What's More Important in the Long Run?

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Go_Gata

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Hey everyone,

I have been lucky enough to be accepted into two schools and now I'm struggling to decide where I want to put my deposit. I have read many X vs Y threads as well as old comments in the "Pros and Cons of your DO School" to try and elucidate a clear answer, but it seems that both programs have their own benefits over the other.

It seems that the most drastic difference comes down to this:

School X: A stronger, more organized M1/M2 curriculum + (significantly) higher 1st time pass rates on COMLEX, BUT core rotation sites all over the country at smaller community hospitals.
VS.
School Y: Falling 1st time pass rates on COMLEX for 4 consecutive years + rumors of large numbers of students failing classes, BUT excellent core rotation sites most of which are located within an hour or so of the school and are shared with respected MD schools in the area.

I have read over and over that board performance is going to be largely my own responsibility at any school I attend, which make me want to assume that I would not fall into the group scoring poorly on COMLEX at School Y, however naive that may be.

With that being said, can anyone comment on what seems to be more important in terms of being a better trained physician, and securing a better residency? A program that seemingly prepares its students better for boards and may lack in strength of its clinical education, or one where I'll be pretty much on my own for board prep but I'll (potentially) have much better clinical experiences.


If this is dumb then my bad lol. Deposits are a lot of $$$ and I'm STRESSIN'

Thanks friends
 
do either of the programs have a decent amount of affiliated residencies that you would do your rotations at?
 
KCUMB has plenty of local sites in both KC and Joplin. While they offer sites across the country, they are partner sites, not necessarily required. They have plenty of sites at major local hospitals. You rank sites and the lottery system takes over. However, most of the time you hear that you get one of your top choices. From what I hear from students, this seems to be the consensus for both MD and DO programs.

Smaller community hospitals are not always bad rotations. You may receive more hands-on experience and you may receive a better education depending on the rotation. I have spoken to many students at various DO programs that completed rotations at community hospitals and they loved it because they were first hands in. While this may be different depending on site, the fact that it is a smaller hospital does not mean it is an inferior experience. Additionally, see my first comment, KCU has plenty of rotations at major local hospitals.

Best of luck.
 
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