Questions for COMP students from a Podiatrist:

[drmoon]

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I've been reading many of the posts about COMP, but I STILL have interest! Imagine that!

I have a few questions and would greatly appreciate some input:

First, how are the lectures in the basic sciences organized? Do you have complete lecture/class notes? Is attendance mandatory?? Can one do well enough by just reading the materials aside from attending every lecture??? Podiatry school has a very similar curriculum in the 1st two years and I recently finished. What I'm getting at is do you think it is possible to spend less time in lecture, study mostly on your own and work a little bit??

Second, are the pass rates for the boards really as bad as COMP people are portraying? Are the clinicals adequate or more than adequate??

Thanks in advance

DrMoon

 

[DOnut]

Hi Dr. Moon,
Are you only looking at COMP? I know that there are several osteopathic schools who have an independent study program for students who feel that they either study best that way, or hold a doctorate degree already. LECOM and Ohio state are two that I can come up with off of the top of my head. There is also a PBL program at both of these schools if you didn't want to study completely on your own.

 

[drmoon]

I'm only looking at COMP for now. It's mostly because I own a home in L.A. and have a very easy clinic position that I, literally, could do all of my studying at. Moving away would be too problematic, unfortunately.

 

[ussdfiant]

Dr Moon,

Do you also post to Network 54? That site saved my professional life. I was going to Pod school, but am now going to osteopathic school due in part to some of things I read there.

 

[PuppyLuv]

i took an MBS program at Barry U (same classes to their first year pod program) and now doing the first year at COMP. for me, they're pretty much similar and feels like a repeat but i don't know if you could do it without going to class.

 

[melancholy]

Hi drmoon,
I'm currently an MS-I at COMP.. hopefully I can answer some of these questions.

From what I remember (and that wasn't too long ago), all our basic science courses had note packets handed out and a number of professors also used powerpoint presentations. Some classes depend a lot more on these powerpoint presentations than others.. it depends on the professor. There are a few classes/professors that you could probably skip once you get a feel for them. They have an attendance policy for the OMM course, but they don't take attendance for the other basic sciences. That being said, certain courses are a very good idea to attend and that's not too hard to figure out after a few days. Gross anatomy lab is usually in the afternoons and depending on how comfortable you are with that, you could probably miss a few depending on your lab group. All in all, there is quite a bit of self-study you can do, but for some courses, going to review sessions and lecture are pretty important. If you learn faster by listening to lectures, that might also be something to consider.

The first semester of basic science courses is pretty strenuous at COMP... I have heard of a few people who worked some during our first semester, but it seemed to be pretty rare and it's definitely not recommended by administration. (and probably not by most students either)

I haven't seen the board pass rates for this past year. They had a few students who took the boards in the fall rather than during the summer and I think the school delayed releasing scores until they could get all that information in. I think somewhere.. the board scores are available in a limited sense, but I'd probably have to ask around. The board scores from past years are documented for sure, but I don't recall them off the top of my head. It does seem like they have slightly decreased the last few years, but I think it would be more prudent to get the opinion of 2nd/3rd/4th year students rather than 1st year student in this matter. From what I've gathered on SDN though, students feel pretty well prepared going into rotations and personally, that means a lot to me. There are opportunities for more clinical experiences through various clubs/organizations if that's what you're referring to. I recently went to an SGA (Student Government) meeting and we're hopefully trying to work on making available preceptorships for first year students in the future. (Not sure how far in the horizon that is though)

Hope this helps.