I would really appreciate it.
MSUCOM Pros and Cons, Anyone?
- Thread starter crieka
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I'm a second year student at MSUCOM, so I guess I can give you my perception of things.
Things I like here:
-The school is very well connected in the state. There is a large network of osteopathic hospitals in the state and many of the osteopathic residencies are here in MI. You can choose one "base hospital" where you do your 3rd and 4th year rotations. This is more convenient than moving around for rotations as required by some other schools.
-MSUCOM has a solid reputation (we've been ranked as one of the top primary care schools in the country by US News, although of course rankings need to be taken with a grain of salt)
-Gross Anatomy is done in the summer before all the other classes start.
An entire semester of Anatomy is condensed into a month-long experience, so DO NOT think Anatomy will be any easier just because you're not taking any other classes...however, once you do finish it, it's a relief to have it out of the way when fall rolls around. The fall semester for first year students here is relatively easy.
-We do have a "scribe service" (students make transcripts of what the lecturers said in class) and lecture recordings, so it's easy to keep up with what's going on if you prefer to study from home rather than attending lecture.
-Michigan is a great place for DOs. I've never run into any prejudice and I think most patients here do know that a DO is a real doctor even if they're not sure what makes us different from MDs.
MSU is the one school that has both an MD and a DO school. The DOs and MDs take most of our first year classes together, so I think the MDs are more understanding and respectful of the fact that we are learning the same things they are.
Cons:
-Some people may feel there is not enough emphasis on OMT. In most classes, it's never mentioned or just a small sidenote. However, I still think the faculty for our OMT classes are pretty cool and knowledgeable, and we have a student-run clinic where you can do OMT on real patients, so you can definitely have opportunities to do OMT stuff if you're passionate about it.
-Michigan is one of the five states that wants you to do a traditional internship to practice here, which might be annoying if you intend to stay here to practice...although my impression is that most of the residency programs in this state will work with you on making sure you meet the requirements without a lot of hassle
-Very high tuition for out of state students (I think it's around $50,000?) BUT I believe they do have some scholarships available.
Something that could be a pro OR a con depending on how you look at it: We have a test pretty much EVERY Monday morning. This is bad in one sense since nobody likes taking tests, but I think the frequent tests make the chunks of information easier to handle than if we had bigger tests less often.
Anyway, overall, I think it's a great place. I had several acceptances and I've never regretted choosing MSU.
Things I like here:
-The school is very well connected in the state. There is a large network of osteopathic hospitals in the state and many of the osteopathic residencies are here in MI. You can choose one "base hospital" where you do your 3rd and 4th year rotations. This is more convenient than moving around for rotations as required by some other schools.
-MSUCOM has a solid reputation (we've been ranked as one of the top primary care schools in the country by US News, although of course rankings need to be taken with a grain of salt)
-Gross Anatomy is done in the summer before all the other classes start.
An entire semester of Anatomy is condensed into a month-long experience, so DO NOT think Anatomy will be any easier just because you're not taking any other classes...however, once you do finish it, it's a relief to have it out of the way when fall rolls around. The fall semester for first year students here is relatively easy.
-We do have a "scribe service" (students make transcripts of what the lecturers said in class) and lecture recordings, so it's easy to keep up with what's going on if you prefer to study from home rather than attending lecture.
-Michigan is a great place for DOs. I've never run into any prejudice and I think most patients here do know that a DO is a real doctor even if they're not sure what makes us different from MDs.
MSU is the one school that has both an MD and a DO school. The DOs and MDs take most of our first year classes together, so I think the MDs are more understanding and respectful of the fact that we are learning the same things they are.
Cons:
-Some people may feel there is not enough emphasis on OMT. In most classes, it's never mentioned or just a small sidenote. However, I still think the faculty for our OMT classes are pretty cool and knowledgeable, and we have a student-run clinic where you can do OMT on real patients, so you can definitely have opportunities to do OMT stuff if you're passionate about it.
-Michigan is one of the five states that wants you to do a traditional internship to practice here, which might be annoying if you intend to stay here to practice...although my impression is that most of the residency programs in this state will work with you on making sure you meet the requirements without a lot of hassle
-Very high tuition for out of state students (I think it's around $50,000?) BUT I believe they do have some scholarships available.
Something that could be a pro OR a con depending on how you look at it: We have a test pretty much EVERY Monday morning. This is bad in one sense since nobody likes taking tests, but I think the frequent tests make the chunks of information easier to handle than if we had bigger tests less often.
Anyway, overall, I think it's a great place. I had several acceptances and I've never regretted choosing MSU.
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I'm a MI resident, applying next cycle. I know that MSU has a solid primary care reputation, but do you know how many people they put into gen. surgery? It seems like they have a lot of DO General Surgery residencies in Michigan available. Do they give first preference to MSUCOM graduates?
I'm a second year student at MSUCOM, so I guess I can give you my perception of things.
Things I like here:
-The school is very well connected in the state. There is a large network of osteopathic hospitals in the state and many of the osteopathic residencies are here in MI. You can choose one "base hospital" where you do your 3rd and 4th year rotations. This is more convenient than moving around for rotations as required by some other schools.
-MSUCOM has a solid reputation (we've been ranked as one of the top primary care schools in the country by US News, although of course rankings need to be taken with a grain of salt)
-Gross Anatomy is done in the summer before all the other classes start.
An entire semester of Anatomy is condensed into a month-long experience, so DO NOT think Anatomy will be any easier just because you're not taking any other classes...however, once you do finish it, it's a relief to have it out of the way when fall rolls around. The fall semester for first year students here is relatively easy.
-We do have a "scribe service" (students make transcripts of what the lecturers said in class) and lecture recordings, so it's easy to keep up with what's going on if you prefer to study from home rather than attending lecture.
-Michigan is a great place for DOs. I've never run into any prejudice and I think most patients here do know that a DO is a real doctor even if they're not sure what makes us different from MDs.
MSU is the one school that has both an MD and a DO school. The DOs and MDs take most of our first year classes together, so I think the MDs are more understanding and respectful of the fact that we are learning the same things they are.
Cons:
-Some people may feel there is not enough emphasis on OMT. In most classes, it's never mentioned or just a small sidenote. However, I still think the faculty for our OMT classes are pretty cool and knowledgeable, and we have a student-run clinic where you can do OMT on real patients, so you can definitely have opportunities to do OMT stuff if you're passionate about it.
-Michigan is one of the five states that wants you to do a traditional internship to practice here, which might be annoying if you intend to stay here to practice...although my impression is that most of the residency programs in this state will work with you on making sure you meet the requirements without a lot of hassle
-Very high tuition for out of state students (I think it's around $50,000?) BUT I believe they do have some scholarships available.
Something that could be a pro OR a con depending on how you look at it: We have a test pretty much EVERY Monday morning. This is bad in one sense since nobody likes taking tests, but I think the frequent tests make the chunks of information easier to handle than if we had bigger tests less often.
Anyway, overall, I think it's a great place. I had several acceptances and I've never regretted choosing MSU.
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We've been told that the statewide campus system base hospitals (3rd and 4th year hospitals) are very well connected. The hospitals talk a lot, so it's all about making a good impression. If you do well on boards and work hard 3rd and 4th year, you should be able to stay in MI. The ultimate goal is to keep DO's in the state, so they supposedly try to keep MSUCOM students in Michigan unless you really screw up. Making good connections is always good too. I know there are a lot of surgical hopefuls in our class!
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Geez, I keep looking for reasons to get out of Michigan, but MSUCOM keeps giving me reasons to stay.
D
deleted9493
The required osteopathic internship is a big headache and a necessary consideration when considering MSUCOM. If you have the sense that you are going to be going into a specialty that the AOA doesn't have many good options for (i.e. specialties not common in community hospitals), then I would consider a D.O. school that is in a state that does not have the osteopathic internship requirement. This will free you up to go where you want for internship/residency, with no difficulty. If you're not totally sold on osteopathy, then you should definitely apply to allopathic programs.
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