UNECOM clinicals

[fishy424]

I applied to PCOM, NYCOM and UNECOM this year.

Thanks to everyone who has offered info. and opinion on clinical sites at PCOM and NYCOM.....

But does anyone have any idea about the quality of the clinical rotations at UNECOM? I have heard from D.O.'s that UNECOM students don't always graduate as prepared as their counterparts for internship/residency and that a lot of variability exists among the various sites? Could anyone comment? (especially UNECOM folks!) Thanks!

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[Doc Oc]

I'm pretty sure our clinical rotation sites are listed on our website, which is www.une.edu. There is alot of variability, ranging from Maine Medical Center in Portland, ME to St. Michaels in Newark, NJ to Lancaster Community Hospital in PA. Almost all of our sites are shared with other schools, MD and DO. Some of the sites have residency programs, some don't.

As for UNECOM grads not being as prepared for internship, I have never heard that. Since we train with students from other schools, I wonder if those students' schools are thought of as having had less than adequate clinicals. I wonder how many UNE grads those docs have worked with, or if this is also something that they have "heard". No matter where you go, you get out what you put in.

One of our school's missions is to train docs who want to practice primary care in rural New England. Alot of our sites are in rural areas, although there are tracks that are all in urban areas.

I start rotations in 3 days, so I don't have an opinion on the quality yet, and even so, it would only be of one site and can't be used to judge all of them. However, if you have specific questions about the sites, or know what type of hospitals you want to rotate at, I can tell you what I know about each site and if it fits. I do know the size/# of beds/ cities/ etc. of all of the sites, and a little about each since I read about all of them before choosing the one that I was going to rotate at.

I hope that is helpful!

Doc Oc
UNECOM 2005

 

[fishy424]

I am VERY interested in UNECOM... thanks for the info. I suspect the DO I talked to passed judgement on a small sample of students.

This DO group also advised me that I can get a great education in Year 3 and 4, pretty much wherever I end up..... they emphasized going somewhere I can be busy and added that attitude, willingness to learn and work ethic are more important than WHERE your rotations are.

I am interested in where you are studying for year 3? (In just two days!) What factored into your decision. (Assuming you had control.)

Thanks, fishy424

 

[Doc Oc]

There are about 10 different rotation sites, and each year, your class forms a small committee of about 10 of your classmates (not voted), and they decide how the class wants to distribute sites. It usually ends up being some form of a lottery taking place int he gym, with everyone lining up at the table of the site they want. If there are enough slots, you all get the site you want. For the sites that have more people than slots, they draw ping-pong balls out of a box until slots are gone. The people who didn't get it from all the sites then all put their ping-pong balls into another box, and names are drawn. When your name is drawn, you pick from what's left from the sites that didn't fill. There's variations and clauses and other more complicated parts to the lottery, but that's the gist of it. About 10 people didn't get their 1st choice in the end. I was one of the 10.

My first choice was the hospitals in southern Maine. I didn't get drawn, and by the time my name was drawn to choose from what was left, there were only 3 sites left. I got Allentown, Pennsylvania. During the next week, we were allowed to trade, and I got a track at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor from a classmate who was transferring. I am happy with where I am going, although I would have liked to have been able to live with my husband during 3rd year. I have heard nothing but good things about EMMC from other students, docs that teach us, and docs I work with at my job. As a student, you get to do alot because there isn't a residency program there and you're actually needed. It's a decent sized hospital, and they do alot of surgeries there. They are the main hospital for all of northern Maine and parts of Canada, so you see alot of different things. The hospital provides housing in either a dorm, or in a local motel (I'll be in the motel). I'll be doing internal medicine (12 weeks), Family practice, Surgery, OB/GYN, and Peds (6 weeks each) at EMMC, in that order. My psychiatry rotation is at St. Mary's Hospital in Lewiston, ME, and that is also 6 weeks. We set up our 4th year wherever we want that has space, you just call up programs and give them your dates and ask if they can take a student.

This is really long. If you want to know more, PM me and I can answer more questions over email if need be.

Good luck!

Doc Oc
UNECOM Class of 2005