PCOM PA vs. Touro Ca vs. AZCOM

[ERK123]

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Hi all. I am choosing between the following 3 schools (I am primarily deciding between Touro Ca and PCOM as AZCOM is almost entirely off the list). I am narrowing in on my decision, but I would like hear the community's thoughts. I greatly appreciate everybody's input!

A little background: Born and raised in Northern California; did undergraduate in the midwest; lived in Southern California for the past two years doing clinical research.

Pros/Cons

Touro Ca:
Pros
School is in California relatively close to where I grew up, but not too close
Students come from very good undergraduate schools (majority are from Berkley, UCLA, UCSD and Davis) and have a high MCAT average which might make for a strong student body
Small class size of around 135 students
2 years of anatomy

Cons
The school is relatively new (19 years old) and has some uncertainty about rotations
I am not a fan of the Touro system opening 4 medical schools in 19 years. This makes it seem as though their current students are not much of a priority and that our tuition money is going towards benefitting other schools.
While the location is somewhat charming, the facilities are not very nice.
I love California, but I am not overly attached to staying in the state for the rest of my life. I have some hesitation about not taking an opportunity to explore another part of the country while I have the chance even if this increases the likelihood of not returning to California for a quite a while.
cost of attendance is about $60,000 higher than PCOM over 4 years.

PCOM:
Pros
Very old and established school with stable rotations and strong reputation
Close proximity with 4 other medical schools, which would be good for possible research opportunities/guest lectures/networking
Opportunity to earn a dual degree (Leaning towards MPH) from a solid school like Temple or Thomas Jefferson. I think this opportunity would also be good for networking.
I have cousins who are in the medical community in Philadelphia
Top notch facilities
Cheaper cost of attendance estimate than Touro Ca

Cons
Large class size of 270 students. I am not sure how this impacts my education.
It would be a cultural change from California (to some degree). This is good and bad.
Class has slightly lower MCAT average (I doubt this makes any difference)
I would feel a bit guilty about leaving my parents to go to school so far away, but they are supportive.
Weather (not a huge concern, but definitely not a pro)

AZCOM:
Pros
Nice facilities

Cons
Large class size that just recently expanded makes me wonder about stability of rotations/faculty
Not a huge fan of the Phoenix area
Cost is high

Thanks for you thoughts!

 

[Roxas]

Just my humble opinion, but I'd eliminate AZCOM right away. It's a great school, but unless you have rich parents it's just not worth the $$$.

Do you want to be closer to home? If it were me I'd go PCOM. Congrats on acceptances to 3 great schools!

 

[trev5150]

You might as well take advantage of your status as a citizen of the Democratic People's Republic of Kalifornistan for cost and benefit purposes.

 

[ERK123]

Just my humble opinion, but I'd eliminate AZCOM right away. It's a great school, but unless you have rich parents it's just not worth the $$$.

Do you want to be closer to home? If it were me I'd go PCOM. Congrats on acceptances to 3 great schools!

Thanks! I am ok with being away from home so I am leaning towards PCOM.

 

[pattr]

I think ultimately this decision comes down to whether or not you want to stay in California for residency, because coming from Touro-CA (I'm a alumnus) definitely makes it easier.

 

[TopTomato]

I'm biased but I say PCOM. Especially if you want an MPH, this year PCOM and Jefferson teamed up to award the dual DO/MPH degree. Jefferson is a very strong school.

 

[ERK123]

I think ultimately this decision comes down to whether or not you want to stay in California for residency, because coming from Touro-CA (I'm a alumnus) definitely makes it easier.

Thank you for your reply. I know this is an important consideration, and I honestly do not know the answer about where I want to do my residency. There are just so many factors that I know will come into play during the next 4 years for me to use this as a deciding factor. While attending Touro-CA would make it easier to do my residency in California, I do not know the extent that going to PCOM will kill such an opportunity.

I'm biased but I say PCOM. Especially if you want an MPH, this year PCOM and Jefferson teamed up to award the dual DO/MPH degree. Jefferson is a very strong school.

I just heard about this yesterday. I know that a previous agreement exists with Temple and that this partnership is supposed to continue to there will be two options for this students who want a dual DO/MPH. How do you feel that the class size at PCOM impacts the training or student life?

 

[pattr]

Thank you for your reply. I know this is an important consideration, and I honestly do not know the answer about where I want to do my residency. There are just so many factors that I know will come into play during the next 4 years for me to use this as a deciding factor. While attending Touro-CA would make it easier to do my residency in California, I do not know the extent that going to PCOM will kill such an opportunity.

From the way you've listed the pros and cons it sounds like you like PCOM more so choose PCOM. Going to PCOM, if you end up wanting to come back to Cali for residency you'll have missed out on doing rotations in hospitals in Northern California during third year (the advantage of Touro) and it may make it harder to do audition rotations in California for 4th year which are important for some fields. Also some local hospitals may be less familiar with PCOM grads (regional preference effect).

 

[DoctorSynthesis]

Hi all. I am choosing between the following 3 schools (I am primarily deciding between Touro Ca and PCOM as AZCOM is almost entirely off the list). I am narrowing in on my decision, but I would like hear the community's thoughts. I greatly appreciate everybody's input!

A little background: Born and raised in Northern California; did undergraduate in the midwest; lived in Southern California for the past two years doing clinical research.

Pros/Cons

Touro Ca:
Pros
School is in California relatively close to where I grew up, but not too close
Students come from very good undergraduate schools (majority are from Berkley, UCLA, UCSD and Davis) and have a high MCAT average which might make for a strong student body
Small class size of around 135 students
2 years of anatomy

Cons
The school is relatively new (19 years old) and has some uncertainty about rotations
I am not a fan of the Touro system opening 4 medical schools in 19 years. This makes it seem as though their current students are not much of a priority and that our tuition money is going towards benefitting other schools.
While the location is somewhat charming, the facilities are not very nice.
I love California, but I am not overly attached to staying in the state for the rest of my life. I have some hesitation about not taking an opportunity to explore another part of the country while I have the chance even if this increases the likelihood of not returning to California for a quite a while.
cost of attendance is about $60,000 higher than PCOM over 4 years.

PCOM:
Pros
Very old and established school with stable rotations and strong reputation
Close proximity with 4 other medical schools, which would be good for possible research opportunities/guest lectures/networking
Opportunity to earn a dual degree (Leaning towards MPH) from a solid school like Temple or Thomas Jefferson. I think this opportunity would also be good for networking.
I have cousins who are in the medical community in Philadelphia
Top notch facilities
Cheaper cost of attendance estimate than Touro Ca

Cons
Large class size of 270 students. I am not sure how this impacts my education.
It would be a cultural change from California (to some degree). This is good and bad.
Class has slightly lower MCAT average (I doubt this makes any difference)
I would feel a bit guilty about leaving my parents to go to school so far away, but they are supportive.
Weather (not a huge concern, but definitely not a pro)

AZCOM:
Pros
Nice facilities

Cons
Large class size that just recently expanded makes me wonder about stability of rotations/faculty
Not a huge fan of the Phoenix area
Cost is high

Thanks for you thoughts!

People from PCOM come from some of the best undergrads in the nation.

I say PCOM.

Touro isn't in a great area and the cost of azcom is to high.

Also the hospital affiliations at Touro isn't as great. PCOM has a great reputation in Philadelphia. You will rotate with the other allopathic students. I think Touro is a fine school also but I would lean towards PCOM.


As far as matching in California from PCOM that is certainly doable.


If you really want to be in California Touro ca is a great choice also and you can't go wrong going there.

 

[ERK123]

People from PCOM come from some of the best undergrads in the nation.

I say PCOM.

Touro isn't in a great area and the cost of azcom is to high.

Also the hospital affiliations at Touro isn't as great. PCOM has a great reputation in Philadelphia. You will rotate with the other allopathic students. I think Touro is a fine school also but I would lean towards PCOM.


As far as matching in California from PCOM that is certainly doable.


If you really want to be in California Touro ca is a great choice also and you can't go wrong going there.

Thank you for your response. I think PCOM is going to be the choice!

 

[AlteredScale]

I'd go PCOM....


...but I just need to add that the websites for all of these schools minus Touro are really "meh".

 

[Roxas]

I'd go PCOM....


...but I just need to add that the websites for all of these schools minus Touro are really "meh".

And this is absolutely the most important metric 😛

 

[AlteredScale]

And this is absolutely the most important metric 😛

I mean it's literally up there with match lists IMO. 😛!

 

[ERK123]

I mean it's literally up there with match lists IMO. 😛!

Great. I was all ready to make my decision and now you guys throw this curve ball at me...

 

[AlteredScale]

Great. I was all ready to make my decision and now you guys throw this curve ball at me...

No stick with PCOM because cheese steaks and also because you won't have to move around so much for rotations (meaning out of state).

 

[Roxas]

No stick with PCOM because cheese steaks and also because you won't have to move around so much for rotations (meaning out of state).

And mediocre sports teams

 

[ERK123]

No stick with PCOM because cheese steaks.

You make a good point. I am concerned about a decline in Mexican food though.

 

[TopTomato]

Thank you for your reply. I know this is an important consideration, and I honestly do not know the answer about where I want to do my residency. There are just so many factors that I know will come into play during the next 4 years for me to use this as a deciding factor. While attending Touro-CA would make it easier to do my residency in California, I do not know the extent that going to PCOM will kill such an opportunity.



I just heard about this yesterday. I know that a previous agreement exists with Temple and that this partnership is supposed to continue to there will be two options for this students who want a dual DO/MPH. How do you feel that the class size at PCOM impacts the training or student life?

To be honest I do feel that PCOM's class size is too big. They could easily chop off 50 students. As far as it impacting student life, I haven't seen it causing any issues. I'm coming to the end of my first year, so I guess the class size would have more of an impact when you rotate during third year, but I haven't heard of any problems

 

[AlteredScale]

To be honest I do feel that PCOM's class size is too big. They could easily chop off 50 students. As far as it impacting student life, I haven't seen it causing any issues. I'm coming to the end of my first year, so I guess the class size would have more of an impact when you rotate during third year, but I haven't heard of any problems

Do you think the large class size really hinders you being able to have a community feel with your class? KCU's class size is right on up there with PCOM's.

 

[TopTomato]

Do you think the large class size really hinders you being able to have a community feel with your class? KCU's class size is right on up there with PCOM's.

No not at all. With our class size you more or less kind of know everyone. You may not know them on a personal level but you know "of them". Really depends on how social you want to be with your class.