DMU vs WesternU Comp

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
S

seraphkz

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Messages
246
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
New Jersey
  1. Medical Student
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I'm extremely sorry to start another comparison thread. I have already searched and searched and searched.... However I sill can't make up my mind.

1) I don't care about the locations (Pomona vs. Des Moines)
2) I don't care about the tuition difference
3) I'm interested in (at the moment) in Gas/G. Surg/EM

Thanks guys, and I apologize at first so don't hate me 😛
 
seraphkz said:
I'm extremely sorry to start another comparison thread. I have already searched and searched and searched.... However I sill can't make up my mind.

1) I don't care about the locations (Pomona vs. Des Moines)
2) I don't care about the tuition difference
3) I'm interested in (at the moment) in Gas/G. Surg/EM

Thanks guys, and I apologize at first so don't hate me 😛
Click to expand...
i dont know about DMU but western rotates through arrowhead (2nd busiest ER in cali) so thats food for thought...i def might have to make this decision myself
also western does a systems based pre-clinical curriculum
 
About the same chances going to either school. Picking based on price and location are the only things left to worry about.
 
IDFsoldierboy said:
i dont know about DMU but western rotates through arrowhead (2nd busiest ER in cali) so thats food for thought...i def might have to make this decision myself
also western does a systems based pre-clinical curriculum
Click to expand...

Thanks for the insights on the EM rotation site.
 
seraphkz said:
I'm extremely sorry to start another comparison thread. I have already searched and searched and searched.... However I sill can't make up my mind.

1) I don't care about the locations (Pomona vs. Des Moines)
2) I don't care about the tuition difference
3) I'm interested in (at the moment) in Gas/G. Surg/EM

Thanks guys, and I apologize at first so don't hate me 😛
Click to expand...

As someone who goes to Western......

If you want Gen Surg, I dont know if I would recommend Western. Western has VERY good rotations, and we have placed people in crazy hospitals for Rotations (ie in 2010 match, we had Gen surg at Mayo and Gen surg at UCSF).

However, DMU geographically will put you at an advantage I believe. In ALL of california there is ONE Gen Surg spot for AOA (DO residency). While Western indeed rotates at the hospital (arrowhead), people from all over the US are competing to come to California. Im sure that DMU has more AOA Gen Surg spots, at least I would assume, and I think this makes things a bit easier. Just something to consider. Obviously it comes down to YOU as a student, but just keep that in mind
 
drctother said:
As someone who goes to Western......

If you want Gen Surg, I dont know if I would recommend Western. Western has VERY good rotations, and we have placed people in crazy hospitals for Rotations (ie in 2010 match, we had Gen surg at Mayo and Gen surg at UCSF).

However, DMU geographically will put you at an advantage I believe. In ALL of california there is ONE Gen Surg spot for AOA (DO residency). While Western indeed rotates at the hospital (arrowhead), people from all over the US are competing to come to California. Im sure that DMU has more AOA Gen Surg spots, at least I would assume, and I think this makes things a bit easier. Just something to consider. Obviously it comes down to YOU as a student, but just keep that in mind
Click to expand...

http://www.opportunities.osteopathi...essionid=f030a8506671945f7d93f3e446d5356b7429

ARMC takes 3 per year, DMU takes 4 per year. Not much of a difference, and quite honestly, where you go to school has little to do with where you go for residency.
 
tkim said:
http://www.opportunities.osteopathi...essionid=f030a8506671945f7d93f3e446d5356b7429

ARMC takes 3 per year, DMU takes 4 per year. Not much of a difference, and quite honestly, where you go to school has little to do with where you go for residency.
Click to expand...

We had a surgery meeting at my school a few weeks ago with a surgeon, who told us there is only one spot. And she is very familiar with the medical community in her specialty....so I dont know. What I bet the website doesnt tell you is that Arrowhead is in horrible condition financially. I doubt they can afford to hire 3 residents (from what I have heard from a faculty member at least)

As an attending, would you mind explaining how there is no relationship between school and residency? To a certain degree there must be some kind of benefit. If your school has rotation spots reserved at a certain hospital (for 3rd year), you are able to get your name out there much easier than a visiting student in fourth year because you can do 3rd AND 4th year rotations at that hospital.

If your school has core rotations at a hospital you are interested in doing your residency at, it is hard to argue that a visiting student is equally competitive as someone who has the opportunity to spend more time at that hospital, get to know the staff better, and build a good reputation. (This is assuming both students are the same academically, and socially)

What is your experience with this as an attending?
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I talked with a surgeon from DMU tonight... he said he went back recently, and was completely blown away at how nice the campus is. I've heard from him and others that their program is fantastic with the little details... class notes and lectures automatically recorded, comfortable study areas, etc.
 
Take this with a grain of salt because if I was a woman and dmu was a man, I would have their baby. DMU has the surgery skills lab they are proud of and it looks way nice. DMU also has the mercy hospital/general surgery residency I think mentioned above. It seems decent and I worked at mercy for a year. I talked to a few of the residents, but not much. It is a good hospital with the busiest ED in iowa.

Secondly, DMU seems very liked in both the gas program and the EM program at university of iowa which is about 1 1/2 hours away. You can check their website for exact numbers but I have seen DO grads in both those.

I know absolutely nothing about western though including their tuition, so I don't know which one everyone is leaning towards.
 
drctother said:
We had a surgery meeting at my school a few weeks ago with a surgeon, who told us there is only one spot. And she is very familiar with the medical community in her specialty....so I dont know. What I bet the website doesnt tell you is that Arrowhead is in horrible condition financially. I doubt they can afford to hire 3 residents (from what I have heard from a faculty member at least)

As an attending, would you mind explaining how there is no relationship between school and residency? To a certain degree there must be some kind of benefit. If your school has rotation spots reserved at a certain hospital (for 3rd year), you are able to get your name out there much easier than a visiting student in fourth year because you can do 3rd AND 4th year rotations at that hospital.

If your school has core rotations at a hospital you are interested in doing your residency at, it is hard to argue that a visiting student is equally competitive as someone who has the opportunity to spend more time at that hospital, get to know the staff better, and build a good reputation. (This is assuming both students are the same academically, and socially)

What is your experience with this as an attending?
Click to expand...

Plenty of rotating students get residencies in places they've rotated at and also at places they've never rotated at. It's just the way it works. Don't forget that the lion's share of residencies are ACGME, and board scores and rotation grades count for as much, if not more, than actually rotating at that institution.

Arrowhead might be in bad financial shape, but it's the Medicare system that funds residency, so it's less contingent on the hospital finances. All hospitals are hurting.

I have no experience as an attending regarding this - I work as a private attending in a community hospital without a residency. However, I went to Western, rotated at Arrowhead, and matched at a program I never rotated at. I've been through the match. You look at match lists and you'll see that the majority of people who match come from other schools.

You can certainly shine on your rotations and give yourself the edge come match time, but again you go where it's cheapest and you like best, and rotate at the place you want to match. Doesn't have to be where you went to school.

You have plenty of time to figure this out. The only time there is an advantage to going to a school is if they have an affiliated residency that isn't available widely, such as neurosurgery or ENT, where you can more easily rotate as a 'home' student.
 
Thank you guys for your comments/suggestions. And I'm glad we have an attending in this thread to shed some light.

Anyone else with any suggestions?
 
Any one can comment on the rotation sites/academic curriculum on these two schools?

Or testing schedules?
 
seraphkz said:
Any one can comment on the rotation sites/academic curriculum on these two schools?

Or testing schedules?
Click to expand...

At DMU we usually have 0-2 tests per week. We are subject based and each class runs on it's own schedule with different start and end dates, but they upload everything to our outlook calanders so it's not confusing even though our schedule changes every week. We've already finished 3 classes.

Usually it's not too bad, but we think they are currently trying to test our endurance. Biochem final, 1st Cell Bio test, and Anatomy (head & neck) written & practical all in 7 days. Then we get a break and won't have another test for a couple weeks.
 
tkim said:
go to the cheaper school
Click to expand...

+1

Both of these schools seemed pretty comparable when I looked into them. The tipping point for me was cost, which was a no brainer because DMU was so much cheaper. You'll thank yourself when you start to pay off your debt.

Seap3 is right on about 1st year. Second year the test schedule picks up to about 2-3 tests per week. Rotations are good for the most part..a little over half the class stays in central iowa and the rest go to michigan, ohio and some other places. Some people get hosed for part of their 3rd year rotations though because it's hard to find adequate clerkships in the Des Moines area for the entire class. Des Moines is a pretty small city so most end up driving about an hour or so away to a couple of rotations during the year. I've gotten good training thus far though.
 
FrkyBgStok said:
Take this with a grain of salt because if I was a woman and dmu was a man, I would ...
Click to expand...

I was a little worried with where you were going with that.
 
What about MSU and Western? I have problems deciding between the two. I have decided to withdraw from my acceptances at Nova and AZCOM. I am from Canada and expenses for MSU and Western are similar.
 
spoudaios said:
What about MSU and Western? I have problems deciding between the two. I have decided to withdraw from my acceptances at Nova and AZCOM. I am from Canada and expenses for MSU and Western are similar.
Click to expand...

Talk to drgioiadds, he's a canadian dentist who got accepted at MSU this cycle.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I go to Western. It sounds like the scheduling is similar, 0-2 tests per week (with one exception so far), etc. I'm reasonably happy, aside from having spent the last week studying like crazy for my H+N final this morning. The 2nd 3rd and 4th years whom I have spoken with all seemed reasonably happy with their classes/rotations. Sorry this isn't the most informaive post, but it's pretty much up to your personal preferance and whatever that entails for you. And ditto on the cost thing.
 
Well, drgioiadds prefers MSU because his family is very close to Michigan.

I have no families in the US eventhough closer to Western. I got accepted into 4 schools (and will withdraw from Nova and AZCOM shortly). This will leave me between MSU and Western.

I just wish that any of the residents or 4th year students from each school can comment.
 
spoudaios said:
Well, drgioiadds prefers MSU because his family is very close to Michigan.

I have no families in the US eventhough closer to Western. I got accepted into 4 schools (and will withdraw from Nova and AZCOM shortly). This will leave me between MSU and Western.

I just wish that any of the residents or 4th year students from each school can comment.
Click to expand...

I think both schools are good. The only reason I withdrew from my Western interview was because its hard for me to get time off work and if I had to make a decision between the 2, I'd pick MSU for a couple of reasons both professional and personal. MSU really supported my career change goals, moreso than other schools. They truly looked at my entire application and saw that my 10 years practicing dentistry is clinical experience and certain patient communication skills are transferrable. That is something I really worked on over the years.

Secondly, I think MSU's Canadian initiative will provide the support needed so that we can Match into ACGME residencies, which is required to return to Canada.

Thirdly, my family is a 5 hour drive away from Detroit and even less from Lansing. At one point I had a sister living in the border city to Detroit, but she has now moved.
 
IDFsoldierboy said:
but is the weather good enough to be willing to pay for the higher cost of living?
Click to expand...

It could be argued, yes...Iowa winters are awful.

LA is way more fun than Des Moines too
 
DoktorB said:
It could be argued, yes...Iowa winters are awful.

LA is way more fun than Des Moines too
Click to expand...

that is very much debatable...remember your not talking about LA your talking LA county....I live like 5 min from Western...LA (Hollywood and LA city itself) is 45 min away with no traffic and with traffic easily 2 hours

there are bars in des moines just like there are bars in the western U area...as for the beach well again from the pomona area its like 45 min and can easily become a 2-3 hr drive with traffic

I have lived in smaller cities and I have lived here in LA county and its not worth the traffic for the few days you might hit up the beach...
IMO its not worth the extra money you would front for cost of living

seriously though I feel half my day is spent in traffic and when you don't get that many hours of free time to go have a night out you dont want half of it being in traffic
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
So I'm in snow and lacking many ethnic restaurants here.

Do you realize how much I miss legit Mexican/Chinese/Korean food?! Inland Empire still offers quite a bit of selection...

LA for the weather.
 
What's the closest gym to Western? I know that Pomona YMCA is free for students but the weight room is tiny. I am not a gym rat but has to go regularly. Are these gyms open early?
 
Does Pomona have a subway station that goes to downtown LA? And how long does that take?
 
IDFsoldierboy said:
that is very much debatable...remember your not talking about LA your talking LA county....I live like 5 min from Western...LA (Hollywood and LA city itself) is 45 min away with no traffic and with traffic easily 2 hours

there are bars in des moines just like there are bars in the western U area...as for the beach well again from the pomona area its like 45 min and can easily become a 2-3 hr drive with traffic

I have lived in smaller cities and I have lived here in LA county and its not worth the traffic for the few days you might hit up the beach...
IMO its not worth the extra money you would front for cost of living

seriously though I feel half my day is spent in traffic and when you don't get that many hours of free time to go have a night out you dont want half of it being in traffic
Click to expand...

lol dude. I lived in northeast LA county for 4 years. I definitely took it for granted. Des Moines makes me want to stab my eyes out it is so boring. In LA the food, weather, nightlife, girls (or guys if you happen to be female..haha), landscape, access to fun activities, culture, etc...... are infinitely better. There is such a large young crowd that it keeps things interesting..Iowa is known for how old people live to be and everything moves a lot slower. There is no beach access here, you can't go hiking because it's flat, the weather is so terrible most of the year that being outdoors is miserable, and the city shuts down at night. There is one dinky little street with bars downtown that is really overplayed and fun for about the first 3 weeks you live here. The traffic sucks in LA but seriously, drivers are ignorant in Iowa and it is just as frustrating sometimes. I miss being able to drive 80mph on the freeway.

All that being said, DMU is a really good school...the town it is located in is just super lame 😀
 
DoktorB said:
lol dude. I lived in northeast LA county for 4 years. I definitely took it for granted. Des Moines makes me want to stab my eyes out it is so boring. In LA the food, weather, nightlife, girls (or guys if you happen to be female..haha), landscape, access to fun activities, culture, etc...... are infinitely better. There is such a large young crowd that it keeps things interesting..Iowa is known for how old people live to be and everything moves a lot slower. There is no beach access here, you can't go hiking because it's flat, the weather is so terrible most of the year that being outdoors is miserable, and the city shuts down at night. There is one dinky little street with bars downtown that is really overplayed and fun for about the first 3 weeks you live here. The traffic sucks in LA but seriously, drivers are ignorant in Iowa and it is just as frustrating sometimes. I miss being able to drive 80mph on the freeway.

All that being said, DMU is a really good school...the town it is located in is just super lame 😀
Click to expand...

It is for this reason that I have not put down my deposit for DMU yet. DMU is a smarter choice (than in my case CCOM). Both are great schools but DMU is 10k cheaper plus cost of living. But I honestly don't know if I could be happy living in des moines in comparison to chicago, a town that i love. Everyone i've talked to says go to the cheaper option..., definitely a hard decision.
 
Well I just got put on DMU alternate list, so I guess I'll be attending WesternU. Thanks for everyone's suggestions!
 
seraphkz said:
Well I just got put on DMU alternate list, so I guess I'll be attending WesternU. Thanks for everyone's suggestions!
Click to expand...

Bummer. However this is a good example on why not to start these threads before you know. After you posted in the DMU thread saying you will now go to your second choice, I wonder if this thread convinced you.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

dibadelf
2x reapplicant looking for advice. Currently waitlisted at WesternU and TouroCA
Replies
4
Views
262
Faha
F
believe40
4th year, strong GPA but MCAT uncertainty — lost on next steps (DO vs retake vs gap years vs Caribbean)
Replies
19
Views
2K
Goro
Goro
P
LUCOM vs LECOM
Replies
4
Views
2K
OsteopathPeds
OsteopathPeds
H
School advice - BCOM vs. ACOM?
Replies
3
Views
2K
Goro
Goro
A
New DO school vs reapplying
Replies
11
Views
3K
EEqualsRx2
E
Top Bottom