A little warning about Touro NY

[doczebra]

---

Members don't see this ad.

1) Regardless of what the Deans tell you on your interview day, this is in fact a mandatory attendance school

2) 50% of entering students hold a Masters from an SMP program that specifically teaches medical school classes, not the other smp programs.

3) 25% of the class is held back from writing comlex 1/step 1.

4) 20% of the class fails step 2.

5) 10% of the students that enter will never graduate. 300k debt, no degree, ouch.

6) THE SCHOOL IS NOW ON PROBATION.

 

[Lawpy]

I hear the guys over at the osteo forums will benefit from this information.

 

[doczebra]

I hear the guys over at the osteo forums will benefit from this information.

Oh damn, I misposted on the wrong pre-med forum. Sorry y'all. But if anyone here is submitting DO applications, beware of that one.

 

[efle]

Are these numbers markedly worse than other DO programs?

 

[Ismet]

Moving to pre-osteo

 

[Wjldenver]

1) Regardless of what the Deans tell you on your interview day, this is in fact a mandatory attendance school

2) 50% of entering students hold a Masters from an SMP program that specifically teaches medical school classes, not the other smp programs.

3) 25% of the class is held back from writing comlex 1/step 1.

4) 20% of the class fails step 2.

5) 10% of the students that enter will never graduate. 300k debt, no degree, ouch.

6) THE SCHOOL IS NOW ON PROBATION.

Wow! If this is actually true, with all of the new DO schools which are opening, maybe they should close some of the old ones while they are at it. (I believe the OP is a current student at this school.)

 

[Goro]

Offhand, LECOM and CUSOM require attendance at lecture. I find this profoundly distasteful

1) Regardless of what the Deans tell you on your interview day, this is in fact a mandatory attendance school

I don't see this as an issue. 25% of Dartmouth students have a "graduate degree", according to MSAR. BTW, most SMps teach med school classwork.
2) 50% of entering students hold a Masters from an SMP program that specifically teaches medical school classes, not the other smp programs.

This technique is done by a number of schools, like LECOM and TCOM, and is a way fo fudging COMLEX data to say that "our school is in the top of the US in COMLEX" But 25% of the class? That seems rather high, especially if 50% of the class has made it through an SMP.

3) 25% of the class is held back from writing comlex 1/step 1.

That's high.
4) 20% of the class fails step 2.

10% attrition is something I'd expect from LUCOM. It's alarmingly high, if true.
5) 10% of the students that enter will never graduate. 300k debt, no degree, ouch.

Awaiting verification of this from colleagues at Touro-NY. If true, I'd suspect it's not merely what has been written here, but also from the overbooking fiasco.
6) THE SCHOOL IS NOW ON PROBATION.

Are these numbers markedly worse than other DO programs?

 

[redsox93]

Is this real?

 

[ZedsDed]

1) Regardless of what the Deans tell you on your interview day, this is in fact a mandatory attendance school

2) 50% of entering students hold a Masters from an SMP program that specifically teaches medical school classes, not the other smp programs.

3) 25% of the class is held back from writing comlex 1/step 1.

4) 20% of the class fails step 2.

5) 10% of the students that enter will never graduate. 300k debt, no degree, ouch.

6) THE SCHOOL IS NOW ON PROBATION.

I find some of this hard to believe. Do you have any evidence besides your word?

 

[redsox93]

picture didn't work

 

[PossibleDOC?]

Goro is the only one on this thread with an intelligent thought.....its easy for people to say things its another to provide proof. As a physician you need to be able to provide proof of illness and not just say it. Practice this in your daily life as well as here.

Thank you

 

[doczebra]

Offhand, LECOM and CUSOM require attendance at lecture. I find this profoundly distasteful

1) Regardless of what the Deans tell you on your interview day, this is in fact a mandatory attendance school

I don't see this as an issue. 25% of Dartmouth students have a "graduate degree", according to MSAR. BTW, most SMps teach med school classwork.
2) 50% of entering students hold a Masters from an SMP program that specifically teaches medical school classes, not the other smp programs.

This technique is done by a number of schools, like LECOM and TCOM, and is a way fo fudging COMLEX data to say that "our school is in the top of the US in COMLEX" But 25% of the class? That seems rather high, especially if 50% of the class has made it through an SMP.

3) 25% of the class is held back from writing comlex 1/step 1.

That's high.
4) 20% of the class fails step 2.

10% attrition is something I'd expect from LUCOM. It's alarmingly high, if true.
5) 10% of the students that enter will never graduate. 300k debt, no degree, ouch.

Awaiting verification of this from colleagues at Touro-NY. If true, I'd suspect it's not merely what has been written here, but also from the overbooking fiasco.
6) THE SCHOOL IS NOW ON PROBATION.

In order:
-Do lecom and Cusom have 30 hours of mandatory lecture per week?

-The SMP is touro's dirty attempt at specifically picking for students that would have 3 years of med school basic sciences vs having 2 years. The board pass rate is still in the gutter.

-60 students between middletown and harlem were held back writing comlex 1. You can ask your colleages about this as well to verify. This is something verbally known by students, Touro wont put it down on paper. You can also ask about the school's internal policy that requires students to score 450 on comae to get authorization to register for comlex.

-Latest step 2 pass rate: 78%
http://tourocom.touro.edu/media/schools-and-colleges/tourocom/documents/COMLEX.pdf

-attrition: again, ask your colleage about the 6 senior students that attempted to sue the school this summer.

-probation: there was an email. 3rd years didnt get it, I'll ask my former roomates to forward it.

edit: email below

Never mind, removed for privacy. Confirm that with you colleages as well

 

[Goro]

Don't know. Wouldn't surprise me, especially if they have the older Flexner style curricula.
-Do lecom and Cusom have 30 hours of mandatory lecture per week?

I see nothing wrong with getting students who have redeemed themselves academically with an SMP. ~10% of our class will be students from our own SMP. I'd guess another 10-20% wil have taken an SMP elsewhere. Why is this such an issue with you?

The Level I pass rate is stellar. The level II is rate is bad, I agree with you there, but this has nothing to do with the SMP or even pre-clinical curricula...it's all about clinical rotations. Touro must have some lousy rotation sites. St John's is one, isn't it?


-The SMP is touro's dirty attempt at specifically picking for students that would have 3 years of med school basic sciences vs having 2 years. The board pass rate is still in the gutter.

Awaiting verification. I have no problem with the COMSAE requirement...we have something similar. Why let an at-risk student take COMLEX if you have a good metric that will predict COMLEX performance??

-60 students between middletown and harlem were held back writing comlex 1. You can ask your colleages about this as well to verify. This is something verbally known by students, Touro wont put it down on paper. You can also ask about the school's internal policy that requires students to score 450 on comae to get authorization to register for comlex.

Piss poor, I agree. I note that it's been flat for the past few years. This is all on the Clinical Dean's head.
-Latest step 2 pass rate: 78%
http://tourocom.touro.edu/media/schools-and-colleges/tourocom/documents/COMLEX.pdf

This could be from anything. There are such things as poor students, who are poor at clinical learning.
-attrition: again, ask your colleage about the 6 senior students that attempted to sue the school this summer.

Kindly send via PM.
-probation: there was an email. 3rd years didnt get it, I'll ask my former roomates to forward it.

edit: email below
Never mind, removed for privacy. Confirm that with you colleages as well[/QUOTE]

 

[doczebra]

Don't know. Wouldn't surprise me, especially if they have the older Flexner style curricula.
-Do lecom and Cusom have 30 hours of mandatory lecture per week?

I see nothing wrong with getting students who have redeemed themselves academically with an SMP. ~10% of our class will be students from our own SMP. I'd guess another 10-20% wil have taken an SMP elsewhere. Why is this such an issue with you?

The Level I pass rate is stellar. The level II is rate is bad, I agree with you there, but this has nothing to do with the SMP or even pre-clinical curricula...it's all about clinical rotations. Touro must have some lousy rotation sites. St John's is one, isn't it?


-The SMP is touro's dirty attempt at specifically picking for students that would have 3 years of med school basic sciences vs having 2 years. The board pass rate is still in the gutter.

Awaiting verification. I have no problem with the COMSAE requirement...we have something similar. Why let an at-risk student take COMLEX if you have a good metric that will predict COMLEX performance??

-60 students between middletown and harlem were held back writing comlex 1. You can ask your colleages about this as well to verify. This is something verbally known by students, Touro wont put it down on paper. You can also ask about the school's internal policy that requires students to score 450 on comae to get authorization to register for comlex.

Piss poor, I agree. I note that it's been flat for the past few years. This is all on the Clinical Dean's head.
-Latest step 2 pass rate: 78%
http://tourocom.touro.edu/media/schools-and-colleges/tourocom/documents/COMLEX.pdf

This could be from anything. There are such things as poor students, who are poor at clinical learning.
-attrition: again, ask your colleage about the 6 senior students that attempted to sue the school this summer.

Kindly send via PM.
-probation: there was an email. 3rd years didnt get it, I'll ask my former roomates to forward it.

edit: email below
Never mind, removed for privacy. Confirm that with you colleages as well

[/QUOTE]

I have nothing against the SMP students. They were very helpful to other classmates when the professors were clueless. I'm just pointing it out that students that got straight A's at BU and Drexel are here and suddenly their board and shelf scores come out to be below national average. Touro takes talented students and absolutely crushes them with a horrible education.

St john's was one of our better rotations. We've lost that one. And we've lost Hackensack University medical center as well as Trinitas. I think the very original students at the school had St Barnabas as well which would've been great. Word is Palisades is gonna stop being a core rotation site to top it all off. HackensackUMC owns it and they're taking the ACGME/SetonHall option.

 

[Goro]

As I said before, the pre-clinical years have nothing to do with COMLEX II. That exam is maybe 15% scientific knowledge. It's the clinical training that's killing your students for Level II.


I have nothing against the SMP students. They were very helpful to other classmates when the professors were clueless. I'm just pointing it out that students that got straight A's at BU and Drexel are here and suddenly their board and shelf scores come out to be below national average. Touro takes talented students and absolutely crushes them with a horrible education.

NOT a good sign! I surmise that Touro had better put a crowbar in their wallet and start paying places for more rotations.

St john's was one of our better rotations. We've lost that one. And we've lost Hackensack University medical center as well as Trinitas. I think the very original students at the school had St Barnabas as well which would've been great. Word is Palisades is gonna stop being a core rotation site to top it all off. HackensackUMC owns it and they're taking the ACGME/SetonHall option.[/QUOTE]

 

[SiakTiDoc]

Forgive my Ignorance, but does this apply to all Touro Schools, or specifically NY?

 

[Peach Newport]

Fischer told us in class that those "6 students" didn't graduate because they tried to exceed the "you must graduate medical school in 6 years" requirement.

 

[Goro]

The three Touros are as much competitors to each other as CCOM is to UNECOM or PCOM. Completely separate schools, down to different curricula, according to my colleagues there.

Forgive my Ignorance, but does this apply to all Touro Schools, or specifically NY?

 

[Peach Newport]

Thank you Goro. Touro NY is Harlem and Middletown.

Touro california is very different from Touro NY. They use a different curriculum and classroom strucure. Touro NV is just as different. None of the same complaints about Touro NY apply to CA or NV.

 

[deleted480308]

In order:
-Do lecom and Cusom have 30 hours of mandatory lecture per week?

-The SMP is touro's dirty attempt at specifically picking for students that would have 3 years of med school basic sciences vs having 2 years. The board pass rate is still in the gutter.

-60 students between middletown and harlem were held back writing comlex 1. You can ask your colleages about this as well to verify. This is something verbally known by students, Touro wont put it down on paper. You can also ask about the school's internal policy that requires students to score 450 on comae to get authorization to register for comlex.

-Latest step 2 pass rate: 78%
http://tourocom.touro.edu/media/schools-and-colleges/tourocom/documents/COMLEX.pdf

-attrition: again, ask your colleage about the 6 senior students that attempted to sue the school this summer.

-probation: there was an email. 3rd years didnt get it, I'll ask my former roomates to forward it.

edit: email below

Never mind, removed for privacy. Confirm that with you colleages as well

Cusom is 5days a week all morning and varying between half/all afternoon 4 days a week....avg of about 30ish

 

[RockMcat520]

Yes It is an actual picture. I pass by there everyday

 

[Romeo117]

1) Regardless of what the Deans tell you on your interview day, this is in fact a mandatory attendance school

2) 50% of entering students hold a Masters from an SMP program that specifically teaches medical school classes, not the other smp programs.

3) 25% of the class is held back from writing comlex 1/step 1.

4) 20% of the class fails step 2.

5) 10% of the students that enter will never graduate. 300k debt, no degree, ouch.

6) THE SCHOOL IS NOW ON PROBATION.

I go to Touro as well and I don't know who you are but are you sure that you go here??? bc all of ^ is complete BS.

It is not mandatory attendance. I rarely went to clickers and passed just fine every class. You wont get As most likely but its very very easy to keep Bs in each class since you only lose 10% for not showing up. Its not like preclinical grades matter anyways..ask any residency director

what does it matter if 50% hold a masters? so do most students from other schools too. I personally know 3 people with MPH and 2 with MBAs and there are probably many more if I knew more people from school and asked about their backgrounds

I'm not sure where you got the 25% from getting held back (pretty sure it's way lower) and you of all people should know that the ppl who get held back only get held back until they pass our schools pretend comlex and the people who fail it usually plan on taking boards later anyways bc they dont start rotations until august or september (the school makes us take it way back in april so its understandable if you fail bc you didnt start studying yet)

again, the last two percentages im not sure where u got that data from... maybe you can enlighten us all 🙂

And the school is on probation for overadmitting students, not bc of academics or performance on boards or anything that really matters

 

[throwaway948738]

I got to Touro as well and I don't know who you are but are you sure that you go here bc all of ^ is complete BS.

It is not mandatory attendance. I rarely went to clickers and passed just fine every class. You wont get As most likely but its very very easy to keep Bs in each class since you only lose 10% for not showing up. Its not like preclinical grades matter anyways

what does it matter if 50% hold a masters? so do most students from other schools too. I personally know 3 people with MPH and 2 with MBAs and there are probably many more if I knew more people from school and asked about their backgrounds

I'm not sure where you got the 25% from getting held back (pretty sure it's way lower) and you of all people shouuld know that the ppl who get held back only get held back until they pass our schools pretend comlex and the people who fail it usually plan on taking boards later anyways bc they dont start rotations until august or september (the school makes us take it way back in april so its understandable if you fail bc you didnt start studying yet)

again, the last two percentages im not sure where u got that data from... maybe you can enlighten us all 🙂

And the school is on probation for overadmitting students, not bc of academics or performance on boards or anything that really matters

I don't know pal. @doczebra has been pretty reliable on this. And you're just joining the party.

If you lose 10% of your grade if you don't show up to class, that sort of means that class is mandatory. That may be fine for you, but it's not fine for future applicants who want to succeed in med school.

Being on probation doesn't mean anything to you, but it does mean something to future DO students.

 

[Romeo117]

I don't know pal. @doczebra has been pretty reliable on this. And you're just joining the party.

If you lose 10% of your grade if you don't show up to class, that sort of means that class is mandatory. That may be fine for you, but it's not fine for future applicants who want to succeed in med school.

Being on probation doesn't mean anything to you, but it does mean something to future DO students.

I got a 240 on usmle and 580 on comlex so I'm pretty sure that is succeeding. maybe have them fact check. 95% of our students get above avg on boards. that was released in july by our dean

 

[tux4]

Probation does not mean much, especially for the reason why Touro is. A lot of schools have been on probation or the path to probation (columbia was on the path a few years back). Generally if a school does not satisfy some requirement by the accreditation board they can be on probation. Other times it is because of an administrative mishap, like Touro, and complaints are filed. A lot of schools actually improve and come out better after a process like this.

As for the board scores, many students in this program excel on the steps and do just fine. The issue with Step 2 is not the clinical rotation quality, it is individual motivation. In pre-clinical years at Touro, students are hand fed the material and it is continually reenforced. On rotations the school offers absolutely nothing and offers no incentive to study for shelf exams, so many students don't do well with that I guess. There are still many that do just fine because they are motivated to do so. Honestly, if you aren't motivated to learn medicine then you are probably doing it for the wrong reason IMO.

As for what someone said about pre-clinical grades being useless, it is absolutely true. Skip all the clickers unless it helps you learn. Comparing pre-clinical grades between applicants from dozens of schools offers no way to differentiate applicants because of the grading variability. All they can do is hurt you if you failed a course. Much of the residency application is to just screen for red flags, so just don't bomb any class. But again, if you are failing pre-clinicals it is likely a motivation factor, which should question your original motive for attending medical school (obviously excluding extenuating circumstances).


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[AOAmed]

+

 

[68PGunner]

Probation does not mean much, especially for the reason why Touro is. A lot of schools have been on probation or the path to probation (columbia was on the path a few years back). Generally if a school does not satisfy some requirement by the accreditation board they can be on probation. Other times it is because of an administrative mishap, like Touro, and complaints are filed. A lot of schools actually improve and come out better after a process like this.

As for the board scores, many students in this program excel on the steps and do just fine. The issue with Step 2 is not the clinical rotation quality, it is individual motivation. In pre-clinical years at Touro, students are hand fed the material and it is continually reenforced. On rotations the school offers absolutely nothing and offers no incentive to study for shelf exams, so many students don't do well with that I guess. There are still many that do just fine because they are motivated to do so. Honestly, if you aren't motivated to learn medicine then you are probably doing it for the wrong reason IMO.

As for what someone said about pre-clinical grades being useless, it is absolutely true. Skip all the clickers unless it helps you learn. Comparing pre-clinical grades between applicants from dozens of schools offers no way to differentiate applicants because of the grading variability. All they can do is hurt you if you failed a course. Much of the residency application is to just screen for red flags, so just don't bomb any class. But again, if you are failing pre-clinicals it is likely a motivation factor, which should question your original motive for attending medical school (obviously excluding extenuating circumstances).


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

Blaming their pathetic Step 2 results on the students is a lame excuse. Something is wrong with their clinical education. That's the bottom line.

 

[throwaway948738]

I work very closely with this school and OP's original concerns are almost totally unfounded. I wonder if OP might have another motivation for his post/dissatisfaction? Maybe he/she had a less than successful experience in the Med school?

Touro NY Med students actually have great success and the school is widely considered an excellent educational program. They did indeed overbook, although they corrected the situation by accepting/accommodating all the accepted students.

Well, no. They didn't correct the situation. Students were promised Harlem. Instead they got Shelbyville. hence the lil probation issue.

It is what it is. Students are justifiably upset. No need to spin.

 

[AOAmed]

+

 

[Peach Newport]

Do you mean Middletown? Either way, my understanding is that they markedly expanded their class size at the Harlem campus so many, if not all, got exactly what they were promised minus the class size.

Regardless, that doesn't change the "facts" presented in the original exaggerated/totally made up disgruntled post.

No one got transferred to middletown who really didn't want to. Pretty much everyone who didn't want to go to middletown... Didn't go to Middletown.

The probation has nothing to do with middletown. Probation is about Touro Harlem enrolling 154 students when they're accredited for 135.

As for Doczebra, he's definitely disgruntled, and his statements are a bit exaggerated, but most are based on some sort of truth.

 

[Mad Jack]

Offhand, LECOM and CUSOM require attendance at lecture. I find this profoundly distasteful

1) Regardless of what the Deans tell you on your interview day, this is in fact a mandatory attendance school

I don't see this as an issue. 25% of Dartmouth students have a "graduate degree", according to MSAR. BTW, most SMps teach med school classwork.
2) 50% of entering students hold a Masters from an SMP program that specifically teaches medical school classes, not the other smp programs.

This technique is done by a number of schools, like LECOM and TCOM, and is a way fo fudging COMLEX data to say that "our school is in the top of the US in COMLEX" But 25% of the class? That seems rather high, especially if 50% of the class has made it through an SMP.

3) 25% of the class is held back from writing comlex 1/step 1.

That's high.
4) 20% of the class fails step 2.

10% attrition is something I'd expect from LUCOM. It's alarmingly high, if true.
5) 10% of the students that enter will never graduate. 300k debt, no degree, ouch.

Awaiting verification of this from colleagues at Touro-NY. If true, I'd suspect it's not merely what has been written here, but also from the overbooking fiasco.
6) THE SCHOOL IS NOW ON PROBATION.

UNECOM is also mandatory lectures as of this year.

 

[deleted480308]

I got a 240 on usmle and 580 on comlex so I'm pretty sure that is succeeding. maybe have them fact check. 95% of our students get above avg on boards. that was released in july by our dean

I'm not buying that 95% of any school's students are above national avg...

 

[Goro]

First time pass rate I can believe, but schools sure are loathe to give out actual scores!

I'm not buying that 95% of any school's students are above national avg...

 

[edgerock24]

I go to Touro as well and I don't know who you are but are you sure that you go here??? bc all of ^ is complete BS.

It is not mandatory attendance. I rarely went to clickers and passed just fine every class. You wont get As most likely but its very very easy to keep Bs in each class since you only lose 10% for not showing up. Its not like preclinical grades matter anyways..ask any residency director

what does it matter if 50% hold a masters? so do most students from other schools too. I personally know 3 people with MPH and 2 with MBAs and there are probably many more if I knew more people from school and asked about their backgrounds

I'm not sure where you got the 25% from getting held back (pretty sure it's way lower) and you of all people should know that the ppl who get held back only get held back until they pass our schools pretend comlex and the people who fail it usually plan on taking boards later anyways bc they dont start rotations until august or september (the school makes us take it way back in april so its understandable if you fail bc you didnt start studying yet)

again, the last two percentages im not sure where u got that data from... maybe you can enlighten us all 🙂

And the school is on probation for overadmitting students, not bc of academics or performance on boards or anything that really matters

This seems like a defense mechanism. While it may be "very easy" for you to get a B (which is great), it may be incredibly hard for another student to achieve the same grade. Students should not have to sacrifice 10% of their grade in order to have an acceptable amount of time to properly study for exams.

I agree with the rest of what you said, however.

 

[Mal.Assezia]

Let me just say that I was the #1 hater of clickers. A lot of people liked them and benefited from them, but they just weren't helpful to me personally. I just used that time to type out and organize my notes, and catch random high yield factoids the professors threw out during class. If you're a mature adult, you'll realize that things in life aren't always the way you want them to be, and how you deal with that is what defines you. I'm in the top 15% of my class and did really well on USMLE and COMLEX. My class did phenomenal on COMLEX level I. I figured that I could skip about half the clickers during the semester and make sure to study hard and get high A's on every exam, and I ended up with straight A's most semesters. On rotations now, I often find that I know more answers than MD students being pimped with me. When the doctors see that I'm eager and knowledgable, they trust me to do procedures. With your attitude here, it's no wonder no one has let you do anything.

Now, if you're not intelligent enough to figure out what works for you and what allows you to succeed, you shouldn't be in medical school. If you think it's gonna be easy and that everything will be handed to you on a silver platter, you chose the wrong profession. It seems like you're very upset about people being "held back" from taking boards... you mean the people who can't take COMLEX until they pass COMSAE? Did you have trouble passing? It's ok. It's understandable that you'd try to blame the school for your own intellectual shortcomings. Psych immature defense mechanisms 101.

Is Touro perfect? Nah. Bottom line is that medical school is what you make it, no matter where you go. All of my friends, whether they're at DO or MD schools, complain about their schools. It's just what exhausted and overworked med students do. But since you're so above Touro, you shoulda just gone to Harvard or Yale. While us Touro students who actually have drive and passion go out and achieve what we set out to achieve, you continue to whine and complain like a child on SDN. Life ain't gonna be easy for you out there.

 

[LuluLovesMe]

UNECOM is also mandatory lectures as of this year.

That must suck for M1s and M2s. Why did they make the change?

 

[jayhawk2311]

no

 

[tux4]

Blaming their pathetic Step 2 results on the students is a lame excuse. Something is wrong with their clinical education. That's the bottom line.

I shouldn't place all blame on the students, but it is definitely shared between the administration and the students. Even if the clinical education is sub-par, you can always take advantage of opportunities as they arise or look things up on your own (it's what I did a lot of the time for sure). The first 2 years at Touro groom students to be given all the answers and given step by step instructions on how to do things (students cry otherwise). Then when clinical years hit it almost feels like the school completely disappears and offers literally bare minimum/nothing, for some people that isn't easy. Pair that with nearly zero incentive to study for shelf exams (overall rotation grade lowers only by a letter if you get >2 SD less than national average), a lot of people fall behind without the handholding like the first 2 years. So my point is, people can still do well here and really excel if you are self-motivated. The school absolutely needs to revamp how it manages 3rd year and improvements would reflect with an overall increase in Step 2 scores. So the blame lies in both the school and the student.

 

[TouroStudent2017]

Current 4th year at Touro and I wanted to add to some of the points that have already been made.

1) Regardless of what the Deans tell you on your interview day, this is in fact a mandatory attendance school
This is not a mandatory attendance school in the essence that you will fail if you miss more than x classes. What we do have is clickers, which are 10% of grade, so if you never show up, then you might get a lower grade; of note, just because clickers count for a grade, this does not mean that it is mandatory attendance, lots of people in my class never showed up because they were fine with losing that 10% since they did well on exams. Also, labs are mandatory, as they are pretty much everywhere. A lot of people hate clickers (not everyone) and they feel that they are a major waste of time, but as much as we tried to get the admin to do away with them, they refuse because they feel they help us on boards.

2) 50% of entering students hold a Masters from an SMP program that specifically teaches medical school classes, not the other smp programs.
I don't know what the big deal is about this and the number does seem high. The school does have their own SMP and I believe around 20-30 students from the Master's program matriculate into the DO program. These students had to excel in the Master's to gain admittance and after 1st year they have to bust their asses just as us students that had not done a Masters program. The top students in our class, including #1 ranked student, were all in the Master's program.
Again though, who really care and why is this even a big deal?

3) 25% of the class is held back from writing comlex 1/step 1.
We have to pass COMSAE in order to register for the Comlex 1. There is nothing stopping anyone from registering for Step 1, just go to the office and have them send in your form. Was mentioned somewhere, but COMSAE is given in April, long before some students have even started to study. If you don't pass the first time, not a big deal, you can take it again at any time. And the school does offer a free board prep program for those that are having difficulty. Also, not everyone that defers taking the exam is because they failed COMSAE, many postponed until their vacation month or to when they felt ready.
Some data from NBOME about my class and level 1:
119 students had taken the exam by 9/23/15
School pass rate: 98.32%
National pass rate: 92.99%
School mean: 536.68
National mean: 517.2

4) 20% of the class fails step 2.
There was an email recently about this, but I erased and didn't read, so I can't state if this is true or not.

5) 10% of the students that enter will never graduate. 300k debt, no degree, ouch.
As far as I know, only 2 people in my class have dropped out: one was pressured into going to med school by her parents when she didn't want to and left after 2nd week of class, another left after the 1st semester because of health issues. Definitely not 10% of the students that enter.

6) THE SCHOOL IS NOW ON PROBATION.
It really was one student that complained.

Am not trying to paint the picture that Touro is this amazing school with no issues. Administration can be disorganized, the support staff can err on the side of incompetent, and there is definitely room for improvement. Our rotation sites are suck and I wish that we had more opportunities actually in NYC. But I feel like my actual clinical education was very good and I appreciate that.

 

[Pezeveng]

6) THE SCHOOL IS NOW ON PROBATION.
It really was one student that complained.

If you think COCA would place an entire school on probation over 1 complaint from a student you are delusional.

1st year Touro student here.
The school has a lot of deficits. That's all I'm going to say. In my opinion, it's going to get A LOT worse before it gets better.

 

[kawi609]

If you think COCA would place an entire school on probation over 1 complaint from a student you are delusional.

+1

 

[jillzhou]

If you think COCA would place an entire school on probation over 1 complaint from a student you are delusional.

1st year Touro student here.
The school has a lot of deficits. That's all I'm going to say. In my opinion, it's going to get A LOT worse before it gets better.

I get that first year students were affected the most after the over acceptance, but mistakes happen ...get over it! I'm sorry you had to go through the trouble earlier but it's time to move on and focus on what matters most as opposed to just ****ting on the school. The majority of students so far have no expressed the same sentiments as doczebra have. Sure a lot of things could be changed but it seems like Touro's getting their **** together. Also, every school has its flaws...they're just not made public, instead discussed internally with students and worked on them. So instead of saying things like it could get a lot worse, how about you take a step back and realize change is already being made. You're definitely not helping with it though especially with statements like those.

 

[TouroStudent2017]

...

 

[TouroStudent2017]

If you think COCA would place an entire school on probation over 1 complaint from a student you are delusional.

1st year Touro student here.
The school has a lot of deficits. That's all I'm going to say. In my opinion, it's going to get A LOT worse before it gets better.

The school was placed on probation because they accepted too many people last cycle and because of the complaint of 1 current student (I believe you may know who it is). They violated regulations because of that snafu and obviously there had to be ramifications.
Having been there for much longer than you (3+ years vs 1 1/2 months), I know that the administration tries to be a transparent as possible, so for them to have been so specific in the email, I believe them and am not just "delusional".

 

[Goro]

100% agree. In my experience, COCA tends to get roused to action when a school has some serious deficits.

Probations are "fix this or else" conditions. "You have X amount of time" is also part of the equation.

Baylor was on probation not too long ago.

If you think COCA would place an entire school on probation over 1 complaint from a student you are delusional.

1st year Touro student here.
The school has a lot of deficits. That's all I'm going to say. In my opinion, it's going to get A LOT worse before it gets better.

 

[Peach Newport]

So if, say, Touro was on probation for enrolling too many students, would they need to get rid of some students?

 

[68PGunner]

The bottom line is stay the hell away from this school if you have options. It wasn't long ago that the Touro in Cali was completely shredded by sdn posters for their crappy clinical rotations before they tackled the problem. The only way to force them into action is to put them at the bottom of the barrel. Why take the risk and waste 300k on a garbage education?

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Touro COM is a very good school with great opportunities. The average MCAT score for class of 2020 was nearly a 32, much higher than the majority of DO schools.

No dog in this fight but I don't get why this is touted as some fact that makes the school magically better than others. No one freaking cares what the average MCAT is if you don't do better on boards. CUSOM had a higher board average in their first class than the number reported above. Anyone who picks a school because it has a "higher MCAT average" is a total *****. All it means is people want to live in NY.

You couldn't pay me enough to live in NY. I can't stand the place.

 

[PossibleDOC?]

I just want to add one thing, people can hate the school or down talk it but remember one thing, if it's your only acceptance you're going to go I don't know too many people who wouldn't. If you have options fine, everyone loves options. HOWEVER, one thing that gets me is medical students some that don't even go to Touro so why do you care? or from what im seeing some Pre-Medical students are saying these things. Are you in medical school? No and if you got in here knowing these issues but it was your only chance to be a doctor I would bet 100 to 1 you'd be packing your bags. It's easy to talk but its another when you're faced with the decisions and need to accept things. Just remember at the end of the day it is YOU who has to know the info, YOU who has to pass the boards, and YOU who owe it to your patients to be the best physician you can be. No medical school can make you a good student you have to be one already.

 

[edgerock24]

No dog in this fight but I don't get why this is touted as some fact that makes the school magically better than others. No one freaking cares what the average MCAT is if you don't do better on boards. CUSOM had a higher board average in their first class than the number reported above. Anyone who picks a school because it has a "higher MCAT average" is a total *****. All it means is people want to live in NY.

You couldn't pay me enough to live in NY. I can't stand the place.

100% agree. Touro NY [basically] has mandatory lectures (unless you want to lose 10% of your grade from the get-go), below average clinical sites, terrible level 2 pass rate, and is located in a cesspool (Harlem)...... but oh wait....they have a 32 average MCAT score! Sign me up!!!