Why Nycom?

[Su4n2]

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Hi guys, i am geting ready for my interview tomorrow and am thinking what i will write for this part. here are some thoughrts:

NYCOM has amazing clinical affiliations
Research- although their website doesn't go into detail
commitment to primary care

any other ideas? Thanx. susan

 

[oceandocDO]

You can talk about the huge investment in technology the school has made of late (new PDAs for all students), streaming lectures online, ethernet access in all seats and study areas, supposedly having one of the fastest campus networks in the country.

One of the main areas of research at nycom is in Parkinson's Disease. Dr. E. Fazzini is the head, he's a D.O./PhD who sees more Parkinsons patients than anyone in the world supposedly.

The official NYCOM website sucks, they're supposedly redoing it and not putting anymore effort into the current one. Check out www.md-do.org for some other info. The site specifically talks about the NYCOM APEP program (a 3 year program for offshore MDs who come to the states to become licensed D.O.s), but it gives some hints about the school in general also.

For the interview, know a bit about the history of osteopathic medicine and NYCOM in general. NYCOM is celebrating it's 25th anniversary this year. The Rockefeller family was instrumental in getting NYCOM off the ground, as one of the first Deans (Kenneth Riland, D.O.... one of the buildings is named after him) was the Rockefeller family's, along with Richard Nixon's personal physician.

hope this helps. dont worry about the interview. they're pretty laid back. good luck.

 

[Su4n2]

oceandoc,
thanx, i had my interview today and was actually wondering if you were one of the people i saw today, since you are the school's biggest advocate on this site 🙂 thanx for all your help!

 

[PublicHealth]

What does NYCOM look for in terms of GPA/MCAT?

 

[oceandocDO]

thanx, i had my interview today and was actually wondering if you were one of the people i saw today, since you are the school's biggest advocate on this site thanx for all your help!

Haha, thanks, but I didnt run into any interviewees today from what I remember. Sorry to dissappoint 😉

PublicHealth-

I think the average gpa for nycom is around a 3.45-3.5 and a safe mcat is 26+. Some have gotten in with less, some have been denied with more. I think they like to pull alot of their students from the northeast. I heard applications this year are up about 20% to nycom and about 10% overall to all medical schools, so competition may be a little bit tougher in the coming years until the economy picks up again and people choose to enter the "real world" as opposed to going back to school.

 

[msgbueno]

Hey doc,

i didn't know you were a current student at nycom. did you run into any interviews on march 13? I was there on that day? and does the school provide new pda's for its students or do they have to pay for it themselves?

 

[oceandocDO]

i didn't know you were a current student at nycom. did you run into any interviews on march 13? I was there on that day? and does the school provide new pda's for its students or do they have to pay for it themselves?

I'm lucky if I remember what I did yesterday. That was right after second year exams, so I think I took that day "off" anyway. Sorry 😉

As far as the PDAs, they were given to us by the school, at no cost to us. We got Sony Clies PEG-SJ30's. They're pretty nice. I think they're valued at about $300. I dont their plans as to the future of the program.

 

[PublicHealth]

oceandocDO,

Thank you for your reply. Do know how much larger the class size at NYCOM will be in 2003? 2004? I've read that it'll be around 300 students. If that's the case, how many applicants do they interview and accept?

Thank you!

PH

 

[Su4n2]

Public Health,
at out interview, they told us that this year's class will be 260. (2003).
they said that for labs, you get split up into 2 groups.

 

[oceandocDO]

PH,

The class size at nycom is about 250 traditional students and 40 APEP students (offshore MDs who come to the states to become licensed as DOs.). The APEPs dont take some classes, including most of the labs. I'm not sure exactly how many they accept.... I hear around 400, and they interview around 550-600 I think. They get about 2800 applications I believe. Hence, if you get an interview you're usually in good shape.

The class size is large, but they do a decent job handling everyone by breaking the class down into groups and pods for the courses that need more personal instruction, eg.. anatomy, pathology, micro, OMM, etc.

 

[drvlad2004]

Here is another reason why you should choose NYCOM. The NYCOM class of 2003 have continued the trend of matching into excellent residency programs. During this year's match, the 4th years got into more prestigious programs and not just in NY, but also in CA, MA, DC etc. There was even a student who matched into allopathic ortho program. Tons of students got into ER, radiology and anesthesiology especially.I believe that is a first for a NYCOM student to get ortho at an allopathic program (NY medical college). Here are some of the hospitals that NYCOM students matched into this year (note a lot of these hospitals will have more than 1 NYCOM student going there):

UMDNJ
Stony Brook
Albany Med
St. Vincent's
Westchester Med Center
USC
Kaiser Permanente
Loma Linda
UConn
SUNY Downstate
Yale-New Haven
Mt. Sinai
LIJ-Albert Einstein
Cleveland Clinic
Lenox Hill
North Shore-Manhasset
Thomas Jefferson
NYU
U of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Winthrop University Hospital
Beth Israel-NY
George Washington
Hershey Penn State
Albert Einstein-Jacobi & Montefiore
Harvard/Spaulding Rehab
UPMC
Temple Univ.
UMass
St. Luke's Roosevelt
NY Hospital-Cornell
Case Western
Tuft's Baystate Medical Center

Many of these students were not necessarily "top of the class" and not all/most of them aced the boards. However, many hospitals seem to recognize that NYCOM puts out great quality students. Don't believe those ignorant pre-allos and some allos who say that DOs can't get into a good residency. At, NYCOM we have continually had students who get into a variety of awesome residencies, and not just in IM and FP. The first two years are brutal but you will ready once you get to the hospitals. We always have to many posters who post anecdoctal information. Personally, I'm proud of everybody at NYCOM who matched. With these great results, I continue to have hope in landing a tremendous PM&R program like the class above me.

Way to go NYCOM!

 

[PublicHealth]

drvlad2004,

How "brutal" are years one and two? Can you quantify or qualify what you mean? Also, do CT residents have any advantage in terms of getting into NYCOM, or is it only NY and NJ residents?

Thank you!

PH

 

[orthodude]

Dr. Vlad, just to add to your comment, NYCOM students have matched into allopathic ortho before as well. There were couple of students who matched into NY medical college program. One matched into Univ of Buffallo program couple of years ago. Congrats to class of 2003. You guys are awesome!!!

 

[drvlad2004]

Public Health,

Brutal was a vague term that I used. What I meant by "brutal" was that the volume of coursework per block exam is often tremendous, especially during second year when you are taking over 40 classes. For example, during second year my class had 13 exams in a four-day span during one block period which consisted of subjects such as cardiology, cardio path, pulmonary path, pulmonary med, etc. However, I know this year, the block system has improved for the better by having most subjects integrated (i.e. cardio path, cardio med, and cardio pharm put together) and spreading the block exams over a 2 week period.
The volume of material that you have to know, the amount of reading, and the length of classes, and the amount of effort that you have to put in are mentally draining but of no surprise in med school. Classes usually run from 8am-5pm. I found it was very important to go lectures especially in second year. Often, the weekends were when I could get a serious amount of studying done (approx 8-12 hours per day). However, during school week I usually got only 3-4 solid hours of studying done. I would skip certain classes if lectures really stunk.

At NYCOM, it is really the amount of info you need to memorize in a short time that makes certain classes hard (e.g. anatomy, physio, cardiology). I thought 1st year was okay, which I was able to read my notes about 2-3 times over. During second yr, I was lucky to get to read my notes 2 times over, which made being in lecture more important. As long as you keep up with your coursework, the more likely you will do fine.

As far as you being a CT resident, I really do not see any disadvantages of not getting into NYCOM. We do have a lot of students from NY, NJ, and some in CT but we also have a good number of students from areas like Cali, Massachusetts, Louisiana, etc. As mentioned before, NYCOM looks more into the applicant than just grades and MCAT score. I wish you good luck and I hope you get accepted.

Vlad

P.S. NYCOM has clinical affiliations with Griffin Hospital in Connecticut. It is quite a unique and trendy hospital from what I hear.