In regards to the complaints and bickering, I am frustrated with the criticism that SOMA is receiving. Though I was accepted to another school, I chose SOMA. And with the occasional mishaps and errors, my overall experience has has been pleasurable and beneficial.
I for one have had the opportunity of attending medical classes and know the curriculum of a very fine allopathic medical school. In addition, I have sat in classes at one of the best osteopathic schools. We are receiving the same education that they are. I have verified this by skimming through my First Aid for the USMLE book and we are on point.
At those 2 other schools, they do have students remediating and failing out. So do we.
One school uses note-taking services and the other records each and every lecture. Therefore, class attendance is not that strong.
We on the other hand have echo360, which records our professors voices and shows our professors' presentations and their scribbles.
Though I originally did not like the idea of buying this $2300 laptop, it has been very beneficial to our learning. I really do enjoy writing on my screen and using the applications and tools to enhance my learning. Also, it is very eco-friendly as I use less paper.
Initially, I was very hesitant about attending SOMA because I knew that I would be a part of the 3rd entering class. Also, the new curriculum scared me because I thought that I would not receive the full preparation to handle the comlex and usmle. However, the more research I did about the scheme based curriculum, I discovered that another school in Canada, the University of Calgary, improved their board scores tremendously. this weblink is a general overview:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/mdprogram/prospective/introduction. I am trying to find the website that i obtained the statistics of their dramatic improvements. The more that I have worked with the schemes, the easier that it has been for me to determine how to solve case presentations given in class, with sim man, and exam questions.
To keep in mind, 89% of our first time takers of the comlex passed. That is unheard of for a brand new school. Looking at other posts on SDN, we beat out a few other DO schools. I heard that admissions only expected 78% to pass. I expect the following classes will improve that % to compete with the other osteopathic schools.
Yes, the comlex scores did range. All medical schools prep students to pass, but board scores depend on your efforts outside of the classroom. Ask any adviser or counselor at a medical school.
On another note, I had the opportunity of speaking with a 3rd year student and he told me that he is enjoying his rotations. At the time, he was rotating with one of the best OMM doctors in the country, who is one of our professors. On another note, as a first year student, we have done 6-7 OSCEs (Objective structured clinical examination). In November after doing 4 OSCEs, I spoke with a friend at another osteopathic school and they were about to do their 1st osce as 2nd year students.
Like all brand new schools, there will be problems. We have a new curriculum, but 89% of the students are passing. The technology has been advantageous to our learning. We are getting the preparation to interact with our patients.
Finally, what school gives you the opportunity of interacting with patients, whether it is under a nurse practitioner, manager, or doctor during your second year? Also, having the opportunities of being in another city that needs our (future doctors) help.
) I personally don't think I would have an issue with having a nurse manager. If the CHCs use nurses as managers, I would imagine that you could find plenty of other opportunities to interact with doctors and see their interactions with patients. I don't imagine this issue being problematic whatsoever. If it is important to you to have a doctor as your manager during clinicals, then this question would be something to ask the school and perhaps you would feel more comfortable at a school that does not use nurses as managers for medical students.
