choosing between KCUMB, AT Still SOMA and AT Still KCOM...and maybe LECOM BR

[joyfulll]

Hi everyone! I am new to SDN, and I know that similar posts probably exist; however, I am going a bit crazy trying to choose between the schools. I would really appreciate your opinion here:

KCOM:
Like: the founding school(= great reputation), a bit higher ability to specialize compare to other schools, uses ultrasound, seems like KCOM is more selective than other schools I got into, friendly faculty
Dislike: they 'tweek' their curriculum every year transitioning from traditional to genesis(= smells like instability), very small town

SOMA:
Like: got my first choice CHC(Brooklyn, New York), great location for all 4 years, new facilities
Dislike: new school, strong primary care emphasis (=not interested in FM or Ob/GYN or Ped), I get stuck with 10 students for all 3 years (could be good or bad)

KCUMB:
Like: great curriculum (genesis), old school(= good reputation), own student-run clinic and Score-1 program(=a lot of hands on experience), bigger city than Kirksville, super friendly/happy students and faculty
Dislike: feels less selective, some people say that 3rd year is a bit more disorganized than other schools, >250 students and => less attention to individual students

LECOM Br:
Like: tuition, I've heard that students do great on boards, weather
Dislike: PBL (my personal preference), students look exhausted, does not have a strong reputation

I am still in process of making a decision...leaning a bit more toward KCOM and KCUMB. I have about a week and a half to pay my first deposit. I would appreciate any input!!!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[SLC]

SOMA is my school, and yes it's newer. I'm a 3rd year and will be in the 5th graduating class.

It's true that there is a lot of emphasis on Primary Care, SOMA was created in partnership with the NACHC after-all, but that doesn't mean that you can only do Primary Care coming from SOMA at all. That being said, no matter which of the four schools you decide to attend, chances are high that most of your classmates will end up in primary care; it's just a reality of Osteopathic School and there's nothing wrong with that.

Me personally, I'm interested in Internal Medicine which is technically primary care I suppose. But I see myself doing a fellowship in Nephrology, Cards, or HemeOnc; that or doing hospitalist type work. SOMA has been very supportive of everyone's goals and aspirations in my opinion; but Osteopathic Medicine has a strong Primary Care tradition and SOMA is certainly no different in that regard.

 

[Roxas]

I'm just a lowly pre-med but I feel like you can't go wrong with either KCOM or KCUMB. Nothing against what SLC said but the reputation and stability of the schools seems to make this one an easier decision IMO. As far as between those schools it would just come down to preference between some of the finer things like big city vs small town, big class vs smaller class, etc.

 

[illegallysmooth]

It's weird you said the LECOM students looked exhausted. My typical day started around 9am with a relaxing walk around the pond with my dog followed by yoga and breakfast. I almost never studied after 8pm. Maybe these students are doing it wrong.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to whatever you hear about a school's reputation, because you're probably not getting an accurate, nationwide assessment of school reputations by people who matter (e.g. residency program directors and hirers of new grads). I was just told by an old school program director at Case Western that he's not particularly crazy about DOs but is a fan of LECOM and has LECOM alumni in several leadership positions.

Anyway if PBL is a negative for you, then do not go to LECOM-B.

 

[jjkenzie]

Bump! KCUMB has been my top choice for a while but everyone says... Why not Kirksville? Founding school... I'm sure it'd be great a give me great opportunities in life... But it didn't 'pow' me like KCUMB did. But I'm nervous about KCUMB's new dean.
I'm also not a big fan of Kirksville as a town and I love KC so I'm a little biased on less important things (it's only for sure two years then clerkship is flexible)...

I want to hear more.

 

[chizledfrmstone]

Bump! KCUMB has been my top choice for a while but everyone says... Why not Kirksville? Founding school... I'm sure it'd be great a give me great opportunities in life... But it didn't 'pow' me like KCUMB did. But I'm nervous about KCUMB's new dean.
I'm also not a big fan of Kirksville as a town and I love KC so I'm a little biased on less important things (it's only for sure two years then clerkship is flexible)...

I want to hear more.

Why are you nervous about the new dean?

He did a pretty good job at RVU and TCOM.

 

[jjkenzie]

Why are you nervous about the new dean?

He did a pretty good job at RVU and TCOM.

There are plenty of uproars about this from current medical students at KCUMB on the forums. Overall I've been reassured, but why does he need to switch schools every 2-3 years? That's not very comforting. He fired some dearly beloved faculty in his first few days. Plus RVU and TCOM were somewhat struggling with board scores from what I understand, and he did help. But KCUMB already has top board scores.. in my opinion it's not good to fix what's not broken.

It's not enough to move KCUMB out of my top DO choice, but it is disconcerting.

 

[Roxas]

There are plenty of uproars about this from current medical students at KCUMB on the forums. Overall I've been reassured, but why does he need to switch schools every 2-3 years? That's not very comforting. He fired some dearly beloved faculty in his first few days. Plus RVU and TCOM were somewhat struggling with board scores from what I understand, and he did help. But KCUMB already has top board scores.. in my opinion it's not good to fix what's not broken.

It's not enough to move KCUMB out of my top DO choice, but it is disconcerting.

I feel like this is the problem with academic administration in general. I get that people shuffle around into higher positions, but every time that happens they want to throw out the current playbook and start from scratch. After 100+ years some of these schools should have things pretty finely tweaked, but instead administrators want to just have something on their resume like "I entered a struggling school and implemented overhaul program X"

For KCUMB specifically, from what I understood the curriculum was one of the strongest features of the school. Now it sounds like they're trying to change that.