Kcumb vs western comp

[jzeidenb]

I was hoping to get some feedback from some people who have spent time at both schools As I have narrowed my choices to 2.


From what I've gathered from my interviews and other sources, this is what I have so far ( I'm leaving out details bc I'm typing on my phone and its slow.


Location: Kansas city vs Pomona. Neither areas are paradise but western obviously wins as Pomona is surrounded by many nice towns which students commute from. The ct dorm at kcumb I thought was an outstanding RES option for students, somthing western doesn't have. But year round warm weather and the closeness of la and the nice mall at rancho cucumonga def give comp the edge

curriculum: I'm not sure what to say here, they seem pretty similar, both systems based, both train using standardized patients. Kcumb wins here I think because of how nice their facilities are. The patient simulators are real useful and everything just has a newer more advanced feel to it. Westerns omt lab had old benches and TVs, kcumb had new flat panel hdtvs. Both anatomy labs recycled air fast so the smell is fine, westerns benches for cadavars seemed old as well.

Campus: kcumb's campus was small but gorgeous, almost everything looked and felt new. Westerns campus definatrly felt older but in no way did I feel it was to thepoint that id be cncerned about it. Both campuses have security, westerns is better but both are in areas you do not want to hang out at night.

Student life: the reason why I am considering these two and not the others I interviewed at was because of how positive the students i talked to in person were about their school. I did not get the same impression from the othelf random students from my other interviews and that raised some concerns. I think both these schools allow students to have a social life along with their studies. I think there is still enough to do in I'd even though it is not southern Cali.

Will the school be my best chance to match:
this is what I am having the most trouble answering.i haven't found a solid match list for either school. I don't even know if there is a match list yet for comp students snce the cirriculum revamp. I want to get into either of two very competitive residencies so it is important to me tovere that other students before me are getting to these places as well.


Any advice is much appriciated I will add more if I think of anything and sorry for the spelling this post was done on a cell phone

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[jzeidenb]

no one?

 

[imari]

It's totally a personal decision, nobody can tell you which school is better for you.

As for match lists, here is an older thread with match lists up until 2005. I found that with a basic search.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=175626

 

[jzeidenb]

thanks, im aware of those match lists, i was hoping to find 2006 from each school but i guess its not available and kcumb isnt even on there

 

[Rotinaj]

KCUMB borders some real bad neighboorhoods, but it has a solid rep as a school. I can speak for Kansas City when I say that it's cheap to live here. There's not much to do for fun here, but that's probably a good thing because you'll be up to your ass in medschool . KCUMB is actually my first choice because it's close to where I live and DO sounds like a better fit for me.

 

[jzeidenb]

yeah the location of the school at kcumb is probably the only thing that scares me about them. I would probably live in CT my first year and get an apartment for the next somewhere maybe 20 min away from that area. I definately would to my rotations out of KC so i think id be able to put up with the area for 2 yrs.

is there really nothing to do there?

 

[Rotinaj]

Our bad neighboorhoods aren't really that bad though. Every city has a part of town where people get shot, but on the rare occasion someone get's shot, it's usually drug dealers offing each other. As a civilian you're not a target, and bad stuff usually happens on the street after midnight. Also people here are spoiled rotten, they think that because they see a few black people walking down the sidewalk that this place is South Central. Kelsey Smith was abducted and killed in one of the nicest parts of KC (a city with a very low crime rate already) and no one's scared to live in Overland Park. Literally 5 minutes away from KCUMB are some pretty nice neighboorhoods to live in, so don't let the neighborhood scare you too much.

 

[DiverDoc]

Our bad neighboorhoods aren't really that bad though. Every city has a part of town where people get shot, but on the rare occasion someone get's shot, it's usually drug dealers offing each other. As a civilian you're not a target, and bad stuff usually happens on the street after midnight. Also people here are spoiled rotten, they think that because they see a few black people walking down the sidewalk that this place is South Central. Kelsey Smith was abducted and killed in one of the nicest parts of KC (a city with a very low crime rate already) and no one's scared to live in Overland Park. Literally 5 minutes away from KCUMB are some pretty nice neighboorhoods to live in, so don't let the neighborhood scare you too much.

Being from the area, I agree with this. Crime is crime, it can happen ANYWHERE, the abduction in broad daylight in a very nice neighborhood (overland park) is a prime example. Im not gonna be ignorant and say that I would want to go for a stroll after sunset on Independence Ave, but KCUMB has 24 hour security, so if your studying after dark at the school, you have the option to call secruity and get escorted to your car. While other schools might not offer that.

 

[t-funk]

I loved my day at KCUMB. I really liked the system based integrated curriculum, spirituality in medicine and cultural competancy focus of the school, it seemed like they worked really hard to get people to the places they wanted to be for rotations, the free tutoring, and all of the people were so nice. The people who interviewed me seemed to be OK with me being the person I am and not saying and doing the 'right' things. The girl I stayed with the night before was one of the nicest people I have met. I felt like the people who spoke that day were very competant and intelligent. The secondary almost seemed to be personally written to me and very non-trad friendly. I really like the thought of Monday quizzes since I do most of my studying on weekends and not having to formally do Biochem over again. I can stay in KC for all 4 years. I know there's a ton more I can't think of right now.

If the tuition was 6-8000/year lower and the school wasn't in such a large scary city and we got a free laptop , I'd have already paid my deposit and wthdrawn from all the other schools. KCUMB was actually added to my school list at the last moment before submitting bc I don't like KC, but became my favorite school other than the aforementioned factors after interviewing.

I know I haven't been to Comp so I can't say much about it but KCUMB seems pretty awesome to me!!

 

[imari]

I don't know about what sort of residencies are in Kansas, but in general there are many good residencies in California. If your main objective is to get into a competitive residency, the best thing you can do is do rotations at those hospitals as a 4th year & get your name known. In that case, going to COMP would put you at an advantage, being in close proximity to so many good rotation/residency sites.

 

[spicedmanna]

I don't know about what sort of residencies are in Kansas, but in general there are many good residencies in California. If your main objective is to get into a competitive residency, the best thing you can do is do rotations at those hospitals as a 4th year & get your name known. In that case, going to COMP would put you at an advantage, being in close proximity to so many good rotation/residency sites.

Perhaps. However, there is more than one way to obtain good residencies. For example, it is entirely possible to go to school in MO and do an elective rotation in either 3rd or 4th year at the place where you want to match. This also gets your name out. Furthermore, there are good residencies in a lot of places, not just CA. It also depends on what you want to do. KCUMB is pretty well-known in the residency circles. The matchlist is pretty good. I'm told that we have a 90+ % first-choice matchlist, with a high degree of specialization.

Anyway, choosing a school is tough. You are going by initial impressions, which can be deceiving. You have to understand that many schools have their sales pitch down. Caveat emptor. Talk to lots of people and get varying opinions. Then, at the end, you just have to trust your gut.

 

[jzeidenb]

well if it helps my top interests are oncology and opthalmology because i would love to work in treating cancer, and i work for an ophthalmologist now and i love it.

 

[spicedmanna]

well if it helps my top interests are oncology and opthalmology because i would love to work in treating cancer, and i work for an ophthalmologist now and i love it.

That wouldn't be a point of differentiation between these two schools, I don't think. Opth is tough anywhere you'd choose to attend and oncology is a fellowship on top of an IM residency. Also, keep in mind that many people change their field preference numerous times during medical school. I can't speak to COMP, but for whatever it's worth, at KCUMB, the trend is opposite that of the DO norm, with respect to specialization. Nevertheless, I think residency really depends more on the individual...

Both are good schools and will probably get you want you want. You just have to "try on" attending there in your mind and see where you'd likely feel better. I tell you one thing, LA traffic really bites. You don't want to live in Pomona (it's effectively dead there), but then you'd have to commute a bit. I don't know how true this is, but I heard that a significant number of folks don't attend lectures regularly. Also, I heard there was some trouble with boards in the recent past at COMP, which was talked about pretty openly at my interview. They are revising the curriculum to handle it. In favor of COMP, it has other professional schools there, so it does have some variety. It gets old talking to med students every hour of every day. And, I guess, COMP is in SoCal, so if you wanted to drive a bit, you could be around the things that SoCal has to offer (the Inland Empire isn't that fun, but other surrounding areas are). However, med school is tough and you won't have too much time to enjoy things anyway.

In MO, you get all seasons, and well, you know SoCal weather. The summer is pretty hot and the winter is pretty cold in MO. However, I'm a big fan of Fall and I like see the change of seasons. I'm enjoying Fall in MO right now (sort of...if you call looking through the window at the leaves falling as I study, "enjoying fall").

 

[jzeidenb]

im in rochester, ny right now (and for each of the last 4 winters) so i think i can handle the kcumb winter lol.

the one thing i DO like about KCUMB is that i can design my 3rd and 4th yrs at places i chose to go to. I like that I can go to florida or closer to home in NY and really only have to spend 2 yrs in Kansas city, a place im honestly not thrilled about. Pluis those patient simulators are damn cool.

 

[spicedmanna]

im in rochester, ny right now (and for each of the last 4 winters) so i think i can handle the kcumb winter lol.

the one thing i DO like about KCUMB is that i can design my 3rd and 4th yrs at places i chose to go to. I like that I can go to florida or closer to home in NY and really only have to spend 2 yrs in Kansas city, a place im honestly not thrilled about. Pluis those patient simulators are damn cool.

Yeah, the CCC and simulators are pretty cool.

Rotations are assigned by lottery. I think you get to list top choices, but I think then it's lottery based on those choices. I don't really have a complete picture of how it all works.

KC is okay. I don't have any issue with it. I don't get out enough to really care where I am living. Honestly, I think I know the anatomy lab better than KC. I could be living in the Sahara desert and it wouldn't matter.

 

[imari]

Perhaps. However, there is more than one way to obtain good residencies. For example, it is entirely possible to go to school in MO and do an elective rotation in either 3rd or 4th year at the place where you want to match. This also gets your name out. Furthermore, there are good residencies in a lot of places, not just CA.

I don't disagree, I wasn't trying to make a comment about the quality of education in KS. I'm sorry if it came off like that. It's just that have a high concentration of good residencies in CA, so geographically it's easier to rotate at all kinds of different residency sites. I'm sure that the schools are equally good, I think a lot of it just comes down to where you want to spend 4 years of your life.

 

[spicedmanna]

I don't disagree, I wasn't trying to make a comment about the quality of education in KS. I'm sorry if it came off like that. It's just that have a high concentration of good residencies in CA, so geographically it's easier to rotate at all kinds of different residency sites.

Yeah, that's probably the case. I'm thinking that proximity does help, especially if you intend to stay in CA for residency. However, the point I was attempting to make, but probably wasn't doing a great job at, was that KCUMB has consortium rotation sites in many areas, not just KS and MO, and that you can do electives outside the consortium. For example, there is a rotation site in FL, one in NJ, some in NY, etc. That could be good, depending on what is desired.

I'm sure that the schools are equally good, I think a lot of it just comes down to where you want to spend 4 years of your life.

I agree, mostly. I think strictly speaking, it's more like 2 years of your life, because rotations could potentially take you away from your school area, but I think I understand what you are saying. I don't know how COMP's rotations work. Are most of the rotation sites in CA? If so, then attending there could certainly help with obtaining rotations and residencies in that region, and if staying in CA was a goal, then it would make sense to attend there.

 

[Rotinaj]

So you train for 2 years at KCUMB and then you start clinical rotations at another teaching hospital? How does that system work?

 

[spicedmanna]

So you train for 2 years at KCUMB and then you start clinical rotations at another teaching hospital? How does that system work?

The pretty much the same as it works in most other osteopathic medical schools, most of which do not have teaching hospitals attached to them. There is a consortium of core rotation sites, which can be in a variety of locations, that have affiliations with the schools.

At KCUMB, you pick your top choices; which one you get is based on a lottery.

 

[StringerBell]

I don't know how COMP's rotations work. Are most of the rotation sites in CA? If so, then attending there could certainly help with obtaining rotations and residencies in that region, and if staying in CA was a goal, then it would make sense to attend there.

COMP's rotations are mostly in Southern California, yes. Although, much like any other school, if you want to do your 4th year rotations elsewhere, you have to find them on your own, though the school will do what it can to help you out with that.

The only other consideration about COMP's rotations is that they have what they call the "Northwest Track" program, in which students are placed in rotation sites in Oregon and Washington. That is, however, only if you apply to that program when applying to COMP.

 

[spicedmanna]

COMP's rotations are mostly in Southern California, yes. Although, much like any other school, if you want to do your 4th year rotations elsewhere, you have to find them on your own, though the school will do what it can to help you out with that.

The only other consideration about COMP's rotations is that they have what they call the "Northwest Track" program, in which students are placed in rotation sites in Oregon and Washington. That is, however, only if you apply to that program when applying to COMP.

Ah, I see. Thanks for the edification, SB. BTW, good hearing from you... hope all is well.