Touro CA or Western U-Pomona

[gringottsgobin]

Hi, I've been following these forums for a while now and I wanted to get some help from the people are attending either school or know more than I do.......

I've gone around and dug up many western U vs. Touro CA threads, but what I'm really interested in are the differences in the teaching style, how well they prepare you for the boards, rotation sites (and how this affects eventual residencies)......

I've already read a lot of stuff from previous years about touro having crappy rotations, western doesn't really focus specifically preparing you for the boards (overabundance on neuro), some people not happy with curriculum at Western (IPE, fellows and not professors teaching). I wanted to know if a lot of this is true, or misinformation......

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[AlbinoHawk DO]

I can only speak for WesternU. I don't believe they prepare us well here for boards or give us adequate time to study for them. Other schools are already done with their systems (2nd year) and we still have gastro, em, peds and derm classes to go. We're also saturated by small groups, IPE and other activities that syphon all free time to study. Since I haven't rotated, I can't speak to the quality.

 

[gringottsgobin]

I can only speak for WesternU. I don't believe they prepare us well here for boards or give us adequate time to study for them. Other schools are already done with their systems (2nd year) and we still have gastro, em, peds and derm classes to go. We're also saturated by small groups, IPE and other activities that syphon all free time to study. Since I haven't rotated, I can't speak to the quality.

That's good info, thanks for the reply. How often are small groups, IPE and how big of a time drain are they? How do you like the PBL system, is it helpful in replicating the type of questions they ask for the boards?

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

That's good info, thanks for the reply. How often are small groups, IPE and how big of a time drain are they? How do you like the PBL system, is it helpful in replicating the type of questions they ask for the boards?

First year you have less small groups, but the IPE is done in person. In second year, you have tons of small groups and IPE is done online. I honestly don't learn anything from small group. Just try to google as quickly the answers or check last year's powerpoint for large group. There is no board relevance in small groups. If boards concern you (which they should), this school is not the place to be.

Let me just add that even though I'm critical about the curriculum, I have found that faculty and administrators often do care about students. I have only positive things to say about our deans and other people. However, I feel they are all out of touch with the medical school system. PhDs simply don't understand what it's like to get a medical degree, and the OMM faculty is obsessed with their stuff that it hurts students. We receive more OMM hours than almost any other DO program.

 

[gerges]

First year you have less small groups, but the IPE is done in person. In second year, you have tons of small groups and IPE is done online. I honestly don't learn anything from small group. Just try to google as quickly the answers or check last year's powerpoint for large group. There is no board relevance in small groups. If boards concern you (which they should), this school is not the place to be.

Let me just add that even though I'm critical about the curriculum, I have found that faculty and administrators often do care about students. I have only positive things to say about our deans and other people. However, I feel they are all out of touch with the medical school system. PhDs simply don't understand what it's like to get a medical degree, and the OMM faculty is obsessed with their stuff that it hurts students. We receive more OMM hours than almost any other DO program.

If I asked other students during interview day about their feelings regarding board prep would they mostly likely agree with you? Do you know how COMP compares in terms of average scores (not pass rate). I understand this may not exactly be an indicator of how good/bad the curriculum is at preparing students, but I find it useful nonetheless. Many schools don't seem to publish this on their own site. I figured it might be available on the NBOME website, but I'm having difficulty navigating through and finding anything meaningful.

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

If I asked other students during interview day about their feelings regarding board prep would they mostly likely agree with you? Do you know how COMP compares in terms of average scores (not pass rate). I understand this may not exactly be an indicator of how good/bad the curriculum is at preparing students, but I find it useful nonetheless. Many schools don't seem to publish this on their own site. I figured it might be available on the NBOME website, but I'm having difficulty navigating through and finding anything meaningful.

I honestly don't know what other people would say to you. I know my friends and I are all pretty much in agreement. Keep in mind the people participating on interview day are generally gung-ho about the college and would feel compelled to give a positive spin to the school.

I don't have the averages between our college and other colleges, but talking to my advisor he tells me the school is concerned our board scores on USMLE are low and that ~30 students failing the COMLEX is bad for the school.

 

[cassis_Cake]

I heard WesternU is not good and Touro is a much better school... this is from a well known D.O I've spoke to.

 

[gringottsgobin]

I honestly don't know what other people would say to you. I know my friends and I are all pretty much in agreement. Keep in mind the people participating on interview day are generally gung-ho about the college and would feel compelled to give a positive spin to the school.

I don't have the averages between our college and other colleges, but talking to my advisor he tells me the school is concerned our board scores on USMLE are low and that ~30 students failing the COMLEX is bad for the school.

omi goodness.......🤔

I was in contact with one of the 2nd year tour guides, and she gave me the impression that people were scoring very highly on their boards, 220's being the averages, some 240s and even a 260? Yikes.

Umm, another thing I wasn't sure about: how did you feel about the quality of teaching, given that fellows teach some of the courses?

Also, do most people live off campus (as in, not in the daumier)? I read some pretty horrific stats on the crime rate in the area

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

omi goodness.......🤔

I was in contact with one of the 2nd year tour guides, and she gave me the impression that people were scoring very highly on their boards, 220's being the averages, some 240s and even a 260? Yikes.

Umm, another thing I wasn't sure about: how did you feel about the quality of teaching, given that fellows teach some of the courses?

Also, do most people live off campus (as in, not in the daumier)? I read some pretty horrific stats on the crime rate in the area

Sure, there are people that score that high, but there's also ~30% that don't take the USMLE because they'd fail it. Average is more around 215 for those that do take it.

Fellows only teach OMM. I don't have any complaints. Even a monkey could teach OMM.

I don't know where most people live. Many students live at 777, helix or Daumier. I don't worry about the crime rate. Yes, it is a sketchy town, but I have yet to hear of anything violent happening to a student. Worst thing I heard in an entire year was someone's car window was broken at night, but they weren't even parked on campus.

 

[gringottsgobin]

Sure, there are people that score that high, but there's also ~30% that don't take the USMLE because they'd fail it. Average is more around 215 for those that do take it.

Fellows only teach OMM. I don't have any complaints. Even a monkey could teach OMM.

I don't know where most people live. Many students live at 777, helix or Daumier. I don't worry about the crime rate. Yes, it is a sketchy town, but I have yet to hear of anything violent happening to a student. Worst thing I heard in an entire year was someone's car window was broken at night, but they weren't even parked on campus.

Thank you for the reply, this is all very helpful info. Being that you haven't rotated yet, I won't ask about that anymore, but what do you actually like about the school so far?

 

[gringottsgobin]

I heard WesternU is not good and Touro is a much better school... this is from a well known D.O I've spoke to.

did he/she give any good reasons why?

 

[AlbinoHawk DO]

Thank you for the reply, this is all very helpful info. Being that you haven't rotated yet, I won't ask about that anymore, but what do you actually like about the school so far?

I think there's a lot of people in administration and some professors that really care about students and are willing to go out of their way when you need them. My advisor is probably the best one I could have ever hoped for. I like that our classes are recorded and we aren't required a dress code (except OMM/ECM). I like the general feeling of a small campus, and I like that our building (HEC) has good study rooms with big screens.

 

[cassis_Cake]

did he/she give any good reasons why?

I didn't ask for the details but I believe it has to do with Western not feeling like a D.O school..? He has a strong bias against Allopathic.. But maybe he was just talking about the curriculum in general because he knows many students who went onto D.O medical schools.

 

[gerges]

I didn't ask for the details but I believe it has to do with Western not feeling like a D.O school..? He has a strong bias against Allopathic.. But maybe he was just talking about the curriculum in general because he knows many students who went onto D.O medical schools.

Sounds sorta contradictory to what @AlbinoHawk DO was saying.