NSUCOM vs KCOM class of 2013

[ayurveda161]

So, I'm starting this new thread, the only one I've seen that compares NSUCOM to KCOM is a short thread for 1999.

With that said, I've been accepted to both schools, but I'm having a reallly hard time deciding where to go!

NSUCOM
+beach, weather etc.
+rotation options
+massive financial aid
+huge university
-faculty not as close to their students
-class till 5 pm
-cost of living
-amount of distractions

KCOM
+really friendly environment
+reputation
+/- not much to do, but fewer distractions
+rent is cheaper than my utilities bill
- may have to move really far way for clinical years
- vast nothingness of the midwest!
- limited financial aid options
- higher tuition
...on the side: at Kirksville, you're very close to Mark Twain's home town!

what are your thoughts on these guys?

also, has anyone heard about the NSUCOM research grant that pays for third and fourth year of medschool?

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[Pegasus1731]

Cant say much for NSUCOM, but thus far KCOM as been awesome and I'm very happy with my decision to go here. Not having a big city with distractions is great, and cost of living is SO cheap. I wouldn't say financhial aid is limited, I'm covering all my tuition with it and a lot of people are covering all of their living expenses too.

 

[ILikeFood]

So, I'm starting this new thread, the only one I've seen that compares NSUCOM to KCOM is a short thread for 1999.

With that said, I've been accepted to both schools, but I'm having a reallly hard time deciding where to go!

NSUCOM
+beach, weather etc.
+rotation options
+massive financial aid
+huge university
-faculty not as close to their students

That part's up to you.

-class till 5 pm
-cost of living
-amount of distractions

1. Distractions: Things to do when you're not studying.
2. Cost of living is correlated to #1

KCOM
+really friendly environment
+reputation

How is this different from NSU?

+/- not much to do, but fewer distractions
+rent is cheaper than my utilities bill
- may have to move really far way for clinical years
- vast nothingness of the midwest!
- limited financial aid options
- higher tuition
...on the side: at Kirksville, you're very close to Mark Twain's home town!

Wait, so the tuitions higher and you're in a small midwestern town with nothing to do. And you have to move around for clinicals. You present a convincing argument. I shall apply to KCOM this instant.

 

[singinfifi]

also, has anyone heard about the NSUCOM research grant that pays for third and fourth year of medschool?

There are two fellowships offered up for NSU students (not two spots...two types) One is a research fellowship where you...you know, do research for a year. The other is an OMM fellowship, where you have the chance to really hone your OMM skills, work in the clinic with the doctors and help teach the 1st and 2nd year students OPP.

Both of these fellowships take place between your 2nd and 3rd year and put you a year back for graduation (so if I got the research fellowship I'd be c/o 2013). Both of these fellowships also have NSU pay for your 3rd and 4th year of school and I *believe* they pay you for your fellowship year as well.

If you want more information, I can get it for you. Or whoever.

 

[Ebola Virus]

If I was comparing, I would use match or COMLEX scores to select the schools (among other variables: location, reputation, cost, etc). But,check out this link for the match list of the schools that you're interested in.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=574257

 

[MossPoh]

I interviewed at both. (rejected from KCOM) They feel so radically different. I don't feel like any of the schools I interviewed at had faculty that just vanished whenever class was done...well, there are always a few. It is more of a gut feeling thing. KCOM is a great school and I would've really been torn about that versus NSU. I like the way KCOMs 4th year rotations are set up. I also like the leaderscript thing they did, although other schools might do it and just not make a huge note of it. The cost is a real turnoff with KCOM. Even though the cost of living is ridiculously low, it isn't such a drastic difference. Keep in mind, I save a little money since I'm instate with NSU, so my viewpoint is a bit skewed.

While you won't have that much time to roam around and party during med school, I much rather be stuck in south florida. Distractions are only distractions if you seek them out. The worst possible distractions are time sucks like TV, which I believe they just got in Kirksville a few years ago. The facilities weren't horrible at KCOM but they weren't awe inspiring either. It is a really positive vibe around the campus and the students seemed happy.

Another personal reason involves where you want to end up living. There are injuries or diseases that are more prevalent in each region. It can be a nightmare in PP, but for training the mass of migrant workers and immigrants bringing in all sorts of crazy stuff is great for learning. My dad was a radiologist in the midwest for 18 years. He told me what were common things to see in South Florida (He did his fellowship in Miami) were exceedingly rare where we lived and the only reason he knew what they were without looking it up was because of his training experience in South Florida. I'm sure that goes both ways and 99.5% of the things you see will not be too unique between regions.

I give KCOM the nod for more and a larger variety of residency program affiliations. They have GS, IM, FP, Derm(?), ENT, Ortho, Anes and pretty much everything else I believe. Nova has most of those, but is lacking in ENT and a few others. I don't know. I think you just need to kind of sit on it for a little bit and keep a mental tally of which one you find yourself dreaming of more.

 

[Chocolate Bear]

If I was comparing, I would use match or COMLEX scores to select the schools (among other variables: location, reputation, cost, etc). But,check out this link for the match list of the schools that you're interested in.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=574257

This one's more comprehensive.

Match Lists

 

[EhCdnGirl]

I had the same decision to make last winter and decided on KCOM and could not be happier. However, I will try to give you an idea as to what issues I felt important then, and what I find to be important now with some hindsight.

KCOM might have a more expensive tuition, but beyond that I seriously spend about 500$ a month incl rent, utilities, leisure, groceries i am talking everything...you can't beat that. the "vibe" that was previously discussed is truly great here. It's a good place to be. The faculty are great and will go out of your way to help you out. However, the small experience i had with faculty at Nova was also positive.
In Kirksville we do learn to make our own fun and in addition, the number of times you can take a whole day off to do something fun you can count on one hand after the first few weeks of school.

I also was excited about the idea of being able to go somewhere different for rotations. While you can stay within Kirksville and/or Missouri very easily, I wanted the option to see other parts of the country and how medicine works there. So you are really only selecting Kirksville for two years. After 4 months here I can say I am really happy. However, if you are going in with a positive attitude you can make any situation a good one.

Good luck with your decision and if you have any specific questions feel free to PM me.

 

[ayurveda161]

Hey there, thanks for responding to my fellowship question! I am very interested in both types of fellowship. Money is incredibly tight, and I already have a lot of loans, as do many people, I'm sure. I would love to do a fellowship anyways, and if it helps pay for tuition that is even more incredible!

 

[ayurveda161]

There are two fellowships offered up for NSU students (not two spots...two types) One is a research fellowship where you...you know, do research for a year. The other is an OMM fellowship, where you have the chance to really hone your OMM skills, work in the clinic with the doctors and help teach the 1st and 2nd year students OPP.

Both of these fellowships take place between your 2nd and 3rd year and put you a year back for graduation (so if I got the research fellowship I'd be c/o 2013). Both of these fellowships also have NSU pay for your 3rd and 4th year of school and I *believe* they pay you for your fellowship year as well.

If you want more information, I can get it for you. Or whoever.

_____________________
Hey there, thanks for responding to my fellowship question! I am very interested in both types of fellowship. Money is incredibly tight, and I already have a lot of loans, as do many people, I'm sure. I would love to do a fellowship anyways, and if it helps pay for tuition that is even more incredible!

 

[singinfifi]

-faculty not as close to their students
-class till 5 pm
-cost of living
-amount of distractions

How did I miss this?

- Some of our faculty is absolutely amazing. Dr. Dribin is ALWAYS available for students to talk to her about histology/neuro anatomy (what she teachers) or about anything else. She's been really supportive and she really cares a lot about all of us. Dr. Connover (anatomy) is another one who is very open to students...I could sit here and list all of the teachers I've spoken to about one thing or another (only in my 1st semester!) but that'd take a while. There are 2 or 3 teachers I've encountered i don't like...this is out of...uh...geeze, i'm nto sure how many...but it's a pretty small percentage.

-I have class till 5pm one day a week. Wednesday, and it's lab, not class. Classes end at noon. We don't really have classes on mondays. Tuesdays one group (1/2 the class) is out at noon, the other half has a lab 1-3. Wednesdays the whole class is in till 5 for...I think 6 weeks? maybe 8 total. Thursdays I'm out at 3, the other group is out at 5 and friday's we're out at noon. Thursdays the 2nd lab that the "in till 5" people have is anatomy, which nobody ever stays the full 2 hours for.

-Yeah. It's expensive here. No doubt.

-If you want distractions, you'll find them wherever you wind up. If you don't, you'll avoid them.

 

[307Doc]

_____________________
Hey there, thanks for responding to my fellowship question! I am very interested in both types of fellowship. Money is incredibly tight, and I already have a lot of loans, as do many people, I'm sure. I would love to do a fellowship anyways, and if it helps pay for tuition that is even more incredible!

I believe school fellowships aren't anything unique. Traditionally done between years 2 and 3. During fellowships you get a stipened and the your "3rd" year tuition paid for. With that being said spots for fellowships are very competetive. Currently here at KCOM there are 4 Anatomy fellows, 4 OTM fellows, and 1 Medical Information (Not really sure of the name)??? So there aren't a lot of spots. But, you can always try. So if you are thinking of fellowships as a factor of deciding between schools, each school usually does have a limited amount of fellowships available. Good luck.

 

[MossPoh]

=
-If you want distractions, you'll find them wherever you wind up. If you don't, you'll avoid them.

I agree and always wonder why people weigh the distraction thing so heavily. I went to undergrad at a large state university, but it was in the middle of frickin nowhere....I still got distracted. There are certain things that are just huge time sucks that are more of an issue than going to the beach or a sporting event. I know when I do those kind of things, I tend to structure the rest of my time so it is doable. It differs from say, sitting in front of the t.v., where I intend to watch for 15 minutes and then watch an episode of californication...and then the last quarter of a football game, and then dexter and blah blah blah.

 

[ayurveda161]

this thread has been really helpful! It has cleared up so many misconceptions I've been having about both schools. With that said,
does anybody any specifics about the fellowship program at NSUCOM?
things like how difficult it is to get one, what the criteria are, and exactly what years of tuition it covers?

also, can anyone tell me if they think it really matters to residency programs what DO school you go to?

 

[MossPoh]

I don't think I've been to a school yet that hasn't offered those fellowship programs...

Also, if it matters for residency it is only slightly. NSU is pretty well known now.

 

[Bonogul]

I got accepted to both KCOM an NSU. I love the residency match list of KCOM, not that NSU's residency match list is bad or anything, its just that KCOM has the best i guess. The cost at both schools comes up to be around the same, when you calculate everything into it. NSU is in a GREAAATTT location and the students that i met there were GREAT. So i am stuck, where do i go?

I am 51% for NSU and 49% for KCOM. but anything can push me either way.

Here is my question of the day: Which school has better financial aid packages?

Bil~

 

[HALIVE]

*bump*