Pacific Northwest University (PNWU-COM) Discussion Thread 2013 - 2014

[Uh oh]

anyone get a complete email?
...i havent...and the portal still says they dont have my letters...

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[thebam21]

anyone get a complete email?
...i havent...and the portal still says they dont have my letters...

Same here, I created my Self-Service account on 7/22 and as of today it is still showing my letters as pending. I shot an e-mail to the school asking how often they update the letters and will let you know when I hear back.

Update: I received a response stating that they would download my letters when my file was created which it had not yet been. I imagine they have their hands full with the incoming class.

 

[Dawn 12]

Same here, I created my Self-Service account on 7/22 and as of today it is still showing my letters as pending. I shot an e-mail to the school asking how often they update the letters and will let you know when I hear back.

Update: I received a response stating that they would download my letters when my file was created which it had not yet been. I imagine they have their hands full with the incoming class.

Hey guys; could you please tell me how to upload my essay. also, I want to use Interfolio to submit my LOR, but do I need to mail it them. If so, could you tell me what is their address. there are 2 different one listed on their website.
Many thanks🙂

 

[thebam21]

Hey guys; could you please tell me how to upload my essay. also, I want to use Interfolio to submit my LOR, but do I need to mail it them. If so, could you tell me what is their address. there are 2 different one listed on their website.
Many thanks🙂

In regards to uploading the essay, once you have finished the secondary and submitted it and made payment an option becomes available to upload it. If you are using Interfolio to send your letters you won't need to send in paper copies as well.

 

[salutations]

Definitely applying here. About the closest thing an Alaskan gets to in-state. (yes I know there is WWAMI for MD). 32mcat but 3.05 cGPA...wish luck and skill.

 

[Dawn 12]

In regards to uploading the essay, once you have finished the secondary and submitted it and made payment an option becomes available to upload it. If you are using Interfolio to send your letters you won't need to send in paper copies as well.

Thanks🙂

 

[RockDoc28]

For anyone wondering if their GPA and/or MCAT is high enough for PNW, here's the table from their website that shows the number of applicants and accepted based on GPA and MCAT, though it doesnt specify if it is sGPA or cGPA, and doesn't differentiate between OOS and IS. But it might be a good place to start

 

[Uh oh]

anyone marked complete on the portal? the only thing it says they received is my supplemental..no letters =(

 

[Dawn 12]

anyone marked complete on the portal? the only thing it says they received is my supplemental..no letters =(

Hey, I just submitted my application, but I received no email. Where I can find that they have received my sec. app.?
thanks

 

[RockDoc28]

Any current students want to chime in about how important the school thinks "serving the underserved" is? I know that this is a popular mission statement for many DO schools but I have been told that this is moreso at PNW. Is this true, and how so?

 

[thebam21]

Anyone heard anything from PNWU recently?

 

[kaura]

I got an e-mail today about making a self-service account. Did everyone else get that? My status online shows that nothing is complete, even though I have sent in my secondary, app fee, and letters. Should I be worried?

 

[thebam21]

I got an e-mail today about making a self-service account. Did everyone else get that? My status online shows that nothing is complete, even though I have sent in my secondary, app fee, and letters. Should I be worried?

I submitted my secondary close to a month ago and have had my self service account set up for around 3 weeks and it hasn't been updated. I contacted the school 7-10 days ago and was informed they hadn't started downloading letters yet. I am just feeling impatient and don't want to be a pest so I haven't bugged them for an update recently.

TLDR: Don't worry, be happy, contact the school if you are concerned about it. They hadn't started creating files as of about 7-10 days ago.

 

[ovca206]

I was concerned about my letters "past due" status and ended up emailing the school. Sounds like they are just busy and it takes longer than any of us like 🙂

"They will be attached when we are able to work on your file. We have a large volume right now and it may be a bit. We will notify you if there is anything missing, otherwise we will let you know when your file is complete."

 

[nwmedapplicant]

Any current students want to chime in about how important the school thinks "serving the underserved" is? I know that this is a popular mission statement for many DO schools but I have been told that this is moreso at PNW. Is this true, and how so?

PNWU definitely places training physicians to be directly aware of the needs and challenges providing health care to underserved communities. It seems to be at the forefront as a theme in many of our clinical discussions. This is a great school with regards to the quality of education and dedication of professors to the students. The education you receive here will be great, just make sure the focus and its 3rd year rotations in the PNW will partner well to the type of medicine you plan to someday practice. I'm very happy I chose PNWU over some other schools that I felt were very inflexible and beauraucratic with regards to simple policies. GL

 

[Uh oh]

No movement here it seems?

 

[thebam21]

No movement here it seems?

I Checked my Self Service account yesterday and they had downloaded my LOR's so there is some new movement happening.

 

[Uh oh]

I Checked my Self Service account yesterday and they had downloaded my LOR's so there is some new movement happening.

Lol mine says my lors are overdue. But I'm not in the pnw region, so maybe they'll deal with my stuff later?

 

[Jazzy G]

I applied back in July and just barely received a secondary. With interviews already scheduled, trying to figure if it is worth filling out.

 

[str8cashhomie]

Can anyone tell me what the secondary essays are this year?

 

[thesauce]

PNWU definitely places training physicians to be directly aware of the needs and challenges providing health care to underserved communities. It seems to be at the forefront as a theme in many of our clinical discussions. This is a great school with regards to the quality of education and dedication of professors to the students. The education you receive here will be great, just make sure the focus and its 3rd year rotations in the PNW will partner well to the type of medicine you plan to someday practice. I'm very happy I chose PNWU over some other schools that I felt were very inflexible and beauraucratic with regards to simple policies. GL

It's great to hear that the school offers great flexibility, but I would argue that every accredited school is going to give you what you need to succeed as a rural or urban physician. That is simply because 90% of what you need to know as a physician will be learned in residency or as an attending. The purpose of clinical rotations in medical school is largely to gain enough exposure to make an informed decision about the specialty that you want to pursue. That is where flexibility is important - you need enough elective time to find your niche.

 

[DOisthewaytogo]

I applied the first week of July. It still is in processing stage. How long does that take before getting verified and sent to the schools? Feeling anxious. Any thoughts?

 

[Dawn 12]

I applied the first week of July. It still is in processing stage. How long does that take before getting verified and sent to the schools? Feeling anxious. Any thoughts?

I think mine took about a month. I submitted on June 17th and was verified July 15th. I received the secondary on July 30th.

 

[DOisthewaytogo]

I think mine took about a month. I submitted on June 17th and was verified July 15th. I received the secondary on July 30th.

Thanks for the info. It is very frustrating waiting to be verified. Knowing the schools do not have my info yet makes me want to pull my hair out. I think applying early July may have been too late. 🙁

 

[dermpathdoc]

to everyone wondering about few responses from PNWU ...etc we have been in the midst of orientation and getting the class of 2017 under our belts. and on the ground running.....remember this is the first of the class size increase from 75 to 135...we are also working on a new revised interview process....details to follow soon!

 

[Dawn 12]

Thanks for the info. It is very frustrating waiting to be verified. Knowing the schools do not have my info yet makes me want to pull my hair out. I think applying early July may have been too late. 🙁

I think you are fine considering the fact they haven't invited anybody for interview yet.

Best of luck

 

[Limvostov]

PNWU definitely places training physicians to be directly aware of the needs and challenges providing health care to underserved communities. It seems to be at the forefront as a theme in many of our clinical discussions. This is a great school with regards to the quality of education and dedication of professors to the students. The education you receive here will be great, just make sure the focus and its 3rd year rotations in the PNW will partner well to the type of medicine you plan to someday practice. I'm very happy I chose PNWU over some other schools that I felt were very inflexible and beauraucratic with regards to simple policies. GL

I'm not sure what I think of this... So as far as being flexible, PNWU is decently flexible with rotations. However, there are many rules to follow. There are programs out there that will let you basically have the end of your third and first half of your fourth year as unrestrained electives. Not a big deal if you want to do a primary care specialty, but if you don't want to do primary care then you need exposure to your desired field. This is difficult to match with the rules PNWU has set up for "electives", but it's not impossible to overcome this issue either. You'll just need to be about 6 months or more ahead of the game and be creative when it comes to scheduling your rotations. Overall, my experience has been great with good support from the PNWU staff, but I certainly had to have a clear and well thought out plan for my fourth year by December 1st of my third year in order to make this year run the way I needed it to go. That being said, there are other schools even more strict with elective rotations so overall PNWU is average with the amount of elective rotation requirements.


Edit:
I would also like to mention that the training you get with your clinical rotations is highly variable depending on the core site. Though this would be true of any school that sends students to different core sites. What you get exposed to during your third year is highly contingent upon where you end up rotating. This will have a big effect on your abilities for your fourth year. It takes a decent amount of pressure to create a "well conditioned" medical student. A 40 hour a week rotation site will not compare with one that pushes a student to work as much as three times that much and puts a lot of emphasis on becoming competent enough to be an intern. When choosing your rotation site it would also be wise to find out which sites allow for high independence (having your "own" patients), organized rounds, a great deal of hands on opportunities, high patient load, and the ability to take call.

 

[Uh oh]

Marked complete today via email

 

[bubleeshaark]

Marked complete today via email

Same. SO EXCITED!👍

 

[thesauce]

What you get exposed to during your third year is highly contingent upon where you end up rotating. This will have a big effect on your abilities for your fourth year. It takes a decent amount of pressure to create a "well conditioned" medical student. A 40 hour a week rotation site will not compare with one that pushes a student to work as much as three times that much and puts a lot of emphasis on becoming competent enough to be an intern. When choosing your rotation site it would also be wise to find out which sites allow for high independence (having your "own" patients), organized rounds, a great deal of hands on opportunities, high patient load, and the ability to take call.

I used to believe this too, but frankly, an incoming intern need only be competent in histories, physicals, admission/discharge orders, and general workflow. 40 hours/wk will be adequate for a motivated medical student and I have yet to see an intern struggle with these basics.

Again, med school is really about selecting a specialty and making yourself competitive for it. Residency itself will train you for your specialty. Thus, I think the importance of medical school selection, curricula, etc. is far overblown.

 

[Limvostov]

I used to believe this too, but frankly, an incoming intern need only be competent in histories, physicals, admission/discharge orders, and general workflow. 40 hours/wk will be adequate for a motivated medical student and I have yet to see an intern struggle with these basics.

Again, med school is really about selecting a specialty and making yourself competitive for it. Residency itself will train you for your specialty. Thus, I think the importance of medical school selection, curricula, etc. is far overblown.

I understand that as a general intern all you really need to be able to do is take an H&P and be able to fill out admit and discharge stuff. I would imagine all students should be able to do that after two years of clinical training. However, for more demanding residencies the hours you put in above and beyond the required makes a big difference. There is limited time in medical school with all the required rotations and getting the exposure time you need in your field of choice is important so that you can show up better prepared for your sub-internships. I have found that no matter how much you think you've prepared you will run into students that can blow you away with their depth of knowledge and skill.

 

[thesauce]

I understand that as a general intern all you really need to be able to do is take an H&P and be able to fill out admit and discharge stuff. I would imagine all students should be able to do that after two years of clinical training. However, for more demanding residencies the hours you put in above and beyond the required makes a big difference.

In residency, perhaps, but not in medical school. Unfortunately, medical students are limited in their usefulness to the team since they can't sign orders or perform procedures without supervision. There is absolutely no substitute for these responsibilities. You have to actually do them in order to really be up to speed with them.

Think of those threads that start to pop up in the Spring where those accepted pre-meds start to post in the medical student forum about how best to prepare for medical school. Everyone tells then that its futile. The same is true here. Pre-studying, etc is not going to get you ahead in internship. You just have to get in there and do it.

There is limited time in medical school with all the required rotations and getting the exposure time you need in your field of choice is important so that you can show up better prepared for your sub-internships. I have found that no matter how much you think you've prepared you will run into students that can blow you away with their depth of knowledge and skill.

Dig a little deeper and you'll find that is a result of their personal abilities/attributes more than their training. Think about when you shared a rotation team with another medical student in 3rd year. One will typically be better than the other even though they have gone through the exact same training. And throughout your life, it will be true whether you spend 40 or 120 hours a week on rotations. Perhaps there are cases where more is better but for much of medicine, it simply isn't the case.

 

[Limvostov]

I can't say I disagree with what you say for most programs. However, I have found that for surgical specialties the more time in the OR seeing procedures, answering questions, knowing the indications and complications, knowing your place and proper OR etiquette, how to hand tie efficiently, ect... These things only come with more time in the OR. Also with surgery, you will need stamina. The best way to get that is to be used to working longer shifts. If you happen to rotate at a core site with a surgical program that you want to apply to for residency all eyes will be on you. People will take note of your mistakes, your interactions, and your willingness to help out and stay longer hours to get more experience. No surgical residents want the student that calls it quits after 8 hours. You call it a day when you're told to call it a day and not a minute sooner.

So... with only two surgical rotations and a limited number of surgical electives the best way to get the experience you need is to make good contacts, finish your work, and ask to scrub in on extra cases of interest and attend optional educational opportunities. The time adds up fast on top of a regular rotation, but when you request a sub-internship for a specialty that only takes a few students to begin with your chances of getting accepted increase substantially.

 

[thesauce]

I can't say I disagree with what you say for most programs. However, I have found that for surgical specialties the more time in the OR seeing procedures, answering questions, knowing the indications and complications, knowing your place and proper OR etiquette, how to hand tie efficiently, ect... These things only come with more time in the OR. Also with surgery, you will need stamina. The best way to get that is to be used to working longer shifts. If you happen to rotate at a core site with a surgical program that you want to apply to for residency all eyes will be on you. People will take note of your mistakes, your interactions, and your willingness to help out and stay longer hours to get more experience. No surgical residents want the student that calls it quits after 8 hours. You call it a day when you're told to call it a day and not a minute sooner.

So... with only two surgical rotations and a limited number of surgical electives the best way to get the experience you need is to make good contacts, finish your work, and ask to scrub in on extra cases of interest and attend optional educational opportunities. The time adds up fast on top of a regular rotation, but when you request a sub-internship for a specialty that only takes a few students to begin with your chances of getting accepted increase substantially.

And I will give you that it may be more applicable for surgical subspecialties, but only a small minority of the class will be going into those fields, particularly at a DO school. So to encourage every student to chase after rotations that are going to scut them out for 100 hours/wk when it isn't going to benefit them, doesn't do them any favors. Also you've morphed your stance a bit. There's a big difference between a rotation that requires 100 hours/week and one that you can volunteer to spend 100 hours/week. I've never even heard of a rotation where you couldn't work 100 hours/week if you truly wanted to. Thus, you probably wouldn't have to pick and choose programs in this regard.

One question though: what you've described as a sub-I sounds a lot like an away rotation. Are you allowed to do your sub-I at another institution? Ours had to be done at our home program.

 

[Limvostov]

True, for most students it really doesn't matter how much they get exposed to on their rotations. For those that want a little something harder to do it does matter. Some rotations did require over 100 hours at my site and most required about 70 hours. This was due to the 80 hour work week restrictions and the residents usually only worked 70-80 hours unless they were surgical residents.

However, the original issue with the post above was that PNWU was flexible. They are flexible to an extent, but if you really want something out of your rotation site you'll need to do your own research and make sure that you will be able to get what you need before you sign up to go to a particular site. When it comes to fourth year you can get a good amount of sub-I rotations, but if you want more then you'll have to get a little creative about arranging them. Other schools are much more loose with their requirements, but there are schools that are more strict as well.

As far as sub-I/away rotation/audition rotation goes, I hear those terms used interchangeably at the places I've been. I'm currently on my second away/sub-I rotation. PNWU doesn't really have a full in-house set of specialties (like OHSU or other larger institutions) with associated residency positions so in order to do this kind of rotation the 4th year students travel to the sites they are strongly considering for residency.

 

[bretonnia]

Just received a supplemental the other day . . . $85 bucks . . . ugh! Trying to decide if it's worth it for me to pay the money. While I wouldn't mind going to this school, it's lower down on my list.

Hmmmmm . . . . :|

 

[thesauce]

True, for most students it really doesn't matter how much they get exposed to on their rotations. For those that want a little something harder to do it does matter. Some rotations did require over 100 hours at my site and most required about 70 hours. This was due to the 80 hour work week restrictions and the residents usually only worked 70-80 hours unless they were surgical residents.

However, the original issue with the post above was that PNWU was flexible. They are flexible to an extent, but if you really want something out of your rotation site you'll need to do your own research and make sure that you will be able to get what you need before you sign up to go to a particular site. When it comes to fourth year you can get a good amount of sub-I rotations, but if you want more then you'll have to get a little creative about arranging them. Other schools are much more loose with their requirements, but there are schools that are more strict as well.

As far as sub-I/away rotation/audition rotation goes, I hear those terms used interchangeably at the places I've been. I'm currently on my second away/sub-I rotation. PNWU doesn't really have a full in-house set of specialties (like OHSU or other larger institutions) with associated residency positions so in order to do this kind of rotation the 4th year students travel to the sites they are strongly considering for residency.

I see. At most schools, they are not the same. Sub-I (aka acting intership) is a 4th year required rotation where you are given more responsibility than a 3rd year. Aways/auditions are optional if you want to get your foot in the door for residenct at another site.

 

[Bomikepa]

Could always hold onto it, see what interviews you get, and then if you need to, fill it out. Fyi, for the applicants out there, the Dean just recently stepped down. So, that is 2 Presidents,a Dean, and they almost lost the building at one point due to finances, in what? 5 years? Keep that in mind when applying.

is there local news article about all this? i would like to know more about whats going one w the school...

 

[OrthoRehab33]

Curious if anyone has heard anything from the school? I was complete maybe 2 weeks ago and nothing...

 

[thebam21]

Aside from what was said about them adjusting to the larger class size so the admission process was taking longer than usual I haven't heard anything. I was complete close to 3 weeks ago and have not heard a word since then.

 

[ChaseJ]

Just submitted my secondary! Looks like there haven't been any ii, so I still got plenty of time, ha! Hope everyone starts hearing back from them soon!

 

[bubleeshaark]

Has anybody's application moved on from "Committee" yet?

 

[AkGrown84]

Has anybody's application moved on from "Committee" yet?

Nope....I was only complete 9/13 (so Friday!), and mine just says Committee also. Let's hope from some movement and ii's here soon!!

 

[StanHasFun]

Has anybody's application moved on from "Committee" yet?

Been there since the beginning of the month...

 

[Uh oh]

Anyone get any iis? I think there was movement earlier last year. =\

 

[bubleeshaark]

JUST got an interview invite 😀

My first one 😱

 

[Uh oh]

whhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttttt. CONGRATS!


are you from the PNW?

 

[hkm]

JUST got an interview invite 😀

My first one 😱

ooo nice! did your status on the self-service web thing for pnwu change also? (like from committee to interview?)

 

[Sdsu1990]

Interview invite as well!!!! It was sent via email. They have 5 dates (October 18th, November 9th, and then 3 dates in 2014).

 

[ChaseJ]

Congrats everyone! I just got my completed e-mail today, so just a tad bit behind! Good luck!