greetings people!
i have a few words about tucom-lv and tucom in general. (i am a current student.) regarding the lv campus, here's what we've been told:
construction/renovation is supposed to take place starting sometime in the spring. i think april or may to be exact.
the school has had at least one reception at the new site for local docs with a reasonable turnout.
as you all know, interviews are on-going.
the school has put out a slick little brochure. (you should be aware that most of the pictures are of the vallejo campus.)
my opinions:
i have endless opions on tucom. read on if you want some of them. the administration is/was disorganized, in part because of a structure that does not allow autonomy from touro in new york. this is somewhat unique for a med school. of course, part of the problem is also that some of the administrators are incompetent. tucom is not alone in this. hopefully the new dean in vallejo will help. what all of this has historically translated into is a fair amount of non/misinformation/miscommunication between the admin, faculty and students. the vegas admin will apparently be new (a new dean has been hired) though the relationship with touro new york will continue.
here are a few examples facilities-wise of miscommunications/promises gone bad. the new classrooms? finally built after a two or three year delay, without internet access. in the meantime we limped along with second rate av stuff in marginal lecture halls. the promised wireless access...not happening. the PA school... operating after a one year delay. the nursing school, the school of ed, the pharm school all much talked about but not operating yet. the institute of bioterrorism, the heart institute, the merger with california college of podiatric medicine didn't happen and probably never will. neither did the swimming pool, volley ball courts, student lounge, etc. food services opened and closed within a year. interim services provided were by a student's wife (who did a great job). apparently one exists now. computers, web services, etc... always a headache, in part due to gross incompetence, in part due to understaffing. just look at the website. (vegas people pray that you get better computing services.) the library is fine for studying but has a very small collection, though it is adequate for the first two years.
housing... that's a whole other message. (btw, yes, parts of the island are contaminated and have been and are currently being remediated. we were told it was safe in all occupied areas. the island does have its charm and believe it or not ends up growing on you. or in you as the case may be. seriously, given the plans for mare island - like a new community with 1200 condos - some day it will be a very nice place to live. just not while you're there.)
the latest? a touro affiliated medical school in the virgin islands. i found that one on the web...do a search on the us virgin islands medical college. has the admin made mention of this? no. cost? 30 million U.S. is it tucom money? who knows?
what else? back on facilities, i've been told by someone who's seen the plans that the vegas campus will be very nice. perhaps that will preclude the vegas students from some of the nightmares we had to go through. of course, north las vegas sucks but its sorta tradition for med schools to be in crappy areas. plus, hey, you're in vegas!
some good points now:
ed wise, the profs in vallejo are good. most of them trained at well known institutions and are well qualified. two stinkers left which will benefit future classes tremendously. basic sciences are fine (a bit weak on biochem), anatomy is fine though not so clinically oriented, p.e. is fine... in year two, clinical systems is good (now), pharm is excellent, micro/immuno are good. one department remains a big time problem (pm me if you want to know which one.) from what little i've heard about the vegas profs they are recruiting, they seem to be decent as well.
the students in vallejo are also good and typically around 40% or more will come from the UC system. i doubt this will be replicated in vegas. california kids want to stay in cali. but, hey, you never know...
student support-wise, realize that tucom is on the block system which means no exams for a couple of months followed by 9-12 exams in a week. you get weekends free if you want them. but, if you blow it come exam time, your options are limited. you may be offered tutoring at first. more likely you'll be faced with fishing or cutting bait. some students were tossed and other were decelerated. were they bad students? not necessarily. the problem with blocks is that you never really know how you're doing until the block is over. if you f_ed up in your learning along the way, well, too bad for you. pray that you pass the retake.
i could say a lot more, but i'll wait. that should be enough to chew on for now.
-drgiggles
