Midwestern University Arizona (AZCOM) Discussion Thread 2012 - 2013

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Members do not see this ad.
zloy88 said:
Good luck you two! If you have time after would you mined sharing how it went, the process, questions they asked, ect? Gettin' a bit nervous for mine on Friday :scared:lol
Click to expand...

dang, does this school schedule interviews almost every single day of the week? From this thread, people have interviews on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Wish more schools were like this.
 
zloy88 said:
Good luck you two! If you have time after would you mined sharing how it went, the process, questions they asked, ect? Gettin' a bit nervous for mine on Friday :scared:lol
Click to expand...

You got it
 
So, I have some time waiting for my flight to review today's interview experience at AZCOM. I'll give my pros and cons of my impression of the school.

PROS:
In short, I was REALLY impressed. The facilities were absolutely amazing. They had beautiful looking areas of the campus designated for everything you could think of, from a huge basketball gym to music room to beautiful surgical, patient exam rooms and OMM labs. Also, the faculty seemed really approachable, with an open-door policy all of the time. I really liked that. The USMLE and COMLEX pass rates were around 95% for both which was pretty impressive. It just seemed like it had a lot going for it that genuinely wowed me.

CONS:
The negative stuff I've heard about clinical rotations on here was brought up, but kind of danced around instead of addressed. It still worries me. Also, the class is only 1/3 female, traditionally. I would prefer it be closer to 50:50. I think it limits the diversity of the class. That's just my opinion though. Lastly, and this was specific to today, I DIDN'T GET TO MEET ANY DO STUDENTS! They all had an anatomy exam today so we didn't get to see the anatomy lab either. This was really disappointing to me because it would have helped me see how well I meshed with the students there.


As for the interview, I felt it was really conversational and actually had a great time with it. Although, I had about 15-20 questions in that 20-25 minutes. Also, the questions were NOT very easy, in retrospect. I was less stressed because I just spoke from my experience/gut, so the difficulty of the questions didn't even register with me until I looked back on them and said WOW, that was pretty tough. I do not think this is an interview you can prepare for. I didn't even get asked the Big 3! PM me if you want more info, but every interview seemed very different. GOOD LUCK!
 
ModernAlchemist said:
So, I have some time waiting for my flight to review today's interview experience at AZCOM. I'll give my pros and cons of my impression of the school.

PROS:
In short, I was REALLY impressed. The facilities were absolutely amazing. They had beautiful looking areas of the campus designated for everything you could think of, from a huge basketball gym to music room to beautiful surgical, patient exam rooms and OMM labs. Also, the faculty seemed really approachable, with an open-door policy all of the time. I really liked that. The USMLE and COMLEX pass rates were around 95% for both which was pretty impressive. It just seemed like it had a lot going for it that genuinely wowed me.

CONS:
The negative stuff I've heard about clinical rotations on here was brought up, but kind of danced around instead of addressed. It still worries me. Also, the class is only 1/3 female, traditionally. I would prefer it be closer to 50:50. I think it limits the diversity of the class. That's just my opinion though. Lastly, and this was specific to today, I DIDN'T GET TO MEET ANY DO STUDENTS! They all had an anatomy exam today so we didn't get to see the anatomy lab either. This was really disappointing to me because it would have helped me see how well I meshed with the students there.


As for the interview, I felt it was really conversational and actually had a great time with it. Although, I had about 15-20 questions in that 20-25 minutes. Also, the questions were NOT very easy, in retrospect. I was less stressed because I just spoke from my experience/gut, so the difficulty of the questions didn't even register with me until I looked back on them and said WOW, that was pretty tough. I do not think this is an interview you can prepare for. I didn't even get asked the Big 3! PM me if you want more info, but every interview seemed very different. GOOD LUCK!
Click to expand...

Can you give us a couple examples of the difficult questions you were asked when you get a chance? Have a safe flight!
 
futchadoc89 said:
Can you give us a couple examples of the difficult questions you were asked when you get a chance? Have a safe flight!
Click to expand...

I'd rather do that through PM for anonymity, so feel free to send me a message. I'll be boarding the flight in about 10 minutes, but I'll respond as soon as I can.
 
dudeliness said:
Oh c'mon, it couldn't have been all THAT bad! Lol
Click to expand...

Never taken anatomy before and it was a lot of information. Also, 1st anatomy test so didn't know what to expect about style of questions.
 
DrWily said:
Never taken anatomy before and it was a lot of information. Also, 1st anatomy test so didn't know what to expect about style of questions.
Click to expand...

How dya think you did?

PS
I've never taken anatomy either. So I poke fun at you now, but just wait until a year from now. I'll be singing the same tune.
 
dudeliness said:
How dya think you did?

PS
I've never taken anatomy either. So I poke fun at you now, but just wait until a year from now. I'll be singing the same tune.
Click to expand...

My friend took anatomy at a community college... it's no joke and I am dreading having to take it! (If I get accepted, that is!)
 
dudeliness said:
How dya think you did?

PS
I've never taken anatomy either. So I poke fun at you now, but just wait until a year from now. I'll be singing the same tune.
Click to expand...

I dunno, pretty bad.. 95% maybe? :laugh:

It wasn't that bad for me, I can memorize stuff easily and regurgitate it on paper. Long-term recall not so good. Anatomy is not one of those subjects you can understand and work through it in your head to arrive at the right answer. You either know it or you don't. Like today I saw one structure and I was like, I have no idea what that is. Never seen it before (I should have spent more time in lab) and I blanked.
 
DrWily said:
Never taken anatomy before and it was a lot of information. Also, 1st anatomy test so didn't know what to expect about style of questions.
Click to expand...

DrWily said:
I dunno, pretty bad.. 95% maybe? :laugh:

It wasn't that bad for me, I can memorize stuff easily and regurgitate it on paper. Long-term recall not so good. Anatomy is not one of those subjects you can understand and work through it in your head to arrive at the right answer. You either know it or you don't. Like today I saw one structure and I was like, I have no idea what that is. Never seen it before (I should have spent more time in lab) and I blanked.
Click to expand...

I got ripped a new one on the written portion of our first anatomy test. Never took anatomy in college. However, I spent a lot of time in the lab and was able to get only a few wrong on the practical, which counterbalanced the written grade quite nicely.

How long do y'all have for the practical? We have one minute per station, 50 stations. For one it took me 45 seconds to figure out what the hell I was looking at (completely forgot to look at the answer choices first before orienting myself on the cadaver). After 45 seconds I saw what looked to be the sacrum and then I noticed the gluteus maximus... so then I knew I was looking at a piece of ass, with a tag on a sacral ligament (what turned out to be the sacrotuberous ligament). I was able to narrow the choices down to the two that had "sacro-" as prefix but didn't pick the right side of the coin on that question. Oh well.

At least we both know what to expect for the second exams. I'm definitely going to have to put more time into knowing 3D orientation between structures.
 
NeuroLAX said:
I got ripped a new one on the written portion of our first anatomy test. Never took anatomy in college. However, I spent a lot of time in the lab and was able to get only a few wrong on the practical, which counterbalanced the written grade quite nicely.

How long do y'all have for the practical? We have one minute per station, 50 stations. For one it took me 45 seconds to figure out what the hell I was looking at (completely forgot to look at the answer choices first before orienting myself on the cadaver). After 45 seconds I saw what looked to be the sacrum and then I noticed the gluteus maximus... so then I knew I was looking at a piece of ass, with a tag on a sacral ligament (what turned out to be the sacrotuberous ligament). I was able to narrow the choices down to the two that had "sacro-" as prefix but didn't pick the right side of the coin on that question. Oh well.

At least we both know what to expect for the second exams. I'm definitely going to have to put more time into knowing 3D orientation between structures.
Click to expand...

80 seconds per station, Today was about 40 stations and 3 "bonus" stations. Our practical is fill in the blank. You guys have multiple-choice practical? Wat da fuq.
 
DrWily said:
80 seconds per station, Today was about 40 stations and 3 "bonus" stations. Our practical is fill in the blank. You guys have multiple-choice practical? Wat da fuq.
Click to expand...

Yup, multiple choice ftw. Do you guys have practice practicals or reviews before the practical? That helped me out a lot... the more often you see the cadavers the easier the practicals are.
 
Bonus questions? Multiple choice practicals? Are NSU and AZCOM the special-ed med schools?



jk, of course... 😀
 
NeuroLAX said:
Yup, multiple choice ftw. Do you guys have practice practicals or reviews before the practical? That helped me out a lot... the more often you see the cadavers the easier the practicals are.
Click to expand...

A practice practical was put on by the TAs over the weekend but I was out of town. Multiple-choice, I'm jelly. We are graded for spelling too.
 
DrWily said:
A practice practical was put on by the TAs over the weekend but I was out of town. Multiple-choice, I'm jelly. We are graded for spelling too.
Click to expand...

I sure hope you are. My A&P teacher at community college graded for spelling. I wrote "corina" instead of "carina" and got 0 credit. Lame.
 
We're not graded that hard lol. Three spelling errors = -1 point, and each question is worth 2 points... so it's really a non-issue
 
Ya so... I know the anatomy exam is important, but I'm pretty upset that I came all the way out there and didn't meet 1 DO student. It's a really important part of interviewing for me. I'm not saying class isn't more important. I'm saying it's an essential part of an interview day.
 
For what it's worth our histo exams are fill in the blank
 
ModernAlchemist said:
Ya so... I know the anatomy exam is important, but I'm pretty upset that I came all the way out there and didn't meet 1 DO student. It's a really important part of interviewing for me. I'm not saying class isn't more important. I'm saying it's an essential part of an interview day.
Click to expand...

Usually they have MS2s come talk with you guys during lunch. What's so important about meeting a current student to you? I know you might ask student specific questions that but you can just ask those here? There's a few of us around.
 
DrWily said:
Usually they have MS2s come talk with you guys during lunch. What's so important about meeting a current student to you? I know you might ask student specific questions that but you can just ask those here? There's a few of us around.
Click to expand...

For me, it's about getting a feeling for the type of students that go there. It's a really intangible sort of assessment, but basically I want to feel if this is an environment that meshes with my own. It's not about the content of the questions.
 
ModernAlchemist said:
For me, it's about getting a feeling for the type of students that go there. It's a really intangible sort of assessment, but basically I want to feel if this is an environment that meshes with my own. It's not about the content of the questions.
Click to expand...

We have students from all over so meeting one or two students is not a good assessment. We have all types of people here, and if you are looking for a certain group you will find it. The only times you will interact with fellow classmates are during class (which I find myself going less and less...), in Anatomy Lab, and in OMM lab. Medical school is very self-directed learning.
 
Any idea about what to say when they ask "Why AZCOM?" I have down of obvious things like accessible faculty, high COMLEX pass rate, state-of-the-art facilities, dynamic student body, etc., but I can't find many specific things on their website. Are there any special programs? They don't even talk about their facilities on the website so I can't really talk more about that.
 
virtuoso735 said:
Any idea about what to say when they ask "Why AZCOM?" I have down of obvious things like accessible faculty, high COMLEX pass rate, state-of-the-art facilities, dynamic student body, etc., but I can't find many specific things on their website. Are there any special programs? They don't even talk about their facilities on the website so I can't really talk more about that.
Click to expand...

Articulately groomed grass.

I would just say the faculty are rated well, focus on teaching vs research, and high comlex pass rate. Plus weather is decent for most of the year. 👍
 
just wanted to clarify a few things, even though i have not read any of the posts aside from the first few following my last one (aka the ones where ppl thanked me for the input; that was much appreciated btw)

1. Owing over 300k to the federal govt in student loans, BUT (1) having a DO at the end of your name, (2) the ability to perform a service that genuinely benefits society, (3) getting respect for the fact that you help others, and (4) being financially secure for the rest of your life (barring an injury that prevents you from working....but i guess theres still disability for that) are the reasons that going to AZCOM, despite its glaring flaws, is 1000x times better than what our non med-school friends do. Have you ever talked to any of your buddies from undergrad that went into law, consulting, or "business"? We are lucky to not have half of their stress/worries. And plus, i think any career outside of practicing medicine is outright boring.

2. If you go to AZCOM, you ABSOLUTELY MUST BE AT (or near) THE TOP OF THE CLASS TO GET THE BEST WARD-BASED ROTATIONS. What does "the top of the class" mean? I would say top 25% at least. I agree, preceptor rotations definitely have a couple benefits over ward-based....namely, if you're not interested in surgery or OB, why the hell would you go through hell at Banner good sam or Maricopa county for one month in those fields, clamoring for OR time when there are 20-30+ residents who want the same thing as you but are more qualified.

3. The benefit of ward-based rotations is simple....NO legit allopathic program (lets take surgery for example) will take your grade from your 4 weeks with Dr. Appleseed in Sierra Vista Rural Surgery seriously when comparing you to guys that rotated in ward-based rotations at their home institutions like U of A, UCSD, or Vanderbilt. You HAVE to do ward-based rotations in 3rd year in the field(s) you are interested in. Otherwise you will be like a fish out of water when you go to Michigan State's Surgery program for an early 4th year Sub-I/Audition rotation. Some residency programs in surgery won't even let you do a 4th year audition there UNLESS you did a ward-based surgery rotation in your 3rd year.

4. Doing a ward-based rotation teaches you to be a good intern/resident. It teaches you the hierarchy of a residency program, which you won't find anywhere on SDN or yahoo answers lol. It shows you how to kiss an attendings ass without it appearing that you are trying too hard. It teaches you how to impress attendings without offending/pissing off residents that are overhearing your conversations. These are invaluable skills for 4th year sub-I/audition rotations. There is one reason, and only one reason, why we do most of our 3rd year rotations in doctor offices in the preceptor model- money.

5. I'm tired. it's sad to see how easy it is now for me to come off abrasive and mean to underclassmen. Attendings shi* on residents, residents shi* on medical students, and 3rd/4th year med students shi* on 1st/2nd year med students. It's a right of passage that you will have to get used to. but i apologize for coming across that way in my last couple of posts. i don't know you guys, and the fact that i did well on some arbitrary board exams and class rank does not mean i'm smarter or in a position to talk down to you. i'm just a product of my envirotment. which, at the moment, is a militaristic medical education/training model that gives rise to said shi* rolling "downhill", so to speak.

6. Go to AZCOM if you must. But I HIGHLY encourage checking out Michigan state's DO school (yes, i know their out of state tuition is ridiculous. but trust me it is worth it), UMDNJ's DO school, and PCOM in Philly. Those 3 have far and away the best clinical experiences in my opinion.
 
Can a current AZCOM student write a little bit about the simulation lab/other labs? How often do you use them? Are they new and shiny?
 
how does the grading work here?
 
It's A B C system just like most undergrad

Sent from my ADR6350 using SDN Mobile
 
jrporte3 said:
It's A B C system just like most undergrad

Sent from my ADR6350 using SDN Mobile
Click to expand...

Yes, A B C system but we also have A-, B+, B-, etc.. just to clarify further.

93%+ is an A, 90-92 is an A-.
 
From my wifes experience (current 3rd year) they publish your class rank some time during the summer of your 1st and 2nd year


Sent from my ADR6350 using SDN Mobile
 
jrporte3 said:
From my wifes experience (current 3rd year) they publish your class rank some time during the summer of your 1st and 2nd year


Sent from my ADR6350 using SDN Mobile
Click to expand...

I think you were in my interview group on the 13th. There was a guy there that mentioned his wife is a 3rd year haha
 
Wooooo! Interview all done.

Had a VERY pleasant experience. My interview was COMPLETELY based off my resume and my statement of purpose. I think there were two questions asked that weren't off of my experiences, but they all can be found on the AZCOM question bank here on SDN.

My interviewers were GREAT! Very personable, friendly and right off the bat put me at ease by telling me not to stress, as they already knew I was a good candidate, they just wanted to see how I think and whether I would be a good fit for AZCOM.

Tour was lacking, but they touched upon the basics.

Most of our time was spent waiting for other candidates to finish interviewing. It was kind of nice because you got to talk to some of the other candidates. Everyone interviewing was very friendly and approachable. It didn't feel like a competition. I liked that.

The student ambassadors were also VERY helpful in answering questions. There was no sugar coating of anything. They were all very genuine in their praise of the school.

I went into this interviewing after ATSU SOMA, and SOMA left a VERY good impression on me. I wasn't expecting much from AZCOM, but I came out of the whole experience with a positive outlook. I could see myself going to either program.

Good luck to those of you interviewing tomorrow!
 
NekoBeats said:
I think you were in my interview group on the 13th. There was a guy there that mentioned his wife is a 3rd year haha
Click to expand...

Yeah, he was there. Pretty cool guy and lots of great info with his wife currently in her clinical rotations. Thanks jrporte3!
 
NekoBeats said:
I think you were in my interview group on the 13th. There was a guy there that mentioned his wife is a 3rd year haha
Click to expand...

dudeliness said:
Yeah, he was there. Pretty cool guy and lots of great info with his wife currently in her clinical rotations. Thanks jrporte3!
Click to expand...

Yep that's me 🙂 Have any of you been constantly checking your portal, even though i know that nothing will change for a while.... 😳
 
jrporte3 said:
Yep that's me 🙂 Have any of you been constantly checking your portal, even though i know that nothing will change for a while.... 😳
Click to expand...

Yup, I do it while I'm checking SDN in the morning. We probably won't see anything for another week though 🙁.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

PapaGuava
2024-2025 Midwestern University (Glendale, Arizona) AZCOM
3 4 5 6 7
Replies
303
Views
64K
NeverGiveUp199
NeverGiveUp199
PapaGuava
2023-2024 Midwestern University (Glendale, Arizona) AZCOM
8 9 10 11 12
Replies
563
Views
109K
Adil Khan
Adil Khan
PapaGuava
2022-2023 Midwestern University (Glendale, Arizona) AZCOM
8 9 10 11 12
Replies
551
Views
103K
clutchkobe24
C
PapaGuava
2024-2025 Midwestern University (Chicago, Illinois) CCOM
4 5 6 7 8
Replies
374
Views
77K
kitkatk
K
PapaGuava
2024-2025 A.T. Still University (Mesa, Arizona) ATSU-SOMA
2 3 4 5
Replies
237
Views
52K
I'mJustCurious
I'mJustCurious
Top