UNECOM vs. PCOM

[aagbay]

Hey everybody!
-I am deciding between UNECOM and PCOM and I have some questions.

-UNECOM has 4 students per cadaver and PCOM has 5 students per cadaver. Do you think this is a big difference?

-I think that at UNECOM, housing is provided during your rotations. I think PCOM makes you fend for yourself for finding housing on rotations. Is this true and is it much of an inconvenience?

-PCOM has many students that came from their Masters program. Is it true that they outperform those students who were not previously in the PCOM Masters program?

-Is it true that you will have more residency opportunities coming from PCOM than if you come from UNECOM?

-PCOM has more people going into specialties. Does this mean it is easier to get a specialty residency coming from PCOM?

Thanks in advance for any information you could share.

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[jennyd]

Aagbay,
I am currently a second year student at PCOM and feel that I can answer some of your questions concerning the situation at PCOM.
- Five students versus four during anatomy - Honestly, I don't feel that this will make any difference at all in your anatomy experience. Every student at my table was able to perform whatever they wanted to whenever they wanted to. You have an entire body to disect - there is more than enough to go around! In addition, it can be helpful to have more people to bounce questions off of. In the long run, the addition or subtraction of only one person will not make a big difference.
- Housing during rotations - PCOM does require rotation sites to provide housing for away rotations - for home rotations you are on your own. This is not really a factor depending on how you plan your rotations - if you are always away, you don't need to keep an apartment in Philly. On the other hand, if you have a lot of home rotations you don't need to change a thing - just stay where you are at.
- Masters outperforming other students - In my experience (I am not a previous masters student)this is not the case. The masters students did have a hand up during the first week of class during first year however, everyone was on equal playing field after that. Honestly, I don't think that this should influence your decision to go to PCOM in any way. You will learn that the performance of other students is no longer a concern for you - everyone helps everyone else out. You will be fine as long as you do your best and try your hardest - that is all I did. Trust me - you are only competing against yourself!
- More residencies available from PCOM - I am not quite at that stage yet in my career where I am applying for residencies however, the only reason why this might be true is due to the healthcare mecca that is present in Philadelphia. There are a lot of residencies available in the area but remember that there are also alot of students applying to those residencies.
- More specialists from PCOM - This is an idea that I have not heard before. The school states that ~60% of our grads go into primary care. Despite that fact, there are grads that enter specialties. I have heard that the difficulty for our grads to get into specialties is just about the same for allo- grads. So if you work hard and do good - you have just as good a shot as everyone else.
I hope that this information has helped you to form a more educated opinion in choosing which osteopathic college you wish to attend. On a personal note - I am very happy at PCOM and would recommend the school to everyone! Every school has its pros and cons but PCOM definitely has many more pros. I wish you the best of luck and congrats on your acceptances! Jen

 

[David511]

Every day, more and more, I feel like I made the right choice

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-d
PCOM Class of 2005