TUNCOM and AZCOM

[JohnnyDoc]

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Hi,

I was fortunate enough to receive acceptances at both Touro Nevada and Midwestern AZCOM. However, deposit for TUNCOM is due in a week and I have yet made up my mind about which school I should attend. As of now, I am not certain what specialty I would like to commit to, but the five specialties that I have in mind are family medicine, internal medicine, PM&R, ER, and Orthopedic surgery. I would like to practice in California in the future.

I think AZCOM has a stronger curriculum, and is (seemingly) more specialty-friendly compared to TUNCOM based on their more recent match lists. However, AZCOM is about 10k dollars more expensive than TUNCOM, and about an hour farther away from where I lived compared to TUNCOM. I am assigned to the LA region for 3rd and 4th year rotations.

When I visited TUNCOM, I got a better vibe from both the school and the location. I appreciated the smaller class size and it being the largest medical school in Nevada. The campus is just a warehouse, but I heard really good things about faculties' attentiveness for the students when I visited for interview day. However, looking at their recent residency placements, I saw ~70% of the students going into primary care. I have no qualms about primary care, but I don't want to be pigeonholed into it if I find out about other specialties that I would like to commit to.

In conclusion, I know it is ultimately up to me to land any residency spot that I want, and that a DO school is a DO school. But, I felt that AZCOM is the more specialty-friendly school of the two and that it would provide me the most opportunities, compared to TUNCOM which has a better atmosphere and location in my opinion.

Can anyone chime in to help me decide between the two schools? Also, are there any other comparisons I should be making besides location, costs, quality of education, and residency placements? Thank you!

 

[KP2AZ]

you should also look at the quality of rotations that each school can provide. I know that seems far off into the future, but it is important. Included in that, how many audition rotations does each school provide? from what 3rd and 4th years tell me, many of the DO residencies still like to "try you before they buy you."

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

I had the opposite feeling. I was not impressed with TUN's campus and students as much, and felt like it might be too laid back for my taste. The two panelist who interviewed me barely made eye contact with me, and they have a mandatory laptop purchase which had some ridiculously exuberant price tag. Sorry if this sounded all negative, but I did not get a good vibe from Henderson nor TUN. AZCOM was quite a contrast. The medical students seem much more engaged and faculty seemed wholly dedicated to pushing students. My interviewers were engaged and alert, asking tricky but interesting questions and not afraid to be upfront about what they look for in applicants. Arizona also felt more friendly in general...

Thats only my anecdote so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[JustAnother]

I had the opposite feeling. I was not impressed with TUN's campus and students as much, and felt like it might be too laid back for my taste. The two panelist who interviewed me barely made eye contact with me, and they have a mandatory laptop purchase which had some ridiculously exuberant price tag. Sorry if this sounded all negative, but I did not get a good vibe from Henderson nor TUN. AZCOM was quite a contrast. The medical students seem much more engaged and faculty seemed wholly dedicated to pushing students. My interviewers were engaged and alert, asking tricky but interesting questions and not afraid to be upfront about what they look for in applicants. Arizona also felt more friendly in general...

Thats only my anecdote so take it with a grain of salt.

Ditto. Although my 2 interviewers at TUN were actually very nice, I didn't like the school that much. I don't like the laptop purchase either, I could get something much better for less! The students did seem too laid back for me too. One of them claimed that they turned down a very prestigious MD school (not gonna name it but top 20) for TUN. Maybe they did, but it just seemed very unlikely to me. Gunner attitude much? So the only great thing I got from my interview day was my interviewers, with whom I only spoke for 20min...

On the other hand, I really liked AZCOM. Nice campus, facility, equipment, students, faculty, etc. Interviewers were great also. The only turn-off was the tuition (HOLY S*** it's expensive!).

Like KP2AZ said, you should look more into the rotation sites, but if I were to choose between the two from the other factors so far, I would go with AZCOM.