Touro-NV vs. ATSU-SOMA

[Sdsu1990]

Hello everyone,

I have had the privilege of being accepted to both of these fine institutions. I am extremely excited, but I am now realizing the decision that I need to make. I interviewed at Touro-CA and I am on pre-interview hold at Western-COMP. A deposit is due for one of these schools in the next few days so I was hoping that I could list a few of the pros and cons that I saw for both schools and then get some advice from some of you wonderful SDNers about what you think.

First off, I am from Southern California and location has been a large part of my decision as to which medical schools to apply to and ultimately which I will attend. My girlfriend is currently in pharmacy school in Southern California for two more years. Both Touro-NV and ATSU-SOMA are relatively close to SoCal with Touro-NV being a little closer.

Touro-NV:
I really enjoyed my interview at Touro. I was impressed with the curriculum and opportunities that Touro brings to the table with being able to serve the underserved Las Vegas population. Henderson seemed to be a wonderful and safe city so I would have no problems living in Henderson. The faculty were incredibly nice and helpful in answering all questions. A plus for Touro is that they have a gym on campus so I wouldn't have to pay for a gym membership which is nice. Touro-NV placed quite an emphasis on the board preparation opportunities that they have, which I think is really important.

ATSU-SOMA:
A large part of SOMA is the 1+3 aspect in which you only spend 1 year at the Mesa, AZ campus and then spend 3 years at your community health center. My community health center is a little but farther from SoCal than I would have liked. So I would be at the Mesa campus for 1 year and then my CHC for 3 years, which is farther than I would like. However, I really do like the CHC aspect and the early clinical experience that this offers students. From my understand, classes are online 2nd year and are streamed from the Mesa campus. I'm a little worried about classes being online 2nd year to be honest. But overall, SOMA greatly impressed me with the interview process.

I can see myself being very happy at both institutions. Ultimately, I would like to match in a residency in California if possible. As far as both schools go, does anybody think that one is more "well-known" than the other? Or is one more particularly established?

I appreciate all the help that anyone can provide.

Thanks all!!!

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[ToKingdomCome]

i had the opportunity to interview at both very recently.

i got accepted to touro nv and am waiting back an interview decision atsu soma. with that said, i will most likely be picking touro nv regardless.

for atsu soma i feel like id have to do so much more and for me personally, this isn't really for me. for example, i spoke with a student who was interested in surgery and was explaining research is a key component for matching and atsu doesn't really have a lot of research opportunities. thus she had to go to asu or some nearby arizona college to take part. all in all, i feel like id have to go the extra mile for resources since the chc's aren't full blown campuses.

i personally did not want to move and bounce from city to city so the chc weren't really for me. wasn't too much of a fan of the online streaming lectures either.

all in all, i think touro is the safer pick. if you think atsu soma is a better fit for you then go with atsu. both don't really have the "prestige" to them and are equal in that aspect

 

[Sdsu1990]

Thanks for the reply! I've put a lot of thought into it and I'm pretty set on Touro-NV!!!

 

[chillBob]

I had to make the exact same decision a couple of months ago. I would go with your gut feeling. Both schools in my opinion are great in their own ways. They are very different from each other in their academic models. Each one appears to have their own pluses and minuses. I by no means can say my decision was correct, and I am not going to advertise one school as better than the other. I am just going to provide you with my reasoning for the school I chose. I went with SOMA, because I believe that I will get more out of my clinical years at my chosen CHC. I like the fact that SOMA tells you before there acceptance where you will be going for three years of your life. Many of my rotations I will be one of the few students around. I know at my site the hospital rotations will be spent at the same hospital that students from one of the nation’s best medical school rotate through. At Touro-NV you know that you will be in the Vegas region, and I am sure the clinical years are also excellent. I am interested in primary care, and I am under the impression that a CHC will provide me with a great foundation for this career field.

I think that I will have to work harder outside of the classroom at SOMA, and I wouldn't agree that this is a good thing. I have your same worry about the distance learning, but I also know that this will also afford me more time to prep myself for the COMLEX and USMLE. It is a dual edge sword. I am sure that I can motivate myself to spend hours prepping myself for these exams. If I thought I didn't have the discipline or self-motivation to make prepare myself for the boards I would have chosen Touro-NV hands down. Good luck with your decision!