2020-2021 Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (ARCOM

BU Medical Sciences
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DrStephenStrange said:
If you wanna stay in Fort Smith, there are 2 sites there, Baptist health and Mercy Hospital. You can definitely get them for 3rd/4th year because they take a big chunk of our students.
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Thank you for the response. How do we get assigned the site? Do we just have to ask for it or is it a lottery ticket?
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jt280 said:
Thank you for the response. How do we get assigned the site? Do we just have to ask for it or is it a lottery ticket?
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Not lottery. You rank your top 5 sites (out of 10 of them) with options to provide reasonings for why you rank them that way, and they will review each students rankings individually and assign each of you to one. You'll most like land on one of your top 2 unless students disproportionately rank one or two sites as number 1. For my class, 95% got their number 1.
 
how many sites does each students need to go to between 3rd and 4th year?
And how often do you travel between them?
Do you alternate between the sites or do you fully complete one site before starting the next site?
 
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Dr.Meowz said:
how many sites does each students need to go to between 3rd and 4th year?
And how often do you travel between them?
Do you alternate between the sites or do you fully complete one site before starting the next site?
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I think we're having a misunderstanding of the term "site" here. A core rotation site is the Hospital(s) where you will be placed for your clinical years to complete your required core clinical rotations in different specialties (Internal medicine, Family medicine, Surgery, Psychiatry, OBGYN, pediatrics, Emergency medicine).

There are 10 core sites currently for ARCOM: Fort smith-2 sites (Baptist and Mercy), Little Rock-1 site but multiple hospitals, Fayetteville/Rogers- 1 site but multiple hospitals, Searcy- 1 site (Unity health), Poplar Bluff-1 site (PB regional med. center), Pine Bluff-1 site (Jefferson regional), Hot Springs-1 site (CHI St Vincent), Durant-1 site (Alliance health), Shreveport-1 site (Willis Knighton).

You only stay in one site. if you're in Fort Smith, you'll stay there all 3rd/4th year. If you're in Little Rock, or Hot Springs, or Searcy, same thing. Now, there are elective rotations in your 4th year that you can use to schedule your own rotations in any specialty you want anywhere you want, and people usually use those for away audition rotations at different residency programs before they send their applications out for residency, or you could choose to stay at your site and complete them there as well. So no, there is no alternation between sites, unless you request to do one or more of your electives in Little Rock for example while your main site is in Fort Smith.
 
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DrStephenStrange said:
I think we're having a misunderstanding of the term "site" here. A core rotation site is the Hospital(s) where you will be placed for your clinical years to complete your required core clinical rotations in different specialties (Internal medicine, Family medicine, Surgery, Psychiatry, OBGYN, pediatrics, Emergency medicine).

There are 10 core sites currently for ARCOM: Fort smith-2 sites (Baptist and Mercy), Little Rock-1 site but multiple hospitals, Fayetteville/Rogers- 1 site but multiple hospitals, Searcy- 1 site (Unity health), Poplar Bluff-1 site (PB regional med. center), Pine Bluff-1 site (Jefferson regional), Hot Springs-1 site (CHI St Vincent), Durant-1 site (Alliance health), Shreveport-1 site (Willis Knighton).

You only stay in one site. if you're in Fort Smith, you'll stay there all 3rd/4th year. If you're in Little Rock, or Hot Springs, or Searcy, same thing. Now, there are elective rotations in your 4th year that you can use to schedule your own rotations in any specialty you want anywhere you want, and people usually use those for away audition rotations at different residency programs before they send their applications out for residency, or you could choose to stay at your site and complete them there as well. So no, there is no alternation between sites, unless you request to do one or more of your electives in Little Rock for example while your main site is in Fort Smith.
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Thank you for your detailed response. Do you know if some of students in 3rd or 4th year were able to do their elective rotations in Texas? I am from Texas and would like to come back for residency. Also are some of your classmates interested in some competitive specialities like derm, ortho etc.. or most of them are interested in primary care specialities? does Arcom push students towards primary care specialities? Sorry for the many questions, I am trying to choose Arcom and another school.
 
Yourfavpremed said:
Thank you for your detailed response. Do you know if some of students in 3rd or 4th year were able to do their elective rotations in Texas? I am from Texas and would like to come back for residency. Also are some of your classmates interested in some competitive specialities like derm, ortho etc.. or most of them are interested in primary care specialities? does Arcom push students towards primary care specialities? Sorry for the many questions, I am trying to choose Arcom and another school.
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The current 4th year class is having trouble rotating in Texas. The state of Texas won't let out-of-state medical students from pre-accredited schools rotate in their residency programs for some reason, but this should not be a problem for you because the school should be fully accredited next year. Yes, I know some people interested in competitive specialties who also have the resume for them, but whether or not they will get a spot is a different story. Stay tune for the inaugural class match list next March that should give you an idea of what to expect for up coming years (although match list picture do change from year to year). ARCOM's mission just like any other osteopathic schools is primary care oriented, and you can expect most osteopathic school's classes to have at least half the class going primary care. But no, no one will push you towards PC if that's not what you want, but if you're interested in something competitive, you better work for it from the start though. Competitive specialties are competitive for a reason. Even with great stats and resume, there is still no guarantee you will get a spot.
 
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I was certified and had my primary app complete back in August. This is the only school I haven’t received a secondary app from. Anyone else in this situation?
 
ChrisPreMDorDO said:
I was certified and had my primary app complete back in August. This is the only school I haven’t received a secondary app from. Anyone else in this situation?
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You could receive a secondary any time from now until the end of the cycle. Unlike most schools, ARCOM only sends secondaries to people they want to interview. You can be reasonably certain that if you do get a secondary and take your time with it, you'll probably be getting an interview, unless you really say heinous things on your secondary or otherwise mess it up.
 
hi. So I'm having trouble with paying the $2000 deposit. The ARCOM email indicates that the Applicant Checklist will turn into the Matriculation checklist within 24 hours, which should have happened 11 days ago for me. The link (where we used to submit our secondary and registered for an interview) still has the Applicant checklist. Is everyone else experiencing this same problem? I'll reach out to the office but they are already close today.
 
silverlinings0618 said:
hi. So I'm having trouble with paying the $2000 deposit. The ARCOM email indicates that the Applicant Checklist will turn into the Matriculation checklist within 24 hours, which should have happened 11 days ago for me. The link (where we used to submit our secondary and registered for an interview) still has the Applicant checklist. Is everyone else experiencing this same problem? I'll reach out to the office but they are already close today.
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I would call or email them. I was having a problem paying the deposit (Not quite the same as you because my applicant checklist did turn into the matriculant checklist, but there was no payment tab to pay the deposit on my portal LOL), but they fixed it for me within 48 hours after I called them up.
 
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hey guys! I got an acceptance this past Monday and am wondering how long it takes for them to send out emails with all the information. Thanks!
 
marshmallow1123 said:
hey guys! I got an acceptance this past Monday and am wondering how long it takes for them to send out emails with all the information. Thanks!
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I think it was close to a week and a half before I got the email (maybe even two?). The portal switched before that though from the interview selection options to a “matriculant checklist”. Then I waited over a month to send my deposit and a week or so after I did that an official acceptance letter and an “accepted” banner (see ARCOM Instagram for examples) showed up in my mailbox.
 
JustSomeRandomGuy said:
I think it was close to a week and a half before I got the email (maybe even two?). The portal switched before that though from the interview selection options to a “matriculant checklist”. Then I waited over a month to send my deposit and a week or so after I did that an official acceptance letter and an “accepted” banner (see ARCOM Instagram for examples) showed up in my mailbox.
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ok perfect thank you!
 
Dr.Krieger said:
Hello to all of the applicants for 2020-2021. Making the decision to join a calss of mecial studnet and chooing the right medical school is in fact has a deep impact in your future professional life.
I am a first year medical student at Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (ARCOM), ready to answer your questions about ARCOM and helping you to asses if ARCOM is a right choice for you.
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Hello. I plan on attending ARCOM in 2021. Can you please tell me what your class schedule was like during your first and second semesters? During my tour at ARCOM, there was a wall with class schedules, and I really wish that I would've snapped a picture. I'm considering bringing my dogs to school, but I don't want to leave them alone for prolonged periods of time. Also, according to the ARCOM website, it states that mandatory attendance isn't required, however, the lectures won't be posted until 72 hours post-lecture. In your experience, is this true (can it really take 72 hours or does it get posted on the same day)? Also, can all lectures be reliably posted online?
 
Hi! I am actually a current 1st year here at ARCOM and would be more than happy to relay some information back to some prospective students. The 1st semester is very straightforward. You have 2 main core science classes, BECOM and Anatomy along with Anatomy lab. BECOM is an everyday affair while Anatomy is only M, W, F. In total you are looking at about 4 hours of actual lecture everyday in the 1st semester. However, with OPP lab and Anatomy lab (Tuesdays and Mondays/Wednesdays respectively,) you're adding on about 2-3 hours those days. The other 2 classes are OPP which are tuesdays only, and FOPC which is only thursdays. Towards November they will add a class called IBC which is basically just combining everything you have learned from all the classes and presenting it in a clinical standpoint. Unfortunately attendance is mandatory but if I am being honest as long as you are doing well in your classes (most people say at least an 80%) no one will really say anything if you miss lecture. The time in between lecture and labs is usually about an hour so I would say at most you would be away from your pets is about 4 hours. As for the lectures being posted they do not take 72 hours at all. In fact they are posted almost immediately after the lecture has taken place and are accessible at any time on Canvas (the main site they use for posting basically everything for all your classes). They also have begun live streaming the lectures via Microsoft teams so you can view them live from home. I am not sure entirely what the process will be especially if COVID is still an issue by the time you matriculate but there is a chance a lot of the classes will be streamed via teams. All in all the 1st semester was pretty smooth sailing and was put in place to just kind of get students used to medical school life. The nice thing they do is before each BECOM exam they give us a week off of BECOM classes in order to prepare. As for the 2nd semester we just received our schedules and that is a little more tedious. BECOM is our main science class which we will have almost everyday and is 14 credits along with OPP, FOPC and then another class named FHC. If you have any more questions please do not hesitate to either ask or PM me if you would like more info! Thanks!
 
Anyone know what movement on the waitlist is like or if there is anything we could do to influence our chances?
I was waitlisted at ARCOM. I would really love to go here. They’re the only ones who have given me a shot at an interview.
 
SmallBall said:
Anyone know what movement on the waitlist is like or if there is anything we could do to influence our chances?
I was waitlisted at ARCOM. I would really love to go here. They’re the only ones who have given me a shot at an interview.
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The same boat as you buddy, I hope someone here knows what gives them favor to pull you off the waitlist. They told me the waitlist is unranked too, I would not be surprised if they will line up the GPA and MCAT and pull like that.
 
Jeanne d'Arc said:
The same boat as you buddy, I hope someone here knows what gives them favor to pull you off the waitlist. They told me the waitlist is unranked too, I would not be surprised if they will line up the GPA and MCAT and pull like that.
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Hey good luck to ya! I’m trying to stay positive because we’re all going to end up where we need to be eventually.

I really hope they don’t do it that way and give us a fighting chance!
 
SmallBall said:
Hey good luck to ya! I’m trying to stay positive because we’re all going to end up where we need to be eventually.

I really hope they don’t do it that way and give us a fighting chance!
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I would calm down a little bit here guys! It is still December and a lot of people haven't paid the deposit yet to reserve their seats for this school. I know plenty of my classmates who got in off the waitlist as late as June. It sucks having to wait definitely but keep your heads up! It's also not a bad idea to once in a while email the school asking about waitlist movement if you truly are curious.
 
Jeanne d'Arc said:
The same boat as you buddy, I hope someone here knows what gives them favor to pull you off the waitlist. They told me the waitlist is unranked too, I would not be surprised if they will line up the GPA and MCAT and pull like that.
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It's unranked, but priority goes to students in service areas/in state first, then the rest of the class.
 
First time poster on this forum, here we go.

I sent in my primary on November 7th, secondary on November 15th, and now I received an Email that an interview invite is coming. I'm extremely excited and wondering how warranted this excitement is. Do I have a real shot at getting in here?

I don't know how competitive I am, my CARS are 70+ percentile, so is my biology, but my Psychology is 123 and my chemistry was average. (501) (OOS) I've been working with my body instead of brain for a long time and my extra circulars in regards to healthcare were average at best.
 
DOitkindaguy said:
First time poster on this forum, here we go.

I sent in my primary on November 7th, secondary on November 15th, and now I received an Email that an interview invite is coming. I'm extremely excited and wondering how warranted this excitement is. Do I have a real shot at getting in here?

I don't know how competitive I am, my CARS are 70+ percentile, so is my biology, but my Psychology is 123 and my chemistry was average. (501) (OOS) I've been working with my body instead of brain for a long time and my extra circulars in regards to healthcare were average at best.
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No med school is in the habit of interviewing people they won't consider. They won't waste their time like that. You have a shot!
 
mma22 said:
I have a interview with ARCOM next Tuesday on the 8th. I decided to do virtual since I am in contact with high risk individuals. How is the interview set up? Will doing it virtual have an impact on their decision?
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There is one closed file interview that includes both a representative from the school as well as a community member. They stress that doing it virtually will have no effect on their decision. Lots of people have been accepted after a virtual interview.
 
mma22 said:
I have a interview with ARCOM next Tuesday on the 8th. I decided to do virtual since I am in contact with high risk individuals. How is the interview set up? Will doing it virtual have an impact on their decision?
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I was accepted and did a virtual interview
 
Hey guys! I have my on-campus interview here scheduled for Dec. 11th. I had a quick question for previous interviewees about the dinner hosted by President Kim. Was this a pretty casual and laid back event? I'm driving in from out of town and am bringing my girlfriend along with me for the road trip. I was wondering if for anyone else's dinner, did they allow you to bring a plus one? Or is this dinner strictly for students being interviewed?
 
I was wondering if any 4th year students have done away rotations out of state, and if so where?
 
djkhalid said:
Hey guys! I have my on-campus interview here scheduled for Dec. 11th. I had a quick question for previous interviewees about the dinner hosted by President Kim. Was this a pretty casual and laid back event? I'm driving in from out of town and am bringing my girlfriend along with me for the road trip. I was wondering if for anyone else's dinner, did they allow you to bring a plus one? Or is this dinner strictly for students being interviewed?
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Feel free to bring a +1! Just let them know that you are bringing a +1. Also, the dress is pretty casual and laid back. Most people wore jeans and a nice dress shirt/blouse.
 
For those who have paid their deposit, how/where do I pay? Thank you in advance.
 
Jazz1997 said:
For those who have paid their deposit, how/where do I pay? Thank you in advance.
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If you go to your checklist, there’s specific and clear instructions on how to do it. But you basically just go to the portal where you would pay tuition and deposit $2000. You’ll then get an email a day or two after confirming that you’ve made your deposit and therefore guaranteed your seat
 
mlcaver said:
If you go to your checklist, there’s specific and clear instructions on how to do it. But you basically just go to the portal where you would pay tuition and deposit $2000. You’ll then get an email a day or two after confirming that you’ve made your deposit and therefore guaranteed your seat
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Also, in case you’re a cheapskate like me, just know that there is like a $70 fee to pay online. So, being the millennial that I am, I had to go to the bank and get a check printed, but I just mailed that in and saved $70; so that’s an option too.
 
JustSomeRandomGuy said:
Also, in case you’re a cheapskate like me, just know that there is like a $70 fee to pay online. So, being the millennial that I am, I had to go to the bank and get a check printed, but I just mailed that in and saved $70; so that’s an option too.
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Did you mail it to the 7000 address? Did you mail the check by itself or had to write a note with it?
 
JustSomeRandomGuy said:
Also, in case you’re a cheapskate like me, just know that there is like a $70 fee to pay online. So, being the millennial that I am, I had to go to the bank and get a check printed, but I just mailed that in and saved $70; so that’s an option too.
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Which address did you mail it to? Who did you address the check to?
 
MCAT-boy said:
Did you mail it to the 7000 address? Did you mail the check by itself or had to write a note with it?
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I sent it to the Chad Colley Blvd address and just wrote my student/acceptance ID number from the portal thing in the memo line and put my name and deposit. Dusan told me to make it out to Arkansas Colleges of Health Education (ACHE). Hope that helps!
 
Interviewed 11/17....very anxiously waiting for Monday-Tuesday to see if they start making calls. Though I got an email saying the decisions from meeting on 12/4 could be as far out as the week of 12/14. 😩
 
Emailed admissions to see if they can tell me what was not competitive enough in my application for them to not send me a secondary, and also inquiring about if my application can be re-evaluated again. Will post updates. Has anyone who got the "We have reviewed your application materials, and at this time you have not been selected to receive a Secondary Application invitation." email gotten a secondary this cycle?
 
DrThanos said:
Emailed admissions to see if they can tell me what was not competitive enough in my application for them to not send me a secondary, and also inquiring about if my application can be re-evaluated again. Will post updates. Has anyone who got the "We have reviewed your application materials, and at this time you have not been selected to receive a Secondary Application invitation." email gotten a secondary this cycle?
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I currently am in that category. I don't think I'll get a secondary unless I send a significant update at this moment. Trying to take some classes/mcat to send updates to them. If you are sub 500 and under 3.5 or one of the 2 you will definitely not be considered.
 
santhosh100 said:
I currently am in that category. I don't think I'll get a secondary unless I send a significant update at this moment. Trying to take some classes/mcat to send updates to them. If you are sub 500 and under 3.5 or one of the 2 you will definitely not be considered.
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Yeah I have less than a 3.5 but my last 120 credit hours are a 3.5.
 
DrThanos said:
Emailed admissions to see if they can tell me what was not competitive enough in my application for them to not send me a secondary, and also inquiring about if my application can be re-evaluated again. Will post updates. Has anyone who got the "We have reviewed your application materials, and at this time you have not been selected to receive a Secondary Application invitation." email gotten a secondary this cycle?
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I'd initially gotten that email early in the cycle before I'd retaken my MCAT (not a great score the first time around tbh). but then I retook the MCAT and updated admissions about my application and I received a secondary and an II after I submitted the secondary.
 
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