UNECOM

[PalCareGrl]

Hello,
What are people's thoughts on UNECOM? It's my first choice and I am filling out my secondary right now. I am originally from CT, went to undergrad in VT and currently am in OH for school(last year) and personal (this year) reasons. I've noticed that there isn't any big long email about the people attending this fall.... is there anyone out there starting UNECOM that can comment on how great it is, their experiences so far, etc...? Any comments would be greatly appreciated - as I want to go there more than ANYTHING! Thanks! Liz

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[together]

Hi PalCareGirl:

I'm also from CT and considering UNECOM. I'll be attending the Boston University School of Medicine this fall (M.A. in Biomedical Sciences) and hope to apply to UNECOM for 2003 matriculation. Feel free to e-mail me so that we can talk about UNECOM!

Cheers,

Together

 

[Seeker05]

I interviewed at UNECOM last fall and was very impressed. The facilities are brand-new and the people I met there were all very nice. I work with 3 docs that went to UNE and they only have good things to say about it. They have a strong rep in both rural medicine and OMM (from what I gather, I'm by no means an authority), and I personally liked the location. UNE was my first choice of the DO schools that I interviewed at, although I only applied to CCOM, Touro, PCOM and KCOM. I was inches away from attending until I got into my state school. IMHO, I would definately give UNE a look.

 

[Dr JPH]

I have no personal contact with the school, but being from CT as well, UNECOM is certainly as option.

I, too, have heard some great things about the school and the facilities.

Those that I have talked to they say the facilities are solid, the surrounding area is gorgeous, and the people affiliated with the school are some of the nicest people in the medical community. These are all basically exact quotes.

I have also heard many positive things about their OMM, as someone above mentioned.

If you are interested in rural medicine or practicing in New England, I would definately consider UNECOM. Even if you want to work outside the Primary care area, the school offers excellent opportunities.

Of the schools I applied to, it is definately one of my top choices.

 

[TNT]

I actually interviewed there and was accepted. I declined it to go to another school, and boy do I regret it everyday. I fell in love with the school, but it's just too far away for me. Across the country, literally. I love the area, but the diversity is not great. Everyone is white, so if you're ethnic, you may feel out of place. The school, campus, students, area, scenary, etc is the best. I do regret not going here, and always wonder if i made the wrong decision by not attending, but it was just too far away. nothing I can do about it now. If it were in the midwest, i would have gone there in a heart beat, thats how much i loved it. The surrounding area is gorgeous, and i would've loved to spend the next four years up there. I'll stop writing now because i'm really feeling bad about turning UNE down.

 

[amr122]

I'm a third-year at UNECOM, so I thought I'd give a little first-hand input into your question. Keep in mind, however, that as with all advice, what I say is just my opinion and others feel differently.

That said, I can't imagine being happier at medical school than I've been the last two years. For brevity's sake, here are the pluses and minuses as far as I see them:

Pluses (not necessarily in order):

1) Gorgeous location. Southern Maine has everything outdoors you could want to do (bike, hike, kayak, even surf) and Portland is a great city to cut loose in.

2) Brand new facilities (building is less than five years old.) There are direct video feeds into every classroom from pretty much anywhere in the building.

3) Excellent anatomy / fresh tissue program. Clinicians from all over the nation come to UNECOM to practice surgical techniques on fresh (not embalmed) cadavers. If you volunteer to help out with some of the administrative stuff surrounding the workshops, you can sometimes watch.

4) Excellent relationship among students, faculty, and staff. The grading system is pass/fail, so there's almost no competetion between students. I went to Penn State undergrad where many of the pre-med students were very cuthroat so I know how bad it can get. I can't imagine going through the rigors of med school with everyone being competetive and hostile towards each other.

There are a bunch more, but those are the major ones.

Minuses:

1) Winter in Maine can get cold with lots of snow (but Sunday River Ski Resort is only 1.5 hours away

2) Emphasis on primary care (this is a big plus to some people.) If you want to be a cardiothoracic surgeon, there might be better schools to attend. It's not that you can't get there from UNECOM, but the road might be a little harder.

IMHO, you can get a great medical education almost anywhere -- it's what you put into it. If you feel like you click at UNECOM, then by all means, go there. If you don't feel like it's the place for you, don't go. If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me at [email protected]

Good luck!
adam

 

[EJS]

Just wanted to comment (I'm an MSII) and say it is a good school and especially if you want to be a primary care doc. Also, we are not "all white" although primarily white there are a good ten people in each class that are not and the school preaches diversity so much. Also, you will not spend 4 years at UNECOM, you will definately spend 2 and then the other two on rotation somewhere. ok, I should really be studying neuro...