2019-2020 Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine (RVUCOM-Utah)

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rplanishek said:
There should be a link under the interview tab that allows you to schedule the interview and it will have multiple dates to pick from. I know some people applying to the Colorado campus never received an email. I was accepted to the Southern Utah campus and they said I would receive an acceptance email the next day, which I never did. So, not sure what's up with their system.
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I got accepted to the Utah campus back in August. I still have never gotten an email from them either. I got a letter in the mail & the tab on the link updated to “accepted” with information.
 
rplanishek said:
Just turned down my acceptance offered here! Good luck everyone!
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If you don’t mind me asking, what made you decide to turn down this school? You can also DM me if you’d prefer.
 
premed2319 said:
I'm also curious, i'm debating between this school and ICOM but I am leaning more towards RVU.
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I picked ICOM over RVU due to the fact that I did not like the St. George area. Also, I have found, after going through undergrad and grad school, that I benefit more from in person lectures where I can interact and form a relationship with the professors. RVU shares faculty with Colorado so half the lectures are live in Utah and the other half are broadcast to the school from Colorado. I know that wouldn't work for me and I don't want to set myself up for failure. It was all personal preference.
 
rplanishek said:
I picked ICOM over RVU due to the fact that I did not like the St. George area. Also, I have found, after going through undergrad and grad school, that I benefit more from in person lectures where I can interact and form a relationship with the professors. RVU shares faculty with Colorado so half the lectures are live in Utah and the other half are broadcast to the school from Colorado. I know that wouldn't work for me and I don't want to set myself up for failure. It was all personal preference.
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Thanks for the feedback
 
My portal changed and now it only shows that I am an applicant to UT when I previously put no preference. Does this mean I am only being considered for Utah? If so that's good news actually since I prefer this area and wish I only applied Utah.
 
Raider38 said:
My portal changed and now it only shows that I am an applicant to UT when I previously put no preference. Does this mean I am only being considered for Utah? If so that's good news actually since I prefer this area and wish I only applied Utah.
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This is what happened to me. After that switch, I received an II a few days after! This may only be a coincidence but this is what happened to me!
 
Raider38 said:
My portal changed and now it only shows that I am an applicant to UT when I previously put no preference. Does this mean I am only being considered for Utah? If so that's good news actually since I prefer this area and wish I only applied Utah.
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When were you complete?
 
OrexinRules said:
This is what happened to me. After that switch, I received an II a few days after! This may only be a coincidence but this is what happened to me!
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Wow that's amazing, hopefully mine will come soon.
 
WAIT. I didn't realize this either but my application says Applicant - UT !! I was complete 9/30. Crossing my fingers I hear back soon
 
Raider38 said:
My portal changed and now it only shows that I am an applicant to UT when I previously put no preference. Does this mean I am only being considered for Utah? If so that's good news actually since I prefer this area and wish I only applied Utah.
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Yes, that means that after their review, you're now only being considered for the UT campus.
 
Question for current students at RVUCOM-SU...
I absolutely loved the school on interview day and was fortunate enough to be offered a seat a few weeks ago! I am weighing the pros and cons between this school and one other, and the only question/concern I have about RVUSU is regarding research. I know the CO campus just matched several students into pretty competitive specialties this past year which is pretty impressive, and I'm assuming the CO campus has some good research opps on campus in order to help those students get those residency spots. What is research like at SU? I don't remember there being a wet lab during the campus tour, and I am wondering if this will hinder SU campus students from matching into some of the same specialties CO students are. Is there anyone currently involved in research/ professors offering any research that students are able to participate in? I've just heard a bunch about how research (publishing etc) is necessary if you're looking to go into surgery or some other similar specialties, so I wanted to clarify SU's resources. Shout out to @Dr. wait for it... for his awesome response, just wanting to get multiple perspectives.
 
Anyone on here interview with me yesterday?
Great experience. Small group. Lots of BYU students. Laid back, but you still have to prepare and know your app like you should no matter how laid back any school claims their interviews are. The presentation/chat with the dean was really helpful.
Y’all weren’t joking about every student that walked by coming up to say hi and offer to answer any questions. Crazy friendly. And they’d just gotten out of a big exam.
Oh and in the folder they give you there’s a page that has the schedule and interview order, including who is interviewing who, along with a one-page bio of each person interviewing you, but you need to double check that they both match up. A few of us actually got the wrong bios in our packets compared to who it said would be interviewing us on the schedule page, and had to trade the bios around amongst us. Nbd. I’m sure it was an innocent accident, but I found the bios helpful and might have been thrown off a little if I’d walked in the room to see someone unexpected. Even that would have been recoverable though 🙂
 
Futuredocdoc1 said:
Question for current students at RVUCOM-SU...
What is research like at SU?...
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Third year UT student involved with research at the school. There are research opportunities if you are proactive and seek them out. I feel many of the faculty would be willing to work with you on a project if you come to them with an idea or brainstorm one up with them. I do not think there is a huge list of "pending" faculty projects like they have at other schools. It takes initiative, you won't be simply handed a project.

There is a "Research Track" available where you work directly with faculty members to design, implement, and carry out a project (and hopefully publish). You also learn more about the research process, read and present articles in weekly sessions, etc.

There is no "wet" lab. You are not going to be doing PhD type stuff if you come here (pipetting, PCR, animal models, etc, etc). It essentially translational and clinical research. Some students have come up with some pretty cool and independent ideas (OMT studies, BMI changes during school, thoughts on OMT and desired speciality, projects done on international trips, etc). Both campuses hold an annual research day where you can present you work (and add it to your CV).

Last year the UT campus hosted the Student Osteopathic Surgical Conference which had an additional opportunity to present work.

As far as research being "necessary" for residency - it is very dependent on the speciality and the program. IMO, do not do research for the sake of checking off a box on your CV. You will be miserable and your work will likely be "meh". There are many community/county based programs that want good clinicians, not physician-scientists. Of course, if you are looking at academic/university residency, then yes, you should be interested in research and have some on your CV.
 
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Question for current students/ anyone who knows the area well. What types of employment are SO able to typically find? We came across tech ridge while doing some research but it seems to still be very much under development, is that the case?
Thanks!


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Woodstatic said:
I checked, and nothing 🙁 when were you file complete?

edit: Congrats by the way!!!
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Thanks!

I submitted 8/30, complete 10/3! Pretty excited for this one, I really love the region and semi-rural atmosphere.

Can any current students comment on 3rd/4th year rotations? I came across the .pdf describing lottery based interview locations. How do you guys feel about the rotation sites?
 
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ultralight_highspeed said:
Thanks!

I submitted 8/30, complete 10/3! Pretty excited for this one, I really love the region and semi-rural atmosphere.

Can any current students comment on 3rd/4th year rotations? I came across the .pdf describing lottery based interview locations. How do you guys feel about the rotation sites?
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So if you dont mind what are your stats? I was complete by 10/2 I'm trying to gauge where I may be as far as in their lineup. Thanks
 
Accepted!! I got the call this afternoon. Interviewed 10/16. Can't believe this is happening! I really love this school
 
@ current students, do you have to move far away from St George for rotations in year 3 and 4? Do you have to move to a new city for every rotation? I couldn’t find quantifiable info on their website and i’m trying to decide between RVU and another school


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samosamosa said:
@ current students, do you have to move far away from St George for rotations in year 3 and 4?
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Your 3rd year rotation region is decided by a lottery drawing system based upon how you and your classmates each rank the rotation sites (rotation site guide posted below). In general, once you are placed in a region the school will work to try and have you do as many of your rotations as possible in that region. So far this year students have been doing rotations at sites outside of their “assigned region“. I’m not surprised being the first class, but it is disappointing. My feeling is that by the time you would start rotations more sites and preceptors will be established and this would be less of an issue. However I don’t think the school will ever guarantee 100% that all of your rotations will be in one region during third year.

4th year - most of your rotations are up to what you want to do. For example if you want to do away rotations at residency programs you are interested in you apply for a visiting student rotation. You can also set up your own rotations with preceptors you know or work with your coordinator to do electives in areas you’re interested in with preceptors who are already affiliated with RVU.

 
danielblank313 said:
Since RVU requires everyone to take both boards, is there going to be a published pass rate sometime this cycle? If so, is there a certain time period it can be expected?
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Like full rocker Said, it should be posted soon. I am curious to see the pass rate. But there is talk that they might drop the requirement to take Step 1 if you are going into family med. it’s something our dean brought up for our class (2021) but it didn’t happen before we took boards. I’m not sure if it will actually happen or not in the future. But the reasoning they give is that most family med programs will accept either score so they don’t want to add the extra cost and stress to students who don’t truly need that score on their app. I think there is also benefit for the school if it happens to drop people who don’t try as hard on step (because they don’t feel they need it to get into their specialty). That could boost the average For step 1. Curious if they have brought this up at any of the interviews?
 
Dr. wait for it... said:
Like full rocker Said, it should be posted soon. I am curious to see the pass rate. But there is talk that they might drop the requirement to take Step 1 if you are going into family med. it’s something our dean brought up for our class (2021) but it didn’t happen before we took boards. I’m not sure if it will actually happen or not in the future. But the reasoning they give is that most family med programs will accept either score so they don’t want to add the extra cost and stress to students who don’t truly need that score on their app. I think there is also benefit for the school if it happens to drop people who don’t try as hard on step (because they don’t feel they need it to get into their specialty). That could boost the average For step 1. Curious if they have brought this up at any of the interviews?
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In our interviews recently (Oct 21) the Dean still sounded pretty firm and supportive of everyone being required to take both exams. He sounded like he wanted to firmly set our expectations as potential future students there, but I also don’t think that excludes the possibility that he was still supportive of what you mentioned about FM not being required to take USMLE, he just didn’t bring it up in his interview presentation.
 
CJK said:
In our interviews recently (Oct 21) the Dean still sounded pretty firm and supportive of everyone being required to take both exams. He sounded like he wanted to firmly set our expectations as potential future students there, but I also don’t think that excludes the possibility that he was still supportive of what you mentioned about FM not being required to take USMLE, he just didn’t bring it up in his interview presentation.
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Then don't take what I said for much weight. If he didn't bring it up, the schools stance is probably that taking USMLE step 1 will most likely benefit you as a student. I can see why they would want you to take both, People tend to do better on the COMLEX if they take Step 1 first and you need to pass COMLEX to become a physician out of this school.
 
CJK said:
Anyone on here interview with me yesterday?
Great experience. Small group. Lots of BYU students. Laid back, but you still have to prepare and know your app like you should no matter how laid back any school claims their interviews are. The presentation/chat with the dean was really helpful.
Y’all weren’t joking about every student that walked by coming up to say hi and offer to answer any questions. Crazy friendly. And they’d just gotten out of a big exam.
Oh and in the folder they give you there’s a page that has the schedule and interview order, including who is interviewing who, along with a one-page bio of each person interviewing you, but you need to double check that they both match up. A few of us actually got the wrong bios in our packets compared to who it said would be interviewing us on the schedule page, and had to trade the bios around amongst us. Nbd. I’m sure it was an innocent accident, but I found the bios helpful and might have been thrown off a little if I’d walked in the room to see someone unexpected. Even that would have been recoverable though 🙂
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Thanks for the information! I'm interviewing here and incredibly excited. You mentioned there was a small group of people getting interviewed, do you mind letting us know about how many?
 
cnoeller said:
Thanks for the information! I'm interviewing here and incredibly excited. You mentioned there was a small group of people getting interviewed, do you mind letting us know about how many?
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Small compared to other places I’ve heard of (PNWU has a TON apparently). There were 11 of us if I remember right.
 
Dr. wait for it... said:
Then don't take what I said for much weight. If he didn't bring it up, the schools stance is probably that taking USMLE step 1 will most likely benefit you as a student. I can see why they would want you to take both, People tend to do better on the COMLEX if they take Step 1 first and you need to pass COMLEX to become a physician out of this school.
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How do you manage to study for both exams?
 
ccgirl5591 said:
How do you manage to study for both exams?
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It' not as bad as it sounds, because there is so much overlap between the two tests. Most people I know studied using things like UWORLD (question bank), First Aid for Step 1, Pathoma and Sketchy. Those are all resources that allopathic students will use, so basically you study for Step 1 and then add the osteopathic medicine and techniques in the days between the time you take USMLE step 1 and COMLEX Level 1. So you would schedule USMLE step 1 about 4 or 5 days before COMLEX.

Each test focuses on different things, but you'll need to know the diseases, pharm, anatomy and physiology for both. In my opinion I felt like RVU actually prepared us pretty well for the osteopathic section. So if you are able to do well on Step 1 and review osteopathic stuff you should do okay on level 1. so I only spent 1.5 days studying osteopathic stuff and it worked out.
 
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ccgirl5591 said:
How do you manage to study for both exams?
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Much like Dr. wait for it... said above, the tests have overlap, but are inherently different. However, in my opinion, by studying for USMLE, you'll study for COMLEX. Add an extra day or two to review OMM and you should pass COMLEX. I found the RVU OPP department gave me a solid foundation in OMM and I wasn't concerned about it on the COMLEX.

You just need to pass COMLEX for your degree, but a strong USMLE score will keep (and open) doors for you.
 
Does anybody know about how much time is spent on OMM per week here?
 
CBiss said:
Does anybody know about how much time is spent on OMM per week here?
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At the bare minimum, 2 hours/week of lab.
1-2 hours of lecture (many are pre-recorded) / week.
Occasional "mandatory" lectures (1-3/semester) - usually involving a guest lecturer thus required attendance.
 
Got the phone call this morning! Super excited as I loved the school so much! Interviewed about a week ago. OOS.
 
Just got the call!! So stoked! I’ve received multiple offers so far but this school will be the one I matriculate into!
 
Would any of the current MS3s be able to comment on your personal experiences with preceptor/rotation quality thus far?

This was honestly my favorite school I interviewed at by FAR, but this is a significant hesitation.

Also really interested in seeing the 2019 board scores- hopefully they get published soon!
 
What’s everyone’s thoughts on buying a house during med school? Especially if you have a family? Any current students doing this?


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SkyloRen said:
Would any of the current MS3s be able to comment on your personal experiences with preceptor/rotation quality thus far?

This was honestly my favorite school I interviewed at by FAR, but this is a significant hesitation.

Also really interested in seeing the 2019 board scores- hopefully they get published soon!
Click to expand...



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[/QUOTE]

My experience has been mostly positive. We definitely have a lack of psychiatrist and it sounds like trouble finding OBGYN in some regions. I just made sure to tell the coordinator which specialties I am interested in so I could get a decent rotation for those. I don’t want to do psych so I was fine with what they set me up with for that.

Surgery rotations were awesome for me though. I first assisted on most of the surgeries I was on. Family med has been a really good experience with Awesome docs that like to teach. Just from talking it seems like Southern Utah and Utah county regions have the most preceptors for most of the specialties.

Some students have spent most of their rotations out of the region they were assigned though. So I think that’s the biggest complaint of my class. Besides having to go out of region it seems like they do enjoy the rotation and have good experiences for the most part.

In patient exposure is limited. So if your looking into peds and want that experience, definitely do your research and try to find out where you can do in patient.

Your class would have the advantage of seeing what the upperclass have said about each preceptor and trying to switch if you see something you don’t like. I would assume there would be more preceptors every year as well.

Let me know if you have any specific questions. On the spectrum of how people have liked 3rd year I am definitely on the positive side. 3rd year has been a lot of fun and way better than the first two years.
 
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