Campbell vs Lincoln

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Sorry, just curious, what were your accepted stats?
 
Hello everyone.
I was recently accepted to both CUSOM and LMU-DCOM and having some trouble deciding between the two schools.

CUSOM
Pros:
I really like the facilities. Everything was so new
Raleigh and the Research Triangle Park are only 1 hour away
Faculty, staff, and students were so welcoming and nice. It seems to be a really supportive environment
Cons:
New school. Not really sure if the clinical rotation sites are going well for the third years. There are only 5 hospitals that the students can choose to rotate at.
No residency matches

LMU-DCOM
Pros:
More established school than CUSOM, so there is a residency placement list. This also means that LMU-DCOM has more established relationships with more hospitals
Also, a friendly environment
Cons:
The closest big city is Knoxville which is about 2 hours away
I did not get to see most of the school's facilities as the PA were using them for testing on the day that I interviewed.

I would like to hear what you all have to say about each school

If it helps downtown Knoxville is actually only an hour and 15-25 from LMU, not 2 hours.

If you have specific questions about the facilities let me know but I personally think they are great. Also, I'm pretty sure the LMU website has a virtual tour of many of the facilities if that helps.
 
Personally I think CUSOM is a very impressive institute. When I interviewed there I generally thought that they knew how to set a school up along with also having a very strong residency creation arm which has made dual accredited programs in fields ranging from Derm to General Surgery to specialized fellowships.

That being said CUSOM has required attendance, which even as a person who attends class is a pain.
 
Cusom! I agree with dr celty. I went to 8 interview days and was most impressed with cusom and KCU. Cusom has their act together, I talked with current students and everyone there was really stoked on the school and the quality of education. Their first year board pass rate was 94.1 (the exact break down of score ranges is in their school specific thread) ...they seem to have quality rotations with great hospitals and connections with a number of residencies over various specialties. The faculty and staff were great as well.

Only cons for cusom is how young the school is, location is rural (but beautiful), and mandatory attendance/dress code.

I think cusom will be a very sought after school in the next 5-10 years. Plus there is an awesome golf course right behind the school that students get discounts at to the tune of $25 for a round of 18 can't beat that!
 
Last edited:
I interviewed at both and was more impressed by DCOM. Non mandatory lectures were big, and the freedom to go anywhere for all those electives. Also if I'm not mistaken the person that was doing such great work building residencies and connections at cusom recently left and is the dean of DCOM.
 
I am not familiar with dcom but I've heard on this forum from dcom students that 3rd year rotations are not the best there. Idk if anyone can comment on this but I would look into it OP.
 
I interviewed at both and was more impressed by DCOM. Non mandatory lectures were big, and the freedom to go anywhere for all those electives. Also if I'm not mistaken the person that was doing such great work building residencies and connections at cusom recently left and is the dean of DCOM.

When did the change occur?
 
Honestly, I didn't like CUSOM's borderline big brother attitude towards attendance. I don't feel it's appropriate to also require me to validate why I skipped with some sort of excuse. If I want to lay on my back and sleep 13 hours after a long day and am not missing any labs, then that's my own choice.

I think though they'll probably change the policy. Most medical schools fully comprehend now that attendance polices are negatively correlated with board performance. You simply cannot commit a student to listen to lectures at 1x speed for 4hours a day, give them labs, and also on top of that expect them to be reading through first aid and or pathoma.
 
Honestly, I didn't like CUSOM's borderline big brother attitude towards attendance. I don't feel it's appropriate to also require me to validate why I skipped with some sort of excuse. If I want to lay on my back and sleep 13 hours after a long day and am not missing any labs, then that's my own choice.

I think though they'll probably change the policy. Most medical schools fully comprehend now that attendance polices are negatively correlated with board performance. You simply cannot commit a student to listen to lectures at 1x speed for 4hours a day, give them labs, and also on top of that expect them to be reading through first aid and or pathoma.

I wonder if mandatory lecture has something to do with a schools accreditation status because Acom is the same way and both schools are provisionally accredited. I've just noticed all the schools I interviewed at that were fully accredited didn't have mandatory lecture attendance and the provisionally accredited ones did. Just a thought.
 
I had to make the same choice myself. Though I really liked DCOM, I ultimately went with CUSOM. It was my gut choice and so far I have no regrets. But congrats on landing acceptances at two solid schools....you really can't go wrong here.
 
Anything in particular make you choose CUSOM over DCOM other than a gut feeling?

I thought that DCOM was a bit too rural for me....and I'm from a very rural area! CUSOM had just enough life going on that it seemed less out there. I also thought that the faculty and staff were more friendly and supportive at CUSOM. That isn't to say that I didn't like the faculty at DCOM, but those at CUSOM were just very slightly more welcoming. I understand that one interview day is hardly sufficient evidence to judge, but it's all I had to go by.
I'm also drawn in by the possibility of a scholarship at CUSOM, which would make the schooling so much cheaper! I was invited to apply for it, but haven't heard back yet.
The dual-credited residency programs CUSOM is setting up also caught my eye. They will have such a broad range of residency programs that they will host, including derm and general surgery! I was less excited about residency options at DCOM, because after looking at their residency placement map I saw that 90% of their graduates end up in the Appalachian region for residency. Not that I don't like that region, but it's just not the place I would want to spend eight plus straight years. I like the environment of North Carolina much more.
Campbell University has a great track record with their professional programs. Campbell Law has the highest overall bar passage rate of any school in NC....that includes Duke, Wake, Tarheels, etc.
http://law.campbell.edu/page.cfm?id=412
They've also has a lot of success with their pharmacy program. So if the med school follows suite, I don't see any reason why they shouldn't be the #1 DO school in the nation within the next fifteen years. Especially since they are offering generous scholarships to attract high-caliber students, they will establish a strong precedent with high board scores early on to continue to attract the best students. I see CUSOM really taking off.
So, all that plus my gut feeling directed me toward CUSOM. I hope this helps as you make your decision.
 
Top