Undecided...

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Oo Cipher oO said:
Florida beaches > California beaches
Disney world > Disneyland
NSU campus > WesternU campus

The math checks out. Go to Florida.
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Now now. It may be easier for mr. Zoner if he's closer to his s/o and that's in Cali. We will see a final decision on the 14th.

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I'm pretty sure Florida is in a hurricane zone.

So that pretty much makes Cali > Florida in every way possible. Earthquakes don't count.
 
DrWily said:
I'm pretty sure Florida is in a hurricane zone.

So that pretty much makes Cali > Florida in every way possible. Earthquakes don't count.
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Hurricane? Isn't that a drink?
 
DrWily said:
Does NSU record lectures?
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yes, and they don't check attendance

as1212559 said:
A one hour drive for a weekend visit isn't a struggle. I'd kill to be an hour from my S/O (current med student about 1000 miles away). Once a month is about all we can schedule/afford to fly, and our relationship hasn't missed a beat. I understand very clearly the urge to move forward and live with your S/O, but it isn't always possible. And quite frankly if one hour drive is significant to you, I would question your commitment to this person (not in an accusing way, but is one hour and weekends only such a big deal?) To me it seems miniscule. Perspective I guess.
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how did you guys manage to do that? what is the secret? don't you miss your S/O during those three weeks? That is my biggest fear about going to NSU!

so the one hour drive on the weekend is not really my concern, but the main annoyance is me having to be in IE. I just drove up there again today to check out the area and as I suspected, didn't like it much at all. Although Claremont was very nice, I still can't imagine myself living there.

Oo Cipher oO said:
Florida beaches > California beaches
Disney world > Disneyland
NSU campus > WesternU campus

The math checks out. Go to Florida.
Click to expand...

Also, FTL >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Inland Empire (one of the MAIN reason why I don't wanna go to Western and the crazy amount of driving one has to do during the third year rotation)

wow, thanks for so many helpful advice. lots of things to think about tonight...

Dr. Wily, no, if the relationship ends, it would suck,,,, like a lot,,,, and I will be sad,,,, but no it won't be the end of the world. I have great standing with all my exes and I don't think this one would be an exception as well.
 
Sounds like Florida it is then. Good luck.
 
zoner said:
I have great standing with all my exes and I don't think this one would be an exception as well.
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ok. practice makes perfect.
you won't have time for drama or relationship issues in med school.
 
I wish I had a sure-fire answer for how to do it. It really depends on what you have built up ahead of time and what you are willing to put into it.

We more or less lived together for the better part of 9 months before she left for school so we had a really strong bond. She was choosing between the school she attends now and another DO school which is at our university (where I am a senior). We talked about it a lot, she liked the school she attends better (and for good reason in my opinion), so we decided she had to follow what she wanted academically. It wasn't an easy decision, but I still maintain that my role is to back her choices. Relationships are about selflessness, not selfishness. And that is not to say that there is anything wrong with being selfish in your case (this is medical school we are talking about, it's about as serious as it gets). Unfortunately, it seems we just can't really have both.

Med school is a lot of work of course, and I still have a lot on my plate too. We talk on skype for 30-hour almost every night. That is a sacrifice of that time but it is easily manageable if you are even reasonably good with time management. And of course we text pretty much all day. Little tidbits about what we're doing or gossip or anything really. Anything to say connected. Nothing makes you get used to missing that person, but missing someone can be a positive as much as a negative depending on your mindset.

Also, the distance will be at least shrinking next year (and potentially completely disappearing) so I would say there is some value to having an endpoint somewhere in the future.

tl;dr You can manage it if you want it bad enough. You need to talk about it a lot and decide together. If this is a decision that you are making yourself, well...

Good luck.
 
as1212559 said:
I wish I had a sure-fire answer for how to do it. It really depends on what you have built up ahead of time and what you are willing to put into it.

We more or less lived together for the better part of 9 months before she left for school so we had a really strong bond. She was choosing between the school she attends now and another DO school which is at our university (where I am a senior). We talked about it a lot, she liked the school she attends better (and for good reason in my opinion), so we decided she had to follow what she wanted academically. It wasn't an easy decision, but I still maintain that my role is to back her choices. Relationships are about selflessness, not selfishness. And that is not to say that there is anything wrong with being selfish in your case (this is medical school we are talking about, it's about as serious as it gets). Unfortunately, it seems we just can't really have both.

Med school is a lot of work of course, and I still have a lot on my plate too. We talk on skype for 30-hour almost every night. That is a sacrifice of that time but it is easily manageable if you are even reasonably good with time management. And of course we text pretty much all day. Little tidbits about what we're doing or gossip or anything really. Anything to say connected. Nothing makes you get used to missing that person, but missing someone can be a positive as much as a negative depending on your mindset.

Also, the distance will be at least shrinking next year (and potentially completely disappearing) so I would say there is some value to having an endpoint somewhere in the future.

tl;dr You can manage it if you want it bad enough. You need to talk about it a lot and decide together. If this is a decision that you are making yourself, well...

Good luck.
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That is some intense skyping right there. ( I assume you mean minutes instead of hours)

But skype and facetime have made distances much more manageable. Being able to see each other and have a conversation is much more fulfilling then just talking on the phone. A long distance relationship is very doable.
 
uclabruin123 said:
just go to a school with a lot of hot girls. Makes everyone happy.
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Considering NSU has way more students I would guess that they definitely have more hot girls than Western.
 
I know people are telling me not to look at how the clinical years are structured but I just found out for a certain that at

Western: the only thing that assign you via lottery during the 4th year is EM. The rest of that year are up to you on when and where.

Nova: the two rural rotations and 1 EM are scheduled via lottery and they CAN be scheduled back to back so possibly screwing you over with audition rotation.

I am not sure, but I think this could be a deal breaker if I decide that I want to go into anything competitive.
 
zoner said:
I know people are telling me not to look at how the clinical years are structured but I just found out for a certain that at

Western: the only thing that assign you via lottery during the 4th year is EM. The rest of that year are up to you on when and where.

Nova: the two rural rotations and 1 EM are scheduled via lottery and they CAN be scheduled back to back so possibly screwing you over with audition rotation.

I am not sure, but I think this could be a deal breaker if I decide that I want to go into anything competitive.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't both schools give you your schedule before the start of the year? If so, you would know when your required rotation(s) is scheduled and can then schedule aways around that.
 
zoner said:
I know people are telling me not to look at how the clinical years are structured but I just found out for a certain that at

Western: the only thing that assign you via lottery during the 4th year is EM. The rest of that year are up to you on when and where.

Nova: the two rural rotations and 1 EM are scheduled via lottery and they CAN be scheduled back to back so possibly screwing you over with audition rotation.

I am not sure, but I think this could be a deal breaker if I decide that I want to go into anything competitive.
Click to expand...

Like I told you before, I have 6 months of required rotations during my 4th year, and it hasn't been an issue for me or for most of my classmates, so I don't think 3 months should be a deal breaker.
I think NSU has a better residency/fellowship OPTI than western.
 
cliquesh said:
Like I told you before, I have 6 months of required rotations during my 4th year, and it hasn't been an issue for me or for most of my classmates, so I don't think 3 months should be a deal breaker.
I think NSU has a better residency/fellowship OPTI than western.
Click to expand...

But you got lucky and others did too, right? What if I just happen to be one of those unlucky ones where those EM and 2 rural rotations fall back to back from aug-oct?

btw, do you have to prepare for the board in July? I am hearing conflicting stories about when the II should be taken

MedPR said:
Wouldn't both schools give you your schedule before the start of the year? If so, you would know when your required rotation(s) is scheduled and can then schedule aways around that.
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what do you mean by scheduling around it?
 
zoner said:
But you got lucky and others did too, right? What if I just happen to be one of those unlucky ones where those EM and 2 rural rotations fall back to back from aug-oct?

btw, do you have to prepare for the board in July? I am hearing conflicting stories about when the II should be taken



what do you mean by scheduling around it?
Click to expand...

Yea, I got lucky. But 4th year starts in June, so at worst, you will lose June, July and August. That still gives you sept, oct, November and, maybe, December. Acgme programs, in general, don't care if you rotate there.

I took step 2 in July. Most schools have a summer break between 3rd and 4th year. I took it right after my break. I studied hardcore for like a week. If you study throughout your 3rd year, you shouldn't have to invest nearly as much time as step 1.
 
zoner said:
But you got lucky and others did too, right? What if I just happen to be one of those unlucky ones where those EM and 2 rural rotations fall back to back from aug-oct?

btw, do you have to prepare for the board in July? I am hearing conflicting stories about when the II should be taken



what do you mean by scheduling around it?
Click to expand...

Once the school tells you when you need to do your rural rotations you can contact other schools and tell them when you'd like to do a rotation there.
 
cliquesh said:
Yea, I got lucky. But 4th year starts in June, so at worst, you will lose June, July and August. That still gives you sept, oct, November and, maybe, December. Acgme programs, in general, don't care if you rotate there.

I took step 2 in July. Most schools have a summer break between 3rd and 4th year. I took it right after my break. I studied hardcore for like a week. If you study throughout your 3rd year, you shouldn't have to invest nearly as much time as step 1.
Click to expand...

well, this all works fine if you know for sure what specialty you want to go into. but this coupled with the fact that you don't get any 3rd year elective to truly try out different specialties such as Optho, radio, etc.. would give you less time to do audition rotation. Ideally, I would like to spend that first month of 4th year doing an elective to see which specialty will be a right fit or to make sure that whatever the specialty I have been thinking is the right one.

MedPR said:
Once the school tells you when you need to do your rural rotations you can contact other schools and tell them when you'd like to do a rotation there.
Click to expand...

the problem is that you loose that 3 months of audition rotation for the Rural rotations and EM. Even with the merger, I am sure competitive residencies will still prefer you to have done audition rotation there.
 
these relationships crack me up but it sounds like you werent up front.

im married but when my wife and i first got serious i was VERY upfront, totally told her that I would have to pick THE best school for me and the school that I liked that would give me the best education for myself. she was extremely unselfish.

i got accepted to 2 schools both of which i loved but thought that LECOM was a better fit for me. My wife is sacrificing a TON. I moved her hours away from her family, she quit her job and found a new one. Heres the kicker. my wife absolutely HATES the cold and snow. so shes essentially miserable with this climate.

i guess my point is as a married man, i told my wife that this had to be for me and she was very happy that I chose lecom because she realized what was best for me is what was best for us. she sacrificed but I made the decision which i thought was best for my education and she understood. you gotta be able to do that, should not be difficult. your just dating. she should be supportive and want you to pick the school for you because its your decision
 
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Dr Yiot said:
these relationships crack me up but it sounds like you werent up front.

im marries but when my wife and i first got serious i was VERY upfront, totally told her that I would have to pick THE best school for me and the school that I liked that would give me the best education for myself. she was extremely nonselfish.

i got accepted to 2 schools both of which i loved but thought that LECOM was a better fit for me. My wife is sacrificing a TON. I moved her hours away from her family, she quit her job and found a new one. Heres the kicker. my wife absolutely HATES the cold and snow. so shes essentially miserable with this climate.

i gues my point is as a married man, i told my wife that this had to be for me and she was very happy that I chose lecom because she realized what was best for me is what was best for us. she sacrificed but I made the decision which i thought was best for my education and she understood. you gotta be able to do that, should not be difficult. your just dating
Click to expand...

but would you still have been selfish if she wasn't willing to or couldn't be selfless?
 
zoner said:
well, this all works fine if you know for sure what specialty you want to go into. but this coupled with the fact that you don't get any 3rd year elective to truly try out different specialties such as Optho, radio, etc.. would give you less time to do audition rotation. Ideally, I would like to spend that first month of 4th year doing an elective to see which specialty will be a right fit or to make sure that whatever the specialty I have been thinking is the right one.



the problem is that you loose that 3 months of audition rotation for the Rural rotations and EM. Even with the merger, I am sure competitive residencies will still prefer you to have done audition rotation there.
Click to expand...

From what I've been told you really aren't going to be doing more than a couple of audition rotations. "Losing" out on 3 months shouldn't be a problem.
 
MedPR said:
From what I've been told you really aren't going to be doing more than a couple of audition rotations. "Losing" out on 3 months shouldn't be a problem.
Click to expand...

but think of it this way. lets say you want to do ortho and for aoa ortho, you HAVE to do audition rotation or else they won't take you. why would they when they are already getting a ton of very qualified candidates. someone who has rotated at 6-8 sites compared to 3-4 will have twice the chance of matching in somewhere than someone without.
 
zoner said:
but think of it this way. lets say you want to do ortho and for aoa ortho, you HAVE to do audition rotation or else they won't take you. why would they when they are already getting a ton of very qualified candidates. someone who has rotated at 6-8 sites compared to 3-4 will have twice the chance of matching in somewhere than someone without.
Click to expand...

Yes, and if we're only considering that one aspect about each school then Western obviously wins. It's a big part of your decision, I understand (I'm interested in competitive specialties as well) but the big picture still needs to be considered.
 
zoner said:
but would you still have been selfish if she wasn't willing to or couldn't be selfless?
Click to expand...

i was lucky, I was able to bounce pros and cons off of her but whenever I asked her what she thought and which school i should choose her answer was always "its not my decisions, its yours and I will go wherever you go" they other school was in a beautiful climate but was more expensive and not as established so i knew lecom was a better school for me.

if I was you? Yes, I would choose the school that I preferred and not looked back. the fact that your not married makes it even easier.

if she isn't willing to or couldn't be unselfish then imagine what its gonna be like when you spend more time studying or working during residency than actually seeing her.

ill tell you right now i havent taken my wife to a 'Romantic" dinner since before school started.
if shes not selfless then its only gonna get worse, so you need to talk to her about this stuff

the same goes for women also, entering med school with BF or husbands, they have to make ENORMOUS sacrifices cause if not then its not gonna work.

that bieng said many couples are just fine but they have to be understanding
 
zoner said:
well, this all works fine if you know for sure what specialty you want to go into. but this coupled with the fact that you don't get any 3rd year elective to truly try out different specialties such as Optho, radio, etc.. would give you less time to do audition rotation. Ideally, I would like to spend that first month of 4th year doing an elective to see which specialty will be a right fit or to make sure that whatever the specialty I have been thinking is the right one.



the problem is that you loose that 3 months of audition rotation for the Rural rotations and EM. Even with the merger, I am sure competitive residencies will still prefer you to have done audition rotation there.
Click to expand...
I think this is a good point. And if you want to do something like AOA ortho or rads etc then yeah an audition rotation is pretty important. Plus it's so competitive in those fields that you're going to want to have as many audition rotations in that field as possible to get your name out there to PD's.

For the elective thing during 3rd year, it's obviously better to have some elective time since aside from your core rotations, you're likely not going to be experiencing some of the other specialties and it's recommended that you are decided as to what specialty you'll be applying to at the latest by spring of 3rd year (so that you know what away rotations to apply to).

I don't know... I'm not really sold on why NSU is so much better to you. If it's location, I get that the Inland Empire isn't the most happening place but do you expect to go clubbing and bar-hopping every weekend? You'll be studying in the library or at a coffee house most of the time anyway so the times you do go out you can easily go to LA or Pasadena... I feel like you're seeing a lot of good things about Florida because it's probably a place you've never lived before, it looks attractive, and you just want a change.
 
zoner said:
well, this all works fine if you know for sure what specialty you want to go into. but this coupled with the fact that you don't get any 3rd year elective to truly try out different specialties such as Optho, radio, etc.. would give you less time to do audition rotation. Ideally, I would like to spend that first month of 4th year doing an elective to see which specialty will be a right fit or to make sure that whatever the specialty I have been thinking is the right one.
Click to expand...


The "surgery" clerkship isn't always 8 weeks on general surgery just like the "internal medicine" clerkship isn't always 8 weeks on general internal med. At some schools you do get the opportunity to try specialties while on clerkship rotations. For example, while my girlfriend was on surgery she did general surgery, ortho, CT, and urology. It was lottery, but she got to tell the school which surgical specialties were her top choice. Even at schools that give you a full elective on a sub-specialty, it will most likely be lottery based and you still may not get to do your top choice.
 
zoner said:
but think of it this way. lets say you want to do ortho and for aoa ortho, you HAVE to do audition rotation or else they won't take you. why would they when they are already getting a ton of very qualified candidates. someone who has rotated at 6-8 sites compared to 3-4 will have twice the chance of matching in somewhere than someone without.
Click to expand...

What you are not realizing here is that not very many away rotations are open to third year students anyway so there is NO guarantee that you would be able to do one third year outside of the available sites your school provides. Now, if there is a site that is school affiliated, then you would be ok (if a specialty rotation will take a 3rd year) other wise most away, non-affiliated rotation sites only take 4th year students.
 
pattr said:
I think this is a good point. And if you want to do something like AOA ortho or rads etc then yeah an audition rotation is pretty important. Plus it's so competitive in those fields that you're going to want to have as many audition rotations in that field as possible to get your name out there to PD's.

For the elective thing during 3rd year, it's obviously better to have some elective time since aside from your core rotations, you're likely not going to be experiencing some of the other specialties and it's recommended that you are decided as to what specialty you'll be applying to at the latest by spring of 3rd year (so that you know what away rotations to apply to).

I don't know... I'm not really sold on why NSU is so much better to you. If it's location, I get that the Inland Empire isn't the most happening place but do you expect to go clubbing and bar-hopping every weekend? You'll be studying in the library or at a coffee house most of the time anyway so the times you do go out you can easily go to LA or Pasadena... I feel like you're seeing a lot of good things about Florida because it's probably a place you've never lived before, it looks attractive, and you just want a change.
Click to expand...


probably that... I am not looking to go clubbing or anything like that but I would kill to have the chance to live/study by the beach. I know it's a very superficial reason, but swimming in the ocean as a study break makes me very happy whereas driving in IE traffic and breathing in that smoggy air makes me very sad. I think this attitude shows in the student body as well. I just get the sense (from looking at the F/B page and SDN) that NSU students are generally much much more happier than Western students. I have not yet heard single complaint about NSU from NSU students except for when and if they get screwed by the rural rotations during the 4th year. NSU is one of those school where I felt belonged when I was there for the interview. Western just felt... convenient and nothing special. Do you go to Western btw?

Also, another big thing about NSU is their 3rd year: NOT MUCH DRIVING and if you get Broward, the level 1 trauma center filled with DOs
 
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cabinbuilder said:
What you are not realizing here is that not very many away rotations are open to third year students anyway so there is NO guarantee that you would be able to do one third year outside of the available sites your school provides. Now, if there is a site that is school affiliated, then you would be ok (if a specialty rotation will take a 3rd year) other wise most away, non-affiliated rotation sites only take 4th year students.
Click to expand...

then why do so many schools and most of MD school offer 3rd year elective?
 
zoner said:
then why do so many schools and most of MD school offer 3rd year elective?
Click to expand...

So maybe you can do something fun that you would not otherwise get to do.

Derm is impossible to get a rotation in so if you can get it, do it.
I did the county coroner's office (it was like an extra vacation since they only called me when they had a homicide to dissect)

I did a GI rotation third year
Ophthalmology
Urgent Care
Blood Bank/Laboratory/Pathology
PM&R/Stroke Rehab
Genetics Counseling.
Immunology
Infectious Disease.
 
zoner said:
then why do so many schools and most of MD school offer 3rd year elective?
Click to expand...

Most MD schools do not offer 3rd year electives. And even of the ones that do very few, if any, let you leave the school's hospital(s) to do them. Away rotations are reserved almost exclusively for 4th year students.
 
MedPR said:
The "surgery" clerkship isn't always 8 weeks on general surgery just like the "internal medicine" clerkship isn't always 8 weeks on general internal med. At some schools you do get the opportunity to try specialties while on clerkship rotations. For example, while my girlfriend was on surgery she did general surgery, ortho, CT, and urology. It was lottery, but she got to tell the school which surgical specialties were her top choice. Even at schools that give you a full elective on a sub-specialty, it will most likely be lottery based and you still may not get to do your top choice.
Click to expand...

This is true. I had to do 1 month of general surgery, but then for the next 4 weeks, I could do any surgical speciality for 2 or 4 weeks, including anesthesia. I could have done 2 weeks ortho and 2 weeks urology if I wanted to.

Same thing for internal medicine. I had to do 4 weeks of general internal medicine. The next 4 weeks could be anything that falls under internal medicine.

I guess the only things I could not have been exposed to during my 3rd year without an elective would be rad-onc, PM&R, pathology and derm. We had a mandatory course in radiology.
 
zoner said:
probably that... I am not looking to go clubbing or anything like that but I would kill to have the chance to live/study by the beach. I know it's a very superficial reason, but swimming in the ocean as a study break makes me very happy whereas driving in IE traffic and breathing in that smoggy air makes me very sad. I think this attitude shows in the student body as well. I just get the sense (from looking at the F/B page and SDN) that NSU students are generally much much more happier than Western students. I have not yet heard single complaint about NSU from NSU students except for when and if they get screwed by the rural rotations during the 4th year. NSU is one of those school where I felt belonged when I was there for the interview. Western just felt... convenient and nothing special. Do you go to Western btw?

Also, another big thing about NSU is their 3rd year: NOT MUCH DRIVING and if you get Broward, the level 1 trauma center filled with DOs
Click to expand...

In my opinion, your answer is right there.
 
Wait, what's this about weekend Caribbean trips at Nova? 😕
 
zoner said:
I agree with Lady gaga regarding this, but the tricky part about my situation is that Western is a damn fine institution as well and I will still get to have my career

the thing that makes NSU so much more attractive is the friendliness of the student body, amazing campus and resources, e-textbooks, possibility of iPad, the city of FTL and SOFL region, the beaches, 3rd year rotations sites, weather and easy weekend trip to the Caribbeans.
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like you've already made your decision.
 
zoner said:
probably that... I am not looking to go clubbing or anything like that but I would kill to have the chance to live/study by the beach. I know it's a very superficial reason, but swimming in the ocean as a study break makes me very happy whereas driving in IE traffic and breathing in that smoggy air makes me very sad. I think this attitude shows in the student body as well. I just get the sense (from looking at the F/B page and SDN) that NSU students are generally much much more happier than Western students. I have not yet heard single complaint about NSU from NSU students except for when and if they get screwed by the rural rotations during the 4th year. NSU is one of those school where I felt belonged when I was there for the interview. Western just felt... convenient and nothing special. Do you go to Western btw?

Also, another big thing about NSU is their 3rd year: NOT MUCH DRIVING and if you get Broward, the level 1 trauma center filled with DOs
Click to expand...

If I learned anything in undergrad, it's that your enjoyment of the world around you is highly conducive to your study success. So your superficial reason is a good one, and a major reason I'm still interviewing at NSU despite otherwise choosing KCOM over other schools. I have a love affair with busy cities, and sun, and beaches, and food. I guess Kirksville does have a Jimmy John's. 😉
 
coolingglasses said:
If I learned anything in undergrad, it's that your enjoyment of the world around you is highly conducive to your study success. So your superficial reason is a good one, and a major reason I'm still interviewing at NSU despite otherwise choosing KCOM over other schools. I have a love affair with busy cities, and sun, and beaches, and food. I guess Kirksville does have a Jimmy John's. 😉
Click to expand...

Don't you live in florida?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using SDN Mobile
 
zoner said:
Don't you live in florida?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using SDN Mobile
Click to expand...

I would guess from his avatar that he does not. 😉
 
lol

no zoner, I do not live in Florida. but I will be driving down that way tonight
 
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