ATSU/SOMA (Arizona) Discussion thread 2008-2009

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rennykim said:
I got an extension for my deposit, and am still considering this school... I feel it is by far the best 'fit' for me, but have many of the same concerns already expressed by the poster below me.

Can anyone comment on the quality of OMM teaching here? I know the other school I am considering has inferior quality OMT because of their recent class size increase which is a major concern of mine in choosing to attend any DO program. Thanks.
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Sorry this isn't more timely. I am a first year student so I can only comment on the experience on the campus. We have OMT training for 3-4 hours every Thursday. The class is split in half so about 50 students go to a Med Skills class learning how to take histories and use equipment, and the other half does OPP then we switch in the afternoon.

The OPP class is organized so that we are randomly assigned partners and take turns practicing the procedures on each other. During the class one of the instructors will demonstrate the technique in front of the class so everyone can see. A video camera is used to capture and project the technique on a few different screens so everyone can see. We are then given time to practice. While we practice there are 6 faculty members that roam the room to help answer any questions. It works out to 8 or 9 students per faculty member.

In all it is pretty good, but I have nothing to compare to this is the only OPP class I have ever taken. I am under the impression that a few of our OPP faculty are pretty big names in the OPP field because their names often come up in publications and they have authored chapters in various textbooks.

I wish I could comment on the experience at the CHC's. Hope that helps
 
Thanks, much appreciated. I hope I can show them I have what they're looking for.
 
DrMattOglesby said:
Muchas Gracias, Greenshirt--you've been a reliable source of information for many questions concerning SOMA. I really appreciate the time you take to address many of our concerns on here.
I just want to say that as this application cycle ticks onward and is soon closing to an end...the decisions become more and more difficult...but I am glad I have held onto ATSU-SOMA all the while.
The only concern I am facing now is whether or not I will be able to excel in a lecture environment that comes largely from a computer. I have never really liked online classes so I will have to investigate this feature more and more.
And as a much less minor concern, I do wonder about practice rights in foreign countries. I do see myself traveling a lot in the future and although I see myself living in the United States, I cannot say for sure that this is a certainty. But again, this is a minor concern.
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No problem!

It's great that you're familiar with your learning style. I think that's an important factor when selecting a medical school curriculum. I've taken one online course in undergrad and I didn't particular care for it myself. The program at SOMA is a lot more interactive than a traditional online course. The first year is entirely traditional classroom lectures. The second year includes podcasts but some of the CHCs listen to the podcasts together in the classroom with their instructors or at least go over some of the lecture material so it's similar to a classroom lecture in some ways.

As for working abroad as a DO or MD, if you have particular country or two in mind I'd research what requirements they have for foreign physicians who wish to practice in their country. I know for some countries such as France you have to complete the equivalent of their residency program and liscencing exams even as an MD, so it's not usually a matter of simply picking up and practicing anywhere you like.

Good luck with admissions cycle! I hope you end up somewhere that's a good fit for you.
 
DrMattOglesby said:
i forget whether SOMA required a DO LOR...but that question aside--I don't like when schools REQUIRE a DO to give you a LOR.
Getting mine involved a very inconvenient commute to another city that ate up a lot of time and gas money.
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I don't think SOMA requires a DO letter b/c I didn't have one and I received an interview 🙂

I also...somehow...got LECOM-Bradenton to swing the requirement and I will interview there next Wednesday...although I am meeting with their DO while I'm there.

I lived for 17 years in a medically underserved area....no DOs so I had a hard time with this requirement...I'm very happy not all the schools require such a letter.
 
hey guys, my file is finally complete at SOMA. just wondering how long it usually takes to hear about an interview? thanks!
 
I received an interview about one month after my file was complete.


Also....for those who have interviewed: if I take an 8 am interview...would I make my 5:50 pm flight? I've never been to Arizona...so I don't know the logistics.
 
swimchick said:
Also....for those who have interviewed: if I take an 8 am interview...would I make my 5:50 pm flight? I've never been to Arizona...so I don't know the logistics.
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I think you should be able to make it. I'm assuming you have a rental car and are decent with directions. It's about a 10 minute bus ride to the airport from the car rental building.

Good luck at the interview.
 
Ok....interview scheduled!

Anyone else doing an 8 am interview on February 9th??
 
swimchick said:
I received an interview about one month after my file was complete.


Also....for those who have interviewed: if I take an 8 am interview...would I make my 5:50 pm flight? I've never been to Arizona...so I don't know the logistics.
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I had an 8 am and was at the airport by 4:30 but i had to go back to my hotel. I also didn't run into any traffic during security.
 
Cagall said:
I had an 8 am and was at the airport by 4:30 but i had to go back to my hotel. I also didn't run into any traffic during security.
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Thanks for the info!

Did you rent a car or use a taxi/shuttle service? I'm under 25 so car rental is a last resort for me....
 
swimchick said:
I received an interview about one month after my file was complete.


Also....for those who have interviewed: if I take an 8 am interview...would I make my 5:50 pm flight? I've never been to Arizona...so I don't know the logistics.
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If you are in the moring (8am) interview cohort, then your interview day finishes by 2:30 or 3pm. At that point you leave directly for the airport... it should take you 35-45 minutes to get there (assuming you leave then, and not later when rush hour traffic kicks in). Give yourself a full hour though. The school is very close to highway 60 (just over a mile away), so you just need to get onto 60W and then merge onto I-10W... and drive until you see the airport symbol (which will take you directly to the airport). You'll have to go about 12-15 miles on 60W before you hit I-10, and then about 7-8 miles on I-10W before you see the 'Sky Harbor Airport' exit with the plane symbol designation. So the drive isn't complicated at all.

My parents' house (where I grew up) is only 2.5 miles from the school, so I am familiar with the area.
 
swimchick said:
Thanks for the info!

Did you rent a car or use a taxi/shuttle service? I'm under 25 so car rental is a last resort for me....
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Rather than driving, it might just be worth to have the Supershuttle take you where you want to go (assuming you aren't planning on exploring the greater Phoenix area). That would probably be the most economical if you just need a ride between your hotel/school or school/airport. www.supershuttle.com
 
rkaz said:
Rather than driving, it might just be worth to have the Supershuttle take you where you want to go (assuming you aren't planning on exploring the greater Phoenix area). That would probably be the most economical if you just need a ride between your hotel/school or school/airport. www.supershuttle.com
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Alrighty...thank you so much for that info! I did check them out....very good rates.

I'm flying in Sunday afternoon and leaving right after the interview on Monday to minimize time off from work so I think this should work for me...and I assume there are cabs that can take me from my hotel to SOMA.
 
swimchick said:
Thanks for the info!

Did you rent a car or use a taxi/shuttle service? I'm under 25 so car rental is a last resort for me....
Click to expand...

You might be able to get a deal on the rental, but what i did was take a taxi from the airport to my hotel, hotel had a free shuttle to SOMA (like 3 mins drive) and took a taxi back. Taxi fee from my hotel to airport was 45 each way... so might be cheaper to rent or use another method
 
Cagall said:
hotel had a free shuttle to SOMA (like 3 mins drive) and took a taxi back
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Which hotel was that? If it's not the one I reserved I might switch 🙂

I think I'm gonna use the super shuttle....it's $20 from PHX to the hotel and $26 from SOMA to the airport...not too shabby.
 
swimchick said:
Which hotel was that? If it's not the one I reserved I might switch 🙂

I think I'm gonna use the super shuttle....it's $20 from PHX to the hotel and $26 from SOMA to the airport...not too shabby.
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country inn mesa. free breakfast
 
For those of you have interviewed, are the interviewers looking for a right answer in the ethics questions, (kidney transplant, drug advertising, etc) or are they looking for how you respond and support your standpoint?

Thanks
 
lilmil said:
For those of you have interviewed, are the interviewers looking for a right answer in the ethics questions, (kidney transplant, drug advertising, etc) or are they looking for how you respond and support your standpoint?

Thanks
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ANY ethics question you run into (as a med school applicant) is looking for logic and reasoning to substantiate your response.
I don't remember getting one from SOMA though. Although I think others have.
As a good rule, I would say it is better to consider what your values are. Once you have these pinpointed, you can assess the situation and apply said values.

Example:
let's say you identify human life as a personal value.

they give you a scenario in which you have to choose between saving the life of a mother of 3 versus that of a convicted criminal.
Surely, most people would select to save the life of the mother...but the interviewer might then ask you to defend the position of the criminal. In which case, you resort back to your philsophical underpinnings and explain to them that everyone's life is valued. No person is worth more than another.
 
lilmil said:
For those of you have interviewed, are the interviewers looking for a right answer in the ethics questions, (kidney transplant, drug advertising, etc) or are they looking for how you respond and support your standpoint?

Thanks
Click to expand...

There is no such thing as right answers to ethical questions. They will be more likely evaluating how you assess or think through a situation to come to a decision or opinion.
 
Thank you, that helps. I have read some reviews that make it appear that SOMA looks for a "right" answer which scares me. However, as you suggsted, I need to respond with my true values or I will not be able to logically defend the answer I think they are looking for.

Thanks again!
 
Thanks gildas. I will work on successfully portraying my pesonal view as well as I can.
 
lilmil said:
For those of you have interviewed, are the interviewers looking for a right answer in the ethics questions, (kidney transplant, drug advertising, etc) or are they looking for how you respond and support your standpoint?

Thanks
Click to expand...

It was tough, I am not going to lie. I honestly didn't think I would get in because of that one-on-one with the plethora of ethical questions.

However, what I think helped me was really taking the time to intelligently formulate a response (any response) that I could logically defend. Good luck.
 
The right answer to any ethical question is always, "absolutely." You can play around with it, like, "absolutely positively," "absolutely I would," "let me squeeze some absolutely juice and we'll share a glass," or "who dat absolute?" But be careful, because sometimes the answer is "absolutely not."
 
swimchick said:
Thank you so much for all of your help....I really do appreciate it!
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No problem. Good luck. Don't worry, the interviews are VERY laid back. I know everyone says that, but here they are by far the most laid back 🙂 just be yourself and you'll do fine
 
Cagall said:
No problem. Good luck. Don't worry, the interviews are VERY laid back. I know everyone says that, but here they are by far the most laid back 🙂 just be yourself and you'll do fine
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Thanks Cagall! I'm not too nervous about the interview...I've been told by my profs and by my department that I interview very well...but I'm not looking forward to the file review. I have quite a few subpar grades to answer for 🙄

I just I hope I get good news before mid-March so I can cancel my GRE 😀
 
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swimchick said:
Thanks Cagall! I'm not too nervous about the interview...I've been told my profs and my department that I interview very well...but I'm not looking forward to the file review. I have quite a few subpar grades to answer for 🙄

I just I hope I get good news before mid-March so I can cancel my GRE 😀
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The GRE is really hard. I hope you hear good news soon 👍
 
Anyone else have an interview on Friday, February 6th? I just booked my flight! I can't wait to see SOMA in person...I'm really excited about it from everything I've read!! It seems like a great place and an awesome new kind of med school education!
 
GoGreen said:
Anyone else have an interview on Friday, February 6th? I just booked my flight! I can't wait to see SOMA in person...I'm really excited about it from everything I've read!! It seems like a great place and an awesome new kind of med school education!
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I think if you interview at SOMA, you should also check out some CHCs in which you are also interested in completing your studies. It is hard to make a decision after only seeing 1/4 of the campus. Especially when the remaining 3/4 is all at one location...

sorry. . .apparently I'm still a little piped about this. It was a cruel surprise receiving the acceptance phone call and hearing that my preferred CHC was not guaranteed.
 
Hey Matt,

Congrats on Penn State. I wasn't there or anything but somehow I just knew you would get in 🙂
 
Hi Matt,

At my SOMA interview, we had a sheet in our packet that asked if we had strong ties to a certain CHC, and if so, to explain those strong ties. If I'm not mistaken, Joyce said that if the school agreed those ties were strong enough, then they could pass the info on to the CHC and simultaneously accept the student to the school and CHC at the same time (so that you would know which CHC you'd be at before matriculation). She said that strong ties was NOT the same thing as a mere first preference... strong ties means that you need to be there due to family, or that you grew up in the region and want to practice there etc. For students who merely have CHC preferences, they need to wait until after school starts to rank the CHCs.... but for students who need to be at a particular CHC due to family etc, they can submit their request starting on the day of interview. So if you had a particular need to be a the Hawaii CHC, I don't see why they couldn't accept you to that CHC pre-matriculation.
 
yeah...I filled out one of those forms about the CHCs on my interview day as well.

I have family (not immediate), land, friends, and heritage all from the Pacific Islands (hawaii and guam)--as well as intent to work in the region upon graduation. I listed these items but was never told of a CHC agreement pre-matriculation.

It's not like I'll blow up if I don't get the Hawaii CHC...so in that sense, I don't need it. But it really was the only reason I had applied to ATSU-SOMA. And I was banking a lot of reasoning for declining offers and other interviews on the prospect of obtaining this Hawaii CHC.

However, upon experiencing, first-hand, how a large portion of the curriculum will be delivered (via online podcasts and other materials obtained from the internet)...I have since become much more hesitant. I worked as a Supplemental Instructor and one of the things they had us assess our students for was their learning style. And I know from personal past experience with online courses, that I am not adept at this delivery of curriculum.

By the by--were you, or anyone you know, accepted to a CHC pre-matriculation? Just curious...
 
Has anyone on the Alternate List hear anything lately?
 
Cagall said:
Has anyone on the Alternate List hear anything lately?
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I think I read somewhere here that there was an adcom meeting at the end of this month. Maybe it's today? Perhaps someone else knows when they met.

Good Luck!
 
Boges said:
I think I read somewhere here that there was an adcom meeting at the end of this month. Maybe it's today? Perhaps someone else knows when they met.

Good Luck!
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I was able to talk to Joyce and people on the alternate list are grouped either high, middle, low applicants. Depending on how you're grouped will determine when the committee will re-review. Joyce also said last year all applicants in high and middle group were offered a seat... good news for all of us in those groups
 
I know that some people were thinking that the online learning strategy SOMA is using warrants some worry, but I was told that the format they have is VERY interactive. students are in no way left out to dry and study completely by themselves. As far as I understand, the online learning begins during our second year when we are at our respective CHCs. a lot of the material that is presently online is reviewed with the student groups as a whole, and there is SOMA faculty member there to help you with direction and clarification. i would think that the material is put together in an identical format, whether it be presented on your computer screen in your home, on a laptop with your CHC group, or in a lecture hall. I guess what I'm saying is, if people are worried about the online format, faculty has reassured me that it is not completely an individual endeavor.
Also, I was worried about the CHC placement issue as well, but I was also told that since they are trying to have us at places where we match, SOMA wants their students to be happy with the results too. They said that they would do everything they can to place students where they also feel they fit best.
Anyways, just wanted to put that info out there for any people who may have been feeling uneasy or unsure. Of course, this is an innovative curriculum, but they definitely seem to hear their students' concerns. Good luck to everyone!
 
Hi Everyone!

So i just had my SOMA interview on Friday and have to say i LOVE IT!! It is my number one choice hands down!!! However i have a few questions that maybe the lurking 1st or 2nd years could answer about years 2 - 4. The Dean ran out of time and said he couldn't take any questions - however i plan on emailing him!

* Is the school testing your rotations with shelf exams?

* Is the school using anything for board review?? Are they subscribing to Q bank or offering any study materials?

* During your 4th year, are the electives the only ones you can do anything you want, anywhere you want for audition rotations, or as long as you stay in AZ can you do that with your selectives?? The Dean made a comment how audition rotations were a "waste of time" and i wanted to ask if that meant we cant do them, but, he didn't have time for questions 🙁

Thanks so much! I cant wait the 3-4 weeks to find out if i get in !! 🙂
 
nerdsmakegraves said:
* During your 4th year, are the electives the only ones you can do anything you want, anywhere you want for audition rotations, or as long as you stay in AZ can you do that with your selectives??
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As a current applicant myself, I don't have much information... but one thing I remember from my interview day is that one of the faculty said that you would have preference (over a non-SOMA student) to do a particular rotation at another CHC. For instance, let's say that you are selected for the Phoenix CHC and there is a particular rotation you want to do at the Flagstaff CHC... there is a good chance that you would get to do that rotation at the Flagstaff CHC (over a non-SOMA student) since the CHCs are affiliated with SOMA. Obviously the students assigned to the Flagstaff CHC would get first dibs to do the rotations they wanted, but since you would also be a SOMA student, you'd be next in line if there is availability to take on more students for a particular rotation.
 
DrMattOglesby said:
That is the first time I have ever heard anything like that...😕
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I know!! I think he meant it in the context that most of fourth year is super lax with no real structure and they want it structured... However, i just didn't know if you could do an audition rotation at a hospital that was NOT a CHC in AZ... hopefully the dean when i email him can and will clear this up for me!
 
well maybe he meant it in the sense that if, during 4th year, you are doing rotations unaffiliated with SOMA, then you might be wasting your time because you have already applied for residency programs by then...and thus your performance at said rotation will have little influence on your residency application.
 
Ahhhh Dr. Matt you are so wise 😛 I never thought of it that way, and i think your right..... There are 16 weeks (i think, i cant remember exactly) of electives in 3rd year so you can do your auditions then anywhere and be set for residency applications.
 
Hey guys, I have been accepted to SOMA. 🙂 This is my first med school acceptance, and I can't say how nice it feels to know that I am going to be a med student this year. (The stress of having no acceptances is BRUTAL.) I may also hear back from Midwestern-AZCOM this week, so I can only hope to have some decisions to make!

I interviewed on Jan 26th, so for those who also interviewed on that day, you should hopefully be hearing back from the school soon! Good luck!:luck:
 
rkaz said:
Hey guys, I have been accepted to SOMA. 🙂 This is my first med school acceptance, and I can't say how nice it feels to know that I am going to be a med student this year. (The stress of having no acceptances is BRUTAL.) I may also hear back from Midwestern-AZCOM this week, so I can only hope to have some decisions to make!

I interviewed on Jan 26th, so for those who also interviewed on that day, you should hopefully be hearing back from the school soon! Good luck!:luck:
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IMO, the choice between AZCOM and SOMA is no decision at all... What do you see as some of the strengths at AZCOM?
 
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