I wasn't sure if I was going to post...while I wanted to provide the information to others that I did not have access to at the time I was applying to the program, I was also uncertain as to how objective I could be about the program at this point. However, given that
@Lalisaloveme stated "The people who don't succeed in the program are the ones that are not putting in the work like they should be," it seems as though my concerns for objectivity were overblown...
Program Changes -
@OnlyTheTruth summarized contract changes. I think what is important to note is "why" they made the changes. Drexel College of Medicine (DUCOM) raised the standard for contract because they looked at the performance of former DPMS students who matriculated to DUCOM vs. non-DPMS medical students and found that DPMS students who achieved a 3.4 performed better than students who achieved 3.2.
Applicants -
@OnlyTheTruth does a good job of summarizing the application process and who they are seeking as applicants. I would be weary (very thoughtful) of applying if you are someone with a weaker background in the sciences. The real hurdle is biochemistry and it is 6 credits. When the degree is only 28 credits, and you need to achieve a 3.4, you have very little room for error. The biochemistry course is taught at a very high level...higher than what is taught in the medical school; both the instructor and current medical students are open about this. The current biochemistry instructor, who also serves as the academic program director, is very honest about the fact that his biochemistry course is
more difficult than what you will encounter in medical school. He states that students who perform well in his course perform well on Step 1. And while that is a nice correlation to be able to draw, it means nothing, and feels disingenuous, to current DPMS students who may never get to take Step 1 because they do poorly in this biochemistry course and have no real path to making contract. If you struggled with biochemistry or majored in a non-science field, understand that you will be at a significant disadvantage to students who have stronger science backgrounds.
While everyone who enters the program theoretically has a seat at DUCOM, when the histology professor complains during an exam review that too many folks got a question correct and that it doesn't allow for enough "discrimination" between test takers, understand that it is not possible for everyone to do well.
Application - DPMS and DUCOM communicate poorly about acceptance to the program. The last group of students accepted to the program weren't accepted until two weeks prior to the start of the program this year. TAs/current M1s were tasked with calling accepted students encouraging them to accept their acceptance.
Administration - While program administrators genuinely seemed well meaning, they are largely powerless. Building good relationships with them is important, however, unlike you are encouraged to believe, these are not your "aunties." DPMS program administrators are functionally the "Human Resources" for DPMS and their goal is to document, protect, and ensure the interests of DPMS and DUCOM. You must go into it with this understanding and not the warm and fuzzies they try and sell you over the summer.
Academic Support - The biggest issue is that there isn't enough tutoring and that some of the tutors understanding of the material is questionable at best. Over the summer the administrators constantly spoke about tutoring and how you were encouraged to get tutoring early. There were 5 CLASS tutors available for more 54 students and we weren't the only students that could book time with them. The program coordinators recognize the tutoring is insufficient and their solution was to try to book tutoring time with other students to make it stretch. Which sounds good in theory but most students book tutoring to get help with specific concerns/questions. This is much harder to do in a group setting.
Course Materials - Most of the material you are expected to learn is provided via PDFs and links to years old videos. Given how much students are being charged for the program, the quality of the course materials, for several of the courses, is subpar.
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My most significant gripe with DPMS is the degree to which they have tried to obfuscate the success program participants which prevents applicants from making an informed decision. 2024-2025 applicants were told during the interview sessions by a program admin that 40/42 students matriculated from the 2022-2023 cycle; they said they currently didn't have information about the 2023-2024 class, which seemed reasonable at the time. What we weren't told is that many of those 40 students had to appeal their original decision based on GPA or MCAT and that this process is now considerably different with successful appeals being very rare. Despite the fact that the information about the 2023-2024 class was known at the time we showed up for the summer session, we weren't told that 17 of 75 students from the 2023-2024 class did not make contract. 40/42 is a 95% conversion rate...58/75 is a 77% conversion rate.
The 2024-2025 class started with 55 students but one dropped before the end of orientation. Of the 54 students who started in fall, by the end of November, at least 11 had withdrawn. As
@OnlyTheTruth shared, there are definitely more students remaining in the program who do not have a chance at making contract even if they get a 4.0 this semester. Some are staying for personal reason, others are staying to complete the masters degree.
After withdrawing from DPMS, some students are given the option to rematriculate the following summer, while some students are not given the option to return. Non-returning students may have the option to transfer to IHS.
I wish everyone who is an applicant/accepted for the upcoming year the best of luck. My goal in writing is to simply ensure you have access to information I would have liked at the time I applied so that I could have made a more informed decision.
