Touro-CA MSMHS 2018-2019

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Hi All, I was accepted into the program to start this fall and had a couple questions. The master calendar says that Orientation is August 1-3 for COM. Are we included in that? When should we assume that classes start? Immediately after etc? Was hoping to plan a trip with my wife, but her school break isn't until mid August. Probably SOL, but figured I'd ask.

Second, is there a winter break? When was the last day of finals for the Fall semester? Thanks everyone. Looking forward to this coming year.
I just looked at the master calendar and it says campus wide orientation is on Aug 6, which you are required to go to. It looks like the COM orientation is before campus-wide, which hasn't been the case in the past. You should have received info on program orientation with your accepted student information though. Typically program orientation is 3 days long and you will start classes the day after orientation. You will likely not be able to take any multi-day vacations once school starts, other than winter break. You will have free days to study before exams, but I HIGHLY suggest you use them for studying and not traveling.

Winter break is about 2, 2.5 weeks. You will finish fall semester around the week of December 15th or so and start spring semester the first week of Jan.

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I used the dossier service interfolio to store my the letters of recommendation; this allowed me to send them anytime. It was easier than requesting the letters through the Touro application. This way your writers will only need to send u their letters once, and you’ll have it online ready to send to anyone. This will help when u are also sending letters to other schools next cycle. Hope this helps!
 
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Have you not applied this cycle for DO? Your chances are to get into DO without SMP if you apply broadly unless you want to stay in CA. I would suggest even you go to SMP, still apply to DO this coming cycle, you will get in somewhere.
I will be applying to DO schools this coming cycle (fall 19 entry).
I have not yet shadowed a DO, I'm working on securing a shadow position asap
 
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I was in the same predicament but I decided to just submit while waiting to get the ball rolling. Here's an email response from Lorissa when I asked her about it:
"To answer your question about whether or not your app will be reviewed without the letters of Rec., I believe we need all components of your application for it to be reviewed by the Admissions Committee faculty. However, you should submit your app, without the letters of Rec., and then I can periodically review your app to see when they come in from the evaluators and forward them. The letters of Rec come directly to Touro, so you do not have access to them and won’t be able to see them, so I would advise you to send the evaluators the request for an evaluation, (you are able to request this in the lettere of Rec section of the application), then submit your application. If they do not submit their evaluations in the next week or so, I can go into your app and send them a reminder to do so, if necessary."
Wow this was much more helpful than the response I got when I emailed another one of the admissions reps with my question. I think I will submit then. I already sent the request to my LOR writers and told them I'd like to have it in early May so hopefully, my application wont be waiting on them for too much longer. Thanks!
 
I will be applying to DO schools this coming cycle (fall 19 entry).
I have not yet shadowed a DO, I'm working on securing a shadow position asap
Thankfully you will have the opportunity to network with various DOs at Touro :) It's finding enough time to shadow that can be the tough part though. But winter break is a great option
 
Thankfully you will have the opportunity to network with various DOs at Touro :) It's finding enough time to shadow that can be the tough part though. But winter break is a great option
As long as I get in :) haha
and I figured it might be tough to squeeze in shadowing during the MSMHS program so I'm trying to find someone to shadow over summer. I think I'll be able to find something
 
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As long as I get in :) haha
and I figured it might be tough to squeeze in shadowing during the MSMHS program so I'm trying to find someone to shadow over summer. I think I'll be able to find something
Oh I thought you had said you got in already. When I was in the masters I tried to fit in 1 volunteer or shadowing event every month or so. So I didn't end up missing too much study time but still got experience. The masters students are also allowed to shadow OMS1s during OMM lab or go to classes with an OMS2
 
I used the dossier service interfolio to store my the letters of recommendation; this allowed me to send them anytime. It was easier than requesting the letters through the Touro application. This way your writers will only need to send u their letters once, and you’ll have it online ready to send to anyone. This will help when u are also sending letters to other schools next cycle. Hope this helps!
How did you send them to Touro from Interfolio? What is the email address you sent it to?
 
How did you send them to Touro from Interfolio? What is the email address you sent it to?
I just created a delivery and sent it to the Touro Admissions office. Use their main admissions email and title it as a letter of recommendation. You can send a separate email to see if they’ve received it also.
 
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Submitted last night, waiting on one LOR. Fingers crossed!
 
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I did the MSMHS program and am now in the COM at Touro Ca. Let me know if you have any questions
Hi. I had a question...I'm going to be graduating soon and I'm deciding to take a gap year. I was wondering what your experience was like within the program. I only saw this program recently and I'm tempted to apply but not sure since I still want to learn more about it. I saw that the application opened in January and emailed Steven Davis asking if I should just wait since the program is on a rolling-admission basis and the deadline being in June; he said "At this point, there is plenty of room still. Apply away!". I also noticed that on the application website it has the option to say if you want to enroll for either Fall 2018 or Fall 2019. Does that mean I can apply, and if granted an acceptance, my spot will be there until Fall 2019?

Thank you for your time.
 
I was also in the MSMHS program and was accepted after a gap year. Let me know if you have any questions!
Hi. I'm going to be graduating soon and I'm deciding to take a gap year. I only saw this program recently and I'm tempted to apply but not sure since I still want to learn more about it. I saw that the application opened in January and emailed Steven Davis asking if I should just wait since the program is on a rolling-admission basis and the deadline being in June; he said "At this point, there is plenty of room still. Apply away!". I also noticed that on the application website it has the option to say if you want to enroll for either Fall 2018 or Fall 2019. Does that mean I can apply, and if granted an acceptance, my spot will be there until Fall 2019?

Thank you for your time.
 
Hi. I'm going to be graduating soon and I'm deciding to take a gap year. I only saw this program recently and I'm tempted to apply but not sure since I still want to learn more about it. I saw that the application opened in January and emailed Steven Davis asking if I should just wait since the program is on a rolling-admission basis and the deadline being in June; he said "At this point, there is plenty of room still. Apply away!". I also noticed that on the application website it has the option to say if you want to enroll for either Fall 2018 or Fall 2019. Does that mean I can apply, and if granted an acceptance, my spot will be there until Fall 2019?

Thank you for your time.
I’m not too sure about the Fall 2018 or 2019 options; that is a question best directed toward Steven Davis. As for the program itself, it’s good for people who have a low gpa in undergrad and who are looking to prove they can cut it in medical school. It’s not easy, but it will prepare you for the preclinical science courses you will face in ur first two years. Teachers are great and they all want you to succeed. Plenty of research opportunities as well, which will help you in your medical school application. Only apply if you have low gpa though, otherwise it’s too much of a risk compared to it’s reward. Bottom line is to do well in it, make friends with teachers, demonstrate good work ethic and that should get you into Touro.
 
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Hi. I had a question...I'm going to be graduating soon and I'm deciding to take a gap year. I was wondering what your experience was like within the program. I only saw this program recently and I'm tempted to apply but not sure since I still want to learn more about it. I saw that the application opened in January and emailed Steven Davis asking if I should just wait since the program is on a rolling-admission basis and the deadline being in June; he said "At this point, there is plenty of room still. Apply away!". I also noticed that on the application website it has the option to say if you want to enroll for either Fall 2018 or Fall 2019. Does that mean I can apply, and if granted an acceptance, my spot will be there until Fall 2019?

Thank you for your time.
I have no idea how many people have been accepted to the program so far, but it's always worth applying. People can get accepted even through late July.

I think you are confused regarding starting in 2018 or 2019. To my knowledge this application cycle is only for starting this fall. There has never been an option to get accepted and then defer starting for another year. I was also unable to find any mention of that on the admissions website.
As for my experience with the program, there are several posts on the 1st page of this thread. If you read through those and still have additional questions let me know.
 
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Well the good news is that if you are accepted into the MSMHS program and do well, they won’t care about the MCAT score. I would make sure though that you are scoring at least above a 500 on practice tests before you retake. Schools wanna see that you changed your study habits for the better. The MCAT is an awful soul crushing test and it would really suck to have to take it a third time. (Like I did)

I am still waiting for an acceptance from this program, and hopefully a subsequent acceptance into their DO program. I got a 502 (126-124-126-126) on the MCAT two years ago, and I have a scheduled retake on the 16th of June. I am already scoring 505+, and am feeling much more confident. Do you think I have a good shot at their DO program if I get at least a 510, and do good in the MSMHS program?
 
You must have really good stats. I completed on 2/6 and have yet to hear back.
Hmm, I would say they're pretty average numbers! Submitted with a little over 3.0 and no MCAT.
Hang in there, there's still hope!
 
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Does anyone know the estimated percentage of matriculation into a professional program post MSMHS? I wanted to try and compare the matriculation rates to the Midwestern AZ MABS program, which has stats more straight forward and located on their website. Thanks!
 
Does anyone know the estimated percentage of matriculation into a professional program post MSMHS? I wanted to try and compare the matriculation rates to the Midwestern AZ MABS program, which has stats more straight forward and located on their website. Thanks!
Before the class was increased from 15 to 60, it was close to 100%. Of the 34(ish) of us that interviewed from my class, 28 got in. The current class is still finishing up their interviews, but I would expect a large number of them will get in as well
 
Before the class was increased from 15 to 60, it was close to 100%. Of the 34(ish) of us that interviewed from my class, 28 got in. The current class is still finishing up their interviews, but I would expect a large number of them will get in as well

Can't wait to attend Touro-COM in California. I hope I make it one day. Also, love the A.T. Still quote.
 
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Can't wait to attend Touro-COM in California. I hope I make it one day. Also, love the A.T. Still quote.

DUDE... you were ACCEPTED into medical school already. Why are you going to an SMP program? Do you even actually want to become a doctor?

Wow. I mean, seriously, wow. Everyone on here is telling you the exact same thing, and yet you're still dead-set on shooting yourself in the foot.
 
DUDE... you were ACCEPTED into medical school already. Why are you going to an SMP program? Do you even actually want to become a doctor?

Wow. I mean, seriously, wow. Everyone on here is telling you the exact same thing, and yet you're still dead-set on shooting yourself in the foot.
Wow.
Dude. Don't be rude. This is completely unnecessary.
 
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Wow.
Dude. Don't be rude. This is completely unnecessary.

Unfortunately, sometimes manners have to go out the window when you're trying to help someone avoid the worst decision of his life. Doing an SMP instead of matriculating to a DO school that accepted you is a very serious blunder.
 
Unfortunately, sometimes manners have to go out the window when you're trying to help someone avoid the worst decision of his life. Doing an SMP instead of matriculating to a DO school that accepted you is a very serious blunder.
It's also their decision.
And it would be considerably more appropriate to have a conversation via private message than to put someone on blast.
It just makes you sound bitter.
 
It's also their decision.
And it would be considerably more appropriate to have a conversation via private message than to put someone on blast.
It just makes you sound bitter.

How noble and righteous of you. Just wondering: Are you the one who's paying $60K for his wasted year of extra schooling?

I'm not "bitter." I have nothing to be bitter about. I am happy that he got into medical school, and I don't want him to thoughtlessly throw his special chance away and waste time, money, and effort for nothing.

But yeah, you seem like a really good guy who wants others to succeed. You should carry your positive, good-guy attitude with you into other threads (e.g., "Why are you telling him to improve his 2.0 GPA? It's his GPA. You're just bitter."). In the meantime, I will be promptly putting you on my Ignore list.

See ya!
 
Lol wow, SDN sometimes... thank god we got that salty pre-med's $0.02. Now let's return to the genuinely supportive, polite conversation we were having!
 
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Lol wow, SDN sometimes... thank god we got that salty pre-med's $0.02. Now let's return to the genuinely supportive, polite conversation we were having!

Fair enough. I'm a pre-med, so please don't take my word for it. I have absolutely no problem with your skepticism.

Please ask any current medical student, resident, attending, or adcom on SDN if it's a good idea to decline a US medical school acceptance and instead do an SMP.

(EDIT: By the way, I'm sorry if I offended anybody. I think SMPs are great because they allow passionate, resilient people to redeem themselves and show their true potentials. However, they are not an appropriate option for people who were fortunate enough to already get accepted into a US medical school.)
 
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Fair enough. I'm a pre-med, so please don't take my word for it. I have absolutely no problem with your skepticism.

Please ask any current medical student, resident, attending, or adcom on SDN if it's a good idea to decline a US medical school acceptance and instead do an SMP.

(EDIT: By the way, I'm sorry if I offended anybody. I think SMPs are great because they allow passionate, resilient people to redeem themselves and show their true potentials. However, they are not an appropriate option for people who were fortunate enough to already get accepted into a US medical school.)
Whether or not someone chooses to attend a school they have been accepted to is up to them. Regardless of your personal opinion of the situation.

This thread is for students who are applying to the touro msmhs program. I have seen zero posts that indicate that you are applying or are a current or past student. So please, kindly leave us be.
 
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Thanks! It's one of my favorites

Hi Cal_EMT! I was wondering when you applied last year, how long did you wait until you heard back from them about your interview/acceptance? And did you have to go through an interview?

It’s coming up to my fourth week since I submitted, so I’m really hoping for good news this year
 
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Hi Cal_EMT! I was wondering when you applied last year, how long did you wait until you heard back from them about your interview/acceptance? And did you have to go through an interview?

It’s coming up to my fourth week since I submitted, so I’m really hoping for good news this year
HI,
Do you mean when I applied for the masters program or when I applied for the COM? I think I applied in April for the masters and heard back a couple of weeks later that I had been accepted. However, I had been waitlisted the previous year, so that may have had something to do with the quick turnaround. But I'm honestly not sure. There is no interview for the masters application.

As for the COM interview, I think we were told our interview day some time in April. Most all of us interviewed in early to mid May and acceptances were sent out at the end of May.

4 weeks isn't a particularly long wait to find out for this program. I think most of the acceptances seemed to go out around mid May last year, but I could be remembering wrong. Several people have to reach each application, which can understandably take a while.
I wouldn't stress about it at this point
 
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Hi Cal_EMT! I was wondering when you applied last year, how long did you wait until you heard back from them about your interview/acceptance? And did you have to go through an interview?

It’s coming up to my fourth week since I submitted, so I’m really hoping for good news this year

Hi eairamesor, similar to what Cal_EMT said, it may not matter when you sent in your application, people have heard about their acceptance into the Master's program based on different timelines. I applied to the MSMHS program in May and didn't hear until July, so it took many weeks. But a lack of response does not reflect poorly on your application, it is simply a matter of when they look at your application. Don't worry about other people hearing before you do about their application.

Also for anyone who is interested, 25 people from this year's MSMHS class interviewed. Our decisions are going to be released tomorrow at some point.
 
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Hi eairamesor, similar to what Cal_EMT said, it may not matter when you sent in your application, people have heard about their acceptance into the Master's program based on different timelines. I applied to the MSMHS program in May and didn't hear until July, so it took many weeks. But a lack of response does not reflect poorly on your application, it is simply a matter of when they look at your application. Don't worry about other people hearing before you do about their application.

Thanks for the positive feedback! ☺️ Definitely trying to keep my chin up in the waiting process!
 
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Hi eairamesor, similar to what Cal_EMT said, it may not matter when you sent in your application, people have heard about their acceptance into the Master's program based on different timelines. I applied to the MSMHS program in May and didn't hear until July, so it took many weeks. But a lack of response does not reflect poorly on your application, it is simply a matter of when they look at your application. Don't worry about other people hearing before you do about their application.

Also for anyone who is interested, 25 people from this year's MSMHS class interviewed. Our decisions are going to be released tomorrow at some point.

25/60? Do they determine based on class rank or GPA?
 
25/60? Do they determine based on class rank or GPA?
There's a minimum program GPA to qualify for it. This is listed on the program FAQs.

Also, not everyone in the class has taken the MCAT and some people are choosing to retake the MCAT and interview for the next cycle
 
25/60? Do they determine based on class rank or GPA?

yes this year the minimum GPA to qualify for an interview was 3.25. This means that if you got above this cutoff, you get an automatic interview but NOT guaranteed acceptance. 25 people interviewed this year and the rest of the class mostly has either not taken the MCAT yet or is waiting a year to apply. I am not sure how many people would have theoretically been eligible, it depends on many factors. but I would say 25-30 is about the average # of people who apply in a given year -- give or take a few. But that is something to worry about down the line once you get in!
 
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yes this year the minimum GPA to qualify for an interview was 3.25. This means that if you got above this cutoff, you get an automatic interview but NOT guaranteed acceptance. 25 people interviewed this year and the rest of the class mostly has either not taken the MCAT yet or is waiting a year to apply. I am not sure how many people would have theoretically been eligible, it depends on many factors. but I would say 25-30 is about the average # of people who apply in a given year -- give or take a few. But that is something to worry about down the line once you get in!

Thank you! Now you started the MSMHS program in Fall 2017, so your entry to the COM would be Fall 2018, if you get in? Their website was a little confusing with the "next cycle" statement.
 
Thank you! Now you started the MSMHS program in Fall 2017, so your entry to the COM would be Fall 2018, if you get in? Their website was a little confusing with the "next cycle" statement.

Yes started MSMHS in Fall 2017, and would be entering COM Fall 2018. This is the same cycle because it takes a whole year to apply to medical school. But people don't start submitting the primary app until November at earliest and probably like February at latest. If I waited until "next cycle", I would have completed the program as I am doing right now, then waited another year to apply, and entered in Fall 2019 if that makes sense.
 
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Anyone else checking their email like a crazy person waiting for an acceptance email?! I would love some good news before memorial day weekend!
 
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Anyone else checking their email like a crazy person waiting for an acceptance email?! I would love some good news before memorial day weekend!

Each and EVERY day....trying to limit to checking every 2 minutes rather than every half minute! :laugh:
 
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Anyone else checking their email like a crazy person waiting for an acceptance email?! I would love some good news before memorial day weekend!
Lol Always! Checking both email and this forum to see if anyone else got updates!
 
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I am still waiting for an acceptance from this program, and hopefully a subsequent acceptance into their DO program. I got a 502 (126-124-126-126) on the MCAT two years ago, and I have a scheduled retake on the 16th of June. I am already scoring 505+, and am feeling much more confident. Do you think I have a good shot at their DO program if I get at least a 510, and do good in the MSMHS program?
I had a 502 and got in cause I did well in the program, 510 would pretty much guarantee u get in. However this is assuming you have a good gpa. The GPA is weighed more heavily and also good LORs from the professors.
 
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