AZCOM Class of 2007

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When is everyone else planning on moving?
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My fiance' gets a week off before her fall semester, Aug 16-25ish. It's then that we will move "me" down. The Cubs are in Phx playing the D-backs (my 2 fav. teams) so we are gonna catch a game that weekend. It will give me ample time to get settled before orientation.

That match list is impresive! Looks like there will be every possible door opn to us.

"Friday-Sat softball legues"??? I'm in!...time permitting:D

*We start class in exatcly 4 months...Sept. 2nd
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I'll breach one more sport into the discussion: Martial Arts. Any takers? I've had my black belt in Tae Kwon Do for about a year and would like to find somewhere to keep working out in AZ. I've been considering joining a jujitsu or aikido dojo near campus. I can never stick to a good routine in the gym, but when I'm in shape karate-wise, I feel great!
 
Hi! COngrats on getting in to AZCOM....

jason class of 2006
 
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Hehehe... No, I didn't type out that entire match list myself. I just copied and pasted it from the doc I have on my hard drive.

Anyway, I just thought I'd let you all know that we are choosing our little brothers and little sisters right now. As of yesterday, only one guy had chosen his little bro. I haven't even read through the list, but I recognized some of your names on it from when I glanced at it ;) For those of you who don't know, we (the soon-to-be second years... this thought kind of scares me!) choose a student from the incoming class to kind of help along in the first year. My big bro gave me CD-ROMs of all the histo atlases and a bunch of old exams. And he gives me advice all the time. He's really sweet. We are throwing them a party and giving them gifts to help them through the boards at the end of this quarter. Anyway, the second years threw us a party early in the year and they also gave us a gift the day of our first anatomy exam. They've been great. And now it's our turn to help you guys out. So sometime between now and the end of the summer, you'll all be hearing from us ;)

OK. I have to go study immuno now. Enough slacking ;)

-Andrea
 
That was an impressive match list, Thanx so much.
Also, I'm trying to decide what DO schools to apply to and I've heard that it is better to pick schools that have more rotations that are hospital based so that you can make connections for residency. Is that important? I've heard that AZCOM lost a lot of their hospital based rotations but then how is it that they are still able to get good residencies?

Thanx
 
A lot of people say that about about hospital and preceptor-based rotations. Even though a lot of the rotations at AZCOM are preceptor based, the students are matching very well. Most students will do preceptor-based rotations their 3rd year (from what I understand) because it is really hard to get hospital-based programs to take you that year. It's not unheard of, but it's hard. Many hospitals have exclusive contracts with one medical school and won't take 3rd years because of that. But in the 4th year, you can do as many hospital-based rotations as each program will allow. For example, one school I was randomly looking at (I forget which) allows students not from that school to do 12 weeks of away rotations there. That's how you do your "audition rotations" and stuff 4th year. Plus you can make tons of connections going to the conferences each quarter. My roommate is the new SOMA president and he went to the UAAO convention in Ottawa and the DO Day on the Hill and SOMA convention in DC last month. You meet a ton of people and make a lot of connections. A lot of my classmates are in Vegas or San Diego this weekend at conferences for sports medicine and... I forget the other. But there is a lot of opportunity. You just have to do a bit of extra work to get where you want to go. And you can join any of the allopathic organizations (ACOG vs. ACOOG for ob/gyn, SOMA vs. AMA, etc.). Plus our school is getting a great reputation from the students who have come before us. I have a friend who's a resident at Mayo Jacksonville in FP and she was here at Mayo Scottsdale last month doing some rheumatology stuff. She told me that the Mayo staff had nothing but good things to say about AZCOM students. So... the only thing for us to do is work hard and do what others have done before us ;)
 
Also, is AZCOM on a pass/fail or grade system?
 
AZCOM is not pass/fail the first two years..

we go by a point system... transcript will say 96.485 average for example...
 
96%, huh Jason? ;) I wish my grades were that good!
 
Ahhhh a fellow musician!:clap:
I began college (3years) as a music major in Orchestral trumpet performance. I LOVE playing and also play guitar...not lead or anything but I can keep up. In '97-2000 I was in a band out of Las Vegas called "Floor Thirteen." We were a pop/ska group and did really well, We went on a couple of mini tour type things (took semester off to play from Seattle down to San Diego in the Spring of '98. We put out a cd too, it was sooo fun, too bad oursinger and guitar player couldn't handle each other, and hence the end. But it was a blast! An AZCOM band would be really fun!
 
Hey everyone!

How's everyone doing? I'm glad to see more of our class showing up on SDN. For those applying for on-campus apartments, I got my housing assignment last week. I'll be in a two bedroom by myself. The official move-in date is August 23rd, so that's when I'll be arriving. Unfortunately that only leaves a few days before orientation to do all of my furniture shopping while I still have friends and family to help me move.

Einey- I live right off of Topanga Canyon Blvd. Actually right at the top of Topanga. You know where that lookout/make out spot is right at the top before you start to go down into the canyon? Well, I live in the place right behind it. I pass Pepperdine all the time on my way to Zuma, Leo Carrillo, and a couple of hikes I take right off of PCH. I always thought that it must be a hell of a job to mow that lawn.

Woody- Did you ever find out which COT class you'll be in? I'll be going in July. I've already been commissioined and my recruiter took me to buy my uniforms last week. It turned out to be a lot less money than I expected, but there are a few things she told me to wait to get until I got there. One interesting thing she said was that we will only be wearing the mess dress uniform once when we're at COT and probably never again. She recommended renting one when we get there. I didn't know you could do that. It sounds much better than spending $300-$400 though.

Thanks to all of you current students who are giving us rookies such valuable information. I forgot about that big brother/sister thing. Now I have one more thing to look forward to.

-Matt
 
Matt-
My orders came in the mail today actually. They're flying me down the day before the June COT session starts, so I'll be billeted there one day early. I guess I'll bring a good book because I doubt I'll have access to anything at that point. I was really hoping for the June session because I want to move down earlier than right before orientation. I'd like to get acclimated a little first so I'm not passing out between class due to heat exhaustion. That's really cool that you got your uniforms early. How much did you end up spending?
Also, according to the HPSP contact at AFIT (Major Weeks) we wear PT uniforms for the first couple of days? Perhaps that is so our regular uniforms have time to get tailored properly.

Everybody-
Will anybody else be moving early in August, or are most of you coming right before school starts?
 
I just got my confirmation on my campus housing. Woohoo!!! I'm so excited to start!!! I will actually be moving in during the first week of August. I wanted to be able to settle in and iI am planning on going to Vegas right before school...the last big celebration:( Anyone else moving in early?

Fred
 
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We are going to be moving there in the first part of August. We are having a new house built off campus in Litchfield Park. We will have a few things to finish up on the house but we should have some free time to get together.
 
Woody,
Hey, if you really need a good book and have not read "Timeline" by Michael Crichton get it. Great read and you could probably kill it in a day. Another I just finished by the same author is "Prey".
-Troy
 
Hello AZCOM 2007,

Im not a student at your school but I visited your campus a little while ago with my best friend. My buddy interviewed while we were down there and was later accepted at AZCOM. I worked with my friend at Stanford hospital for a couple of years and he really surprised me when he decided to go DO. He had a stellar application and turned down a couple of prestigous MD schools to go to yours. That is a tribute to the type of program you have. Everyone I met there was very friendly. You should feel proud of your program. Good luck to all. I just thought you should know that all MD's aren't smug and arrogant. There are some who think that your programs are equal if not better than ours.

Best wishes,

StanMD
Stanford University Medical Class of 2006
 
Hi, I'm going to be a student with y'all in the AZCOM class of 2007. I'm a senior at University of Arizona, just down in Tucson, and know the Arrowhead/Glendale area fairly well. I've been looking at apartments, and some of them look very nice around the area. However, as I'm 22, with my life signed away to the Air Force, and in medical school, I'd sort of like to keep costs down... but I have a champagne appetite on a beer income, if you get my drift. So, if anyone of my age is looking for a roommate, I'd be happy to meet you and discuss with you the possibility of rooming together. Best way to contact me is to e-mail me at [email protected].
Cheers!
Will Harris
 
Does anyone know of any good survival guides for medical school.? I'm looking for a little light summer reading before the
**** hits the fan.

Troy
 
I just purchased a book called "The Med School Survival Guide: Hoe to make the challenges of medschool seem easy"...or something like that. My friend who is an msI up here said that it was a good little read for the summer preceeding medschool. I got it used on Amazon for like $8.95 or so. I hope that it is good.
 
Hey Chuck and everyone else!

I've been looking to get that book for a little while now, but none of the book stores in my area have it in stock. It's always a special order thing. I'll probably get it from Amazon too. Right now I'm in the middle of "White Coat: Becoming a Doctor at Havard Medical School" by Dr. Ellen Lerner Rothman. So far it's really good. She talks about her entire time from starting medical school to graduating. It's fun because I know that all of us will be doing just about everything she writes about in the years to come. Take care all.

-Matt
 
Hey Matt
I had that same problem and a bookstore here said they would order it, but it would have been way more than amazon even after shipping. I was gonna read "White Coat" but then I ended up buying "Intern Blues" last month and really enjoyed it! Right now i am into this one called "First, Do No Harm" by Lisa Belkin. It's also a very good book thus far.

Everyone gearing up for summer!?...the last one of its kind;)
 
I'm doin' my part by boning up on my biochem and playing outside as much as I can. I have a couple other reading suggestions. "Healing and the Mind" -Bill Moyers, "Becoming a Doctor" -Melvin Konner, "On Doctoring" -various authors and of course "House of God" -S. Shem? I forget the author, but if you have already read it, re-read it. Damn funny.

Peace
-Troy
 
"House of God" was great. I actuall did re-read it recently. I also liked "Becomming a Doctor."

I am just gonna be pretty much working my a@@ off to get some $$ to go down with. But every time I get paid the money seems to disapear...funny thing these bills. :) I guess the biggest thing that I am going to do is spend as much quality time with my fiance' as possible before I have to leave...and try to stick a round or two of golf in too;)
 
Since the whole housing thing seems to be a hassle from 1000 miles away I decided to send in my campus application. How many of you will be living on campus? -T
 
Hey, has anyone heard anything more about the financial aid? I am pretty sure that I have turned in all of the appropriate paperwork, but because I have never been sent anything saying that all is complete I just worry that all of the sudden when school starts, they will say, "Oh, you needed to do "x, y, and z" so you are out of luck". Has anyone been sent a notice that everything is complete?

Thanks guys!!
 
i called the school and asked them if everything was set up and ready to go. lucky i did because some of the things i submit over the internet didn't go through.
 
I called the school and they advised me that everything was in place and we should hear from them in the middle of June. She told me not to worry that there would be time to iron out the small details before school starts.
 
I think we should have a party sometime before orientation. I will be staying on campus, so maybe we can use the big common room for a get-together. Anyone have any good ideas about this? I will be headed down to AZ sometime around the 18th or 20th. Perhaps the weekend before orientation would be good, no? Whaddayathink?

-Troy
 
I think that that weekend would be cool! Party!! :D
 
Hi all - congratulations on your acceptance! I was just browsing through here, killing time, when I really SHOULD be studying for boards... oh well... :rolleyes:

Anyway I don't know what kind of get together you all are looking at but the only kind that really flies at the clubhouse on campus is the family-friendly kind if you get my drift. Alcohol is really frowned upon -- the school is surprisingly conservative. The good times happen in the on campus apartments, or better yet, off campus. On-campus housing largely stinks.

If anyone has any questions give a shout - I'll be around pretending that the stack of board review books is entering my brain via osmosis. +pity+
 
Here are a couple of good reads for the summer if interested. These are paperback books, so not expensive and can be had thru Barnes and Noble, Amazon, etc. These are about Gross Anatomy at 2 different med schools

Body of Knowledge, Steve Giegerich, ISBN # 0-684-86208-5

First Cut, Albert H. Carter, III, ISBN # 0-312-19546-x

Enjoy your summer!
 
What do you all know about the insurance plan for AZCOM?
I am wondering if joining SOMA and paying for their plan is a better deal than through the school's.
 
TMarkus, there was another discussion about SOMA's health insurance around here somewhere. Let me throw my two cents in: whether SOMA will work for you depends on your situation. Kids? I heard it's crappy -- my friends with kids had tons of complaints. Take expensive medication? Forget it - low annual cap on rx benefits. If you have no problems and basically never go to the doc and are looking for major medical only then it's probably not a bad deal.

As for the Aetna through the school, I heard that the premiums are going way up -- rumor has it is that the students racked up a horrendous amount of prescription claims last year and Aetna's gonna show us what they think of that.
 
probably because i am a poor student with triplets, medicaid isn?t too bad an option. and seeing how most of us won?t be making too much, those with kids would most likely qualify really easily. Often, to encourage you to keep private insurance, medicaid will reimburse the monthly payments and pay all office copays and rx?s (up to 7 rx?s a month). this is something i really need to start thinking about.
 
Well, I've recently moved for the summer, made a trip to Phoenix, and finally applied for my loans. Is anyone else thinking the financial aid process is a bit too easy? A couple of clicks, and that's it. I sure hope I'm doing it right.

Trip to Phoenix was good. My wife and I are probably going to buy a condo. I just can't choke so much $$$ for rent, especially when it's borrowed money. Dang, I've got to get going on the Medicaid front too. My wife is due in November.
 
Hey einey-

I don't recall a Dr. Bohman, but maybe he's not there anymore. What years were you there and what classes did he teach? I was there from 1996-2001. Or is he an MCDB professor? I only took one MCDB class and it was with a new professor. But I did have some great professors. I'd love to talk to you about UCLA sometime.

-Matt
 
Hey all!

I am finally back from New Zealand and I had a great time. I didn't think about medical school or anything of the sort the whole trip. It was a nice break.

I was just reading through the last few posts and I saw the book recommendations. I have to agree that the "House of God" by Samuel Shem was a great book. Also, on my plane back from New Zealand I read "Stupid White Men ...and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation!" by Michael Moore. It has nothing to do with medicine, but it was a pretty funny book, easy read, and somewhat enlightening.

What are everyone?s plans for summer? Is anyone going to do anything fun?

Later,
Matt
 
For whoever asked about applying for financial aid.... it is frighteningly easy. A few clicks, some tax forms... just wait till you reapply next year. Practically only one click.
 
Kadyra (Andrea),

Where in the NW burbs of Chicago did you grow up? I too grew up here and learned to ski at Alpine? Just curious...

Matt
 
Just found this thread, and wanted to jump on. I will be part of the class of '07. I want to move out there a little early since I will be coming from IL and won't know anything about the area. I have Navy OIS up soon, and won't be back for a while. Anyone dive in the area, and what about cayoneering? I will be finishing up my dive quals this summer, and will be looking to do some diving, but I also want to try cayoneering.
 
Where in IL are you coming from? I too am moving from Illinois.
 
I assume you mean SCUBA diving? I dive, but I will likely be leaving my gear behind in Seattle. AZ doesn't seem like a real dive friendly place, but what do I know.

What about Splunking? Anybody ever do this? I hear New Mexico has some pretty complex cave systems.

-Troy
 
we are only 4 hrs from san diego and i bet we could find some interesting diving in that area! what is splunking??
 
Actually,

There is a pretty good following of divers here, as I have some friends who are pretty avid divers, and the nearest dive shop is only about 15 minutes from campus. The fact that San Diego is 5 hours away....5.25 on my last trip to San Dog...makes it a decent get away. As we all know there won't be too many get aways during the course of the semester, however, the option is certainly open during the breaks.

Personally, I'm not a diver, but did do some snorkeling in La Jolla last year when the tiger sharks were in about 5-6 feet of water...Guess you can say I swam with the sharks (Perhaps I shouldn't sound so daring...., as I probably should mention that they don't have any teeth, at least that's what my cousin told us when we were out there);)
 
5 hours to SD, not a bad road trip. As for the sand Tiger sharks, uh, they have teeth, lots of them. Look em' up on-line if you need convincing. Anyway, how cool to swim with sharks. I'd probably pee myself, but it would still be cool.

I may have mentioned this before, but does anyone do any serious Mt. Biking? Are there good places to ride close to campus. I noticed there is a trail system on Thunderbird Park. Is it bike friendly?

Thanks,
Troy
 
Troy,


Actually, I just noticed that I messed up...I meant Leopard Sharks...Tiger sharks are actually quite aggressive. At any rate it was still pretty cool...swimming around 5-6 foot sharks.

Thunderbird Mtn is pretty weak for mountain biking....but makes a great 4 mile loop to run on. I run there about once per week. You can certainly mountain bike the trail, but it really isn't much fun. Too many hike a bikes, and is generally a slow trail...plus lots of hikers/runners.

I make it out on to the trails about 5-6 times per month. The best trails I've come across are in Prescott...about an hour drive north, but well worth it. Flagstaff and Payson also have some sweet trails.

As far as local trails, my buddy and I ride the White Tanks quite a bit (far west end of Phoenix valley). They actually have about 2-3 races out there per year. It's a fairly easy trail with decent technical sections, and one big climb. It's easy to get to though.

Trail 100 is a great training ride, right in the middle of phoenix...I didn't believe it either when people first told me about it, but it really is in the middle of phoenix. Great out and back ride in the Phoenix mountain preserve. That is probably the closest good trail to campus (others may disagree). There's about 4-5 good climbs and great technical riding. Unfortunately, because the trail is in phoenix, the pollution can take a toll on ya...becomes more detrimental then good.

I almost forgot to mention the McDowell mtns, which are far east valley (East Scottsdale/Fountain Hills)...this trail system is where the Cactus Cup was ran every year (they eliminated that pro race a few years back).

Sorry to go off on the Mountain biking folks, but perhaps others besides Troy, wanted some info too.

Peace,

Shane
 
Shane- If you don't mind playing tour guide all the MTN bikers should get together before school starts for a ride or two. I don't mind exploring to find the good trails but it always helps to have some insider knowledge. I'm actaully moving down in about a month so maybe we'll make it sooner than later.
 
Andy,

That sounds great. Hopefully this year they won't close down Prescott, Flagstaff and Payson due to fire hazzards. Last year was a pretty rough fire season, so opportunities to ride up in the mountains was a bit slim. Had to stay here in the valley of the sun and ride early...Not as much fun to ride when you have to get up at 5am to do it, but sometimes you have no choice. Feel free to message/email me when you come down, and we can definitely get a few rides in before school starts, as I'm sure I'll have to settle for being a weekend warrior once school starts.

Peace,

Shane
 
I will be coming from the DeKalb area. How are you moving out there because the cost is going to kill me? However, if your an Irish fan...how about the BC game?
 
BC game--I don't remember any BC game ;o) Was that convincing enough?

Did you know we have a Notre Dame grad going to school with us? I think Lucus graduated from ND.
 
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