Valuable Feedback from TUCOM-CA Students about the School & Curriculum

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mandongo

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Hi guys, for those who are considering attending TUCOM or will be attending TUCOM...the following are comments by actual students of the Class of 2011. THIS IS PART 1 of 3 IN THIS FEEDBACK SERIES (MORE TO COME LATER). Hopefully, they will offer enough insight to give you a better idea about the school. The following are questions to which they responded to:

1) How has the new integrative systems-based curriculum work for you and your preparation of the COMLEX boards?
2) Does the faculty genuinely seems to support and care about the success of each student?
3) How is student life (i.e. social, dating, etc.) at TUCOM?
4) Is there anything about the school or curriculum that seems lacking or may need improvement on?

Student #1 (Male)
"The new system-based curriculum is great, but we have yet to see if this new method of teaching will better prepare us for boards in comparison to the the old system. FYI - the class of 2010 had 4 people who got 99% on the USMLE. The only draw back i have encountered thus far is the first semester of first year which we take all the core classes (i.e. biochem, etc.). These subject are very different from each other and so it was difficult to integrate them into a smooth semester. But it looks like the class of 2012 is having a far better experience than we had. But once you get into spring semester and on the system based curriculum is in full effect. I believe this form of learning is great because you get to learn everything (from normal to abnormal) for an organ system. It is a little more demanding than the previous curriculum because you have to learn path, pharm, etc which were all second year curriculum. But i feel by learning this way we get a sense of what clinicians thinking process are like. It's more effective to be able to recognize the condition and know what steps to do in order to help. I couldnt ask for a more supportive faculty. They are all here to help you become a successful physician. Most of the time they act more like your friend unless it is exam time where they have to put on their game faces. But you will get to know the professors really well. Our class is very close. They will become your main support group. your experience here will mainly depend on you. If you are open minded and easy going than you would get along with just about anyone. As far the dating scene, a few people in our class are dating. it depends on your ability. lol. I for one am not looking for a relationship in med school. I am here to do well and make some lifetime friendship and connections. I hope this helps. but remember no matter where you go, the education will be great. If you do well on rotations and on boards it does not matter what school you went to.

Student #2 (Male)
"The new curriculum has been a testing moment for the faculty and the students alike. With the 2011 class, this has been the proving grounds and there are both pros and cons. Whatever has failed for our class have surely improved for the 2012 class and, presumptively, the 2013 class. The 2011 class had a very poorly taught Biochemistry section, but the cardiovascular, respiratory, and renal sections were taught excellently. Our musculoskeletal section was taught very poorly and our anatomy is deplorable. Our neurobiology section was pretty good. So, it seems to be split down the middle - as i mentioned, there are pros and cons. One advice is that you take or are familiar with human anatomy because I feel that our current anatomy instructor is absolutely terrible.

The best thing about TUCOM is not the school itself, but the people within the class. Vallejo is not a very "social" place, but San Francisco and other adjoining cities are. As far as the faculty goes, they are very receptive to your constructive comments and concerns. Some of them work very hard to make our education the best it can be...granted there are only so much a few faculty can do to appease the student body. Nevertheless, my experience at TUCOM has been very positive, but it really depends on how you take it. You can make the most of it, or you can bitch and complain about every little detail that doesn't live up to your expectation."

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