AZCOM Class 2003...100% passing COMLEX 2003

[Mohel]

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Letter sent to all students at AZCOM STATES...

It is with extreme pleasure that I announce the results of the COMLEX Level
2 National Boards taken by AZCOM students Jan 14-15, 2003. All students
(100%) who took the exam successfully passed. This is simply phenomenal!
Six of the eight times AZCOM students have been eligible to take the exam
they have passed with a rate of 100%. No other college of osteopathic
medicine has this success rate.

 

[F/A-18]

That's great! Congrats! Are these 1st time pass rates or a combination of the Aug test. I know AZCOM is fantsitic in this area. AZCOM, I have heard, has been nic named the "Brainiac School" because of their consistantly high scores.

But what do you mean, taking the test 6 out of 8 times when the school only graduated 4 or 5 classes? I assume you are counting the Aug and Jan administrations of the COMLEX step 2 arrivining a 8 administration? But why on 8 what happened to the other 2 times?

 

[The Mesentery]

That's great, but how much time off do AZCOM have to study for the boards? I believe someone told me one month. Most other schools aren't as lucky...we'd be happy to get even 2 weeks!

 

[PublicHealth]

I've heard that AZCOM's curriculum is tailored to the COMLEX test format. Is this true?

PH

 

[mcataz]

If I choose to attend a DO school let alone a medical school, it's AZCOM all the way. I have taken several DO classes as a part of my post-bac curriculum and the professors teach to the COMLEX and USMLE. That's why AZCOM students outperform most allopathic schools let alone osteopathic schools on the boards.

I'm not a brainiac and I can tell you that most AZCOM students are not brainiacs. I'm not suggesting they are stupid either. Don't read into that. But I think you can find many other osteopathic schools that boast higher GPA's and MCAT entrance stats.

I know that in all of our classes, we are given lecture notes. That's huge. To some of you, this may seem like a given. But many osteopathich and allopathic schools don't provide notes. They tell you to read chapters and figure out the material on your own. So just handing out lecture notes helps tremendously. You can focus on what you need to know. You don't have to guess what is going to be asked on an exam when asked to read a 60 pages.

At AZCOM, the professors don't ask you a lot of needles information about some unique research the professor is conducting. The curriculum is tailored to succeeding on the boards. And even in my post-bacc material, we are learning USMLE type of questions.

I have heard criticisms of AZCOM. I have heard on numerous occassions that the school doesn't provide anything. I have heard that you have to purchase almost everything on your own. In addition, I have heard that the school is terrible when it comes to setting up rotations. You have to take care of that on your own as well. You won't be coddled in this area like some other schools. However, I haven't heard one complaint about the first two years at AZCOM. Not one! In fact, everyone goes out of their way to praise the teaching. They say that the teaching is by far the best facet of the school. And the workload is very manageable at AZCOM as well.

 

[einey]

Mcataz maybe you're not a brainiac, but you have some very bright people at AZCOM. Actually, I too have heard that comment about AZCOM a few days ago if fact So i ask where did that name come from and was told they are developing that reputation of the "Brainiac " school because of their ability to score such high board scores. I don't go to AZCOM I will attend PCOM but I know some people at AZCOM and am familiar with the structure of their program and it was designed to teach how to think critically not just memorization, from day 1.

 

[mcataz]

Einey

What DO school let alone medical school doesn't have it's fair share of "brainiacs". I wasn't suggesting that we don't have our fair share of geniuses. But you don't attend classes here and I do. I can assure you that AZCOM doesn't have more brainiacs than any other school.

I think what sets AZCOM apart is its curriculum. Our professors focus on what we need to know. They omit a lot of superfluous information. I have taken DO anatomy and biochemistry and I can see the difference. Our exams are nearly identical to USMLE type of questions. Our anatomy involved questions which emphasized a lot of criticical thinking as opposed to memorizing volumes of anatomical parts. And I earned A's in both of them so even non-brainiacs like me have performed well.

I'm not putting our school down, I'm just injecting a dose of reality here. Like any medical school, our school has it's share of really bright to very average intelligent students. I really don't think I'm staing anything out of the ordinary. I'm proud of AZCOM but I don't want people to get the wrong idea about the school.

 

[Sonic Wig]

Bump

 

[mcataz]

Thank you for the compliment bro. But I pride myself on my accuracy. Yes, I earned two A's, but I studied really hard for those A's. I sacrificed a lot of hours to get those grades whereas some in my class accomplished that without studying as much as I did. I'm proud of the hardwork that went into those grades. I really don't care what other think of my intelligence level. I want to inspire students of average intelligence that they can succeed in medical school. I'm not putting myself down. I'm just accurate. I know my abilities. And I think patients prefer people who are down-to-earth and real. I'm very confident in my abilities to be a great doctor. But I know my strengths and weaknesses. I'm secure enough to acknowledge that others are more intelligent than I am. There is nothing wrong with that. I will still succeed despite that slight disadvantage.

I'm not denying the obvious. We have some really bright people in my class. It's scary how bright some of these students are. But we also have a lot of people who I feel shouldn't have gotten in too. So I don't think AZCOM is any different than most other DO schools. You can find many bright people in other schools. I don't think the passage rate is indicative of the student's IQ. I really do believe it has to do with the curriculum. The key is that the professors narrow the material for you. They allow you to focus on only the important and relevant subject matter. That makes it easier on the student.

Imagine if you attended an undergrad program that taught the basic sciences from a Princeton Review book. Your chemistry only focused on material that was relevant to the MCAT without making you do the most difficult of problems. Assume your exams all had MCAT related questions. If all your courses were like this, you would stand a decent chance of scoring well on the MCAT. Now of course, our material isn't that abridged but you get the idea. At schools like UCLA med, you guys have to learn everything for exams.

I think the curriculum means everything. If you are used to certain types of questions then naturally you are going to score better on exams that have those types of questions.

Like I said, I'm proud of my school, but I'm not a homer. I want to be accurate. We have brilliant people but so do a lot of other osteopathic schools. Nonetheless, I'm not saying you are wrong. We will agree to disagree.

 

[irish79]

MCATAZ,

Are you in med school or in a post bac program? If you are in post bac, will you be attending AZCOM in the fall? Just curious what you are up to--I'll be there this fall.

Matt