Nova or Western-COMP

[donalde]

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Hi,

I've just been accepted into both Nova and Western-COMP and am having trouble deciding. I would love if anyone could provide me with their input 🙂

Of note: I am a Canadian and so tuition prices don't really matter. Also, I will likely need to do an ACGME residency and need to consider which school help prepare me for that route as well.

Thanks!

 

[seraphkz]

The deciding factor between these two schools is basically LOCATION.

Both schools are fantastic.

 

[DrWily]

The deciding factor between these two schools is basically LOCATION.

Both schools are fantastic.

Agree with the above. They are both solid institutions with good reputations. Pick where you want to live and what kind of campus feel you want.

Nova is a large school with both undergrad + grad/professional school. Western is just a health professional school.


Pomona is the armpit of California, nuff said. Best weather. Nova is in a nice part of Florida with a younger-vibe (I THINK). Plenty of stuff to do in the immediate vicinity.

 

[Optoed]

I think Western has a stronger board score & match list (you should double check on that) I was also under the impression that California also has more allopathic residencies.

 

[munchymanRX]

Agree with the above. They are both solid institutions with good reputations. Pick where you want to live and what kind of campus feel you want.

Nova is a large school with both undergrad + grad/professional school. Western is just a health professional school.


Pomona is the armpit of California, nuff said. Best weather. Nova is in a nice part of Florida with a younger-vibe (I THINK). Plenty of stuff to do in the immediate vicinity.

Nova has changed gears to focus more on COMLEX prep this year. Their step 1 scores have fallen over the past couple years so they yanked the USMLE prep stuff they used to pay for. Students from both programs do very well in the ACGME match, but you may be slightly better prepared at western, just sayin'.

 

[help2]

I am also pretty sure Nova requires rural rotations. Western doesn't.

 

[seraphkz]

Does anyone know how WesternU prepares its students for the board? Such as how many weeks do students get to study for the board?

 

[poopyhead]

The deciding factor between these two schools is basically LOCATION.

Both schools are fantastic.

+1 👍

Because everything else seems so similar, the deciding factor should be location.

 

[munchymanRX]

+1 👍

Because everything else seems so similar, the deciding factor should be location.

I warn you. Florida summers are quite oppressive. They also start in april and run until october or so.

The rest of the year is gorgeous, though. Right now its 70 degrees and sunny every day.

 

[Black Adder]

Does anyone know how WesternU prepares its students for the board? Such as how many weeks do students get to study for the board?

You will have between 5-6 weeks for board prep (5 weeks if you fail/have to remediate ECM (clinical medicine) which a majority of the class fails). No, the school doesn't prepare you for boards.... unless you consider our regular coursework board prep.... which I do not.

 

[drctother]

You will have between 5-6 weeks for board prep (5 weeks if you fail/have to remediate ECM (clinical medicine) which a majority of the class fails). No, the school doesn't prepare you for boards.... unless you consider our regular coursework board prep.... which I do not.

Agree with the board prep. Seems like we learn a lot of useless stuff not related to boards. For example I am sitting memorizing the properties of every single Amino Acid right now. This has virtually no clinical relevance (or at least they dont show the link)

Also we take a lot of classes which waste time (IPE which is with all the different colleges) (Service Learning). These classes can take up 4 hours in the afternoon which could be spent studying for more important classes (our core science)

 

[donalde]

Hahaha, thanks for the warning -- I currently live in Calgary, Alberta though and am definitely looking forward to some HOT weather.

 

[donalde]

Interesting though -- doesn't Western have one of the highest COMLEX pass rates in the country??

 

[Booster]

As far as board prep is concerned....I do not attend or have any friends who attend Western, so I do not know what they do...but I can speak about Nova.

During your M2 year, every friday you will have 2 hours of board review (of which you will have 2 exams every semester based on your board review class). NSU was using Kaplan for their board prep, but now switched to Doctors in Training. NSU also pays for 1 month of whatever Qbank you want. They also purchase you a First Aid. That being said, they do pretty much anything in their power to provide all the necessary resources for YOU to study and for YOU to do well. It is up to YOU, not the school, to prepare for boards. I will say that everything we cover in class covers first aid and beyond. So I just add in my own notes into first aid so that they are more clear and maybe detailed to help me better understand things when I go back to review.