Hi Everyone!
I've been extremely lucky to have a few acceptances this cycle (still can't believe it), and I really want to start narrowing down my choice before I have to submit my deposit. For some background - I'm a non-trad student and a clinic manager at a major academic center in Chicago, so I have a pretty good understanding of how medicine functions in this setting (as well as smaller clinics/specialities from my previous job). From this, I'm pretty focused on entering IM/an IM speciality but am very open to anything non-surgical. My personal goals for practice are to hopefully come back to my home city for residency at some type of academic center/large community center - this would be ideal for me as I've had exposure to this setting (and all of the positives and negatives that come along with it) and see myself enjoying this the most (as crazy as that sounds!!!) Of course, I know that this is far in advance, things change, and that nothing is guaranteed in this process.
Two of my major decision factors for schools would be a two-pass curriculum and opportunity to potentially enter wards-based rotations for specific clinicals (IM, peds, for example - I understand that most DO rotations are preceptor-based, but I'd like to go somewhere where wards-based rotations are at least an option). Research is also very important to me and I would like to include this as a medical student if possible. These are my current options:
RVU: Really impressed with their curriculum and board scores, and it's clear that their main goal is to set up students for successful board performance. I also really enjoyed the students and the faculty was incredible. My hesitations would be the area (it's pretty sparse and realistically far from Denver, can't really see myself enjoying it) and also the quality of clinical rotations (I've anecdotally heard that their rotation options are not very strong in terms of residency preparation, and this is concerning for me given my personal goals).
Nova: I really, really loved the area and can see myself being happy living there. I do like that it's part of a larger institution and that they're currently revamping the curriculum to be a modified 2-pass system while heavily considering student input. Some of the options for their clinical rotations seem amazing in the Miami/Broward area (definitely one of the largest attraction factors for me). Red flags are obviously the recent board scores and the apparent disorganization around the curriculum revamp - I don't necessarily like the idea of being a guinea pig to measure the success of the program's changes. Virtual anatomy is also extremely strange to me (although I'm aware that cadavers exist for use), and I'm not very fond of their OMM emphasis.
KCU: My favorite overall. I really appreciate the curriculum structure (as it would benefit my learning style) and also liked the students/faculty there a lot. I loved that the school was an actual campus (instead of everything being in one building) and liked that the new simulation center would be up and running next year. I also liked KC as a city and it's pretty close to home which is nice. I love that the school has a solid reputation and strong match list year after year, and that it also places people in Chicago for residency pretty regularly. I don't really know a lot about their clinical education, so any insight is appreciated.
Overall, I know that each school will present with challenges and that most of my success in medical school will be self-determined, but I do want to make the wisest choice on where I'll have the best chance at thriving and reaching my goals. Thank you for reading this novel of a post and I appreciate any input!
