Western vs PCOM

[ruck]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

which one and why?

 

[Nickelpennykid]

More than the actual comparisions between the schools, I would think you would have to consider which coast / city you would want to live on / in. I mean, this isn't like pros and cons of two NY DO schools or PCOM and the one in Jersey.

 

[bravotwozero]

location issues aside, i'd take PCOM hands down, for the simple reason that PCOM has been around much longer than western (i.e. more than a century vs. three decades). As well, their network of hospital affiliations easily beats many of the other DO schools in the country.

 

[Kuba]

ditto. location issues aside, PCOM

 

[Mr_Doc]

ditto, location aside PCOM but if you take location into consideration than WESTEREN all day everyday baby. cali 4 life, but then again PCOM does match like some 65% of their students into residency's to speicalize and not so much into primary care like most D.O. schools.

 

[czanetti]

regardless of there match % PCOM is more established. You can go to a medical school with a high % primary care match and could easily match in specialty. The % doesn't make a difference. If you want one over the other you can get into it no matter what school you go to.

 

[dtrain5]

I would guess that you are going to get people from the East Coast saying PCOM and people from the West Coast saying Western.

I found some good stuff on Western by going to the COMP class of 2011 thread in the DO forum. I chose Western so you will obviously get a biased answer from me.

Good Luck!!!!!

 

[Mr_Doc]

not extactly. Im from the east, born and raised and i love cali so i would say Westeren but ya thats my 2 cents...

 

[Testy McAterson]

i'm from the west coast...but all factors equal, i'd say pcom. for the same reasons already given (history and high specialty match)

 

[Mr_Doc]

my dads best friends uncleis the dean of admission at pcom and he told me if i were to apply there he would make a call and personally hand my file in to him. i was like sweeeeeeeeeeet.

 

[Nickelpennykid]

my dads best friends uncleis the dean of admission at pcom and he told me if i were to apply there he would make a call and personally hand my file in to him. i was like sweeeeeeeeeeet.

Can't be an uncle...dean of admissions at pcom is a woman. You may have been lied to (or u are joking)

 

[m16surgeon]

I don't know why, but I feel compelled to answer based on some things said above. I am a student from Western Univ, Class of 2007. Looking back four years ago when I was in your shoes (trying to decide which school to attend), I wish I knew then what I have now learned. In the end, where you go to school (i.e. Western vs. PCOM) really does NOT matter. It is up to the student to succeed and excel so that good residencies can be obtained. You will be able to have a successful match if you work hard enough to reach your goals. What is more important is where YOU will be most happy. Think about your family/friends and how far you want to be away from them. Think about weather and which city/location is more pleasing to you. Think about what is important to you and research these things at both schools (tuition, cost of living, transportation/owning a car, etc). Notice that I did not answer these questions, because these are all questions you must answer for yourself. Please, PLEASE go where you think you will be most happy.

That being said, let me just comment on a few things. There was a comment made that some schools match more sub-specialties and others match more primary care. Remember that if you want to go into derm, for example, and you attend a school that graduates a high number of primary care docs, you can still go into derm, provided you obtain the appropriate stats. Even if your school requires 3 months of FP rotations, you simply won't say to yourself "geez, I really hated FP but I think I'll still apply to FP because a lot of students from here have gone into FP in the past." There are so many factors that play into a school's match list...so many more than just a school's name.

Second, as far as Western only being around for three decades, I understand that concern as I myself did not attend another school mostly because it had only been around a few years and I wondered about rotations. Let me just say, you have a lot of options here when it comes to clinical rotations. We have core 3rd year rotation sites in Southern California and also have sites set up in the Pacific Northwest, in Colorado, in Michigan, and in Florida. The sites in other states are available for those students who are wishing to move away for their entire 3rd year and 4th year too, if they so desire. I have many classmates who have rotated at some great institutions, including UCLA, USC, UCSD, Loma Linda, UCSF, Stanford, UC-Irvine, Wake Forest, Virginia Commonweath Univ, Univ of North Carolina, Univ of AZ, Oregon St Univ, etc. etc. I can go on and on. Basically, the opportunities are there for you if you work to set them up. I think I have had good rotations, but then again you will get out of the rotation what you put in. I know too that rotation experiences can differ widely as so much of the month is resident/attending dependent.

I know people all have their opinions but please do go where you will be most happy, wherever that may be!!

 

[Mr_Doc]

no i was not joking about my dads good friend being related to the dean but i never talked to him about it, my mom just mentioned it to me one day when i started talking about DO school.

 

[NickRiviera]

I don't know why, but I feel compelled to answer based on some things said above. I am a student from Western Univ, Class of 2007. Looking back four years ago when I was in your shoes (trying to decide which school to attend), I wish I knew then what I have now learned. In the end, where you go to school (i.e. Western vs. PCOM) really does NOT matter. It is up to the student to succeed and excel so that good residencies can be obtained. You will be able to have a successful match if you work hard enough to reach your goals. What is more important is where YOU will be most happy. Think about your family/friends and how far you want to be away from them. Think about weather and which city/location is more pleasing to you. Think about what is important to you and research these things at both schools (tuition, cost of living, transportation/owning a car, etc). Notice that I did not answer these questions, because these are all questions you must answer for yourself. Please, PLEASE go where you think you will be most happy.

That being said, let me just comment on a few things. There was a comment made that some schools match more sub-specialties and others match more primary care. Remember that if you want to go into derm, for example, and you attend a school that graduates a high number of primary care docs, you can still go into derm, provided you obtain the appropriate stats. Even if your school requires 3 months of FP rotations, you simply won't say to yourself "geez, I really hated FP but I think I'll still apply to FP because a lot of students from here have gone into FP in the past." There are so many factors that play into a school's match list...so many more than just a school's name.

Second, as far as Western only being around for three decades, I understand that concern as I myself did not attend another school mostly because it had only been around a few years and I wondered about rotations. Let me just say, you have a lot of options here when it comes to clinical rotations. We have core 3rd year rotation sites in Southern California and also have sites set up in the Pacific Northwest, in Colorado, in Michigan, and in Florida. The sites in other states are available for those students who are wishing to move away for their entire 3rd year and 4th year too, if they so desire. I have many classmates who have rotated at some great institutions, including UCLA, USC, UCSD, Loma Linda, UCSF, Stanford, UC-Irvine, Wake Forest, Virginia Commonweath Univ, Univ of North Carolina, Univ of AZ, Oregon St Univ, etc. etc. I can go on and on. Basically, the opportunities are there for you if you work to set them up. I think I have had good rotations, but then again you will get out of the rotation what you put in. I know too that rotation experiences can differ widely as so much of the month is resident/attending dependent.

I know people all have their opinions but please do go where you will be most happy, wherever that may be!!

I hate to revive threads but this is good stuff 👍

 

[Lfribble]

It is good stuff. Puts some things in perspective.