TOUROCOM NY Discussion Thread 2011-2012

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Columbia University Medical Center is located near the Presbyterian Hospital at 168th and Broadway. This is the Washington Heights district.
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djtiesto14 said:
Columbia University Medical Center is located near the Presbyterian Hospital at 168th and Broadway. This is the Washington Heights district.

Touro is located at 125th and Adam Clayton. One of the things that really bothered me while dining in Harlem is that homeless people will barge inside and ask for food. If you refuse, they will keep keep watching you eat. Eventually, they will get so close to your face that you'll just give them your food and want to leave. It's happened a few times to me.

I have also had a few other confrontations with homeless people that pile up together and surround you for money. Can you imagine how uncomfortable that is, especially if its a woman all by herself?

Costs and rent: Rent is outrageous. Studio on 126th and Lenox, where my friend stays is $1650. Unlimited subway card is $104 a month. Subway is great during the day. Late night it sucks. You have to wait forever for it to come. Good thing, however, is that the A express and 2, 3 Express are right in the area.

Harlem is extremely dirty and trashed. As best as they try to keep it clean, its still dirty. Very annoying.

The actual school students in the school gave me a bad vibe. For instance, I have repeatedly heard the same students after an exam state how they cheated and feel so good that they passed the exam. Touro has there exams on a computer, and students look at each others screens. Of course the questions are the same, but they are shuffled. However, when you see diagrams, you can easily scroll down to that problem and see what the person next to you put. (I am summing up what these students do). Touro also grades/curves based on Z-scores. If you fall at a Z score of 0.75 or higher, you get an A, 0.65-0.74 B, etc. A majority of the class falls into the C range, few B's, and a couple A's.

Let me know if you have more specific questions.
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you painted a pretty brutal picture of nyc. Come on now, it's not that bad. i admit there may be station platform where you smell piss in cold winter but 'people staring at you while you eat' and 'surrounding you until you give them money/food' is totally not true. You may find a lot of homeless people along 125th and many others who sing or dance in close spaces in subways but its not terrible - in fact its some kind of entertainment, at least for me. But yeah, subway might suck sometimes. I once got trapped in A train for 45mins because they were fixing a leak in the tunnel while a homeless guy was singing ' gimme a motha****in dolla' the whole time. I just wish I had bought noise-cancellation haedphones.
 
Pisiform said:
you painted a pretty brutal picture of nyc. Come on now, it's not that bad. i admit there may be station platform where you smell piss in cold winter but 'people staring at you while you eat' and 'surrounding you until you give them money/food' is totally not true. You may find a lot of homeless people along 125th and many others who sing or dance in close spaces in subways but its not terrible - in fact its some kind of entertainment, at least for me. But yeah, subway might suck sometimes. I once got trapped in A train for 45mins because they were fixing a leak in the tunnel while a homeless guy was singing ' gimme a motha****in dolla' the whole time. I just wish I had bought noise-cancellation haedphones.
Click to expand...

Some people just arent cut out for city life - end of story.
 
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djtiesto14 said:
Columbia University Medical Center is located near the Presbyterian Hospital at 168th and Broadway. This is the Washington Heights district.

Touro is located at 125th and Adam Clayton. One of the things that really bothered me while dining in Harlem is that homeless people will barge inside and ask for food. If you refuse, they will keep keep watching you eat. Eventually, they will get so close to your face that you'll just give them your food and want to leave. It's happened a few times to me.

I have also had a few other confrontations with homeless people that pile up together and surround you for money. Can you imagine how uncomfortable that is, especially if its a woman all by herself?

Costs and rent: Rent is outrageous. Studio on 126th and Lenox, where my friend stays is $1650. Unlimited subway card is $104 a month. Subway is great during the day. Late night it sucks. You have to wait forever for it to come. Good thing, however, is that the A express and 2, 3 Express are right in the area.

Harlem is extremely dirty and trashed. As best as they try to keep it clean, its still dirty. Very annoying.

The actual school students in the school gave me a bad vibe. For instance, I have repeatedly heard the same students after an exam state how they cheated and feel so good that they passed the exam. Touro has there exams on a computer, and students look at each others screens. Of course the questions are the same, but they are shuffled. However, when you see diagrams, you can easily scroll down to that problem and see what the person next to you put. (I am summing up what these students do). Touro also grades/curves based on Z-scores. If you fall at a Z score of 0.75 or higher, you get an A, 0.65-0.74 B, etc. A majority of the class falls into the C range, few B's, and a couple A's.

Let me know if you have more specific questions.
Click to expand...
Oh you must not be very well traveled, my friend...If you go anywhere outside the US/Canada, you will see that what you have described is how most of the world lives....and if people cheat, why does the majority fall into C category? That just sounds like a regular bell curve.
 
sorry to deviate from tiesto's nyc-bashing, but going back to all the books/equipment we'll need.. do you know if we actually need all of that equipment?

"Stethoscope with dual head (separate diaphragm and bell), adult blood pressure cuff, coaxial ophthalmoscope (panoptic is not required), otoscope with pneumatic bulb, reflex hammer, 2 tuning forks (512-1024hz and 128hz) and penlight"

I kind of just googled the relative costs of everything and I'm already starting to squirm a bit...
 
Snikkers said:
sorry to deviate from tiesto's nyc-bashing, but going back to all the books/equipment we'll need.. do you know if we actually need all of that equipment?

"Stethoscope with dual head (separate diaphragm and bell), adult blood pressure cuff, coaxial ophthalmoscope (panoptic is not required), otoscope with pneumatic bulb, reflex hammer, 2 tuning forks (512-1024hz and 128hz) and penlight"

I kind of just googled the relative costs of everything and I'm already starting to squirm a bit...
Click to expand...

Don't buy this stuff from the school. They will try to sell it to you the first week of school, saying you need all of this stuff.

First semester I think you only really need a bp cuff, stethoscope and reflex hammer. You can buy the other stuff from amazon or ebay in range of $80-$150 OR you can share with a friend.

I don't what kind of place Tiesto is talking about, but rent isn't that expensive. People that live in studios near school pay in the range of $1200. A 1br a few blocks away from school is about $1400. The area is not the best, but you have to use common sense and not be totally oblivious to your surroundings. You get used it overtime. Keep your head down and focus on your work, the two years go by fast.

If you are out of towner, I recommend you move in with other students and find a nice place on UWS or UES, many students find that arrangement best.

Also there is no way to cheat by directly looking at people's screen. Questions are scrambled and the font is small, and people really can't be that stupid to try, I hope not for their sakes. I heard someone tried to do that this semester and they pulled him out of the lecture hall. Proctors keep an eye on you, and do you really want to throw away all the hard work it took to get to this point by trying to pass a test?

Only thing I would change about the school is the OMM department, but thats a story too long to tell here.

Just study! Put in the time and you do well.
 
Snikkers said:
sorry to deviate from tiesto's nyc-bashing, but going back to all the books/equipment we'll need.. do you know if we actually need all of that equipment?

"Stethoscope with dual head (separate diaphragm and bell), adult blood pressure cuff, coaxial ophthalmoscope (panoptic is not required), otoscope with pneumatic bulb, reflex hammer, 2 tuning forks (512-1024hz and 128hz) and penlight"

I kind of just googled the relative costs of everything and I'm already starting to squirm a bit...
Click to expand...

Yes you actually will need everything but the oto/opthalmoscope right away. They are switching up the curriculum and starting PD right from the beginning of the semester. When we do musculoskeletal (the first thing) we also learn vitals which is why you need the stethoscope, BP cuff, tuning forks, and reflex hammer.
 
I have been on the "high-priority" wait-list for some time now without hearing any updates. Its May and TouroCOM is pretty much my last hope, when should I expect to hear from them?

Has anyone who has been placed on the wait-list heard anything back? good or bad?

Thanks
 
JackSwanson said:
I have been on the "high-priority" wait-list for some time now without hearing any updates. Its May and TouroCOM is pretty much my last hope, when should I expect to hear from them?

Has anyone who has been placed on the wait-list heard anything back? good or bad?

Thanks
Click to expand...

It seems that in the past the waitlist began moving around the end of May so I wouldn't count on getting any word before then. You should probably hedge your bets and get ready to reapply because with the surge in applicants Touro has a pretty swollen waitlist at the moment. Good luck to you!
 
awesome, thanks for the answers!

also, with regards to OMM here... how much skin, on average, would you say is exposed in a typical class?
 
Snikkers said:
awesome, thanks for the answers!

also, with regards to OMM here... how much skin, on average, would you say is exposed in a typical class?
Click to expand...

Depends on where we're working. T/L spine you'll be in sports bra (women) and shorts. you will always put your shirts back on when not doing the activities though. for sacrum/pelvis/c spine t shirt and shorts is ok. the first month is awkward, but you get used to it.
 
bn270 said:
Depends on where we're working. T/L spine you'll be in sports bra (women) and shorts. you will always put your shirts back on when not doing the activities though. for sacrum/pelvis/c spine t shirt and shorts is ok. the first month is awkward, but you get used to it.
Click to expand...

Is putting them back on optional?
 
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zeroseventysix said:
Is putting them back on optional?
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Haha yes actually. There are the select few who find themselves incredibly attractive and so they stay in their shorts or shorts/sports bra for the entire lab.
 
Withdrawing my acceptance later today. Was torn up about the decision; still think TouroCOM is a great school and will only continue to make a good name for itself.

I hope whoever gets my spot makes the best of it and does amazing things in Harlem and beyond! :)
 
titleist975j said:
whats the main difference between TOUROCOM NY and NYCOM?
Click to expand...

I honestly don't know/haven't heard enough about their program to make an accurate statement, but the most obvious difference is the class size- NYCOM has a class that is twice as large as ours. They also are located out in Old Westbury, not in NYC proper. There are quite a couple of threads on here that are home to the TOURO vs. NYCOM debate, you could look them up using the search feature to get a better answer.
 
Got accepted Feb. Thought long & hard and finally withdraw my acceptance. It was a hard decision to make. Hopefully it gave someone else ,who probably is a better fit, a chance.
 
Hey guys

So I am in a weird position, they have not accepted, denied, or waitlisted me. I had my interview at the end of feb??

I received a cryptic email the day that most people received that "High priority email":

"At the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine Office of Admissions we are acutely sensitive to the interview process at our school.* You are a unique candidate and it would be a pleasure to have you become a member of the Class of 2016.* As we work toward that end, your strong credentials are being reviewed on a daily basis.* The selection criteria will be based upon the applicant with the strongest credentials.

*

We wish you the best of success on your journey to become a great physician"

and now whenever I call they tell me they review interviewee applications everyday.

Is there anymore people that can shed some light on what's going on?

When I called mr. Perez he had said that there are about 10 other people in my situation and they didn't want to lose us in the waitlist. Not too clear about what any of this means... But anyone else with me in this limbo?

Thanks!
 
I got the sam email about three days after my interview, which was on march 7. I have no idea what it means. although im surprised you actually got to speak someone in admissions-i called and sent an email with nithing in response. sDon't know how much longer I can deal with the stress! :)
 
Just wanted to let you all know I'm withdrawing my acceptance. Hope one of you get it, good luck!
 
likebeast said:
I got the sam email about three days after my interview, which was on march 7. I have no idea what it means. although im surprised you actually got to speak someone in admissions-i called and sent an email with nithing in response. sDon't know how much longer I can deal with the stress! :)
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Thanks! Yea I wish I knew if its a good thing or not cause it starts like an acceptance but ends like a rejection

O.O

Idk what to think...
 
Thats the one they give out. hes director of admissions i think, when I called I was told to email him.
 
snehasa said:
Hey guys

So I am in a weird position, they have not accepted, denied, or waitlisted me. I had my interview at the end of feb??

I received a cryptic email the day that most people received that "High priority email":

"At the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine Office of Admissions we are acutely sensitive to the interview process at our school.* You are a unique candidate and it would be a pleasure to have you become a member of the Class of 2016.* As we work toward that end, your strong credentials are being reviewed on a daily basis.* The selection criteria will be based upon the applicant with the strongest credentials.

*

We wish you the best of success on your journey to become a great physician"

and now whenever I call they tell me they review interviewee applications everyday.

Is there anymore people that can shed some light on what's going on?

When I called mr. Perez he had said that there are about 10 other people in my situation and they didn't want to lose us in the waitlist. Not too clear about what any of this means... But anyone else with me in this limbo?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I received the same email as you a while back. We are indeed on a waitlist, but you can think of this one as the real priority waitlist. I spoke with Dr. Cammarata recently and they are in the final stages of completing the roster for the class of 2016. They are re-reviewing all the applicants who received this cryptic email at this time. Final decisions should be made soon. I believe that they are picking people off the list via MCAT score, "the selection criteria will be based upon the applicant with the strongest credentials."
 
Hey guys I just got accepted on Saturday, I received the answer via snail mail. It was post marked to the17th of May. I was one of the ppl with the cryptic email. So for all those with that email I see a positive future.Best of luck everyone.
 
congratulations! If you don't mind, could you please share your stats with us so we know roughly what type of stats touro is aiming for now? Thanks so much, and once again congratulations!
 
aptiva1988 said:
Hey guys I just got accepted on Saturday, I received the answer via snail mail. It was post marked to the17th of May. I was one of the ppl with the cryptic email. So for all those with that email I see a positive future.Best of luck everyone.
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I too was accepted on May 17 PM. I too had the cryptic email :) stats: 32, 3.6 scgpa, IS
 
My stats are not very superb my GPA was a 3.2, a 32 mcat and in state.But I do remember every time I spoke with Dr. Cammarata he did not care about the gpa. He put heavy emphasis on the mcat and how one did on the biological section. He said ppl with 10 and up should have a good chance.
 
DocEspana said:
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=8679167
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When I interviewed there one of the current students told us the reason he thought they were moving to online-only lectures: to save money for a satellite campus. They would no longer have to pay lecturers to lecture, and essentially would get $40,000/year/student for the right to access these online files. It's pretty hilarious how you can cover this up to make it seem like such a revolutionary system involving patents and such.
 
You clearly missed the point of the video if you're thinking that online lecturing is the only change that has been introduced. What the dean is talking about in the video is a new way to analyze student performance using a statistical program, on which he elaborated more during the interview day. .And just because there will be no actual live lectures going from 8-5, does not mean we won't be getting any quality time with faculty. So professor will still need to be paid...Touro is not the only school that introduced online lectures.
 
CXCR4 said:
When I interviewed there one of the current students told us the reason he thought they were moving to online-only lectures: to save money for a satellite campus. They would no longer have to pay lecturers to lecture, and essentially would get $40,000/year/student for the right to access these online files. It's pretty hilarious how you can cover this up to make it seem like such a revolutionary system involving patents and such.
Click to expand...

wow that is ridiculous and grossly innacurate. This entire education monitoring system, including the switch to more and more online lectures, has been going on since a month or two into my first year (I'm 2013 btw). Lenihan has been talking about patenting this and grant money to study us from day 1. This is his baby, we are his lab rats, but since the very nature of what he is doing is monitoring our progress live there are few hiccups and many "smart moves". Since scores going down means he has made a poor decision :laugh:
 
I'm oms1 at touro, and I would have preferred to be an incoming first year so that I can have 100% online videos. Screw quality time with professors. You just need to find the one professor you like. For residencies, most will accept 3-4 letters. One is from the dean and I think the others have to be physicians in the field you want. So making friends with 10 professors doesn't really mean anything to me, IMHO. I'd rather be studying, going to the gym, hanging out with people my age, etc. being more efficient is the way to go. The didactic learning is overrated.
 
Hey All! Just wanted to get some opinions about commuting to TouroCOM now that the program involves watching lectures online. I'm not sure exactly what the schedule will look like for this upcoming year, ie what days we have to be physically on campus and how long. How terrible would it be commuting from the island, about 1-1.5 hours via LIRR/MTA? I really don't want to take out GradPlus loans for housing if I can get on without them.
 
Dr Feel Guud said:
Hey All! Just wanted to get some opinions about commuting to TouroCOM now that the program involves watching lectures online. I'm not sure exactly what the schedule will look like for this upcoming year, ie what days we have to be physically on campus and how long. How terrible would it be commuting from the island, about 1-1.5 hours via LIRR/MTA? I really don't want to take out GradPlus loans for housing if I can get on without them.
Click to expand...

Dude I feel your pain. I'm trying to commute from jersey, so minimum time in class would actually be better for me. I believe someone already posted the approximate class schedule on the fb page, but I'm also wondering about the specific classes we are mandated to be in the lecture room and what not.
 
retro said:
Dude I feel your pain. I'm trying to commute from jersey, so minimum time in class would actually be better for me. I believe someone already posted the approximate class schedule on the fb page, but I'm also wondering about the specific classes we are mandated to be in the lecture room and what not.
Click to expand...

Monday's are exam days- no exam, no class
Tuesdays- Clicker sessions
Wednesday(I'm assuming here)- anatomy lab/PD lab/clicker
Thursday- OMM/Anatomy/Histo labs
Friday- off

Now, you'll have to be there all day thursday because it's split up into A and B so you'll rotate through all of those labs. For the clickers, it's been rumored that it'll be split into A and B and that all of A's (for instance) clickers will be tuesday morning while "B" will be in the afternoon. But, I really have no idea. If you're really worried, send Dr. Cammarata an e-mail.
 
How much time off do you get to study for the boards? Also how much time off is there between writing the boards and beginning of clinical rotations?
 
Also is it absolutely necessary to have a car for rotations? though I realize that this may change based on the sites available to us in 2 years ...
 
limoncello said:
Also is it absolutely necessary to have a car for rotations? though I realize that this may change based on the sites available to us in 2 years ...
Click to expand...

Most places you can get away with not having a car unless u are at NJREMC (even then you could bus it). Everywhere else you can live near by and walk or take a train or something.
 
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