Help me DMU vs. VCOM

[Valmont]

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Ok, I'll just list pros. and cons. as I see it. Any advice will be a big help. Also, I will be talking with VCOM staff on Monday. When first I went to Iowa I kind of liked it but as time has passed I began to question if I would be happy there.

DMU pros:
1 Old school with good name and culture
2 good placements
3 proven methods of education
4 low cost of living
5 nice people
6 great OMM classes

DMU cons:
1 don't like anatomy being one semester long
2 far, far from family and friends
3 far, far from ocean or Mts.
4 no connections to Des Moines at all
5 long hard winters
6 what?s to do outside of the city
7 lack of much research

VCOM pros:
1 Very near home
2 lots of green space and outdoor activities:
hunting, fishing, caving, hiking, snow skiing, water skiing, white water rafting, weekend driving distance to the beach
3 ties to Vet. school, Grad school, and undergrad; thus lots of research
4 great facilities
5 congenial and highly enthusiastic faculty
6 school has a vested interest in each person in its first class doing very well so that the school gets off on the right foot
7 some personal ties to VT and the state of VA

VCOM cons:
1 new school with no track record
2 fearful of how residency programs will regard the first graduating class, but will it matter if I go into the air force
3 lack of established school culture and organizations

Help! I am making myself sick here trying to do the right thing.

😕

 

[Docgeorge]

Valmont congrats on multiple accepctences. For some info about DMU which I'm too lazy to type again look in the preosteo forum for my plug for DMU in the thread DMU vs KCOM. When all is said and done, you have to live the concequences of your decicion, my advise to you is to pick the school that you feel most comfortable at. One thing that I did not add about DMU is that we have a Dean of Research and a division of research, if research is your thing you can get that at DMU. I also noticied that you were interested in Ortho, did you happen to see the Ortho match to Mayo? I think that the ortho to Mayo happens on a regular basis.

I think that one other thing that you need to also consider is you 3rd and 4th year rotations. See if you have the oppertunity to rotate at tertiary care centers during your 3rd and 4th years.

Good luck to you in your career no matter where you choose to go. Oh yeah and congratulations again on makeing it into MEDICAL SCHOOL!!!!!!

 

[Dr.Dicky]

valmont

I can definitely sympathize with the whole beach issue. I grew up in St. Augustine, FL....took me 5 minutes to get to the beach! I figure that I'm not really gonna have that much time to do anything other than school and school related functions...and with a whole summer off after the first year, I'll be heading back to Florida for a couple of weeks to get rid of the old farmer's tan. Plus I like the fact that DMU has a rotation site in FL. After 2 years, you have the option of going just about anywhere you want...and I'm pretty sure those two years will go by in a blur. Just my 2 cents though...if it helps, Great!...if not, sorry for wasting your time😉

rick
dmu class of 2007

 

[DrInW8ing]

Valmont,

I can't help you here. You look as though your weighing out your pros and cons without bias.

DMU is a very good school. There was a lot of modern updates going on when I visited two years ago. The students were very outgoing also.

Anyway, decide on which school feels right and where you think you would be happiest. Ask the VCOM faculty about any underllying doubts you might have about your decision.

Way to go on the acceptances!!

 

[Valmont]

DrInW8ing,
Dr.Dicky, and
Docgeorge,

Thankyou for makeing the time to respond. What each of you have had to say is helpfull---if only to reinforce my thinking----thanks

Valmont🙂