DMU 3rd and 4th year rotations

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MDB0073

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I am more than likely headed to DMU in august and I was wondering if it would be wise to buy a house? My concern is that I've heard that you have to rotate around different areas during the 3rd and 4th years. I would love it if some current DMU students and people with knowledge about the rotations could give some info and advice. :)

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MDB0073 said:
I am more than likely headed to DMU in august and I was wondering if it would be wise to buy a house? My concern is that I've heard that you have to rotate around different areas during the 3rd and 4th years. I would love it if some current DMU students and people with knowledge about the rotations could give some info and advice. :)



I'm currently a 3rd year at DMU, and I did buy a house here in Des Moines. All of my 3rd year rotations are in Des Moines, and most of the rotations that I have scheduled for 4th year are too. When you are setting up rotations, some students can can become "exempt" from their core hospital (4 months) and core clinic (2 months) matches. I was lucky to be exempt from them, which means that I was given a spot in Des Moines for those 6 months. The exemption is based on things such as family issues or daycare issues. But even if you are not "exempt", you still have a decent shot at getting your hospital and clinic in town. Most of your other rotations are easy to get in Des Moines, except the required OB/GYN and Peds. Those spots are kind of slim.

I'm happy that I bought a house when I came to school. My wife works full-time in Des Moines, so even if I had to leave Des Moines for rotations, she would have stayed here. We were both sick of apartment living after undergrad, so we decided to buy. I do know some of my classmates also have bought homes, most of them are also married. I'm just hoping everything will work out when we try to sell.
 
if you don't mind me asking where did you and the other classmates that you know of buy? I'm also thinking of buying and was told it's hard to sell in many areas, but the ones that are easier to sell in are much more expensive.
 
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kahoo99 said:
if you don't mind me asking where did you and the other classmates that you know of buy? I'm also thinking of buying and was told it's hard to sell in many areas, but the ones that are easier to sell in are much more expensive.


We bought our house on the Northwest part of Des Moines, on the outskirts of the Beaverdale neighborhood. There are some pretty decent areas to live in Des Moines, and most are probably cheaper than West Des Moines. I think if it's a pleasent neighborhood, it won't be too tough to sell. One of my friends bought a house on the South Side, not too bad of a neighborhood, but I'm guessing he'll have some trouble selling it. The Drake Uni area, south side, and east side are probably the lesser desirable areas of Des Moines, and personally I would not buy there. Both of the suburbs of Urbandale and Johnston are pretty nice areas. I even know some people that bought townhomes in Ankeny (15 miles North) and they really like that area and don't mind the drive at all. The city is growing to the west, so that's where most of the new construction is (West Des Moines and Waukee)

When my wife and I were looking for a house, we made sure we found a place that would appeal to a younger family for when we wanted to sell it (park and school nearby, not a busy area, and we made sure the area felt "safe" so that we could walk/jog).

We bought a place that was a "partial-fixer-upper", nothing bad, but we wanted to have a place that we could do some remodeling and hopefully resell it for a profit when we move. If you guys do that, try to get most of your remodeling done in your 1st 2 years b/c you'll have a lot of free time. I'm finding it pretty hard to get anything done around the house now that rotations have started.
 
hyper_74 said:
I'm currently a 3rd year at DMU, and I did buy a house here in Des Moines. All of my 3rd year rotations are in Des Moines, and most of the rotations that I have scheduled for 4th year are too. When you are setting up rotations, some students can can become "exempt" from their core hospital (4 months) and core clinic (2 months) matches. I was lucky to be exempt from them, which means that I was given a spot in Des Moines for those 6 months. The exemption is based on things such as family issues or daycare issues. But even if you are not "exempt", you still have a decent shot at getting your hospital and clinic in town. Most of your other rotations are easy to get in Des Moines, except the required OB/GYN and Peds. Those spots are kind of slim.

I'm happy that I bought a house when I came to school. My wife works full-time in Des Moines, so even if I had to leave Des Moines for rotations, she would have stayed here. We were both sick of apartment living after undergrad, so we decided to buy. I do know some of my classmates also have bought homes, most of them are also married. I'm just hoping everything will work out when we try to sell.

Thanks for the info. This really helps my decision to by a house if I go to DMU. Like you, I am sick of APT living plus I want my kid to grow up in a house. Take care.
 
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