those of you at loma linda

[777]

I've been accepted to loma linda and I have my mind almost completely set on going there. The reason why is because I am really attracted to the philosophy of the school in that they stress treating the whole person and there dedication to the physical, intellectual, social, and spiritual growth in their students. I'm sure that other schools promote most of those things as well, but I have the impression that loma does more so. So my question is do you find that the school actually does what their brochure tells me and how? And in your opinion is that a good reason to go there even if you've been accepted to other more highly ranked schools?

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[vyc]

on a similar note, Georgetown seems to claim the same general philosophy.
i didn't apply to Loma Linda but any Georgetown students out there who want to affirm or dispel?

 

[johnM]

Sorry I can't anser your questions, as I am just an applicant interviewing at Loma Linda this week, but I have another question that I though I might as well ask while this thread is running. Is it true that students at LLU have to sign a contract promising not to drink alcohol or have pre-marital sex? 😕
I know, I'm a horrible Christian... but this just seems a little overbearing. How would they enforce something like this? 🙂

 

[drmoon]

While we're on the subject of what Loma Linda may or may not allow students to do....I was planning on applying there and wondered if they are concerned with your religious affiliation. Do they ask anything like that on your app or in interviews??

 

[The Falconer]

Okay..time to get rid of some rumors. I will be attending LLU SOM in the fall and as of yet I have not signed any unusual contracts. I will tell you that the school is affiliated with SDA and that fact is presented to you prior to acceptance. They do ask for your religious affiliation on apps, but they DO accept non-SDA applicants. The school's philosophy on alcohol, drugs and tobacco is fairly stringent...they expect their students to stay clear of all of the above. As far as pre-marital sex...well SDA, like most religions, frowns upon it, but it isn't in any contract that I've seen. Bottom line is that it is a great school with great people. As far as rankings go 777, well it is written as being a 2nd tier school. Everyone should know how rankings can be. Just FYI LLU SOM never returned their US News info so who knows how they would rank on that list. If you feel at home there...then you are home! I look forward to applying their/my philosophy in the future.

 

[dlbruch]

I am currently a student at COMP, but two years ago, I applied to LLU. At the time, I was working for the med school in a research lab and had strong rec's from LLU faculty and alumni. On the secondary app. when asked if I used alcohol and/or tobacco, I replied honestly (many people just lie). I was never interviewed. When I asked the dean of admissions what I could do to improve my chances, he brought up my use of these substances, suggesting that a good physician could not treat patients effectively while doing these things. He did not seem to care that I am a Christian with a strong background of involvment in full time ministry and church teaching (BTW, I am not SDA). I was also treated rudely on several occasions by the admissions office staff. Long story short, I did not feel like I was treated like a whole person. Of course my experience my not be representative of a general attitude, I can't say. And, just so you know, LLU med center and campus do subscribe to the SDA philosophies, so you can't get meat or caffeine of any type at LLU.

 

[The Falconer]

Dlbruch is correct in the fact that I have yet to see caffeine containing drinks on campus/at the med center, but heck I'm not going to let the difference between sprite and mountain dew stop me from going to a med school. As far as rudeness goes, I think I know who you are talking about, and her attitude varies from day to day. I will speak on the topic of SDA and non-SDA....I personally know of several non-SDAs who have already been admitted with varied degrees of involvement in their church. Yes the school is affiliated with the SDA church so SDA philosophies are presented, just as Mormon philosophies are presented at BYU..no harm no foul. My only suggestion is that people know the school they are applying to before they do so, so they know what they are in for. If anyone has questions, or I can stop any wierd rumors, about SDA or LLU SOM (if I have the answer) I'll answer them.

 

[drmoon]

I wouldn't let Sprite or Mountain Dew sway my decision to enter a medical school, but I certainly am going to steer clear of a supposedly "Christian" college that practices prejudiced thinking and feels that a doctor who may drink beer or wine on occasion is not capable of being an excellent practitioner.

Check that one off my list.

 

[The Falconer]

I think that there are two sides to every story and you only heard one side...dont take it for the only truth. SDAs are not judgemental overall (not that Ive seen), no more so than any other religion at least. I was never asked what religion I was during my interview (granted it is open file) nor was I asked about my private life (other than hobbies etc.).

 

[carddr]

Pays to do the research, than when you go to the store and put your money down you know what you are getting into. I assume SDA means Seven Day Adventist, helpful for those who aren't into a different religion. Find out all you can and either accept the approach or close your check book. Afterall you are going to ivest tons of money here. Like a stock know what you are getting. If you do go there and don't like it forget the complaining you made you choice or go somewhere else. Love it or leave it. Q. All your responses must be oral.OK? What school did you go to? A. Oral.

 

[dlbruch]

I hope people don't get me wrong- I'm not totally anti-Loma Linda. I may even end up in residency there. I was just sharing my personal experience for whatever it is worth.

Falconer, didn't you have to answer the alcohol/tobacco questions on the sencondary app.? Were you honest?

 

[dlbruch]

Q. All your responses must be oral.OK? What school did you go to? A. Oral.
-fatimadr

Huh? I don't get it.

 

[The Falconer]

I was 100% honest on the secondary and had no problems with it....it did kind of freak me out when I saw it though. After filling out several other secondaries then seeing its conservative nature I kinda went bug eyed. All is well though.

 

[johnM]

I wrote on the secondary that I have had occasional drinks such as at weddings. i wasn't asked about it in my interview, but i was asked about my religion by both interviewers. fortunately, they didn't ask about my sex life... 😉

 

[carddr]

dlbruch, you must be studying too hard. Having a father who practices law you get these crazy stories once and awhile. Like, the attorney says: Sir, all your responses must be oral(like in out loud) OK? What school did you go to? The witness Answers(per instructions from the attorney)Oral. Some people always do as t
hey're told. Get it!! A little humor here!!!

Q. Are you qualified to give a urine sample?????

 

[melancholy]

Haha I get it now, but I had to say it aloud.. luckily no one else was in the room. 😛

 

[drmoon]

I had to add that on the website the Mission states, in part "...further the healing and teaching ministry of Jesus Christ...by educating ethical and proficient Christian health professionals..."

It sounds kind of exclusory to me.

 

[squeek]

Loma Linda SOM does give preference to students who are 1) Seventh Day Adventist, and 2) Christian. This may be "exlusory," but I would argue that they have a right to be so in concordance with their religious mission--after all, it is a private school. In a sense, it is no more exlusory than Ivy Leauge med schools that do not interview non-Ivy league undergrads. As it is one of the very few overtly religious medical schools in the United States, it is actually a wonderful place for students of like mind to attend. (I have three friends there, two Protestant and one SDA, and they all enjoy the school immensely).

As for the prohibition of alcohol, tobacco, and premarital sex, those are standard prohibitions for any Christian/SDA school. My undergrad institution, also Christian, had us sign the same contract. Some students observe their contract, others don't (you are right, it is very hard to enforce. You typically have to sign to uphold an honor code). If you already live your life that way, it's not a problem. If you don't, that doesn't mean you are a "bad" Christian or individual; it simply means your life philosophy differs from that of the insitution. Bottom line: if it bothers you that much, you won't be happy there and should attend another insitution.

Regarding the "whole person": one wonderful thing about SDAs (and I'm not one) IS their holistic approach to life. I've had several SDA friends over the years, and they are wonderful people to be around--it is invigorating to be with them! 🙂 My guess is that LLUSOM also reflects this. If you really like this school, go for it! (It also has a very good reputation).

 

[orestes1]

Falconer or 777, maybe you can answer a question for me. I got a phone call from Dr. Thorn yesterday but didn't check my machine until today. He said he would like to speak with me on Tuesday. I was just wondering how you found out if you were accepted into the school. Was it by a letter or through a phone call. I am dying to found out. Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[LomaLindian]

Just to set the record straight...
I am a fourth year student at Loma Linda University, as such I can hopefully give you an honest account of the school and its policies. Here goes...

1)Admittance: I must preface this by saying that I am SDA (Seventh Day Adventist). LLU is looking for students that share their common interest in patient care. This is coming from a Christian perspective. As such, they are looking for Christian doctors. It doesn't matter if you are SDA or not as long as you fit into the mold of students that they want to train. They ask about religious preference because it is there prerogative--SDA's fund the hospital, so they want Christian doctors. If you don't agree with this philosophy, then this might not be the school for you. They also have a policy of living a healthy lifestyle, which includes not eating meat, drinking alcohol, or smoking. It is true that a person must sign a waiver that they will not drink alcohol--but the school doesn't police this. If someone puts that they drink occasionally, the admissions committee might explore to what extent alcohol is involved in their life. As for caffiene in the hospital, almost every floor has caffienated coffee, softdrinks, etc.. You just can't buy it in the cafeteria (as well as meat). I personally think the caf is pretty good.

2)Atmosphere: LLU focuses on whole person care--physical, mental, spiritual. There are classes during all four years that try to help students address all aspects of patient care--including spiritual. They do not force it on you, you don't have to follow their advice, but I personally believe that there is much credence in what LLU teaches. Classes have rankings, but they are based primarily on standardized tests (mock boards). There is a lot of camaraderie amongst the students. There will always be gunners, but they don't sabotage other students to my knowledge.

3)Didactics: The first year is pretty average with concerns to didactic material. I think the only strength of the first year is Anatomy. But this is more than made up by the second year. Second year pathology and pathophysiology are very strong. This is evidenced by Step I board scores. In the class below mine, 16-17% scored 99th percentile!!! Yeah I wished I started a year later... anyway, the teaching is second to none as far as BS on Step I are concerned.

4)Clinical: 3rd and 4th years have a pretty broad clinical experience, including 2 county, university, and VA settings. There is no elective time during the third year--which I think is a weakness if someone wants to do radiology, pathology, or other specialties. Also, most of the med schools in California participate in a standardized OSCE. Loma Linda's mean has been consistently one SD above all other schools means. LLU is KNOWN for the clinical skills that its grads leave with.

5)Reputation: LLU is known around the world--but primarily on the west coast. If someone wants to go to "the best" surgical subspecialty residency or something comparable, UCSF or Stanford might be a better choice. Can our grads get into these programs--of course, many grads go on to hopkins, MGH, UCSF, Mayo, etc.. LLU grads are known as being very solid physicians(according to what I've heard on the interview trail).

Anyway, I hope this helps. All in all, I've had a pretty great med school experience. For the high-powered, academic research types, LLU might not be the best for you. If you are concerned about getting a great education with an emphasis on ethical responsabilities of physicians, LLU is a great choice.

If you have any questions--plz post.

 

[LomaLindian]

Tweetypie,

You have a valid question. Unfortunately I don't have an answer. On my quest for a radiology residency, I received an interview at UCLA (great program) and not UCI (mediocre program). It doesn't make any sense. I have tried not to think about how requests for interviews are gotten. You win some, you lose some. It seems like you would have fit in well at LLU however.

As to the examples you gave, I am not on the admittance committee--I can only give an opinion. Rumors run freely on message boards, that's why I tried to give an opinion from someone who actually attends LLU on this thread.

Also, applying for early acceptance can kill a good candidate, one that might have had a chance during the regular application process.

My advice is to give Dr. Thorn an email or call his office and plead your case. Mistakes sometimes happen and if you think you are a shoe-in it wouldn't hurt to have them look at your app again.

Hope this helps.

 

[none]

Georgetown and Loma Linda are very different. Yes, they are both religious schools, but Georgetown is not nearly as overtly so. There is no required chapel service. The secondary is a simple essay on why you want to attend the school. The only real evidence of religion you would see is that some professors are Jesuits, but you probably wouldn't notice that. The Jesuits are known for being one of (if not the most) liberal of the priestly orders. Now you won't get to practice abortions at the University hospital (although you could at affliated ones) or do human stem cell research, but that's about it. They even deal with birth control in classes. Now I don't know as much about the other three Jesuit schools, but I would imagine they are quite similiar to Georgetown in their religious zealotry. Jesuit schools in general have long been reprimanded by the higher administration of the Church so that they would more greatly promote Catholic doctrine, but due to the nature of the Jesuits and their history of rebellion to this authority, their position is unlikely to change.

Finally, I'm VERY suspicious of any school that does not provide their information to U.S. News and World Reports. I would quite simply have to assume the worst. Rankings should not be used as a sole deciding factor, but they most assuredly should play some role in making decisions, both on the part of the school and the applicant.

 

[BrownSkinGirl]

Concerning the lack of information about Loma Linda in U.S. News and World Reports:

I think that LLU had very practical motives for not submitting information. I do imagine that people who choose school by rankings are simply comparing their own statistics to the school's statistics. LLU may have kept itself off of that ranking list to weed out all the applicants who disagree with all their philosophies, apply anyway, don't get accepted, and then get huffy because they thought their numbers could get them in anywhere.

Anybody who will fit in at this school really won't care about its rankings. And those who have chosen to apply have done their research (aside from that ranking thing) and already know that it is a quality institution.