Here is my take on NOVA
South Florida sucks. The people are awful, no one speaks English, and it costs about a billion dollars to rent a crummy apartment. Other than that, NOVA, as with all other medical schools, is just what you put into it. The school is nice and has a lot of new things on campus (gym, pool, shuttle service) that make life easy. The schedule is not too bad, I try to study three hours a day (usually only get two good hours), and have managed to keep up nicely. The student population is diverse, and there are lots of medically related things to do outside of class. Here is a short list of pros and cons
Pro
-Decent reputation (not that it means anything at all
)
-Campus is a lot nicer than other schools I interviewed at
-Good board prep
-Faculty is approachable and willing to work with you
-I feel that the course load is reasonable (IMHO)
-Just opened up a few new residencies, (a couple of ortho spots for you silly gunners
.)
NOVA has a couple of competitive residencies so you can meet some faculty. (Gas, Ortho, ER, Gen Surg, Gi, Cards, Interventional Cards, and the almighty, Derm.)
-South Florida (I was in the ocean up until a week ago)
-The Dean is a cool guy.
CONS
-Expensive, (in all reality, its not more than any other private school MD/DO, but COL in S Florida is the nail in the coffin)
-Very unorganized administration, especially when it comes to the use of technology. Anyone who has applied has probably experienced this.
-Class size. Huge, around 240, tough to meet everyone. Lots of cliques.
-Still uses microscopes for histology (Again, poor with technology.)
-South Florida
-OPP. I have been really let down by this class. When I started, I was really interested in the OMM stuff. After spending a semester with it, I realize what a joke it is. Sad thing is, it is the same at all DO schools. NOVA, to their credit, does not spend much time on it. We have class once a week and lab once a week. OMM is their own department, and has nothing to do with the rest of the medical departments. You really get the feeling that most of the DOs in the anatomy dept just laugh about how silly OMM is.
-Ludicrous attendance policy
In the end, medical school is what you put into it. I currently have five friends in different medical schools all across the country, three MDs and two DOs; we like to compare our notes and brag about who has it the worst. The MDs usually are in class less than we are, and their biochem seems to be harder. Our anatomy seems to be more difficult, and we have to take that stupid OMM class. Other than that, its the exact same stuff. As for my friends at other DO schools, we are all about in the same boat, our physiology seems to be a little more difficult, and their histo may be a little harder. Again, all medical schools in America are good, there are no bad ones. If I had to choose over again, this is what I would base my decision on
1. Cost
2. Location
3. Class size
4. Board prep
5. Third year rotation options
6. Grading system (I prefer pass/fail)
7. Affiliated hospital/residencies
PM me if you have any Qs