Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine (BCOM) Discussion Thread 2016-2017

[JohnDOCTOR1234]

Yes but if you go to a school with no rep, it makes it harder to match. I'm just trying to weigh my options carefully, in NO WAY whatsoever am I putting Burrell down. The faculty that I've spoken with there have been some of the kindest and most professional that I've ever encountered. I just want to know that eventually, if I felt inclined to try for a residency somewhere competitive like california, I would stand a decent chance. Would an amazing board score out-compete the lack of reputation and prestige that burrell has? These are legitimate things to consider, in my humble opinion. I just don't want to short-sell myself; beggars can't be choosers, but I don't want to be screwed.

I was told by one of the MD program professors who is also my family friend that school reputation, aluminus support, are also important in getting good residency in good hospitals

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[JohnDOCTOR1234]

I don't know about deferred acceptance, but as far as I know no one from the waitlist will be notified until May at the earliest when interviews are over.

I was told mid May is the match for AMCAS so many students will be giving up DO seats for MD. I expect most movement on any waitlist around that time

 

[BR_12345]

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[Ricer7]

Guys, Any thoughts on whether or not ALL DA's will be pulled off like last year? I know it's still kind of early(?) to be asking this..
and is DA list formulated based on scores (interview+ gpa+mcat) like regular waitlist?
or do all DA's have the same status and get pulled off in the order they received it?

Adrian said they aren't taking as many on the DA this year, so there's a good chance that they will be, and he seems to be expecting movement even off the waitlist. As far as DA being ranked like the waitlist, I'm not totally sure, but I think it's just the order they received it.

 

[learner01]

Adrian said they aren't taking as many on the DA this year, so there's a good chance that they will be, and he seems to be expecting movement even off the waitlist. As far as DA being ranked like the waitlist, I'm not totally sure, but I think it's just the order they received it.

I think its fair to assume WL is screwed up list!

 

[BR_12345]

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[kliavosh]

Thanks for your input @Ricer7 , Are you a current student at BCOM?
@learner01 are you on regular WL?
I honestly wouldn't mind a year off, but I'm gonna stay positive and believe all DA's will be pulled off, especially since they don't plan on having as many DA's this year.
If I do get pulled off, I just don't want to find out like the day before the our first class or something like that.
Lots of things to arrange like housing, car, finance, etc.

I hope the admissions office know what they are doing and considering how $$$ is it to travel for the interview out-of-state. I hope that there is a rationale to interviews into April, DA and WL because they are not making money inviting people to interview. Positive thoughts and faith is the admissions process.

 

[Ricer7]

Thanks for your input @Ricer7 , Are you a current student at BCOM?
@learner01 are you on regular WL?
I honestly wouldn't mind a year off, but I'm gonna stay positive and believe all DA's will be pulled off, especially since they don't plan on having as many DA's this year.
If I do get pulled off, I just don't want to find out like the day before the our first class or something like that.
Lots of things to arrange like housing, car, finance, etc.

Yeah unfortunately people were notified up to a week before classes last year, so that could very well happen again! I'm not a current student though, I'm hoping to also get off the list for this year. Crossing my fingers

 

[learner01]

I hope the admissions office know what they are doing and considering how $$$ is it to travel for the interview out-of-state. I hope that there is a rationale to interviews into April, DA and WL because they are not making money inviting people to interview. Positive thoughts and faith is the admissions process.

I kinda doubt it because what would make sense now is to stop interviews, figure how many seats are filled and start pulling off DA and WL... All info indicate all seats are filled plus long DA + WL .... YET they are still interviewing!!!!

 

[Jac21]

Guys, Any thoughts on whether or not ALL DA's will be pulled off like last year? I know it's still kind of early(?) to be asking this..
and is DA list formulated based on scores (interview+ gpa+mcat) like regular waitlist?
or do all DA's have the same status and get pulled off in the order they received it?

DA is ranked as well.

 

[BR_12345]

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[JohnDOCTOR1234]

I think its fair to assume WL is screwed up list!

What do you mean? there won't be any movement in WL is what u think?

 

[learner01]

What do you mean? there won't be any movement in WL is what u think?

Yes, Thats what I mean!

 

[Jac21]

@Jac21 really? interesting.. did admissions office tell you this?

As for others, you can't really blame the school for continuing to interview. It is a for-profit school like it or not, and they have to make sure they fill the class. It's still a new school, they don't know exactly how many people will drop out until last minute. how can they start pulling off DA or WL if the class is full atm...
I'm sure those on WL have solid chances on being pulled off this year, so don't give up!

Yeah, Adrian told me.

 

[kliavosh]

@Jac21 really? interesting.. did admissions office tell you this?

As for others, you can't really blame the school for continuing to interview. It is a for-profit school like it or not, and they have to make sure they fill the class. It's still a new school, they don't know exactly how many people will drop out until last minute. how can they start pulling off DA or WL if the class is full atm...
I'm sure those on WL have solid chances on being pulled off this year, so don't give up!

Guys, at the interview the dean explained why school was for profit. It is because the state of NM had no money to fund the school despite the need. They reached out to everybody including fed and state funding authorities. The tuition is the same as may non-profit schools. I work for a state government and very familiar with funding. The explanation made sense.

 

[learner01]

@Jac21 really? interesting.. did admissions office tell you this?

As for others, you can't really blame the school for continuing to interview. It is a for-profit school like it or not, and they have to make sure they fill the class. It's still a new school, they don't know exactly how many people will drop out until last minute. how can they start pulling off DA or WL if the class is full atm...
I'm sure those on WL have solid chances on being pulled off this year, so don't give up!

If the demand exceeds supply it makes sense to catch up to current demand than advertise for more customers

 

[JohnDOCTOR1234]

DA is ranked as well.

If the demand exceeds supply it makes sense to catch up to current demand than advertise for more customers

Hopefully there will be more DO schools in near future; that way supply of doctors will meet the demand/more and tuition would go down, more jobs, better economy ..

 

[Madcap Magician]

A problem with having new schools is that while more students are getting the opportunity to become docs, residency spots aren't rising with that rate, as they're grant-funded-- and as we all are too familiar with, the government isn't exactly the most flexible and expedient of bodies.

 

[kliavosh]

A problem with having new schools is that while more students are getting the opportunity to become docs, residency spots aren't rising with that rate, as they're grant-funded-- and as we all are too familiar with, the government isn't exactly the most flexible and expedient of bodies.

Residencies are funded by Medicare not grants. This is why there number has been stagnant

 

[learner01]

Residencies are funded by Medicare not grants. This is why there number has been stagnant

Should't AMA be more active in alerting the public to such issue thus forcing them to put pressure on Congress to deal with this matter on a serious level!

 

[TexasMedic15]

Should't AMA be more active in alerting the public to such issue thus forcing them to put pressure on Congress to deal with this matter on a serious level!

The general public doesn't give a crap what doesn't pertain to them.

 

[TheFutureFatMan]

Okay, serious question. Does anyone else fear that attending burrell will cause us to be stuck in the southwest forever, without a good chance of matching to a competitive residency?

Not jumping on you, but this has been talked about ad nauseam. Go look up RVU's first year match stats. BCOM's curriculum is predicted to produce similar results. That said, remember the school's mission is to improve the number of physicians practicing in the south west.

 

[learner01]

The general public doesn't give a crap what doesn't pertain to them.

Reread, it does affect the public! ( physician availability, etc) ever tried to get an appointment with a Derm?

 

[TheFutureFatMan]

Reread, it does affect the public! ( physician availability, etc) ever tried to get an appointment with a Derm?

Don't just read, understand. What he's trying to say is (as a generalization) if the public doesn't directly see the impact something has on their lives/health/access to providers, they won't care.

Your average person does not understand residency funding (neither do most pre-meds and many medical students, as evidenced by some posts on this thread).

Lack of access to a dermatologist is a much bigger issue than residency funding, and quite frankly, that is not representative of the primary healthcare needs in this country. There are lots of ways you can advocate on behalf of your profession, and there are several threads on this across SDN that aren't on the BCOM 2016-2017 page.

 

[TexasMedic15]

^Exactly. Most pre-meds already don't care. If they don't care how it works (and it affects them much more), then it'll be tremendously harder to convince the general public to care to fight for us. I never said anything about how patients aren't affected. This has been an on-going issue for years and years. Students have been pushing to get there to be a change in the residency system, but we're at a bit of a stalemate.

 

[kliavosh]

Reread, it does affect the public! ( physician availability, etc) ever tried to get an appointment with a Derm?[/QU

Don't just read, understand. What he's trying to say is (as a generalization) if the public doesn't directly see the impact something has on their lives/health/access to providers, they won't care.

Your average person does not understand residency funding (neither do most pre-meds and many medical students, as evidenced by some posts on this thread).

Lack of access to a dermatologist is a much bigger issue than residency funding, and quite frankly, that is not representative of the primary healthcare needs in this country. There are lots of ways you can advocate on behalf of your profession, and there are several threads on this across SDN that aren't on the BCOM 2016-2017 page.

UGH, I wish we could stick to getting into the BCOM topic for now

 

[learner01]

Don't just read, understand. What he's trying to say is (as a generalization) if the public doesn't directly see the impact something has on their lives/health/access to providers, they won't care.

Your average person does not understand residency funding (neither do most pre-meds and many medical students, as evidenced by some posts on this thread).

Lack of access to a dermatologist is a much bigger issue than residency funding, and quite frankly, that is not representative of the primary healthcare needs in this country. There are lots of ways you can advocate on behalf of your profession, and there are several threads on this across SDN that aren't on the BCOM 2016-2017 page.

Thats why I said AMA needs to do more in educating all shareholders to this issue...... Now Lets stick with BCOM issues here!

 

[FutureDO08]

This FutureDO08 person sounds pretty smart. If I was cool enough I would hang out with them.

Keep up the good work, you'll get there, you'll get there

 

[medicalschooldreams]

Anyone have an upcoming interview?

 

[azael5petra]

is there anything that accepted and deferred acceptance ppl should do while they wait for class to start? like are there any books to buy and look over? what can they do to ensure that they are able to handle the workload and succeed?

 

[itsadoctor]

is there anything that accepted and deferred acceptance ppl should do while they wait for class to start? like are there any books to buy and look over? what can they do to ensure that they are able to handle the workload and succeed?

Nope - nothing to study. The doctor I shadowed for med school was like don't study anything, and relax because you will spent a lot of time sitting and studying for the next four years.

 

[samsamani]

is there anything that accepted and deferred acceptance ppl should do while they wait for class to start? like are there any books to buy and look over? what can they do to ensure that they are able to handle the workload and succeed?

I thought I'll never say this, but I miss school lol

 

[SlugMD]

I thought I'll never say this, but I miss school lol

Same! I've been out of the game for almost a year and I'm itching to get back haha

 

[JohnDOCTOR1234]

Nope - nothing to study. The doctor I shadowed for med school was like don't study anything, and relax because you will spent a lot of time sitting and studying for the next four years.

It doesn't stop; have to learn throughout life to keep up with the board exams for continued practice, learn technology to survive etc. First 4 years are the toughest..Some drop out in that period.

 

[TheFutureFatMan]

is there anything that accepted and deferred acceptance ppl should do while they wait for class to start? like are there any books to buy and look over? what can they do to ensure that they are able to handle the workload and succeed?

I cannot possibly stress this enough: do nothing.
Go travel, work and save some money, see movies, go to concerts, hang out with friends, etc.

The reality is you are not capable of putting yourself to the same pace of medical school until you've actually DONE it. The material in medical school is not hard, it's just a huge volume extremely fast. You're not at a place where you can figure out how to pace yourself, and decide what is/isn't important.

Don't buy first aid. First aid is mostly charts, and will be hard to understand without the context of your classes. Reviewing undergrad notes is largely a waste of time.

Medical biochemistry is next to no math, versus undergraduate biochemistry where you're constantly running calculations. If you're going to do ANYthing, my greatest suggestion to you is to learn spanish. Rosetta stone is extremely useful, and I highly recommend it, particularly if you have very little spanish background. that is a skill that will serve you well as a clinician, a medical student, and it's a nice little flair to have on your residency applications.

You got accepted to medical school, you CAN handle the course load. Admissions committees are designed to weed out students that can't take it. You've arrived, so chill out. Enjoy your summer!

 

[TheFutureFatMan]

It doesn't stop; have to learn throughout life to keep up with the board exams for continued practice, learn technology to survive etc. First 4 years are the toughest..Some drop out in that period.

first two years are the toughest, next to no-one drops out in ms3/4, if they do it's typically for reasons that are not related to academics.
The attrition rate from U.S. based MD/DO schools is extremely low. There's a learning curve when you start, and everyone catches up, with some very few exceptions. (also...many of those that wash out in the first two years do so for non-academic reasons).

 

[TheFutureFatMan]

I thought I'll never say this, but I miss school lol

that'll go away soon lol.

It's fun, but...enjoy the free time, it's literally the last time in your life you'll ever truly be off-duty again.

 

[TheFutureFatMan]

is there anything that accepted and deferred acceptance ppl should do while they wait for class to start? like are there any books to buy and look over? what can they do to ensure that they are able to handle the workload and succeed?

books to look over:

When Breath Becomes Air
House of God (great read, slightly dark, but there's some good lessons in it)
The Intern Blues (this is harder to find and a lot dark, so don't read it if you're having a bad day)
Complications
Better
Kite Runner
Walt Disney (by Neal Gabler...really incredible story and has some great lessons on perseverance...plus it never hurts to know a little about the origin of one of the biggest companies on the planet)
A chance to cut is a chance to cure (hard to find)
The things they carried
Philosophy of osteopathy - AT Still (because you'll be one of the few who have read it).

 

[azael5petra]

ok cool the books sound like a great idea . i heard i should try and learn how to focus for longer periods of time, develop more stamina and find out how to read faster. i am working on the spanish. i am trying to learn general medical spanish phrases

 

[TheFutureFatMan]

ok cool the books sound like a great idea . i heard i should try and learn how to focus for longer periods of time, develop more stamina and find out how to read faster. i am working on the spanish. i am trying to learn general medical spanish phrases

How exactly are you going to learn how to focus? lol, just take it easy. The stamina/focus will come, if you have a learning disability such as ADHD, I suggest you get that sorted before you start.

Some of our fluent students have mentioned that conversational spanish is more beneficial than medical spanish phrases. You need to be able to communicate, remember that many people who speak english don't understand the majority of english medical jargon. same thing applies in spanish. being able to say converse normally is the most useful. hence, rosetta stone.

 

[SlugMD]

How exactly are you going to learn how to focus? lol, just take it easy. The stamina/focus will come, if you have a learning disability such as ADHD, I suggest you get that sorted before you start.

Some of our fluent students have mentioned that conversational spanish is more beneficial than medical spanish phrases. You need to be able to communicate, remember that many people who speak english don't understand the majority of english medical jargon. same thing applies in spanish. being able to say converse normally is the most useful. hence, rosetta stone.

For those who can't get Rosetta Stone, I highly advise you to download the Duolingo app on your phone. It's free and has great reviews. It helped me review Spanish from high school.

 

[aidnaltiam]

Does anyone know the statistics for the incoming class? Or even the last class?

 

[SlugMD]

Does anyone know the statistics for the incoming class? Or even the last class?

Overall gpa: 3.45
Science gpa: 3.37
MCAT: 500
46% female/54% male
9% New Mexico residents
27% minority students

3000+ supplemental (secondary) invites
1700+ supplementals completed
800+ interviews
162 enrolled students

I have attached a photo of the page I get those numbers from. It looks like they just made this brochure. As far as I'm aware there's no online link to it yet.

PS- I don't know how I feel about the first atomic bomb being detonated in New Mexico

 

[aidnaltiam]

Overall gpa: 3.45
Science gpa: 3.37
MCAT: 500
46% female/54% male
9% New Mexico residents
27% minority students

3000+ supplemental (secondary) invites
1700+ supplementals completed
800+ interviews
162 enrolled students

I have attached a photo of the page I get those numbers from. It looks like they just made this brochure. As far as I'm aware there's no online link to it yet.

PS- I don't know how I feel about the first atomic bomb being detonated in New Mexico

Thank you.

 

[aidnaltiam]

Overall gpa: 3.45
Science gpa: 3.37
MCAT: 500
46% female/54% male
9% New Mexico residents
27% minority students

3000+ supplemental (secondary) invites
1700+ supplementals completed
800+ interviews
162 enrolled students

I have attached a photo of the page I get those numbers from. It looks like they just made this brochure. As far as I'm aware there's no online link to it yet.

PS- I don't know how I feel about the first atomic bomb being detonated in New Mexico

I heard the average GPA and MCAT went up for this upcoming class, but I'm not sure what it is. I'm sure they'll release it soon.

 

[SlugMD]

I heard the average GPA and MCAT went up for this upcoming class, but I'm not sure what it is. I'm sure they'll release it soon.

First of all, they wouldn't release this years stats anytime soon since the cycle hasn't ended yet. They probably won't be released for another 6 months at the earliest.

In general, most schools GPA/MCAT (especially new schools) go up a little every year as higher and higher quality applicants apply. My guess is that it will be at a 3.5+cum/3.4+sci and ~502

 

[aidnaltiam]

First of all, they wouldn't release this years stats anytime soon since the cycle hasn't ended yet. They probably won't be released for another 6 months at the earliest.

In general, most schools GPA/MCAT (especially new schools) go up a little every year as higher and higher quality applicants apply. My guess is that it will be at a 3.5+cum/3.4+sci and ~502

Yeah, I think that's a solid guess. I've heard that it's gone up.

 

[henry ian]

Just curious as to why people so strongly believe people on the WL/AL are out of luck because there wont be movement. There was a DA list last year and there was still a good amount of movement to the WL, right? Why would that be any different this year?

 

[Ricer7]

Just curious as to why people so strongly believe people on the WL/AL are out of luck because there wont be movement. There was a DA list last year and there was still a good amount of movement to the WL, right? Why would that be any different this year?

Yeah last year everyone off the DA list was taken off plus people from the WL. Based on what Adrian has said, he thinks there will be movement into the WL this year as well. No one is out of luck yet!

 

[JohnDOCTOR1234]

Just curious as to why people so strongly believe people on the WL/AL are out of luck because there wont be movement. There was a DA list last year and there was still a good amount of movement to the WL, right? Why would that be any different this year?

Lots of applicants in the DA list would have gotten admission in other well known/older schools; so the waiting list will have to be used..