Tornado crushes William Carey COM

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WorldChanger36

WorldChanger36

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http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/...university-severely-damaged-tornado/96879454/http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/videos/news/...william-carey...tornado/96879454/


www.wmcarey.edu/news/storm-damages-campus

My COM took some major tornado damage last night....

Doesn't look like any one was hurt but it does seem like classes may be out of action for some time.
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My prayers go out to all of the students and faculty. I pray WCU/WCUCOM recovers quickly.
 
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Glad everyone is safe. Thoughts / prayers to the wcu community
 
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Theres 3 main buildings at WCUCOM and we call them "COMs". COM 1 and COM 2 took mild damage from the tornado. Our lecture halls are intact but the OMM lab was damaged. COM 3 was severely damaged. The entire WCU campus was hit hard so its shutdown until further notice and on-campus students are being evacuated. Theres a ton of uncertainty right now for first and second years since COM 3 had our anatomy and clinical skills labs.
 
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I got an email from the AOA president about this. Stay safe!

Link: http://amorassoc.informz.net/inform...laWQ9NTg1NTE5MyZzdWJzY3JpYmVyaWQ9OTAwNTg5MTIy
wcu.png
 
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I wish WCU students all the best and a swift return back to their studies. You'll rebuild and you'll make it better.
 
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It's a miracle no one was hurt-- but my heart goes out to those students uncertain when things will get back up and running.
 
LutGholein said:
It's a miracle no one was hurt-- but my heart goes out to those students uncertain when things will get back up and running.
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The campus looks like a battle took place there. The tornado had some serious energy. A few undergrads were injured but no one in the COM.


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WorldChanger36 said:
The campus looks like a battle took place there. The tornado had some serious energy. A few undergrads were injured but no one in the COM.


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Man this hurts. I can't imagine how this feels for not just those enrolled but those also coming in this year. Do you think there might be temporary transfers set up? Or if WCU might defer the currently accepted to rebuild that community?
 
Best wishes to the WCU-COM community. This more obviously affects MS1 and MS2s but I hope MS4's aren't affected to so close to the match and graduation. Don't see how they would be.
 
Oh no, are the OMM tables okay?

On the positive side, I heard that WCU has a mandatory attendance policy. MS1/2 won't need to go to school anymore.
In the meantime, I hope that other COMs will help WCU out.
 
LutGholein said:
Man this hurts. I can't imagine how this feels for not just those enrolled but those also coming in this year. Do you think there might be temporary transfers set up? Or if WCU might defer the currently accepted to rebuild that community?
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Not sure the rules on this but i remember something about if a school can no longer support its students each student must be transferred to the nearest school that can accommodate them. We will most likely be having classes at a hotel or USM or the traditions campus. Its gonna be super ruff


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I heard the University of Mississippi Med school in Jackson is going to let all of you transfer in as MD students. On a more serious note, I saw a video of the damage and hope WCU has good insurance. Repair costs will exceed WCU's entire endowment.


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Wjldenver said:
I heard the University of Mississippi Med school in Jackson is going to let all of you transfer in as MD students. On a more serious note, I saw a video of the damage and hope WCU has good insurance. Repair costs will exceed WCU's entire endowment.


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I can tell you the whole MD rumor isnt true but I do believe UMMC has the heart to do it. The faculty here will make it work. When I first posted here I had not seen pics of the damage but now... it is bad enough that talk about transfers is a thing. I bet though we will tough it out on pride alone at a damn holiday inn express conference room.


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WorldChanger36 said:
I can tell you the whole MD rumor isnt true but I do believe UMMC has the heart to do it. The faculty here will make it work. When I first posted here I had not seen pics of the damage but now... it is bad enough that talk about transfers is a thing. I bet though we will tough it out on pride alone at a damn holiday inn express conference room.


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I saw some of the damage on reddit. It's pretty rough.
Hopefully the amount of money they get from insurance will be able to repair, expand, and modernize the campus significantly.
 
WorldChanger36 said:
I can tell you the whole MD rumor isnt true but I do believe UMMC has the heart to do it. The faculty here will make it work. When I first posted here I had not seen pics of the damage but now... it is bad enough that talk about transfers is a thing. I bet though we will tough it out on pride alone at a damn holiday inn express conference room.
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WCU will fight hard against that notion. That's like a crapload of loss revenue. They will rent a few trailers and teach you guys medicine the Caribbean style.

On a more serious note, my condolence to you guys. That's harsh.
 
68PGunner said:
WCU will fight hard against that notion. That's like a crapload of loss revenue. They will rent a few trailers and teach you guys medicine the Caribbean style.

On a more serious note, my condolence to you guys. That's harsh.
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I think you're being absurd to the point of pettiness.
 
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68PGunner said:
WCU will fight hard against that notion. That's like a crapload of loss revenue. They will rent a few trailers and teach you guys medicine the Caribbean style.

On a more serious note, my condolence to you guys. That's harsh.
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Honestly I don't think trailers are the least bit unreasonable given the circumstances.
 
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NurWollen said:
Honestly I don't think trailers are the least bit unreasonable given the circumstances.
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I think that if they really care about their students, they will call up other schools right now, in order to settle these students into new schools in order to continue their medical education. Right now, WCU is out of business.
 
68PGunner said:
WCU will fight hard against that notion. That's like a crapload of loss revenue. They will rent a few trailers and teach you guys medicine the Caribbean style.

On a more serious note, my condolence to you guys. That's harsh.
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Dude, are you not seeing the pictures?!?!? WCU doesn't exist anymore!! Neither the undergraduate nor the graduate campuses are in working condition. They are probably meeting with lawyers 24/7 to make something work not only for the DO students, but the other thousands of students that WCU is in charge for.
My best guess is that, if WCU decides to stay open, they will move to a temporary location, like a hotel or another campus. If WCU decides to close indefinitely (because the total damages, as someone else mentioned, vastly over the school's endowment and the board of trustees may not approve the investment to keep the school open), the students will be distributed to other DO schools.

This is really a tragedy and the entire community is in my prayers.
 
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Ioannes Paulus said:
Dude, are you not seeing the pictures?!?!? WCU doesn't exist anymore!! Neither the undergraduate nor the graduate campuses are in working condition. They are probably meeting with lawyers 24/7 to make something work not only for the DO students, but the other thousands of students that WCU is in charge for.
My best guess is that, if WCU decides to stay open, they will move to a temporary location, like a hotel or another campus. If WCU decides to close indefinitely (because the total damages, as someone else mentioned, vastly over the school's endowment and the board of trustees may not approve the investment to keep the school open), the students will be distributed to other DO schools.

This is really a tragedy and the entire community is in my prayers.
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I agree, WCU is damaged to a level that will require months of repairs if not entirely rebuilding. Insurance will likely cover a significant amount of the damages and allow them to rebuild. But I don't think it'll have a Joplin speed of recovery.

I sincerely hope that WCU can rebuild and resume operation stronger than before.
 
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68PGunner said:
I think that if they really care about their students, they will call up other schools right now, in order to settle these students into new schools in order to continue their medical education. Right now, WCU is out of business.
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My heart and prayers go out to these students and residents of and around the WCU community. However, how do you expect other schools to take in medical students on a whim? It is mid-year and there is no telling how their curriculum would match up against another school's curriculum. Moreover, schools would be displacing their own recruits by this point and it would especially be hard to relocate 200+ kids. They will find a building and either tough it out or do some kind of satellite style learning. I HIGHLY doubt transfers happen, that should be only in the case that a school is shut down for accreditation reasoning or permanently.
 
The deans are debating the options but yes they are not just going to close. The OPP lab is damaged. The only thing still standing is the classrooms. Not sure if fema has med school trailers or not. Either way it is very likely us students are going to get screwed in the end. If i can transfer I will look into it but the rules here are so unclear.


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OrdinaryDO said:
My heart and prayers go out to these students and residents of and around the WCU community. However, how do you expect other schools to take in medical students on a whim? It is mid-year and there is no telling how their curriculum would match up against another school's curriculum. Moreover, schools would be displacing their own recruits by this point and it would especially be hard to relocate 200+ kids. They will find a building and either tough it out or do some kind of satellite style learning. I HIGHLY doubt transfers happen, that should be only in the case that a school is shut down for accreditation reasoning or permanently.
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This is an "extra-ordinary" circumstance. It has happened before. My own dean sent out an email saying that we would funny cooperate with whatever decision WCU made in the future to help out without any question.
But, like I mentioned earlier, WCU has A LOT to do and I wouldn't blame them if the DO students took the back street for a week or two. There's a lot to do. I think the fire department will be coming today to assess the damages and deem the campus uninhabitable.
 
Ioannes Paulus said:
This is an "extra-ordinary" circumstance. It has happened before. My own dean sent out an email saying that we would funny cooperate with whatever decision WCU made in the future to help out without any question.
But, like I mentioned earlier, WCU has A LOT to do and I wouldn't blame them if the DO students took the back street for a week or two. There's a lot to do. I think the fire department will be coming today to assess the damages and deem the campus uninhabitable.
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There are groups of people that want to help with the clean up process but I think they are going to just get shooed away. It really doesn't look good for us. There is talk that we may have to start over, lose years of work and on the other side others are saying that we will just start right back up next week in some other location ... How in the world we will be able to afford that I really just don't know. I am not sure if I even qualify as a medical student anymore... Will I be allowed to sit for COMLEX or USMLE? I have no idea. Every single building on that campus has sustained serious damage and the more it rains the worse it is going to mold up. I can't find anything in COCA guidelines on how this should be handled, what my options are or anything. Waiting is the worst, it feels horrible.
 
WorldChanger36 said:
There are groups of people that want to help with the clean up process but I think they are going to just get shooed away. It really doesn't look good for us. There is talk that we may have to start over, lose years of work and on the other side others are saying that we will just start right back up next week in some other location ... How in the world we will be able to afford that I really just don't know. I am not sure if I even qualify as a medical student anymore... Will I be allowed to sit for COMLEX or USMLE? I have no idea. Every single building on that campus has sustained serious damage and the more it rains the worse it is going to mold up. I can't find anything in COCA guidelines on how this should be handled, what my options are or anything. Waiting is the worst, it feels horrible.
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Dang. So incredibly sorry this is happening to you all. Being from tornado alley I've seen first hand the destruction of these tornados and it absolutely devastating. In one quick moment a whole entire town can be leveled and nothing will be left but something that looks worse than a war zone.

Thinking back to hurricane Katrina, the LSU-NO and Tulane med students were in a similar situation but that was at the beginning of the semester. If I recall correctly most of them were taken in by other med schools across the country...?

Again so sorry about all this. Stay strong!
 
WorldChanger36 said:
There are groups of people that want to help with the clean up process but I think they are going to just get shooed away. It really doesn't look good for us. There is talk that we may have to start over, lose years of work and on the other side others are saying that we will just start right back up next week in some other location ... How in the world we will be able to afford that I really just don't know. I am not sure if I even qualify as a medical student anymore... Will I be allowed to sit for COMLEX or USMLE? I have no idea. Every single building on that campus has sustained serious damage and the more it rains the worse it is going to mold up. I can't find anything in COCA guidelines on how this should be handled, what my options are or anything. Waiting is the worst, it feels horrible.
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Hey Worldchanger,

I can't begin to imagine how awful this must feel, but I want to give you a little hope that this type of situation HAS happened before and you will get through this and remain a medical student. FEMA staff will come in and assess the damage and issue a monetary award to the school. The school will then use these funds to get the campus in safe and working condition. This can mean renting or purchasing trailers to teach out of. Perhaps even you will be transferred to other schools temporarily and take classes that can be applied to your WCUCOM degree (such as what occurred with Tulane during hurricane Katrina).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Hurricane_Katrina_on_Tulane_University

Just take it one day at a time, and before you know it the worst will be over. You guys will get through this. I believe in WCUCOM.
 
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From the link above: "Tulane School of Medicine relocated its students and essential teaching staff to Houston, Texas, and continued its fall semester at Baylor College of Medicine. This was aided in part by the support of Michael DeBakey, pioneering heart surgeon, graduate of Tulane School of Medicine and chancellor emeritus at Baylor College of Medicine. Students taking the basic science medical courses used the facilities at Baylor, while 3rd and 4th year students did clinical rotations in several of the nearby teaching hospitals located in Houston, Galveston, and Temple. Tulane attempted to keep the medical students together, and discouraged transfer, except in the most extenuating of circumstances. Students were able to request transfers, but many medical schools supported Tulane's attempts to retain their student body and thus their school, although some students were successful in their appeals to transfer. The School of Medicine's stay in Texas ('Tulane West' or 'Tulane at Baylor') ended, with the students and faculty returning to New Orleans in July 2006."
 
Ioannes Paulus said:
This is an "extra-ordinary" circumstance. It has happened before. My own dean sent out an email saying that we would funny cooperate with whatever decision WCU made in the future to help out without any question.
But, like I mentioned earlier, WCU has A LOT to do and I wouldn't blame them if the DO students took the back street for a week or two. There's a lot to do. I think the fire department will be coming today to assess the damages and deem the campus uninhabitable.
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Its definitely happened before. Tulane Med after Katrina for example. I remember Pitt even had a number of Tulane students that got displaced.

Good luck to all the students there, we wish you the best

EDIT: Just saw the post above...
 
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hallowmann said:
Its definitely happened before. Tulane Med after Katrina for example. I remember Pitt even had a number of Tulane students that got displaced.

Good luck to all the students there, we wish you the best

EDIT: Just saw the post above...
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I agree, chances are most students will start their current year again at a different school. Though will COCA allow those schools to over enroll or will they count as their former school?
 
Ms. Medic said:
From the link above: "Tulane School of Medicine relocated its students and essential teaching staff to Houston, Texas, and continued its fall semester at Baylor College of Medicine. This was aided in part by the support of Michael DeBakey, pioneering heart surgeon, graduate of Tulane School of Medicine and chancellor emeritus at Baylor College of Medicine. Students taking the basic science medical courses used the facilities at Baylor, while 3rd and 4th year students did clinical rotations in several of the nearby teaching hospitals located in Houston, Galveston, and Temple. Tulane attempted to keep the medical students together, and discouraged transfer, except in the most extenuating of circumstances. Students were able to request transfers, but many medical schools supported Tulane's attempts to retain their student body and thus their school, although some students were successful in their appeals to transfer. The School of Medicine's stay in Texas ('Tulane West' or 'Tulane at Baylor') ended, with the students and faculty returning to New Orleans in July 2006."
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As great as that is, those are LCME schools, we are DOs. I am pretty sure its different for us and I dont think this has happened to another DO school before. Not sure what comes next I really doubt its just gonna be ok. There will be a cost of some kind, put us a year behind or something but its gonna suck.



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Hoping the best @WorldChanger36. Y'all going to be cleaning up around campus? I know there is talk on the fb group to try and get a group out there to help
 
Just my theory... I would be willing to bet that WCU will be continuing classes using temporary classrooms of some kind in Hattiesburg. Primarily this will be driven by all of the federal loans which have already been disbursed to all first and second year students (and the school) who are not doing rotations off campus. But who knows, after Tulane's Med school got destroyed by Katrina, some 3rd and 4th year students were transferred to the University of Colorado's Med school to complete their rotations. (But for them, I think their rotation sites were destroyed as well.) It will be interesting to see what happens.
 
Wjldenver said:
Just my theory... I would be willing to bet that WCU will be continuing classes using temporary classrooms of some kind in Hattiesburg. Primarily this will be driven by all of the federal loans which have already been disbursed to all first and second year students (and the school) who are not doing rotations off campus. But who knows, after Tulane's Med school got destroyed by Katrina, some 3rd and 4th year students were transferred to the University of Colorado's Med school to complete their rotations. (But for them, I think their rotation sites were destroyed as well.) It will be interesting to see what happens.
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How will they continue first year education i.e anatomy , clinical education, and OMT education?
 
Drrrrrr. Celty said:
How will they continue first year education i.e anatomy , clinical education, and OMT education?
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Between the damaged COM 3 Building and the OP&P Lab, there may be enough tables to keep up OP&P if a suitable location can be found. Anatomy may be a crapshoot, unless UMC in Jackson or the New Orleans schools/LSU Vet in Baton Rouge would put our tanks in their labs. There's a private company near Jackson that does cadaver and SynDaver based courses for Tactical Medics/APRN/Flight Medics that might give them room as well.

As an OMS-3, I'm worried about our OSCE's and PE eligibility. Rotations are all offsite in areas with no damage, and the rotations department is running off of laptops at private homes, can't see anything changing there. Supposed to be submitting a letter of good standing for audition applications-no idea what's going to happen there. Got to call the ones I have scheduled so far.
 
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The school will be rebuilt. Unlike Hurricane Katrina, where a wide region of destruction occurred, this was "local" so massive relocation to Texas (aka Tulane West) will not have to happen. Instead of trailers, the school can rent a lecture hall from a nearby college (or community college), or even a hotel conference room (some of them are BIG) to hold classes. If the OMT tables are intact and in good order, they can be transported to a different location.

Some of the paperwork will be slowed/delayed as expected. Not sure what to do about anatomy. And students will have reduced resources (ie access to a library, study space, etc)

For 3rd and 4th years, might be able to do OSCE in a modified medical office or hospital exam one (if someone local is willing to offer space for free or for rent). Shouldn't affect PE eligibility. Shouldn't affect rotations.

The big question is whether the school will matriculate a new class for next year (or wait until reconstructions and repairs are complete) and start their MS1 class in a hotel conference room/visiting college lecture hall, etc

Hopefully the college is properly insured. The university (not just the COM but university) only have a $15.5 million endowment so their ability to repair/rebuild without insurance money (and perhaps loans) will be limited

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/william-carey-2447
 
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I hope they just transfer us out to different schools, give us a week or so to catch up then best of luck. Solves every problem. After Carey rebuilds they can start a fresh brand new class.
 
Man I'm sorry, this is bonkers. As a current second year with the stress of studying for boards, I think I would just about melt if this happened to RowanSOM. Best of luck.
 
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That simply can't be done, unless the WCU students start over from the beginning. Don't you realize that different schools have different curricula?

68PGunner said:
I think that if they really care about their students, they will call up other schools right now, in order to settle these students into new schools in order to continue their medical education. Right now, WCU is out of business.
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Goro said:
We're are trying to figure out some type of Skype or other distance learning parameter to help out with my discipline.
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Am I correct in taking this to mean that you're not at WCU but rather that you and your colleagues are trying to figure out a way to help?

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Our dean talked to us today cause we were trying To go out there. He said that they will be continuing classes there. Again idk what he knows but he's been in contact with their dean
 
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