No problem.
So medical school in general is tough. There is no sugar coating it, but PCOM does a great job on several levels:
1.
They truly want you to succeed. This couldn't be more evident with the majority of the professors here. If you are struggling, they will take as much time as you need to help. If you happen to be doing not so hot in class, they will schedule a meeting to sit down with you and talk about what can be changed to help - not to scare you, but just to guarantee you're on the path to success.
2.
The material that you will learn is more than enough to be prepared for boards. I'm only in the beginnings of year 1 so I'm hoping this will remain constant. But so far so good (anatomy apparently is low yield on boards and thats what we started with so I may be able to offer more insight on this after we finished this term of CMBM). Like any medical school, you will have to learn some extra detail for class that won't necessarily be needed for boards, but otherwise they got it all covered.
3.
There is no babying you. I guess this can be looked at as good or bad. From day one its off to the races and they expect you to keep up. This forces you to put the pedal to the metal and learn 'how to med school' and fast. Although this was extremely difficult (in my own personal experience) it honestly made me become a better student/ a better learner/studier a lot faster.
4.
THE PEOPLE ARE GREAT. From professors, to fellows helping in OMM, and most importantly, your peers... this school is filled with genuinely good people who want nothing but the best for every student at PCOM. My class constantly offers assistance to others (we post helpful youtube links, self drawn figures, material from previous classes, and other helpful tools/materials on our Facebook group). And the second year class comes to our aid constantly. They put together google drives of study guides, practice tests, helpful material, drives for ebooks etc. We also have a mentor program that pairs you with a second year that can act as your own personal liason (if you so choose to be apart of the program). I have personally used this mentor on countless occasions not only to receive helpful information for various topics, but to just talk and vent. There has been several occasions when I thought I was going to lose my mind and my second year talked me through it. I can't say enough about them. And lastly, the OMM fellows/professors who take time out of their days to hold a thing called "crunch bunch" to walk through manipulations or OMM topics with us after we have already learned the material to guarantee were will be ready for the practical.
5.
The material and exams are fair. Medical school is tough. I have only been through 1 full term and currently am underway on the second, and there is no "easy" part. With that being said, the material given to you if fairly reflected on exams (both written and practicals). There have been a few occasions where we have been given a dense topic very close to the day of the exam and most times in these cases the professors have done an excellent job of really emphasizing what we needed to know not only for the exams, but what would be most relevant for boards.
6.
The community loves GA-PCOM. Its a well known name and we, as a school, as very well known in the community. This is probably because of all the outreach we do in a variety of settings. Anytime people ask me about where I go to school as soon as I say "PCOM" they already know and have positive things to say. I have only heard the same in relation to rotations. PCOM students are typically well known to be excellent at their rotations.
As for negatives...
I honestly can't really point out and huge, overarching negatives that would make me turn this school down. I guess if you don't like nice weather 90% of the time (I'm originally from the north so GA weather has been glorious) or if you're an Alabama fan (they get a lot of taunting here). Like any school, there may be litter personal things you're not a fan of some of which I'll list:
1. Some classes are mandatory (guest lectures, PCBM, labs of any sort, flipped classrooms). I know some people aren't a fan of having to come to class. Other than these specifics (which are a smaller subset of your weekly classes), class is not mandatory and there is a thing called tegrity which records the lecture for you to listen to at your convenience. On a positive, we never have to dress up for lecture (I literally wear gym clothes everyday), unless its a guest lecture (and these are rarer, especially first year).
2. Some professors are better at conveying material than others. Again, this is kind of a normalcy in any institution. As a whole, PCOM has a great teaching staff who truly wants to teach and who does it well.
Those are the only 2 big problems I can think of in relation to complaints I have heard.
To be honest this school is great. The building isn't grand, but I try to spend the least amount of time in that building anyways (anytime I can get away I do!) GA-PCOM will give you everything you need to succeed, you just need to take it and run with it.
Any other specifics, just tag me or message me!!
Hope this helped