2019-2020 Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine (ACOM)

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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If anyone staying in Dothan for interviews or another look would prefer to stay with a current second-year student, feel free to PM me! I have a quiet 3 bedroom house with anything you need that would be essentially all to yourself for a very affordable price. Happy to host and provide accommodations!
 
Is anyone still on the pre-II hold? If so, do you guys know the chances for an interview? Thanks!
 
PapaStill said:
Current ACOM fourth year interviewing for anesthesiology. I've been surprised with the number of amazing programs this years anesthesia crew has been invited to interview at! ACOM won't do you wrong if you study for your boards and do well!! GL to class of 2024!!!
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Did you take the COMLEX and the USMLE?
 
PapaStill said:
Current ACOM fourth year interviewing for anesthesiology. I've been surprised with the number of amazing programs this years anesthesia crew has been invited to interview at! ACOM won't do you wrong if you study for your boards and do well!! GL to class of 2024!!!
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Would love to hear more about your experience at ACOM. I am interested in anesthesiology too and a little nervous. Did you take the COMLEX and USMLE?
 
For those of you who have interviewed already, what was the interview like? Open or closed file? Was it 1 on 1 or were there more than one person interviewing you? How long was it? I saw they have 1 hour blocked off for it in the schedule.
 
arjusmc said:
For those of you who have interviewed already, what was the interview like? Open or closed file? Was it 1 on 1 or were there more than one person interviewing you? How long was it? I saw they have 1 hour blocked off for it in the schedule.
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2 faculty per interview. They divide the group in half some interview will the others talk to students who are over the OMM/Anatomy lab and Sim Lab. After 30 minutes everyone switches. It was the lowest pressure interview I have had so far so relax and have a good time!
 
drstranger said:
2 faculty per interview. They divide the group in half some interview will the others talk to students who are over the OMM/Anatomy lab and Sim Lab. After 30 minutes everyone switches. It was the lowest pressure interview I have had so far so relax and have a good time!
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Great, thanks!
 
Oh and its open file but they didn't use it much in my interview they just asked questions and threw some odd ones in there but it was just a conversation. My suggestion is come with one or two questions of your own for the interviewers. Like favorite thing about school/Dothan
 
PapaStill said:
Current ACOM fourth year interviewing for anesthesiology. I've been surprised with the number of amazing programs this years anesthesia crew has been invited to interview at! ACOM won't do you wrong if you study for your boards and do well!! GL to class of 2024!!!
Click to expand...
Were any of your classmates interested in radiology? I noticed how a few at ACOM seemed to match radiology every year.
 
drstranger said:
Oh and its open file but they didn't use it much in my interview they just asked questions and threw some odd ones in there but it was just a conversation. My suggestion is come with one or two questions of your own for the interviewers. Like favorite thing about school/Dothan
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Thanks, are they transparent about when you should hear back from them?
 
arjusmc said:
Thanks, are they transparent about when you should hear back from them?
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Yup for my interview they said 10 day- 2 weeks to get a decision. Sometimes a little later if the dean is gone. But they got back to us in 6 days!
 
drstranger said:
2 faculty per interview. They divide the group in half some interview will the others talk to students who are over the OMM/Anatomy lab and Sim Lab. After 30 minutes everyone switches. It was the lowest pressure interview I have had so far so relax and have a good time!
Click to expand...
i second that.
Honestly the LEAST stressful interview ive had.
Literally 2 minutes into my interview they told me
"is this your first interview? you seem stressed, please loosen up we are not here to bash you, we just wanna get to know you"
after that i let loose and the scary 30-60 min interview just flew by.
Accepted 5 days later. (withdrew acceptance cuz i got into my dream school)

The takeaway is walk in there confident but not cocky. Seriously, its such a small town that the school itself is a little community so make sure to show how social you are.

EDIT: i am pretty sure it was only 30 minutes but i couldve sworn others were in there up to an hour so i thought i blew mine. 😉
 
Iux said:
Were any of your classmates interested in radiology? I noticed how a few at ACOM seemed to match radiology every year.
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We for sure have one but I can't speak to everyone in my class.
 
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No_One said:
i second that.
Honestly the LEAST stressful interview ive had.
Literally 2 minutes into my interview they told me
"is this your first interview? you seem stressed, please loosen up we are not here to bash you, we just wanna get to know you"
after that i let loose and the scary 30-60 min interview just flew by.
Accepted 5 days later. (withdrew acceptance cuz i got into my dream school)

The takeaway is walk in there confident but not cocky. Seriously, its such a small town that the school itself is a little community so make sure to show how social you are.

EDIT: i am pretty sure it was only 30 minutes but i couldve sworn others were in there up to an hour so i thought i blew mine. 😉
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I’m glad to hear it’s more about getting to know the applicant than stressing them out.
 
Iux said:
Were any of your classmates interested in radiology? I noticed how a few at ACOM seemed to match radiology every year.
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There’s a few every year because not many people are interested in radiology. I know of at least 2 from 2020 who are interested.
 
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Anybody know when they send out matriculation packets? I accepted my offer months ago and I'm getting a little worried now that I haven't received anything and it's already January.
 
fashionenthusiast said:
Anybody know when they send out matriculation packets? I accepted my offer months ago and I'm getting a little worried now that I haven't received anything and it's already January.
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They told me they will send it out on January 15th I think via mail! I am getting antsy about it also!
 
If any of y’all interviewed today and want to meet some current students come out to the bar “Rain” tonight.
 
Does anyone know if there is a way to see if an earlier interview date has a spot open up once you’ve already scheduled the interview?
 
SciHi222 said:
Does anyone know if there is a way to see if an earlier interview date has a spot open up once you’ve already scheduled the interview?
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It would show up on the portal on the homepage if there was an earlier interview date
 
Iux said:
so the committee meets again today, does anyone know if we will hear from them today?
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Hope to hear from ACOM tomorrow as I heard there was a network outage that is effecting telephones and internet in zip code areas 36301 to 36305.
 
PapaStill said:
Current ACOM fourth year interviewing for anesthesiology. I've been surprised with the number of amazing programs this years anesthesia crew has been invited to interview at! ACOM won't do you wrong if you study for your boards and do well!! GL to class of 2024!!!
Click to expand...

How did your clinical rotations go? Was it mostly one-on-one with a physician? Also do you know if there is a dedicated board prep time?
 
arjusmc said:
How did your clinical rotations go? Was it mostly one-on-one with a physician? Also do you know if there is a dedicated board prep time?
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Yes. Mostly 1 on 1 with a preceptor. There will be some rotation sites where you are with residents but this is limited. There was not enough dedicated study time when I was a student but I also was required to do the waste of time wolf pacc. From what I understand now, wolf pacc is optional (absolutely no one should do it) so that frees up study time
 
DO2015CA said:
Yes. Mostly 1 on 1 with a preceptor. There will be some rotation sites where you are with residents but this is limited. There was not enough dedicated study time when I was a student but I also was required to do the waste of time wolf pacc. From what I understand now, wolf pacc is optional (absolutely no one should do it) so that frees up study time
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I'm reading about wolfpacc now, it seems like a mess. Sorry I should have looked back a few pages in the discussion. I personally like the preceptor based education, partially because I saw how successful it can be when I was in paramedic school. Its essentially 100% preceptor. I feel it's a good fit for me, but what are the downsides to it from your perspective?
 
arjusmc said:
I'm reading about wolfpacc now, it seems like a mess. Sorry I should have looked back a few pages in the discussion. I personally like the preceptor based education, partially because I saw how successful it can be when I was in paramedic school. Its essentially 100% preceptor. I feel it's a good fit for me, but what are the downsides to it from your perspective?
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the best of both worlds is having a mix between resident and preceptor based. I felt Extremely comfortable on my auditions being preceptor only because I saw so many patients that I got comfortable with my physical exam skill. Students that has mainly resident rotations placed their stethoscopes on less patients than me so their physical exam skills were not where mine were. On the flip side. Resident rotations are important because you need to understand how to function as a resident. You won’t get that from preceptor rotations. Also, residents are still learning and were recently in your position so they will talk out/educate you through their whole thought process. This allows you to learn how to develop a better differential. Preceptors having been attendings for a long time, their brain naturally skips steps that you might not understand. They will mark off ddx in their mind that you will never see was on there.

TL;DR you want both. Preceptors so you can see as many patients to get comfortable with physical exam. Residents so you have bigger growth educational wise
 
DO2015CA said:
the best of both worlds is having a mix between resident and preceptor based. I felt Extremely comfortable on my auditions being preceptor only because I saw so many patients that I got comfortable with my physical exam skill. Students that has mainly resident rotations placed their stethoscopes on less patients than me so their physical exam skills were not where mine were. On the flip side. Resident rotations are important because you need to understand how to function as a resident. You won’t get that from preceptor rotations. Also, residents are still learning and were recently in your position so they will talk out/educate you through their whole thought process. This allows you to learn how to develop a better differential. Preceptors having been attendings for a long time, their brain naturally skips steps that you might not understand. They will mark off ddx in their mind that you will never see was on there.

TL;DR you want both. Preceptors so you can see as many patients to get comfortable with physical exam. Residents so you have bigger growth educational wise
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Thank you, that makes a lot of sense. Do you feel you had a good opportunity to have both at ACOM?
 
arjusmc said:
Thank you, that makes a lot of sense. Do you feel you had a good opportunity to have both at ACOM?
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No. I had zero resident rotations but that’s why I auditioned 4th year so I wasn’t behind starting intern year. ACGME requires at least 1 rotation to be with residents now. So you will have at least one. It will not be enough but at the same time you will see how a residency program operates. To be 100% transparent, that’s my only irritation with ACOMs clinical curriculum. Honestly as far as a DO school, I think their clinical curriculum is in the upper tier of preceptor based rotations. I can tell you for a fact I was 100% confident in my abilities on rotations. I felt I shined pretty well compared to my counter part auditioners MDs and DOs alike. I also have a good work ethic. I did not try to skate by on my preceptor rotations. Work hard and prosperity will come.
 
DO2015CA said:
No. I had zero resident rotations but that’s why I auditioned 4th year so I wasn’t behind starting intern year. ACGME requires at least 1 rotation to be with residents now. So you will have at least one. It will not be enough but at the same time you will see how a residency program operates. To be 100% transparent, that’s my only irritation with ACOMs clinical curriculum. Honestly as far as a DO school, I think their clinical curriculum is in the upper tier of preceptor based rotations. I can tell you for a fact I was 100% confident in my abilities on rotations. I felt I shined pretty well compared to my counter part auditioners MDs and DOs alike. I also have a good work ethic. I did not try to skate by on my preceptor rotations. Work hard and prosperity will come.
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How much can the lack of resident rotations hurt you in the match?
 
arjusmc said:
How much can the lack of resident rotations hurt you in the match?
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Now it’s part of the reason why certain residency programs and MD schools think DO curriculum and therefore DO schools are trash. So there is that. And it could affect your ability to audition well if you don’t work hard to fill in those gaps you would gain from residents. But as for actual interviews at places you didn’t audition, it wouldn’t affect that. Because they won’t know that you don’t know that stuff
 
DO2015CA said:
Now it’s part of the reason why certain residency programs and MD schools think DO curriculum and therefore DO schools are trash. So there is that. And it could affect your ability to audition well if you don’t work hard to fill in those gaps you would gain from residents. But as for actual interviews at places you didn’t audition, it wouldn’t affect that. Because they won’t know that you don’t know that stuff
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Ok that makes a lot of sense all things to consider. Between the other DO schools I have learned about through open houses and interviews, it appears that acom has a better handle on the clinical aspects.
 
drstranger said:
They told me they will send it out on January 15th I think via mail! I am getting antsy about it also!
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Hey, I saw this and was curious and started looking around their website... It says on their website that they are emailed to deposited students usually around February 1
 
SoFreshSoSpleen said:
Hey, I saw this and was curious and started looking around their website... It says on their website that they are emailed to deposited students usually around February 1
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Interesting, this is the deposit reminder email that I received after being accepted.
 

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Just got accepted today!

In my interview they mentioned that they’ve started a “house” system where you can earn point like Harry Potter style. can any current students elaborate on how it works? 🙂
 
ajax224 said:
Just got accepted today!

In my interview they mentioned that they’ve started a “house” system where you can earn point like Harry Potter style. can any current students elaborate on how it works? 🙂
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Ok, I will say ACOM was already top of my list, BUT NOW I HAVE TO GET IN HERE AS A MATTER OF MY HP PRIDE

#GOGOGRYFFINDOR #LIONSFORTHECUP (I chose an appropriate day to wear my Gryffindor socks)
 
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