Best DO schools?

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I would say CCOM, PCOM, and MSUCOM are top 3. Just my thoughts.
 
YDeeBY said:
I understand MD school is the best choice, however, what are the best DO schools?
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The ones most similar to MD schools (with real research faculty who haven't just been on intramural seed grants through the school and a dedicated teaching hospital), a variety of curricular pathways to hone in on your interests. OUHCOM, OSU-COM (Oklahoma), Rowan SOM, TCOM, CCOM, PCOM, and Nova come to mind.
 
AlteredScale said:
The ones most similar to MD schools (with real research faculty who haven't just been on intramural seed grants through the school and a dedicated teaching hospital), a variety of curricular pathways to hone in on your interests. OUHCOM, OSU-COM (Oklahoma), Rowan SOM, TCOM, CCOM, PCOM, and Nova come to mind.
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Thank you for your input. I apologize that I didn't see the posts down below, but I really appreciate your input.
 
AlteredScale said:
The ones most similar to MD schools (with real research faculty who haven't just been on intramural seed grants through the school and a dedicated teaching hospital), a variety of curricular pathways to hone in on your interests. OUHCOM, OSU-COM (Oklahoma), Rowan SOM, TCOM, CCOM, PCOM, and Nova come to mind.
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OUHCOM - if you're Ohio resident
OSU-COM - no, not even close. Text me if you want to know
CCOM - very expensive
Agree with the rest.
 
You get what you put into becoming a D.O. Noone is going to look back and say you were better off going to (blank DO school) over (another blank DO school).

Get in, do well, ace your boards - you'll match for residency.
 
Future doctors of America listen up, there has been a new old invention created to help you gain intelligence, expand knowledge, and not drive everyone crazy. I am talking, of course, about the all powerful, all knowing SEARCH FUNCTION :beat:
 
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:beat::beat::beat::diebanana::diebanana::zip::beat::diebanana::banana:

Things I hate about SDN...
 
kenjixshadow said:
OUHCOM - if you're Ohio resident
OSU-COM - no, not even close. Text me if you want to know
CCOM - very expensive
Agree with the rest.
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OUHCOM - Yes, as a Ohio resident that is a go to place.
CCOM - for it's price, is it worth it? I think so if it was the only place I had to go to.

I understand your reservations with OSUCOM, but honestly that can be adjusted fairly quickly with class selection and perhaps curriculum evaluation. The ability to have a full fledged, teaching hospital with multiple specialties that is now managed by a very good healthcare system (Mercy) is w/o a doubt a jewel to have as a student.
 
PCOM, PCOM, PCOM, PCOM. Note that most posters included PCOM in their answer. I know several individuals personally who (perhaps foolishly) took PCOM over Drexel MD.
 
:beat:

Going to quote myself, per my usual for these threads:

ortnakas said:
1) your state school, if you live in a state that has one
2) the school that accepts you and fits what you're looking for curriculum-wise, geographically and financially
3) the school that accepts you and will work with what you're looking for curriculum-wise and/or geographically and/or financially
4) everyone else but LUCOM
5) LUCOM
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AlteredScale said:
OUHCOM - Yes, as a Ohio resident that is a go to place.
CCOM - for it's price, is it worth it? I think so if it was the only place I had to go to.

I understand your reservations with OSUCOM, but honestly that can be adjusted fairly quickly with class selection and perhaps curriculum evaluation. The ability to have a full fledged, teaching hospital with multiple specialties that is now managed by a very good healthcare system (Mercy) is w/o a doubt a jewel to have as a student.
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So what's the deal with OSUCOM?
 
I don't understand honestly, the ranking system here. Plenty of people from any DO school go on to excellent residencies. Even LECOM, not even considered a "top-tier" school, gets people into good residencies such as Cleveland Clinic, Albert Einstein, Mayo, Johns Hopkins, etc. You can even see their current match list. The match list looks just as impressive as PCOM's.

http://lecom.edu/content/uploads/2015/06/2015_LECOM_Match-Summary.pdf

There's a difference in the quality of rotations, yes, but there really isn't the "best" DO school. You will end up where you want to go if you work hard, no matter which school you go to. "Best DO school" is all relative. People who can succeed will succeed no matter which school they go to, whether it is Harvard or some state university. The school name has no significant bearing on where you'll end up. Just make sure you're happy where you're going and that you fit well with that school.

Ranking only makes sense for those who really want to do research. If you're really absolutely interested in research, go to the school with the most funding for research. If you want to get the best Step 1 scores, go to the school with the reputation of the highest Step 1 scores (LECOM-B.) If you want to get the best rotations, go to the more established DO schools such as PCOM, CCOM, MSUCOM, etc and also state schools. There's no one school that is the "best" in every single category. Every school also uses a different curriculum. If you happen to choose the school which doesn't fit your curriculum needs, even if it was considered the "best," you'll still end up doing poorly. Recognize that everyone has different wants and needs in their medical education, which translates into different schools that are "best" for them.
 
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ortnakas said:
Source?
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Dr Tony T. Chopper said:
I don't believe you.
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costales said:
2014 data for OSU: 92% pass rate on Level 1, 95% on Level 2 CE, 98% on Level 2 PE, and 100% residency placement. BTW Goljan teaches there.
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Actually that figure isn't too far off for last year. That was the first class to go through a completely revamped curriculum (switched from traditional to systems-based) and they also didn't have a minimum COMSAE score to take the COMLEX (most schools 'game' their pass rate stats by not letting students take the exam until achieving a certain COMSAE score). Though roadbumps were to be expected with rolling out a new curriculum, these results were still less than desirable and significant changes have been made and will continue to be made to get satisfactory pass rates. This is a temporary issue. That said, passing step/level 1 is mostly the responsibility of the student and with all the resources available today there's only so much blame to place on a school.
Also, the curriculum changes really only affect the preclinical years. Rotations and affiliated residencies are still mostly unrivaled among DO schools.
@costales Although Goljan has retired from teaching, he can still be seen in the school gym working on his arm wrestling game.
 
ortnakas said:
Source?
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Dr Tony T. Chopper said:
I don't believe you.
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costales said:
2014 data for OSU: 92% pass rate on Level 1, 95% on Level 2 CE, 98% on Level 2 PE, and 100% residency placement. BTW Goljan teaches there.
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Here is what someone PM'd me yesterday about the subject

Read post #513 to #522 http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...experiences-and-scores-thread.1120614/page-11
Lupus & Placebo are from OSU. If you have other options, go there instead.

That being said I am definitely going to OSU (unless I pull an upset and get into my state MD) , even though I am OOS the tuition is competitive,the ability for all the rotations done in state is a big draw to me since I have a wife and daughter. The teaching hospital and in house specialties are also a draw for me as the AOA residencies are going out the window OSU has a direct path to get students into specialties. From what I've heard, board scores are more indicative of the students than the institution itself. Could have been a multitude of factors but I am not going to believe that OSU suddenly turned into a crappy school last year.
 
Based on my personal preferences: PCOM, AZCOM, KCUMB, Rowan, NYIT


MSU would be on the list if not the top of the list, but if you aren't from MI they charge like 80K/year so meh.
 
DoctorKrieger said:
most schools 'game' their pass rate stats by not letting students take the exam until achieving a certain COMSAE score
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Not calling you out specifically, but I don't see why SDN sees this as gaming the system. Failing the COMLEX puts students at a huge disadvantage, and anything schools do to make sure at-risk students don't fail seems like a good thing to me.
 
ortnakas said:
Not calling you out specifically, but I don't see why SDN sees this as gaming the system. Failing the COMLEX puts students at a huge disadvantage, and anything schools do to make sure at-risk students don't fail seems like a good thing to me.
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Totally agree. I just wanted to point out that this requirement wasn't in place last year and obviously had profound effects. The 'gaming' is more a point of what COMSAE score the school puts the cutoff at.
 
DoctorKrieger said:
@costales Although Goljan has retired from teaching, he can still be seen in the school gym working on his arm wrestling game.
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Good to know - thanks. He's an all-around awesome guy by all accounts (who sure knows how to take care of his subscapularis/coracobrachialis/et al).
 
I often wonder why KCOM and WVSOM is left out of these "tier" discussions. It's like if your in a small town, you're immediately kept out of the "top tier."


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PCOM is definitely up there, just look at their match list over the years. It's has a great legacy and it is not just another random DO school. It is prestigious to go there.
 
Ho0v-man said:
I often wonder why KCOM and WVSOM is left out of these "tier" discussions. It's like if your in a small town, you're immediately kept out of the "top tier."


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I don't know why, but maybe now in this day & age it is vital as an academic institution to have collaborations with other institutions in your area in order to be on par. You as a student just have more opportunities in city vs rural setting.
 
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Userneedmoreinfo said:
I don't know why, but maybe now in this day & age it is vital as an academic institution to have collaborations with other institutions in your area in order to be on par. You as a student just have more opportunities in city vs rural setting.
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And I get that, but it's tough to deny their extensive clinical networks, gigantic alumni bases, and consistently impressive match lists. I just don't think it's worth ignoring these schools just due to location. For instance, people take Campbell over KCOM and I'm like "what!?".


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Ho0v-man said:
And I get that, but it's tough to deny their extensive clinical networks, gigantic alumni bases, and consistently impressive match lists. I just don't think it's worth ignoring these schools just due to location. For instance, people take Campbell over KCOM and I'm like "what!?".


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Nobodies denying their existence, you just changed your first ? About them not being in the top tier. I don't believe they are top tier, especially wvsom. They are great programs though. If it personally makes you feel better I would take both wvsom and Kcom over cusom.
 
Ho0v-man said:
And I get that, but it's tough to deny their extensive clinical networks, gigantic alumni bases, and consistently impressive match lists. I just don't think it's worth ignoring these schools just due to location. For instance, people take Campbell over KCOM and I'm like "what!?".


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Not going to lie, I've never bothered looking at KCOM bu looking (in respect to other DO schools) they have some awesome placements: ENT, Neurosurgery (both AOA), general sugery at IU (ACGME). I seriously need more confirmation that someone ended up in Plastics at Mayo (the real Mayo not AZ), that's nuts.

Honestly it's a location thing. UC Davis, UC Riverside, Loma Linda are GREAT schools yet someone would choos UCSD or UCLA over them not just because of "prestige" but because they are in larger cities.
 
Userneedmoreinfo said:
Nobodies denying their existence, you just changed your first ? About them not being in the top tier. I don't believe they are top tier, especially wvsom. They are great programs though. If it personally makes you feel better I would take both wvsom and Kcom over cusom.
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I think that might help me sleep at night lol.

I'm just bringing up some good schools that people seem to forget about all the time. That, and I'm bored at work.


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AM508 said:
Ask and you shall receive, good sir. Note page 6: https://www.atsu.edu/kcom/prospective_students/documents/postgraduatepositions2015.pdf
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I think he meant actual proof that they have a student in the program like a resident bio on the residency page. Sometimes you see matches at certain places that look impressive but then you look at the current residents page of that program and there are no residents from that school found.

For example RVU has a math listed as general surgery at Northwestern, which is quite the impressive match, but then you go to the Northwestern GS current residents page and I can't find any RVU students on there, or DO's for that matter. And this is including the prelim spots. I think that is what @AlteredScale means, actual proof and not just a program listing on a school's match list. Match lists can be misleading.
 
AnatomyGrey12 said:
I think he meant actual proof that they have a student in the program like a resident bio on the residency page. Sometimes you see matches at certain places that look impressive but then you look at the current residents page of that program and there are no residents from that school found.

For example RVU has a math listed as general surgery at Northwestern, which is quite the impressive match, but then you go to the Northwestern GS current residents page and I can't find any RVU students on there, or DO's for that matter. And this is including the prelim spots. I think that is what @AlteredScale means, actual proof and not just a program listing on a school's match list. Match lists can be misleading.
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That is true enough. But this match is pretty frequently talked about on campus here, and I know a number of people who, at least claim to know the person who matched to this program. Still hearsay I know, but with that plus the match list, it seems pretty likely to be true.
 
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AnatomyGrey12 said:
For example RVU has a math listed as general surgery at Northwestern, which is quite the impressive match, but then you go to the Northwestern GS current residents page and I can't find any RVU students on there, or DO's for that matter. And this is including the prelim spots. I think that is what @AlteredScale means, actual proof and not just a program listing on a school's match list. Match lists can be misleading.
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I know this is totally irrelevant but if the student matched out of the preliminary spot, even before the end of the year (happens often), the school would take the student off their list. I know RVU has matched many ACGME GS matches, both preliminary and categorical. I know they've matched 2 students in categorical GS at Dartmouth in the past 2 years. I believe they've also matched a few ACGME ortho/ENT in the past as well.
 
AM508 said:
That is true enough. But this match is pretty frequently talked about on campus here, and I know a number of people who, at least claim to know the person who matched to this program. Still hearsay I know, but with that plus the match list, it seems pretty likely to be true.
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I agree this match does seem pretty legitimate. I don't see how they could make it up because that is a fairly simple thing to check.

Henry101 said:
I know this is totally irrelevant but if the student matched out of the preliminary spot, even before the end of the year (happens often), the school would take the student off their list. I know RVU has matched many ACGME GS matches, both preliminary and categorical. I know they've matched 2 students in categorical GS at Dartmouth in the past 2 years. I believe they've also matched a few ACGME ortho/ENT in the past as well.
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No it doesn't, I have been told by numerous posters on here and by many general surgeons personally that prelim spots are mostly dead ends save for places like Harvard. But yes RVU usually has a number of ACGME gen surg matches. I have never seen an ACGME ortho on their match lists, however I haven't looked too closely at their older ones admittedly.
 
AnatomyGrey12 said:
I agree this match does seem pretty legitimate. I don't see how they could make it up because that is a fairly simple thing to check.
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It would be a dumb thing to lie about or misrepresent, since it's trivial to verify the name, taxonomy, and practice address using doximity, npiprofile, hipaaspace, healthgrades, etc. (or a state board license search).
 
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what about wvsom match rate??? Do they have placements like KCOM???
 
AnatomyGrey12 said:
I agree this match does seem pretty legitimate. I don't see how they could make it up because that is a fairly simple thing to check.



No it doesn't, I have been told by numerous posters on here and by many general surgeons personally that prelim spots are mostly dead ends save for places like Harvard. But yes RVU usually has a number of ACGME gen surg matches. I have never seen an ACGME ortho on their match lists, however I haven't looked too closely at their older ones admittedly.
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Let's be real, a DO matching ACGME ortho is very difficult. It will likely become more common once the merger happens. I've seen a good amount of AOA ortho matches on DO match lists though.
 
Dreamstoo said:
Let's be real, a DO matching ACGME ortho is very difficult. It will likely become more common once the merger happens. I've seen a good amount of AOA ortho matches on DO match lists though.
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Yeah I think maybe only like 0-3 do it every year. Obviously it will go up seeing as everything is ACGME but I do think there will be some fairly impressive matches simply because the top of the line DO students that went for ortho can now rank all programs, previously why would those students risk a sure spot at a top AOA program for a very unsure future in the ACGME match?
 
AnatomyGrey12 said:
I agree this match does seem pretty legitimate. I don't see how they could make it up because that is a fairly simple thing to check.



No it doesn't, I have been told by numerous posters on here and by many general surgeons personally that prelim spots are mostly dead ends save for places like Harvard. But yes RVU usually has a number of ACGME gen surg matches. I have never seen an ACGME ortho on their match lists, however I haven't looked too closely at their older ones admittedly.
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https://www.ttuhsc.edu/som/ortho/residency/residentprofiles.aspx

Here is the RVU grad you were referring to. Don't think there have been any ACGME ortho matches at RVU since; as others have mentioned, less than half a dozen DO's match ACGME ortho per year.
 
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