RVU-CO vs Western-COMP

[MarkWatney]

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Hi all, I have acceptances to both RVU and Western. SUPER excited.
I know there are already some threads discussing this, but I just wanted to see if there has been any new insights.
Any pros and cons between RVU and Western would be greatly appreciated.

I grew up in SoCal and hopefully want to return after medical school for residency, but as of right now, I would like to experience life outside of LA to see what's going on in other places in the US. (I lived on the east coast for a year and appreciated how vastly different from LA life it was)

I absolutely love the Colorado area from visiting and can really see myself living and really enjoying the weather/environment of RVU. Not to mention the awesome snowboarding there.
RVU's campus was nice and quaint and it definitely felt like more of a community than when I interviewed at Western.
I also know that RVU has the great board scores so that is why I'm leaning more towards RVU. But Western has the SoCal connection that I am worried about. Would it be harder to match back to SoCal from RVU?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[marine12]

Hope you dont mind me piggybacking off your question OP but does anyone know what clinical sites RVU has?

 

[SergeantBuzzKill]

Study hard and do well on your boards and you will probably match back in CA. You might have better quality rotations at RVU anyway considering the new MD schools in the CA area. Plus I hear Western lost their Arrowhead rotation site to a Caribbean school.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

You're going to be in medical school. You won't be "experiencing life in X." When I did preclinical, it made no difference that I was in greater LA. It would have been exactly the same had it been in middle of Utah or in Montana. A proper 3rd year will keep you busy between rotations and studying for shelf exams, although you might have some light days or rotations here and there. 4th year you make what you want out of it, so if you want to see the world and your school is in LA, you can probably experience the entire year in Colorado if you want.

Choose your school based on the benefits it provides you and not location.

 

[Goro]

Hi all, I have acceptances to both RVU and Western. SUPER excited.
I know there are already some threads discussing this, but I just wanted to see if there has been any new insights.
Any pros and cons between RVU and Western would be greatly appreciated.

I grew up in SoCal and hopefully want to return after medical school for residency, but as of right now, I would like to experience life outside of LA to see what's going on in other places in the US. (I lived on the east coast for a year and appreciated how vastly different from LA life it was)

I absolutely love the Colorado area from visiting and can really see myself living and really enjoying the weather/environment of RVU. Not to mention the awesome snowboarding there.
RVU's campus was nice and quaint and it definitely felt like more of a community than when I interviewed at Western.
I also know that RVU has the great board scores so that is why I'm leaning more towards RVU. But Western has the SoCal connection that I am worried about. Would it be harder to match back to SoCal from RVU?

Thanks in advance for any help!

This is easy. What do you like more, Mexican food or steak?

 

[tkim]

Study hard and do well on your boards and you will probably match back in CA. You might have better quality rotations at RVU anyway considering the new MD schools in the CA area. Plus I hear Western lost their Arrowhead rotation site to a Caribbean school.

So SGU students only at Arrowhead?

 

[tkim]

Hi all, I have acceptances to both RVU and Western. SUPER excited.
I know there are already some threads discussing this, but I just wanted to see if there has been any new insights.
Any pros and cons between RVU and Western would be greatly appreciated.

I grew up in SoCal and hopefully want to return after medical school for residency, but as of right now, I would like to experience life outside of LA to see what's going on in other places in the US. (I lived on the east coast for a year and appreciated how vastly different from LA life it was)

I absolutely love the Colorado area from visiting and can really see myself living and really enjoying the weather/environment of RVU. Not to mention the awesome snowboarding there.
RVU's campus was nice and quaint and it definitely felt like more of a community than when I interviewed at Western.
I also know that RVU has the great board scores so that is why I'm leaning more towards RVU. But Western has the SoCal connection that I am worried about. Would it be harder to match back to SoCal from RVU?

Thanks in advance for any help!

The preclinical and clinical years have to be evaluated differently. If your goal is to do residency in SoCal, already being *in* SoCal and from a school known to their residencies could give you an edge. Plus, the stress of travel/housing for audition rotations in CA would be less, because you won't have to move month to month. Some logistics I learned when I went to med school on the left coast but applied for residencies on the east coast. "Experiencing life outside of LA" isn't something to accomplish during med school. Save it for when you have the time and money.

 

[workaholic181]

Check out the match lists of both schools. I looked at RVU and there were a handful of non military matches to CA, not sure what region of CA these were though. Couldn't find any matches for Western but I know they are like 80% in state students so I imagine a lot of people stay in state.

It will probably be easier to match in SoCal from Western than from RVU. Given the alumni network and the familiarity with the school that local PDs have I'd probably pick Western if you're sure you want to practice in the LA area. As another poster said, honestly med school is so demanding you're not really gonna have time to experience a new region of the country as much as you might like. Also having family nearby is a huge, huge help I've found. Cant go too far wrong either way! Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[SergeantBuzzKill]

So SGU students only at Arrowhead?

That’s what a current student at Western-Pomona told me, but I have no hard evidence to back that up.

 

[tkim]

That’s what a current student at Western-Pomona told me, but I have no hard evidence to back that up.

Nothing on the ARMC website to support this. I'd be more concerned about the new Colton med school opening up, but they wouldn't start clinical roations for another two years.

 

[Magus5454]

So SGU students only at Arrowhead?

CUSM soon.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Study hard and do well on your boards and you will probably match back in CA. You might have better quality rotations at RVU anyway considering the new MD schools in the CA area. Plus I hear Western lost their Arrowhead rotation site to a Caribbean school.

No, we have not lost arrowhead, although scheduling of electives has become harder. In addition to us, there are Touro CA students rotating at arrowhead.

Honestly, if you go to western, don't choose a track where you rotate at arrowhead.

 

[arrow333]

No, we have not lost arrowhead, although scheduling of electives has become harder. In addition to us, there are Touro CA students rotating at arrowhead.

Honestly, if you go to western, don't choose a track where you rotate at arrowhead.

Hey do you mind expanding on that? I am currently deciding between COMP and another school. What track are you doing/ recommend?

 

[SergeantBuzzKill]

Hey do you mind expanding on that? I am currently deciding between COMP and another school. What track are you doing/ recommend?

I think he’s a resident, not a student

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Hey do you mind expanding on that? I am currently deciding between COMP and another school. What track are you doing/ recommend?

There are 220 tracks. I can't speak of a track in 3 years time as preceptors and rotation sites change.

 

[IWantTibiaDoctor]

Hey man I was also accepted to both of these schools and am struggling with the same problems. I'm from Virginia and am stuck between the schools. I'm trying to make a decision before the first deposits hit haha. I would love to exchange thoughts with you of what you thought the pros/cons were of each school.

 

[Magus5454]

Hey man I was also accepted to both of these schools and am struggling with the same problems. I'm from Virginia and am stuck between the schools. I'm trying to make a decision before the first deposits hit haha. I would love to exchange thoughts with you of what you thought the pros/cons were of each school.

You still have two months. The cost of living in SoCal is ridiculous. I don't know how it is in Colorado.

 

[Siggy]

No, we have not lost arrowhead, although scheduling of electives has become harder. In addition to us, there are Touro CA students rotating at arrowhead.

Honestly, if you go to western, don't choose a track where you rotate at arrowhead.

I know this is a year old, but I wanted to see what my old stomping grounds were up to now that Arrowhead is pulling out of COMP.

For shear educational value, Arrowhead was the best place that COMP had. I mean, sure... you can go learn the importance of DRGs and LOS at Chino Valley... you know... the hospital with almost never an ICU patient.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I know this is a year old, but I wanted to see what my old stomping grounds were up to now that Arrowhead is pulling out of COMP.

For shear educational value, Arrowhead was the best place that COMP had. I mean, sure... you can go learn the importance of DRGs and LOS at Chino Valley... you know... the hospital with almost never an ICU patient.

More people are being sent to Desert Regional Medical Center for IM from my understanding, but yes, the entire landscape of Arrowhead has changed. Last year I was at the school they were going to stop having priority school enrollment of electives at Arrowhead and you'd have to start competing with Touro and Caribbean kids for those spots

 

[Siggy]

More people are being sent to Desert Regional Medical Center for IM from my understanding, but yes, the entire landscape of Arrowhead has changed. Last year I was at the school they were going to stop having priority school enrollment of electives at Arrowhead and you'd have to start competing with Touro and Caribbean kids for those spots

I thought they tried to keep most of the rotations within an hour drive... driving out to Palm Springs every day seems excessive.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

I thought they tried to keep most of the rotations within an hour drive... driving out to Palm Springs every day seems excessive.

Within an hour? They have rotations in Joshua Tree that are CORE. They have psych all the way at UCLA-Olive View. They have some OB/Gyn in San Diego. The rotations now are all over the place. I don't know a single person that was able to live in one location during 3rd or 4th year. AirBnB made a killing from students

 

[Siggy]

Within an hour? They have rotations in Joshua Tree that are CORE. They have psych all the way at UCLA-Olive View. They have some OB/Gyn in San Diego. The rotations now are all over the place. I don't know a single person that was able to live in one location during 3rd or 4th year. AirBnB made a killing from students

That was the standard way back for the class of 2014... with exceptions for the Ventura people (however they were only in Ventura). This is insanity.