2017-2018 Des Moines University (DMU-COM)

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Any last-minute advice for us interviewing tomorrow and Friday? Aside from basically knowing your app and having answers for the big questions like why DO, tell us about yourself, why DMU, etc.?

Just be yourself. The interview is super relaxed and the interviewers just want to see if you're a good match for the school.

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Congrats! I also interviewed the 18th but still haven't heard anything. Now I'm really starting to freak out!

I'm sure you will be fine! Some poor student probably has to go through and change everything in the portal one by one. Your acceptance is coming :)
 
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Just be yourself. The interview is super relaxed and the interviewers just want to see if you're a good match for the school.
The thought of them asking about specific wording in my essays is just really intimidating to me for some reason.
 
Reeeeeejected!!! Complete 7/11.

Kinda figured my stats wouldn't close the deal here.

Im so sorry to hear that :( You still have an acceptance though! Would you mind if I asked about your stats?
 
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Im so sorry to hear that :( You still have an acceptance though! Would you mind if I asked about your stats?

& how do you put the cycle information underneath your name?! Would like to update mine but haven't figured it out quite yet.
 
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Congrats! I also interviewed the 18th but still haven't heard anything. Now I'm really starting to freak out!
Don't freak out! I'm sure your acceptance is on its way. There are a lot of applicants, so it may take time to review all of them and get decisions out. Don't lose hope!
 
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II! Complete 8/24
 
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Anyone else hear back from the 18th? I interviewed on Sep 1st and it seems like I won't hear back until the end of the month :(
DMU was impressive! Top choice so far :D
 
Interviewed here today, and I was very impressed. The informational sessions answered a lot of my questions regarding the environment and DMU's vision for the future. I thought the interview was pretty laid back, and the students and faculty were very nice. I look forward to hearing their decision, as DMU is one of my top choices!
 
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Interviewed today. Very impressed by the school and honestly as someone that is leaning MD this school made it tough. I think DMU will give most MD schools a run for their money. If I recieve both MD and DO acceptances DMU is definitely still going to be in my top choices.
 
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Interviewed today. Very impressed by the school and honestly as someone that is leaning MD this school made it tough. I think DMU will give most MD schools a run for their money. If I recieve both MD and DO acceptances DMU is definitely still going to be in my top choices.

I second this. Interviewed at multiple MD schools last year. I thought the facilities and resources at DMU were for the most part better than I had seen at any of the MD schools I interviewed at.
 
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Do not take DMU over an MD acceptance. Absolutely 100% do not do that.


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I see. One med student said that if he went back and did it all over he would still go DMU. I have received some pretty competitive MD interviews and I look forward to them but I was still pretty impressed by DMU. Can I DM you for elaboration on this statement?
 
I see. One med student said that if he went back and did it all over he would still go DMU. I have received some pretty competitive MD interviews and I look forward to them but I was still pretty impressed by DMU. Can I DM you for elaboration on this statement?

His elaboration is going to consist of the stigma against DOs and match rates. I would disregard.
 
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I see. One med student said that if he went back and did it all over he would still go DMU. I have received some pretty competitive MD interviews and I look forward to them but I was still pretty impressed by DMU. Can I DM you for elaboration on this statement?

Yes feel free to PM me


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I agree with the previous posters. I interviewed here today as well and was really impressed by the feel of the school. My interviewers made it a point at the beginning to basically say this was going to be an easy interview and that senese the metrics is what gets an interview an acceptance is based on if you fit the schools mission statement.
 
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His elaboration is going to consist of the stigma against DOs and match rates. I would disregard.

I'll even do you a solid and reiterate the points I discussed with the other poster in a PM. Here are the 100% relevant issues that warrant significant consideration when discussing MD vs DO acceptances and if you think they aren't important you are just out of your mind. You'll also find that none of my points refer to an MD/DO bias or match rates, so congrats on your idiotic statement.

1) The biggest downfall of every DO school with very few exceptions is the lack of an associated teaching hospital. DMU doesn't have one and doesn't have strong enough affiliations with the two large hospital systems in the area to consider them reliable. This isn't a huge issue for 3rd year if you end up at one of those two hospitals, but there's probably 40 total spots between the two? Out of 220 students. The rest of the 3rd year training sites are hit or miss and very few of them have significant residency or GME support.

2) the clinical training is subpar at best, which is par for the course when it comes to DO schools. Do we get trained well enough clinically to kind of function in 4th year? Yeah, but the majority of it is upon the student to make that happen.

3) 4th year is when you really find out why it sucks to be at a DO school. At DMU we are solely responsible for scheduling all of our rotations, not much different than MD, but the problem arises when you can't find rotations. Guess who can't help you because they don't have a teaching hospital? DMU. Guess who can help you because they have one? MD schools. I don't know of any MD school that doesn't have one or multiple strong affiliations where they have the ability to find you SOMETHING to rotate in.

4) This isn't a DO bias issue. It's an MD advantage and it's proven every single year. If you are a DO student, you have zero chance at the highest tier programs in all fields unless you have the lucky combo of excellent scores, significant amount of research, and on top of that you have a connection to the program somehow. And at the mid tier you will be expected to take the USMLE and do above average on it to have a chance. Now if you were an MD student, you can score average and even below average and high tier programs are still within your reach.

5) Research opportunities. This isn't even a close call. The opportunities at MD schools are far and above anything DMU has to offer. Does DMU have it? Yes but it limited fields and opportunities. You can find someone doing something in almost every field at every MD institution or someone who knows someone. That's not the case at DMU, you have what you have and there isn't much to find in the surrounding area either. You will have to reach out to Omaha and U of Iowa just to get a chance, both 2 hour drives making research involvement difficult in many ways.


This isn't even to paint a negative light of DMU. It is a great school and I'm happy I went to it, but it's a great school with limitations that shouldn't be overlooked if you are a good MD candidate. If I had the MD option I would have taken it in a heartbeat. Just my two cents so you can take it or leave it but I've been through all 4 years with the school and I've talked with tons of my classmates. Damn near every one of them would tell you the same thing. There are very very few circumstances that should warrant taking DMU or any DO acceptance over an MD acceptance.

Edit: I also welcome any and all PM's and/or discussion.
 
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I'll even do you a solid and reiterate the points I discussed with the other poster in a PM. Here are the 100% relevant issues that warrant significant consideration when discussing MD vs DO acceptances and if you think they aren't important you are just out of your mind. You'll also find that none of my points refer to an MD/DO bias or match rates, so congrats on your idiotic statement.

1) The biggest downfall of every DO school with very few exceptions is the lack of an associated teaching hospital. DMU doesn't have one and doesn't have strong enough affiliations with the two large hospital systems in the area to consider them reliable. This isn't a huge issue for 3rd year if you end up at one of those two hospitals, but there's probably 40 total spots between the two? Out of 220 students. The rest of the 3rd year training sites are hit or miss and very few of them have significant residency or GME support.

2) the clinical training is subpar at best, which is par for the course when it comes to DO schools. Do we get trained well enough clinically to kind of function in 4th year? Yeah, but the majority of it is upon the student to make that happen.

3) 4th year is when you really find out why it sucks to be at a DO school. At DMU we are solely responsible for scheduling all of our rotations, not much different than MD, but the problem arises when you can't find rotations. Guess who can't help you because they don't have a teaching hospital? DMU. Guess who can help you because they have one? MD schools. I don't know of any MD school that doesn't have one or multiple strong affiliations where they have the ability to find you SOMETHING to rotate in.

4) This isn't a DO bias issue. It's an MD advantage and it's proven every single year. If you are a DO student, you have zero chance at the highest tier programs in all fields unless you have the lucky combo of excellent scores, significant amount of research, and on top of that you have a connection to the program somehow. And at the mid tier you will be expected to take the USMLE and do above average on it to have a chance. Now if you were an MD student, you can score average and even below average and high tier programs are still within your reach.

5) Research opportunities. This isn't even a close call. The opportunities at MD schools are far and above anything DMU has to offer. Does DMU have it? Yes but it limited fields and opportunities. You can find someone doing something in almost every field at every MD institution or someone who knows someone. That's not the case at DMU, you have what you have and there isn't much to find in the surrounding area either. You will have to reach out to Omaha and U of Iowa just to get a chance, both 2 hour drives making research involvement difficult in many ways.


This isn't even to paint a negative light of DMU. It is a great school and I'm happy I went to it, but it's a great school with limitations that shouldn't be overlooked if you are a good MD candidate. If I had the MD option I would have taken it in a heartbeat. Just my two cents so you can take it or leave it but I've been through all 4 years with the school and I've talked with tons of my classmates. Damn near every one of them would tell you the same thing. There are very very few circumstances that should warrant taking DMU or any DO acceptance over an MD acceptance.
I appreciate your honesty:claps:

EDIT: Your picture made me read this in Archer's voice.
 
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@ShowtimeKaner88 solid things to consider. Thank you for the post :)

I interviewed at both MUCOM and DMU and I was surprised with the connections MUCOM managed to establish with two of the largest hospitals in the area. They're trying so all the 3rd year rotations happen at those two hospitals which I thought was unique for a DO school. Certainly something to consider if I'm fortunate enough to be accepted into both DMU/MUCOM. DMU beats MUCOM with the facilities for sure though.
 
@ShowtimeKaner88 solid things to consider. Thank you for the post :)

I interviewed at both MUCOM and DMU and I was surprised with the connections MUCOM managed to establish with two of the largest hospitals in the area. They're trying so all the 3rd year rotations happen at those two hospitals which I thought was unique for a DO school. Certainly something to consider if I'm fortunate enough to be accepted into both DMU/MUCOM. DMU beats MUCOM with the facilities for sure though.

MUCOM is one of those outliers that is lucky to be in a state with only 1 other medical school and they capitalized on that. I love hearing that DO schools are trying to build stronger affiliations with large hospital systems. DMU has the ability to do something similar, why they haven't is unknown to me. Politics and financial considerations I'm sure but that's just guessing.

No one is doubting the facilities at DMU, but even the most extravagant facilities at any school will not fill in the gaps for poor or weak clinical training.


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Accepted!!! Woohoo!!! Interviewed 8/24. 3.95 GPA/505 MCAT
 
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Anyone know the pre-clinical grading system (P/F, A-F, %)?

It's A/B/C/F for most classes, with the "easier" ones being P/F. Minimum to pass is 70% for most classes, with Clinical Medicine and maybe some others being 80% to pass.
 
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Anyone else still getting silence? Complete in July. I am surprised as I've got strong Iowa ties and stats well above the medians here. I expected silence from U of Iowa and some love from DMU, not the other way around. This was one of my top choices.
 
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Interviewing here soon and just have a couple questions some current students may be able to answer, thanks in advance!

- What are research opportunities like for students? Are there any M1 to M2 summer research programs or anything like that?

- Are there any community medical outreach programs students get involved with?

Cant seem to find the answer to any of these questions on their site. Thanks again!!!
 
Anyone else from the 08/24 interview date hear anything back yet?
 
Anyone else still getting silence? Complete in July. I am surprised as I've got strong Iowa ties and stats well above the medians here. I expected silence from U of Iowa and some love from DMU, not the other way around. This was one of my top choices.

Same here. Strong stats relative to do applicants, complete July. No state ties but still thought they'd show me some love by now.
 
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Same here. Strong stats relative to do applicants, complete July. No state ties but sill thought they'd show me some love by now.

Just give it some time Id say. I just got an II about two weeks ago, and I was complete late June early July.
 
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