ACOM or KCU?

[paging_dr_maybe?]

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Hi!

Please help me choose between ACOM and KCU Joplin. Thanks in advance!


ACOM
Pros

• Housing is right across the street from the medical school. I will not need a car and will be able to access the campus easily.
• Board prep materials (Uworld, Pathoma, First Aid, COMBANK) start year 1
• Can wear scrubs to class
• Local hospital has some specialties, rotations sites well established with ACOM and growing
• Teachers use board style questions

Cons

• Tuition is $55,440 a year.
• Grading is letter and numeric with a GPA with ranking
• Mandatory classes I think?

KCU Joplin Missouri
Pros

• The cost of living is really low, I would be able to find an apartment for very cheap.
• Tuition is $49,888 a year.
• Pass/Fail grading, with internal ranking

Cons

• The weather is absolutely terrible here, it is tornado alley and they get a lot of tornadoes.
• This really isn’t an urban area, the closest airport only flies to three cities on United Airlines.
• Not much board prep support provided
• Mandatory classes I think?
• Business casual dress code
• Local hospital is small, not many sites near by
• Students shared they didn’t necessarily feel super prepared for boards

Summary: I think I may like to go into dermatology, so I would like to go to a good school with opportunities to go into that specialty. I am also concerned about the numeric with GPA ranking at ACOM.

 

[MDMechEngr]

if you are not at the top of your class, you will likely not be competitive for Derm. At my school the students in the top 90th percentile tend to match derm, optho, ortho, NSG etc. because the cream tend to rise to the top. If you are average, espcecailly at a DO school, you will likely end up in primary care and it doesnt mater which DO school you attend. With that said, I did not see any derm match for KCU or ACOM last year. It probably doesnt mater which of those schools you attend. Your chance of match DERM is on you and not those two schools.

 

[Booksandshoes]

I am a KCU student for reference, but to my knowledge, not all classes are mandatory. Some are, and they tell us which ones are. Otherwise, you can attend in person/over zoom or watch the recording later. As for dress code, we do have to be in business casual for certain activities, like patient encounters, etc. But outside of that, most people dress casually or in scrubs. As for board prep, I think it depends on the person how they feel, but there is some support. Here is the match 2021 info: Match Day 2021. If you have any other questions, please feel free to DM me!

 

[paging_dr_maybe?]

Thank you so much for your response! I really appreciate it.

 

[drstranger]

ACOM is not mandatory attendance anymore just certain sessions that are integrated or TBLs. But go to the cheaper school. neither school will give you a great derm advantage, but ACOM does have a local DO Mohs surgeon who talks with students if you are interested when you attend.