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I stumbled upon this website by accident while trying to come up with an obscure AT Still quote and was quite intrigued by some of the TU-NV postings here. I am a graduate of TUCOM-MI and was in its maiden class upon moving to the island (it shared space with a podiatric school in downtown SF during its first two years). I was also astounded last year when I heard they were opening another campus.
Allow me to preface the following comments with this observation, your communal optimism and exuberance on this page is quite refreshing and very entertaining. It kind of brings me back to my days of waiting...
But now for the ugly stuff. This is to be taken of course with this caveat: most every graduate or long-standing student from any medical school I have ever met has at least a grudging disrespect for their school administration. My opinion is not withstanding. I think Touro are some of the biggest sheisters I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. In my years at TUCOM I heard so many promises and grand dreams that you grow to not believe a word of what you hear until you see it. To this day TUCOM does not have enough rotational slots for all of their students to fulfill their graduation requirements and yet they have just opened a new campus. I find this to be rather offensive. Coupled with the tuition rates and colonial aspect of the western schools as money-generators for Mothership NY it really starts to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Throw in the minor footnote that the extortionist's last request who outed New Jersey's gay Governor was lobbying for Touro to be granted another charter for a medical school in NJ and it really brings the picture together.
Now, after having said all that here's my most surprising comment. Would I go to TUCOM again? you betcha. In reading through page after page of these threads I have this to say from the position of a few years foresight. Your medical school experience is not about the diploma on your wall at the end of it all, its not about the percentage of matching to programs, its not even about the facilities. It is made by those that you will suffer through it with, the friends that you will meet that make the whole experience worthwhile. Your education is not based upon the school you go to, but on your own desire and actions to learn what you need to know. It is made bearable by being in an environment where you can be happy. I chose TUCOM because I could be happy there. living in the hood of V-ho, striking distance from SF, with faculty and students that I respected and liked (at least a percentage of them that is) made me happy. I learned enough to be a successful and competent doctor. I made a killing on the Vallejo real estate market. I made friends for life. I even have a neato paper to hang on my wall.
So I guess what I'm sayin is, it ain't all about comparing and contrasting. Find someplace you want to be, go there and do it. Of course there's a few hoops to jump through along the way, they keep coming, get used to it. But it's do-able. I applied to only one medical school, I applied to only one residency. I knew where i wanted to be and I went there. I even had a short stay on a wait list, but they still call me Doctor, they call me doctor more than I want them too (damn pager).
So shouts out to the NV kids (especially the guy hanging The Shocker on the Hooters Girl) and try to make it what you want it to be, as a fellow virgin campus founder, I know I had great dreams and aspirations of what I wanted TUCOM to become. Unfortunately they got ripped asunder by the machinations of the administration, but c'est la vie. And they have at least changed something about the curriculum, MI doesn't hand out white coats until the end of second year (or at least they didn't for years past)
and just for all the number crunchers out there, my undergrad GPA was 2.97 so don't give up hope, but the 39 didn't hurt either.
Allow me to preface the following comments with this observation, your communal optimism and exuberance on this page is quite refreshing and very entertaining. It kind of brings me back to my days of waiting...
But now for the ugly stuff. This is to be taken of course with this caveat: most every graduate or long-standing student from any medical school I have ever met has at least a grudging disrespect for their school administration. My opinion is not withstanding. I think Touro are some of the biggest sheisters I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. In my years at TUCOM I heard so many promises and grand dreams that you grow to not believe a word of what you hear until you see it. To this day TUCOM does not have enough rotational slots for all of their students to fulfill their graduation requirements and yet they have just opened a new campus. I find this to be rather offensive. Coupled with the tuition rates and colonial aspect of the western schools as money-generators for Mothership NY it really starts to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Throw in the minor footnote that the extortionist's last request who outed New Jersey's gay Governor was lobbying for Touro to be granted another charter for a medical school in NJ and it really brings the picture together.
Now, after having said all that here's my most surprising comment. Would I go to TUCOM again? you betcha. In reading through page after page of these threads I have this to say from the position of a few years foresight. Your medical school experience is not about the diploma on your wall at the end of it all, its not about the percentage of matching to programs, its not even about the facilities. It is made by those that you will suffer through it with, the friends that you will meet that make the whole experience worthwhile. Your education is not based upon the school you go to, but on your own desire and actions to learn what you need to know. It is made bearable by being in an environment where you can be happy. I chose TUCOM because I could be happy there. living in the hood of V-ho, striking distance from SF, with faculty and students that I respected and liked (at least a percentage of them that is) made me happy. I learned enough to be a successful and competent doctor. I made a killing on the Vallejo real estate market. I made friends for life. I even have a neato paper to hang on my wall.
So I guess what I'm sayin is, it ain't all about comparing and contrasting. Find someplace you want to be, go there and do it. Of course there's a few hoops to jump through along the way, they keep coming, get used to it. But it's do-able. I applied to only one medical school, I applied to only one residency. I knew where i wanted to be and I went there. I even had a short stay on a wait list, but they still call me Doctor, they call me doctor more than I want them too (damn pager).
So shouts out to the NV kids (especially the guy hanging The Shocker on the Hooters Girl) and try to make it what you want it to be, as a fellow virgin campus founder, I know I had great dreams and aspirations of what I wanted TUCOM to become. Unfortunately they got ripped asunder by the machinations of the administration, but c'est la vie. And they have at least changed something about the curriculum, MI doesn't hand out white coats until the end of second year (or at least they didn't for years past)
and just for all the number crunchers out there, my undergrad GPA was 2.97 so don't give up hope, but the 39 didn't hurt either.
