swaamedic,
DO NOT PANIC...KCOM is alive and well. Remember, don't believe everything you read.
As for the information posted on KCOM Watch, Wifty is right, it all seems a bit convenient to have it be anonymous doesn't it. There is more to the creation of that website and all the alleged problems that occured that than you can possibly imagine, and trying to simplify it to a SDN post would be impossible. I am currently a second year student and my class came to KCOM during the closure of the debate. I am here to say that the class of 2003, who were on site and in the middle of their first year when most of the change happened, did extraordinarily well on their boards. Their education in the classroom and the clinics hasn't suffered. Further, on a personal note, the class of 2004, though having a slightly higher than avg. attrition rate, has fared well (we have yet to meet the boards), however, none of my class feels as if we have suffered or that we have gaping holes in our academics. Instead, we think we are in class too much!! The majority of the clinical faculty who left returned, and, more important, KCOM has aquired a number of other clinicians to further augment our education.
Swaamedic, I actually envy you. You are going to be coming to KCOM at a time of truly dynamic change. We have a new Dean of Academics who is bringing with him a vision of the future for KCOM that will only improve the school and your educational experience. The Dean for years 1 and 2 and the Dean for years 3 and 4 are aggressive, pro-student, and share Dean Osborn's vision for KCOM. We are building a new Library, we have the only two NIH grants ever given to study the efficacy of Osteopathic Manipulation, an outstanding basic science faculty, great clinicians, our OPTIK sites continue to grow, and we have residents in virtually every area of medicine all over the country. KCOM is far from dying, instead we are in the midst of exciting change.
With all this good, however, you'll find problems once you get here, because no place is perfect. And when you do find a problem; I challenge to try to change it for the better with professionalism, courtesy, and help from your new colleagues.
Swaamedic, I have no regrets in my decision to attend KCOM and I can hope that you too have no regrets. If you have any questions please feel free to let me know either here on this post or send me another post privately.
Sincerely,
Sweaty Paul
MS-II KCOM