COMP vs DMU and other schools

[nvrgvup]

I recently was accepted to COMP in Cali and I haev an interview scheduled at DMU during the first week of April. How owuld you all compare these two schools. Being from California, is it even worth interviewing /considering DMU? Are tehre significant differences among the two? I'd lve to hear from current students. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. THanks!

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[nvrgvup]

Sorry about my poor spelling on the above topic!!! Typed too fast....

 

[melancholy]

Hi there,
I was curious if the deadline to send your deposit into COMP would be before or after your interview at DMU. I think the intelligent thing to do would be to keep your options open and if possible, attend your interview at DMU if you did not feel like your interview experience at COMP was to your liking or you wanted to see other schools were like. You could get a sense of the environment at DMU and see if you would be happy studying there for a few years... I'm sure there are plenty of happy students there as there are with COMP, but keep in mind to take opinions of students with a grain of salt because as often as you find one viewpoint, another student may have a completely opposite feeling about the school.

May I ask how you felt about your overall day at COMP.. from talking to students to the general atmosphere of the school while walking around to your inteview? I know it is an extra plane ticket to fly out, but why take chances.. especially with the financial and time committment you will be putting into the school? Be sure of where you are going and hopefully that will put your mind at ease when school starts up. Personally, I felt comfortable with my interview at COMP last year and did not attend other interviews because I felt it was the right match for me (and I wanted to stay in southern California too). Good luck!

 

[nvrgvup]

There were many things I liked and disliked about COMP. I kind of feel like now that I am in, I'm becoming a little more picky. THe only thing that would make me choose DMU over COMP is if I'm going to be recieving a better education or have better clinical rotations. Although COMP has a variety of rotations available, I'm wondering how many of them are teaching hospitals. Just recently I heard that DMU's rotations aren't so hot, so it's not really worth it for me to go thousands of miles away when I am already established in Cali and live 10 minutes away from the school. I want to make sure that I'm not giving up unknown opportunities if I don't go to DMU......Some input from DMU students would be great. Thanks!

 

[docstarwars]

nvrgvup,

it also depends on your learning style. dmu has its first year based on the block system whereas comp has weekly tests. i know how you feel about spending the money to go to interviews, i was in the same situation. dmu was my first interview, found the place to be quite delightful, but still decided to go to my other interviews. katie m is a current dmu student and she has been very nice about answering questions. try to pm her. hope this helps!

 

[nvrgvup]

Docstarwars...Can I assume you go to COMP? Thanks for the info about the tests. When you say DMU is block style, does that mean they have midterm/final for each block, or what? Also, do you know anything about DMU's grading system. The letter and number system at COMP is a little discouraging because I get the sense that it will breed much competition. Still, I'm sure every med school has those that are out to get one another and those that are willing to help.
Anyways, do most of you suggest going to my interview? I know most of you agree with seeing how you feel at the campus, but any other distinguishing factors to think about? More input from students would be great. Thanks for all your help!

 

[docstarwars]

nope, i'm not a comp student--just have a lot of friends that go there. block testing is where the tests all occur during one week (hence a block of exams during that week). grading at dmu is based on percentages where 70% is passing. the students at dmu seemed extremely friendly, although i expect all schools to have some competition though.

 

[Katie1822]

Hello! I'm an MS-I at DMU. We don't have block scheduling this year. I don't think they are changing it for next set of first years either. We usually get about 10 to 14 days worth of lectures on a topic (while still having lectures in other classes)then have an exam. We have usually one exam a week but some weeks I do 2 or 3. Classes begin and end independent of each other. We have physiology for 5 months but only have neuroanatomy, pharm, radiology, etc for maybe a month or so at a time. We usually only have 4 classes going at time. Monday maybe 2 hours of Pathology (ugh what a nightmare), 2 hours of physiology, then 1 1/2 of OMM, then OMM lab. Well that is my Monday, anyway. But we might be half way through Pathology class and just breaking the ice in Physiology, does that make sense? As for rotations, can't say to much on those b/c I have started that process yet but kind of sounds like that DMU may have similar rotaions to COMP. We rotate all over the United States. Sounds a bit scary but I'm excited about it. We can rotate through hospitals we eventually want to get residencies in. Sort of get to welcome yourself into the area. I'm excited about getting to travel and work with many different physcians and hospitals. Though I know we have something called a Core Hospital. I think we return there a few times through out the 2 years. Anyway, just wanted to clarify about the 1st year curriculum. Far as I know, it is only the 2nd year that is getting a face lift.

 

[melancholy]

That is half-correct about the testing schedule for COMP. The first semester has some stretches where we have exams every week, but we move more towards a block/systems schedule starting from the second semester. The classes are still kind of tough right now, but should get a little easier once our biggest system (Neurosensory systems) is out of the way in a couple of weeks. Hope this clarification helps.

 

[macman]

To answer the original question-please see my thread called "DMU myths". I am a second year at DMU-and BTW we do not have a block testing system, in fact that is what I like about it here. What that person may be thinking of if the current 2nd year curiculum that is system based-that will be more integrated next year but still no testing blocks. In case you don't see my thread-a little about rotations-I do not think the rotations themselves are bad at all-but the administration (clinical affairs) can be a hassle for some students-(I have had no problems)-I have also seen some students act unprofessionally and that probably adds to their problems. We have a wide choice of rotations-plesae e-mail me with other ?'s.

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