Many problems at Western University of Health Sciences Osteopathic COMP Pomona

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Reading this thread just makes me laugh. :laugh:
You think you're the guinea pigs huh? Try being in the first class at the NEW campus. We had hiccups, you've got usual medical school woes. We like it up here... mostly. Our professors stay in anatomy lab until 2 am on weekends to teach us, we get assigned "free" tutors for any subject the day we request it (nothing in medical school is free). Lots of parking, helpful faculty and staff, and overall an excellent education... which is what I'm paying for... not the parking. Once you get into systems, you'll appreciate the curriculum more.

Some of us joke that we should be paying tuition to wikipedia and youtube. It's not unique to COMP to need to look something up once in a while. I've heard it from several MD and DO students from all over the country.

I'm also a second year at Western COMP. As potentially one of your future patients- suck it up. There's a lot of blaming and entitlement among medical students. Take some personal responsibility for your circumstances. I'm sorry you're struggling- it will get better. Maybe you should do the campus exchange and get some fresh Oregonian air? Meet some of our super stellar staff? We have a ping pong table.

Any pre-meds thinking of applying feel free to PM me.
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I'm also a second-year at COMP-NW and I agree with much of what the original poster said.

The reality of graduate education, especially medical school, and especially DO school, is that it is at times, a complete cluster. All schools have their own special flavor of BS. The most important thing to do is figure out who's BS you can put up with for 4 years. That's why I like threads like this because it really lets the dirty laundry out. Some people seem a little too nervous about letting that happen and I'm not too sure why.

Anyhow, the only other "problem" with Western is the bureaucracy. This does seem like a category Western is the leader of, at least after the fall of the Soviet Union. If forms, forms, and forms to get forms drive you nuts, Western (esp the CA campus) might not be the place for you. I know that I would have hated it down in Pomona.

I think pre-meds interested in any school should PM posters that have said they attend that school and try and get a more honest POV. A lot more helpful than just reading a bunch of pre-meds weigh in on the subject.
 
tkim said:
I have a feeling that I could have stomached four years in dreary Erie and saved about $60K. That would have been super cool.
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I am happy to say that Erie isn't TOO dreary. I was VERY surprised, this area is actually quite gorgeous ans spring/summer/fall are great.

Winter...sucks. :laugh:
 
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nads1219 said:
Reading this thread just makes me laugh. :laugh:
You think you're the guinea pigs huh? Try being in the first class at the NEW campus. We had hiccups, you've got usual medical school woes. We like it up here... mostly. Our professors stay in anatomy lab until 2 am on weekends to teach us, we get assigned "free" tutors for any subject the day we request it (nothing in medical school is free). Lots of parking, helpful faculty and staff, and overall an excellent education... which is what I'm paying for... not the parking. Once you get into systems, you'll appreciate the curriculum more.

Some of us joke that we should be paying tuition to wikipedia and youtube. It's not unique to COMP to need to look something up once in a while. I've heard it from several MD and DO students from all over the country.

I'm also a second year at Western COMP. As potentially one of your future patients- suck it up. There's a lot of blaming and entitlement among medical students. Take some personal responsibility for your circumstances. I'm sorry you're struggling- it will get better. Maybe you should do the campus exchange and get some fresh Oregonian air? Meet some of our super stellar staff? We have a ping pong table.

Any pre-meds thinking of applying feel free to PM me.
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:laugh: We have some too , but they are ghetto
 
Thanks for the update. YES, every school has its ups and downs, advantages and disadvantages. Hopefully your school gets better and that everyone applying finds the right school for them.

Thanks for making this point :)
 
tkim said:
I have a feeling that I could have stomached four years in dreary Erie and saved about $60K. That would have been super cool.

But price aside, I got to where I wanted to go, and Western was the vehicle.
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I don't think I could and I'm from Pennsylvania. Different people have different things in what they want in school. Quality of life was important for me, I spent a lot of time in cornfields in the area I grew up, and knew I wanted a more urban experience. As I said before, essentially with western the leaning is basically online anyways, so you could go with any medical school if you're looking for cheaper....but there is no other school where you can skip class, go snowboarding till noon, go home eat lunch and go catch high tide in the afternoon. That is quality of life. Y'all can take your cheaper education, I think the extra 60k I spent was worth it in location alone.

And I am in no way sticking up for the school.
 
nads1219 said:
Reading this thread just makes me laugh. :laugh:
You think you're the guinea pigs huh? Try being in the first class at the NEW campus. We had hiccups, you've got usual medical school woes. We like it up here... mostly. Our professors stay in anatomy lab until 2 am on weekends to teach us, we get assigned "free" tutors for any subject the day we request it (nothing in medical school is free). Lots of parking, helpful faculty and staff, and overall an excellent education... which is what I'm paying for... not the parking. Once you get into systems, you'll appreciate the curriculum more.

Some of us joke that we should be paying tuition to wikipedia and youtube. It's not unique to COMP to need to look something up once in a while. I've heard it from several MD and DO students from all over the country.

I'm also a second year at Western COMP. As potentially one of your future patients- suck it up. There's a lot of blaming and entitlement among medical students. Take some personal responsibility for your circumstances. I'm sorry you're struggling- it will get better. Maybe you should do the campus exchange and get some fresh Oregonian air? Meet some of our super stellar staff? We have a ping pong table.

Any pre-meds thinking of applying feel free to PM me.
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Couldn't agree with this post more. Med school ,DO or MD ,will be tough and some people will be kicked out. I know a distant relative who was kicked out of USC. This poster will likely be the troublemaker in residency....if he or she makes it there. There is a unspoken code in medicine of never complaining.....troublemakers rarely land good residency spots/jobs because their rep. follows them everywhere. Keep working hard....or sleep less... just pass.... and stop the B.S. complaining. Khanh Pham, D.O. Western U class of 2002. Oh by the way.... Life is great on the otherside..(as a board certified attending) :)

No regrets !!!
 
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superfan56 said:
I'll probably be eating my words then....
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Well, four years of a more 'comfortable environment' compared to 25 years of higher repayment costs. I don't know if it's worth it. I thought it was, but now I'm definitely sure it wasn't. That extra money translates into less income to use for retirement, spending power, everything.

I know there are lots of premeds who will chime in to say that they can live on $200K/yr and aggressively pay off a higher loan amount, but that $200K is a pre-tax amount, and after taxes, professional costs such as malpractice, health, dental, life and disability insurance, retirement, that number drops down fast. If you have a family and desire to buy a house, it gets pretty dismal.

A quick example: $200k/yr income, post tax is say $130K. Now, malpractice - $12k/yr, health insurance $12k/yr, dental $2k/yr, life insurance $8k/yr, disability $8k/yr.

Rough estimate is $42k/yr. You are left with about $90K/year for living costs, pay back loans, perhaps save for or buy a house, save for your kid's college.

You can contribute about $17k/yr for IRA, double that if you're married. There's not much left after day to day costs. Granted no one's starving, but the reality is that no one's raking it in, either.

So, that $60K extra will add up in the long run and make it harder to achieve financial security.
 
superfan56 said:
I don't think I could and I'm from Pennsylvania. Different people have different things in what they want in school. Quality of life was important for me, I spent a lot of time in cornfields in the area I grew up, and knew I wanted a more urban experience. As I said before, essentially with western the leaning is basically online anyways, so you could go with any medical school if you're looking for cheaper....but there is no other school where you can skip class, go snowboarding till noon, go home eat lunch and go catch high tide in the afternoon. That is quality of life. Y'all can take your cheaper education,
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Lol this makes me laugh. this does not happen unless you want to be driving or stuck in traffic all day. There are two couple hours of sane driving in la land a day.

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zoner said:
Lol this makes me laugh. this does not happen unless you want to be driving or stuck in traffic all day. There are two couple hours of sane driving in la land a day.

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what are you talking about, we did this all the time. and it's not LA beaches, it's OC beaches. and as far as LA traffic, unless you decide to live in like hermosa or venice, LA commute to Pomona is against traffic in rush hour times. I lived in LA for 3rd year and didn't once get stuck in traffic vs my classmates who commuted from the arm pit that is the IE to the more western rotation sites.
 
Wait can you explain more about this? You actually lived in la? Where in la? So is it really feasible to live in la and attend western? The thing about la traffic is thay it can pop up at any time besides the usual rush hour traffic. I noticed that there are some rotation sites in IE so how was that drive for you?

I know that being in socal is awesome but when I went and sat with some students at Western I got the general sense that they weren't really happy and bitter about the tuition cost. Whereas at ccom people also complained about the tuition but they always seem to justify it with what they were actually getting from the school.

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for didactics i lived in the IE, it's easier, but have many friends that lived in LA. I lived in k-town area for rotations and never hit traffic. only site that sucked was riverside for 3 months, which is 70 miles each way (but again, no traffic) or maybe I'd stay at a buddy's house in pomona. east of mid city - to downey, pacific, RLA, etc is like 20-30 min max in the AM.

I knew very few kids that complained about the money, we just complained how bad the school was about certain things. Also be warned here, the super happy students you see on interview day are usually just students they ask to hang around and say something positive about the school. the proper thing to do is not to "**** where you eat" because if you complain about your school, you in a sense discredit your education. Behind closed doors, those discussions happen all there time , you probably got a real glimpse of what medical students look like, not the fresh flowers they put out for interview day. but there is no student just sitting around crying about how expensive their school is, they're crying because they just failed a test, etc. did you specifically ask if they were upset about the cost of ccom vs western vs pcom vs nycom?all would be good schools imo. brand recognition in name in their states hold pretty well and they do well in allopathic and osteo matches. but then again, clinical education for all osteopathic schools pretty much blow.
 
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Whats RLA? What was the school bad at? What about arrowhead? Wasn't that far. so you had many friends that lived in la during the first two years? How did the do?

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Really? Using Western's location as a selling point? Get real, if this is a concern of yours; get your app better and go to UCSD. I was trying to think of an analogy to compare La Jolla and Pomona, but no that is indeed the example you would use such as comparing urine and ice cold beer.
 
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Who you talking to?

Can any current student comment on having to"share" professors with the Lebanon campus?

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zoner said:
Who you talking to?

Can any current student comment on having to"share" professors with the Lebanon campus?

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What is your question, exactly? Faculty are "shared" between campuses, either via a streaming lecture or faculty occasionally visiting the other campus (as in OMM). It kinda sucks but it isn't the worst part.
 
racerwad said:
What is your question, exactly? Faculty are "shared" between campuses, either via a streaming lecture or faculty occasionally visiting the other campus (as in OMM). It kinda sucks but it isn't the worst part.
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yeah, but how does that effect the ability of the professors? for examples, other schools have open door policy where you can see the professor during the business hour at any time... how does the fact that some of the professors are up in Lebannon effect their availability? Sure not everyone need to see the professors all the time, but it will be a good option to have if you are the kind of students that need to

btw, how can that not suck? having to share faculty with paying the full price tuition? why couldn't they hire more professors?
 
zoner said:
yeah, but how does that effect the ability of the professors? for examples, other schools have open door policy where you can see the professor during the business hour at any time... how does the fact that some of the professors are up in Lebannon effect their availability? Sure not everyone need to see the professors all the time, but it will be a good option to have if you are the kind of students that need to

btw, how can that not suck? having to share faculty with paying the full price tuition? why couldn't they hire more professors?
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For myself and the majority of our current first year class, it's really not that big of an issue at least with anatomy. You can always email the professors, ask them a question on the discussion board and you can even schedule a video conference call if necessary. One of the things that I really do appreciate though is the recording of lectures via echo. It makes medical school a tad bit easier to manage.
 
TheOncoDOc said:
For myself and the majority of our current first year class, it's really not that big of an issue at least with anatomy. You can always email the professors, ask them a question on the discussion board and you can even schedule a video conference call if necessary. One of the things that I really do appreciate though is the recording of lectures via echo. It makes medical school a tad bit easier to manage.
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are they recordings of the entire lectures including the prof or just the computer screenshot with the prof's voice recording?
 
I love how OP has changed the original post. "Thanks for playing along everyone" they say... Almost like a "gotcha!" As if they were trying to pull a fast one with their OP and now they're acting like it was all a gag to get a reaction and hopefully get some changes done at Western. Personally I think they just felt embarrassed at how stupid the original post was.
 
Yeah I am pretty nellie

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zoner said:
man, that's pretty fantastic. thanks! i think i will live in Venice if I get accepted here
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Dude, if you live in Barstow now Pomona is practically utopian in comparison. Moving to Venice might make your head explode.
 
but I don't live in Barstow. just trying extra hard to protect my identity

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abolt18 said:
I love how OP has changed the original post. "Thanks for playing along everyone" they say... Almost like a "gotcha!" As if they were trying to pull a fast one with their OP and now they're acting like it was all a gag to get a reaction and hopefully get some changes done at Western. Personally I think they just felt embarrassed at how stupid the original post was.
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LOL.

I like how they've painted their little online tantum as a calculated move that is now going to make big changes at WesternU.

OP, that's cute you think people care about your whinefest so much.
 
HM3 said:
Really? Using Western's location as a selling point? Get real, if this is a concern of yours; get your app better and go to UCSD. I was trying to think of an analogy to compare La Jolla and Pomona, but no that is indeed the example you would use such as comparing urine and ice cold beer.
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Pomona sucks but I don't think San Diego is the utopia people make it out to be..pretty boring IMO
 
anyone know if this school has robot simulators? i know they do for their dental students, but not sure about for DO
 
zoner said:
Guess not. Like harvey that has heartbeats and respond to drugs and what not

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So you're basing your school on a robot dummy that constricts it pupils? Have fun when someone codes and you're response is "the robot survived!!"

The only practice is the real thing man. Tube a dummy all you want, it will never replace the real thing. Same with strting a line, unless the dummy squirts blood all up on you, your real world training will always be drastically different.
 
just wondering because I thought those were neat. Also the fact thay a school is willing to spend a big bucks on those machines mean that they really care about their do students?

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zoner said:
...Also the fact thay a school is willing to spend a big bucks on those machines mean that they really care about their do students?

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Hahaha, that's not it at all. Keep in mind, they're spending your future tuition dollars to buy these at ~$45k per mannikin. They're not cheap and their utility is limited. Look for a school that uses a lot of human actors instead of simulators. It's more better, I promise.
 
Yes, we have a simulator. We used it once, and that was more of an orientation. Instead we learn how to do our exams on standardized patients (trained actors).
 
Siggy said:
Yes, we have a simulator. We used it once, and that was more of an orientation. Instead we learn how to do our exams on standardized patients (trained actors).
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But they don't react to medication and yoy can't do surgeries on them

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zoner said:
But they don't react to medication and yoy can't do surgeries on them

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I don't think you can practice surgeries on simulators seeing as how each simulator is exceptionally expensive. The benefit of having simulators is that they can be programmed to have specific symptoms that actors/actresses cannot simulate.

Actors and actresses are great for practicing doctoring skills and basic diagnostic tests, but not for complications with more complicated symptoms.
 
zoner said:
But they don't react to medication and yoy can't do surgeries on them

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Gotta learn the basics first. You're neglecting the use of SPs to develop your medical history and physical exam skills - which is critical even for surgeons.

Simulators have their use, but it's not something that I see being vital for M1-M2. M3 starts getting useful, but still - I can do intubations on dummies all I want, but having the patient inducted in OR13 waiting for me to advance my blade with my attending looking over me is a totally different experience.

We have surgery simulators, though they have their limitations. Another option would be for the residents to practice on the many cadavers we have.
 
zoner said:
But they don't react to medication and yoy can't do surgeries on them

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you talk about surgery too much...have you ever been in an operating room mr. future "surgeon"?
 
superfan56 said:
The only practice is the real thing man. Tube a dummy all you want, it will never replace the real thing. Same with strting a line, unless the dummy squirts blood all up on you, your real world training will always be drastically different.
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Obviously, the real thing is the best practice/experience, but gaining the fundamental knowledge through SimMan definitely helps. We have residents from our hospital who have to train several times per week on the robots to keep up with their skills, so when something actually does happen they can repeat the process like it's second nature. Same thing applies to medical students. I know you aren't saying that the robots are useless, but they have more use for medical students than you are making it sound.

Plus, three of the DO schools I interviewed at didn't have them which is unfortunate. You will learn the skills eventually, but it's nice to have some of that stuff out of the way once you start clinicals.
 
Have a family member who has a large surgery center... So s/he wants me to join in the family biz. So just trying to keep my option open

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But it's not just about what you can learn from them. Its also nice to know that the school cares enough about their do students thay they are willing to invest in the latest equipment and technology. I rather see more of those gadgets for do students than for dental or opt students which is what I saw at certain schools

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zoner said:
But it's not just about what you can learn from them. Its also nice to know that the school cares enough about their do students thay they are willing to invest in the latest equipment and technology. I rather see more of those gadgets for do students than for dental or opt students which is what I saw at certain schools

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Not every school chooses to spend the money on technology. Maybe some schools feel the money is put to better use by having more exposure to standardized patients or many other things. I don't think a direct correlation can be drawn between the amount of money spent on state of the art equipment and how much the school cares about the students' success.
 
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