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Touro CA is in an old factory isn't it? Western has a brand new building for DO students....
Western sites aren't amazing but they are definitely better than Touro
You are correct in saying the preclinical curriculum at Western has kinks, it has tons. However, I very much doubt Touro CA has less links. Also, Westerns curriculum is continually changing, I will give them that much. Its no where near what it could be (awesome board prep) but again I doubt Touro is much better
If you cannot leave your family and friends, stay up North. Keep in mind that if you want to be above class average etc you will probably have no life in the first place..... you will be studying all the time
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Read through this post from last year: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=868272
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Why not try south Cali for 3-4 years for your life? It is in California, just 1 hr flight away, not too bad.
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👍
hot weather = beaches + bikinis 😍 so
so cal>>>>>>>>>>>>>>nor cal
plus everyone I know who moves to nor cal complains about the lack of delicious mexican food and carne asada fries 😉
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Being a SoCal resident all my life, I agree with this statement.
Also, people in SoCal are extremely superficial. What that translates to is a community that puts a strong emphasis on looks and thus, more beautiful, fit people!
The only downside to living in Socal (and this applied to NorCal as well) is that you get no pull when applying to med school.
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wait a minute... the beaches here are COLD! only doable maybe five days outta the year
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^ good thread.
I am a 3rd year at Touro and was faced with the same choice as OP. I have many friends at Western and rotate with Western students and Western and Touro grad residents.
Let me break this down for you.
Location
They're both in underserved/impoverished areas. Housing prices about the same. Not much to do in either Vallejo or Pomona but for Touro you could go to Berkeley or SF on the weekends; Western you could explore LA or SGV but have to deal with more traffic.
Facilities
Western wins. Their campus and facilities are nicer. Touro has a great OMM lab and anatomy lab. Otherwise the lecture halls are about equal but the study areas and outward appearance is what gives Western the edge.
Preclinicals
From my experience on rotations, I didn't really see much difference in the knowledge levels. Western has anatomy all at the beginning of the 1st year; Touro spreads it out system by system throughout the entire first 2 years. Don't know much about Western in this category but Touro has really been putting a large focus on board prep (both COMLEX and USMLE). We have a new Dean of Academic Affairs and he is really pushing the curriculum to be centered on readying students for boards and rotations. Also Touro at the very least provides you with a Qbank (not UWorld).
OMM:
If it matters to you at all Touro's OMM department probably has the edge on Western. Western has student fellows teach a lot of their labs. Touro has more dedicated lab preceptors and faculty who are trained in NMM/OMM and our OMM dept. has a very strong standing in the osteopathic community.
Rotations:
I honestly don't think that Western's rotations are that much better than Touro, which seems to be the consensus around SDN. I think maybe Touro gets a bad rep because of certain past posts but it's really not all that bad. In both cases during 3rd year you will most likely have to move around. Western's rotations are based in Socal.
Reputation:
Western has the reputation edge. It is definitely known in SoCal and there is a certain "brand" on a Western grad since it's been around since the 70s. Touro is still building their brand but they are more focused on having their grads stay in Northern California. That is where they are known, the market the school is interested in and have been gearing their rotation sites toward.
Other
Western is more expensive. Western has almost 100 more students in their class. Western is the bigger school, period. They have like 9 different schools: PA, pharmacy, podiatry, vet med, nursing, dental, optometry... Touro only has 3: osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, education and health sciences (MPH, PA, Education).
Really this decision is up to you personally, OP. Family and friends are an incredibly important support system for you in medical school. I envied my classmates every time they told me they were going home for the weekend (I am from SoCal) because they live local. Honestly you are going to be so busy in school that there is realistically no way you can just drive back home (flying is a little more feasible but who has the $? And you'll still have to waste time going to the airport, waiting for your flight, etc.). If I were you, I would think and learn more about the things that are holding you back from Touro and answer this question: are they enough to warrant you living away from family/friends for X amount of years?
Feel free to PM for further questions.
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What?
I went to UC Irvine for undergrad and was at the beach 1-2 times a week every almost every summer. The water definitely isn't comparable to Hawaii, but Cali beaches are Cali beaches 🙂
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now, the question is which schools got the most hottest girls?
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but what good is the beach if the water is too cold to jump in? at least NorCal has more dramatic looking beaches...
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Oh, I definitely go in the water. I don't spend 20 minutes finding parking just so I can tan 😛
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But don't you hate that cold feeling when you first go in the water?
They wear wet suit
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using SDN Mobile
it's not that bad if you're around the beach when the sun hits the hardest, ~1-3 pm. then it becomes colder.
the beaches in socal are gorgeous, but i hope this is not seriously a factor being considered when deciding between schools.
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LOL, definitely hate it. However, after about 3-5 minutes neck-deep, the ocean becomes the perfect play ground! Damn, I can't wait to be back in Cali next summer
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why not this summer?
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That's what I meant, ahaha. Summer next year!
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I give tours for interviewers, and many of them ask this same question. I honestly think both places are solid, especially if you want to practice medicine in CA.
To answer this question, I usually point out that TUCOM's class size is only ~135, where COMP's is ~220, and our tuition is cheaper by a few thousand as well (Ours is 43K, where COMP is >50K, please correct if I'm wrong).
But honestly, both are solid choices. If I were you I would hold the location the biggest factor. Do you want to live in NorCal or SoCal?
To answer this question, I usually point out that TUCOM's class size is only ~135, where COMP's is ~220, and our tuition is cheaper by a few thousand as well (Ours is 43K, where COMP is >50K, please correct if I'm wrong).
But honestly, both are solid choices. If I were you I would hold the location the biggest factor. Do you want to live in NorCal or SoCal?
