Name that school...?

[DrMidlife]

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There's a good blog on rural primary care (www.ruraldoctoring.com) with two recent posts about DO students doing rural rotations in central California.

Not a very good report card, whatsoever. Pretty clear this isn't ATSU-SOMA - is it Touro-CA?

http://www.ruraldoctoring.com/2008/06/cultivating-rural-doctors.html
http://www.ruraldoctoring.com/2008/08/update-on-rurals-med-students.html

 

[RySerr21]

could it be AZCOM?

"The program is relatively new--I think their first class was in 1998 or 1999--and is rapidly expanding"

Thats pretty much the exact time AZCOM had their inagural class (if i remmeber correctly from my tour). And they just increased their class size by 100 people, hence "rapidly epanding."

Then again, touro-CA started around 97 as well. And this sounds like it is describing Touro university...

"is associated with a number of other schools offering healthcare degrees around the country and overseas. I am suspicious of any phenomenon characterized by rapid growth (think: tumor), especially when there appears to be no standards of quality. "

It seems they come out with a new branch campus every other year.

 

[JaggerPlate]

There's a good blog on rural primary care (www.ruraldoctoring.com) with two recent posts about DO students doing rural rotations in central California.

Not a very good report card, whatsoever. Pretty clear this isn't ATSU-SOMA - is it Touro-CA?

http://www.ruraldoctoring.com/2008/06/cultivating-rural-doctors.html
http://www.ruraldoctoring.com/2008/08/update-on-rurals-med-students.html

I'm usually not one to believe SDN rants, but from the descriptions of how Touro-CA handles their rotations, mixed with the fact that the school was founded in 97 ... leads me to believe that this could be Touro-CA. AZCOM seems fairly on top of things, and I don't see why a full group of students from their school would go to Cali for a rural rotation at the last minute. However, students do complain that they do a lot of out of state rotations from Touro-CA. Who knows ...

 

[primadonna22274]

Yikes. Just yikes.
I had a couple of experiences like this in PA school almost a decade ago. Most of my rotations were great, but there were a couple that were up to me to make them of any clinical value at all. Not necessarily a fault on the side of my program; at least my program DID provide a very thorough handbook of standards for PA students, i.e. what we should see/learn/do on a surgery rotation; OB rotation; etc. My worst experience hands down was my 12 weeks in rural community family medicine in a highly nepotistic tribal clinic (not IHS) in Oregon. The drama! I did see plenty of medicine but it was so damn fragmented by all the ridiculous tribal politics...even my precepting docs were affected. What a mess. At the time I thought it was great experience but looking back I see it was a huge detriment from the learning process.
I have no wish to repeat that in medical school. Which makes me wary of community-based programs. Sad, I know.
L.

 

[GreenShirt]

It's not ATSU-SOMA since they already have students and we don't start for another week. However, SOMA does have a rural clinical site in Cali. I just hope what's happening to those students doesn't happen to us too considering the circumstances are similar: 10 students dropped on a community clinic with no residents and a fragmented class all over the country to contend with.

 

[MossPoh]

Sounds like Touro-CA to me.

It seems like the students got the raw end of the deal. If anything, it teaches us what to look for in a rotation. Even though I might have an interest in rural care, I would prefer to stay in a larger hospital for my training. I'm not sure what to think of that. It seems like it was hastily thrown together and without many checks and balances.

 

[DrMidlife]

It's not ATSU-SOMA since they already have students and we don't start for another week. However, SOMA does have a rural clinical site in Cali. I just hope what's happening to those students doesn't happen to us too considering the circumstances are similar: 10 students dropped on a community clinic with no residents and a fragmented class all over the country to contend with.

If there's one impression of ATSU-SOMA that I took home after interviewing there last year, it's that they're worrying their innovative fannies off about making sure that each group of 10 is supported and board-ready, and that the community clinics are strongly partnered. If there's anything ATSU-SOMA's administration has done right, it's to get connected with community clinics EARLY, years before students show up. I expect ATSU-SOMA's first year experience in the community clinics is going to be bumpy, but I do NOT expect that the experience will be anything like what's described in this blog. The blog is talking about truly irresponsible DO school administration. How are these students going to do on their next set of boards? What a joke.

Confirmed that the blog is talking about Touro, meanwhile - it's mentioned in the entry comments.