AZCOM vs. Western COMP

[Dyingduck]

Hey, everyone.

I am having trouble decided between AZCOM and WesternU COMP.

Just based on your opinion/experiences, what do you think are the pros/cons of these two schools? (based on quality of education, rotations, match, student life, and finally the surrounding community).

I tried the search function and most of the threads are 4+ years old or a short recent one.

Thanks. Any input is appreciated. 😍

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[Dyingduck]

Also, what about ward-based rotations vs preceptor-based rotations for 3rd/4th years? Thanks, again.

 

[Kevin Baker]

They both seem like great schools. I ended up picking Western with AZCOM as a close second, mostly as I want to end up (both with residency and as an attending) in CA, so I feel Western gives a slight leg up in that aspect. Though with AZCOM one can pick one's rotation sites early and there is an LA area rotation set. As for your criteria...

1) Quality of education: I'd say they are about equal. Western is always in the top third with board scores, while AZCOM had very impressive pass rates for both COMLEX and USMLE.

2) Rotations: This was my big question. It seems like AZCOM students get stuck with a fair amount of preceptor based rotations. This comes with its own list of pros and cons, but I feel ward based rotations in general allow you to see more and are more respected. Will you get to do as much stuck behind an attending, a head resident, a junior resident, an intern, and other med students? Probably not. I wouldn't think of this as a big sticking point regardless.

3) Match. I would advise against looking at match lists to compare schools. Not only is there a bunch of year to year variation, but plenty of students do an intern year or take time off in order to apply somewhere super competitive later. Both schools have a lot of students who specialize.

4) Student life: I loved AZCOM's campus. Western's was alright, but those statues creep me out. Both schools have other attached health profession schools, which imo, is a huge pro. I can't attest to student life. Though the AZCOM students seemed happy. I interviewed at Western on a weekend so we didn't get to see many students.

5) Surrounding area. Glendale and the area around it get unbearably hot. Western is in the Inland Empire. I'd say those cancel each other out 🙂

But more seriously, Phoenix is a lot like LA in that it is big, spread out, with urban sprawl, and poor public transportation. I like LA better, but both cities offer a ton for someone to do: whether it is getting lost, going to awesome museums, nightlife, or major hospitals to shadow/work at. You might want a car at either school as Phoenix and LA are both 30 miles or so from the respective campus, if I recall correctly.

 

[Dyingduck]

They both seem like great schools. I ended up picking Western with AZCOM as a close second, mostly as I want to end up (both with residency and as an attending) in CA, so I feel Western gives a slight leg up in that aspect. Though with AZCOM one can pick one's rotation sites early and there is an LA area rotation set. As for your criteria...

1) Quality of education: I'd say they are about equal. Western is always in the top third with board scores, while AZCOM had very impressive pass rates for both COMLEX and USMLE.

2) Rotations: This was my big question. It seems like AZCOM students get stuck with a fair amount of preceptor based rotations. This comes with its own list of pros and cons, but I feel ward based rotations in general allow you to see more and are more respected. Will you get to do as much stuck behind an attending, a head resident, a junior resident, an intern, and other med students? Probably not. I wouldn't think of this as a big sticking point regardless.

3) Match. I would advise against looking at match lists to compare schools. Not only is there a bunch of year to year variation, but plenty of students do an intern year or take time off in order to apply somewhere super competitive later. Both schools have a lot of students who specialize.

4) Student life: I loved AZCOM's campus. Western's was alright, but those statues creep me out. Both schools have other attached health profession schools, which imo, is a huge pro. I can't attest to student life. Though the AZCOM students seemed happy. I interviewed at Western on a weekend so we didn't get to see many students.

5) Surrounding area. Glendale and the area around it get unbearably hot. Western is in the Inland Empire. I'd say those cancel each other out 🙂

But more seriously, Phoenix is a lot like LA in that it is big, spread out, with urban sprawl, and poor public transportation. I like LA better, but both cities offer a ton for someone to do: whether it is getting lost, going to awesome museums, nightlife, or major hospitals to shadow/work at. You might want a car at either school as Phoenix and LA are both 30 miles or so from the respective campus, if I recall correctly.

First of all, thanks for the inputs. These help.

It looks like I am leaning toward a lot on rotation sites/opportunity to choose since both schools are said to have good quality of education. You said AZCOM has a lot of preceptor-based sites, what about WesternU?

Also, I know, a car is pretty much requires for WesternU because you can't really live on campus (expensive) or near campus (not good place to live). What about AZCOM?

 

[Slack3r]

Also, I know, a car is pretty much requires for WesternU because you can't really live on campus (expensive) or near campus (not good place to live). What about AZCOM?

Samesies.

 

[jinobi]

It looks like I am leaning toward a lot on rotation sites/opportunity to choose since both schools are said to have good quality of education. You said AZCOM has a lot of preceptor-based sites, what about WesternU?

From what I know, WesternU has more ward-based rotations located in a central area (i.e. SoCal), rather than AZCOM where Dean Speicher specifically said the school was moving towards more preceptor-based rotations.

WesternU has Arrowhead, Downey, and Riverside County as the three big ones for ward-based core rotations. WesternU still has a decent amount of preceptor-based sites in Pomona and the surrounding areas, but the 4th year students there said that you have a lot of freedom in deciding where to perform most of your cores; my particular student decided to do most of hers at Arrowhead, where you work hard but also reap the benefits of seeing many varied cases.

 

[Kevin Baker]

First of all, thanks for the inputs. These help.

It looks like I am leaning toward a lot on rotation sites/opportunity to choose since both schools are said to have good quality of education. You said AZCOM has a lot of preceptor-based sites, what about WesternU?

Also, I know, a car is pretty much requires for WesternU because you can't really live on campus (expensive) or near campus (not good place to live). What about AZCOM?

There is on campus housing at AZCOM, but I was told if fills up really early.

Whether you need a car depends a lot on where your central rotation site is. If you live off campus, I'm sure you can always carpool. I'm not sure about public transportation that far out of Phoenix. I'd recommend a car anyway as the Phoenix area has pretty crappy public transportation.

As for preceptor-based sites, Western has that option, but I've been told you never have to go that route and can just pick ward based rotations if you wish. I'll probably pick preceptor-based sites for a couple of rotations where I want to do more hands on stuff, and ward based for the rest.

Apartments are a lot cheaper out in Glendale, but Western has some nice places to live nearby. But anywhere in LA county is going to be expensive. If you go further out into the Inland Empire real estate gets more manageable, but then you have to fight LA traffic every morning.

 

[MattBradler]

As a current first year at Western U/Comp, I can say without a doubt AZCOM is the better choice. A couple of my friends got their COMLEX 1 and USMLE board scores back a couple months ago, one of them failed, the other barely passed. From my experience, the school doesn't seem to prepare us enough for these tests and it will really hurt us in the long run when applying to residencies. The curriculum is also changing to this cased-based crap and I'm not sure its helping anyone learn better. One thing that I really don't like about Western is that they are too strict, I know a guy who actually got kicked out for simply not following protocol at one of his rotation sites. By the way, the rotation sites aren't as good as AZCOM, as AZCOM has more connections with better hospitals with better reputations. My friend at western wasn't allowed to do anything but watch at one of his rotation sites in long beach!! Save yourself the trouble, go to AZCOM, nice green grass, new buildings, calm, peaceful, safe neighborhood. Wish i did...

 

[Dyingduck]

As a current first year at Western U/Comp, I can say without a doubt AZCOM is the better choice. A couple of my friends got their COMLEX 1 and USMLE board scores back a couple months ago, one of them failed, the other barely passed. From my experience, the school doesn't seem to prepare us enough for these tests and it will really hurt us in the long run when applying to residencies. The curriculum is also changing to this cased-based crap and I'm not sure its helping anyone learn better. One thing that I really don't like about Western is that they are too strict, I know a guy who actually got kicked out for simply not following protocol at one of his rotation sites. By the way, the rotation sites aren't as good as AZCOM, as AZCOM has more connections with better hospitals with better reputations. My friend at western wasn't allowed to do anything but watch at one of his rotation sites in long beach!! Save yourself the trouble, go to AZCOM, nice green grass, new buildings, calm, peaceful, safe neighborhood. Wish i did...

You are very suspicious. 🙁 But I won't say anything, others probably see it, too.

 

[SFO-IST]

As a current first year at Western U/Comp, I can say without a doubt AZCOM is the better choice. A couple of my friends got their COMLEX 1 and USMLE board scores back a couple months ago, one of them failed, the other barely passed. From my experience, the school doesn't seem to prepare us enough for these tests and it will really hurt us in the long run when applying to residencies. The curriculum is also changing to this cased-based crap and I'm not sure its helping anyone learn better. One thing that I really don't like about Western is that they are too strict, I know a guy who actually got kicked out for simply not following protocol at one of his rotation sites. By the way, the rotation sites aren't as good as AZCOM, as AZCOM has more connections with better hospitals with better reputations. My friend at western wasn't allowed to do anything but watch at one of his rotation sites in long beach!! Save yourself the trouble, go to AZCOM, nice green grass, new buildings, calm, peaceful, safe neighborhood. Wish i did...

I call BS on you being a student at Western.

 

[MattBradler]

It's funny I knew people would be ignorant on this forum, honestly what do I care...just trying to help people who used to be in my shoes. An honest opinion about a school is hard to come by. Do what you want with it, goodluck

 

[Dyingduck]

Going with AZCOM - just to get away from LA 🙂