Pod School and 4.0's

[JEWmongous]

yes, every school has old tests and i would assume they are available to everyone. at ocpm they have old exams in almost every subject on the school computers so every student can log on and see them. the professors obviously change the tests every year. what i have seen though, is some students, who may be in a certain circle which may be religious if you know what i mean, who know other students a couple years ahead in the program and pass down exams that aren't available to everyone. unless youre in a certain circle you may never see nor hear of these other exams. however, even these exams are significantly different from what is actually taken, as the professors DO make new exams each year, altough a few questions may be repeated every year.
i would be more concerned about students with copies of NEW exams, than old, if you know what i mean.

Didn't this certain circle at OCPM get busted a while back for pulling that bs?

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[hamlinbeach]

Didn't this certain circle at OCPM get busted a while back for pulling that bs?

yes, and the school now has an over-the-top testing policy that is just as strict as mcat or other standardized testing centers, which is a big pain. the way they do it now, there is no way that you can sneak a test out or write down the questions while taking the exam. this said circle of students now return home immediately following the exam and brainstorm with each other in an attempt to regurgitate the test to the best of their knowledge.

this happens everywhere, not just at OCPM

 

[Feli]

Whiskers' post was right. Nobody is denial, they're just saying "other places do it too"? Give me a break!

yes, every school has old tests and i would assume ..

...this happens everywhere, not just at OCPM

Lol... keep telling yourself that.^
Good luck on boards btw... I will warn you that there aren't any old tests floating around OCPM for the NBPME exam.

If OCPM had more full time faculty instead of adjuncts for key courses, their professors have more time to make more original exam questions as opposed to recycling outdated questions year after year. That would force the students to study more instead of just spend time chasing old tests around trying to make high marks. Old exams are the worst way to study, and your board pass rate shows it year after year. As a student there, you should recognize that and complain. Seriously

Who need full time faculty though...
Let's buy baseball fields and TVs... maybe gold plated signs!
That will attract more students!
If the clinics are slow, that's no big deal... we'll just get good residencies based on all our grads with 3.8s, 3.9s, and 4.0s. (wrong)

 

[hamlinbeach]

Whiskers' post was right. Nobody is denial, they're just saying "other places do it too"? Give me a break!

Lol... keep telling yourself that.^
Good luck on boards btw... I will warn you that there aren't any old tests floating around OCPM for the NBPME exam.

If OCPM had more full time faculty instead of adjuncts for key courses, their professors have more time to make more original exam questions as opposed to recycling outdated questions year after year. That would force the students to study more instead of just spend time chasing old tests around trying to make high marks. Old exams are the worst way to study, and your board pass rate shows it year after year. As a student there, you should recognize that and complain. Seriously

Who need full time faculty though...
Let's buy baseball fields and TVs... maybe gold plated signs!
That will attract more students!
If the clinics are slow, that's no big deal... we'll just get good residencies based on all our grads with 3.8s, 3.9s, and 4.0s. (wrong)

1. you dont go to our school. you have never taken one of our exams. the professors write new exams for each upcoming exam. you are elucidating and disseminating statements that arent based on a truth

2. the school had problems in the past and have since revised their policies to ensure it will never happen again

3. there are most certainly certain sects of students who share a common cultural trait that they hold to be the most important aspect of their life and will help younger students of said sect in any way possible. be it wrong or be it right, it happens all over the country and you are kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

4. you have never been to any one of our clinics and have no idea what they are really like

5. how dare you so fervently demean students with whom you will be sharing your future profession with based solely on second hand data and anecdotes. that is indicative of not only an extremely selfish individual, but one who is inherently insecure about some aspect of their own schooling and future.

schools and programs evolve over time, and are not stuck in some sort of stasis which they will never climb out of. the past is the past and it is plain to see, if you are actually a student at OCPM, that besides the fact that the school is independent, and has a large amount of adjunct faculty from Case Western, most of what you personally say on SDN about OCPM comes from within your own mind and disgruntled older students who went to OCPM when it was going through problems.

as V. Gordon Child once said:

"Men cling passionately to old traditions and display intense reluctance to modify customary modes of behavior, as innovators at all times have found to their cost. The dead-weight of conservatism, largely a lazy and cowardly distaste for the strenuous and painful activity of real thinking, has undoubtedly ******ed human progress..."

You, Feli, with your stubborn attitude to acknowledge that some schools are succeeding in attracting higher quality students because of modifications they have made in response to problems in their past, are only going to ****** the future of this profession. Clining passionately to old traditions instead acknowledging progress and working toward further progress is dangerous and will catch up with you in the future. good luck.

 

[JEWmongous]

yes, and the school now has an over-the-top testing policy that is just as strict as mcat or other standardized testing centers, which is a big pain. the way they do it now, there is no way that you can sneak a test out or write down the questions while taking the exam. this said circle of students now return home immediately following the exam and brainstorm with each other in an attempt to regurgitate the test to the best of their knowledge.

this happens everywhere, not just at OCPM

Still so lame

 

[hamlinbeach]

Still so lame

yes it is

 

[DPMstudent]

old exams definitely exist at all of the schools. go back and search old threads. i've seen students from DMU and scholl, etc say that old exams exist and most people have access to them. this happens at every school and at every level. think - fraternities with test banks, etc. its not a big deal. it has nothing to do with professors "not being full time". the professors are around just as much as any full time professor I've ever seen and they office hours, etc and go out of their way to make time available to students. they do teach the same subjects at Case Med school/dental school and no one their complains about adjuncts, etc. its really not the issue that its being made in this thread. maybe the only school in denial is barry?

 

[DPMstudent]

Heres one example: (theres plenty more if you search)
Justmyluck - "Where I go to school (SCPM) there are a few old tests available, but old test questions are never recycled. I'm not sure where you're getting your information from."

 

[hamlinbeach]

... I will warn you that there aren't any old tests floating around OCPM for the NBPME exam.

you're right, only the packets that circulated out of miami which got all of the board scores thrown out a few years back.

 

[DPMstudent]

another box29 - "Old exams float around everywhere, not just pod schools as whiskers like to think. I seem to remember when I was at SCPM, my friends at CMS (an MD institution) had some old exams as well. As far as the POD curriculum being challenging, yes it is, and in some aspects can be more intense from time to time.

Just my $0.02"

 

[DPMstudent]

a goody from scpod - "Since we're talking about comparisons with MD/DO schools and Whiskers just had to chime in, I think I'll bring up one of his/her favorite subjects now. Yes!!!! Oh my God!!!! I'm bringing up the OLD TEST thing all over again. Why? because Whiskers seems to think that having old tests floating around pod schools is the worst thing on Earth. It doesn't matter that everyone else does it; it will be the end of podiatry someday soon.

So........now that we're talking about MD/DO schools...have you taken a look at the First-Year Survival Guide for med students on the American Osteopathic Association's own web site. Look at some of the quotes:

• Before the test, read through an old test to see the types of questions
• Review the notes again, guided by the old test
• Go through the old tests, and highlight in the notes the areas where the test questions come from to see what is emphasized.
• Go through one or two of the tests as a group, looking up answers you don't understand.
• Take the old tests alone or in groups to assess weaknesses
• Go through one or two old tests in a group

I'll stop right there, but there is a really long section that talks all about old tests afterwards. It seems that the AOA condones this kind of thing. Imagine that! Does that mean that DO's have finally stooped to the same, dispicable low level that the evil, twisted and perverted podiatry students have been in all along? If MD's start doing it too, we'll all be condemned to a fiery Hell for sure. Where's the humanity!!!!!!!"

 

[hamlinbeach]

a goody from scpod - "Since we're talking about comparisons with MD/DO schools and Whiskers just had to chime in, I think I'll bring up one of his/her favorite subjects now. Yes!!!! Oh my God!!!! I'm bringing up the OLD TEST thing all over again. Why? because Whiskers seems to think that having old tests floating around pod schools is the worst thing on Earth. It doesn't matter that everyone else does it; it will be the end of podiatry someday soon.

So........now that we're talking about MD/DO schools...have you taken a look at the First-Year Survival Guide for med students on the American Osteopathic Association's own web site. Look at some of the quotes:

• Before the test, read through an old test to see the types of questions
• Review the notes again, guided by the old test
• Go through the old tests, and highlight in the notes the areas where the test questions come from to see what is emphasized.
• Go through one or two of the tests as a group, looking up answers you don't understand.
• Take the old tests alone or in groups to assess weaknesses
• Go through one or two old tests in a group

I'll stop right there, but there is a really long section that talks all about old tests afterwards. It seems that the AOA condones this kind of thing. Imagine that! Does that mean that DO's have finally stooped to the same, dispicable low level that the evil, twisted and perverted podiatry students have been in all along? If MD's start doing it too, we'll all be condemned to a fiery Hell for sure. Where's the humanity!!!!!!!"

hahaha

 

[DPMstudent]

from this thread it sounds like Barry is exactly like OCPM
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=5152328&highlight=old+tests#post5152328

 

[Feli]

from this thread it sounds like Barry is exactly like OCPM
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=5152328&highlight=old+tests#post5152328

That is incorrect. Simply read the entire post you linked^^^... esp the last paragraph.
How much old exam questions are used by profs and shared by students varies at each school. That generally correlates to FT faculty.

Barry has many more full time faculty; that means more time planning lectures/exams and more office hours. Read this one:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=7130922#post7130922
I'd love to see OCPM's course list and hear how many profs are full time faculty versus CWRU adjuncts.... ?

 

[DPMstudent]

"At Barry, I am very thankful that we have the old tests largely centralized."
its the same at OCPM

 

[Feli]

"At Barry, I am very thankful that we have the old tests largely centralized."
its the same at OCPM

Ok...?

.... what i have seen though, is some students, who may be in a certain circle which may be religious if you know what i mean, who know other students a couple years ahead in the program and pass down exams that aren't available to everyone. unless youre in a certain circle you may never see nor hear of these other exams...
...i would be more concerned about students with copies of NEW exams, than old, if you know what i mean.

...I'm done in this thread. Have fun. You guys are turning this thread into a mess IMO.
These are problems you need to take up with OCPM admins and student reps, not discuss in front of pre-pods, etc.
I digress. I'd rather not be on this sinking ship of a thread...

 

[DPMstudent]

I'm not sure about the "full time faculty" issue you keep bringing up, as there are no listings for "full time faculty" or "part time faculty" that I can find anywhere. There's usually 1 professor for each class who is present at each lecture/lab session. There are also a couple of additional profs for the anatomy classes who help in lab/ give an occasional lecture (1 or 2). The professors are around all lecture/after lecture and usually have office hours at some point. They give out home phone #s/ cell #s/ emails, etc and will meet with you outside of school if you would like. It is the same as in undergrad to me really and I went to a smaller liberal arts school, so I have no complaints. There are occasional classes like pharm that have guest lecturers, which may be where "part time" faculty come in. Cardio specialists from the Cleveland Clinic will come in and lecture about their area of expertise, etc so I think its acutally beneficial. They also give out contact info if you ever have any questions.

 

[DPMstudent]

Ok...?



...I'm done in this thread. Have fun. You guys are turning this thread into a mess IMO.
These are problems you need to take up with OCPM admins and student reps, not discuss in front of pre-pods, etc.
I digress. I'd rather not be on this sinking ship of a thread...

the fact of the matter is, your qualms are not legit and are getting debunked at every step of the way. its just absurd for you to come and tell me what is wrong with OCPM when you've never been there and have no idea whats really going on there.

 

[hamlinbeach]

the fact of the matter is, your qualms are not legit and are getting debunked at every step of the way. its just absurd for you to come and tell me what is wrong with OCPM when you've never been there and have no idea whats really going on there.

ya thats true. sometimes one must understand that it isnt necessary to be an expert on everything, the truth can only be twisted in so many ways, so many times, before people start sniffin the BS...

See Feli! you learned something new today! just because you have 1000 posts doesnt mean people can't sniff the BS you concoct in your head. im glad you realized that you ran out of permutations and combinations, and if you're ever in cleveland, stop on by, sit in on a class, talk to students, admin... remember we are learning evidence based medicine, that means you need evidence to back up your claims!

 

[Dmayor22]

I run the risk of being called names since I do not attend OCPM and those are the only people allowed to comment on that school in any way shape or form but...

Every person I have talked too that interviewed last year there and 1 student who actually enrolled last year and she left all called the school a complete joke. Student tour guides who were uninterested in their job, lax admission standards, etc. the same ol' lines you always hear about OCPM.

I expect you to defend the school since you of course go there. But the fact remains, you are independent (spin it anyway you like, that is a bad thing), the school is located out in the middle of nowhere (at least there is green grass though right?) The school may have Case Western teachers but apparently isn't good enough to actually be affliated with CW. Your board pass rates speak for themselves.

 

[JEWmongous]

I run the risk of being called names since I do not attend OCPM and those are the only people allowed to comment on that school in any way shape or form but...

Every person I have talked too that interviewed last year there and 1 student who actually enrolled last year and she left all called the school a complete joke. Student tour guides who were uninterested in their job, lax admission standards, etc. the same ol' lines you always hear about OCPM.

I expect you to defend the school since you of course go there. But the fact remains, you are independent (spin it anyway you like, that is a bad thing), the school is located out in the middle of nowhere (at least there is green grass though right?) The school may have Case Western teachers but apparently isn't good enough to actually be affliated with CW. Your board pass rates speak for themselves.

10 miles from Cleveland is middle of nowhere, then what do you call Scholl (40 miles north of chicago)?

Didn't OCPM students on here claim it to be 86% first time pass rate, cause that is above the national average. I'm curious then which schools are below the average...

 

[hamlinbeach]

I run the risk of being called names since I do not attend OCPM and those are the only people allowed to comment on that school in any way shape or form but...

Every person I have talked too that interviewed last year there and 1 student who actually enrolled last year and she left all called the school a complete joke. Student tour guides who were uninterested in their job, lax admission standards, etc. the same ol' lines you always hear about OCPM.

I expect you to defend the school since you of course go there. But the fact remains, you are independent (spin it anyway you like, that is a bad thing), the school is located out in the middle of nowhere (at least there is green grass though right?) The school may have Case Western teachers but apparently isn't good enough to actually be affliated with CW. Your board pass rates speak for themselves.

anyone is 'allowed to comment'... but expect to be contested when one supplies information that is simply not correct or twisted upside down to suit how one personally feels about a school.

 

[hamlinbeach]

Every person I have talked too that interviewed last year there and 1 student who actually enrolled last year and she left all called the school a complete joke. Student tour guides who were uninterested in their job, lax admission standards, etc. the same ol' lines you always hear about OCPM.

very credible sources i see. i had a great campus tour there. dont kid yourself... the admissions standards at nycpm temple barry cspm and scholl arent anything to write home about either.

I expect you to defend the school since you of course go there. But the fact remains, you are independent

yes. and that is the only fact that has been contributed

(spin it anyway you like, that is a bad thing), the school is located out in the middle of nowhere (at least there is green grass though right?) The school may have Case Western teachers but apparently isn't good enough to actually be affliated with CW. Your board pass rates speak for themselves.

as jewmongous said, the campus is a little under 10 miles from downtown cleveland, it is FAR from in the middle of nowhere, i have NO idea where you could have gotten that information from, you obviously havent seen the campus, and you obviously havent talked to anyone that has actually been here either.

some of our classes are taught by case western professors. case western is one of the most prestigious institutions in the country and some of the profs we share are renowned in their field. i dont see the down side of that. it has been said over and over in this and a couple other threads that they are not full-time faculty of the college, and this is bad, but:

WHY would OCPM have full time faculty dedicated to biochemistry, histology, pharmacology (basic sci's)..etc??? WHAT school of podiatric medicine that is within a university DOES NOT share their [insert basic sci class] prof with the other programs within their respective university??? WHAT school of podiatric medicine has those basic sci profs dedicated to ONLY teaching podiatry students and not the nursing, dental, opto, PT, pharmd etc students as well?? those profs sure have a lot on their plate too, they teach mult. courses a semester like every other college professor in the country! they are not just teaching podiatry students.

and your bit about OCPM not being "good enough" to be affiliated with CWRU...
1.what makes you think that Case Western would want to be affiliated with any one of the other pod programs? not one of the programs out there have admissions standards that case would accept.
2. if vision 2015 catches on and the applicant pool would quadruple, giving the schools higher stats to choose from, thatd be a different story. if then we were to become part of CWRU, we would then have the same profs teaching us as we do now, the same clinics we have now, the same administration, and the same campus... not much would change. just the name CWRU-OCPM...and that silly little name change would give us a hell of a lot more interest and a huge advantage over the other schools. i mean...what young pre-professional student has heard of samuel merrit, rosiland franklin, barry u, midwestern, dmu, and nycpm anyway?

 

[DPMstudent]

Case Westerns med school doesn't even give grades you know, its entirely pass fail, so a class style integration would not be possible.

 

[DPMstudent]

Every person I have talked too that interviewed last year there and 1 student who actually enrolled last year and she left all called the school a complete joke. Student tour guides who were uninterested in their job, lax admission standards, etc. the same ol' lines you

I'd love to hear more about this person. I know for a fact there that she was no where near the top of her class. How many actual semesters did she complete? 1? Sounds like a winner to me. Did she transfer to another school, or just drop out? Sounds more like she was one of the students who couldn't hack it. You need a good excuse as to why you wasted 40,000 and you sure aren't going to blame yourself.

 

[DPMstudent]

Also, OCPM DOESN'T WANT to be affiliated with CWRU. Think about it, its more money for the people in power.
I'm not so sure about some of you people on SDN these days.

 

[hamlinbeach]

yea, each school has its pros and cons. they offer most of the same things and it is up to personal preference after that. most of these sdn-ers need to get off their high horse and stop outright bashing other programs. we are all going to be sharing the same profession some day.

 

[Makaveliforever]

yes, every school has old tests and i would assume they are available to everyone. at ocpm they have old exams in almost every subject on the school computers so every student can log on and see them. the professors obviously change the tests every year. what i have seen though, is some students, who may be in a certain circle which may be religious if you know what i mean, who know other students a couple years ahead in the program and pass down exams that aren't available to everyone. unless youre in a certain circle you may never see nor hear of these other exams. however, even these exams are significantly different from what is actually taken, as the professors DO make new exams each year, altough a few questions may be repeated every year.
i would be more concerned about students with copies of NEW exams, than old, if you know what i mean.

*totally awesome, awesome post...couldn't agree with you more*
-I think everyone should understand that all the schools offer good and bad. It is up to you as the student to take full advantage of all your resources and do the best possible. Grades do not determine who the best podiatrist will be. I hate that people are so caught up in 4.0 3.0 etc... The way people get these grades sometimes is not completely based on their merits/what they know (based on Who you know!). Anyhow, I am a 2nd year at OCPM and I think it is a good school and comparable to all the other podiatry schools. I look forward to all my hard work paying off, being successful and laughing at those who worried about "88.6, 92.4 bla bla bla" It is such a joke that people care soooo much about exactly how they do. Absorb all the material you can, work as hard as you can, be honest, be productive and enjoy yourself man!

*One more thing, I think since we are such a small community (podiatry in general), we should be putting all our schools up and just try to be positive, instead of so competitive with each other.... just gets to be old after a while.

 

[jonwill]

Those of you who have followed my tenure here on SDN are well aware of my opinion on the subject. I firmly believe that there are some programs that are well ahead of others. I believe the difference also lies within the lowest common denominator as some schools have much lower admissions standards than others. Having said that, I also believe that a hard-working, good student would be successful anywhere. Whether the school expects a lot of them or not, they go above and beyond and are willing to do what it takes.

I have met extremely well-rounded, well-educated individuals from EVERY program in the country, including those that people consider to be "lower tier" programs.

The problem begins when "the lowest common denominator" students can't pass boards or get a descent residency because they probably should have never been admitted in the first place. They ultimately fail and become part of the small but vocal minority of "podiatry haters", all of which seem to have a website denouncing the evils of podiatry. But that is another debate all together

 

[DPMstudent]

Those of you who have followed my tenure here on SDN are well aware of my opinion on the subject. I firmly believe that there are some programs that are well ahead of others. I believe the difference also lies within the lowest common denominator as some schools have much lower admissions standards than others. Having said that, I also believe that a hard-working, good student would be successful anywhere. Whether the school expects a lot of them or not, they go above and beyond and are willing to do what it takes.

I have met extremely well-rounded, well-educated individuals from EVERY program in the country, including those that people consider to be "lower tier" programs.

The problem begins when "the lowest common denominator" students can't pass boards or get a descent residency because they probably should have never been admitted in the first place. They ultimately fail and become part of the small but vocal minority of "podiatry haters", all of which seem to have a website denouncing the evils of podiatry. But that is another debate all together

I agree entirely with this statement. Also, I would like to add: Everyone can dump on OCPM for getting a new building, new TVs, new furniture, new everything else for whatever reason (who knows? what the hell is wrong with having something nice?) but, i'm glad they do reinvest in themselves and their students and I think that it will attract students with higher stats and hopefully lead to an upward trend in admittance stats. So, say what you want, but the fact is it IS nice to have nice things and hopefully it will benifit the current students as well as future ones, as well as attract students with higher stats (which I'm willing to bet the last 2 years the average GPA and MCAT scores have gone up.) I'm also glad they are an MCAT only school and do not accept the DAT, GRE, OAT, etc.

 

[JEWmongous]

I agree entirely with this statement. Also, I would like to add: Everyone can dump on OCPM for getting a new building, new TVs, new furniture, new everything else for whatever reason (who knows? what the hell is wrong with having something nice?) but, i'm glad they do reinvest in themselves and their students and I think that it will attract students with higher stats and hopefully lead to an upward trend in admittance stats. So, say what you want, but the fact is it IS nice to have nice things and hopefully it will benifit the current students as well as future ones, as well as attract students with higher stats (which I'm willing to bet the last 2 years the average GPA and MCAT scores have gone up.) I'm also glad they are an MCAT only school and do not accept the DAT, GRE, OAT, etc.

I am overall happy they moved to the new facilities. I did an intership at the old place and it was, to be honest, a dump. I was quite impressed facility wise with my interview day. Tour guide wise...well thats a different story

It is very good OCPM went MCAT only. 2 application cycles ago, they would accept the MCAT, DAT, PCAT, GRE, and OAT. IMO, that was a joke.

However, still don't like the fact it's independent and next year's class will be 135 students

 

[FreshPodStudent]

Im at OCPM. We have five 4.0 students in my class of 125. I fail to see how that is a ridiculous ratio, when other places will have 35 students, and one 4.0. Some who have stated that we have tons of 4.0s are mistaken

 

[DPMstudent]

Im at OCPM. We have five 4.0 students in my class of 125. I fail to see how that is a ridiculous ratio, when other places will have 35 students, and one 4.0. Some who have stated that we have tons of 4.0s are mistaken

who would believe you? you're an ocpm student

 

[Dmayor22]

what the hell is wrong with having something nice?)

Absolutely nothing. But having new stuff doesn't make you equal to other schools. Having new stuff doesn't always make you better than schools with older facilities.

I too agree with JonWill and I am basically taking a swipe at the lower half of OCPM. I do think it is great they are a MCAT only school, all schools should be like that. But again, it doesn't gurantee they are better than anyone.

Do the pod students take the same tests as Case Western?

What is OCPM's first time board pass rate?
Every school on here seems to be above the average which I find odd

OCPM DOESN'T WANT to be affiliated with CWRU. Think about it, its more money for the people in power.

I'm sure thats it. OCPM choses not to be affliated with them. You can be affliated with a school and as a program have a different grade system.

then what do you call Scholl (40 miles north of chicago)?

Middle of nowhere. Thats why their clinic is dead and then go back into the city for rotations.


For all these OCPM students, since you don't seem to like other people knocking your school what would you say is a negative about your school? Surely there must be one negative or is OCPM perfect?

the admissions standards at nycpm temple barry cspm and scholl arent anything to write home about either.

Never said they were. OCPM told an applicant last year that had not taken the MCAT that she would be accepted as long as she took the MCAT. When she asked about what score she should have she was told "Oh don't worry, we really just need it for the application file. As long as you take it you are fine.

 

[DPMstudent]

I'm sure thats it. OCPM choses not to be affliated with them. You can be affliated with a school and as a program have a different grade system.


Middle of nowhere. Thats why their clinic is dead and then go back into the city for rotations.

I've already addressed the negatives at OCPM. Use your reading comprehension skills young prepod. As to these 2 statements, you really need to do more research. Think about it. OCPM doesn't want to be affiliated with CWRU. They want the money. Ask anyone. I'm not sure about an integrated system in the same classes as the MD students, but I doubt it would work as the pod students would have to receive grades while the MD students pass/fail. Also, this would be a big hassle for the students to drive over to Case in Cleveland Heights just for the basic science classes which we already have the same professors anyways.

Next, OCPMs clinics are in the city. So, I don't know what you're talking about them being in the middle of nowhere. These have been discussed as well already. And the clinic you will spend most of your time at is far from dead. So keep doing that research!

 

[DPMstudent]

Do the pod students take the same tests as Case Western?

What is OCPM's first time board pass rate?
Every school on here seems to be above the average which I find odd

Never said they were. OCPM told an applicant last year that had not taken the MCAT that she would be accepted as long as she took the MCAT. When she asked about what score she should have she was told "Oh don't worry, we really just need it for the application file. As long as you take it you are fine.

No, that would be obviously ******ed as they could share tests with us. The professors rewrite exams over the same subjects and then give them. Sometimes they will tell us a question they asked the students at Case and how it went over though.

The reported pass rate was 86% (10 people failed)

Their admissions standards do need work, as I've said before and you've chosen to ignore my statements, but whatever. This person probably had an above average GPA so they don't care as much about the MCAT score. I am glad they are MCAT only now though. I would love to see the stats of the average person admitted if anyone can find them.

 

[hamlinbeach]

No, that would be obviously ******ed as they could share tests with us. The professors rewrite exams over the same subjects and then give them. Sometimes they will tell us a question they asked the students at Case and how it went over though.

The reported pass rate was 86% (10 people failed)

Their admissions standards do need work, as I've said before and you've chosen to ignore my statements, but whatever. This person probably had an above average GPA so they don't care as much about the MCAT score. I am glad they are MCAT only now though. I would love to see the stats of the average person admitted if anyone can find them.

uh oh dpmstudent, better be careful...we might be getting demeaning and belittling private messages about ocpm again...

 

[hamlinbeach]

I too agree with JonWill and I am basically taking a swipe at the lower half of OCPM. I do think it is great they are a MCAT only school, all schools should be like that. But again, it doesn't gurantee they are better than anyone.

people in this forum have preconceived notions about OCPM because they read posts from a few years back by winners such as whiskers, and other such jaded characters. seeing that the forums are dominated by dmu and scholl, it seems natural that these thoughts have been perpetuated.

things have started to change at ocpm, from admissions to facilities to stringent rules. they have taken a step in the right direction. its not the greatest school in the worldddd but it has sat back, reflected on its past, and has come up with solutions to better itself. if thats not a good thing, then i dont know what is.

instead of taking a swing at the lower half of OCPM, take a swing at the lower half of all podiatry schools. work with the APMA in a marketing campaign for premeds and other ways to spread the word about our supurb training. have your school representatives bring up points like this in the meetings with the other schools....dont hide behind a public forum, if you think action needs to be taken then get up and do it. get our applicant pool up to 1500-2000+. then all of these petty 'OMG your school has such bad students' stuff will be over.

 

[biocmp]

This thread makes me...

 

[DPMstudent]

After my 1.5 yrs so far I echo these sentiments exactly about OCPM (originally posted by Podman)
"Regarding the level or state of the students, I will put in my 2 cents here. At the beginning of the first year, we started with close to a 100 students. not all 100 students were qualified to be a part of this great profession. As a result, at the start of the second year, we were down to roughly 80 students. It is embarassing that the school gave away close to 20 seats for the sake of making money and unfortunately this isn't a new phenomenon to some podiatry schools. However, the students who "made the cut" into the 2nd and 3rd years are definately professional and competent and this is something we can back with our board performances, clinical rotations, and residencies matched.

Overall, my experience at OCPM has been great. I don't think the school is number 1 by all means - however, I think it provides an environment that is strong enough for you to excel, provided that you invest the time and effort of course."

 

[Dmayor22]

Use your reading comprehension skills young prepod

Right back at you. I'm not prepod. I am currently a student at Temple.

I think your post of Podman's is very true and I would have to agree. Maybe so much focus shouldn't be placed on who starts school but the quality who finishes it.

And I don't get my perceptions from reading SDN because I find a lot things read in the past to be completely untrue. My preception is from people I know and trust fairly well with their descriptions of their experience with the school whether it be from being an actual student or from interviewing there.

Sorry for coming across as completely bashing OCPM. I just get tired of the fact that ever so often a wave of students from a certain school (Be it Temple, OCPM, DMU, whoever) get on here and just rave about the school as if it is the best ever. In the end, all schools have something to offer, its about what school fits you best.

 

[DPMstudent]

Right back at you. I'm not prepod. I am currently a student at Temple

my mistake, i was wondering how you were on here for almost 4 years now (I think?) and not in pod school yet. So, I think we've reached an agreement. I wasn't singing praises of OCPM, I know it has its faults and I will admit to them. It just seems many people (and a lot of prepods especially) are quick to bash OCPM, which isn't an inherently bad school, without knowing all the facts. I hate working hard in school and doing well just to come here and feel my education is discredited by people who aren't always knowledgable about certain issues at a school.

just curious what year are you at Temple? how do you like it so far? (you can PM me if you want)

 

[podstudentNJ]

I heard that they tried to get all the schools to have the same grading system but the individual schools refused because they believe their grading system "makes them unique".

Same reason why we don't have standardized curriculums!

 

[DPMstudent]

I heard that they tried to get all the schools to have the same grading system but the individual schools refused because they believe their grading system "makes them unique".

Same reason why we don't have standardized curriculums!

doesn't sound real reliable, but at this point, who cares? the fact is the grading system is different at every school and its not likely to change. The thing I would really worry about is the fact that NO ONE receives actual board scores. Sure passing is important, but what about the actual scores that people receive and how do they compare to each other? That would be the biggest common denominator in pod students nationally and its almost criminal that scores aren't given.

 

[JEWmongous]

doesn't sound real reliable, but at this point, who cares? the fact is the grading system is different at every school and its not likely to change. The thing I would really worry about is the fact that NO ONE receives actual board scores. Sure passing is important, but what about the actual scores that people receive and how do they compare to each other? That would be the biggest common denominator in pod students nationally and its almost criminal that scores aren't given.

Resolution 2015 has a hope of making pods on the same level as MD/DO's...yet not all schools require the MCAT and the boards are pass/fail.

Easiest fix: Temple, NYCPM, and Barry need to man up and only take the MCAT. Bitch all you want, other schools have done it within the past 2 years with no problems. Even OCPM did it, and everyone seems to be hating on them on these forums. Please don't tell me the DAT is a "perfect alternative" test to the MCAT, its not. We are not going to be dentists, simple as that. No passages (besides reading section) and one school told me they don't even look at the perceptual ability portion (the most difficult section for majority of people). That's a joke.

Not sure about the board isssue...maybe just release the actual score that students receive. Doesn't seem that difficult really. It would probably improve the residency interview process, as applicants can be better compared to one another and not just based on GPA, LOR, EC's, and externships (if applicable).

 

[zephryus14]

people in this forum have preconceived notions about OCPM because they read posts from a few years back by winners such as whiskers, and other such jaded characters. seeing that the forums are dominated by dmu and scholl, it seems natural that these thoughts have been perpetuated.

things have started to change at ocpm, from admissions to facilities to stringent rules. they have taken a step in the right direction. its not the greatest school in the worldddd but it has sat back, reflected on its past, and has come up with solutions to better itself. if thats not a good thing, then i dont know what is.

instead of taking a swing at the lower half of OCPM, take a swing at the lower half of all podiatry schools. work with the APMA in a marketing campaign for premeds and other ways to spread the word about our supurb training. have your school representatives bring up points like this in the meetings with the other schools....dont hide behind a public forum, if you think action needs to be taken then get up and do it. get our applicant pool up to 1500-2000+. then all of these petty 'OMG your school has such bad students' stuff will be over.

I have no beef with OCPM or any of the other pod schools. I have good relationships with students from every one, but after reading this thread I have a few things to say:

1. SDN is a bunch of crap when it comes to people spreading the "word" on things related to podiatry and podiatry schools. Opinions are like A**holes, everybody's got on. Don't believe information just because that person claims to be a legitimate source or posts on SDN frequently.

2. Hamlinebeach, JEWmongous, etc. Don't take swipes at other schools when you yourself are crying foul because they're taking shots at yours. Man up and state the facts, but don't demean other institutions in the process.

3. To reiterate what Jonwill said, every school has students that will go on to become great podiatric physicians and students that will go on to make less than stellar examples. A 4.0 doesn't guarantee success just as a 2.5 doesn't guarantee failure.

 

[JEWmongous]

I have no beef with OCPM or any of the other pod schools. I have good relationships with students from every one, but after reading this thread I have a few things to say:

1. SDN is a bunch of crap when it comes to people spreading the "word" on things related to podiatry and podiatry schools. Opinions are like A**holes, everybody's got on. Don't believe information just because that person claims to be a legitimate source or posts on SDN frequently.

2. Hamlinebeach, JEWmongous, etc. Don't take swipes at other schools when you yourself are crying foul because they're taking shots at yours. Man up and state the facts, but don't demean other institutions in the process.

3. To reiterate what Jonwill said, every school has students that will go on to become great podiatric physicians and students that will go on to make less than stellar examples. A 4.0 doesn't guarantee success just as a 2.5 doesn't guarantee failure.

I'm not in pod school brah

 

[zephryus14]

I'm not in pod school brah

Even more of a reason to not comment on other schools.

 

[JEWmongous]

Even more of a reason to not comment on other schools.

Well don't lump me in with current OCPM students. As to commenting on schools, I have been to all of them minus Western. I am allowed to speak of what I saw during the interview day and my thoughts of the program. First time board scores, retention rate, location, class size, facilities, residency placements all speak for themselves.

 

[densmore22]

I heard that they tried to get all the schools to have the same grading system but the individual schools refused because they believe their grading system "makes them unique".

Same reason why we don't have standardized curriculums!

Mute point. No 2 medical schools have the same curriculum so why would podiatry consolidate and have a uniform curriculum. Each school covers the same material it just gets from point A to point B in a different way per CPME just like every medical school in the country.

My 2 cents on the school debate (like anyone will care), but it really doesn't matter where you go to school. School is school when it comes down to it. Working hard at said school will go further than the particular school you attend. What really matters and what people look at when you go to interview for a job is the post graduate training you receive. Residency is where it's at. If you look at residency programs, there's only maybe a handful, at best, that have a school affiliation. When you apply to programs, all they care about in the end is a compasionate individual who's teachable, can work hard, is a team player and has nominal intelligence. These are qualities that I've had multiple residency directors and residents tell me they care about in their applicants. So really, when it comes down to it, the school you attend doesn't really matter, it's the opportunity to learn while your there what matters more and your ability to capitalize off of that opportunity.

We're all in this together. We're one of the smallest medical professions and we need to stick together and not try to divide. People have their own reasons for attending a particular school and berating and belittling people for making that choice, quite honestly, is in poor taste and shows little tolerance and no professionalism. We're all going to be colleagues and when your at a conference listening to someone give a speech, do you really think people are in the back snickering about "oh God, he went to Barry, what a *****!" No, there evaluating that speech based on EBM and trying to learn and critically analyze. There's people that go to the "top schools" that are just as inept and poor students as people that go to the "bottom schools."