Impressed by AZCOM. . . . .

[Nanook]

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Just interviewed at AZCOM the other day. I have to say, I was impressed. I'd heard a lot of hype about the school and I thought "Yeah, right. They're brand new. How good can they be?"

Here are some of the specific things that impressed me:

--the attitude. The people were very friendly, more so than at other schools I have interviewed at. Everyone was so positive and happy it seemed like they were going to burst. An example: on our tour, two or three additional AZCOM students jumped in and followed us around, answering questions and joking with us, generally making everyone feel at ease.

--the facilities-not only were they new, but they were nice, and added to the overall atmosphere.

-the on-campus housing. As someone who has a family, the availability of an on-campus, affordable, nice 2-bedroom facility is a BIG draw.

--100% pass rates on the COMLEX for the past 2 years.

--early exposure to clinical stuff (not that big of a deal, but still a nice break from the everyday grind of studying micro, histo, biochem, blah, blah. Helps keep your mind on why you are there in the first place).

--the area: Phoenix seems large enough to offer a full range of clinical services, but not so large that I would feel uncomfortable letting my kids play outside. Glendale is right on the edge, which allows you to get either into or out of town easily (I hate feeling trapped by a city!)

Now, in all fairness, I should list what I didn't like so much:

--they have a rather unorthodox method of doing clinicals, where you do a lot of one-on-one shadowing of docs. Most people from the traditional system would frown on this, since you're not in a teaching hospital. I could see how it would work well *if* you had a good doc, but if you had a lousy doc, or a doc that was just lazy or didn't trust you to do anything, you might end up just following him around like an undergrad doing a shadow.

With that said, though, I asked an MSIV if he had done any rotations at teaching hospitals. He said he had been to several large schools on rotations, such as UW, and done quite well. I found this encouraging, especially since he was rotating with students from other, high profile schools.

Anyone care to comment?

 

[adismo]

100% pass on comlex for the past two years?

 

[Nanook]

That's what they said. In all fairness, one of the students did say that 1 person didn't pass it. I'm not sure if he meant that was in the past two years, or at some prior time.
But they did bring the 100% pass thing up more than once (for obvious reasons).

 

[Sherry]

To clarify our board results:

100% pass rate for Step One and Two for last years graduates (includes COMLEX and USMLE).

99.3% pass rate for Step one (COMLEX) and 100% (USMLE) for this years group.

Additionally I might add, that our placements of residents has been quite impressive. You may visit our website at www.azcomstudents.org to puruse the listings.

As a current student I can say from personal experience that I have no regrets. No school is 100% on every issue but the plus + far outweight the negative - for me and my fellow colleagues. Hope to see you all at AZCOM next year, I am sure you will all be pleased.

 

[Sherry]

To clarify our board results:

100% pass rate for Step One and Two for last years graduates (includes COMLEX and USMLE).

99.3% pass rate for Step one (COMLEX) and 100% (USMLE) for this years group.

Additionally I might add, that our placements of residents has been quite impressive. You may visit our website at www.azcomstudents.org to puruse the listings.

As a current student I can say from personal experience that I have no regrets. No school is 100% on every issue but the plus + far outweight the negative - for me and my fellow colleagues. Hope to see you all at AZCOM next year, I am sure you will all be pleased.

 

[Sherry]

Clarification om our pass rates:

100% pass rate for COMLEX and USMLE for last years graduates; both steps one and two.

99.3% pass rate for COMLEX (step one) and 100% pass rate for USMLE(Step one) for this years group.

Nanook,
If you decide to attend here, look me up or e-mail me. I live on campus and would love to help you with your transition if needed.



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[AZMom]

Originally posted by Nanook:
Just interviewed at AZCOM the other day.
...
Now, in all fairness, I should list what I didn't like so much:

--they have a rather unorthodox method of doing clinicals, where you do a lot of one-on-one shadowing of docs. Most people from the traditional system would frown on this, since you're not in a teaching hospital. I could see how it would work well *if* you had a good doc, but if you had a lousy doc, or a doc that was just lazy or didn't trust you to do anything, you might end up just following him around like an undergrad doing a shadow.

With that said, though, I asked an MSIV if he had done any rotations at teaching hospitals. He said he had been to several large schools on rotations, such as UW, and done quite well. I found this encouraging, especially since he was rotating with students from other, high profile schools.

Anyone care to comment?

I live in northern Arizona (a sparsely populated region). One of the local pediatricians has rotations in her office from AZCOM. She definitely allows the students to interact with the patients and her staff in treating her patients.

Trust is a two way street. It's usually not given unless it is earned. The students I have talked to have no complaints.

 

[Mayqswet]

I'm an MSI at AZCOM and am thoroughly impressed with the school. Our professors have an open door policy that is incredible. They even answer emails on the Sunday before Monday morning tests! Also, we get awesome notes for all of our classes. This is stuff like you'd get if you were at a big time conference.

Good luck with your decision,

Phillip

[This message has been edited by Mayqswet (edited 12-10-2000).]

 

[Nanook]

AZMom brings up a good point. (That's a cool name, by the way).

Trust *is* earned, and a good student (which I am) who is good with people (I would like to think I am), would probably get decent opportunities. I have also heard from a few people at more traditional med schools who are really dissatisfied with their clinicals (anyone read "Heart Failure" by Michael Gregory?).

By the way, I have been accepted at AZCOM, and I sent in my deposit. I turned down CCOM (although I liked that school as well), and an interview from KCOM (mainly b/c I don't want to have to move the 2nd two years--I have a family). One of the things I discovered in interviewing around is that the overall environment of the school is much more important to me than school prestige/reputation. Hopefully this attitude will not hurt me when it comes time to look for a job 🙂 .