (looking at you @Witty_Username), please just consider the effects your posts are having on the rest of us.

I'm not going to comment on the situation here, but this thread is likely suffering from response bias. The people who feel personally attacked/frightened are those who go here to trash the school. Feel free to message me...I'll be somewhat active for a few days.

I'm sorry that you feel this way. My intention isn't to cause any of my classmates additional stress. I do feel that I have plenty of friends to vent to regarding issues at my school, that's not the goal of these posts.

The goal is two-fold. The administration is reading. Hopefully they see the concerns of students and applicants and finally take some of our feelings to heart. Secondly, I want applicants to be aware of what they are getting themselves into. I've said this before: if I was an applicant these are things that I would want to know.

What would I do if I was accepted to multiple schools? I would go elsewhere. I'm not saying you have to agree. But for the price we pay to attend this school, I expect better in terms of leadership and education quality. (Note: the clinical skills and anatomy portions of our education are very strong).

What would I do if UNECOM was my only acceptance? I'm not sure. Obviously I want to be a doctor. This stuff is fascinating and I can't wait to get into clinical practice. Is this your first cycle of applying to medical schools? If so, I'd encourage you to try again and see what you can do to bolster your app. Are you a repeat applicant? Maybe you have to settle and just deal with the headaches and grievances of the daily life of a UNECOM student. Everyone has unique paths to medical school and I'm not saying you have to take my advice. This is simply what I would tell my best friends or sibling if they were to apply.

Do I expect there to major upcoming changes in policy that change my mind? No, not really. In fact, things are likely to get worse. The administration has done nothing but backpedal, implement policies and alter significant dates in our education with the snap of their fingers. I've tried to separate my subjective and objective thoughts in each of my posts. If the picture I've painted of the events that have transpired is inaccurate in any way, please feel free to correct them.

 

[Blanky]

It is bad advice for future students. Expressing your concerns vs telling people not to go here is simply not good advice especially if you don’t even attend the school. No school is perfect I have heard horror stories from friends at other schools but guess what they are sucking up and doing what they have to do to become a doctor. I am not a student at unecom, I’m an applicant but seeing all these people bashing a school and telling people not to go here frankly upsets because I am one of those people with limited options and if this is my only acceptance or my only option compared to a new school or carribbean ... I would choose here. Of course I am going to take account what people or saying and taking it as at least I know what to expect if I do go here .

Stop repeating yourself. He is not wrong. UNE> Carib.
Stop trying to make some random point because you are upset.
Move on.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

is simply not good advice especially if you don’t even attend the school

I am not a student at unecom, I’m an applicant but seeing all these people bashing a school and telling people not to go here frankly upsets because I am one of those people with limited options

See but the difference is that I, unlike you, am actually a medical student and know what it looks like on this side of the fence. I get that you don't have any other options, that's ok. You will still go and get to work towards being a doctor. The fact that people do well out of the carib shows that someone with enough tenacity and elbow grease can make things work in bad situations. UNECOM still obviously trumps Carib ( that is a strawman argument. It does nothing to disprove my point). However, that does not nullify the advice that if someone has options they should go somewhere else, or if they are looking at places to apply to that they shouldn't apply here. Every school has issues but not all issues are created equal. I always thought my school was poorly run but what I'm reading here about stuff that UNECOM administration is doing make my school look like it's run by savants.

 

[Confuzzledmed]

Stop repeating yourself. He is not wrong. UNE> Carib.
Stop trying to make some random point because you are upset.
Move on.

It’s not a random point . It’s an opinion which I’m allowed to share on a public forum. Just like others are repeating the same things because they are “upset” so am I .

 

[Witty_Username]

The class is having a meeting with the President of the University, the Provost, and a Dean later this afternoon. I will provide updates on their stance moving forward. I am hopeful that this will help curb the emotional fatigue and tension among our class.

 

[mc29012]

The class is having a meeting with the President of the University, the Provost, and a Dean later this afternoon. I will provide updates on their stance moving forward. I am hopeful that this will help curb the emotional fatigue and tension among our class.

Thank you for this. This probably doesn't need to be said to a medical student meeting with administration in person, but I am going to say it anyway: remember that if you hope to expect any changes or clarity please remember to voice your concerns in a coherent manner and as unemotionally charged as you can, as you have done with some of the posts here. DO NOT call out particular individuals, get angry, or make accusatory remarks. It will just make things worse.

I hope to see this thread return to a place where students can get excited about a med school acceptance to a respected institution that they've worked for years and years to get, because they should be excited. They are going to be doctors!

Best wishes.

 

[Witty_Username]

Today's meeting was fairly well received. Having said that, there was zero representation from UNECOM Academics/Curriculum. The President was tactful and eloquent. He clearly delineated student frustrations regarding the curriculum from ethical violations of the attendance policy. He assured students that the administration does not plan to expel or put permanent marks on student records.

Regarding the curriculum concerns, he suggested escalating them to the Provost if they continue to fall upon deaf ears via the COM Deans. I think this is likely the next step for our class.

Overall, I think the general impression was that the meeting was positive though these ideas could have been relayed to us sooner. It was far more professional and less accusatory than the one hosted earlier in the week. Students were permitted to ask questions at the end of the session. These are the types of interactions I expect to have with administration, and I am hoping that our COM Deans follow the President's lead.

 

[dbzlegend]

Today's meeting was fairly well received. Having said that, there was zero representation from UNECOM Academics/Curriculum. The President was tactful and eloquent. He clearly delineated student frustrations regarding the curriculum from ethical violations of the attendance policy. He assured students that the administration does not plan to expel or put permanent marks on student records.

Regarding the curriculum concerns, he suggested escalating them to the Provost if they continue to fall upon deaf ears via the COM Deans. I think this is likely the next step for our class.

Overall, I think the general impression was that the meeting was positive though these ideas could have been relayed to us sooner. It was far more professional and less accusatory than the one hosted earlier in the week. Students were permitted to ask questions at the end of the session. These are the types of interactions I expect to have with administration, and I am hoping that our COM Deans follow the President's lead.

Thank you for the feedback. Does the fact they are willing to hear you guys out for potential changes going forward change your views about this school in anyway?

 

[Witty_Username]

Thank you for the feedback. Does the fact they are willing to hear you guys out for potential changes going forward change your views about this school in anyway?

This is an interesting question. I would say I am happy to see University leadership get involved.

I remain skeptical of COM leadership.

Does one meeting change my view of the school or the advice I would give to applicants? No, for that to happen it would require actions, not just words. I have seen and heard enough empty promises. For now, we will wait and see. I imagine that the emphasis right now is getting all affected students through the ethics hearings; afterwords we can work together to make this school a better place to learn.

 

[tlccreepwaterfalls]

I was accepted here. I'm very grateful for all the feedback, even the doomsday-esque comments. Why? If people were quiet about it, I might not take any of it very seriously. I have another interview coming up that I was thinking of canceling, but i'll probably at least go to it. Part of the reason I wanted to go to UNECOM was because I was told they didn't have mandatory classes, and I was told I'd have a the opportunity to try to rotate in my home state. If these things are taken away now, then yeah, I'm going to consider other schools more heavily. I'll probably still end up at UNECOM regardless, but if someone who goes to UNECOM honestly tells me they recommend going elsewhere, I'm going to take that grain of salt into consideration.

I'm still excited about UNECOM. There are a ton of other things I love about the school, so I'm really hoping they get this worked out.

 

[ansid]

Totally agree with tlccreepwaterfalls (lol). I was also thinking of cancelling my next two interviews, but I've decided against that. I'm not too fond of mandatory classes, but it's definitely not a dealbreaker for me. But a strong unity among the students and with the administration is a very important thing for me. As someone who has dealt with another medical school that had similar issues, I know how miserable this all makes the medical school experience. I was told by numerous medical students from that institution to stay away from the school - so I definitely take students' opinions very seriously. Hopefully this gets resolved soon because I really, truly love this school and want to go here.

 

[bostonstrong95]

I was planning on turning down an offer to another medical school further away from home to go to UNECOM, but with all the negativity recently, I’m reconsidering both options again. I don’t mind mandatory lectures so much, but having to go through the stress that medical school brings along with the tension and frustration mentioned among students and faculty does not seem like a healthy environment. If anyone has any more to add about the potential changes coming up, the validity of what has been mentioned, or any updates, that would be really helpful. I really did love UNECOM when I visited so I’m hoping this is something that seems to be resolvable.

 

[greyperson22]

I just want to jump in and respond to the last few posts. I am a current first year, so I can't speak to ANY of the issues going on with the second years right now. Their issues are all boiling over right now, and it is very hard to say what will affect me as a second year and what will affect upcoming students in the years to come.

So, that being said, I would like to comment on how my first year has gone so far. I have absolutely loved it! Sure, there are little things that bother me here and there, and we complain and then get over it because lets face it, med school is hard and you have to put up with a lot of crap no matter where you go to school. Many of you prospective students comment on the "community" feel that you experienced when you toured the school, which was one of my number one reasons for choosing the school as well. I have not been disappointed at all. 99% of the people I interact with are great people, the faculty has been supportive, and I feel like I am being challenged appropriately with the material. I also feel like our class gets along really well and everyone that I interact with is pretty chill. My biggest complaint is probably a little bit of disorganization within the curriculum, but that definitely doesn't cancel out all the good things I have experienced. I have no regrets about choosing UNE over the other schools I was accepted to. Also, Maine is awesome.

Again, I am not saying the current problems going on will not affect me next year, and I realize that my opinions could change in the future. I think that all of the students that posted earlier have valid opinions and I really do hope for the best outcome for everyone in this situation. However, this comment is strictly regarding how my first year has gone so far, and I hope those of you who are thinking about attending UNE take it into account as well.

 

[rayrayben1]

If i am understanding everything correctly it sounds like the main problem with second year students is that the school implemented mandatory attendance this year and students are unhappy about this, especially the ones that did not follow the attendance policy. I understand students concerns, but are there deeper issues than this or is it simply that students are unhappy with the sudden change? I was planning on putting my deposit down for unecom over other schools and this thread has made me very hesitant even though I am not bothered by mandatory attendance. Can anyone offer constructive, non-biased advise on this considering my deposit, and I'm sure many others, are due very soon.

 

[Witty_Username]

If i am understanding everything correctly it sounds like the main problem with second year students is that the school implemented mandatory attendance this year and students are unhappy about this, especially the ones that did not follow the attendance policy. I understand students concerns, but are there deeper issues than this or is it simply that students are unhappy with the sudden change? I was planning on putting my deposit down for unecom over other schools and this thread has made me very hesitant even though I am not bothered by mandatory attendance. Can anyone offer constructive, non-biased advise on this considering my deposit, and I'm sure many others, are due very soon.

Sure, the conversation has centered mostly around the attendance issue because that’s one of the most pressing right now. As others mentioned, there are a wealth of issues at many schools, most of which are bearable, but since you asked:

• Our relationships with Clinical Campuses (3rd year rotations) are poor. We don’t have opportunities to rotate at any hospitals in Southern Maine including Portland or the hospital in our own town of Biddeford. To my understanding, we were late with paperwork to place a bid on Maine Medical Center rotations, and thus deemed ineligible. Tufts rotates there now. We recently lost one of our better clinical campuses in Springfield, MA. Our rotation sites can be described as unstable, at best. Most hospitals are very small, community hospitals. The school is inceasingly trying to get students to enter into a LIC (longitudinal) pathway where you do not go through the standard 6 third-year rotations and instead do them all in small doses by spending a full year with one generalist physician. This pathway is really geared towards primary care medicine and I wouldn’t be surprised if they started forcing students into it in the near future.
• Our start date was pushed up a month this year to give us additional Boards prep time (we started July 5). The date we have been told we are required to take boards by has also been pushed up several times, effectively making the additional time we were supposed to have to prepare nonexistent. Additionally, students that take the COMLEX in early June (1-14) get their scores back the same day as students that take the exam by the school's May 31 deadline. The administration has failed to give us a real reason we cannot use those extra two weeks to prepare for the exam.
• I mentioned this before, but there is a very high turnover of faculty. Most of the young faculty members (who give the most current advice and are the best mentors) are transitioning out of their positions. In fact, two of the course directors will not be here next year. The remaining faculty are mostly older, retired or semi-retired OMM Doctors. While there’s nothing wrong with this, many of them lack extensive hospital or clinical experience. To my knowledge we do not have a single full-time faculty member that is specialized out of a primary care field (this may be intentional). Many clinical faculty members do not actively practice clinical medicine at all. The Dean of the school is new as of 2016 and the President as of 2017.
• We do not have an on-site simulation experience. Students must drive to the Portland campus for this parts of their education. The amount of time we spend in SimLab is incredibly minimal. You will go approximately 4-5 times per year. It is my understanding that the Portland based health professions programs have significantly more time in the lab than us.

 

[ansid]

Sure, the conversation has centered mostly around the attendance issue because that’s one of the most pressing right now. As others mentioned, there are a wealth of issues at many schools, most of which are bearable, but since you asked:

• Our relationships with Clinical Campuses (3rd year rotations) are poor. We don’t have opportunities to rotate at any hospitals in Southern Maine including Portland or the hospital in our own town of Biddeford. To my understanding, we were late with paperwork to place a bid on Maine Medical Center rotations, and thus deemed ineligible. Tufts rotates there now. We recently lost one of our better clinical campuses in Springfield, MA. Our rotation sites can be described as unstable, at best. Most hospitals are very small, community hospitals. The school is inceasingly trying to get students to enter into a LIC (longitudinal) pathway where you do not go through the standard 6 third-year rotations and instead do them all in small doses by spending a full year with one generalist physician. This pathway is really geared towards primary care medicine and I wouldn’t be surprised if they started forcing students into it in the near future.
• Our start date was pushed up a month this year to give us additional Boards prep time (we started July 5). The date we have been told we are required to take boards by has also been pushed up several times, effectively making the additional time we were supposed to have to prepare nonexistent. Additionally, students that take the COMLEX in June (1-14) get their scores back the same day as students that take the exam by the schools May 31 deadline. The administration has failed to give us a real reason we cannot use those extra two weeks to prepare for the exam.
• I mentioned this before, but there is a very high turnover of faculty. Most of the young faculty members (who give the most current advice and are the best mentors) are transitioning out of their positions. In fact, two of the course directors will not be here next year. The remaining faculty are mostly older, retired OMM Doctors. While there’s nothing wrong with this, many of them lack extensive hospital or clinical experience. To my knowledge we do not have a single full time faculty member that is specialized out of a primary care field (this may be intentional). The Dean of the school is new as of 2016 and the President as of 2017.
• We do not have an on site simulation experience. Students must drive to the Portland campus for these parts of their education. The amount of time we spend in SimLab is incredibly minimal. You will go approximately 4-5 times per year. It is my understanding that the Portland based health professions programs have significantly more time in the lab than us.

THIS stuff is very important and eye opening, especially regarding the clinical sites. The tuition is so ridiculously high that I would expect them to be more proactive. You can totally suck it up during your pre-clinical years, but your rotations are super important, especially if primary care is not your first choice. Thank you for this. This is the kind of information I wanted.

 

[noorotik20]

Sure, the conversation has centered mostly around the attendance issue because that’s one of the most pressing right now. As others mentioned, there are a wealth of issues at many schools, most of which are bearable, but since you asked:

• Our relationships with Clinical Campuses (3rd year rotations) are poor. We don’t have opportunities to rotate at any hospitals in Southern Maine including Portland or the hospital in our own town of Biddeford. To my understanding, we were late with paperwork to place a bid on Maine Medical Center rotations, and thus deemed ineligible. Tufts rotates there now. We recently lost one of our better clinical campuses in Springfield, MA. Our rotation sites can be described as unstable, at best. Most hospitals are very small, community hospitals. The school is inceasingly trying to get students to enter into a LIC (longitudinal) pathway where you do not go through the standard 6 third-year rotations and instead do them all in small doses by spending a full year with one generalist physician. This pathway is really geared towards primary care medicine and I wouldn’t be surprised if they started forcing students into it in the near future.
• Our start date was pushed up a month this year to give us additional Boards prep time (we started July 5). The date we have been told we are required to take boards by has also been pushed up several times, effectively making the additional time we were supposed to have to prepare nonexistent. Additionally, students that take the COMLEX in June (1-14) get their scores back the same day as students that take the exam by the schools May 31 deadline. The administration has failed to give us a real reason we cannot use those extra two weeks to prepare for the exam.
• I mentioned this before, but there is a very high turnover of faculty. Most of the young faculty members (who give the most current advice and are the best mentors) are transitioning out of their positions. In fact, two of the course directors will not be here next year. The remaining faculty are mostly older, retired or semi-retired OMM Doctors. While there’s nothing wrong with this, many of them lack extensive hospital or clinical experience. To my knowledge we do not have a single full time faculty member that is specialized out of a primary care field (this may be intentional). Many clinical faculty members do not actively practice clinical medicine at all. The Dean of the school is new as of 2016 and the President as of 2017.
• We do not have an on site simulation experience. Students must drive to the Portland campus for these parts of their education. The amount of time we spend in SimLab is incredibly minimal. You will go approximately 4-5 times per year. It is my understanding that the Portland based health professions programs have significantly more time in the lab than us.

Thank you for this informative post. I will use this information to carefully consider whether I want to attend UNE.

I’d also like to reiterate something another user mentioned to help combat potential misinformation. There have been at least two accounts that have made positive posts since this controversy started, and they are brand new accounts, both created within hours of posting. This makes me suspicious, so take their feedback with healthy skepticism.


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[Witty_Username]

Sure, the conversation has centered mostly around the attendance issue because that’s one of the most pressing right now. As others mentioned, there are a wealth of issues at many schools, most of which are bearable, but since you asked:

• Our relationships with Clinical Campuses (3rd year rotations) are poor. We don’t have opportunities to rotate at any hospitals in Southern Maine including Portland or the hospital in our own town of Biddeford. To my understanding, we were late with paperwork to place a bid on Maine Medical Center rotations, and thus deemed ineligible. Tufts rotates there now. We recently lost one of our better clinical campuses in Springfield, MA. Our rotation sites can be described as unstable, at best. Most hospitals are very small, community hospitals. The school is inceasingly trying to get students to enter into a LIC (longitudinal) pathway where you do not go through the standard 6 third-year rotations and instead do them all in small doses by spending a full year with one generalist physician. This pathway is really geared towards primary care medicine and I wouldn’t be surprised if they started forcing students into it in the near future.
• Our start date was pushed up a month this year to give us additional Boards prep time (we started July 5). The date we have been told we are required to take boards by has also been pushed up several times, effectively making the additional time we were supposed to have to prepare nonexistent. Additionally, students that take the COMLEX in early June (1-14) get their scores back the same day as students that take the exam by the school's May 31 deadline. The administration has failed to give us a real reason we cannot use those extra two weeks to prepare for the exam.
• I mentioned this before, but there is a very high turnover of faculty. Most of the young faculty members (who give the most current advice and are the best mentors) are transitioning out of their positions. In fact, two of the course directors will not be here next year. The remaining faculty are mostly older, retired or semi-retired OMM Doctors. While there’s nothing wrong with this, many of them lack extensive hospital or clinical experience. To my knowledge we do not have a single full-time faculty member that is specialized out of a primary care field (this may be intentional). Many clinical faculty members do not actively practice clinical medicine at all. The Dean of the school is new as of 2016 and the President as of 2017.
• We do not have an on-site simulation experience. Students must drive to the Portland campus for this parts of their education. The amount of time we spend in SimLab is incredibly minimal. You will go approximately 4-5 times per year. It is my understanding that the Portland based health professions programs have significantly more time in the lab than us.

I feel as if I should also highlight some of the aspects that UNECOM really excels at, because it isn't all doom and gloom. Some of the things that I think distinguish us from other medical schools are listed below:

Hint: this may help you in your "why do you want to come to UNECOM?" interview question.

• The students and community really are special. I have had many friends visit from other medical schools and tell me how odd it was to see so many students working together and teaching each other. While this sense of community has not lived up to it's name recently given the attendance violations, I believe that it will ultimately return to a very collaborative and supportive environment. The faculty contribute to this as well: many physicians volunteer time on the weekends, after the 5:30PM workday, and during lunch hours. Generally, there is an enormous amount of support throughout your education here, my qualm is that very little of it originates from COM administration.
• We have some really unique aspects of our curriculum. First, the anatomy program is over a year long. Some of you may love or hate this, but it really does give you an incredible background to build your foundation of medicine. Second years start with a 6-week, intensive Neuroanatomy course, which I would imagine is far beyond the standards of most medical schools. There is a particular emphasis on geriatric care, and a solid portion of your second-year time will be dedicated to this.
• UNE has a wide variety of health-professions programs: dentistry, PA, nursing, public health, social work. This allows for lots of interprofessional opportunities.
• The "DO network" is pretty large stemming from UNECOM. There are lots of alumni, local physicians, and resources that are available to us. We're one of the larger and better known DO schools on the east coast.
• There is an enormous emphasis on OMM, so if this is something that interests you, UNECOM would be a good choice. In terms of classroom hours, we spend about 6-8 hours per week on OMM. You will learn valuable skills, especially strong palpatory skills, which are important and can be applied to any area of medicine. While you may think that OMM is not your cup of tea (I didn't), there are still many aspects of this part of the curriculum that you can apply elsewhere.

I hope this paints a more holistic depiction of our school and that by combining it with my post above you can evaluate both strengths and weaknesses and determine what you think is important in your education.

 

[SerenityB]

Sure, the conversation has centered mostly around the attendance issue because that’s one of the most pressing right now. As others mentioned, there are a wealth of issues at many schools, most of which are bearable, but since you asked:

• Our relationships with Clinical Campuses (3rd year rotations) are poor. We don’t have opportunities to rotate at any hospitals in Southern Maine including Portland or the hospital in our own town of Biddeford. To my understanding, we were late with paperwork to place a bid on Maine Medical Center rotations, and thus deemed ineligible. Tufts rotates there now. We recently lost one of our better clinical campuses in Springfield, MA. Our rotation sites can be described as unstable, at best. Most hospitals are very small, community hospitals. The school is inceasingly trying to get students to enter into a LIC (longitudinal) pathway where you do not go through the standard 6 third-year rotations and instead do them all in small doses by spending a full year with one generalist physician. This pathway is really geared towards primary care medicine and I wouldn’t be surprised if they started forcing students into it in the near future.
• Our start date was pushed up a month this year to give us additional Boards prep time (we started July 5). The date we have been told we are required to take boards by has also been pushed up several times, effectively making the additional time we were supposed to have to prepare nonexistent. Additionally, students that take the COMLEX in early June (1-14) get their scores back the same day as students that take the exam by the school's May 31 deadline. The administration has failed to give us a real reason we cannot use those extra two weeks to prepare for the exam.
• I mentioned this before, but there is a very high turnover of faculty. Most of the young faculty members (who give the most current advice and are the best mentors) are transitioning out of their positions. In fact, two of the course directors will not be here next year. The remaining faculty are mostly older, retired or semi-retired OMM Doctors. While there’s nothing wrong with this, many of them lack extensive hospital or clinical experience. To my knowledge we do not have a single full-time faculty member that is specialized out of a primary care field (this may be intentional). Many clinical faculty members do not actively practice clinical medicine at all. The Dean of the school is new as of 2016 and the President as of 2017.
• We do not have an on-site simulation experience. Students must drive to the Portland campus for this parts of their education. The amount of time we spend in SimLab is incredibly minimal. You will go approximately 4-5 times per year. It is my understanding that the Portland based health professions programs have significantly more time in the lab than us.

I feel as if I should also highlight some of the aspects that UNECOM really excels at, because it isn't all doom and gloom. Some of the things that I think distinguish us from other medical schools are listed below:

Hint: this may help you in your "why do you want to come to UNECOM?" interview question.

• The students and community really are special. I have had many friends visit from other medical schools and tell me how odd it was to see so many students working together and teaching each other. While this sense of community has not lived up to it's name recently given the attendance violations, I believe that it will ultimately return to a very collaborative and supportive environment. The faculty contribute to this as well: many physicians volunteer time on the weekends, after the 5:30PM workday, and during lunch hours. Generally, there is an enormous amount of support throughout your education here, my qualm is that very little of it originates from COM administration.
• We have some really unique aspects of our curriculum. First, the anatomy program is over a year long. Some of you may love or hate this, but it really does give you an incredible background to build your foundation of medicine. Second years start with a 6-week, intensive Neuroanatomy course, which I would imagine is far beyond the standards of most medical schools. There is a particular emphasis on geriatric care, and a solid portion of your second-year time will be dedicated to this.
• UNE has a wide variety of health-professions programs: dentistry, PA, nursing, public health, social work. This allows for lots of interprofessional opportunities.
• The "DO network" is pretty large stemming from UNECOM. There are lots of alumni, local physicians, and resources that are available to us. We're one of the larger and better known DO schools on the east coast.
• There is an enormous emphasis on OMM, so if this is something that interests you, UNECOM would be a good choice. In terms of classroom hours, we spend about 6-8 hours per week on OMM. You will learn valuable skills, especially strong palpatory skills, which are important and can be applied to any area of medicine. While you may think that OMM is not your cup of tea (I didn't), there are still many aspects of this part of the curriculum that you can apply elsewhere.

I hope this paints a more holistic depiction of our school and that by combining it with my post above you can evaluate both strengths and weaknesses and determine what you think is important in your education.

Thank you, this is exactly the kind of information all of us are looking for. It seems a lot that you are trying to remain as unbiased as possible while giving us this information. I hope everything fairs well for you guys after that meeting and the school actually takes action to these legitimate concerns.

 

[SerenityB]

Can anyone give us information on 4th year rotations? During the interview they were very receptive to the idea of OOS students going back to their home state to do their last set of rotations. Have people had trouble getting rotations in their home state? Is the school helpful with assisting you to secure rotation sites?

I've always veered towards more towards primary care (though not geriatrics) and mandatory classes aren't a deal breaker, but I'd like more insight on 4th year before I pick UNE. I made it quite obvious I wanted to be a practicing physician in the Midwest.

 

[SikhDoc]

How long are the mandatory lectures? Are they the only source of learning or are there lecture videos online?

 

[PeanutArbuckle]

Complete 8/28, still nothing

 

[BICRA]

Anyone from the 11/15 interview session hear back yet? Had a really great interview but getting nervous that they still haven't handed out decisions.

 

[medschool1718]

Anyone from the 11/15 interview session hear back yet? Had a really great interview but getting nervous that they still haven't handed out decisions.

I interviewed on the 14th and I still haven’t heard back. I also thought my interview went super well, I’m just hoping they are behind because of thanksgiving

 

[Accepted_2019]

How long are the mandatory lectures? Are they the only source of learning or are there lecture videos online?

Also wondering this! If any current students have insight that'd be super helpful. Also, are all lectures mandatory for second years? What about first years?

 

[medschool1718]

Interviewed just over 3 weeks ago and haven’t heard back yet.. Hoping Thanksgiving backed things up, but is anyone else still waiting from a mid-November interview?

 

[dbzlegend]

Interviewed just over 3 weeks ago and haven’t heard back yet.. Hoping Thanksgiving backed things up, but is anyone else still waiting from a mid-November interview?

I interviewed 11/14 and am still waiting to hear back as well.

 

[themind.]

Current second year, I've been trying to avoid getting involved in this thread again this year because honestly everything that just happened was a bit of a mess and I did not/do not want to get in the middle of it. With that being said, I am overall happy with my decision to attend UNE COM. There are frustrations that occur, but I know that would happen at any school and that the real world is full of even more ridiculous hoops to jump through (source: I'm non-traditional students and have been jumping through these hoops for a long time).

Generally lecture blocks are 4 hours. Sometimes that is one lecturer (with breaks obviously) and other times its 4 one hour lectures or some random combination of times depending on the topic. Technically lectures are not mandatory per say. The lecturers have embedded quiz questions 2 per hour into their lecture that you answer. These questions help in your final exam grade for that learning block. You can miss 15% of these, no questions asked and still receive full credit. If you miss more it just lowers your final exam score (if you miss 100% of lecture points you cannot pass the exam). You can also still get excused absences. I went to a conference and that just removed those quiz questions from counting against me at all for those 2 days.

First year lectures are some mandatory, some not. It is the lecturers discretion. There are no quizzes in mandatory lectures for first year.

I would also like to address the clinical campus rotations. Yes, we lost Maine Med several years ago, its not ideal but it is in the past. We still have academic medical centers to rotate through. Northern Lights (formerly Eastern Maine Med) in Bangor is the largest clinical site so if you wanted to go there you would likely be able to. Also, the Springfield site was dropped because the hospital got bought out. As someone who has worked at a hospital during a time when it was bought out, the whole thing ends up being messy and medical students complicate the process. During our buy out, the medical students there were miserable. They weren't allowed to do anything and all I heard them do was complain about everything. My experience during the transition was that we were constantly understaffed, tensions were constantly high and the protocols were in flux from month to month. I don't think that would be very much fun to rotate through, but that is just me.

Someone else asked about 4th year. We set up our own rotations for 4th year so you can go wherever you, if that is your hometown, then great. I don't know the realities of getting all that set up, but I have talked to people who have rotated some cool places and built some nice connections so I am going to trust that I will be able to find experiences that suit me.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to PM me. I know there are frustrations going around, and I am not saying that this school is perfect because no school is perfect. However, I do not regret my decision to attend UNE COM.

Agreed.

-G.G.g x.

 

[TriageNinja154]

Sure, the conversation has centered mostly around the attendance issue because that’s one of the most pressing right now. As others mentioned, there are a wealth of issues at many schools, most of which are bearable, but since you asked:

• Our relationships with Clinical Campuses (3rd year rotations) are poor. We don’t have opportunities to rotate at any hospitals in Southern Maine including Portland or the hospital in our own town of Biddeford. To my understanding, we were late with paperwork to place a bid on Maine Medical Center rotations, and thus deemed ineligible. Tufts rotates there now. We recently lost one of our better clinical campuses in Springfield, MA. Our rotation sites can be described as unstable, at best. Most hospitals are very small, community hospitals. The school is inceasingly trying to get students to enter into a LIC (longitudinal) pathway where you do not go through the standard 6 third-year rotations and instead do them all in small doses by spending a full year with one generalist physician. This pathway is really geared towards primary care medicine and I wouldn’t be surprised if they started forcing students into it in the near future.
• Our start date was pushed up a month this year to give us additional Boards prep time (we started July 5). The date we have been told we are required to take boards by has also been pushed up several times, effectively making the additional time we were supposed to have to prepare nonexistent. Additionally, students that take the COMLEX in early June (1-14) get their scores back the same day as students that take the exam by the school's May 31 deadline. The administration has failed to give us a real reason we cannot use those extra two weeks to prepare for the exam.
• I mentioned this before, but there is a very high turnover of faculty. Most of the young faculty members (who give the most current advice and are the best mentors) are transitioning out of their positions. In fact, two of the course directors will not be here next year. The remaining faculty are mostly older, retired or semi-retired OMM Doctors. While there’s nothing wrong with this, many of them lack extensive hospital or clinical experience. To my knowledge we do not have a single full-time faculty member that is specialized out of a primary care field (this may be intentional). Many clinical faculty members do not actively practice clinical medicine at all. The Dean of the school is new as of 2016 and the President as of 2017.
• We do not have an on-site simulation experience. Students must drive to the Portland campus for this parts of their education. The amount of time we spend in SimLab is incredibly minimal. You will go approximately 4-5 times per year. It is my understanding that the Portland based health professions programs have significantly more time in the lab than us.

I reactivated my account just to see how the attendance policy was being portrayed here, but I want to address a few things in this post that I think are misleading. I'm through boards and have direct knowledge of rotations, etc. so I have some credibility on this:

- On third year clinical campuses: There's some good and some bad. We don't have our own hospital, so we are spread as far north as northern Maine and as far south as Newark, NJ and Reading, PA. We don't rotate in Biddeford because that's not a hospital where we should be rotating, plain and simple. They can't meet the demands the accrediting bodies place on medical schools. Maine Med is an unfortunate situation, but it is NOT because of late paperwork. It's a long, 99% political issue, but the crux of it is that Tufts has more money and name recognition, and Maine Med wanted an exclusive relationship with them. There are both DOs and MDs at that hospital who are still pissed, years later, about that situation. They really liked UNE students, and one individual I know there says there's a steeper clinical learning curve with Tufts students than they experienced with UNECOM students. We lost Springfield because Mercy Hospital was bought and the new ownership doesn't want students at this time. There was nothing UNE could do, it's just the way healthcare works. There's a chance that site could come back in the next few years, but right now it's not a situation where having students would be advantageous to anyone. While a number of sites are more rural and small, which does likely limit diversity of experiences (like you aren't really going to see a whole lot of crazy infectious disease or complex GI cases in Laconia, NH, but you might!) we do have some larger ones. Syracuse is new next year, and while it's not exactly considered one of the US' premier big cities, it's still a city with a lot of people. Rhode Island (aka "Providence", but really Kent Hospital in Warwick) is an excellent training site we've had for a long time and is always a competitive spot to get into because of the entire experience of being there. Newark, NJ is a super active site where there is incredibly high volume on Internal Medicine (that's the biggest rotation), Peds, Surgery, etc. and you're right next to NYC. So it's another site with a great mix of high acuity/patient volume, great location, and they've worked with UNE since the 1980s or so, so it's not going anywhere, it's very well established. There's even a medical mission that some of the Newark students go on and they don't have to make up the time away from their rotation. Finally, on the LIC issue, they aren't going to force it on anyone. It has mixed reviews from what I've heard, and to be honest I think it's more likely that they scrap it than force it on everyone, though in reality I think it's going to remain an option for a few students as it is now.

- On the start date: The reason it was moved back was because other schools start in July and therefore get an additional audition rotation during 4th year, leaving UNE students at a disadvantage. The current second years will be the first to benefit from that additional month. This was never about your boards, it was a response to a few years of classes complaining about that disadvantage we had. That being said, rest assured, if you aren't ready for boards, they will ultimately let you take them when you are ready (within reason). They are far more invested in you passing and doing well than having you meet an arbitrary deadline. Don't worry about that, they said the same thing to my class and other classes, ultimately they want you to take it when you're ready. They always move deadlines for people on that, it's too big a deal not to. Especially if your COMSAE (that's the mock boards exams, for you prospective students) isn't >500 in time, then they are super flexible.

- The turnover: Yeah, especially right now there's a lot of turnover. People are retiring, younger instructors will always turnover a lot as they move around and establish themselves, and ultimately every school will have a lot of their teaching faculty in the first two years be retired physicians. It's kind of the way it is. Don't worry about it, you're getting a good education no matter what, and 90% of your learning will be done in the hospitals and clinics on 3rd and 4th year, your first two years really are about passing boards. That's why this attendance issue is such a big deal for some people.

- Believe it or not, we get more sim experience than a lot of other schools. My friends who have taken COMLEX PE and go to other schools are jealous of our standardized patient exams (SPEX, you have an actor pretend to be a patient, it's kind of annoying to keep having them but you get a lot out of it whether or not you realize it at the time). Some schools don't even have sim labs. The school is very proud of the Portland sim lab, and trust me they want to get you in there more. But they also get complaints about having to drive up there too often, and they can't just make a sim lab pop up in Biddeford for only one program to benefit, especially with all the other programs just being in Portland. It is what it is, it's not a quick or inexpensive issue to solve, and frankly, it's not like there's any traffic in Maine, just suck it up and make the 25 minute drive. It's well worth it and the sim lab is super nice.

I'm happy to give honest, open opinions on anything, including the attendance issue, so either respond or DM me (is that still a thing on SDN?) if you have any questions. UNECOM is an excellent school with a phenomenal reputation. The attendance issue is really a big deal, in my opinion, because of the way the school administrators are dealing with it, not necessarily because of the policy itself. To the person above who was struggling with the idea of putting down a deposit despite being ok with mandatory attendance, dude, put down the deposit, unless you have a school you definitely like more already on the table. Even if you aren't happy during your four years here (and all things said and done, I was pretty happy), you're getting one of the best medical educations, DO or MD, in the country, and the people at UNE are fantastic.

 

[juggernautalpha]

I applied back in August and got an email saying that my application is being put on hold due to a "low GPA, low sGPA, or low MCAT". In my case, it's my sGPA and it's going to improve after grades are in for the semester. MCAT is average and cGPA is above average. Anyone else ever get this email or heard of someone getting this email and then later receiving an II?

 

[Dr.RIckandMorty]

I reactivated my account just to see how the attendance policy was being portrayed here, but I want to address a few things in this post that I think are misleading. I'm through boards and have direct knowledge of rotations, etc. so I have some credibility on this:

- On third year clinical campuses: There's some good and some bad. We don't have our own hospital, so we are spread as far north as northern Maine and as far south as Newark, NJ and Reading, PA. We don't rotate in Biddeford because that's not a hospital where we should be rotating, plain and simple. They can't meet the demands the accrediting bodies place on medical schools. Maine Med is an unfortunate situation, but it is NOT because of late paperwork. It's a long, 99% political issue, but the crux of it is that Tufts has more money and name recognition, and Maine Med wanted an exclusive relationship with them. There are both DOs and MDs at that hospital who are still pissed, years later, about that situation. They really liked UNE students, and one individual I know there says there's a steeper clinical learning curve with Tufts students than they experienced with UNECOM students. We lost Springfield because Mercy Hospital was bought and the new ownership doesn't want students at this time. There was nothing UNE could do, it's just the way healthcare works. There's a chance that site could come back in the next few years, but right now it's not a situation where having students would be advantageous to anyone. While a number of sites are more rural and small, which does likely limit diversity of experiences (like you aren't really going to see a whole lot of crazy infectious disease or complex GI cases in Laconia, NH, but you might!) we do have some larger ones. Syracuse is new next year, and while it's not exactly considered one of the US' premier big cities, it's still a city with a lot of people. Rhode Island (aka "Providence", but really Kent Hospital in Warwick) is an excellent training site we've had for a long time and is always a competitive spot to get into because of the entire experience of being there. Newark, NJ is a super active site where there is incredibly high volume on Internal Medicine (that's the biggest rotation), Peds, Surgery, etc. and you're right next to NYC. So it's another site with a great mix of high acuity/patient volume, great location, and they've worked with UNE since the 1980s or so, so it's not going anywhere, it's very well established. There's even a medical mission that some of the Newark students go on and they don't have to make up the time away from their rotation. Finally, on the LIC issue, they aren't going to force it on anyone. It has mixed reviews from what I've heard, and to be honest I think it's more likely that they scrap it than force it on everyone, though in reality I think it's going to remain an option for a few students as it is now.

- On the start date: The reason it was moved back was because other schools start in July and therefore get an additional audition rotation during 4th year, leaving UNE students at a disadvantage. The current second years will be the first to benefit from that additional month. This was never about your boards, it was a response to a few years of classes complaining about that disadvantage we had. That being said, rest assured, if you aren't ready for boards, they will ultimately let you take them when you are ready (within reason). They are far more invested in you passing and doing well than having you meet an arbitrary deadline. Don't worry about that, they said the same thing to my class and other classes, ultimately they want you to take it when you're ready. They always move deadlines for people on that, it's too big a deal not to. Especially if your COMSAE (that's the mock boards exams, for you prospective students) isn't >500 in time, then they are super flexible.

- The turnover: Yeah, especially right now there's a lot of turnover. People are retiring, younger instructors will always turnover a lot as they move around and establish themselves, and ultimately every school will have a lot of their teaching faculty in the first two years be retired physicians. It's kind of the way it is. Don't worry about it, you're getting a good education no matter what, and 90% of your learning will be done in the hospitals and clinics on 3rd and 4th year, your first two years really are about passing boards. That's why this attendance issue is such a big deal for some people.

- Believe it or not, we get more sim experience than a lot of other schools. My friends who have taken COMLEX PE and go to other schools are jealous of our standardized patient exams (SPEX, you have an actor pretend to be a patient, it's kind of annoying to keep having them but you get a lot out of it whether or not you realize it at the time). Some schools don't even have sim labs. The school is very proud of the Portland sim lab, and trust me they want to get you in there more. But they also get complaints about having to drive up there too often, and they can't just make a sim lab pop up in Biddeford for only one program to benefit, especially with all the other programs just being in Portland. It is what it is, it's not a quick or inexpensive issue to solve, and frankly, it's not like there's any traffic in Maine, just suck it up and make the 25 minute drive. It's well worth it and the sim lab is super nice.

I'm happy to give honest, open opinions on anything, including the attendance issue, so either respond or DM me (is that still a thing on SDN?) if you have any questions. UNECOM is an excellent school with a phenomenal reputation. The attendance issue is really a big deal, in my opinion, because of the way the school administrators are dealing with it, not necessarily because of the policy itself. To the person above who was struggling with the idea of putting down a deposit despite being ok with mandatory attendance, dude, put down the deposit, unless you have a school you definitely like more already on the table. Even if you aren't happy during your four years here (and all things said and done, I was pretty happy), you're getting one of the best medical educations, DO or MD, in the country, and the people at UNE are fantastic.

I Think you gave a great perspective on this. Which hospital in Syracuse is being added to rotation sites if you dont mind me asking?

 

[masc5467]

Do any students live in Portland? From my interview I remember the drive being pretty quick.

 

[medschool1718]

Do any students live in Portland? From my interview I remember the drive being pretty quick.

The student that gave my tour on interview day said he lived in Portland! On a normal day he didn’t mind the drive but he said when it gets snowy it could take a while to get to campus.

 

[dbzlegend]

I reactivated my account just to see how the attendance policy was being portrayed here, but I want to address a few things in this post that I think are misleading. I'm through boards and have direct knowledge of rotations, etc. so I have some credibility on this:

- On third year clinical campuses: There's some good and some bad. We don't have our own hospital, so we are spread as far north as northern Maine and as far south as Newark, NJ and Reading, PA. We don't rotate in Biddeford because that's not a hospital where we should be rotating, plain and simple. They can't meet the demands the accrediting bodies place on medical schools. Maine Med is an unfortunate situation, but it is NOT because of late paperwork. It's a long, 99% political issue, but the crux of it is that Tufts has more money and name recognition, and Maine Med wanted an exclusive relationship with them. There are both DOs and MDs at that hospital who are still pissed, years later, about that situation. They really liked UNE students, and one individual I know there says there's a steeper clinical learning curve with Tufts students than they experienced with UNECOM students. We lost Springfield because Mercy Hospital was bought and the new ownership doesn't want students at this time. There was nothing UNE could do, it's just the way healthcare works. There's a chance that site could come back in the next few years, but right now it's not a situation where having students would be advantageous to anyone. While a number of sites are more rural and small, which does likely limit diversity of experiences (like you aren't really going to see a whole lot of crazy infectious disease or complex GI cases in Laconia, NH, but you might!) we do have some larger ones. Syracuse is new next year, and while it's not exactly considered one of the US' premier big cities, it's still a city with a lot of people. Rhode Island (aka "Providence", but really Kent Hospital in Warwick) is an excellent training site we've had for a long time and is always a competitive spot to get into because of the entire experience of being there. Newark, NJ is a super active site where there is incredibly high volume on Internal Medicine (that's the biggest rotation), Peds, Surgery, etc. and you're right next to NYC. So it's another site with a great mix of high acuity/patient volume, great location, and they've worked with UNE since the 1980s or so, so it's not going anywhere, it's very well established. There's even a medical mission that some of the Newark students go on and they don't have to make up the time away from their rotation. Finally, on the LIC issue, they aren't going to force it on anyone. It has mixed reviews from what I've heard, and to be honest I think it's more likely that they scrap it than force it on everyone, though in reality I think it's going to remain an option for a few students as it is now.

- On the start date: The reason it was moved back was because other schools start in July and therefore get an additional audition rotation during 4th year, leaving UNE students at a disadvantage. The current second years will be the first to benefit from that additional month. This was never about your boards, it was a response to a few years of classes complaining about that disadvantage we had. That being said, rest assured, if you aren't ready for boards, they will ultimately let you take them when you are ready (within reason). They are far more invested in you passing and doing well than having you meet an arbitrary deadline. Don't worry about that, they said the same thing to my class and other classes, ultimately they want you to take it when you're ready. They always move deadlines for people on that, it's too big a deal not to. Especially if your COMSAE (that's the mock boards exams, for you prospective students) isn't >500 in time, then they are super flexible.

- The turnover: Yeah, especially right now there's a lot of turnover. People are retiring, younger instructors will always turnover a lot as they move around and establish themselves, and ultimately every school will have a lot of their teaching faculty in the first two years be retired physicians. It's kind of the way it is. Don't worry about it, you're getting a good education no matter what, and 90% of your learning will be done in the hospitals and clinics on 3rd and 4th year, your first two years really are about passing boards. That's why this attendance issue is such a big deal for some people.

- Believe it or not, we get more sim experience than a lot of other schools. My friends who have taken COMLEX PE and go to other schools are jealous of our standardized patient exams (SPEX, you have an actor pretend to be a patient, it's kind of annoying to keep having them but you get a lot out of it whether or not you realize it at the time). Some schools don't even have sim labs. The school is very proud of the Portland sim lab, and trust me they want to get you in there more. But they also get complaints about having to drive up there too often, and they can't just make a sim lab pop up in Biddeford for only one program to benefit, especially with all the other programs just being in Portland. It is what it is, it's not a quick or inexpensive issue to solve, and frankly, it's not like there's any traffic in Maine, just suck it up and make the 25 minute drive. It's well worth it and the sim lab is super nice.

I'm happy to give honest, open opinions on anything, including the attendance issue, so either respond or DM me (is that still a thing on SDN?) if you have any questions. UNECOM is an excellent school with a phenomenal reputation. The attendance issue is really a big deal, in my opinion, because of the way the school administrators are dealing with it, not necessarily because of the policy itself. To the person above who was struggling with the idea of putting down a deposit despite being ok with mandatory attendance, dude, put down the deposit, unless you have a school you definitely like more already on the table. Even if you aren't happy during your four years here (and all things said and done, I was pretty happy), you're getting one of the best medical educations, DO or MD, in the country, and the people at UNE are fantastic.

I might’ve misheard during my interview but is there a new site being added in New York as well?

 

[medschool1718]

I might’ve misheard during my interview but is there a new site being added in New York as well?

I’m fairly certain it was a hospital on Long Island

 

[medschool1718]

accepted!! interviewed on 11/14!

 

[dbzlegend]

Accepted as well, worked so hard for this!

 

[autumn107]

Accepted! Interviewed on 11/15.

 

[Rn2MD93]

I reactivated my account just to see how the attendance policy was being portrayed here, but I want to address a few things in this post that I think are misleading. I'm through boards and have direct knowledge of rotations, etc. so I have some credibility on this:

- On third year clinical campuses: There's some good and some bad. We don't have our own hospital, so we are spread as far north as northern Maine and as far south as Newark, NJ and Reading, PA. We don't rotate in Biddeford because that's not a hospital where we should be rotating, plain and simple. They can't meet the demands the accrediting bodies place on medical schools. Maine Med is an unfortunate situation, but it is NOT because of late paperwork. It's a long, 99% political issue, but the crux of it is that Tufts has more money and name recognition, and Maine Med wanted an exclusive relationship with them. There are both DOs and MDs at that hospital who are still pissed, years later, about that situation. They really liked UNE students, and one individual I know there says there's a steeper clinical learning curve with Tufts students than they experienced with UNECOM students. We lost Springfield because Mercy Hospital was bought and the new ownership doesn't want students at this time. There was nothing UNE could do, it's just the way healthcare works. There's a chance that site could come back in the next few years, but right now it's not a situation where having students would be advantageous to anyone. While a number of sites are more rural and small, which does likely limit diversity of experiences (like you aren't really going to see a whole lot of crazy infectious disease or complex GI cases in Laconia, NH, but you might!) we do have some larger ones. Syracuse is new next year, and while it's not exactly considered one of the US' premier big cities, it's still a city with a lot of people. Rhode Island (aka "Providence", but really Kent Hospital in Warwick) is an excellent training site we've had for a long time and is always a competitive spot to get into because of the entire experience of being there. Newark, NJ is a super active site where there is incredibly high volume on Internal Medicine (that's the biggest rotation), Peds, Surgery, etc. and you're right next to NYC. So it's another site with a great mix of high acuity/patient volume, great location, and they've worked with UNE since the 1980s or so, so it's not going anywhere, it's very well established. There's even a medical mission that some of the Newark students go on and they don't have to make up the time away from their rotation. Finally, on the LIC issue, they aren't going to force it on anyone. It has mixed reviews from what I've heard, and to be honest I think it's more likely that they scrap it than force it on everyone, though in reality I think it's going to remain an option for a few students as it is now.

- On the start date: The reason it was moved back was because other schools start in July and therefore get an additional audition rotation during 4th year, leaving UNE students at a disadvantage. The current second years will be the first to benefit from that additional month. This was never about your boards, it was a response to a few years of classes complaining about that disadvantage we had. That being said, rest assured, if you aren't ready for boards, they will ultimately let you take them when you are ready (within reason). They are far more invested in you passing and doing well than having you meet an arbitrary deadline. Don't worry about that, they said the same thing to my class and other classes, ultimately they want you to take it when you're ready. They always move deadlines for people on that, it's too big a deal not to. Especially if your COMSAE (that's the mock boards exams, for you prospective students) isn't >500 in time, then they are super flexible.

- The turnover: Yeah, especially right now there's a lot of turnover. People are retiring, younger instructors will always turnover a lot as they move around and establish themselves, and ultimately every school will have a lot of their teaching faculty in the first two years be retired physicians. It's kind of the way it is. Don't worry about it, you're getting a good education no matter what, and 90% of your learning will be done in the hospitals and clinics on 3rd and 4th year, your first two years really are about passing boards. That's why this attendance issue is such a big deal for some people.

- Believe it or not, we get more sim experience than a lot of other schools. My friends who have taken COMLEX PE and go to other schools are jealous of our standardized patient exams (SPEX, you have an actor pretend to be a patient, it's kind of annoying to keep having them but you get a lot out of it whether or not you realize it at the time). Some schools don't even have sim labs. The school is very proud of the Portland sim lab, and trust me they want to get you in there more. But they also get complaints about having to drive up there too often, and they can't just make a sim lab pop up in Biddeford for only one program to benefit, especially with all the other programs just being in Portland. It is what it is, it's not a quick or inexpensive issue to solve, and frankly, it's not like there's any traffic in Maine, just suck it up and make the 25 minute drive. It's well worth it and the sim lab is super nice.

I'm happy to give honest, open opinions on anything, including the attendance issue, so either respond or DM me (is that still a thing on SDN?) if you have any questions. UNECOM is an excellent school with a phenomenal reputation. The attendance issue is really a big deal, in my opinion, because of the way the school administrators are dealing with it, not necessarily because of the policy itself. To the person above who was struggling with the idea of putting down a deposit despite being ok with mandatory attendance, dude, put down the deposit, unless you have a school you definitely like more already on the table. Even if you aren't happy during your four years here (and all things said and done, I was pretty happy), you're getting one of the best medical educations, DO or MD, in the country, and the people at UNE are fantastic.

Hey, thanks for your honest feedback, I am sure a lot of people found it usefull. How many and which clinical campuses would you say provide good clinical experiences?