Thank you I am married no kids and what made you choose the school if I can ask?
I'm a family man. Married with 2 kids (just had number 2). Between KCOM and the other schools that had accepted me, KCOM blew everyone out of the water in how family friendly the school and environment were. Really I just didn't 'feel it' at NOVA so I crossed that off as soon as I got into KCUMB. SOMA was a great interview but I knew it wasn't for me with their mega primary care emphasis and CHC's. So then when it was down to KCUMB vs KCOM, there were a few things that tipped KCOM in my favor:
1. KCOM is mega family-friendly (my wife and baby came to my interview day w/ me, they have a mother's room for nursing, they have a club for wives [or any significant others] calleed the SAA, he SAA does exercise group w/ babysitting M-F, monthly meetings, service projects, book club, crafting nights, etc.)
2. KCOM has rotation sites in Utah which was a big seller for my wife because even if we don't choose to go there, we at least have the option.
3. KCOM is a great all-around school in a nice small town (super low crime rate).
4. I've got several friends in classes ahead of me who had amazing experiences and shared those with me.
A couple reasons I'm glad I chose KCOM that I didn't realize would be so helpful when I chose it:
1. Ultrasound. I LOVE ultrasound. We do some ultrasound with anatomy the first semester to just get familiar with the machines and look at some of the things we're learning in anatomy, but it starts getting way better as we go through the body systems. For example with GI we learned to look at the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas; looking for masses, stones, abnormalities. Cardio, we learned to measure ejection fraction of the heart, look for valve abnormalities, and do peripheral vascular exams to look for DVT (deep vein thrombosis) in the upper and lower extremeties. Renal we looked at the kidney but all you can really look for there is hydronephrosis caused by a stone (urine backed up into the kidney).
2. No dress code or required lectures. This wasn't that big of a deal to me but I have since found that I do best without going to lecture. Rather I study the material then just listen to lectures at double speed if I feel a need to do so. Dressing up would just be a pain. I like to ride my bike and that would suck even more. I'm grateful to just be able to roll out of bed and come to school if I so desire.
3. One of my favorite things this year has been our use of the HPS labs (the super sophisticated robots). Every week there are times we can sign up to go as a group into a scenario (usually relevant to the body system we're on) that is set up for us. We walk in, start taking a history and treat the patient as if we were the emergency physician. The robot sweats and breathes, has pulses, eyes dilate, and much much more. We've done all sorts of things like needle decompression of a tension pneumothorax (yes you actually stick a needle in its chest), emergency intubation, giving meds for cardiac arrhythmias or severe hypoglycemia. Someone is behind the glass responding as the patient and controlling the scenario as well as providing us with any labs or x-rays we order. I've probable killed half my patients, but it has been an awesome learning experience. Plus it's a nice break from studying.
