NSUKPCOM vs Touro Harlem

[SigmaChadwick]

Hi all

Posting this for my partner: NSU (DO) Fort Lauderdale campus vs. Touro Harlem

Background info
FL resident
Specialty interests in order : 1. Gen Surgery 2. EM 3. IM (Note she really wants to do general surgery, but acknowledges matching as DO is extremely hard (despite it being ~50% DO match rate) and is therefore defaulting to likely doing EM otherwise)
Wants to match northeast

NSUKPCOM
Pros

• Near family (3.5 hour drive, so not really but still within same state)
• Slightly less expensive cost of living
• More established
• Better weather
• More international opportunities
• Rotation sites in FL
• Ft. Lauderdale is a nice area
• Walmart waking distance
• Pretty campus
• Good facilities
• Can take 20 min uber and then bus into Miami for fun
• Safer

Cons

• Known for bad admin
• Will likely match to Florida for residency
• Will need a car
• Focus on rural health
• Worse pass rate
• Declining board scores
• No in-person cadaver lab
• Less research
• Larger class size
• No affiliated hospitals
• More competition and less funding bc of MD school
• Mandatory wellness lectures
• Bottom of ranked DO schools
• Apartments are driving distance from school

Touro Harlem

Pros

• Better location for urban medicine
• Better match list in big cities like Chi, Phl, NYC
• Better COMPLEX pass rates
• Reputable in the NE, therefore more chances to match in the NE
• No car needed, can live slightly off campus bc of good transporation system
• Better for surgery (however, virutally the same for EM)
• Better research opportunities
• Smaller class size
• Would prefer to live in NYC
• Costco nearby
• Near Columbia university, and other schools - abundance of apartments and places to study
• Right next to ACBD subway with stop on campus

Cons

• Away from family
• Expensive cost of living
• Rotation sites in NY and NJ
• Extra costs with flights from home to school
• The rank unknown
• Campus isnt as nice
• 1 Medical education building that isn't that nice

Financially, including rent difference (~10k per year) + tuition difference (3k per year), she is wondering if being deeper in the hole 52k (13k x 4 years) would be worth it to go to Touro over NSU. Her heart says Touro, but 52k cheaper and being in the same state as her family is making her question her decision. Family has a preference for her to go to NSU.

TIA for input!

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[nhok89]

Hi all

Posting this for my partner: NSU (DO) Fort Lauderdale campus vs. Touro Harlem

Background info
FL resident
Specialty interests in order : 1. Gen Surgery 2. EM 3. IM (Note she really wants to do general surgery, but acknowledges matching as DO is extremely hard (despite it being ~50% DO match rate) and is therefore defaulting to likely doing EM otherwise)
Wants to match northeast

NSUKPCOM
Pros

• Near family (3.5 hour drive, so not really but still within same state)
• Slightly less expensive cost of living
• More established
• Better weather
• More international opportunities
• Rotation sites in FL
• Ft. Lauderdale is a nice area
• Walmart waking distance
• Pretty campus
• Good facilities
• Can take 20 min uber and then bus into Miami for fun
• Safer

Cons

• Known for bad admin
• Will likely match to Florida for residency
• Will need a car
• Focus on rural health
• Worse pass rate
• Declining board scores
• No in-person cadaver lab
• Less research
• Larger class size
• No affiliated hospitals
• More competition and less funding bc of MD school
• Mandatory wellness lectures
• Bottom of ranked DO schools
• Apartments are driving distance from school

Touro Harlem

Pros

• Better location for urban medicine
• Better match list in big cities like Chi, Phl, NYC
• Better COMPLEX pass rates
• Reputable in the NE, therefore more chances to match in the NE
• No car needed, can live slightly off campus bc of good transporation system
• Better for surgery (however, virutally the same for EM)
• Better research opportunities
• Smaller class size
• Would prefer to live in NYC
• Costco nearby
• Near Columbia university, and other schools - abundance of apartments and places to study
• Right next to ACBD subway with stop on campus

Cons

• Away from family
• Expensive cost of living
• Rotation sites in NY and NJ
• Extra costs with flights from home to school
• The rank unknown
• Campus isnt as nice
• 1 Medical education building that isn't that nice

Financially, including rent difference (~10k per year) + tuition difference (3k per year), she is wondering if being deeper in the hole 52k (13k x 4 years) would be worth it to go to Touro over NSU. Her heart says Touro, but 52k cheaper and being in the same state as her family is making her question her decision. Family has a preference for her to go to NSU.

TIA for input!

Just wanted to address some of the cons you mentioned from NSU. From my experience and from what I've spoken with upper classmates:

Declining board scores - with the data we currently have, seems things are turning around 90% in 2019-2020 -> 94 in 2020-2021. Need more data before we can be completely sure but it looks good for now.

No in-person cadaver lab - We were given plenty of opportunities throughout the semester to use the cadaver lab on campus (assuming you are referring to FTL). I was able to use the cadaver lab plenty of times but even then wasn't necessary to do well in anatomy.

Less research - In terms of clinical research, there is not much but there is plenty of research in terms of wet labs, systematic reviews, etc. We have faculty that help us with finding research and the list I have has a good amount of PIs looking for students. There also are many hospitals in the area that can be a possible source for research (particularly UMiami).

No affiliated hospitals - While true, we do have strong relations with Broward Medical, Palmetto, and Mount Sinai (take many of our classmates each year for different residencies, particularly FM and IM)

Mandatory wellness lectures - Meh, it's only like 3-4 sessions a semester (we have three this semester Jan, Feb, and April). Only 50 minutes in length so it's whatever honestly.

More competition and less funding bc of MD school - Not sure where this is coming from but this isn't true lol DO and MD colleges do not interact with each other (besides at social mixers) so there's no competition. We share some professors and faculty and that's about it.

Overall, if your partner is wanting to match somewhere in the northeast and their heart says Touro, they're better of going to Touro. However, your partner needs to prioritize what's most important to them (i.e: tuition > family > location > etc.) Good luck! If there are any more questions about NSU I'm happy to answer them the best I can.