PCOM Class of 2013

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iloveDrStill said:
I saw those dates and all the exam info, but I assusemed they were for the current first years. It doesn't apper that they have our info up yet on nucleus, although I could be wrong
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they wont be putting up your calenders for a long while and they only put up one trimester at a time. That being said the test dates are pretty much always the same give or take a day because usually the test is on a monday or friday. They will send out abot a month before the trimester the important dates (your tests) so you can plan ahead.
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iloveDrStill said:
Hi everyone

I'm curious if anyone's come across an academic calendar for PCOM. For example, I'm already applying for internships for next summer and I'd like to know the last day of class for our first year and the first day of class for our second year, spring break dates, etc.

I found this page on PCOM, but it's an actual calendar that you have to scroll through which takes awhile. Also, it says things like "M1 ends" and I think that means our first year, but I'm not sure

I know specific dates might not be up yet, but I would like at least a general guideline so I can start applying to this internships.

Thanks!
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I noticed this yesterday on Nucleus. If you go to Nucleus, and go to "PCOM Life" tab and scroll down and look to your right...there is a 5 year calendar that lists major dates.
 
I'm a little distressed over the news that Financial Aid may be behind in processing loan awards. :(
 
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I have my PCOM ID now!! It feels more official :)
 
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iloveDrStill said:
I have my PCOM ID now!! It feels more official :)
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What is the process for obtaining the ID? Did you have to make an appointment with the admissions office? Please let me know.
 
ARR said:
What is the process for obtaining the ID? Did you have to make an appointment with the admissions office? Please let me know.
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The bursar's office is located in rowland hall. There is no appointment necessary. All you have to do is walk into the bursar's office, and they will take your picture and give you your card. Easy. :)

While you are there, you can also take care of parking if you'd like. Oh yeah, don't park in the structure unless you have 5 bucks, so park on the street.
 
plausible said:
The bursar's office is located in rowland hall. There is no appointment necessary. All you have to do is walk into the bursar's office, and they will take your picture and give you your card. Easy. :)

While you are there, you can also take care of parking if you'd like. Oh yeah, don't park in the structure unless you have 5 bucks, so park on the street.
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Thanks for the info! I am very excited about getting my ID....
 
Bleurberry said:
I'm a little distressed over the news that Financial Aid may be behind in processing loan awards. :(
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they usually dont put anything out till the end of June. They have to take care of M4 and M3 first then the M2s then finally the first years. plus the y usually like to see everyone in the class before they give out any aid
 
plausible said:
The bursar's office is located in rowland hall. There is no appointment necessary. All you have to do is walk into the bursar's office, and they will take your picture and give you your card. Easy.
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Get your ID and enjoy the feeling!!
 
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Hey everyone, did you see that PCOM's switching its email system over to Google (gmail I take it) starting in September? That's the message shown when you go to the nucleus main page. That'll be nice I think
 
As Ilovedrstill indicated, the office in Rowland Hall doesn't seem to want students asking for an ID this early; I was told they were gonna send out an email telling us when we could start asking for one. She was cool and did it anyway. It literally took 2 seconds, I also got to sign up for the parking structure and was handed the pass right away! 300 bucks for the year isn't too bad I suppose, I'll be needing it daily anyway, so I see it as a good investment especially in the winter.
 
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phillybum said:
As Ilovedrstill indicated, the office in Rowland Hall doesn't seem to want students asking for an ID this early; I was told they were gonna send out an email telling us when we could start asking for one. She was cool and did it anyway. It literally took 2 seconds, I also got to sign up for the parking structure and was handed the pass right away! 300 bucks for the year isn't too bad I suppose, I'll be needing it daily anyway, so I see it as a good investment especially in the winter.
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Yeah - I showed up in April to try to get mine...I was turned away and I was told I would be notified via email, letter, etc when I could get an ID

Hmmmm...I'll probably still end up waiting until I move in
 
iloveDrStill said:
Hey everyone, did you see that PCOM's switching its email system over to Google (gmail I take it) starting in September? That's the message shown when you go to the nucleus main page. That'll be nice I think
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We are happy to announce that all student email accounts will be hosted by Google by September 2009. Periodic updates will be forthcoming​
.

Woot!!!

Personally, I'm a google addict...Google docs, maps, calendar, etc...and it integrates well with most mobile devices....nice decision PCOM! =)
 
nevinleiby said:
Yeah - I showed up in April to try to get mine...I was turned away and I was told I would be notified via email, letter, etc when I could get an ID

Hmmmm...I'll probably still end up waiting until I move in
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I couldn't believe that they turned you away! They didn't seem that busy when I saw them...

And yeah, the switch to google is exciting!
 
If you guys haven't been on Nucleus lately or the facebook group, just want to let you know that the email system is going to be changing by sometime in September to a Google email system. Great news!

Message: We are happy to announce that all student email accounts will be hosted by Google by September 2009. Periodic updates will be forthcoming.
 
I believe that PCOM will register the first term of our classes for the incoming class of 2013 (correct me if I am wrong). Since our class has 260 students, do we all 260 students enroll in the same courses in the same order (as listed in the PCOM catalog) throughout the first two years? Or do we choose to register classes in any order we wish (that means possibly enroll in classes that may be seated with 2nd years students)?

Also, does anyone know how to find out the books that we will need for our first term at PCOM? I would like to purchase them online ahead of time cuz I have a feeling that the school's bookstore will be a rip off.
 
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bigyihoroi said:
I believe that PCOM will register the first term of our classes for the incoming class of 2013 (correct me if I am wrong). Since our class has 260 students, do we all 260 students enroll in the same courses in the same order (as listed in the PCOM catalog) throughout the first two years? Or do we choose to register classes in any order we wish (that means possibly enroll in classes that may be seated with 2nd years students)?

Also, does anyone know how to find out the books that we will need for our first term at PCOM? I would like to purchase them online ahead of time cuz I have a feeling that the school's bookstore will be a rip off.
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they make you manually enroll in every class every time but its a set curiculum. Everyone takes everything together. no deviation

As for books, do not buy them ahead of time, plus its hard to find a list. Books are not required at pcom per se except the omm lab book and bates guide to a medical exam. Everything else they give suggestions and you can just pick a book you like or use the online library books. For instance they recommend the grant dissector for anatomy but after a week or two people start finding other books they like mor elike netters or moore. Plus you get a free netters if you join the ama or a free steadmans if you join soma. Most of the time no one buys the books and those that do regret it. You do not have enough time to really study from textbooks they are more for references.
 
JonnyG said:
they make you manually enroll in every class every time but its a set curiculum. Everyone takes everything together. no deviation

As for books, do not buy them ahead of time, plus its hard to find a list. Books are not required at pcom per se except the omm lab book and bates guide to a medical exam. Everything else they give suggestions and you can just pick a book you like or use the online library books. For instance they recommend the grant dissector for anatomy but after a week or two people start finding other books they like mor elike netters or moore. Plus you get a free netters if you join the ama or a free steadmans if you join soma. Most of the time no one buys the books and those that do regret it. You do not have enough time to really study from textbooks they are more for references.
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Thanks so much. That's very helpful.
 
Bacchus said:
If you guys haven't been on Nucleus lately or the facebook group, just want to let you know that the email system is going to be changing by sometime in September to a Google email system.
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lol we love the upcoming switch so much we keep posting about it!
 
JonnyG said:
they usually dont put anything out till the end of June. They have to take care of M4 and M3 first then the M2s then finally the first years. plus the y usually like to see everyone in the class before they give out any aid
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Does this seem like cutting it close to anyone?

I was hoping to know how much extra I need to borrow to maintain my lavish lifestyle while in school:laugh:

Seriously, does it make sense to even contact a third party lender until we know our award amount?
 
also, how does GradPlus work? we can't obviously apply for that until we get the federal loan awards..is there a deadline for Grad Plus that we may be cutting it close to before we get our award package mailed to us? it may be an obvious answer but this whole GradPLus thing is foreign to me
 
rugger14 said:
also, how does GradPlus work? we can't obviously apply for that until we get the federal loan awards..is there a deadline for Grad Plus that we may be cutting it close to before we get our award package mailed to us? it may be an obvious answer but this whole GradPLus thing is foreign to me
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do grad plus for the non covered college costs instead of private loans since the way are governemnt is spending money interest rates will soar and grad plus loans are cpaped at 8.5% (i know lousy in short run probablyg ood long run). There are no deadlines for aid. Lenders usually tell you within minutes weather or not they will give you the loan. Unless you have absolutely atrocious credit you should be fine since they think doctors are good bets. You should be looking around for lenders with the best deals such as interest rate reductions, defferement during residency, little to no origination fee this is also how you pick your lender for your staffords since the governemnt no longer allows pcom to be a lender.

yes i am pissed at congress on how they absolutely ruined student lending for grad students. Bunch of *****s.
 
Does anyone know what steps we should be taking toward getting financial aid other than filling out the FAFSA? I haven't received my packet yet and I'm getting a little nervous. Thank you
 
DreamzComeTrue said:
Does anyone know what steps we should be taking toward getting financial aid other than filling out the FAFSA? I haven't received my packet yet and I'm getting a little nervous. Thank you
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FAFSA and PCOM's application for institional aid (which was part of welcome packet) were do mid-March. Besides those things, you don't need anything else. Just wait til we hear back
 
iloveDrStill said:
FAFSA and PCOM's application for institional aid (which was part of welcome packet) were do mid-March. Besides those things, you don't need anything else. Just wait til we hear back
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I didn't get accepted until April, and the financial aid packet came in the mail on April 17 with "due by April 15" written on top. So I called Financial Aid to verify that I could still submit my paperwork and to find out what would happen, and the woman there told me that they hadn't even started processing institutional aid awards and that my papers would be in with plenty of time to be considered. I had asked about the future timeline for applying for GradPlus loans for living expenses and was told I didn't have to do anything until I got an award letter, which could take up to 8 weeks. She said people get off the waitlists literally up through the first week of classes and are able to turn around and get all their loans in order and that it's basically a same-day process. She told me waiting until June or July would be typical.

Just to satisfy my own worry, I went to Discover Student Loans and submitted an application for a $20,000 GradPlus loan (so I'd know in advance whether I'd get approved or had to start lining up co-signers). It was approved instantly, and I have 90 days to finalize a promissary note (which means I can make changes to the dollar amount after I hear back from PCOM), sign and submit. Knowing that I had the credit check/approval part done has let me relax now about the whole process.
 
I admit I don't have a clue about PCOM's hospital affiliation and/or don't understand how it all works.

Does PCOM actually own any hospitals in the area? Or is it partners with any of the network hospitals?
 
Rollo said:
I admit I don't have a clue about PCOM's hospital affiliation and/or don't understand how it all works.

Does PCOM actually own any hospitals in the area? Or is it partners with any of the network hospitals?
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I'm pretty sure they no longer own a hospital... the old osteopathic hospital in Philadelphia shut down years ago after changing names and hands many times. I think the building site was just recently demolished actually. But they do own several community healthcare clinics, like Roxborough. They sponsor residencies in the OPTI consortium but these are in partnership with local hospitals like Mercy Suburban. The ophthalmology residency is at Wills Eye Hospital in part which is world-class. Clerkships are arranged at local affiliated hospitals and healthcare offices. You can check out this link if you haven't already and it shows where each core clerkship can be done:
http://www.pcom.edu/Clinical_Education/Affiliate_Lists_/affiliate_lists_.html
 
DO2Be2013 said:
I'm pretty sure they no longer own a hospital... the old osteopathic hospital in Philadelphia shut down years ago after changing names and hands many times. I think the building site was just recently demolished actually. But they do own several community healthcare clinics, like Roxborough. They sponsor residencies in the OPTI consortium but these are in partnership with local hospitals like Mercy Suburban. The ophthalmology residency is at Wills Eye Hospital in part which is world-class. Clerkships are arranged at local affiliated hospitals and healthcare offices. You can check out this link if you haven't already and it shows where each core clerkship can be done:
http://www.pcom.edu/Clinical_Education/Affiliate_Lists_/affiliate_lists_.html
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Hmm, I've got several follow up questions.

What is OPTI?
The list of affiliated hospitals is huge...which is a good thing. So what is the advantage, besides being able to pick from wide variety of rotation sites, to having such a huge affiliate list? Some "pull" possible with residency programs located at those affiliated hospitals?
 
Rollo said:
Hmm, I've got several follow up questions.

What is OPTI?
The list of affiliated hospitals is huge...which is a good thing. So what is the advantage, besides being able to pick from wide variety of rotation sites, to having such a huge affiliate list? Some "pull" possible with residency programs located at those affiliated hospitals?
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Here, found this for you from do-online:

Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institution (OPTI)
Recognizing the need for a new system to structure and accredit osteopathic graduate medical education, the American Osteopathic Association established the Osteopathic Postdoctoral Training Institution (OPTI) in 1995.

Each OPTI is a community-based training consortium comprised of at least one college of osteopathic medicine and one hospital. Other hospitals and ambulatory care facilities may also partner within an OPTI. Community-based healthcare facilities such as ambulatory care clinics, rehabilitation centers and surgicenters may now have the resources and support necessary to provide physician training with an OPTI's assistance.

OPTIs are recognized for providing a comprehensive, seamless model of education for physician training-from colleges of osteopathic medicine through graduate medical education programs and beyond. An OPTI adds value to medical training by assuring the osteopathic concepts of holism, wellness and prevention, caring for the patient's individual health needs, environment and ability to access quality health care.

You can read more about them here:
http://www.do-online.org/index.cfm?PageID=sir_postdocopti

Most, if not all, osteopathic schools sponsor their own residency programs through an OPTI consortium, but not necessarily through hospitals they themselves own (I know LECOM is an exception; they have Millcreek). They form a network of affiliated hospitals and clinics instead. If you look at match lists and see the name of a med school followed by a hospital location, like NYCOM/**** or PCOM/**** then it's probably an OPTI program. This is in contrast to a lot of allopathic schools whose residencies are run in their own hospitals that they themselves own. So going to "PCOM" for residency doesn't mean you're at the "PCOM Hospital" per se, but going to Temple for residency means you're at Temple University Hospital.

As for your second question, I'm not an expert on that. There are pros and cons debated all the time about whether it's best to do most/all your clerkships at your med school's own hospital for continuity and standards, or if it's better to rotate all over the place for exposure. I think I'll like the flexibility of "auditioning" at a lot of area hospitals and picking clerkships closer to my home, but who knows.
 
Thanks for the links and the information. Definitely helps and puts things in perspective as far as rotations goes. I also think that combined with PCOM's multiple elective time and wide list of affiliated hospitals will give tons of options all over Philly/tri-state/northeast area.

I've seen/heard that PCOM & UMDNJ are pretty much best friends when it comes to flexibility in rotation sites with the students and residency programs. I can't imagine how wide our options will be when we have to decide where to do rotation X or where to look for residency Y.
 
Log in, go to administrative services, click on the access link for Banner, click on financial aid, click on financial aid again, click award, click award for aid year and select 2009-2010, click on the award overview tab and scroll down.
 
Bacchus said:
Log in, go to administrative services, click on the access link for Banner, click on financial aid, click on financial aid again, click award, click award for aid year and select 2009-2010, click on the award overview tab and scroll down.
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Thanks Bacchus, u'r da man...do you know what's the amount under "Board of Trustees Schol.(III)" for ?
 
bigyihoroi said:
Thanks Bacchus, u'r da man...do you know what's the amount under "Board of Trustees Schol.(III)" for ?
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Congrats! I got this scholarship too :D

"1. Board of Trustees Scholarship
This grant was created by the Board of Trustees of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine to provide financial assistance to deserving osteopathic medical students who demonstrate financial need and are in good academic standing."

http://www.pcom.edu/Financial_Aid/Finaid_Resources/Finaid_Inst_Aid/Finaid_Inst_Aid.html
 
msw said:
Congrats! I got this scholarship too :D

"1. Board of Trustees Scholarship
This grant was created by the Board of Trustees of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine to provide financial assistance to deserving osteopathic medical students who demonstrate financial need and are in good academic standing."

http://www.pcom.edu/Financial_Aid/Finaid_Resources/Finaid_Inst_Aid/Finaid_Inst_Aid.html
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Wow, really!!! Congrat to both of us then. :D

I see that this fund is being distributed evenly in Fall 09, Winter 09, and Spring 10. So is this fund gonna be completely distributed during the first year of school only? or does it continue throughout all 4 years?
 
bigyihoroi said:
Wow, really!!! Congrat to both of us then. :D

I see that this fund is being distributed evenly in Fall 09, Winter 09, and Spring 10. So is this fund gonna be completely distributed during the first year of school only? or does it continue throughout all 4 years?
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I believe its only for the first year :( Thats what I remember from speaking to Laurel from financial aid.

I'm not sure if the disbursement dates are the same at both campuses but at the Georgia campus, loans will be disbursed on the 8th of August and the scholarship will be disbursed after that, not sure exactly when but I know for sure its after the loans.
 
Bacchus said:
Log in, go to administrative services, click on the access link for Banner, click on financial aid, click on financial aid again, click award, click award for aid year and select 2009-2010, click on the award overview tab and scroll down.
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If you log in to nucleus, then just scroll down to the bottom of the main page all of the financial aid links are in the bottom right corner of the home page...

Anyway, mine still says that no information is available for my award, so I guess they are still processing people. Although it did update my outstanding requirements from "received, not reviewed" to "complete." Yay. I'll feel better when I can just sign off all the promissary notes for my loans and get things finalized financially.
 
I called the office of financial aid just now because the scholarships I was offered when accepted was far more than the amounts given to me under Nucleus. I was kind of freaking out

So, for those of you that were previously offered merit scholarships in the mail, you should know that they have not been applied yet to our award package. Only need-based scholarships have been given out. They said they were working hard on the aid packages for the 3rd and 4th years that were due in a couple of days, and she wouldn't tell me when they'd finish our packages

I also asked about the merit scholarships, and they said those are renewable each year, so long as you don't fail a course.
 
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I just saw this on Nucleus...

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12: The Spirit of Philadelphia Dinner CruiseInformation on how to purchase tickets, time of the cruise, etc. will be available in July.

Sounds pretty badass! I cannot wait!
 
Bacchus said:
You're one of a few. :smuggrin: I wish we were all so fortunate. Congrats.
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I apologize, I came off as a bit of a prick in my post. I've edited it. It was early morning and I was excited, what can I say

We're all fortunate to be accepted to one of the best med schools out there. Plus, not everyone gets need-based scholarships either, so bigihoroi, msw, and Bacchus: we're all had a providential moment. Congratulations to everyone! :)
 
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