Need to decide between these three. Any insights would be great!! Thanks 
KCOM vs Western vs TouroNV
- Thread starter DrMike89
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I've heard Western is almost as bad as LECOM as far as being a nanny state. It's definitely older and more established than Touro-NV, although the PBL thing is a downer. I'm super stoked to go to Henderson, personally.
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KCOM. No question
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I would tell you any place but KCOM because its my only option, and I'm on the waitlist there and every person that withdraws is a chance for me to get in. 🙂
Ok...but seriously, this is a very personal decision. You need to ask yourself where you want to live, for example. Henderson is a very different environment than Kirksville. I know some posters don't like the PBL at Western, but I have heard great things about that approach.
In the end, school is what you make of it. If you study hard, you'll do well no matter where you go. If you slack off, you'll do poorly no matter where you go.
Another important thing to consider is proximity to family. If one of these schools is closer to home, that might be nice for the weekends when you just need to get away.
Good luck in your choice. Any school you choose it will be an excellent opportunity.
Ok...but seriously, this is a very personal decision. You need to ask yourself where you want to live, for example. Henderson is a very different environment than Kirksville. I know some posters don't like the PBL at Western, but I have heard great things about that approach.
In the end, school is what you make of it. If you study hard, you'll do well no matter where you go. If you slack off, you'll do poorly no matter where you go.
Another important thing to consider is proximity to family. If one of these schools is closer to home, that might be nice for the weekends when you just need to get away.
Good luck in your choice. Any school you choose it will be an excellent opportunity.
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If you have questions regarding Western, PM me and I will direct them toward a close friend who just graduated from Western. Overall, as cougar just observed wherever you go school is what you make of it. Other than that, decide based on those factors that influence you personally and where you feel was the best match.
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I'm not sure exactly what you mean about the nanny state, but as far as the rumors of us having a dress code at Western - absolutely not true unless you are going to an ECM standardized patient encounter (professional dress) or OMM lab (athletic shorts/shirt). I wear jeans and a t-shirt pretty much every day I go to school. Right now I'm in my pajamas at home pretending to study neuro.
Also, we have case based learning which is sort of a PBL permutation. Our anatomy/biochem/immuno courses are all conventional lecture style then we do the systems in the case based format (except for neuro, which is conventional lecture style). How it works is we get cases to work on in small groups and professors come by and see if we have any questions, then we meet in large groups and a professor will discuss the cases in detail. We also have workshops where professors will lecture on the basics of whatever system we are stuying.
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I think the case based learning is a great style to learn from. You get a chance to learn while applying. One of the hardest transitions in any field is from theory to application. Learning by application in the first place increases your chance of translation in my opinion. As described above, I think that's a big plus for any school using PBL or CBL. I took a non-science class that was designed this way and another that was traditional lecture. I think the cases really stimulated learning far more effectively.
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You remember the old Reeses slogan?
Well there's no right way to pick a school. Everyone has their own preferences.
I didn't apply to Touro because of some things I heard, Western because it was in Cali (I did get accepted to the Oregon branch), and I am most likely going to KCOM now.
Picked KCOM due to its reputation, revised curriculum, technology, environment, and the funny feeling in my stomach when I interviewed there - could have been due to the weird Mongolian food I ate the night before though...
Make a chart of pros and cons and good luck mate 🙂
Well there's no right way to pick a school. Everyone has their own preferences.
I didn't apply to Touro because of some things I heard, Western because it was in Cali (I did get accepted to the Oregon branch), and I am most likely going to KCOM now.
Picked KCOM due to its reputation, revised curriculum, technology, environment, and the funny feeling in my stomach when I interviewed there - could have been due to the weird Mongolian food I ate the night before though...
Make a chart of pros and cons and good luck mate 🙂
I interviewed at Western and TouroNV. Though I haven't been to KCOM nor did I apply, the DO I shadowed went to KCOM and always had tons of KCOM students coming through during the times I was shadowing (so I met a bunch of them). I won't have as much to say about curriculum at KCOM, but it seems other people have already chimed in on that. Here are some pros/cons that hopefully help a bit.
Western-
Pros: great program/case based learning, emphasis on patient communication, lots of extracurricular and community opportunities, good connections for rotations, amazing weather and located pretty close to some great areas to live.
Cons: streaming lectures from lebanon campus (I personally don't really like this), high cost of living
TouroNV-
Pros- wonderful sense of community, rotations/residency connections are pretty local, weather is good for most of the year, cost of living low
Cons- school space felt small (library is tiny), learning is all lecture based, less established so any opportunities for community involvement, etc need to be pioneered by students (this may also be a pro depending on what you like)
KCOM (again, what I know is limited)
Pros- students are really nice, motivated, and willing to help each other, it is the original DO school and therefore the most well established
Cons- Kirksville is in the middle of NOwhere. Literally, students have said that the only store is a Walmart. It seems a bit cut off/inconvenient.
I know a lot of people will argue that location and additional opportunities don't matter because when you're in medical school, all you do is study/become a hermit yaddah yaddah. But it matters to me because balance is important and I think, even if I do study most of the time, I'd be much happier in a city with lots of things to do than in one with hardly anything to do. That's just personal preference.
Western-
Pros: great program/case based learning, emphasis on patient communication, lots of extracurricular and community opportunities, good connections for rotations, amazing weather and located pretty close to some great areas to live.
Cons: streaming lectures from lebanon campus (I personally don't really like this), high cost of living
TouroNV-
Pros- wonderful sense of community, rotations/residency connections are pretty local, weather is good for most of the year, cost of living low
Cons- school space felt small (library is tiny), learning is all lecture based, less established so any opportunities for community involvement, etc need to be pioneered by students (this may also be a pro depending on what you like)
KCOM (again, what I know is limited)
Pros- students are really nice, motivated, and willing to help each other, it is the original DO school and therefore the most well established
Cons- Kirksville is in the middle of NOwhere. Literally, students have said that the only store is a Walmart. It seems a bit cut off/inconvenient.
I know a lot of people will argue that location and additional opportunities don't matter because when you're in medical school, all you do is study/become a hermit yaddah yaddah. But it matters to me because balance is important and I think, even if I do study most of the time, I'd be much happier in a city with lots of things to do than in one with hardly anything to do. That's just personal preference.
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There is a small TBL/PBL component
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Always shoot for the older, established programs, in your list, KCOM. The reason is they've weeded out programs and teachers that are ineffective. I recommend looking at Kansas City (I'm an alumnus) and Des Moines since you're willing to look at the Midwest. At least in your little time off you'll have things to do. KC is a fantastic program.
