2021-2022 Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (MSUCOM)

[PapaGuava]

Please feel free to tag a pre-medical moderator when the secondary prompt is posted.

2021-2022 MSUCOM secondary prompts:

1. What skills and traits do you think are essential in becoming an effective osteopathic physician? (300 words)
2. As a student, how do you see yourself contributing to the educational community and diversity of MSUCOM? (300 words)
3. Is there any aspect of medicine you think you do not like? If so, what, and why not? (300 words)

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Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine

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[StressedBiClown]

Hello everyone, I wanted to jump on the thread asap to let y'all know that I'm a current OMS-1 and we're in our first week of classes, so I'm available if anyone has any questions or wants to shoot me a message. 🙂

GOOD LUCK! You've got this!

 

[Lolaaa]

Hello everyone, I wanted to jump on the thread asap to let y'all know that I'm a current OMS-1 and we're in our first week of classes, so I'm available if anyone has any questions or wants to shoot me a message. 🙂

GOOD LUCK! You've got this!

Hi, what were the secondaries prompts from last year? and do they usually change it every year?
moderator: edited to remove outdated essay prompts See first post in thread

and congrats on starting your first year!

 

[D Swiecz]

Hi everyone! Current OMS-1 here. If you have any questions about anything at all or would like my 2 cents, please let me know in this thread or via PM!

 

[StressedBiClown]

Hello and thank you so much! Sorry for the delay, but I did find my secondary essays.
moderator: edited to remove inaccurate/outdated essay prompts.

Let me know if I can do anything else!

 

[StressedBiClown]

hey all does michigan state favor in state students significantly?

Yes, they seem to take around 85% in-state.

 

[Lolaaa]

Hello and thank you so much! Sorry for the delay, but I did find my secondary essays.

1. Why are you interested in osteopathic medicine and why are you applying to the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine?

2. Other than healthcare access, what are some of the most important health care issues confronting underserved communities? How would you address them?

3. Briefly describe a situation where you were not in the majority. What did you learn from this experience?

Let me know if I can do anything else!

no worries! thank you !

EDIT: what's the word count for each?

 

[deleted1073602]

no worries! thank you !

EDIT: what's the word count for each?

300 words for each is what I found

 

[Lolaaa]

300 words for each is what I found

ty!

 

[Indianfatty96]

.

 

[D Swiecz]

Hi all. Have secondaries for this school started coming out yet?

Secondaries probably won't go out until mid-July. The applicant portal for the previous cycle doesn't close until 7/06.

 

[Indianfatty96]

Secondaries probably won't go out until mid-July. The applicant portal for the previous cycle doesn't close until 7/06.

.

 

[D Swiecz]

Thanks for letting me know friend. I appreciate you 🙂

No problem! MSUCOM is awesome (and the best DO school in the nation), so I hope that everyone on this thread ultimately gets that A. Go green!

 

[PuzzleHeadedKiwi101]

Secondary received, OOS

 

[eemzy_96]

Just got a secondary!

 

[deleted1073602]

Prompts:

What skills and traits do you think are essential in becoming an effective osteopathic physician?
300 words

As a student, how do you see yourself contributing to the educational community and diversity of MSUCOM?
300 words

Is there any aspect of medicine you think you do not like? If so, what, and why not?
300 words

 

[DUNKZSOLE]

secondary rec'd, OOS. I'm guessing they don't screen for sending out secondaries?

still waiting for my MCAT score lol

 

[Readytogo8]

Secondary received, OOS.

 

[ShoeBaD]

Secondary received today, OOS

 

[premed5124]

secondary received rn, OOS

 

[ilovevegetablez]

secondary received, instate student, MSU grad. Is anyone having difficulties actually opening the secondary application? My portal is trying to connect to my undergrad email and it says I don't have access

 

[COWSTER]

Under clinical experience it asks: Do you have any osteopathic medical or shadowing experiences? I clicked yes just to see what would come up. It tells us to list our clinical experience but it gives us the option to choose MD, DO, and PA to categorize these experiences. So if I only have experience under MDs, do I still answer yes to the question and put in my experiences? It seems weird that the initial question asks about osteopathic medical/shadowing experiences.

 

[D Swiecz]

Under clinical experience it asks: Do you have any osteopathic medical or shadowing experiences? I clicked yes just to see what would come up. It tells us to list our clinical experience but it gives us the option to choose MD, DO, and PA to categorize these experiences. So if I only have experience under MDs, do I still answer yes to the question and put in my experiences? It seems weird that the initial question asks about osteopathic medical/shadowing experiences.

Something to note about MSUCOM, in general. Stray away from trying to infer the information that they want. In this case, since they specifically ask for DO shadowing experience, that’s what they want to know.

 

[Asiangarage_Takoyaki]

Hi just FYI I just emailed the Admissions about Casper in case you are curious:

Casper is only needed for MSUCOM if you are invited for an interview. So no Casper needed before II. If you register for Casper you will see MSUCOM in the list.

 

[al53211]

Someone plz help with the clinical experience part haha. They ask for osteopathic experience and than basically ask for general clinical experience. What did ya’ll do? Did you only list osteopathic experience or all clinical experiences?

 

[drewmighty]

Ya the clinical part has me so confused right now...

 

[dgdog]

Prompts:

What skills and traits do you think are essential in becoming an effective osteopathic physician?
300 words

As a student, how do you see yourself contributing to the educational community and diversity of MSUCOM?
300 words

Is there any aspect of medicine you think you do not like? If so, what, and why not?
300 words

Anyone have any advice or guidance on approaching the last question? I do have aspects of medicine I think I do not like, but I don't want to sound too negative or forward with my opinion if it would be looked down upon by admissions. Hopefully that made sense lol

 

[COWSTER]

I just emailed MSUCOM and they said:
The clinical tab allows you to report all clinical experiences, whether DO, MD, PA or other experiences if you wish. Those are just examples many preprofessional applicants have experienced. If your experiences include experience in any of the categories then you would report them as MD, DO, or PA, but you can include other experiences.

So it looks like you can list all your clinical experiences in that tab.

 

[drewmighty]

I just emailed MSUCOM and they said:
The clinical tab allows you to report all clinical experiences, whether DO, MD, PA or other experiences if you wish. Those are just examples many preprofessional applicants have experienced. If your experiences include experience in any of the categories then you would report them as MD, DO, or PA, but you can include other experiences.

So it looks like you can list all your clinical experiences in that tab.

Thank you! This helps so much!

 

[spectroscopy12]

Hello everyone, I was wondering how does this school compare to the likes of OSUCOM, CCOM, or PCOM? Would you put MSUCOM ahead of them in terms of rotations, clinical preparation, and matching? Curious what thoughts everyone has, thanks!

 

[D Swiecz]

Hello everyone, I was wondering how does this school compare to the likes of OSUCOM, CCOM, or PCOM? Would you put MSUCOM ahead of them in terms of rotations, clinical preparation, and matching? Curious what thoughts everyone has, thanks!

Here is the short answer: MSUCOM is constantly and consistently ranked among the best osteopathic schools in the nation. With a 99% match rate (after SOAP. It's ~94-95% pre-SOAP), and people matching into ophthamology, neurosurgery, general surgery, and orthopedic surgery, MSUCOM is better than a good amount of allopathic schools as long as you apply to residencies that are open to DO graduates (Michigan, west/east/south Florida, etc.).

 

[armedforces2medicine]

Hey did anyone else have the issue where they submitted their secondary application and on the status section it says the letters of reference are incomplete? I already have all my references complete on the AACOMAS application. Are we supposed to have more people send Letters of reference to MSUCOM other than the ones in our Primary?

 

[premed5124]

Anyone have any advice or guidance on approaching the last question? I do have aspects of medicine I think I do not like, but I don't want to sound too negative or forward with my opinion if it would be looked down upon by admissions. Hopefully that made sense lol

I'm wondering the same, I was thinking about writing about healthcare access? Idk if that would answer the question, stuck on it still haha

 

[D Swiecz]

I'm wondering the same, I was thinking about writing about healthcare access? Idk if that would answer the question, stuck on it still haha

Just think about your own personal experiences. What didn't you like about your own experiences? Make sure to tell your story. These will make for a compelling secondary essay.

 

[Lolaaa]

Anyone have any advice or guidance on approaching the last question? I do have aspects of medicine I think I do not like, but I don't want to sound too negative or forward with my opinion if it would be looked down upon by admissions. Hopefully that made sense lol

I'm still stuck on that too lol. I was thinking of writing about a possible challenge that I dislike but I mean all physicians deal with challenges so like how am I supposed to be a physician if I can't deal or dislike a challenge? :/ Also, would talking about insurance companies answer the question?

 

[drewmighty]

For the last question i talked about things in medicine that cause it to be "exclusive" as i feel medicine and health are a fundamental right. The american medical system has plenty of issues to discuss i feel, do not feel worried about criticising the system, just dont criticize the people (physicians, nurses, etc)

 

[wannabeanMD1999]

For the last question I was brutally honest. I talked about how I am not fond that some diseases know no cure in medicine. I talked about my family's battle with 3 generations of Alzheimer's disease. Its not tangible like insurance issues or exclusivity of medicine but its my truth!

 

[wannabeanMD1999]

For my clinical experiences do I just copy and paste my experiences from AACOMAS? Not sure what to include for the description

 

[D Swiecz]

Hey everyone! I just thought that this document would be helpful for everyone in discerning whether or not to go to MSUCOM. It's public information that can be accessed through their website. It's a document that will outline how many people matched into each residency (yes, ophthamology, dermatology, and ortho surgery are in there). Hopefully it can bring some reassurance that you are NOT limited to internal med. if you decide to come here!

 

[nidgehog]

Hey everyone! I just thought that this document would be helpful for everyone in discerning whether or not to go to MSUCOM. It's public information that can be accessed through their website. It's a document that will outline how many people matched into each residency (yes, ophthamology, dermatology, and ortho surgery are in there). Hopefully it can bring some reassurance that you are NOT limited to internal med. if you decide to come here!

Which document are you referencing?

 

[wannabedoc77]

On the home tab of the secondary application, all the way at the bottom of the page, does anyone else have an activate button next to Annual 2022?

 

[jyhassius]

Anyone have any advice or guidance on approaching the last question? I do have aspects of medicine I think I do not like, but I don't want to sound too negative or forward with my opinion if it would be looked down upon by admissions. Hopefully that made sense lol

I ended up discussing my observations with physicians having trouble dealing with insurance companies, and my thoughts on how that process could be improved. Tried to end on a positive note!

 

[hopefulaa]

For the first what makes a good DO question, are you guys explaining the important characteristics and then including your experiences to justify it or just explain why you think those are good characteristics?

 

[Lolaaa]

For the first what makes a good DO question, are you guys explaining the important characteristics and then including your experiences to justify it or just explain why you think those are good characteristics?

I kind of linked it to shadowing mostly

 

[Lolaaa]

for the last question, is it okay to use the words challenging/difficult instead of using the word dislike or would that seem as if I'm not answering the question?

 

[wannabeanMD1999]

for the last question, is it okay to use the words challenging/difficult instead of using the word dislike or would that seem as if I'm not answering the question?

I said challenging and not fond of

 

[besm]

For "if you attend a community college" question are they asking if we did an associate then transferred to a 4 year? Or should I list the community college took 1 summer class at?

 

[hopefulaa]

So for the clinical experiences part of the secondary, we have to list just any clinical experience, shadowing or not? I’m so confused. If so, isn’t this a repetition of the primary …

 

[soccerkid21]

Here is the short answer: MSUCOM is constantly and consistently ranked among the best osteopathic schools in the nation. With a 99% match rate (after SOAP. It's ~94-95% pre-SOAP), and people matching into ophthamology, neurosurgery, general surgery, and orthopedic surgery, MSUCOM is better than a good amount of allopathic schools as long as you apply to residencies that are open to DO graduates (Michigan, west/east/south Florida, etc.).

This is a question not just for MSUCOM but osteopathic medical schools in general. How do you think Step 1 being P/F is going to affect DO students and their ability to match into competitive residencies such as the ones you named?

 

[Lolaaa]

So for the clinical experiences part of the secondary, we have to list just any clinical experience, shadowing or not? I’m so confused. If so, isn’t this a repetition of the primary …

yeah it's kind of a repetition :/ but I think we should write a different description than the primary for each. are you doing it as a narrative or as a resume? idk if I should talk about what I learned from it or just list what I did there