AZCOM or DMU?

[bcoach]

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Hi guys,
I have this dilemma to decide between AZCOM and DMU. Both schools look great and promising, but I don't know which one to choose. DMU is excellent with their OMM, simulated patients and offers more research opportunities for its students, while AZCOM has its great perceptor program for first- and second-year students. Do you guys have any suggestions or advice?
I will greatly appreciate your answers

bcoach

 

[EarlyEditionDude]

Flip a coin!

If it is heads, CHOOSE DMU

If it is tails, CHOOSE AZCOM

 

[luckystar]

Better yet, base your decision on the weather!! 😉

I think I would have loved AZCOM had I not chosen DMU, even though I really don't have any complaints now. You seem to have good info on both schools. What is the preceptor program at AZCOM like? Maybe I can tell you about something similar DMU might have if I knew more about it.

 

[San_Juan_Sun]

Originally posted by bcoach
DMU is excellent with their OMM, simulated patients and offers more research opportunities for its students, while AZCOM has its great perceptor program for first- and second-year students.

I really have no idea what opportunities DMU has for it's students, but let me assure you, if you want to do research at AZCOM you'll have plenty of opportunity. The faculty are very supportive of student research, whether it's your own project or assisting with the professors.

As an example, we started physiology at the first of December, and the course director spent several minutes talking about all the ways students can get involved with he and the other physiology faculty. (And by the way, he brought this up, it wasn't like someone asked him about it.) All of the other basic science divisions are supportive in a similar way. We've also been told that there is a big push by administration right now for the faculty to publish more (which is not to say they haven't been publishing). Several of our faculty were just awarded pretty big NIH grants.

Point is: if you want to do research you can definately do it at AZCOM. One other note, while the school is definately friendly to primary care, they arer equally friendly to AZCOM student's interest in specializing.

Oh yeah... just wanted to reiterate that I've only heard nice things about DMU too.

 

[bcoach]

Originally posted by luckystar
Better yet, base your decision on the weather!! 😉

I think I would have loved AZCOM had I not chosen DMU, even though I really don't have any complaints now. You seem to have good info on both schools. What is the preceptor program at AZCOM like? Maybe I can tell you about something similar DMU might have if I knew more about it.

Luckystar,
The perceptor program at AZCOM allows 1st and 2nd-year medical students to shadow doctors at hospitals or their private clinics. I think this is an excellent idea since most of the time, in the first two years of med school, we just primarily focus on learning the basic science courses.
What made you choose DMU? Are you enjoying living in Des Moines? What do you think about the teaching and learning environment at DMU? I heard that in the 3rd year, you most likely have to go out of state if we want to get decent rotation clinics. Is this true?

 

[bcoach]

Originally posted by San_Juan_Sun

Point is: if you want to do research you can definately do it at AZCOM. One other note, while the school is definately friendly to primary care, they arer equally friendly to AZCOM student's interest in specializing.

San_Juan_Sun,
Thanks for your insight from AZCOM. I did not know that you could do research at AZCOM, and now I do. So, are there many students who are interested in doing research?
What do you think of the perceptor program?

 

[San_Juan_Sun]

I know several second years that have done/are doing research (I'm a first year). I know a few first years that are doing work study in the labs right now. If you are ever around in the summertime, they have a bulletin board that has tons of summer work study research positionsd with professors. I'll be getting involved myself later this spring.

About the preceptor program, it sort of depends on your preceptor. Mine is pretty cool in that I take all the histories and present to him. Then we go see the patient. It's nothing earth-shattering, but as a first year, it's really nice to get comfortable with patients and learn what questions to ask during the history. Like most things, the preceptor is what you make of it.

One last note, some people have wondered a bit on SDN about the preceptor rotations. This was my big concern too. As I understand it, the level of preceptors is vastly improved over even 2 years ago, and there is plenty of opportunity to schedule hospital based rotations if you wish. I know several 3rd years, and I've only heard of 1 minor (and I stress minor) problem. To make a long story short: you can almost do whatever you prefer for most of your rotations. Of course, I'm only a 1st year so take it forwhat it's worth.

 

[luckystar]

Originally posted by bcoach
Luckystar,
The perceptor program at AZCOM allows 1st and 2nd-year medical students to shadow doctors at hospitals or their private clinics. I think this is an excellent idea since most of the time, in the first two years of med school, we just primarily focus on learning the basic science courses.
What made you choose DMU? Are you enjoying living in Des Moines? What do you think about the teaching and learning environment at DMU? I heard that in the 3rd year, you most likely have to go out of state if we want to get decent rotation clinics. Is this true?

Hi,

I don't believe DMU has a set program like AZCOM for 1st and 2nd year preceptorships. It sounds like a great idea. The closest thing I can think of is this community clinic course that we all have to do, and it involves a few visits to an assigned physician. I suppose you can express interest in increasing your visits if you so wish.

You are right in that there are plenty of research opportunities at DMU and outside of the school. I am currently involved in a project with a surgeon who is not affiliated with the school. My advisor happens to be the dean of research, and he's very active in pursuing opportunities for students, especially those that involve scholarships.

I love the teaching and student body here. I don't think I've ever been as efficient in learning/studying, and some of that has to do with the way things are taught.

From what the upperclassmen say, a lot of the "good" rotation sites are in Michigan and Ohio, but there are many of those in the Des Moines area as well. The advisor for our Internal Medicine club is the program director at Iowa Methodist (U. of IA's program) and he has been wonderful in opening his doors to us and allowing people in the club to go round their teams. The Emergency Medicine club has an advisor that strongly recommended doing a rotation at Mercy. These are just a few examples, and the sites in Iowa are actually the most coveted.

Living in Des Moines is great. It's very affordable, and the snow isn't as big of a hassle as I thought (and I'm from CA). Most students live very close to campus, although many choose to live farther away, with no problem.

Honestly, you have a choice between two very good schools. Like AZCOM, DMU gives you no pressure to go into primary care fields, even though most students come in with the mindset to do that. I think that's very important, to be able to keep all of your options open. If you've got any more questions, don't hesitate to post!

 

[bcoach]

Thanks Luckystar for all your responses.
I'm curious, since you came from CA and I saw your profile that you graduated from UC Berkeley, how did you feel at the first time when you came to DMU? Did you adapt yourself very easily living in Des Moines and going to DMU? How long did it take you to get used to living in Des Moines? What do you like the most about Des Moines? Do you live in West Des Moines area?

Coming from a metropolitan city Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA, I feel a little bit uncomfortable to live in Des Moines (even though I'm very much surprised for what I've seen what Des moines has to offer for its community) So, is this something that is commonly happen to majority students who come from metropolitan cities?

 

[jhug]

if azcom was in des moines the decision of where to attend would have been the easiest of my academic life!! i loved des moines/iowa and i loved azcom. i ultimately took the school over the area.
Both schools are great, both will take you where you want to go. There were a few things about DMU i couldn't kick...the idea of having to move so much in your 3rd and 4th years (this may be different, i interviewed 2 years ago) also, it REALLY bothered me that they wouldn't tell you where people had matched...they said something like they didn't keep a record bla bla bla, others told me not to worry, that i could go anywhere....but i wanted to see where previous classmates had gone, where they had blazed a trail and DMU wouldn't budge. AZCOM readily gives that out and you can see that at least 4 matched at mayo, uconn, a bunch at uc schools...i was impressed and encouraged and looked forward to rotating where classmates are. (again, this may be different now)
AZCOM has a full-time open door policy with every professor...even the dean has an open door policy! the faculty are VERY student friendly/oriented. I love how they overlap subjects as well...we'll learn something at a gross level in anatomy, learn how it develops in embryo, see in at a micro level in histo, learn how it works chemically in biochem...even our clinical correlates class (where we are currently practicing pap smears and rectal exams on paid volunteers) overlapped with the perineum in anatomy/histo/embryo! professors will attend other subject classes so they can tie it all together for us...it is a fabulous way of teaching.
i couldn't be happier with the education i am getting here!

 

[luckystar]

Originally posted by bcoach
Thanks Luckystar for all your responses.
I'm curious, since you came from CA and I saw your profile that you graduated from UC Berkeley, how did you feel at the first time when you came to DMU? Did you adapt yourself very easily living in Des Moines and going to DMU? How long did it take you to get used to living in Des Moines? What do you like the most about Des Moines? Do you live in West Des Moines area?

Coming from a metropolitan city Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA, I feel a little bit uncomfortable to live in Des Moines (even though I'm very much surprised for what I've seen what Des moines has to offer for its community) So, is this something that is commonly happen to majority students who come from metropolitan cities?

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I like living here. If you really, really like big city life, you might not enjoy it so much. I, for one, was getting sick of it (the crowds, the pollution, rush-hour traffic volume all of the time, etc) since I was born and raised in SF and never lived out of the Bay Area. I thought that I would need more time to get settled, so I moved to Des Moines a month before school started. I actually got comfortable right away, and had a good time exploring the area. I know that I don't have to remain here for the rest of my life, and it's a great city to be in for school and maybe more. I chose to live across from campus, because I didn't want to have to deal with driving in the snow, which isn't that horrible after all.

If you have any specific issues or questions about moving from a place like So-Cal to Des Moines, please post or PM me, because maybe I had the same ones before I moved here.

 

[HoodyHoo]

I heard that AZCOM students have an exam early monday morning every week? is this true? I like that fact that at DMU there is no set weekly schedule of exams, making some weeks difficult, yet giving you a bit of free time on the off-weeks. even though there aren't any true off weeks in med school.

 

[cdreed]

For the most part of the first quarter of MSI, tests are scheduled almost every Monday at AZCOM. So far during second quarter, the tests have been on odd days. We had an anatomy/histo/embryo test on a Friday; we have a physio test tomorrow (Wed). Next week we have biochem on Monday.

I wouldn't worry too much about the exam schedule though. Anywhere you go, you will be bombarded with info. I personally prefer Monday tests because I am able to do a little extra studying on the weekends, whereas throughout the week I am lucky to study 2 hours/day.

Hope this helps.

Cyndi

 

[docstarwars]

hey bcoach,
i too had some concerns about moving from los angeles to des moines. i loved living in la, being able to do activities such as going to movie premieres and disneyland were an everyday occurrence growing up. i thought that choosing dmu over nycom would be a mistake i would later regret. however, this has NOT happened. i love my decision to come to dmu! granted the weather this week has been the coldest i have ever felt, but i just bundle up and enjoy the great people i have met at this school. des moines as a city has a lot to offer. it might take a little longer for movies such as big fish to reach us, but they eventually do. it's a little harder for me to find ingredients for chinese cooking, but i hitch a ride to the asian market and scour the place for them. basically it's up to you--where do you feel you will be the happiest. 😀

 

[bcoach]

docstarwars,
so did you decide to go to DMU?

 

[luckystar]

Hehe, Docstarwars is an M2 now. Very much loved too 😍

PS - ahem...full body tx...ahem... 🙂

 

[Docgeorge]

Originally posted by luckystar
PS - ahem...full body tx...ahem... 🙂

ahem....ahem...me next 😀

 

[NDESTRUKT]

lucky star is the shiznit...seriously.

i loved DMU...it was seriously a beautiful campus - all those trees. The midwest is really great - the people there were SO friendly.

AZCOM was good too but I didn't like how hot it got. That's not for me!

 

[jhug]

so have any of you in des moines gone to the capitol library?
it is a must-see!!! And for those interviewing as well...it is well worth it and only a couple mins from the school.

 

[aabobrov]

Hey guys, quick question: I've heard that DMU accepts most of the people they interview--is that the case? Any rough estimates on that? Thanks...

 

[Megalofyia]

All I know is that I was waitlisted at DMU.

 

[aabobrov]

megalofayia, did you have an interview there?

 

[ripulpancal2000]

Everyone please read my posting on Best DO schools before anyone decides to attend DMU. Thanks.

 

[moniagrl]

DMU seems 2 be loosing prospective students because of the construction

 

[Popoy]

Originally posted by moniagrl
DMU seems 2 be loosing prospective students because of the construction

Actually, the opposite.... The applications are up and students who have turned in their seat deposits are up.... Admission is ahead of schedule due to the positive response.