Sense said:
This is certainly not the case for all DO schools. I can tell you that at COMP you can do all your rotations through hospitals in southern CA. I believe at PCOM and NYCOM you can also rotate within those states. I would say at DO schools where they are established, they can generally rotate within the same area as the school.
AZCOM just opened in 1996 and the University of Arizona medical school owns most of the turf in Arizona. As I understand it, they have successfully excluded AZCOM students from hospitals in Phoenix, but for other DO schools this is not the case.
Just to be precise, the U of A had contracts prior to 1996 with many of the major hospitals in the Phoenix area. Those contracts preclude students from any school taking precedence over U of A students. This includes students from ANY school. These contracts are "lifetime", but due to factors that don't have much to do with AZCOM, there are rumblings that these contracts will be renegotiated in the future. As to what or when things may happen, it's anybody's guess.
However, the above mainly affects 3rd year students seeking hospital based rotations in AZ. 4th years have it much better, as most hospitals in AZ won't take any 3rd years (aside from U of A students). This doesn't bother me, as the state school ought to have 1st dibs on rotations at public hospitals.
It can be argued that AZCOM's preceptor based system is a response to effectively being locked out in the Phoenix area. However, that does NOT mean that a person has to move out of Phoeniz to complete 3rd and 4th year rotations. And it does NOT mean you'll get stuck with crappy preceptors either, provided you are willing to put in the effort to research and select the preceptors you'll learn from. Your education is what you make of it.
A student is generally able to spend 1/2 of 3rd year and all of 4th year out of AZ if they wish. Just don't ask the Clinical Ed department to do the legwork for you.
At AZCOM, the sum reality of the rotation situation is this: you're in a flexible environment that allows you to research and select much of your clinical education. The down side here is that YOU have to do the work, and get the privilege of paying 33K to do so. Some people like this approach and make it work, others don't. It really is your preference.
However, and this is just my opinion, I have no clue about the individuals who whine and complain about the 3rd and 4th year situations. Did you not understand the preceptor based clinical years when you signed on? Did you not ask your upperclassmen abou their experiences? It seems to me that a person ready to spend 130K+ on education just might want to know what you're getting into.
