DO schools with the longest/best (or at least, least inhibitory) board prep

[Awesome Sauceome]

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After reading a few threads, people have me nervous of the lack of time a lot of DO schools give for board prep. Whether it is a conspiracy or not, I was just hoping to get an idea of some schools that give a little more time or help during your board prep. I know a couple schools I am really interested in are PCOM, Rowan, VCOM, MUCOM, and DMU. Thanks a bunch for your help.

 

[AnonymousD.O.]

VCOM Va basically has no summer between first year and second year. What does that mean? Second years are done completely in June, and May consists of a board prep taught class. You can see the schedule on the website right now.

To clarify, we are in block 4 right now and it ends July 3rd. We are back in school early august so we have about 1 month of break between OMS1 and OMS2.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

But so what about OMS2 and OMS3, thats the summer that really matters for board prep... well and the spring leading up to it... are you saying that you guys go for the whole summer between OMS1 and OMS2 so that way you can finish early and have board prep time at the end of OMS2?

 

[Petypet]

Worry more about going to a school that is 1. affordable and 2. has great clinical sites. Most DO schools prepare you well for the comlex, which is what they are supposed to do, but not enough time necessarily for usmle. Don't go out of state just because they give 2 more weeks of prep time, for example.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Worry more about going to a school that is 1. affordable and 2. has great clinical sites. Most DO schools prepare you well for the comlex, which is what they are supposed to do, but not enough time necessarily for usmle. Don't go out of state just because they give 2 more weeks of prep time, for example.

Every school I am applying to is out of state, roughly the same cost (except maybe 1 or 2), I could see myself living there (otherwise they would not be on my list), my wife could find work in all of the locations. So I am really narrowing down factors that would help make my decision. Factor one being if they accept me hahaha (I will hopefully know in a few months). Some other factors are definitely clinical rotations and then board prep (something that has very recently come onto my radar). So I am really just trying to get a rough idea... such as school a) gives barely any time, like 2-3 weeks vs school b) which might give 6-8 weeks. If all other things are comparable, I would say thats definitely something that would help sway my decision. Just trying to find out as much as I can to as many of the schools that I am applying to, thats all. Better to know than to not know I figure.

 

[Mehd School]

LMU has a deadline to take step 1 and it's usually around June 15/16. Obviously I'm not there yet but I greatly dislike that policy already.

 

[Petypet]

LMU has a deadline to take step 1 and it's usually around June 15/16. Obviously I'm not there yet but I greatly dislike that policy already.

I think all schools have a deadline, but it is not universal. When you register for comlex you need your schools permission, and upon login to NBOME, there are dates by which your dean has set as required deadlines for taking the test.

 

[DocVapor]

The calendar at VCOM-VA seems to get tweaked some every year, so your schedule will most likely be different from mine. As @AnonymousD.O. said, block 8 at VCOM is intended for a comprehensive review course put on by Dr. Rizk. Some people liked it, others didn't. I liked it, but had also bought DIT, and thus did not get through the entire DIT Part II course prior to taking my USMLE Step1 this week. Would it have helped if I had finished it all? I dunno - I'll get back to you when I receive my score. I am taking my COMLEX I in two weeks. Some of my classmates have taken both already, others are waiting until mid-late July to take theirs. You just have to attempt COMLEX I prior to starting rotations, and if you fail, you have until mid-December to pass before they take you out of rotations. I think you will find yourself tailoring your effort and study habits towards being competitive for your desired specialty. I've put in a lot of work recently because I want to do as well as possible since as of right now my most desired residency program has never taken a DO before that I am aware of.

Here is a link to the block 8 calendar for this year: http://www.vcom.edu/meded/files/Virginia/Block8_VC.pdf
Also, try this link to the handbook: http://www.vcom.edu/catalog/index.html#115 (If it doesn't take you to the actual page, navigate to page 115)

The handbook also mentions having to pass the COMSAE at the end of the review course. Plenty of people didn't pass it first attempt, but I think it's because it caught lots of people off-gaurd, especially the ones that weren't planning on taking the COMLEX until mid July.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

The calendar at VCOM-VA seems to get tweaked some every year, so your schedule will most likely be different from mine. As @AnonymousD.O. said, block 8 at VCOM is intended for a comprehensive review course put on by Dr. Rizk. Some people liked it, others didn't. I liked it, but had also bought DIT, and thus did not get through the entire DIT Part II course prior to taking my USMLE Step1 this week. Would it have helped if I had finished it all? I dunno - I'll get back to you when I receive my score. I am taking my COMLEX I in two weeks. Some of my classmates have taken both already, others are waiting until mid-late July to take theirs. You just have to attempt COMLEX I prior to starting rotations, and if you fail, you have until mid-December to pass before they take you out of rotations. I think you will find yourself tailoring your effort and study habits towards being competitive for your desired specialty. I've put in a lot of work recently because I want to do as well as possible since as of right now my most desired residency program has never taken a DO before that I am aware of.

Here is a link to the block 8 calendar for this year: http://www.vcom.edu/meded/files/Virginia/Block8_VC.pdf
Also, try this link to the handbook: http://www.vcom.edu/catalog/index.html#115 (If it doesn't take you to the actual page, navigate to page 115)

The handbook also mentions having to pass the COMSAE at the end of the review course. Plenty of people didn't pass it first attempt, but I think it's because it caught lots of people off-gaurd, especially the ones that weren't planning on taking the COMLEX until mid July.

So how many weeks is this block 8 review? It obviously does not coincide with regular classes. So are you essentially done your year 2 classes around the end of March then?

 

[DocVapor]

So how many weeks is this block 8 review? It obviously does not coincide with regular classes. So are you essentially done your year 2 classes around the end of March then?

Yes, we were done with new material towards the end of March. We did have a couple random things here and there during block 8, but they didn't amount to much. The OMM course was review without labs as well.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

Yes, we were done with new material towards the end of March. We did have a couple random things here and there during block 8, but they didn't amount to much. The OMM course was review without labs as well.

Sweet so thats not too bad... thats a solid 6-8 weeks of study time. Between that, the sports med program, and the proximity to home, VCOM is lookin hot. I do wish I could find a couple years of their match lists... just out of curiosity more than anything...

 

[SLC]

I had about 8 weeks if I wanted it.

I took 4, and that was enough for both exams.

ATSU-SOMA

 

[Mehd School]

I think all schools have a deadline, but it is not universal. When you register for comlex you need your schools permission, and upon login to NBOME, there are dates by which your dean has set as required deadlines for taking the test.

I dislike the time table of the deadline more than the deadline itself. MS2's got 24 days from the last day of class until the comlex 1 deadline.

 

[Makati2008]

I dislike the time table of the deadline more than the deadline itself. MS2's got 24 days from the last day of class until the comlex 1 deadline.

Yea I hated it. I would have loved to actually learn the step 1 stuff like I was able to for step 2.

 

[AnonymousD.O.]

The calendar at VCOM-VA seems to get tweaked some every year, so your schedule will most likely be different from mine. As @AnonymousD.O. said, block 8 at VCOM is intended for a comprehensive review course put on by Dr. Rizk. Some people liked it, others didn't. I liked it, but had also bought DIT, and thus did not get through the entire DIT Part II course prior to taking my USMLE Step1 this week. Would it have helped if I had finished it all? I dunno - I'll get back to you when I receive my score. I am taking my COMLEX I in two weeks. Some of my classmates have taken both already, others are waiting until mid-late July to take theirs. You just have to attempt COMLEX I prior to starting rotations, and if you fail, you have until mid-December to pass before they take you out of rotations. I think you will find yourself tailoring your effort and study habits towards being competitive for your desired specialty. I've put in a lot of work recently because I want to do as well as possible since as of right now my most desired residency program has never taken a DO before that I am aware of.

Here is a link to the block 8 calendar for this year: http://www.vcom.edu/meded/files/Virginia/Block8_VC.pdf
Also, try this link to the handbook: http://www.vcom.edu/catalog/index.html#115 (If it doesn't take you to the actual page, navigate to page 115)

The handbook also mentions having to pass the COMSAE at the end of the review course. Plenty of people didn't pass it first attempt, but I think it's because it caught lots of people off-gaurd, especially the ones that weren't planning on taking the COMLEX until mid July.

Hope you did excellent and good luck w/ COMLEX .....GO VCOM!