Questions for AZCOM Students

[Pokedoc]

I was accepted at AZCOM, loved the campus, area, and general feel of the school, and will be starting here in the next few months. I was wondering if any AZCOM students can comment on what they like about the school, things I should look out for, and how the rotations are structured? Thanks in advance for any help!

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[anonymous654]

Current M4 at AZCOM, just matched! Keep in mind some things may be different from when I was in my pre-clinical years.

Things I like: Felt like I received an excellent education overall. Administration is pretty hands-off 4th year, which is nice. Near 100% recorded lectures, with very little mandatory attendance outside of OMM and Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM). They do a very good job preparing you for the Level II PE. They have a system for rotation reviews, so you can log onto computers in the clinical education department and easily find rotations that are great for learning (or for blowing off) or avoiding rotations w/ malignant preceptors.

Things I don't like: Exam every single Monday. Too much OMM. I hate OMM. 4 hours minimum of OMM every Wednesday. Finals weeks were ALWAYS scheduled poorly. Administration always seems like it's out to get you, but that's probably the case at every school nationwide.

Rotation structure: 4 week blocks. 3rd year: 2x FM and IM, 1x peds, cards, surg, rural, elective, OB/GYN, psych. 4th year: 2x vacation, 1x EM, ICU, IM subspecialty, surg subspecialty, fill in the rest w/ electives. You are assigned to a region/cohort, and all/most of your rotations will be in that area/hospital. Most (80%) stay in Phoenix area, but you can also go to Chicago, LA, SD, and Prescott that I know of.

Overall, AZCOM is a solid school. Most of my classmates, including me, have a fair amount of bitterness towards the school. It's absurdly expensive, and I've heard horror stories about deans and clinical department heads being complete a-holes to students. The fact is, though, that I have received a good education here, and I would definitely choose to come here again. Just do your best to avoid the administration.

 

[Pokedoc]

Current M4 at AZCOM, just matched! Keep in mind some things may be different from when I was in my pre-clinical years.

Things I like: Felt like I received an excellent education overall. Administration is pretty hands-off 4th year, which is nice. Near 100% recorded lectures, with very little mandatory attendance outside of OMM and Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM). They do a very good job preparing you for the Level II PE. They have a system for rotation reviews, so you can log onto computers in the clinical education department and easily find rotations that are great for learning (or for blowing off) or avoiding rotations w/ malignant preceptors.

Things I don't like: Exam every single Monday. Too much OMM. I hate OMM. 4 hours minimum of OMM every Wednesday. Finals weeks were ALWAYS scheduled poorly. Administration always seems like it's out to get you, but that's probably the case at every school nationwide.

Rotation structure: 4 week blocks. 3rd year: 2x FM and IM, 1x peds, cards, surg, rural, elective, OB/GYN, psych. 4th year: 2x vacation, 1x EM, ICU, IM subspecialty, surg subspecialty, fill in the rest w/ electives. You are assigned to a region/cohort, and all/most of your rotations will be in that area/hospital. Most (80%) stay in Phoenix area, but you can also go to Chicago, LA, SD, and Prescott that I know of.

Overall, AZCOM is a solid school. Most of my classmates, including me, have a fair amount of bitterness towards the school. It's absurdly expensive, and I've heard horror stories about deans and clinical department heads being complete a-holes to students. The fact is, though, that I have received a good education here, and I would definitely choose to come here again. Just do your best to avoid the administration.

Thanks for all of the information! How did you like the rotations? Did you find yourself doing menial labor a lot, or do you think that you got good experience overall that will help you with residency? I'm already going to the school so it won't change much but it would be nice to know what it is actually like.

And essentially I just need to keep my head down when it comes to administration? It's unfortunate that it's an issue because I've heard that from other students as well, but I guess as long as you feel you received a good education then that's all that matters in the end.

Oh and how quickly are the lectures normally put up? I always went to lectures as an undergrad, but I definitely think I'm going to give the at home studying a shot if the lectures are put up promptly so that I can study on my own time and at my own pace.

Thanks again!

 

[Jinxapotato]

Thanks for all of the information! How did you like the rotations? Did you find yourself doing menial labor a lot, or do you think that you got good experience overall that will help you with residency? I'm already going to the school so it won't change much but it would be nice to know what it is actually like.

And essentially I just need to keep my head down when it comes to administration? It's unfortunate that it's an issue because I've heard that from other students as well, but I guess as long as you feel you received a good education then that's all that matters in the end.

Oh and how quickly are the lectures normally put up? I always went to lectures as an undergrad, but I definitely think I'm going to give the at home studying a shot if the lectures are put up promptly so that I can study on my own time and at my own pace.

Thanks again!

I concur with the previous AZCOM poster as well. Overall the school is solid. I haven't gotten to rotation yet so I can only comment on the preclinical aspect.

I am really bitter about the absurd amount of exams we have, by 2nd year you will often face consecutive weeks of 2-3 exams each. This really cuts into your own board studying time (if you decides to study board that is).
The admin won't go out and get you if you keep your head down, but they aren't really helpful either.
The lectures usually get put up later that day or early next morning, but sometimes the system can go down and you loose a lecture (happened maybe 1-2 times over the years)

 

[anonymous654]

Thanks for all of the information! How did you like the rotations? Did you find yourself doing menial labor a lot, or do you think that you got good experience overall that will help you with residency? I'm already going to the school so it won't change much but it would be nice to know what it is actually like.

And essentially I just need to keep my head down when it comes to administration? It's unfortunate that it's an issue because I've heard that from other students as well, but I guess as long as you feel you received a good education then that's all that matters in the end.

Oh and how quickly are the lectures normally put up? I always went to lectures as an undergrad, but I definitely think I'm going to give the at home studying a shot if the lectures are put up promptly so that I can study on my own time and at my own pace.

Thanks again!

There are a ton of awesome rotations that the school offers where the attendings/residents teach a ton and you actually feel useful, but there are also some that are terrible as well, where you are essentially slave labor. This is the advantage of the preceptor review database and being able to see what other students have said about each rotation.

Even if you find yourself with a less than ideal preceptor, so much of third year is self-directed that just about every rotation can be valuable in some way.

I'm going into EM, and I felt that my 3rd year rotations really prepared me well going into my audition rotations 4th year. I can't speak for any region other than Phoenix, however.

 

[Pokedoc]

I concur with the previous AZCOM poster as well. Overall the school is solid. I haven't gotten to rotation yet so I can only comment on the preclinical aspect.

I am really bitter about the absurd amount of exams we have, by 2nd year you will often face consecutive weeks of 2-3 exams each. This really cuts into your own board studying time (if you decides to study board that is).
The admin won't go out and get you if you keep your head down, but they aren't really helpful either.
The lectures usually get put up later that day or early next morning, but sometimes the system can go down and you loose a lecture (happened maybe 1-2 times over the years)

Ah gotcha. I was hoping that I would like the fact that there were exams weekly since the information would still be fresh in my head, but I am definitely planning on taking the USMLE alongside the COMLEX so I hope it doesn't end up cutting in too much to effect performance. I guess I'll just have to see on that one!

So do most people that study from home just stay a day behind essentially? I was kind of confused on how that worked if the lectures weren't put up immediately.

 

[Pokedoc]

There are a ton of awesome rotations that the school offers where the attendings/residents teach a ton and you actually feel useful, but there are also some that are terrible as well, where you are essentially slave labor. This is the advantage of the preceptor review database and being able to see what other students have said about each rotation.

Even if you find yourself with a less than ideal preceptor, so much of third year is self-directed that just about every rotation can be valuable in some way.

I'm going into EM, and I felt that my 3rd year rotations really prepared me well going into my audition rotations 4th year. I can't speak for any region other than Phoenix, however.

I'm glad to hear that! I've been a medical scribe in the ER for the past two years and, while I'm going to keep my mind open to other specialties, this job has really cemented my desire to work in EM.

 

[anonymous654]

Ah gotcha. I was hoping that I would like the fact that there were exams weekly since the information would still be fresh in my head, but I am definitely planning on taking the USMLE alongside the COMLEX so I hope it doesn't end up cutting in too much to effect performance. I guess I'll just have to see on that one!

So do most people that study from home just stay a day behind essentially? I was kind of confused on how that worked if the lectures weren't put up immediately.

You'll find time to study for boards, especially since lecture isn't required. I'm not sure what time is allotted for dedicated board study these days. For our class it was about 6 weeks, but I know the class below mine got screwed and only had 4 weeks. Maybe Jinxapotato could clarify. But dedicated study period + 4 or 5 months of grinding some UWorld questions or First Aid pages here and there, and I got ACGME EM-competitive USMLE/COMLEX scores while spending plenty of times playing video games, hanging out w/ fiancee, and without really ever doing board study after 7pm.

Yeah I would just be a day behind in all of my classes. It doesn't really matter as long as you catch up by exam day.

AZCOM has been pumping out EM docs over the last couple years, so it's probably one of your best bets for a DO school if you like EM. Just don't underestimate how competitive it's gotten lately. Good luck! Enjoy your last few months before med school!

 

[Jinxapotato]

Since the year above got screwed by the dedicated time change, they gave us pretty much 6-7 weeks of dedicated time, at the cost of 1 vacation block in 4th year. So unless they change things again you should be fine in that aspect.

 

[Pokedoc]

You'll find time to study for boards, especially since lecture isn't required. I'm not sure what time is allotted for dedicated board study these days. For our class it was about 6 weeks, but I know the class below mine got screwed and only had 4 weeks. Maybe Jinxapotato could clarify. But dedicated study period + 4 or 5 months of grinding some UWorld questions or First Aid pages here and there, and I got ACGME EM-competitive USMLE/COMLEX scores while spending plenty of times playing video games, hanging out w/ fiancee, and without really ever doing board study after 7pm.

Yeah I would just be a day behind in all of my classes. It doesn't really matter as long as you catch up by exam day.

AZCOM has been pumping out EM docs over the last couple years, so it's probably one of your best bets for a DO school if you like EM. Just don't underestimate how competitive it's gotten lately. Good luck! Enjoy your last few months before med school!

Yea I was really bummed when I found out that EM has gotten a lot more competitive in recent years while I'm stuck waiting to start. I did notice when I was applying that there were a lot of EM graduates at AZCOM compared to other DO schools, which also drew me to the school. Thanks for all of the help and good luck in residency!

 

[KP2AZ]

Since the year above got screwed by the dedicated time change, they gave us pretty much 6-7 weeks of dedicated time, at the cost of 1 vacation block in 4th year. So unless they change things again you should be fine in that aspect.

-I'm just glad someone benefited from our misfortune of an absolutely absurd 19 day dedicated study time!

As far as the school goes, overall I've really enjoyed it. Great professors that will take the time to truly teach you.
As far as the administration goes: I think the difference is that at some DO schools, what i gather is that the administration just doesn't want you causing any extra work for them. At AZCOM, they are on top of everything...for better or worse. They can be a great ally, or come down like a hammer with surprising speed.
The testing schedule: brace yourself for your new normal. It is nice to have a test once a week so that you are constantly studying and pushing yourself...but as soon as they start averaging 2.5-3 tests a week for multiple weeks...life gets a little rough.
You will get a great education from AZCOM. I hope you enjoy yourself as much as most of us have

 

[Ioannes Paulus]

I really liked AZCOM when I interviewed there and a close friend of mine is an OMS-I and really, really likes the campus and location.
I had to decline because of the tuition It's a shame because I love Arizona and want to go back for residency but the tuition was a little crazy especially for me who is seriously considering primary care.

 

[Pokedoc]

I really liked AZCOM when I interviewed there and a close friend of mine is an OMS-I and really, really likes the campus and location.
I had to decline because of the tuition It's a shame because I love Arizona and want to go back for residency but the tuition was a little crazy especially for me who is seriously considering primary care.

Yea the tuition is definitely a big thing. My wife has a bunch of family nearby Glendale so that was a major factor when weighing the pros and cons.

 

[Pokedoc]

-I'm just glad someone benefited from our misfortune of an absolutely absurd 19 day dedicated study time!

As far as the school goes, overall I've really enjoyed it. Great professors that will take the time to truly teach you.
As far as the administration goes: I think the difference is that at some DO schools, what i gather is that the administration just doesn't want you causing any extra work for them. At AZCOM, they are on top of everything...for better or worse. They can be a great ally, or come down like a hammer with surprising speed.
The testing schedule: brace yourself for your new normal. It is nice to have a test once a week so that you are constantly studying and pushing yourself...but as soon as they start averaging 2.5-3 tests a week for multiple weeks...life gets a little rough.
You will get a great education from AZCOM. I hope you enjoy yourself as much as most of us have

So when it gets to that point of being multiple tests a week, are they all usually still on Monday or are they spread out? They made it sound like the tests were always on Monday, which I would prefer since it at least concolidates it all into one day.

 

[Jinxapotato]

So when it gets to that point of being multiple tests a week, are they all usually still on Monday or are they spread out? They made it sound like the tests were always on Monday, which I would prefer since it at least concolidates it all into one day.

1st quarter of 1st year is always weekly Monday test. By 2nd quarter 2nd year, expect 2-3 tests per week, any day of the week, at 7AM, and this runs for 2-3 weeks in a row... It is still possible to do well, but at a certain time you have to judge whether you want those As or you want to spend those extra time studying for board.
My advice: work hard from day 1, build up your GPA (aim for straight A early on as these classes are easier and more systematically taught) so you have a great cushion. When 2nd year hits, you can back off a little from course work, but still end up with something like a 3.7 preclinical GPA. How much this matters for residency? Probably very little. But at least it looks good...lol

 

[D4C]

Eh different strokes I guess. The multiple tests per week could feel annoying, but the tests themselves were relatively small material wise. You still end up learning the same material in the same amount of time, what difference does it make if you take one huge test or multiple smaller ones? This way, if you tank 1, you don't fail the quarter/block/whatever they have

 

[Aonyx]

AZCOM M4 here, just matched EM!

I pretty much agree with the above sentiments. I remember as an M1 feeling so overwhelmed by having one test per week that I couldn't imagine having 2 or 3 per week, but by the time we got to that point, I felt fine. It helps that when we had 3 exams in a week one of them was often psych or OMM, which took much less preparation than something like Path and the tests were usually spread out so that they were monday and thursday or friday. I don't recall more than one a day, though that could have happened. I feel like taking so many exams helped a lot with preparing for Step 1, which I did very well on.

I did my clinical rotations in a different region. I felt like they were overall pretty good, although perhaps a bit too cushy sometimes compared to what other people described, and some of them were totally useless. Don't expect much help with setting up 4th year, especially if you aren't in Arizona. I set up all but one of mine, including my cores.

All in all, I think it was a good experience. Glendale is hot, white, and boring and I'm glad to not live there anymore, but AZCOM wasn't a bad place to spend 1st and 2nd year.

Also, we had a pretty awesome match this year based on what people posted in the FB group. I haven't seen an official match list yet, though.

 

[Pokedoc]

AZCOM M4 here, just matched EM!

I pretty much agree with the above sentiments. I remember as an M1 feeling so overwhelmed by having one test per week that I couldn't imagine having 2 or 3 per week, but by the time we got to that point, I felt fine. It helps that when we had 3 exams in a week one of them was often psych or OMM, which took much less preparation than something like Path and the tests were usually spread out so that they were monday and thursday or friday. I don't recall more than one a day, though that could have happened. I feel like taking so many exams helped a lot with preparing for Step 1, which I did very well on.

I did my clinical rotations in a different region. I felt like they were overall pretty good, although perhaps a bit too cushy sometimes compared to what other people described, and some of them were totally useless. Don't expect much help with setting up 4th year, especially if you aren't in Arizona. I set up all but one of mine, including my cores.

All in all, I think it was a good experience. Glendale is hot, white, and boring and I'm glad to not live there anymore, but AZCOM wasn't a bad place to spend 1st and 2nd year.

Also, we had a pretty awesome match this year based on what people posted in the FB group. I haven't seen an official match list yet, though.

Thanks and congratulations on the match! Did you have much difficulty when setting up the rotations in your 4th year? Oh and did you attend lectures or just do them from home/on your on time? It sounds like a majority of people watch the recordings on their own time and it seems to work well for them so I'm definitely planning on doing that, which will be a change.

 

[Aonyx]

Thanks and congratulations on the match! Did you have much difficulty when setting up the rotations in your 4th year? Oh and did you attend lectures or just do them from home/on your on time? It sounds like a majority of people watch the recordings on their own time and it seems to work well for them so I'm definitely planning on doing that, which will be a change.

I didn't reallyhave difficulty, but I started pretty far in advance during spring of 3rd year. I typically did a mix of both. I studied at home when it was a really busy time, but went to class if I felt like I was too disconnected. You kind of get an idea of which classes are good to go to. I went to almost every anatomy lecture, but this is before they recorded and posted them. Listening to them definitely helps. For pretty much every class, the lectures are more than sufficient. The books are good if you need a lot of detail, but if you want to do well on the test, studying the lectures is fine.

 

[KP2AZ]

AZCOM M4 here, just matched EM!

I pretty much agree with the above sentiments. I remember as an M1 feeling so overwhelmed by having one test per week that I couldn't imagine having 2 or 3 per week, but by the time we got to that point, I felt fine. It helps that when we had 3 exams in a week one of them was often psych or OMM, which took much less preparation than something like Path and the tests were usually spread out so that they were monday and thursday or friday. I don't recall more than one a day, though that could have happened. I feel like taking so many exams helped a lot with preparing for Step 1, which I did very well on.

I did my clinical rotations in a different region. I felt like they were overall pretty good, although perhaps a bit too cushy sometimes compared to what other people described, and some of them were totally useless. Don't expect much help with setting up 4th year, especially if you aren't in Arizona. I set up all but one of mine, including my cores.

All in all, I think it was a good experience. Glendale is hot, white, and boring and I'm glad to not live there anymore, but AZCOM wasn't a bad place to spend 1st and 2nd year.

Also, we had a pretty awesome match this year based on what people posted in the FB group. I haven't seen an official match list yet, though.

From my friends in your year, I've only heard great things about your classes match. Also... "hot white and boring" might be the best thing I've ever read on SDN

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

AZCOM is great at teaching anatomy, neuro, biochem first year. The faculty makes it easy to pound down tons of fine detail in a digestible manner. The exam schedule is not a big deal as long as you study everyday. You will get to a point where you will be studying for 2 exams at any given time and perhaps a bit more second year but by that time hopefully you will have gotten your groove down and flying through it all.