2024-2025 Duquesne University College of Osteopathic Medicine (Pittsburgh)

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2024-2025 Duquesne COM Secondary Essay Prompts

The word limit for the questions below was 250-500 words. The first two were mandatory, then you could pick to answer either question 3 or question 4.
REQUIRED #1 and #2
1. Why do you want to become a physician, and how are you a good fit for DUQCOM's mission?
2. Can you describe an experience where you faced and overcame adversity?

CHOOSE one of these to answer:
3. Can you share an example of an altruistic experience you've had and explain how it influenced your desire to pursue a career in medicine?
4. How have your experiences and understanding of social determinants of health influenced your perspective on patient care and your approach to practicing medicine?


Good luck to everyone applying!

Interview feedback:
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Last edited by a moderator:
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For those receiving II's did you select the EDT track on the application?
 
Good luck everyone on your interviews today! Has anyone received an ii for the next round of interviews yet?
 
Justcuriousstar said:
By chance, can anyone share what the secondaries are(w/ character count)?
Click to expand...
The word limit for the questions below was 250-500 words. The first two were mandatory, then you could pick to answer either question 3 or question 4.

1. Why do you want to become a physician, and how are you a good fit for DUQCOM's mission?
2. Can you describe an experience where you faced and overcame adversity?
3. Can you share an example of an altruistic experience you've had and explain how it influenced your desire to pursue a career in medicine?
4. How have your experiences and understanding of social determinants of health influenced your perspective on patient care and your approach to practicing medicine?
 
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greenteamachine said:
Mine is tomorrow too ahhhh!!! I can't find much info on the questions. How are you preparing?
Click to expand...
I glanced at last year’s forum to see what kind of questions they ask and did a quick mock interview with a friend but for the most part I’m trying to destress 🙂 how about you?
 
GoldNumerous said:
I glanced at last year’s forum to see what kind of questions they ask and did a quick mock interview with a friend but for the most part I’m trying to destress 🙂 how about you?
Click to expand...
I did the same, but I couldn't find too many specific questions, so I just made some flashcards of the typical questions (why medicine/why DO/why this school, tell me about yourself, etc.) and I'm trying to relax and get into a good head space. I'm nervous! 😀
 
greenteamachine said:
I did the same, but I couldn't find too many specific questions, so I just made some flashcards of the typical questions (why medicine/why DO/why this school, tell me about yourself, etc.) and I'm trying to relax and get into a good head space. I'm nervous! 😀
Click to expand...
Me too, but I know we’re gonna do great! Good luck! 🙂
 
about how long after you all submitted your secondaries did you receive an interview invite?
 
GoldNumerous said:
How was todays interview?😍 mine is tomorrow eeeeek
Click to expand...
Interviewed yesterday and there were 7 of us (shoutout if one of y'all is seeing this!)

Honestly, when I applied to DUQCOM, I didn't have any expectations and had more questions since it is a new DO school. But the moment we entered the building, the faculty greeted us with open arms and were very welcoming (which helped with the nerves since this will probably be the first II for many of us). They will give you a folder and it'll have some information about the school, an itinerary, and a piece of paper to take notes on (take as many notes/questions as you can imo). They did a quick introduction and Dean Kauffman did his presentation about the school.

I was very impressed by this presentation alone. Dean Kauffman talked about Duquesne as a university (very established, well-connected hospitals thanks to their other health professions, FAFSA eligible, nonprofit, financially secure with 600 mil endowment). Then he explained his background and his success at CUSOM and how when building DUQCOM, he designed it to optimize our experience in becoming DOs. There's a lot of new tech, and we have special access to an entire floor at the university library (we share only with MBS), proper research labs, and a cadaver anatomy lab. Lots of study spaces and housing are very convenient ngl. There are a ton of green flags imo and the only obvious "weakness" is that we have to wait and see if the COM has produce the results they promise (which is 2-way since we have to produce the results given the resources they offer to us).

As for the interview format: 3 individual interviews with different faculty members. The doctors and faculty are very welcoming and friendly (at least mine were) and interviews were 15 minutes with your standard questions (why DO, why osteo, tell us about yourself). Since it is open file, make sure you know what you’re talking about (I was asked about specific points in my personal statement and research). But the question part is like 5-7 minutes which leads for 7 minutes for you to have a natural conversation with them about related topics. Be friendly and be engaging bc the staff will walk you down to their offices so use that time to break the ice and chill your nerves. After interviews comes the tour and it was pretty nice, I don’t have any reference to compare it to so idk if I can qualify it effectively. Then comes three other presentations and a Q&A and y’all should be out by 3. Acceptances for Monday are coming out this Friday so they have a rly quick turnaround with the deposit due in Sept as of now. And for interview group sizes, although we were 7, I believe that future interview groups will have 20 applicants per day.

TLDR: Welcoming and comfortable interview day; W staff, W vision and goals for the future, DUQ as a university is stable and connected. Lots of resources and opportunities for students. 3 1-on-1 interviews with short presentations afterwards. Personally, this school is moved near the top of my DO rankings and if I end up coming here, I will not regret my decision. Best of luck and hope this insight helps!!
 
TCH. said:
Interviewed yesterday and there were 7 of us (shoutout if one of y'all is seeing this!)

Honestly, when I applied to DUQCOM, I didn't have any expectations and had more questions since it is a new DO school. But the moment we entered the building, the faculty greeted us with open arms and were very welcoming (which helped with the nerves since this will probably be the first II for many of us). They will give you a folder and it'll have some information about the school, an itinerary, and a piece of paper to take notes on (take as many notes/questions as you can imo). They did a quick introduction and Dean Kauffman did his presentation about the school.

I was very impressed by this presentation alone. Dean Kauffman talked about Duquesne as a university (very established, well-connected hospitals thanks to their other health professions, FAFSA eligible, nonprofit, financially secure with 600 mil endowment). Then he explained his background and his success at CUSOM and how when building DUQCOM, he designed it to optimize our experience in becoming DOs. There's a lot of new tech, and we have special access to an entire floor at the university library (we share only with MBS), proper research labs, and a cadaver anatomy lab. Lots of study spaces and housing are very convenient ngl. There are a ton of green flags imo and the only obvious "weakness" is that we have to wait and see if the COM has produce the results they promise (which is 2-way since we have to produce the results given the resources they offer to us).

As for the interview format: 3 individual interviews with different faculty members. The doctors and faculty are very welcoming and friendly (at least mine were) and interviews were 15 minutes with your standard questions (why DO, why osteo, tell us about yourself). Since it is open file, make sure you know what you’re talking about (I was asked about specific points in my personal statement and research). But the question part is like 5-7 minutes which leads for 7 minutes for you to have a natural conversation with them about related topics. Be friendly and be engaging bc the staff will walk you down to their offices so use that time to break the ice and chill your nerves. After interviews comes the tour and it was pretty nice, I don’t have any reference to compare it to so idk if I can qualify it effectively. Then comes three other presentations and a Q&A and y’all should be out by 3. Acceptances for Monday are coming out this Friday so they have a rly quick turnaround with the deposit due in Sept as of now. And for interview group sizes, although we were 7, I believe that future interview groups will have 20 applicants per day.

TLDR: Welcoming and comfortable interview day; W staff, W vision and goals for the future, DUQ as a university is stable and connected. Lots of resources and opportunities for students. 3 1-on-1 interviews with short presentations afterwards. Personally, this school is moved near the top of my DO rankings and if I end up coming here, I will not regret my decision. Best of luck and hope this insight helps!!
Click to expand...
Do you know if it is always friday for the admission decision? Or is it just friday because it is so early in the cycle?
 
nicelad said:
Do you know if it is always friday for the admission decision? Or is it just friday because it is so early in the cycle?
Click to expand...
Unsure, the admissions admin didn't specify. I hope they do, but their first class will be starting on July 15th so after mid-July I'm not sure how the timeline will be affected.
 
tarnishedhealer said:
Interviewed yesterday and there were 7 of us (shoutout if one of y'all is seeing this!)

Honestly, when I applied to DUQCOM, I didn't have any expectations and had more questions since it is a new DO school. But the moment we entered the building, the faculty greeted us with open arms and were very welcoming (which helped with the nerves since this will probably be the first II for many of us). They will give you a folder and it'll have some information about the school, an itinerary, and a piece of paper to take notes on (take as many notes/questions as you can imo). They did a quick introduction and Dean Kauffman did his presentation about the school.

I was very impressed by this presentation alone. Dean Kauffman talked about Duquesne as a university (very established, well-connected hospitals thanks to their other health professions, FAFSA eligible, nonprofit, financially secure with 600 mil endowment). Then he explained his background and his success at CUSOM and how when building DUQCOM, he designed it to optimize our experience in becoming DOs. There's a lot of new tech, and we have special access to an entire floor at the university library (we share only with MBS), proper research labs, and a cadaver anatomy lab. Lots of study spaces and housing are very convenient ngl. There are a ton of green flags imo and the only obvious "weakness" is that we have to wait and see if the COM has produce the results they promise (which is 2-way since we have to produce the results given the resources they offer to us).

As for the interview format: 3 individual interviews with different faculty members. The doctors and faculty are very welcoming and friendly (at least mine were) and interviews were 15 minutes with your standard questions (why DO, why osteo, tell us about yourself). Since it is open file, make sure you know what you’re talking about (I was asked about specific points in my personal statement and research). But the question part is like 5-7 minutes which leads for 7 minutes for you to have a natural conversation with them about related topics. Be friendly and be engaging bc the staff will walk you down to their offices so use that time to break the ice and chill your nerves. After interviews comes the tour and it was pretty nice, I don’t have any reference to compare it to so idk if I can qualify it effectively. Then comes three other presentations and a Q&A and y’all should be out by 3. Acceptances for Monday are coming out this Friday so they have a rly quick turnaround with the deposit due in Sept as of now. And for interview group sizes, although we were 7, I believe that future interview groups will have 20 applicants per day.

TLDR: Welcoming and comfortable interview day; W staff, W vision and goals for the future, DUQ as a university is stable and connected. Lots of resources and opportunities for students. 3 1-on-1 interviews with short presentations afterwards. Personally, this school is moved near the top of my DO rankings and if I end up coming here, I will not regret my decision. Best of luck and hope this insight helps!!
Click to expand...
Interviewed today and had the same experience - super friendly staff and really enjoyed my time there! I also liked hearing about the organization of the curriculum too.
 
tarnishedhealer said:
Yes, although last year some people were able to get virtual. But I recommend in-person if possible.
Click to expand...
On their website they state that in person interviews are conducted with applicants whose address provided is within a 4 hour drive of campus.
 
People out here getting acceptances when I haven't even received the secondary 😭😭congrats to everyone who got accepted tho!
 
I’m just curious, has anyone from the 6/27 or 6/28 interview days heard anything from them? I know the Dean said to expect to hear from them within a week or two.
 
if anyone attended their MBS and is matriculating this year OR knows of someone who did, could they please reach out to me!
thx
 
Saguti12 said:
I’m just curious, has anyone from the 6/27 or 6/28 interview days heard anything from them? I know the Dean said to expect to hear from them within a week or two.
Click to expand...
Nope nothing yet, they told us 7-10 business days so we should hopefully hear something by the end of the week!
 
OOS secondary submitted on 6/10 and just got an II today! I think they must do it in batches.
 
A received today!!!!! I didn’t get a call but checked my application portal and found out there! Hopefully this helps some other ppl!
 
Hello guys, has anyone from the 6/27 or 6/28 interview days heard anything from them? I keep checking the platform but nothing there. They mentioned it would be done next week during the interview, and it is been now more than 2 weeks. Is it a bad sign?
 
Cyclopentanoperhydrophen said:
Hello guys, has anyone from the 6/27 or 6/28 interview days heard anything from them? I keep checking the platform but nothing there. They mentioned it would be done next week during the interview, and it is been now more than 2 weeks. Is it a bad sign?
Click to expand...
I interviewed on one of those days and got a decision yesterday. Maybe they don’t do them all at the same time or something? I wouldn’t worry if I were you. Wishing you the best of luck!
 
Cyclopentanoperhydrophen said:
Hello guys, has anyone from the 6/27 or 6/28 interview days heard anything from them? I keep checking the platform but nothing there. They mentioned it would be done next week during the interview, and it is been now more than 2 weeks. Is it a bad sign?
Click to expand...
I also interviewed those days and saw my A yesterday! I didn't get a call or email but checked my portal and it was updated to "submit enrollment deposit", checked again today and they had changed the status to "accepted". This week was orientation for the inaugural class so they were probably busy, keep checking and I'm sure it'll come in soon!
 
Cyclopentanoperhydrophen said:
Hello guys, has anyone from the 6/27 or 6/28 interview days heard anything from them? I keep checking the platform but nothing there. They mentioned it would be done next week during the interview, and it is been now more than 2 weeks. Is it a bad sign?
Click to expand...
I interviewed on one of those days and I found out yesterday, I'm sure your decision is probably coming soon
 
Application was verified on 6/28 and still haven't received secondaries. Should I contact them?
 
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