Thanks so much! My TMDSAS stats are a bit stronger (cGPA 3.75, sGPA 3.67). Definitely interested in some of the MD schools here but worried about more rural schools for my own safety/sanity.
From this reply, started checking out DO schools. Since I know less, I'm struggling to figure out which schools are sketchy and which are worth it. Definitely interested in Western (grew up in IE) and Tuoro, but also looking into Chicago Midwestern and NY Institute of Tech. Any thoughts on those? Especially as someone not super focused on primary care?
All good schools. I have a list of Bad Boy schools and my advice is to NOT apply to those schools
ARCOM: Required mandatory lecture attendance during the COVID pandemic!
Lecturers were outside speakers and could have taught via Zoom.
They also require lecture attendance for struggling students, as if passive learning is going to be a major positive factor for these sorts of students
And now they’re on heightened monitoring for accreditation:
Accreditation Decisions for Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
LUCOM: I have a profound distaste for the politics of their parent organization; they’re disingenuous about whether their strict lifestyle rules apply to medical students (they do); and their Faculty make blatant attempts to twist facts to match their theology. In the midst of the COVID19 pandemic, Liberty president Jerry Falwell Jr insisted that the campus stay open! This was in violation of state law
Black Liberty University alums rebuke Jerry Falwell after blackface tweet
And read this, while you’re at it:
https://slate.com/culture/2020/08/l...football-sports.amp?__twitter_impression=true
From the wise gyngyn:
Liberty is poorly regarded due to the history of intolerance of their founding fathers. This school's reputation for intolerance puts its grads at a disadvantage at many reputable residency programs.
LMU: the administration of the parent body fired a dean for supporting social justice and racial equality.
Their position is: On August 14th (2020), an Associate Dean of Students emailed new student policy that stated
“You are not allowed to be involved in any form of public statement about social justice and racial inequities in medicine in any prominent location on the LMU campus”."
BCOM: Also this: granted
Accreditation with Heightened Monitoring. This indicates that fewer than three standards are non-compliant and ongoing monitoring will occur via progress reporting. For schools with this status, accreditation will be granted for four years.
Accreditation decisions for colleges of osteopathic medicine
ICOM: Not recommended due to the apparent dishonesty they had in setting up their school that poisoned the relations with hospitals in Idaho and/or the Idaho Medical Association. In addition, most of their rotation sites are
very far away from the school. This raises the risk that the rotations are not adequately supervised, and preceptors are not fully trained in teaching. And they have the nerve to give you only 48 hours to decide upon submitting a $1500 deposit!
RVU: I find for profit schools to be distasteful to medical education, but this is outright disgusting behavior:
With all due respect to those attending and applying to RVU, because it has a solid track record academically, I believe it’s unethical for the school to give leads to Caribbean programs. Though St George seems to be one of the better ones, there are still high attrition rates making it a risky...
forums.studentdoctor.net
BTW, brand new DO schools are to be avoided (unless it’s your only accept) until they at least graduate a class. It takes time for faculty to gel and deliver a coherent curriculum; they have limited clinical rotations sites [it takes time to build these!], the degree of oversight of clinical training will be weak; the schools are unlikely to have resources for struggling students or those with mental health needs; lastly their grads will be unknown products to residency program directors.