2020-2021 Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM-PA)

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Anybody know when the last IIs were sent out?
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futurexray said:
If you send a transcript to them it is not official so you are just causing more work. Have it sent through AACOMAS for review.
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I sent them a transcript as unofficial and just let them know I was sending it through AACOMAS as well for review so they knew to look out for it. Not sure if it would help but they were very nice about it.
 
Seems like people who interviewed after me have already gotten in. Does this mean I should expect an R?
 
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DrAspirer said:
Seems like people who interviewed after me have already gotten in. Does this mean I should expect an R?
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Not necessarily. From what I remember on last years thread, the order is pretty random. Its not over until its over!
 
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Got an II this morning!!!! Any tips from people who have already interviewed this cycle?
 
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II this evening! Complete 7/6, IS, LM 69
 
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has anyone that interviewed 1/11 heard anything, other than a thank you email?
 
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Hi y’all!

I was sent an II yesterday and I’m happy as ever. For ppl that have interviewed, can you break down what the ~4.5 hours entails?
 
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Kd2134 said:
Hi y’all!

I was sent an II yesterday and I’m happy as ever. For ppl that have interviewed, can you break down what the ~4.5 hours entails?
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Congrats! Can I ask your stats/when you were complete?
 
lillelsin said:
Congrats! Can I ask your stats/when you were complete?
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MCAT: 499 (tragic)
uGPA: 3.25 sGPA: 3.09 (3.7+ my last 3 semesters)
Post-bacc (with MD school): cGPA: 3.93 sGPA: 4.0
I've been told I have amazing EC from different admissions of various schools, just wish my MCAT was a few points higher. My post-bacc also had an interview linkage with PCOM. While I didn't make the cut, I had a good relationship with my program director who told me sometime in October that he still recommended me for their program so that may have helped.

In terms of completing, my MCAT (which was the last thing I needed to submit) was in by 10/5

Have u heard back?
 
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Kd2134 said:
MCAT: 499 (tragic)
uGPA: 3.25 sGPA: 3.09 (3.7+ my last 3 semesters)
Post-bacc (with MD school): cGPA: 3.93 sGPA: 4.0
I've been told I have amazing EC from different admissions of various schools, just wish my MCAT was a few points higher. My post-bacc also had an interview linkage with PCOM. While I didn't make the cut, I had a good relationship with my program director who told me sometime in October that he still recommended me for their program so that may have helped.

In terms of completing, my MCAT (which was the last thing I needed to submit) was in by 10/5

Have u heard back?
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congrats my dude!

I was complete in November, looks like they have yet to get to my app xD
 
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Kd2134 said:
MCAT: 499 (tragic)
uGPA: 3.25 sGPA: 3.09 (3.7+ my last 3 semesters)
Post-bacc (with MD school): cGPA: 3.93 sGPA: 4.0
I've been told I have amazing EC from different admissions of various schools, just wish my MCAT was a few points higher. My post-bacc also had an interview linkage with PCOM. While I didn't make the cut, I had a good relationship with my program director who told me sometime in October that he still recommended me for their program so that may have helped.

In terms of completing, my MCAT (which was the last thing I needed to submit) was in by 10/5

Have u heard back?
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Complete in August and complete silence :// really hoping for an II
 
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Hi, I was accepted 1/14 :D

I have a few questions I'm hoping a current student can please answer :)


Are classes p/f
How frequently do you take exams
Are lectures mandatory
Are lectures recorded
How much board prep time do you get
How many hrs/week are spent learning omm
 
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lillelsin said:
Complete in August and complete silence :// really hoping for an II
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Stay positive! I literally thought I was done this cycle but got this email randomly on my way from work! Be wise and try to enhance ur app incase you need to reapply but remain hopeful!! It’s not over till it’s over my friend!!
 
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pandemicpremed97 said:
Hi, I was accepted 1/14 :D

I have a few questions I'm hoping a current student can please answer :)


Are classes p/f
How frequently do you take exams
Are lectures mandatory
Are lectures recorded
How much board prep time do you get
How many hrs/week are spent learning omm
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Congratss!!!!!

Would you mind sharing your interview experience plz!
 
pandemicpremed97 said:
Hi, I was accepted 1/14

I have a few questions I'm hoping a current student can please answer


Are classes p/f
How frequently do you take exams
Are lectures mandatory
Are lectures recorded
How much board prep time do you get
How many hrs/week are spent learning omm
Click to expand...

Hi, current M1 here

Most classes are given letter grades but some are P/F like the new humanities course, physician comm and wellness, and PCS for the first 2 terms.

Exams are roughly every 3-4 weeks but this depends on the course.

Lectures are not mandatory and they are all recorded and posted right after the lecture. We also have scribes that scribe every lecture.

Board prep is integrated into our curriculum through Kaplan. We have access to videos and Q banks and are provided links to the Kaplan stuff that is relevant to what we’re currently learning. There is a new change to the schedule starting with my class. We’ll be coming back a month early this summer (starting in July instead of August) so that we’re done a month earlier in the spring. This gives us a longer period of dedicated board prep without courses going on.

OMM lab is once a week for about an hour and a half, sometimes even shorter depending on the lab.

EDIT: just to clarify, the early start is for 2nd year in order to give us time to study for board exams. First year students are still starting in August
 
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hi! would it be inappropriate to send an email with an update on work experience? (i am post-interview and haven't heard back yet)
 
suburbanfreckles said:
Hi, current M1 here

Most classes are given letter grades but some are P/F like the new humanities course, physician comm and wellness, and PCS for the first 2 terms.

Exams are roughly every 3-4 weeks but this depends on the course.

Lectures are not mandatory and they are all recorded and posted right after the lecture. We also have scribes that scribe every lecture.

Board prep is integrated into our curriculum through Kaplan. We have access to videos and Q banks and are provided links to the Kaplan stuff that is relevant to what we’re currently learning. There is a new change to the schedule starting with my class. We’ll be coming back a month early this summer (starting in July instead of August) so that we’re done a month earlier in the spring. This gives us a longer period of dedicated board prep without courses going on.

OMM lab is once a week for about an hour and a half, sometimes even shorter depending on the lab.

EDIT: just to clarify, the early start is for 2nd year in order to give us time to study for board exams. First year students are still starting in August
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Thanks for your response :)
so you have a "midterms week" every 3-4 weeks? How many exams do you have during this week? I'm basically trying to figure out how exam heavy it is haha

Also, I dont know if you have an answer for this and it's totally ok if you don't but I noticed that rarely any PCOM PA students complete their residencies in CA. I am from CA so I'd like to come back one day (if not for residency then after). Are students just not wanting to go to CA, or is it harder to match in CA from PA? The match list looks awesome outside of this personal regard though haha.
 
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kmd301 said:
Congratss!!!!!

Would you mind sharing your interview experience plz!
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Thank you! Yes, it was super chill. I am a minority woman and I had 2 minority women interview me and a minority woman student observer which I thought was really awesome. But the questions were traditional, nothing out of the ordinary. I believe it was closed file and 30 minutes or less. Good luck!
 
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pandemicpremed97 said:
Thanks for your response :)
so you have a "midterms week" every 3-4 weeks? How many exams do you have during this week? I'm basically trying to figure out how exam heavy it is haha

Also, I dont know if you have an answer for this and it's totally ok if you don't but I noticed that rarely any PCOM PA students complete their residencies in CA. I am from CA so I'd like to come back one day (if not for residency then after). Are students just not wanting to go to CA, or is it harder to match in CA from PA? The match list looks awesome outside of this personal regard though haha.
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So I wouldn’t say we have midterms every 3-4 weeks but it also depends on the class. First term you have CMBM (includes immuno, biochem, micro, all that stuff) and the exams are not cumulative so it’s like you learn a block of material, take an exam, and move on. Same with anatomy and phys. But OMM only has two exams - a midterm and a final. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s exam heavy, I feel like it’s pretty normal compared to what I’ve heard at other schools.

It’s difficult to answer your concern about matching in CA because I think most of the students here are from PA or the philly area or at least want to stay in the PA/NJ/DE area. But PCOM is a top DO school and you’ll have opportunities to schedule rotations in CA and make connections out there. It’s definitely doable, I just don’t think most people do it simply because they want to stay in this area. That’s just my take on it tho.
 
suburbanfreckles said:
So I wouldn’t say we have midterms every 3-4 weeks but it also depends on the class. First term you have CMBM (includes immuno, biochem, micro, all that stuff) and the exams are not cumulative so it’s like you learn a block of material, take an exam, and move on. Same with anatomy and phys. But OMM only has two exams - a midterm and a final. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s exam heavy, I feel like it’s pretty normal compared to what I’ve heard at other schools.

It’s difficult to answer your concern about matching in CA because I think most of the students here are from PA or the philly area or at least want to stay in the PA/NJ/DE area. But PCOM is a top DO school and you’ll have opportunities to schedule rotations in CA and make connections out there. It’s definitely doable, I just don’t think most people do it simply because they want to stay in this area. That’s just my take on it tho.
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thank you :) so roughly how many exams do you take a semester?


besides students' personal preferences to stay in PA, does pcom simply have strong connections to PA residency programs? I'm thinking that if I want to do something competitive, if there are such connections, it may be easier to match in PA than in CA. Then maybe I can apply for jobs in CA after residency.

thanks again!
 
pandemicpremed97 said:
thank you so roughly how many exams do you take a semester?


besides students' personal preferences to stay in PA, does pcom simply have strong connections to PA residency programs? I'm thinking that if I want to do something competitive, if there are such connections, it may be easier to match in PA than in CA. Then maybe I can apply for jobs in CA after residency.

thanks again!
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CMBM was 4 exams. Anatomy is 3 exams with 2 lab practicals and physiology is 4 exams.

PCOM does have strong connections with several hospitals in this area. If you’re going for a competitive speciality, it’ll definitely be easier to match in the PA/NJ/DE area than CA. If you chose PCOM, I’d say just be open to the idea of sticking around philly for several years, especially if you want to go into a competitive specialty.

To add to what the above person commented,
3rd year you have the option of staying at the same hosptial for all your rotations or rotating through different hospitals for each rotation. But you’re limited to the hospitals that PCOM has connections with in PA/NJ/DE which is actually a fairly long list (can’t find it rn, but it’s online somewhere). So PCOM does not have an affiliation with a CA hosptial for rotations, however, 4th year is really anything you want. If you want to spend all year rotating through CA hospitals you can. For a competitive speciality I think you’ll be better off solidifying connections with hospitals in the area that PCOM has affiliations with, but you do have the option to go to CA 4th year.

Edit: the list of affiliated hospitals can be found on pages 63-64

 
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suburbanfreckles said:
CMBM was 4 exams. Anatomy is 3 exams with 2 lab practicals and physiology is 4 exams.

PCOM does have strong connections with several hospitals in this area. If you’re going for a competitive speciality, it’ll definitely be easier to match in the PA/NJ/DE area than CA. If you chose PCOM, I’d say just be open to the idea of sticking around philly for several years, especially if you want to go into a competitive specialty.

To add to what the above person commented,
3rd year you have the option of staying at the same hosptial for all your rotations or rotating through different hospitals for each rotation. But you’re limited to the hospitals that PCOM has connections with in PA/NJ/DE which is actually a fairly long list (can’t find it rn, but it’s online somewhere). So PCOM does not have an affiliation with a CA hosptial for rotations, however, 4th year is really anything you want. If you want to spend all year rotating through CA hospitals you can. For a competitive speciality I think you’ll be better off solidifying connections with hospitals in the area that PCOM has affiliations with, but you do have the option to go to CA 4th year.

Edit: the list of affiliated hospitals can be found on pages 63-64

Click to expand...
thanks so much. yeah im thinking ill stay in the PA area for residency and just apply to CA jobs later. Securing my speciality is most important. Thanks for your detailed and helpful responses :)
 
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Mexicannon24 said:
I can't speak because I'm not a current student, but I doubt PCOM has rotations in CA, and if they do it must be very limited. Unless you have a need to be near family or something, it's not worth passing over the options in the PA area. If you do rotations there, chances are it is PCOM affiliated and you get a much better teaching/learning experience out of those rotations.PCOM is unique in that they have great rotations/residencies in a major city, I don't think any other DO school offers that (CCOM I guess, but that's Downer's Grove not Chicago) I'm not from the Northeast either, but if I get the opportunity to move to PCOM I'm definitely planning on living in that area for a while.
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Got it, sounds like I'll likely be staying there for residency! Thank you.
 
Is there an accepted students Facebook group or GroupMe? I want to start getting info on housing and other stuff. Sorry if this question has already been asked! Thanks!
 
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In years past the last day of interviews was 3/31. In these crazy times they may go later but I sincerely doubt it. Everyone is usually burnt out by the end of the cycle.
 
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If anyone has interviewed at PCOM-South Georgia, how long did it take to hear back from the Interview? Thanks!
 
Silence since November, cmon Pcom send me that ii pls
 
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Ooo just saw a contingency course appear on my portal...is that a sign?
 
armaragon said:
Ooo just saw a contingency course appear on my portal...is that a sign?
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Last year a contingency showed up on my portal (I was finishing up a prerequisite in my undergrad) about a week before I got my acceptance!
 
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suburbanfreckles said:
Last year a contingency showed up on my portal (I was finishing up a prerequisite in my undergrad) about a week before I got my acceptance!
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I appreciate this, thank you. Slightly softens the blow from the Packers loss lmao
 
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Accepted!!!! :) first acceptance of cycle, very grateful

Interview date: 1/12/21
Completed early December!
 
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armaragon said:
Accepted!!!! :) first acceptance of cycle, very grateful

Interview date: 1/12/21
Completed early December!
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I was trying to find a way to DM you, but would you mind describing how the interview was? Not specifics of course, but anything you'd normally tell someone getting read for an interview at PCOM :)
 
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