I'm a CA transplant to Texas and like TCOM a lot. I interviewed and was accepted at WesternU/COMP and did not go for the following reasons: 1) I was interested in dual degree training and research and did not feel like those interests would be supported at WesternU; 2) At the time, the rotations at WesternU/COMP were almost all in Arizona. I know that has changed and more local rotations have been established. The Arrowhead Regional Hospital in San Bernadino is supposed to be great. Also, the tuition is very high at WesternU. I paid less as an out of state student at TCOM than I would have as a CA resident at COMP. If you can get in-state tuition at TCOM by earing competitive scholarships or research fellowships, then your tuition as an out-of-stater drops to $6500.00/year. That's right---six grand per year.
The hours and curriculum at TCOM are a lot like WesternU's---mostly 9am-4pm. Based upon conversations I've had with other medical students (both MD and DO), it is my impression that the basic science curriculum at TCOM is heavily weighted towards minutia and pinge and purge learning. It is probably not much different at most other medical schools. I think that TCOM really benefits from its close affiliation with an academic health science center (it receives either the highest or second highest amount of NIH grant money of all DO schools) and its proximity to two medium-sized osteopathic hospitals. TCOM students, and DO's on a whole, have a good reputation in Texas and the opportunities to do electives at major medical centers in Houston, Temple, Galveston, and Dallas are pretty open. TCOM students have traditionally done very well in both the osteopathic and allopathic residency matches.
There is a lot of exciting clinical and basic science research underway at TCOM, especially in cardiovascular disease and stroke, rheumatology, and OMM. However, if you're not interested in research this may mean very little to you.
The atmosphere at TCOM is moderately competitive. The administration has been criticized by some students for fostering this atmosphere. Our classes are numerically graded with 75 = passing and we're ranked after every semester. Students I know at schools like Stanford and Yale find this a little hard to believe. The latter schools are strictly pass/fail (TCOM is not) and de-emphasize class rank (TCOM does not). I don't know how WesternU works their grades and class ranking system.
TCOM is rapidly expanding (both physically and academically) with a new school of public health, an alzheimer's research center, a biotechnology transfer consortium, and a new geriatrics program. Ronald Blanck, DO, (the former US Army Surgeon General) will be our new President next year and it is anticipated that he will continue to expand the health science center and increase TCOM's reputation nationally.
Both schools are great. Take your pick---it's nice to have choices. I know a couple interns from WesternU and they're very bright and student friendly. TCOM is definitely more research oriented of the two. WesternU is in CA (which I miss), is established, and has access to all the wonderful distractions of southern CA.
--dave
[This message has been edited by drusso (edited 01-16-2000).]
