PCOM Discussion thread 2007-2008

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Are either of those from PCOM? Perhaps you would get an interview invitiation if your penis was bigger.

Yep thats the only reason why i'm at PCOM. :laugh::laugh:

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Hey All,

I was wondering if it would be beneficial to write a letter of intent for PCOM. I haven't heard anything back from them yet but they are pretty high on my list. Got any advice?

Thanks,

Crohnie
 
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I interviewed after that, so does the next adcom meeting happen 2/15?? Is it only once a month??

yes, they only meet around once per month. i would imagine the next meeting would be around 2/15, but that is not concrete. i have been told by profs on the committee that they receive an email about a week ahead of time regarding when the next one is. i'll post it if i hear something.
 
who knows...damn it. i should of lied on the size question in my aacomas app. hahahaha



You don't want to do that, all your biographic info is double checked once you are accepted, particularly at OMM during evaluation for assymetries, and then you will be in a world of pain son... ;)
 
any interview invites recently??
 
Any feedback, advice, and shared experiences would be greatly appreciated. ANd how long it took for you to hear about decision. Thanks.
 
Any feedback, advice, and shared experiences would be greatly appreciated. ANd how long it took for you to hear about decision. Thanks.


my interview was very laid back. I was the first of the group to get interviewed, which was good considering they were crucnched for time at the end. Not to say that a long interview is good, but i'd rather be able to say the things I want to say than not be able to due to time. I thought the interview went well, wish I asked a few more questions though. The interviewers ended up getting sidetracked a bit, and stupidly, i did not put them on track (discussion about the kind of guitar I play), I just added my two cents, not sure if thats good or bad
 
Any feedback, advice, and shared experiences would be greatly appreciated. ANd how long it took for you to hear about decision. Thanks.

The interview was pretty laid back. The panel consisted of a physician (D.O.), admissions committee member, and student. They were all nice, and made the interview comfortable by offering feedback and smiling occasionally. The questions were pretty standard (ie. why doctor? why osteopathic medicine?, why PCOM? etc.). No ethical questions or scenarios. Overall, the experience was great. The only advice I can offer is to keep calm if you end up having a later interview. Fortunately mine was pretty early (I only had to wait for about 30 minutes or so), while others waited for up to an hour or two. I know that with other interviews, the longer I waited the more nervous i became, so don't psyche yourself out. Just keep talking to the other interviewees and remember that no matter when your interview is your still gonna do great. Hope that was helpful, and good luck with the interview! :)
 
Thanks for advice. My interview is at 10am. But they have a breakfast at 8 am I believe. Is that mandatory to go to. I would rather just be there at 10am for the interview then do the tour.

I have interviewed there before back in 2001 and took the tour and had the breakfast. I actually ran into Allen Iverson when he was with the 76er's and Larry Brown. But went back for my Masters, graduated with honors, improved my MCATS and now I am back to close the deal I hope.

Thanks guys and I will keep you updated!
 
i wouldnt skip it if thats your plan. you have breakfast with the OMM guys, who for me, ended up being my interviewer
 
How are the 3rd and 4th years structured at PCOM? Are you on your own or do they set things up for you?
 
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Thanks. I just got off the phone with PCOM and they said the breakfast is strictly optional and they don't look bad upon you for not going. I had interviewed previously at PCOM and had gone to breakfast thing before.

So I will prob go for my 10am interview (being there early of course) and take the tour. I also asked if its typical that people bring their spouse. That said it was fine so we get a chance to tour the area since we would move here once I get accepted. (just trying to be positive)

Thanks for all the advance and I appreciate any future advise.

OO lastly, was just wondering if it was an open file interview????
 
yeah, open file.
 
i haven't heard anything back from pcom...should i give them a call or just keep quiet for now?
 
How are the 3rd and 4th years structured at PCOM? Are you on your own or do they set things up for you?

there are assigned sites for every core rotation. You do not set these up on your own. The office of graduate education can also help you find electives too.
 
Does anyone know if PCOM would let a student take leave for 3-4 years after the second year to get a PhD? I am looking into different DO/PhD programs, and I saw a DO/PhD program for Health Policy, but I want to get one in a hard science, which they don't offer. I want to go into medical research, and I know many of the MD schools encourage and let you do that for a PhD (if you're not in their MSTP program already). Do you know if they have done that in the past or what their policy is?
 
Does anyone know if PCOM would let a student take leave for 3-4 years after the second year to get a PhD? I am looking into different DO/PhD programs, and I saw a DO/PhD program for Health Policy, but I want to get one in a hard science, which they don't offer. I want to go into medical research, and I know many of the MD schools encourage and let you do that for a PhD (if you're not in their MSTP program already). Do you know if they have done that in the past or what their policy is?

they now offer the hard science phD you actually have to apply for it before you get in to pcom. Pcom also havs a 7 year graduation policy (you must graduate in 7 years).
 
they now offer the hard science phD you actually have to apply for it before you get in to pcom. Pcom also havs a 7 year graduation policy (you must graduate in 7 years).
They have a hard science PhD? I couldn't find it on their web site, can you provide a link?
 
Does PCOM give out interview invites once a month? I have been complete since mid November and have not heard anything from them yet!

Has anyone been invited to interview recently? And if so, when were you complete??
 
wow I had no idea it was that low...is that 9% of all who are interviewed or 9% of all applicants?
 
wow I had no idea it was that low...is that 9% of all who are interviewed or 9% of all applicants?

I only have 2006 OSS data:

Applied: 3272
Interviewed: 259 (7.9%)
Accepted: 177 (5.4%)
Enrolled: 105 (3.2%)

Obviously the numbers change from year to year, but the percentages seem to be fairly consistent.
 
i thought PCOM was a private school. why would a private school favor PA residents so heavily?
 
I am confused about this too. They are a private university, and there is nothing in the mission statement about specifically producing physicians for the state or local area. However, the instate acceptance rate is about 42%. Perhaps a current student or PA native could clear this up.
 
I am confused about this too. They are a private university, and there is nothing in the mission statement about specifically producing physicians for the state or local area. However, the instate acceptance rate is about 42%. Perhaps a current student or PA native could clear this up.

Even private medical schools in pa recieve money from the state and are expected to favor the instate students. They recieve money from pa and delaware.
 
Thanks for clearing that up. It explains some of the questions I had about Drexel and Jefferson. That's a lot of favouratism from a private school. My state school, OHSU, interviews and accepts a smaller percentage of in staters than some of the private PA colleges.

Probably helps explain why there are so many good PA schools though. My brother is studying public policy at Carnegie, I'll have to ask him about that....
 
PA has a big problem retaining doctors in PA. Due to ridiculous malpractice costs, a lot of doc's (even local ones) are packing their bags and leaving. I think it's something like 6-8% of the doctors that go to school in PA (2nd highest number of medical graduates per year) stay and practice in PA. It makes sense that PA schools, private or public, would want to train those who are most likely to stay and practice in PA. Check out the house bill 1093 for something interesting to talk about in your PCOM interview.
 
PA has a big problem retaining doctors in PA. Due to ridiculous malpractice costs, a lot of doc's (even local ones) are packing their bags and leaving. I think it's something like 6-8% of the doctors that go to school in PA (2nd highest number of medical graduates per year) stay and practice in PA. It makes sense that PA schools, private or public, would want to train those who are most likely to stay and practice in PA. Check out the house bill 1093 for something interesting to talk about in your PCOM interview.

Dear sir (or madam) you speak lies. Accordding to our beloved govenor there is no crisis of doctors in PA. The number of doctors has remained the SAME the last two years because we are graduating more doctors than are retiring or leaving and just because we have the oldest average age of doctors in the country means you get more experience. I mean how can Ed be wrong, i mean trail lawyers are his biggest campaign contributors not like they have a stake in this.
 
Dear sir (or madam) you speak lies. Accordding to our beloved govenor there is no crisis of doctors in PA. The number of doctors has remained the SAME the last two years because we are graduating more doctors than are retiring or leaving and just because we have the oldest average age of doctors in the country means you get more experience. I mean how can Ed be wrong, i mean trail lawyers are his biggest campaign contributors not like they have a stake in this.

Isn't this a contradiction??
 
it's in jest i believe.
 
i believe people begin to lose their sense of humor the further into application season it gets...hang in there crew!!:D

p.s. PA malpractice laws suck. I won't be staying in the state if i can help it!
 
Does PCOM give out interview invites once a month? I have been complete since mid November and have not heard anything from them yet!

Has anyone been invited to interview recently? And if so, when were you complete??

I was complete in early september, and didn't interview until mid january. The admissions office seems somewhat slow in offering interviews, so just sit tight and your invite will probably come within a month or so. Best of luck to you! :)
 
I was complete in early september, and didn't interview until mid january. The admissions office seems somewhat slow in offering interviews, so just sit tight and your invite will probably come within a month or so. Best of luck to you! :)

Be CAREFUL throwing around stuff about the admissions office being slow. The average DO school receives between 2 and 3 thousand applications. PCOM received more than 5300 applications last year, and has surpassed that total this year, making it the most competitive, applied-to osteopathic medical school in the United States (and in the world). Combining the applications to PCOM and PCOM-Georgia, the two schools receive approximately 8000 applications total. They have a big job to do. Be patient and update them frequently with letters of update or even a letter of intent if you would attend PCOM over any other school.
 
I knew malpractice was a huge issue in our state, but not as large as it really is. I got this site from a fellow user's sig: http://www.fightingdocs.com/.

Its digsuting the amount of physicians we have lost.

Tort reform is the way to go people, tort reform!
 
hey I have a interview at Jefferson in Philly on Wednesday. Anyone have luck calling the adcom office and saying they are going to be in the area to request a interview? I know i am complete and "should" have the stats to get a interview neways imho.
 
hey I have a interview at Jefferson in Philly on Wednesday. Anyone have luck calling the adcom office and saying they are going to be in the area to request a interview? I know i am complete and "should" have the stats to get a interview neways imho.

Are you using DO as a backup to jeff/drex/penn?
 
Be CAREFUL throwing around stuff about the admissions office being slow. The average DO school receives between 2 and 3 thousand applications. PCOM received more than 5300 applications last year, and has surpassed that total this year, making it the most competitive, applied-to osteopathic medical school in the United States (and in the world). Combining the applications to PCOM and PCOM-Georgia, the two schools receive approximately 8000 applications total. They have a big job to do. Be patient and update them frequently with letters of update or even a letter of intent if you would attend PCOM over any other school.


You think we're better off sending them update letters via snail or email?
 
Just got a PCOM invite today!!! :D
 
nice work! mind posting your stats? I'm hoping for an invite soon as well :D
 
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