That style curriculum is definitely more intense than that of COMP which does one system per block in second year. I don't understand how some schools are able to cover all the systems one at a time while NOVA does 3-4 at a time unless they are covering way more information...
On a side note why did you choose NOVA over KCU?
Just want to clarify that our curriculum has not changed recently, at least not the last three years to my knowledge. One student did raise his concern about recent years' low boards pass rate at a meeting, our administration told us that some class is simply smarter than other classes. We really don't know if this is the reason but we do know that our exam average has been consistently 10% higher across all disciplines compared to last year's class. But come on something has to be wrong to have such a low board pass rate. The school needs to evaluate the curriculum and look into system based curriculum because it does produce a much better boards result(aka KCU, TCOM, and RVUCOM). The crazy integrated clinical system really sucks when a huge chunk of the lectures are things you learn on rotations and step 2.
I chose Nova because of 1. clinical education 2. resources 3. location.
Nova has AMAZING rotation sites. None of the schools I interviewed at had anything close. Nova is affiliated with so many great hospitals that they have to cap the limit and tell some hospitals no when they requested more students. For this year, 78 students will get to rotate at two level 1 Trauma centers. There are another three hospitals that are level 2 Trauma and the only hospital in South Beach is our site. Nearly the rest of the sites have residency programs attached to the hospital. For the site I'm going to be rotating at(one of the level 1 Trauma centers), you get to scrub in on a lot of surgeries and first assist. For the second month, students choose a surgery of the desired field. During these two months, students also manage the ICU patients with the docs. Not to mention other awesome specialties like OB and IM where you see a lot of crazy pathology (due to high HIV incidence), C-sections. The experience for the site i'm with is ONE-ON-ONE with an attending at the hospital. You can even find other doctors if you feel like you want to learn from them, they are very willing to work with you. I can go on and on about our clinical rotations but seriously the sites Nova has been so good that we had a hard time even picking and ranking a top 3. On a side note, I say 90%+ of students got their top three choices for rotation sites, but some unlucky ones did not. My friend got a level 2 Trauma site and is very disappointed that it wasn't a level 1 lol. Clinical education is very important to me. Even though you will learn the majority in your residency, but this is where you get to see different specialties and decide what you like. They train you extremely well clinically at Nova. And you will definitely impress people when you do your audition 4th year.
2. Resources. Nova has an undergrad attached to it and has a lot of resources for research, community service, and master programs. Finding a research here is so easy. I am writing and publishing a paper with a faculty right now, the opportunity came to me and I didn't even ask for it. I had to turn the other two down because of board prep. One of my good friends has 4 paper/projects, one has 3, and another has 3. A lot of students are not doing any first two years because they are focusing on the boards. But it's a culture to participate in at least a research project or case presentation in your M3 year. You feel like an odd one when you don't have something lined up.
Nova also has some master programs that you can do while completing your DO degree. MPH, MBA, Disaster Medicine..etc. The MPH has an 80% discount and students are paying <$3500 for it. But I heard they raised the MPH this year by maybe $500? I will have to check on it with my friends. Most of my DO/MPH friends are all doing amazing research with different faculty.
If you like basic science research, Nova just built a collaborative research right next to COM(
NSU Center for Collaborative Research). They just tore down a bunch of buildings and are building a teaching hospital on campus even though the two affiliated level 1 Trauma centers are within 25 minutes range.
If you haven't heard, Nova has recently changed their name to Dr. Kiran C Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine. When they announced this, we were like WHAT WHY?? THIS IS NOT THE NAME WE SIGNED UP FOR??? But then we realized Dr. Patel donated 50 Mil to the school and another 25Mil to change the allopathic school to Dr. Kiran C Patel College of Allopathic Medicine. So yeah you can change our name and make fun of us, but you can't deny that this will provide more resources. We just got an email that the school raised a total of 250mil just the past few years for their "2020 vision" plan. The goal is to attract renowned researchers and collaborators to Nova to provide more resources and opportunities for researchers and students.
Because of all the money, they are already giving us the option to do our mandatory rural rotation in India. Housing, meals, transportation, and airfare are all paid by the school. I don't even know what good stuff will come in the future.
3. Location.
I really wanted to work with HIV patients due to some personal interest. Broward/Miami Dade County has one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the county. And HIV = more crazy pathology.
KCU has a
much better curriculum to prepare the students for the boards. They make sure you make it at the end. And one of the biggest downsides at Nova is the required mandatory rural rotation.
If you are unlucky, you can get your rural rotation during the critical period for audition rotation. I want to stress this point because audition rotation is very important and can play a key factor when applying for residency. Do not underestimate this.
Nova does have more resources, better clinical education, and is at a location where I wanted to learn medicine. I think board score is really up to the individual effort. The Psammoma bodies of Meningoma at KCU and the Psammoma bodies of Meningoma at Nova are the same Meningoma. They don't change name or shape because you go to NSU.
Don't come to Nova if you have a history of academic problems though. Nova will fail you, give you a remediation option, but doesn't really help you to succeed in future classes and fail you again if you don't figure it out. Most people who struggled probably dropped out, not because Nova dismissed them. The remediate policy is beyond generous.
I know plenty of M3s who got 250+ on the USMLE but also know plenty who ended up not taking it because they didn't have enough time to prepare and study(we have 2 months dedicated). I use pathoma, sketchy, first aid, and u world religiously like other DO students, so I went with Nova with my finger crossing that I get a good timing for my mandatory audition. You can't really go wrong with either school. Hope this helps.
