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Western COMP vs. Touro CA
Started by mother
touro sites
http://www.tugsa.net/blog/touro/
http://www.tugsa.net/blog/touro/
I too have been accepted to both and would like to hear from those who were also considering both of these schools, and why they chose the school that they did.
The locations of both schools seem to bother a lot of people. On the days that I went, it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. I didn't stay overnight however. Anyone who stayed in either of these areas overnight care to comment on their experiences?
as far as western, i know one of the big pros for me is the possibility of being able to do core rotations in San Diego (where I'm from). as far as negatives, ive been numerous times and interacted with the students and the general consensus i hear is that the town is kind of dead and the campus really isn't anything speciacl to look at. it looks like a broke down strip mall. but apparently they are remodeling or something, i dunno.
you obviously haven't ever been up to vallejo. pomona is like daytona beach compared to vallejo
haha. you are correct, i've never been.
SF is like 50 minutes from Vallejo, right? So that's probably not going to do it for me since to me SF = LA. I'm probably going to wait until both official matchlists come out for both schools until I make my final decision.
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Honestly I wouldn't place too much value on match lists when choosing schools. Just because some graduates of the class of 200N were really into surgery/internal med/derm/ophtho/EM/anes/picking berries doesn't mean much of anything.
Over the last couple years I've come to realize that the most important things about med school to me are 1) clinical rotation sites, and 2) streaming lectures during pre-clinical years. The rest is really school-independent.
what determines a good clinical rotation site? how do can you find which schools are affiliated with what sites?
For me, it was the interview day. I thought one school was better organized, more professional, and made an effort to get to know me. It made the decision very easy for me. How was your experience?
I made a similar thread to this. Anyway I'll give you my take.
Western:
Most people that go to Western live outside of Pomona. Since the lectures are online, some people even live at the beach and never come to class (just the required OMM and small group sessions). That's what I intended on doing because I'm not an audio-learner. I hear the lectures kinda suck too. I think they give you a packet or you download it and you study what will be covered on the exams. The curriculum is systems based and you don't have to buy all the books, just the ones you need. The cost of living is really high though and they don't give you a very high budget to compensate for it. The tuition is EXPENSIVE but I found out that you can apply to be an OMM fellow after your 2nd year (extend 3rd and 4th year rotations over 3 years) and you get tuition and cost of living covered until you graduate. The location is actually great btw. You have Big Bear an hour and half east of you, the beach an hour west of you, close to Las Vegas, the grand canyon, Hollywood, San Diego, Mexico, Disneyland, 6 Flags, Knotts Berry Farms... shall I go on? Plus you can set up an elective rotation at the end of your 3rd year. There are great hospitals to rotate through, great research opportunities outside of western at USC, UCLA, ect.
Tour-MI
Well the location of the campus is rather... ugly. I guess that will change eventually. The Siemens Particle thing for cancer seems promising. Attendance is pretty much required since they don't record the lectures. The tour guide said you have to buy every book ($2000+) which I sort of doubt but whatever. Lectures are all day too, something like 9-5. People live 30 minutes away tooo because Vallejo is pretty ghetto. The good thing about location is that you are near SF and Napa. The Bay area is an amazing place. I hear you have to travel really far for rotations and the sites aren't that great. I got the feeling that there aren't very many research opportunities. They also were really sketchy about the curriculum which was kinda disappointing. The tuition is also expensive but cost of living is slightly cheaper.
Personally, I would choose Western.
Western:
Most people that go to Western live outside of Pomona. Since the lectures are online, some people even live at the beach and never come to class (just the required OMM and small group sessions). That's what I intended on doing because I'm not an audio-learner. I hear the lectures kinda suck too. I think they give you a packet or you download it and you study what will be covered on the exams. The curriculum is systems based and you don't have to buy all the books, just the ones you need. The cost of living is really high though and they don't give you a very high budget to compensate for it. The tuition is EXPENSIVE but I found out that you can apply to be an OMM fellow after your 2nd year (extend 3rd and 4th year rotations over 3 years) and you get tuition and cost of living covered until you graduate. The location is actually great btw. You have Big Bear an hour and half east of you, the beach an hour west of you, close to Las Vegas, the grand canyon, Hollywood, San Diego, Mexico, Disneyland, 6 Flags, Knotts Berry Farms... shall I go on? Plus you can set up an elective rotation at the end of your 3rd year. There are great hospitals to rotate through, great research opportunities outside of western at USC, UCLA, ect.
Tour-MI
Well the location of the campus is rather... ugly. I guess that will change eventually. The Siemens Particle thing for cancer seems promising. Attendance is pretty much required since they don't record the lectures. The tour guide said you have to buy every book ($2000+) which I sort of doubt but whatever. Lectures are all day too, something like 9-5. People live 30 minutes away tooo because Vallejo is pretty ghetto. The good thing about location is that you are near SF and Napa. The Bay area is an amazing place. I hear you have to travel really far for rotations and the sites aren't that great. I got the feeling that there aren't very many research opportunities. They also were really sketchy about the curriculum which was kinda disappointing. The tuition is also expensive but cost of living is slightly cheaper.
Personally, I would choose Western.
I actually had my best interview experience at another school, but since it was new I crossed it off my list. But after seeing it's matchlist I've been reconsidering.
Good clinical rotation sites include at the very least: 1) being at a hospital, not a clinic or "some dude's office" 2) having rounds 3) lots of exposure and diversity of pathology in whatever field you are rotating
For western and TUCOM-MI, there are posts that describe each rotation site from the personal experience of students who have been to these sites.
Someone posted about the TUCOM-MI rotations above. I'm sure there are more floating around.
The western ones that I know of are here:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=352351
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=494887
We also have a database of student feedback for each rotation at each site here at COMP, but that isn't accessible until you are a student, so that doesn't help much in trying to decide between schools.
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