AZCOM Class of 2015

[randomusername]

Ya but you are being helpful and advising students over there. Noshie just chooses to refuse to accept her AZCOM class of 2015 status and chooses to associate with those still on the fence

Haha I would too if I had the potential of spending ~1/4 of the amount on tuition/year!

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[DbDan]

Haha I would too if I had the potential of spending ~1/4 of the amount on tuition/year!

ugh, don't we all wish that was a possibility. I am spending the money to apply to FAU when the app opens just because its going to be so late alot of people I'd assume have their acceptance. Plus they have funding available for scholarships for the entire first class for 4 years No shot but for the slight bit of extra money I'll give it a shot and hope for the best lol

 

[noshie]

Noshie just chooses to refuse to accept her AZCOM class of 2015 status and chooses to associate with those still on the fence

I am refusing to accept it... Haha. Just for a little while longer, then I will give in to this amazing school and I will definitely be happy with the final decision. I just can't leave my Texas thread for some reason!

Haha I would too if I had the potential of spending ~1/4 of the amount on tuition/year!

Yeah, this is pretty much the main reason why... Tuition for one year at AZCOM=Tuition for all four years at a Texas school. WTH. I have not been able to wrap my brain around that lately. It is so insane that it makes me want to vomit. Ugh. But I know it will be worth it in the end, and Phoenix has a lower cost of living than Fort Worth (didn't think I would say that, but it seems that it does from some research I have been doing). Plus, Arizona is beautiful, has great weather, and the school is totally top notch...

 

[Tallion]

Yeah, this is pretty much the main reason why... Tuition for one year at AZCOM=Tuition for all four years at a Texas school. WTH. I have not been able to wrap my brain around that lately. It is so insane that it makes me want to vomit. Ugh. But I know it will be worth it in the end, and Phoenix has a lower cost of living than Fort Worth (didn't think I would say that, but it seems that it does from some research I have been doing). Plus, Arizona is beautiful, has great weather, and the school is totally top notch...

I'm in the same boat. It would have been hard for me to leave Texas if I had gotten into a Texas school, but those bastards didn't accept me. In-state is so cheap! At least we'll be used to the weather when we head out there. We're trading somewhere hot for somewhere hot. I will not, however, be missing the humidity in Houston.

 

[randomusername]

I'm in the same boat. It would have been hard for me to leave Texas if I had gotten into a Texas school, but those bastards didn't accept me. In-state is so cheap! At least we'll be used to the weather when we head out there. We're trading somewhere hot for somewhere hot. I will not, however, be missing the humidity in Houston.

I'd take the hotter, dry Arizona heat over the humid Texas heat back home any day of the week too. At least here you cool off in the shade and don't get attacked by mosquitoes.

 

[Tallion]

I'd take the hotter, dry Arizona heat over the humid Texas heat back home any day of the week too. At least here you cool off in the shade and don't get attacked by mosquitoes.

You said it. No mosquitoes will be nice. I just hope I'm not trading mosquitoes for scorpions. lol

 

[randomusername]

You said it. No mosquitoes will be nice. I just hope I'm not trading mosquitoes for scorpions. lol

I know we had scorpions to worry about further north of Houston, so it seemed like an upgrade to me as far as insects go.

 

[JimmerFan]

Wassup Everyone?! Thought I would officially join the class. I've been kind of reading the posts for a while, gathering the information that's out there. Thanks to everyone who's been volunteering the info! I'm coming from cold weather, so phoenix is looking really nice right about now. Scorpions aren't really that cool though. After hearing that East Valley has the younger feel, I wish I would have put that as my first preference. Everyone loves a good train wreck. haha. I put West Valley as my first choice (East as my second), but I haven't heard back yet. Who knows...maybe I'll end up getting East Valley still.

 

[DbDan]

I know we had scorpions to worry about further north of Houston, so it seemed like an upgrade to me as far as insects go.

I'll keep mosquitos if you keep the scorpions

 

[Tallion]

Wassup Everyone?! Thought I would officially join the class. I've been kind of reading the posts for a while, gathering the information that's out there. Thanks to everyone who's been volunteering the info! I'm coming from cold weather, so phoenix is looking really nice right about now. Scorpions aren't really that cool though. After hearing that East Valley has the younger feel, I wish I would have put that as my first preference. Everyone loves a good train wreck. haha. I put West Valley as my first choice (East as my second), but I haven't heard back yet. Who knows...maybe I'll end up getting East Valley still.

You can probably still email Terrence and ask for a change if you want East Valley. Dean Speicher and Terrence both emailed me back the next day to let me know my rotation site. I chose the west valley train wrecks

 

[DbDan]

You can probably still email Terrence and ask for a change if you want East Valley. Dean Speicher and Terrence both emailed me back the next day to let me know my rotation site. I chose the west valley train wrecks

I'm pretty sure there will be quite a few interesting cases in downtown LA too I am set on doing a neurology rotation at Barrows though. I met and have remained in contact with the residency director over there and if I have the slightest interest remaining in neurology by 4th year I am going to milk that prior relationship for all its worth. Barrows neursocience institute is incredible. Their epilepsy center... I work in epilepsy right now and he came and spoke at one of our department dinners. Great guy.

 

[Compwarrior]

Wassup Everyone?! Thought I would officially join the class. I've been kind of reading the posts for a while, gathering the information that's out there. Thanks to everyone who's been volunteering the info! I'm coming from cold weather, so phoenix is looking really nice right about now. Scorpions aren't really that cool though. After hearing that East Valley has the younger feel, I wish I would have put that as my first preference. Everyone loves a good train wreck. haha. I put West Valley as my first choice (East as my second), but I haven't heard back yet. Who knows...maybe I'll end up getting East Valley still.

JimmerFan, where are you from? I would assume BYU, but I suppose you don't have to go to BYU to be a JimmerFan. We lowly UVU graduates think he's pretty cool too. One of the guys I work with just had a baby yesterday - middle name James (a tribute to Jimmer). Oh, and don't forget to tell us about yourself on the AZCOM 2015 Facebook page.

 

[noshie]

I'm pretty sure there will be quite a few interesting cases in downtown LA too I am set on doing a neurology rotation at Barrows though. I met and have remained in contact with the residency director over there and if I have the slightest interest remaining in neurology by 4th year I am going to milk that prior relationship for all its worth. Barrows neursocience institute is incredible. Their epilepsy center... I work in epilepsy right now and he came and spoke at one of our department dinners. Great guy.

I thought you were into sports medicine or something... No? Neurology sounds awesome though!

 

[DbDan]

I thought you were into sports medicine or something... No? Neurology sounds awesome though!

Ya I am into sports med and emergency med but Neurology has always been a side interest and I work in epilepsy right now so I want to at least check it out and see if I enjoy it.

 

[Tallion]

Anyone thinking about getting an iPad 2 for med school?

 

[DbDan]

For anyone wondering about on-campus housing assignemnts, I e-mailed them this morning. They got back to me saying that the assignments should be out by the end of the month and they will have more concrete dates set in a couple of weeks.

 

[wudabum]

also, we should take care of our financial aid stuff by april 1

 

[DbDan]

also, we should take care of our financial aid stuff by april 1

Thanks for reminding me. I'm gonna do all that now while I'm at work

 

[Tallion]

Be sure to check your midwestern email. I hadn't checked it in several weeks and noticed I had 3 messages from financial aid in it when I finally logged back on.

FYI, the website updated its academic calender to show Oct. 21 for the white coat ceremony. When I interviewed it was tentative for Oct. 7th, so make sure your family knows the change of date.

 

[DbDan]

Be sure to check your midwestern email. I hadn't checked it in several weeks and noticed I had 3 messages from financial aid in it when I finally logged back on.

FYI, the website updated its academic calender to show Oct. 21 for the white coat ceremony. When I interviewed it was tentative for Oct. 7th, so make sure your family knows the change of date.

I probably check it about once a week. The fin aid stuff came a while ago I just never paid attention to it

I'll have to talk to my family about the white coat ceremony. I havne't even gotten that far in my thoughts yet to have that discussion.

 

[randomusername]

FYI, the website updated its academic calender to show Oct. 21 for the white coat ceremony. When I interviewed it was tentative for Oct. 7th, so make sure your family knows the change of date.

Also a MAJOR FYI for the white coat ceremony: unless they change it, each person is only allotted two tickets to the ceremony. This was a big issue for my class because the school failed to mention this to anybody until there was about a month left before the ceremony, so a number of my classmates had relatives travel here (since most airlines aren't fond of refunding tickets) only to not be able to attend the ceremony while others had to decide which relatives could attend and couldn't attend. There were only a few students who received more than the two tickets because there was a lottery amongst the DO students over unwanted tickets (of which there weren't many). In case you're wondering why you only get two tickets, it's because the DOs and every other program with some clinical aspect (pretty much every program on campus except for the SMP) share the same white coat ceremony. Also because of this, they pretty much do a rapid-fire presentation of the ceremony where you have the dental program in one section of the auditorium, DOs in another, pharm in another, and other programs in another and they basically have dental read a name + coat the person, DO read two names + coat two people, etc. and keep doing that until every name has been read. So, you can imagine the ceremonial-nature of something like this in which the aim is to get through 800+ names in about 1.5 hours.

Certainly this might have changed due to the complaints made by my class and you can email Dr. Speicher to see if it has or has not. I only tell y'all all of this because I want to make sure your class isn't subjected to the same issues my class experienced, and the earlier the warning the wider it spreads.

 

[Umm]

Just realized this thread existed. For what it's worth, I've lived in AZ all my life, aside from the 4 years of undergrad in LA, and I haven't seen a scorpion to this day...unless you count the one that's encased and made into a paper weight. That being said, I live in San Lagos on the 2nd floor, so I don't have the same problems as the people that live on the 1st floor of on campus housing.

 

[Tallion]

Also a MAJOR FYI for the white coat ceremony: unless they change it, each person is only allotted two tickets to the ceremony. This was a big issue for my class because the school failed to mention this to anybody until there was about a month left before the ceremony, so a number of my classmates had relatives travel here (since most airlines aren't fond of refunding tickets) only to not be able to attend the ceremony while others had to decide which relatives could attend and couldn't attend. There were only a few students who received more than the two tickets because there was a lottery amongst the DO students over unwanted tickets (of which there weren't many). In case you're wondering why you only get two tickets, it's because the DOs and every other program with some clinical aspect (pretty much every program on campus except for the SMP) share the same white coat ceremony. Also because of this, they pretty much do a rapid-fire presentation of the ceremony where you have the dental program in one section of the auditorium, DOs in another, pharm in another, and other programs in another and they basically have dental read a name + coat the person, DO read two names + coat two people, etc. and keep doing that until every name has been read. So, you can imagine the ceremonial-nature of something like this in which the aim is to get through 800+ names in about 1.5 hours.

Certainly this might have changed due to the complaints made by my class and you can email Dr. Speicher to see if it has or has not. I only tell y'all all of this because I want to make sure your class isn't subjected to the same issues my class experienced, and the earlier the warning the wider it spreads.

Thanks for the heads up. Hopefully that isn't still the case, but maybe thats why they scheduled it on a friday so less people will be able to come...

 

[randomusername]

Just so y'all know, the housing assignments for current students have already started to come out so I'd guess that incoming students who applied should have their assignments by the end of this week or next.

 

[DbDan]

Just so y'all know, the housing assignments for current students have already started to come out so I'd guess that incoming students who applied should have their assignments by the end of this week or next.

Thanks.

Hopefully we'll find out soon. Jose Ponce told me that it won't come out until the end of the month though so I'm not too hopeful. He said to call at the end of next week for more info.

Hoping for a studio With gas prices rising quickly and my car only getting 14 miles to the gallon around town I'd prefer to stay on campus

 

[randomusername]

Hoping for a studio With gas prices rising quickly and my car only getting 14 miles to the gallon around town I'd prefer to stay on campus

From move-in to the end of first quarter (so 15 weeks), I actually only had to fill my tank once. It's awesome not having to get gas.

 

[nicrem]

Have you heard good things about the LA rotation sites? Trying to figure out where I want to do my rotations.

 

[PharmDIntern]

Congratulations everyone for getting accepting into Azcom. I've met some students from Azcom & quite honestly i applied AZCOM, did not get accepted, and was shocked for awhile. However, there is hope for those that do NOT get accepted into their first choice as i got accepted into other DO schools and a LCME MD school. Just when things don't appear like they are going your way; you get one acceptance, then another, then another, etc. Good luck to everyone!!!

 

[Tallion]

Have you heard good things about the LA rotation sites? Trying to figure out where I want to do my rotations.

I don't really know about the quality of the LA rotation sites, but if you want to go there you will want to sign up soon. I can't remember the exact number but I think they only have about 30 spots available in LA.

 

[Flushot]

I don't really know about the quality of the LA rotation sites, but if you want to go there you will want to sign up soon. I can't remember the exact number but I think they only have about 30 spots available in LA.

If you look at the first page on the AZCOM 2010-2011 thread, it'll show you the spots available this year. LA has 45 available.

The greatest advantage to going to LA is that you will have an elective 3rd year, while the others will not (although I don't know about Chicago or Ohio). You can go anywhere that will do the paperwork for you and it doesn't have to be a rural location either.

 

[JonMD26]

I heard the LA rotation set is TERRIBLE because some of the hospitals aren't letting the students be involved as much

 

[DbDan]

I heard the LA rotation set is TERRIBLE because some of the hospitals aren't letting the students be involved as much

Heard from who exactly? Sorry but unless you can back it with something more substantial I'm going to take the opinions of the current students who obviously have deeper connections to the school. Care to back up your statement? You seem to be pretty negative about everything SoCal DO in general judging by your judgement of Western's pass rates and rotation sites.

 

[CWALKERRUN]

I heard the LA rotation set is TERRIBLE because some of the hospitals aren't letting the students be involved as much

You have to be a little more open-minded and a little less pessimistic about rotations, anywhere you go. With every region there will be good preceptors and bad preceptors, but if you show whomever you work with that you are serious, competent and a hard worker then you will probably have a good rotation. The people that complain about rotations usually don't stop and think about why, all of a sudden, their preceptor stopped letting them do things. Students have to remember this is their education and if you don't care about learning the preceptor probably won't care about teaching. Right now you guys, even us first years, don't know much about the rotation regions and so we chose based on where we wouldn't mind living for two years, and that's all you can do.

 

[Tallion]

Right now you guys, even us first years, don't know much about the rotation regions and so we chose based on where we wouldn't mind living for two years, and that's all you can do.

This sounds like the general consensus among active students. Pick where you think you will be most comfortable living; whether thats close to family, friends, or just general cost of living. Ultimately what you get out of your clerkships will dependent on what you put into it.

 

[DbDan]

For those still waiting on housing assignment for on campus, I e-mailed Jose Ponce again on Sunday to ask about when assignments would go out and how we would get them. His response was that we should receive an e-mail by next week. Now, if that means by the end of this week or sometime next week I don't know but it sounds like we should be hearing in the near future.

 

[DbDan]

Someone posted over in the discussion thread in Pre-osteo saying that housing assignments have started going out. Mine isn't posted yet but if you submitted your application early you should probably check it out. (I submitted my app in early Jan.)

 

[Tallion]

US News came out with a ranking of best hospitals in the US. Here is the list for Phoenix. Even if the rankings are kind of useless its fun to know that some of the hospitals we are rotating at (for those staying in the valley) are highly ranked.

http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/phoenix-az

 

[Sloo0]

So I have Kaiser Permanente which doesnt exist in AZ.


Clearly I will have to switch Insurance Providers.



Anyone have any advice/information that would save me some hassle on which Provider to choose? The MWU offered or something else?


I am pretty much only concerned with not having to pay a ton of $ for prescription drugs.

 

[Tallion]

So I have Kaiser Permanente which doesnt exist in AZ.


Clearly I will have to switch Insurance Providers.



Anyone have any advice/information that would save me some hassle on which Provider to choose? The MWU offered or something else?


I am pretty much only concerned with not having to pay a ton of $ for prescription drugs.

I had the same question actually. Anyone know what the school requires to be covered under your health insurance? I feel like the $2400/yr for the Midwestern school plan is too expensive for anybody in their mid-twenties and in pretty good health. If I got coverage with a high deductible would Midwestern accept that as a viable health plan. I'm really only worried about getting in a car accident or something, otherwise I think I'll be good.

Sloo0 are you currently on medication or are you just worried about needing some in the future? As far as I can tell the school plan covers everything pretty well, but it is pretty expensive. If you're just worried about needing medications you may be better off looking for a plan with a higher deductible. www.healthcare.gov is a good place to start to look at plans.

 

[A18Devil]

Hello Class of 2015! Congrats on your acceptance!

I'm currently a 3rd year AZCOM'er and am looking for a couple roommates if any of you are interested. You would be living with me and another female 3rd year med student. I got pics of the house too if you would like to see them. Email me any questions about the house, AZCOM, rotations, Glendale, or whatever. Enjoy theses last few months!!!

Two Rooms for Rent! $500 each, per month
•4 BR house on a lake located ½ mile north of Midwestern campus, next to park
•Utilities split equally including electric, water, gas, HD cable, and wireless internet – averages $80 per month
•Fully furnished house and kitchen including 46” HDTV flat screen TV, BluRay player, Foosball table, dishwasher, and washer/dryer
•House is walking distance to two coffee shops and campus
•Other roommates include male 4th year medical student (the home owner) and female 3rd year medical student.
•Shared bathroom
•Rooms available starting July 2011
•Call or email for more details

House address: 20710 N. 59th Drive, Glendale AZ 85308

Adam
(949) 378-4094
[email protected]

Take it easy!

 

[randomusername]

I had the same question actually. Anyone know what the school requires to be covered under your health insurance? I feel like the $2400/yr for the Midwestern school plan is too expensive for anybody in their mid-twenties and in pretty good health. If I got coverage with a high deductible would Midwestern accept that as a viable health plan. I'm really only worried about getting in a car accident or something, otherwise I think I'll be good.

Sloo0 are you currently on medication or are you just worried about needing some in the future? As far as I can tell the school plan covers everything pretty well, but it is pretty expensive. If you're just worried about needing medications you may be better off looking for a plan with a higher deductible. www.healthcare.gov is a good place to start to look at plans.

My understanding as far as what the school will accept as "adequate insurance" is any regular health insurance plan will do, it just can't be "catastrophic-only" insurance. You can always shoot (I'm guessing) student services an email about what other requirements there may or many not be though.

 

[DbDan]

I had the same question actually. Anyone know what the school requires to be covered under your health insurance? I feel like the $2400/yr for the Midwestern school plan is too expensive for anybody in their mid-twenties and in pretty good health. If I got coverage with a high deductible would Midwestern accept that as a viable health plan. I'm really only worried about getting in a car accident or something, otherwise I think I'll be good.

Sloo0 are you currently on medication or are you just worried about needing some in the future? As far as I can tell the school plan covers everything pretty well, but it is pretty expensive. If you're just worried about needing medications you may be better off looking for a plan with a higher deductible. www.healthcare.gov is a good place to start to look at plans.

Have you looked at insurance plan costs? I'd weigh your options but I don't think that given the coverage the plan is all too expensive. My plan through anthem before I was working full time cost 110/month for a 5k deductible and no preventative care, etc. That was the cheapest viable plan that I was able to find. My HMO through work right now is 100% paid by my employer but they are paying $550 per month for just me. I'm just going to go with the school's plan, it may be expensive but its well worth it in case something were to happen. FWIW, I'm also mid 20s and no history of health problems.

A plan that would be a $500 deductible, 20% co-insurance is likely to cost significantly more than what we would be paying at school. 25/10 Drug coverage is pretty reasonable as well. Dental at $138/yr isn't bad considering they cover your two cleanings per year, etc. Only shame is no vision; guess I'm going to have to use my current plan's vision benefits before school starts to get some new glasses and a contact prescription

 

[fakeyellowlight]

I know that there is a google maps version of the 2011 AZCOM match list floating around, but honestly it's kind of frustrating to browse. Does anyone have access to a .pdf file or a link to the residency match list? Thank so much.

 

[BDancerDoc]

I've been on Aetna through work and I remember it being something like $300+/mo that the employer was paying for me, so $626/quarter sounds very reasonable for me. Does anyone know what the co-pay per Dr visit is?

As for prescription drugs, I use Aetna home delivery pharmacy. Dr. sends in the prescription and it arrives at your door, I don't even have to go to the pharmacy! Also, I find its rates cheaper and you get things in bigger volumes. Ex, I can get a 3 mo prescription of X for $2 while at a regular CVS, I will have to go 3 times (since the usual max is 1 mo refills), and it would cost me $10 co-pay per time. It's less than 1/10 of the cost.

If you have any medical reasons to get your eyes checked, you can get a Dr.'s referral Aetna covers it. The only thing you have to pay is co-pay and a contact prescription/fitting fee (glasses prescription is included). Also, I heard Costco is a cheap place to go for getting your eyes checked and cheap glasses.

Nevertheless, if someone finds a great deal, please share! Saving money is always good.

 

[Asianboy]

Hi Dancer,

Here is a link of the school's insurance plan
http://www.aetnastudenthealth.com/stu_conn/student_connection.aspx?groupID=724546

Let me know what you think about that plan. I'm looking around for the better deal. I'll let you know if I have something new.

I've been on Aetna through work and I remember it being something like $300+/mo that the employer was paying for me, so $626/quarter sounds very reasonable for me. Does anyone know what the co-pay per Dr visit is?

As for prescription drugs, I use Aetna home delivery pharmacy. Dr. sends in the prescription and it arrives at your door, I don't even have to go to the pharmacy! Also, I find its rates cheaper and you get things in bigger volumes. Ex, I can get a 3 mo prescription of X for $2 while at a regular CVS, I will have to go 3 times (since the usual max is 1 mo refills), and it would cost me $10 co-pay per time. It's less than 1/10 of the cost.

If you have any medical reasons to get your eyes checked, you can get a Dr.'s referral Aetna covers it. The only thing you have to pay is co-pay and a contact prescription/fitting fee (glasses prescription is included). Also, I heard Costco is a cheap place to go for getting your eyes checked and cheap glasses.

Nevertheless, if someone finds a great deal, please share! Saving money is always good.

 

[Tallion]

Thanks for the feedback. I sent an email to the student insurance people asking about what they specifically need to have a health insurance plan cover. I know on the health insurance waiver it says that any plan we get has to be comparable to the Aetna plan and offer nationwide coverage, so just looking for a plan with a high deductible and cheap monthly cost won't be sufficent (that was my original plan). If worst comes to worst a couple thousands dollars more over the course of 4 years won't make much difference when we're already $200K+ in debt. At least you know you have good coverage in the case something happens. When I receive a reply I'll let ya'll know what student insurance says.

 

[amolinari]

hey there everyone

i was accepted last night and put down my deposit this morning! i am so excited to be a member of the class of 2015! i am from iowa went to undergrad at washu in st louis and have been doing research in orthopedics the past year at university of iowa

someone posted a while back saying that they knew a lot about housing...i have been trying to find apartments that will take bigger dogs as i own an 80 pound chocolate lab (i posted this on the facebook group too) so if anyone has some info about good pet-friendly apartments throw it my way please

i am really looking forward to getting to campus sometime in mid-july and meeting all of you...it looks like we have a great class judging by the facebook group!

ps when i interviewed last week i noticed a "Triathlon Club" listed under the student organizations sheet does anyone know more about this?

 

[randomusername]

someone posted a while back saying that they knew a lot about housing...i have been trying to find apartments that will take bigger dogs as i own an 80 pound chocolate lab (i posted this on the facebook group too) so if anyone has some info about good pet-friendly apartments throw it my way please

These should be some decent starting points from the 2014 page:
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=167834788946&topic=11524
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=167834788946&topic=10734

 

[PharmDIntern]

I know that there is a google maps version of the 2011 AZCOM match list floating around, but honestly it's kind of frustrating to browse. Does anyone have access to a .pdf file or a link to the residency match list? Thank so much.

Yes by the way, I am interested to see what programs AZCOM graduates matched with. Although I am LCME MD stduent, i am interested in doing my residency in Phoenix. Btw, can anyone tell me why MD students can NOT get accepted into a DO residency?
Thank you (whoever) answers these questions,

Pharm.D. who is a M.D. student

 

[DbDan]

Yes by the way, I am interested to see what programs AZCOM graduates matched with. Although I am LCME MD stduent, i am interested in doing my residency in Phoenix. Btw, can anyone tell me why MD students can NOT get accepted into a DO residency?
Thank you (whoever) answers these questions,

Pharm.D. who is a M.D. student

DO residencies incorporate the use of OMT into their training. Seeing as how MD students have not had any exposure to this, they remain exclusive to DOs. At least that is the way that they are spun by the residency themselves.