Western U COMP vs RVUCOM CO vs Temple

[Lux23]

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Western U COMP
Pros

• Local, strong support system in place
• Increased chances of matching back in SoCal
• Heavy focus on integrated POC tech/devices throughout curriculum via their 'digital doctor's bag' program

Cons

• OMM-heavy curriculum, including a mandatory OMM rotation
• Rotations all over the place, generally poor reviews concerning the quality of preceptors and sites from alum
• Campus safety issues
• Greater focus on clinical exam skills over hands-on procedural skills (sim lab not as extensive as some other schools).

RVUCOM-CO
Pros

• Great location, love the colder weather
• Heavy hands-on skill training (extensive sim lab and cut suit use, large-scale disaster and emergency response exercises)
• Generally positive reviews of rotation sites and preceptors
• Competitive anatomy fellowship offered (adds an additional year, but I think fellows get tuition for years 3-5 waived)

Cons

• Further from home (2hr flight, 15hr drive)
• Love the snow, but I've never actually had to deal with driving in it or having to shovel it on a daily basis--might change my mind!
• Lottery system for rotation sites--may have to move elsewhere within CO for years 3-4
• For-profit stigma (Doesn't seem to impact students directly from what I can tell, but the focus shifting to new branch campuses may change this...)

Temple - Philly (Waitlisted)
Pros

• MD. No additional DO hoops to jump through.
• Cheaper tuition and CoL
• Great rotation sites

Cons

• Moving across the country with no support system in the area. I lived on the east coast during undergrad and really struggled with this. Additionally, it is unlikely that I will get to physically see my aging parents/grandmother for the entirety of med school due to a few different issues.
• Safety issues regarding campus and north philly in general--will probably have to commute from further away than the above schools.
• Will probably remain on the east coast for residency. This would add 3-4 years on to con bullet point #1.

Additional info: I am interested in non-competitive specialties (IM or path (forensic)). Tuition/COA for Western and RVU are about the same. I'm currently leaning towards either of those even if I get accepted off of Temple's waitlist. I know the general consensus here is MD over DO, and I tend to agree--I feel like I'd be dumb to pass up the opportunity if I get accepted to Temple, but at the same time the cons feel a lot more impactful to me than either of the DO schools'. I am the only child of immigrant parents and I definitely carry that first-gen guilt of feeling responsible for them and their wellbeing.

 

[drthedude]

Temple hands down, the cons will work their way to where you can visit!

 

[m1redsox]

I actually disagree with the consensus on SDN in some ways. I think being near family is underrated. I think that if you are completely sold on non-competitive specialties, then a DO school near home (or more specifically near the region where you want to match) is a good option.

I chose an MD program on the east coast over Western, CA Northstate, and CUSM, and while I don't regret my decision (because I ended up being interested in cutting into eyeballs and I'm happy to have a good school reputation behind me), it is pretty tough to travel for holidays in order to only see family 1-2 times per year.

I can't imagine picking RVUCOM over Western. Western is a well-known program and it is close to home. As an added bonus, you can easily network with programs you want to match into, and regional bias definitely shows up in the match.

At the same time, Temple is a great program, and in non-competitive specialties, you would not have a problem matching back in California if you want to get away for a few years.

Based on reputation alone, Temple >>> Western > RVUCOM, but I don't think reputation tells the full story (unless you are interested in surgical subs, derm, or rads).