Hello everyone, I have recently been accepted into both VCOM-Auburn, and University of pikeville college of osteopathic medicine and can't decide on which one to go to. What do all of you suggest?
Upike KYCOM vs Edward VCOM-Auburn
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What is important to you? Which one is cheaper and closer to home??
Honestly, I would feel more at home in auburn and I think I would overall have a better experience (outside of my education). but realistically Upike KYCOM has been around longer and it is slightly cheaper. They give you a bunch of free stuff ex: free laptop, iPad, First attempt at boards, OMM table, electronic textbooks, diagnostic tools, and so on. Kentucky would also be closer to home.
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Go to KYCOM. You will be in VCOM-Auburn's 2nd (3rd?) class, and even though it's a branch campus of VCOM, there will still be kinks to work out and unknown variables about the faculty. Plus, being cheaper is huge (also think about cost of living in the two areas as well).
Also hint: All those things KYCOM gives you aren't "free." You paid for them with your tuition money.
Yeah i understand where you are coming from. thank you. well i know its not like free, but the totally tuition is still cheaper than VCOM, which does provide any of those things to the students. Do you think VCOM-auburn students will be at a disadvantage when it comes to securing a residency?
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Maybe, depending on the region to which you are applying. Many PD's may just see VCOM and be comfortable, others may notice that you're coming from the newest campus and may be more hesitant. It's impossible to say for sure really, but I do think it would be pragmatic to assume so.
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I have to disagree with the other poster.
If you would feel at home at Edward VCOM then do it. Since its. A branch campus I'm less worried for you and matches because they're known
Going where you would feel at home is very important.
I go to KYCOM and it's a perfectly fine and dandy medical school, but I wouldn't pick or just because of "free stuff".
Thank you for your feedback. If you don't mind me asking what year are you at KYCOM. Would you mind describing your experience with the school, maybe some of the advantages and disadvantages? Is student life outside the classroom boring in such a small town, or does it not matter because there is such little free time anyways?
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I've talked a lot about this in the KYCOM school specific thread but I'll elaborate a little here. I'm a first year here. As far as the town goes it's big enough to give you what you need. Honestly there isn't really enough free time to be super bothered by the size of the town, but many of us will get out and go somewhere the weekend after an exam. I swear it's not as bad as you would think.
Pros: KYCOM advantage (though it wouldn't be enough to make me pick it), faculty is here to help you, they really want to see you succeed. Our Neuro professor is holding review sessions twice a week because a lot of people are having problems there. They don't want you to fail. Dean Buser is a wonderful man. Easy housing in walking distance. Has been amazing in the weather we've had.
Cons: 4 hours of OMT straight kind of sucks. We're all kind of useless at the end of it. Manadtory attendance your first semester. It bothered me more than I realized it would, and our lecture capture system doesn't allow you to watch lectures on 2x speed.
Overall I'm happy here and do are most people. But make the med school decision that's right for you.
thank you! that honestly was very helpful. The only reason I've been leaning slightly more towards VCOM-auburn is because it is a bigger town on a bigger university (Auburn University) and that they have one the coolest gyms I've ever seen. Also i am drawn to their organ-system based curriculum, where each block focuses on a particular organ system. From your experience with KYCOM, do you believe you would have had a better experience if KYCOM also had an organ-system based curriculum. Would you say its pointless to be drawn to a medical school just because the university and the town is larger. I hate to hammer you with questions, but what are your thoughts about having exams only once a month, compared to VCOM where exams are evenly spread out?
thank you! that honestly was very helpful. The only reason I've been leaning slightly more towards VCOM-auburn is because it is a bigger town on a bigger university (Auburn University) and that they have one the coolest gyms I've ever seen. Also i am drawn to their organ-system based curriculum, where each block focuses on a particular organ system. From your experience with KYCOM, do you believe you would have had a better experience if KYCOM also had an organ-system based curriculum. Would you say its pointless to be drawn to a medical school just because the university and the town is larger. I hate to hammer you with questions, but what are your thoughts about having exams only once a month, compared to VCOM where exams are evenly spread out?
2 things.
1. My school does not do an organ-system based curriculum. I think it's one of the major shortcomings of my school. In my opinion, an organ-system based curriculum would be far superior for ease of learning and long term association/memory for the boards.
2. Monthly block exams (as opposed to weekly/bi-weekly exams) is hugely beneficial. It helps prepare you for the longevity of the board exams, and it also provides you with a quasi "vacation week" immediately after the exam. Both of these factors make monthly block exams advantageous, but especially the "vacation week". Although we still have school immediately following our block exams, the pressure is completely toned down to zero and we are able to relax/recover for a little while.
What would you consider more important, having an organ-based curriculum or having the monthly block exams? when you do have the exam at the end of the month, How long is it? do you take one long exam for all of the courses you had taken that monthly block?
Like i said, we don't have the organ-based curriculum at my school, so i don't have a personal frame of reference for comparing the two. I may or may not be falling for the "grass is greener" effect... it's hard to say.
All that i can really say is that I highly value the block exam scheduling. It keeps us all sane 3 weeks at a time, for the sacrifice of a stressful block week. Our block exams vary in length, but are typically 2.5 - 3.5 hours long. This approximates a half board exam. When I was a first year student, the mental fatigue was a huge factor and my performance on the exams clearly tapered towards the end. Now as a second year student with over a dozen block exams under my belt, i've gotten used to the longevity and my mental endurance has improved.
Edit: Yes, the block exams consist of questions from all of the courses that we covered over the past month. The number of questions from each course corresponds to the weight of the class (during 1st semester, we obviously had many more anatomy questions on our exams than OMT questions, for instance). For courses that span multiple semesters (pharm I & pharm II, path I & path II, etc.), it's not uncommon for us to encounter 3 or 4 cumulative questions with each subsequent exam
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It's a little hard to comment on an organ based curriculum because I've never experienced it. I've not felt disadvantaged by our curriculum though.
I wouldn't pick a school based on the size of a town.
Although block exams are stressful I definitely think I prefer that to spread out exams. Spread ouT exams would be high stress all the time for me. I perfer the one week of high stress.
Thanks! Would you say the class gets along very well at KYCOM? Is there plenty of study places in the Coal building? Also, what are your recommendations for housing. when is it a good time to actually look for a place?
Are the exams multiple choice exams? For the exams, do you get a passage with a certain scenario and you have to solve a few questions on it (similar to the MCAT), or is it more of a typical science course multiple choice exam where each question is independent?
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Yes.
The amount of study space is kind of sucky actually. I'd make that a negative, but I don't think about it because I study at home.
I signed my lease early June. Optometry students are coming in this year that will also be looking for housing so I would recommend early May.
I believe every school uses multiple choice exams.
What you are describing here is referred to as a "clinical vignette" question. Yes we do get clinical vignette questions. However, the majority of the questions on our exams (especially during 1st year) are just straight-up 1 liner question-and-answer type questions. The exams will gradually include more and more clinical vignette questions as you progress through medical school, in line with your increasing familiarity with different clinical presentations. Also, there are very few ways to ask a clinical vignette question about the kreb's cycle in biochem, or the difference between epithelium types in cell biology... so it makes sense that your 1st year classes will favor 1 liner questions.
The vignette questions will typically give you a thorough patient presentation (back story of accident/illness, chief complaint, vital signs, history, & physical). The vignette will provide more information than you need, and you have to weed through the text to determine the correct answer (ex: what is the patient's diagnosis? what drug would you use to treat this patient? this patient's diagnosis puts him at an increased risk for what other conditions? etc).
Is Upikes library any good for studying? do you know how late it is open? Also, i know it really depends on the place you live, but how much does housing typically cost? Is living costs also fair (cost of groceries and so on)? sorry for the ridiculous amount of questions...it really helps to get the inside scoop, which is very much appreciated 🙂 !!
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You need to go check out the school specific forum where a lot of stuff like housing has been discussed. Also join the Facebook group. Apartments get posted there.
I honestly know nothing about the library. I've never even been in it. The medical school has their own library.s A lot of people study there though.
My apartment is 700. Nice 1 bedroom or fair 2 bedrooms run around that 600-800. Nice 2 bedrooms tend to run around 1000-1200.
I'm not bothered by cost of groceries, but it is a little bit more than home.
Thanks! I'm assuming the format of these clinical vignette questions will also be similar to the format of the comlex level 1 questions.
That's correct. Having these type of questions on exams is not unique to any one school... most (all?) schools use them.
Thanks! Do you have any stats on what their first time pass rate for the Comlex level 1 is? level 2? Do you know their match rate?
Oh, and also, i read somewhere that KYCOM has a religious affiliation? do you anything about that, whether its true or not?
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The Christian medical association puts on a mission trip. That's about it.
I'm done now. Got an exam coming up. I wish you the best in your decision!
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Hello from a KYCOM 2nd year!
I'll answer a few questions samac wasn't able to.
1. The Upike library is alright. They have a few study rooms and such that you can "lock" yourself in. I've never really had a problem finding a good space there when I wanted to. In fact, the one time I did almost have an issue, the librarian let me study in their kitchen, which was silent. And had access to a microwave and popcorn! Even better.
2. First year is not really organ-system based in the strictest of definitions, but it's still sort of overlapped between classes. (eg: you learn about the GI system in anatomy and cell bio/embryology at the same time.) Second year is more organ-system based, which I really like. We'll hear about some of the same pathologies and treatments in more than one class, which makes things stick a whole lot better. IMO anyway.
3. I've never felt our religious affiliation, except for they say a prayer at the beginning of our white coat ceremony, and before dinner at the spring formal. That's about it. Oh, and some students are part of a bible study but that doesn't really go through the school at all.
4. Board pass rates are meh. Something like 85% for level 2 and level 2 CE, 98% for level 2 PE. However, a lot of those data are from when they had a much smaller class size (n=67ish). They post a bunch of performance indicators in the school and you can see how your class on average compares to previous years, and so far each year has improved over the year before it. That doesn't make a huge difference, but it's a difference nonetheless. They have quite the plan to make sure no one fails though. We have one-on-one meetings with Dr. Harris (who is awesome) on coming up with a study plan. They have you start taking diagnostic tests over winter break of 2nd year (probably to scare people into studying). My opinion on the matter is you're either going to step up to the challenge or you're not. I haven't really had a problem balancing school studying and board studying this semester, as long as I study the organ system we're covering in path or whatever. I took the initiative to find a few fourth years (one MD, one DO) who both did exceptionally well on their exams (USMLE, and USMLE and COMLEX, respectively) to get some recommendations. The information on how to succeed is all provided to you, I just don't think everyone gets that. Now, I haven't taken COMLEX or USMLE yet so we'll see if my tune changes at all come July, but so far I've had nothing to indicate I'm at risk of failing. Ok... end rant.
I'll answer a few questions samac wasn't able to.
1. The Upike library is alright. They have a few study rooms and such that you can "lock" yourself in. I've never really had a problem finding a good space there when I wanted to. In fact, the one time I did almost have an issue, the librarian let me study in their kitchen, which was silent. And had access to a microwave and popcorn! Even better.
2. First year is not really organ-system based in the strictest of definitions, but it's still sort of overlapped between classes. (eg: you learn about the GI system in anatomy and cell bio/embryology at the same time.) Second year is more organ-system based, which I really like. We'll hear about some of the same pathologies and treatments in more than one class, which makes things stick a whole lot better. IMO anyway.
3. I've never felt our religious affiliation, except for they say a prayer at the beginning of our white coat ceremony, and before dinner at the spring formal. That's about it. Oh, and some students are part of a bible study but that doesn't really go through the school at all.
4. Board pass rates are meh. Something like 85% for level 2 and level 2 CE, 98% for level 2 PE. However, a lot of those data are from when they had a much smaller class size (n=67ish). They post a bunch of performance indicators in the school and you can see how your class on average compares to previous years, and so far each year has improved over the year before it. That doesn't make a huge difference, but it's a difference nonetheless. They have quite the plan to make sure no one fails though. We have one-on-one meetings with Dr. Harris (who is awesome) on coming up with a study plan. They have you start taking diagnostic tests over winter break of 2nd year (probably to scare people into studying). My opinion on the matter is you're either going to step up to the challenge or you're not. I haven't really had a problem balancing school studying and board studying this semester, as long as I study the organ system we're covering in path or whatever. I took the initiative to find a few fourth years (one MD, one DO) who both did exceptionally well on their exams (USMLE, and USMLE and COMLEX, respectively) to get some recommendations. The information on how to succeed is all provided to you, I just don't think everyone gets that. Now, I haven't taken COMLEX or USMLE yet so we'll see if my tune changes at all come July, but so far I've had nothing to indicate I'm at risk of failing. Ok... end rant.
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100% true. The OMT does suck on that it is the entire day. I'm so washed out by the end of it. GL on block 6!
Actually it is kind of free. they are the 4th cheapest medical school. and on top of it they provide you with the package, which is kind of insanely awesome!
(although if you think about it technically you did pay for it, but its just really nice that they are giving you that in addition to your education, which most schools don't, you know?)
