Hi all! Current first year student at ICOM here. Thought I would just check in on you all and see how we're doing. (might have something to do with me procrastinating studying for our BIIC midterm tomorrow, who knows)
Let's just start with what Gem says. First of all, you guys are smart kiddos for trying to get into Medical school. Doing a little bit of research you will be able to see this for yourself Gem posts that same crap EVERY SINGLE YEAR ON BOTH SDN AND REDDIT. Just forget about that guy. None of what he says is true. The students here, faculty, and administration have no clue why this person has a vendetta against ICOM. It truly makes no sense. Personally, I think they must've had some bad personal experience with the school and since then, they have made it their personal mission in life to throw whatever shade on the school they possibly can. At this point, I just find it comical. It's legit, just a copy and paste each and every single year of the same thing, word-for-word. Lets address each one of their pitiful points here.
1. Terrible, transparent start. Yeah okay dude. The school didnt happen in Montana purely due to political reasons. As a current ICOM student, what they say about the IMA is just false. I get an email from the IMA EVERY SINGLE WEEK FOR BEING A STUDENT AT ICOM. Clearly they hate us so much, that they continue to fill my inbox with helpful information week in and week out. Makes sense.
2. Clerkship/rotation. This is just plain funny. Clerkship Rotations are done in the 3rd/4th years of medical school. There isnt a single 3rd year medical student right now from ICOM that doesn't have a rotation.......we don't have that problem. Sure you may get sent to some place you dont want to go to, but that is part of the adventure of medicine; its not about you, but the people you serve. We have rotation sites set up all over the place in the 5 state region, Mississippi and NY. While it is somewhat true that if you are from the state that we have a rotation site in, you will get sent there, this is not a fact. You could be from CA, but be prepared to get sent to NY or MS if that was what happens in the lottery system. Oh and the thing about St. Luke's and St. Alphonsus, hahaha im dead. This is too funny. Do y'all follow the ICOM instagram page? You should. Go check out the post that was from August 17th of this year. It is a 3rd year medical student STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ST. ALPHONSUS HOSPITAL DURING HIS ROTATION. Like, honestly guys, just look it up. Gem clearly does not fact check.
3. Medical residency in Idaho. This guy is just nuts right here. Go check out
Main Residency Match Data and Reports - The Match, National Resident Matching Program This is the most up to date and current Residency Match data out there. Its anything and everything from the Match of 2020 that happens in March. Click on the simple 17 page document that is listed as #2 on the bulleted list. Things to know here, there are ONLY 2 RESIDENCY PROGRAMS in the state of Idaho. One for Internal Medicine, and the other is Family Medicine. If you are wanting to go into something else, you of course have to go elsewhere. ICOM knows this. There are not residency programs currently in the state of Idaho for anything else. Wanna do general surgery? great, youll have to go to another state. But here is the kicker, home-boy Gem says that you will not get a spot residency spot in Idaho cause there "too many competitive applicants from U of W." Okay dude, if it was so hard to get into, and so many people were applying, why didnt they fill all of their spots? Yes, you read that right. NOT ALL OF THE RESIDENCY SPOTS IN IDAHO ARE EVEN FILLED EACH YEAR. So with this person saying that you will not get a residency in Idaho is just false. They dont fill those spots each year. Just look at the data and stay off of BS from Reddit.
4. Predatory admissions process. Give me a break dude. Almost every single other program out there has a high deposit. It helps the schools really count on who is going to come the following year and who is not. Go check it out. Depending on the school, and program (MD or DO), they all have somewhat ridiculous costs for a deposit. This is nothing new, and there is nothing predatory about it. "They will interview you and accept you long before you'll even hear back from any MD or DO program" HAHAHAHA okay, uhm, just gonna throw this out there. I interviewed for this school in APRIL 2020. Long AFTER i had heard back from all the MD programs i had applied to, and i CHOSE to come to ICOM. So uhm, yeah this whole point in their argument is BS.
5. The community does NOT accept ICOM or its students....................ahh yes we are such vile creatures that I dont get any student discounts anywhere. When i walk into the grocery store with my ICOM mask on, everyone does a sudden 180 and spits in my general direction..........happens every time. Considered to be such scum that people have often come up to ask me how they can get involved in our school and help us out with anything we need. Yes, we are such terrible humans that are ostracized by the community that bangs on our school doors each morning pleading with us to leave them and move far, far away. (Please note that this whole statement is dripping in sarcasm). Boise/Meridian loves us. Just know that.
"I post this not to attack anyone considering ICOM, but to hopefully save them from a horrible school that does not care about them. Dislike me if you want, but this is the truth"
- come on guys. Like, just do a little research and know that this person has a vendetta against ICOM for unknown reasons and shouldn't be counted on for anything. I hopefully have shown through plenty of easy fact-checking that each one of their points is false.
On a separate note, as a first year at ICOM, i LOVE helping out pre-meds and answering questions when i can. We are about to hit our thanksgiving break and I will have almost a week of nothing to do but answer your questions. Several months back I even set up a zoom-like call along with another OMS-I to answer several of your questions. I might be able to do something like that again over Christmas break. You can always send me a message on here or ask another current ICOM student for the truth about any questions you have. My only plea, is that you dont listen to a thing that Gem person has to say. Its all BS.
