Concern with new schools, please help.

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pamolive

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I'm trying to decide between going to DCOM, or finishing out my postbacc and applying again next year. I really loved DCOM, but I have a major concern. My concern is that since it's a new school my residency options will be limited. I looked at the match list for VCOM's first graduating class, and they had a very high number of people do the traditional rotation year. Is this because those students didn't match? Do you think I'd be better off waiting an extra year and going to PCOM, or just going to DCOM this year? I love both schools (PCOM a little more since I'm here already).
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pamolive said:
I'm trying to decide between going to DCOM, or finishing out my postbacc and applying again next year. I really loved DCOM, but I have a major concern. My concern is that since it's a new school my residency options will be limited. I looked at the match list for VCOM's first graduating class, and they had a very high number of people do the traditional rotation year. Is this because those students didn't match? Do you think I'd be better off waiting an extra year and going to PCOM, or just going to DCOM this year? I love both schools (PCOM a little more since I'm here already).
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I can't comment on the new school thing but I can say don't be afraid of people going into a traditional rotating internship. Many DO students complete one in order to be able to practice in one of the 5 states that require it (PA,OK, MI, FL, 1 other). Most of the people in the TRI will be going into PGY-2 residencies. Examples: Anesthesiology, Radiology, PM&R, etc.
 
There is a vast array of residency/internship options that are eligible for exemption even in the five states. The TRI is a waste of time unless you don't know what you want to do... you lose a whole year of pay and experience.
 
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My only question is how sure you are of an acceptance next year?

I've always been of the mindset that if you have a sure thing (especially when it comes to MS admission due to it being such a crapshoot), you go with it rather than risk losing it.

If you are sitting on a guaranteed admission for next cycle, obviously your decision may be more difficult but you did not indicate that you do.

As far as DCOM goes, I'm a student there so I obviously had no reservations about whether it would hold me back. I was, in fact, so convinced it was the right place for me that I left a very solid career position to attend rather than holding out another year. As it stands, I'm exactly one month away from finishing my 1st year rather than "hopefully" getting ready to enter elsewhere as a member of the Class of 2012. If you have questions about issues such as this, I would encourage you to call the school and discuss with them your concerns. I have every reason to believe they will be nothing but forthright and honest with you with regard to your concerns.

If you have questions for current students, there are several of us here that would be more than happy to help in any way we are capable.

One final note, if you haven't already you may want to look at the Re-applicant thread to see just how many people there are out there that would LOVE to be in the position you seemingly have...sitting on an admission ticket to a US Medical School.


I've not looked at VCOM's list that you referred to, so I cannot comment on it.
 
Get this show on the road. Don't waste any more time. You've got an acceptance in hand, so go with it.

Think about this too...

If you turn down an acceptance to DCOM, you start the application process over with no guarantees except one: you aren't getting into DCOM again. You may or may not get in anywhere next time.

DCOM is new, but they seem to be doing everything right. I wouldn't worry too much about them. In the end, its all going to be about you.
 
By the way... a lot of people who match the "traditional rotating internship" did so because their residency, which they have also matched into already (and will start the following year as a PGY-II) requires it. Some of the more competitive residency programs, such as rads, gas, optho, and derm, will require the internship year.

The internship program at my hospital is loaded with people who will be leaving us at the end of the academic year for ridiculously competitive programs.
 
I know, I know, you are all so right. I don't have a guarantee for the class of 2013, but if I could possibly defer my acceptance to DCOM, then there is no question that I would finish out my masters. I just really love it here at PCOM and have made such great friends. I don't want to start all over somewhere new, you know? I have no doubts that DCOM will produce excellent physicians, and I know that it's an amazing place. I'm just concerned about coming back to the Philly area or elsewhere in the northeast for residency since rotation sites are limited to the knoxville area.
 
Do you really want to be sitting in your classroom, working on your masters, when you could be in med school?
 
pamolive said:
I know, I know, you are all so right. I don't have a guarantee for the class of 2013, but if I could possibly defer my acceptance to DCOM, then there is no question that I would finish out my masters. I just really love it here at PCOM and have made such great friends. I don't want to start all over somewhere new, you know? I have no doubts that DCOM will produce excellent physicians, and I know that it's an amazing place. I'm just concerned about coming back to the Philly area or elsewhere in the northeast for residency since rotation sites are limited to the knoxville area.
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I'd take the guaranteed seat and get on with med school. Although I can see your point about loving Philly, but location is a bit overrated, in my humble opinion. The location you are going to get most familiar with during year one is the anatomy lab and the library.

You'll make new friends. Who knows...it could be even better than you expected. Anyway, do what makes sense for you. I can only tell you what I'd do if I were in similar shoes.

There are of course differences between schools, but your own individual performance is going to speak louder than what school you attended, with respect to the match. That's my uneducated, seat of my pants thought. (I'm nearing second year, so my knowledge of the match is limited...just going by what most folks have told me.)
 
Err....isn't Virginia one of "the 5 states" that requires the TRI?
 
TexasTriathlete said:
By the way... a lot of people who match the "traditional rotating internship" did so because their residency, which they have also matched into already (and will start the following year as a PGY-II) requires it. Some of the more competitive residency programs, such as rads, gas, optho, and derm, will require the internship year.

The internship program at my hospital is loaded with people who will be leaving us at the end of the academic year for ridiculously competitive programs.
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Your technically referring to a "preliminary" year which is different from the "traditional" internship. But your right the preliminary year does filter into some very competitive residencies. (For clarification: https://do-online.org/index.cfm?au=D&PageId=edu_main&SubPageId=sir_postdoc)
 
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TexasTriathlete said:
No, they require UTI.
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Man, I'm messed up. When I see the letters "UTI," I start going through the algorithm, thinking, would that be uncomplicated cystitis, or ? Polyuria and/or hematuria? Need to order a CBC with CMP, do a urine dip, U/A with microscopy, with culture, if indicated... I need this renal section to end.
 
I hate renal, and I haven't even taken it at the med school level yet. Just a lot of undergrad physiology and biochem.
 
Before you think about reapplying, you have think about what was the reason why you didn't get into any school you are going to reapply to this year? have you changed you application drastically since you applied?

I was in a similar position as you, and to be honest i did think about re-applying, but in the end if you look at the lecom-brandelton, touro nv match list. It seems like you will be fine if you do well on your board etc. If you are going to be re-applying you must have a strong mcat and gpa, and be extremely confident that you will get in.
 
An IM resident at the hospital where I work used to be a client of mine, and she just accepted an offer to be chief after she's done. So I was talking to her the other day...

ME: so are you going to fellowship when you're done with residency.
DOC: Yeah I think so.
ME: You should do nephrology. It seems awesome.
DOC: That's actually what I was planning on doing. How did you guess?
ME: I was being sarcastic.
DOC: Really? You don't like it? I love it. Its the only one that really makes sense to me.
 
I think like renal. Although, to be fair we're only 3 days into the course and I haven't really been paying attention. The urine crystals seem pretty: envelope, coffin lid shaped...and ohhh....hexagons. Between undergrad and med school I've noticed that people either don't like the kidney or they are crazy about them. I mean when people like the brain, they like the brain, but when people like the kidney, they reeeaaaallly get excited about it. Is that just my observation?
 
To take the OP's concern seriously: My instinct would be to just get the ball rolling and go to med school this year, work hard and be one of the students that does Match and enjoy that extra year of salary and practice you'll get. Why jump through all the hoops again unless you have strong evidence that you can do better next year? How much further do you have to go in the post-bas program? Do a high number of people from that program get into PCOM? Did the majority of VCOM go into regular residency? What about other start up schools? Does it really make a difference if I work hard?
 
GreenShirt said:
To take the OP's concern seriously: My instinct would be to just get the ball rolling and go to med school this year, work hard and be one of the students that does Match and enjoy that extra year of salary and practice you'll get. Why jump through all the hoops again unless you have strong evidence that you can do better next year? How much further do you have to go in the post-bas program? Do a high number of people from that program get into PCOM? Did the majority of VCOM go into regular residency? What about other start up schools? Does it really make a difference if I work hard?
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I haven't been rejected from PCOM yet, so there is still a chance I'll get in for the class of 2012. I was put on hold for grades until after my third trimester here. I've done really well in my biomed program, and met with the dir. of admissions today and she told me the only reason I wasn't accepted is because of my undergrad grades, and that there's a good chance I'll get accepted after my third tri grades come out, or later in the summer. I asked her the same question and she told me that if this is where I really want to go I should stick it out, and told me I have a very good chance, but still nothing is guaranteed. I just feel like if I'm going to do this I'm going to do it right and go to the school that I feel best suits me. I don't want to get into that mentality of taking whatever's available. It's just really confusing. I hate this process.

I have a strong MCAT too. I'm overall a pretty strong applicant. I think, at least.
 
GreenShirt said:
I think like renal. Although, to be fair we're only 3 days into the course and I haven't really been paying attention. The urine crystals seem pretty: envelope, coffin lid shaped...and ohhh....hexagons. Between undergrad and med school I've noticed that people either don't like the kidney or they are crazy about them. I mean when people like the brain, they like the brain, but when people like the kidney, they reeeaaaallly get excited about it. Is that just my observation?
Click to expand...

Renal actually didn't turn out to be as bad as I thought it would be. We just had a neuro "block" of PBL cases and I thought I would really like it, and really did not enjoy it as much as I thought. In the middle of sorting my way through some obscure neuro pathway I actually missed the logic of the kidney.

To the OP: I agree with the majority here. You've got an acceptance in hand, if I was in that spot it would have to be a very compelling reason or life emergency to keep me from attending right away.
 
pamolive said:
I haven't been rejected from PCOM yet, so there is still a chance I'll get in for the class of 2012. I was put on hold for grades until after my third trimester here. I've done really well in my biomed program, and met with the dir. of admissions today and she told me the only reason I wasn't accepted is because of my undergrad grades, and that there's a good chance I'll get accepted after my third tri grades come out, or later in the summer. I asked her the same question and she told me that if this is where I really want to go I should stick it out, and told me I have a very good chance, but still nothing is guaranteed. I just feel like if I'm going to do this I'm going to do it right and go to the school that I feel best suits me. I don't want to get into that mentality of taking whatever's available. It's just really confusing. I hate this process.

I have a strong MCAT too. I'm overall a pretty strong applicant. I think, at least.
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How low a undergrad gpa are we talking about? and what is your mcat. If your gpa is very low, then it would be a huge risk to reapply
 
Geez, Most of Vcom's first class are doing traditionals because they got great specialty residencies(derm,anthes.pm&r,surgery, etc. and they go into that pgy2. The 2nd year class just finished up their matches and did quite well also!It's not the school, It's you!You do well and got personality youi'll do fine. When you get out there in years 3 & 4 it's all about connecting, grades and networking. The school has very little to do with it!
 
I think you should look at more real data:

http://www.natmatch.com/aoairp/
shows the breakdown by school of DO match/unmatched/nonparticipant = MD match. You can see exactly how well a school did in the match.

https://www.do-online.org/index.cfm?PageID=sir_match08res
shows the 2008 match outcome for every program. You will notice many unfilled spots in Philadelphia in all kinds of specialties, not just the transitional year.

I think it's hard for premeds to understand that where you rotate may have little relationship to where you match; even if you're talking about the most competitive fields, it is not a big deal to match somewhere you never set foot in before the interview. Likewise, a rotation slot does not guarantee a residency slot. I know it seems counter-intuitive, but it doesn't have to be a huge problem.
 
I'm from the Philly region myself....Delaware to be exact. I liked PCOM too, but ended up on deciding on DCOM b/c its the ****. PCOM is a great school, I just felt like I would do better at DCOM....better feel I guess. To each their own. Nonetheless, there are no guarantees in life. What if you don't get in next year? The application process is kinda like rolling dice and you WON this year. I know tons of kids in the carribbean that would dream to be in your situation. I actually have a family member that just matched into Jefferson for Dermatology and she is doing a transition year at Einstein...so I'm sure the kids at VCOM prolly got into some ROADs. Remember, we can do rotations in the philly area our 4th year. I plan on coming back to the Delaware Valley, but who knows where I end up. Its gonna be awesome getting to know people from different places and a completely "foreign" land. Also, I really like the fact that DCOM will actually pay hospitals to teach us. Nonetheless, if your keen on living in Philly you gotta do what you gotta do... Good luck with the process and I hope you end up where you wanna go!
 
To the OP. It seems like you've decided on what to do.:)
There's nothing wrong with going with your gut feeling. So, wait out the PCOM application cycle, but make sure you write a good letter of intent if you haven't done so. I'd suggest paying down the deposit for DCOM, and this will open up options for you if you're unfortunate enough not to be accepted into PCOM. I don't know how much the deposit but is but either way it's not that much if you consider the bigger picture.

Good luck!
 
MJB said:
My only question is how sure you are of an acceptance next year?

I've always been of the mindset that if you have a sure thing (especially when it comes to MS admission due to it being such a crapshoot), you go with it rather than risk losing it.

If you are sitting on a guaranteed admission for next cycle, obviously your decision may be more difficult but you did not indicate that you do.

As far as DCOM goes, I'm a student there so I obviously had no reservations about whether it would hold me back. I was, in fact, so convinced it was the right place for me that I left a very solid career position to attend rather than holding out another year. As it stands, I'm exactly one month away from finishing my 1st year rather than "hopefully" getting ready to enter elsewhere as a member of the Class of 2012. If you have questions about issues such as this, I would encourage you to call the school and discuss with them your concerns. I have every reason to believe they will be nothing but forthright and honest with you with regard to your concerns.

If you have questions for current students, there are several of us here that would be more than happy to help in any way we are capable.

One final note, if you haven't already you may want to look at the Re-applicant thread to see just how many people there are out there that would LOVE to be in the position you seemingly have...sitting on an admission ticket to a US Medical School.


I've not looked at VCOM's list that you referred to, so I cannot comment on it.
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Listen to MJB - he is a class character and I know from conversations with him that he is really enjoying it DCOM and getting a great education.

As far as matching, just kill the USMLE and then apply to whatever field meets your fancy. Looking at a match list is not the best way to determine whether or not a school will prepare you for something. Case in point: I go to a well-regarded MD school but half of the graduating class this year matched into primary care, with almost half of those in family medicine. These are the fields that they wanted and were not forced to chose them, so take a match list with a grain of salt because it is just an indicator of the residencies that those particular students wanted, and it changes from year to year.

Good luck in whatever you chose!:thumbup:
 
bliksem said:
To the OP. It seems like you've decided on what to do.:)
There's nothing wrong with going with your gut feeling. So, wait out the PCOM application cycle, but make sure you write a good letter of intent if you haven't done so. I'd suggest paying down the deposit for DCOM, and this will open up options for you if you're unfortunate enough not to be accepted into PCOM. I don't know how much the deposit but is but either way it's not that much if you consider the bigger picture.

Good luck!
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I'm guessing pamolive has already paid the deposit to DCOM. We interviewed together back in November so the deposit was due quite a while ago. I'm really hoping you get into PCOM!! :luck:

P.S. I agree a letter of intent couldn't hurt.
 
sooo...what is this uti tri mumbo jumbo you all are talking about?
 
Thanks so much for all of the great advice guys. The more that I think about it, I really can't imagine myself going through this app process again, and this year has shown me just how ready I am for med school. The more I think about it, the more pissed off I get at PCOM for not accepting me. I think I'm going to fly down to DCOM in the coming weeks to check it out again and hopefully sit in on some classes.

As for the LOI, what type of stuff should I include in that?
 
show PCOM something by going to DCOM and kill your boards...then going to Penn for ortho! lol
 
Hey, Pam. I was in your exact position last year in a postbac/masters program at TCOM. When I started the program, I thought the only place in the world I'd ever want to get into was TCOM. Interviewing at DCOM, however, changed my mind. When I was accepted I had to decide whether I was going to hold onto my TCOM waitlist position (where almost all of my good friends in the postbac were already accepted) or take a chance on a new school that seemed great, but wasn't even built yet. I chose to take the chance, and almost a year in, I couldn't be happier. Ironically, I got the acceptance call from TCOM 2 weeks after I had already moved to TN. I had just unpacked my last box the day before and my then future roomie, Marthea, was visiting to see if she wanted to live with me. I still could have gone back to TX and been in a class with people that I loved in a town I loved and been an hour and a half away from my folks, but I chose to stick it out. I made the right choice and love the friends I've made. Stepping out of my comfort zone has been an amazing growth experience and now I can't imagine doing it any other way. Good luck in your decision. :)
 
Character said:
sooo...what is this uti tri mumbo jumbo you all are talking about?
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Lol. :laugh: tri = traditional rotating internship. Its what DOs have to do to be licensed in 5 states before they start their PGY-2.

UTI = urinary tract infection.... TT's lame attempt at humor. I laughed though, so I guess it worked. :lol:
 
ThePiratesse said:
Hey, Pam. I was in your exact position last year in a postbac/masters program at TCOM. When I started the program, I thought the only place in the world I'd ever want to get into was TCOM. Interviewing at DCOM, however, changed my mind. When I was accepted I had to decide whether I was going to hold onto my TCOM waitlist position (where almost all of my good friends in the postbac were already accepted) or take a chance on a new school that seemed great, but wasn't even built yet. I chose to take the chance, and almost a year in, I couldn't be happier. Ironically, I got the acceptance call from TCOM 2 weeks after I had already moved to TN. I had just unpacked my last box the day before and my then future roomie, Marthea, was visiting to see if she wanted to live with me. I still could have gone back to TX and been in a class with people that I loved in a town I loved and been an hour and a half away from my folks, but I chose to stick it out. I made the right choice and love the friends I've made. Stepping out of my comfort zone has been an amazing growth experience and now I can't imagine doing it any other way. Good luck in your decision. :)
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Yeah, plus you get to be my mentor next year, so how could it get any better? ;)
 
rose351 said:
Yeah, plus you get to be my mentor next year, so how could it get any better? ;)
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Looking forward to it too! I really can't wait for you guys to get here, its going to be awesome. I want to hang out with you, Prions, and Cassrae at the Red Roof Inn!!:hardy:
 
ThePiratesse said:
Looking forward to it too! I really can't wait for you guys to get here, its going to be awesome. I want to hang out with you, Prions, and Cassrae at the Red Roof Inn!!:hardy:
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:laugh: You're sooo invited to the Tin Roof Inn! :hardy:
 
How about that other Pennsylvania school you applied to.....any word from them yet?
 
ThePiratesse said:
Looking forward to it too! I really can't wait for you guys to get here, its going to be awesome. I want to hang out with you, Prions, and Cassrae at the Red Roof Inn!!:hardy:
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I'm so jealous. I've been trying to woo the 3 of them to Nova, but to no avail!

::cries::
 
I really liked SFA, I might even bleed purple... Of course, UT is a great school too!:D

singingfifi: I stolez ur friends! ;)
 
I'm not sure I ever even went to Nac to visit? Isn't it dry there, as in, no booze?
 
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