2024-2025 Midwestern University (Glendale, Arizona) AZCOM

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
OOS A!

Members don't see this ad.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
anyone know how likely it is to get off of the waitlist for an interview? I am OOS and was put on the waitlist about 2 weeks ago any insight would be much appreciated 🙂
 
anyone know how likely it is to get off of the waitlist for an interview? I am OOS and was put on the waitlist about 2 weeks ago any insight would be much appreciated 🙂
I’ve been on it since August so I’m assuming if we get off of it. It may be in the spring.
 
I submitted my secondary late November (I submitted my primary late September but I was in the process of getting a physician letter for the secondary). It's late in the cycle, but I hope my stats will make me competitive for the seats left. Strong IS ties, well rounded app!
 
Hello Everyone,

Current 4th-year at AZCOM. Would be happy to answer any questions about the program. I have enjoyed my time here at AZCOM and it is bittersweet knowing that I only have about 5 months until it’s all over. I applied to anesthesiology residencies this cycle and am happy to report that I received many interviews at great residencies. Best of luck, and like I said I am happy to help out or clarify anything about the program.
 
Hello Everyone,

Current 4th-year at AZCOM. Would be happy to answer any questions about the program. I have enjoyed my time here at AZCOM and it is bittersweet knowing that I only have about 5 months until it’s all over. I applied to anesthesiology residencies this cycle and am happy to report that I received many interviews at great residencies. Best of luck, and like I said I am happy to help out or clarify anything about the program.
I got into a IS DO program and a OOS MD. I'd much rather stay IS and am hoping I get into an MD program (waiting on 2 decisions still), but I gotta prepare for the worst lol. What tips would you give to someone starting their first year soon who also has some interests in Anesthesiology? I know everyone says to just take the MD, but I am having such a hard time processing the idea of leaving all my friends and family behind. If it means I have to work a little harder to be competitive, that is something I am willing to take on.
 
I got into a IS DO program and a OOS MD. I'd much rather stay IS and am hoping I get into an MD program (waiting on 2 decisions still), but I gotta prepare for the worst lol. What tips would you give to someone starting their first year soon who also has some interests in Anesthesiology? I know everyone says to just take the MD, but I am having such a hard time processing the idea of leaving all my friends and family behind. If it means I have to work a little harder to be competitive, that is something I am willing to take on.
As a bit of context, I came to AZCOM with no prior history in Arizona, and in hindsight I think it was one of the best things for me in terms of personal growth. I think it broadens your horizons and is really exciting to meet an entirely new group of people, but thats just my opinion. As far as picking DO vs MD for anesthesia, although I love my school, in good conscience I would have to recommend taking the MD route. It is a bit harder to match into competitive specialties as a DO, and things are only becoming more competitive, so I would say take the path of least resistance. However if you see yourself being miserable at the MD program, then go wherever you think you would be happiest since med school is going to be tough, having a strong support network and being close to friends and family is important, and one of the main reasons i picked AZCOM. There is also financial burden, and AZCOM is very expensive and I am willing to wager it is maybe double the tuition of your MD choice, so keep that in mind as well…

As far as tips for prepping towards anesthesia, get involved with a club or group that is anesthesia specific (AZCOM has one) and excel at your coursework. Preclinical grades do matter because it determines your class ranking. Also try to find hobbies you enjoy and definitely get involved in extracurriculars, I cannot stress the importance of this enough as residency interviews are more interested in knowing your hobbies and extracurriculars rather than why anesthesia and all the boring stuff. I hope that helps.
 
Hello Everyone,

Current 4th-year at AZCOM. Would be happy to answer any questions about the program. I have enjoyed my time here at AZCOM and it is bittersweet knowing that I only have about 5 months until it’s all over. I applied to anesthesiology residencies this cycle and am happy to report that I received many interviews at great residencies. Best of luck, and like I said I am happy to help out or clarify anything about the program.
Honest pros and cons? Didn't feel great hearing there was no dedicated study time for boards
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Honest pros and cons? Didn't feel great hearing there was no dedicated study time for boards
Not sure who said that but there is dedicated boards study time, for both COMLEX Level I/Step1 (I believe about 6 weeks of dedicated) and COMLEX Level 2/Step 2 (2 weeks guaranteed, but many students take a board study elective block which gives them 6 weeks total without any real downside). You are not allowed to sit for the COMLEX exams unless you meet MWU’s practice exam threshold. They need to see a certain score from you because otherwise you are at significant risk of failing, and they are trying to make sure you do not fail one of your board examinations, so while this can be annoying, I think they are just trying to protect you. I took both COMLEX and USMLE exams and performed very well, as did many of my classmates.

PROS: great faculty, solid curriculum and professors who know what they are talking about, Ultrasound curriculum is unique and highly useful for when you go out on rotations, great classmates and people all around, campus is beautiful and has a lot of stuff going on as well as a student organization or club for pretty much anything you could reasonably think about, cafeteria is pretty nice and has a variety of food options, great boards passing rates and match rates into highly competitive specialties, good rotation sites for 3rd and 4th years, Phoenix/scottsdale is a dope city with so much to do, dating scene is great if thats worth any consideration. Honestly have loved my time here, met some great folks who will be lifelong friends, and I have done great on rotations against other medical students from neighboring schools.

CONS: COST, upper administration can be toxic at times and give students misguided advice on taking certain board examinations for certain specialties, we have to pay for USMLE exams out of pocket, but COMLEX is covered through tuition (which you still end up paying or taking out loans for), we have to pay out of pocket for UWorld subscription (the best board exam question bank, don’t let anyone else convince you otherwise), OMM is ridiculous but thats something you’re going to have to deal with regardless of what DO school you go to, there is no dedicated person to help you with finding a specialty to apply to or assessing your overall competitiveness for a specialty (However I think that ultimately its your career and you are the only one who has the power to make your journey a success or failure), another con is that its a DO school and unfortunately that will limit your ability to apply to certain residencies (namely anything IV league or anything in the UC school system).
 
Not sure who said that but there is dedicated boards study time, for both COMLEX Level I/Step1 (I believe about 6 weeks of dedicated) and COMLEX Level 2/Step 2 (2 weeks guaranteed, but many students take a board study elective block which gives them 6 weeks total without any real downside). You are not allowed to sit for the COMLEX exams unless you meet MWU’s practice exam threshold. They need to see a certain score from you because otherwise you are at significant risk of failing, and they are trying to make sure you do not fail one of your board examinations, so while this can be annoying, I think they are just trying to protect you. I took both COMLEX and USMLE exams and performed very well, as did many of my classmates.

PROS: great faculty, solid curriculum and professors who know what they are talking about, Ultrasound curriculum is unique and highly useful for when you go out on rotations, great classmates and people all around, campus is beautiful and has a lot of stuff going on as well as a student organization or club for pretty much anything you could reasonably think about, cafeteria is pretty nice and has a variety of food options, great boards passing rates and match rates into highly competitive specialties, good rotation sites for 3rd and 4th years, Phoenix/scottsdale is a dope city with so much to do, dating scene is great if thats worth any consideration. Honestly have loved my time here, met some great folks who will be lifelong friends, and I have done great on rotations against other medical students from neighboring schools.

CONS: COST, upper administration can be toxic at times and give students misguided advice on taking certain board examinations for certain specialties, we have to pay for USMLE exams out of pocket, but COMLEX is covered through tuition (which you still end up paying or taking out loans for), we have to pay out of pocket for UWorld subscription (the best board exam question bank, don’t let anyone else convince you otherwise), OMM is ridiculous but thats something you’re going to have to deal with regardless of what DO school you go to, there is no dedicated person to help you with finding a specialty to apply to or assessing your overall competitiveness for a specialty (However I think that ultimately its your career and you are the only one who has the power to make your journey a success or failure), another con is that its a DO school and unfortunately that will limit your ability to apply to certain residencies (namely anything IV league or anything in the UC school system).
Thank you!!! It was a student ambassador at my interview, it's possible she misunderstood the question but I thought it was pretty clear what was being asked...
 
Thank you!!! It was a student ambassador at my interview, it's possible she misunderstood the question but I thought it was pretty clear what was being asked...
There is dedicated but they don't call it that.
M2-M3, it is "Block 1" (June) on the calendar. Nobody rotates until Block 2 (July). You finish school finals in mid-late April, so that's all of May free as well. If you take boards early, you get a vacation, but you are able to use all of June as study time. Overall then, you get 8-9 weeks.

M3-M4, there is 2 weeks of dedicated marked as "vacation" and then again, you can use June as well.

Ambassadors are usually M1 or M2s so they may have been mistaken if it was only fall. They don't really talk to us about the nitty gritty scheduling stuff until winter, if I remember correctly.
 
Like in the school itself?
Within the school definitely since you are surrounded by many people within your own class who have similar interests, but also outside of that as there are a host of other programs and the campus is a very social one with tons to get involved in. You will meet a lot of people here.

Outside of that, Phoenix is a big city and with downtown Phoenix and scottsdale 30-40 minutes away, it’s also very easy to meet good people. Tons of great nightlife and bars
 
+1 OOS II this morning! LM 64 and complete early August
 
Last edited:
just withdrew my II today. i hope it goes to one of y'all! best of luck future doctors
 
going to be interviewing in person soon, any advise or tips?
 
going to be interviewing in person soon, any advise or tips?
All I'll say is your probably more nervous than you need to be! of all the interviews i've done this cycle they were one of the most pleasant experiences! you'll do great. Wear comfortable walking shoes for the tour lol
 
Interview hold today after submitting an update letter last night

Anyone know if this is a good or bad thing for this school?
 
Interview hold today after submitting an update letter last night

Anyone know if this is a good or bad thing for this school?
I’m not too sure, I’ve called them in the past before about something and they were super nice, so you could give them a call if you want
 
OOS II LM 68 received earlier today. Complete 8/18. Does anyone know if I take the II here and get an offer if that precludes me from getting into their Chicago campus? I would love to attend their Chicago campus.
 
OOS II LM 68 received earlier today. Complete 8/18. Does anyone know if I take the II here and get an offer if that precludes me from getting into their Chicago campus? I would love to attend their Chicago campus.

They are totally separate schools, so no.
 
Interview hold today after submitting an update letter last night

Anyone know if this is a good or bad thing for this school?
Holds don't mean anything besides letting you know that you are still under consideration. They do outright reject people if they aren't interested.

They interview for a few more months, last year we were going into June with some last minute ones. Plenty of time still 🙂
 
Holds don't mean anything besides letting you know that you are still under consideration. They do outright reject people if they aren't interested.

They interview for a few more months, last year we were going into June with some last minute ones. Plenty of time still 🙂

I know MD interview holds are most often a soft R. Good to know there is still some hope considering DO schools interview much later, so that the hold means something!

I am interested if anyone knows how often people get pulled for interviews after receiving a hold for this school?
 
I know MD interview holds are most often a soft R. Good to know there is still some hope considering DO schools interview much later, so that the hold means something!

I am interested if anyone knows how often people get pulled for interviews after receiving a hold for this school?
I can’t tell you the numerical rate but it’s extremely common. I know a lot of people who were “interview holds” at one point.
 
IS A. Never got an email or anything it just showed up in my portal. Interviewed 1/17
 
OOS II 1/29! Not sure if I'll end up doing it tho bc I have the CCOM A and am much more likely to attend there, where I grew up for half my life
 
Top