My Criticism of AZCOM

[daelroy]

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People have asked about the negatives associated with AZCOM since studentdoctor seems to provide the impression that is the best DO school overall. I would encourage you to take their advice with a grain of salt and form your own opinion.

I personally did not like AZCOM based on my interview and feedback from friends who attend the school.

The criticisms were not glaring but the general notion I got was that these students would have went elsewhere if given the opportunity to start over. Their impression of AZCOM was it was better than most DO schools, but it wasn't in the top 5 like the impression it is given on studentdoctor. And I would have to concur with this.

The campus is beautifull but it is in a rather remote area of Phoenix near the west side in Glendale. The popular areas are found in Scottsdale, Tempe and Ahwautukee which is 30-60 minutes away depending upon traffic.

The other criticisms focused on their rotations being very unstructured. And I suppose that depends on your perspective. Some like the flexibility of it. Others hate the lack of structure it has. Getting 4th year rotations in Arizona can be difficult.

Other feedback I received was the homogenous nature of the student body. It is rather conservative and lacks diversity. A large portion of the student body tended to be older and married. AZCOM has a large percentage of Mormon students which leads to the conservative nature of the campus. So if you are someone who grew up in a liberal and urban setting, and you want to attend a school with younger students AZCOM may not be for you. want to seek out. In my opinion, TUCOM, CCOM, Western, PCOM and Nova better suit these requirements

 

[San_Juan_Sun]

A few responses:

Originally posted by daelroy
People have asked about the negatives associated with AZCOM since studentdoctor seems to provide the impression that is the best DO school overall. I would encourage you to take their advice with a grain of salt and form your own opinion.

I personally did not like AZCOM based on my interview and feedback from friends who attend the school.

The campus is beautifull but it is in a rather remote area of Phoenix near the west side in Glendale. The popular areas are found in Scottsdale, Tempe and Ahwautukee which is 30-60 minutes away depending upon traffic.

The other criticisms focused on their rotations being very unstructured. And I suppose that depends on your perspective. Some like the flexibility of it. Others hate the lack of structure it has. Getting 4th year rotations in Arizona can be difficult.

Other feedback I received was the homogenous nature of the student body. It is rather conservative and lacks diversity. A large portion of the student body tended to be older and married. AZCOM has a large percentage of Mormon students which leads to the conservative nature of the campus. So if you are someone who grew up in a liberal and urban setting, and you want to attend a school with younger students AZCOM may not be for you. want to seek out. In my opinion, TUCOM, CCOM, Western, PCOM and Nova better suit these requirements

I would agree that ALL advice out to be taken with a few grains of salt.

"Remote" is not a good way to describe AZCOM. For those of you who haven't been to AZCOM, "remote" is not a good description of the school's location. The school is located in the metro area. It is literally two hundred yards from the Loop 101 freeway, which circles the metro area, and is about 2 miles from I-17, which bisects the metro area staright to downtown Phoenix. "Remote" gives the idea that AZCOM is out in the boonies somewhere, which is clearly not the case.

FWIW, before I matriculated at AZCOM, rotations were my biggest concern about the school. In extensive discussion with at least a dozen 4th and 3rd years, I've only heard one MINOR problem associated with rotations. In EVERY case talking about rotstions, these students were happy with their clinical education. While I have no doubt that some people are unhappy, I also have no doubt that a fair majority of AZCOM students are happy with the ever-improving rotations.

Don't let a few Mormons scare you. 🙂 While AZCOM certainly has their share of LDS folks, it should be noted that several other schools have substantial numbers of Mormons too. In any case, I don't really know how the religious beliefs of Mormons hurts any student's education. Also, it may not be wise to assume that Mormoms don't entertain a wide range of opinions on many social and political matters, if you're willing to consider diversity further than simply by one's religion.

On the off chance that a students was scared of Mormons, rest assured that with about 150 people in the class, there are people from every walk of life for you to connect with.

In the last analysis, I think every student thinking about going to AZCOM needs to decide if the preceptor rotations (and AZCOM's flexibility in opting out for hospital based ones) will work for them. Location and Mormons are pretty much non-issues in my opinion.

 

[jhug]

first...why the double post??

i would agree with everything sjs said. The school is not remote...kirksville is remote...30 min from downtown phoenix is not. the area of the school is almost TOO nice...it makes it hard for us poor students to find reasonable rent/houses to buy🙂

azcom has had a 100% FIRST TIME comlexII pass rate...obviously the rotations are more than adequate.
If you do have a problem with families and students that are married/have kids DO school in general probably isn't for you. Personally i love our class and wouldn't change anything about it. we have ex-navy pilots, cops, or-techs...21 year olds and 40+ year olds. It is amazing how well we do as a class with so many having families! i think it is a compliment to the school and education that so many of us perform so well.

No school is perfect...but you'll have to dig a bit deeper than married students, mormons, and geography to find some substantial dirt on azcom.

Disclaimer: i am biased😉

 

[mcataz]

Perhaps I can shed some light here. I'm at AZCOM right now as a grad student. So I'm not defensive of my program yet I speak and interact with DO students on a daily basis to get the jist of the school.

No, the school in not in a remote area. But I can understand what Daelroy is talking about. I lived and worked in Scottsdale prior to moving to Glendale to attend school. So yes, Glendale (Arrowhead) is a family suburb in the metropolitan area of Phoenix. However, it is quite far from the trendy areas. And it can be a pain to live far from the airport, shopping, bars etc. Some of the AZCOM students on here do imply that since the school is in Phoenix; it is located on some sunny resort near all the attractions which is hardly the case.

Second, about the Mormon issue. Yes, AZCOM has its fair share of Mormons. That is going to happen when Mesa, AZ has the second largest number of Mormons next to Salt Lake City. However, I don't get the feeling that the campus is conservative as if you were at Baylor, BYU or Loma Linda like Daelroy suggested. I wouldn't say the campus is liberal by any means, but it would be accurate to say it was moderate. There is an LDS club and a Gay/Lesbian club so make up your own mind.

But I will concede that this isn't the hippest campus. If you are seeking a class with a lot of young people who enjoy going to bars and clubs on the weekends, then other schools might be better. One my classmates ended up going to TUCOM because she wanted to be with younger students who were in her situation. Another student applied to the Chicago campus because their class seems to be younger. But yes, in general DO schools are going to have more than it's fair share of older students like myself. 🙂

The lack of hospital based rotations even bothers students who love this school. However, most students feel it is more of an irritation that a true burden. Nonetheless, it would be a bald faced lie and needless propaganda if someone suggested that most AZCOM students are in love with the preceptorship. Cmon fellas, I go to class with you guys. And most of you gripe about setting up your rotations and the preceptorship nearly every day. The reason why they don't make it an issue is because they love every other aspect of the school so they deal with this deficiency.

BTW, I love AZCOM. I just think people should be more candid about the school. You will only attract more students that way because they can tell you are being sincere. If you try to portray the school as Disneyland, I think many will be concerned.

 

[moniagrl]

Originally posted by jhug
the area of the school is almost TOO nice...it makes it hard for us poor students to find reasonable rent/houses to buy🙂

😀 try living in chicago where the rent for a timy apartment is around $$$1500

i love the prices in Phoenix

 

[irish79]

I can honestly say that I am very happy with my choice to attend AZCOM over all of the DO and MD schools I got into, and wouldn't change it if I could go back. I am single, young and Catholic and have no complaints. My class (2007) does seem to have a large number of married and Mormon people in it--but I don't get why that would bother anyone. We have our share of young people who like to "party" too and people are always going out and doing stuff (trips to Las Vegas, parties, bars, clubs, etc.).

I don't think Glendale is all that far from the "trendy and fun areas of phoenix" either. I'm not from here, but it doesn't seem any further than we would travel back home in the burbs of Chicago. Like it was said earlier, Glendale is about 30 minutes from phx. Other schools don't seem that much closer (e.g. CCOM is in Downers Grove, about 35 minutes from Chicago and TUCOM in Vallejo is about 40 minutes from San Francisco--and these times are not during high traffic times).

I can't say much about rotations, but I haven't heard anyone complain. Of course there are some criticisms, but no more than any other school. This school isn't for everyone, but I would encourage you to come and see it for yourself rather than taking the word of someone who doesn't like it based on a bad interview experience and some disheartened friends. The majority of the people here seem to be happy to be here.

 

[azcomdiddy]

The funny thing is I agree with a lot of the criticisms and I think it's about time someone told the truth about AZCOM. I'm currently an MS II at AZCOM. I'm just going to make a list since I don't have the time to write a long essay so forgive the curt nature of this post.

1. Weather- whoever said Phoenix was only hot 3 months out of the year was lying. It's hot from May until the beginning of November. That is 6 months not 3.

2. Lack of Diversity- that statement couldn't ring more true. There are too many married couples here. And it does affect studying. Try doing group projects with married people. Their schedules are extremely inflexible. It can be a nuisance. If you are below the age of 27, you are a minority here.

3. The Physiology professors mostly comprise of a husband and wife team. Both are arrogant. Both love creating exams that trick students. I understand that most exams involve trick questions. But their physio exams are ridiculous. I'm studying for the USMLE and I don't see any correlation between what they taught us and the content of the exams. And Physio is taught during two quarters here and it is nuts. Our pharmacology professor was is from Germany and I can't understand a word he says during lecture. One of our immuno professors was/is so bad that nearly the entire class complained about here. She is outta here after this summer.

4. The Preceptorship is a nightmare- Prior to arriving at Midwestern, I was told that the preceptorship is what you make of it. That isn't true. Most of those involved in the preceptorship have a deadline and don't want you to waste their time.

5. The area is essentially blacklisted thanks to the U. of Arizona medical school. U of A has a monopoly on nearly every program here so it is difficult to rotate through local hospitals during third and fourth year. Some people may get a kick out of spending a ton of money moving constantly from city to city for different rotations but I don't like it.

6. You are on your own when it comes to networking and establishing rotations and residency. You do a lot of the legwork. There really isn't a system of support here.

7. Terrible bookstore- They don't buy back books thus there are never any used books. You have to purchase nearly everything off Amazon if you want to save money.

8. Library Hours- the library closes at Midnight!! Midnight! A freaking medical school library closes at midnight. During finals, they stay open until a whopping 1 AM. The only room that is kept open 24 hours is a little vending machine area that holds about 20-30 people tops.

9. Annoying security- You can't enter the library without a security badge. I probably speak to Tom at least 10 minutes every day on the way to the library. But nope, if I don't have my badge, he has to look up my name. Now they have walled off the entire campus from which there is only one entrance.

10. No student lounge or cafeteria. They are apparently building some type of cafeteria but it won't be open by Spring. And it won't be a full service cafeteria. It will be a sandwhich and bagel stand.

11. It's not 30 minutes to the trendy areas. It takes you 10-15 minutes just to drive from campus to the I-17, 101 juncture. And from there to old town Scottsdale and Tempe, it is another 20-30 miles. That is without traffic. If you leave from 3 PM -6:30 PM, you are screwed. It's no secret why the rest of the Phoenix metro refers to Glendale as the "west side" because it so far secluded to the west. Just to give you an idea, we are 15 minutes away from Sun City West which is where the retirement homes are.

 

[DrScott]

People,

Enough about Glendale being remote...Glendale is the fourth largest city in Arizona. I have been accepted and plan to attend AZCOM this year. My house is in Phoenix and it is 4 miles from the campus. I have lived in Phoenix 7 years and have never even seen the need to travel to Tempe/Scottsdale etc.. In a non-rush hour situation, it takes a person(door-to-door) about 30 minutes to get to the airport...and now with 101 finished it takes less time than that to get to Scottsdale! As far as Tempe is concerned...they do not have the monopoly on bars...And what about the new Coyotes arena which is located on the west-side!

Bottom line...if you are married and out of the 'party till you puke' phase of your life, the west-side has everything you need. For those applicants thinking of going to AZCOM, don't believe the posts saying that Glendale is remote. AZCOM is about 15 minutes away from 2 malls...how can that be remote??