TUCOM vs. AZCOM

[Sharky]

I am just curious about the 2 schools and if any students of the two could give their opinions on them. Which of the two has dorms and if not, what are the living conditions like? Which school has better rotations? I heard that AZCOM has the preceptor based style because their rotations are bad since the university of arizona med school is not allowing them to rotate at their hospitals. Is that true? Also, can TUCOM students rotate at Stanford and other allopathic affiliated hospitals in the area? Which school has their students attending good allopathic residencies after med school? Finally, how are the classes at the two? Any information would be helpful, thanks.

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[San_Juan_Sun]

Originally posted by Sharky
I heard that AZCOM has the preceptor based style because their rotations are bad since the university of arizona med school is not allowing them to rotate at their hospitals. Is that true?

The notion that the preceptor rotations resulted because of the U of Arizona are simply untrue. The folks over at Midwestern in Chicago had the idea for the preceptorships long before the fisrt shovel full of dirt moved in Arizona.

The U of A thing is interesting depending on who you talk to. Some think it's a non-factor, that the situation improves every class. TThey also point to the fact that there are over 30 hospitals in the Phoenix area to do rotations at, so there's plenty of room for everybody. Also, some students do much of their 4th year outside Arizona, so it's a non-factor for them.

Others feel that some of the pre-ceptors are pretty shoddy. I'll leave this question to others with more experience.

There are several available options for on-campus housing. Good luck with your interviews, I'm sure you'd do well at either school.

 

[ez073323]

Sharky,

First let me preface my response with the fact that I know absolutely nothing about AZCOM... With that being said, here is what I know about the subjects you have addressed:

TUCOM is in the process of completing their dormatory facilities. Unless I am mistaken (I will ask on March 4th when I interview there) the dorms will be ready for use this August. "On campus" housing is also available in the form of military base housing complexes... My friend is a second year and lives in an upstairs studio of one such complex... He says the fact that all his neighbors are his classmates has been a good thing.

Go to http://www.tucom.edu/Affiliates.htm to see a list of the hospitals affiliated with Touro... One recently added rotation site that is not listed is the California Pacific Medical Centers, which is in San Fransisco and is a rotation site for UCSF, Stanford, and now Touro students. I am not sure if Touro students able to rotate at Stanford, but if I am so lucky as to get into Touro, I will do my best to establish a relationship between Touro and my current employer, the UC Davis Medical Center.

Go to http://www.tucom.edu/registrar.htm and on the left side there should be a scroll bar... Scroll down and you will find links to the match results for previous classes for both allopathic and osteopathic residencies.

With respect to classes, I have heard nothing but good things about the first year classes. Just from Touro's website, I am very excited at the prospect of being trained at this facility; after having the chance to talk to several people that are actually in the program, I feel that my excitement is well justified. I have been told that the professors are super approachable and go out of their way for their students. In addition to being super cool to there students, Touro also goes out of its way to provide information to its community about osteopathic medicine; On Thursday March 6th, from 6-8 p.m., in the West Wing of the Coffee House at UC Davis, the dean of admissions, Dr. Haight, and OMM professor, Dr. Binkerd will be hosting "An Evening of Osteopathic Medicine" where admissions will be discussed and an OMM interactive demonstration will be held. This program is another particular reason I want to go to Touro.. I think it would be so awesome to go back to my alma mater, lay hands on some people and provided more info about osteopathy.

That's my take on the points you have asked to be addressed, please feel free to email me if you have more questions... I have made a lot of contacts with various stages of Touro affiliates and I would be more than happy to pass your questions on to them as well.

Would you be so kind as to reveal your status with respect to TUCOM/AZCOM? If you have already interviewed at TUCOM, do you have any words of advice for me, as it is my first choice school and I am interviewing there in two weeks?!

I hope I was able to answer some of your questions!

Brian Enriquez
[email protected]

Primary application to one school..... $175
Secondary application fee .............. $100
New suit for interview .................... $300
The bs and anxiousness of the application process... Priceless

 

[Macken]

Like the situation with so many other schools, there are pluses and minuses to each depending on your perspective. I interviewed at both schools and was accepted at TUCOM.

AZCOM is great if you really love hot weather and have a penchant for the desert. Their classes are well-organized (and early!) and their facilities are very new. I'm from the desert originally so the heat and desert didn't bother me, but I have to be honest and say that their clinical program gave me a lot of pause. I think it's probably a great idea (and indeed may reflect the future of how clinical health care is taught); however, I don't think it would have been for me. I want to work only in a hospital so I believe I would not have been well-served by them. On the flip side, though, the opportunity to work much more closely with a preceptor could be invaluable. Fortunately for me, AZCOM rejected me and saved me from choosing the school (BAD interview experience. BAD....BAD. Just one piece of advice: always make sure your suit pants haven't decided to go off on an adventure of their own without their matching jacket...)

TUCOM, on the other hand, is also new, but has the misfortune of being placed in one of the most aesthetically horrifying environments you will ever witness. If rusting shipyards are your thing, then TUCOM might not frighten you. On the flip side, though, the facilities are brand new (the anatomy lab smells so clean you would never guess what type of lab you're in). I was disappointed at first glance but left the campus being very excited once I learned more about their program and how it was structured. They are expanding the rotation sites and I'm not at all concerned about a lack of opportunities (in and out of CA) by the time 2005 rolls around and it's time to hit the wards.

Good luck in your decision! If you have any questions, I'd be glad to try to answer them.

 

[Macken]

P.S.: Good luck on March 4th, ez073323!! I know you're really hoping to get into TUCOM and I hope you make it! The group interview is great and you'll do fine.

Hit me up if I can answer any questions for you.

 

[maysqrd]

To help answer your question above, Yes, Touro students can do rotations away during the 4th year and so students have done rotations at UCSF, Stanford. Check the residency matches and you will see a grad getting a peds residency at Stanford. My guess is that he did a rotation there and was able to get a good recommendation. As Brian stated earlier, they are adding new rotation sites by the day it seems. I have been watching their affiliation list for two years and WOW, they are busy. Rotation sites and OPTI was a specific question that I asked during my interview and found out that someone was hired specifically to build the OPTI. As Macken said, I am am sure that by 2005, the rotation sites will be plenty.

Good luck on making your decision.

TUCOM, Class of 2007

 

[save10]

also unless i'm mistaken. and i often am. TUCOM just got CPMC in san francisco as a core rotations site. doesnt do me any good because i finished core. but i did a few rotations there and that place is plush.

 

[jhug]

sharky-- this is the same response i gave to this question when you asked it earlier-- these decisions are so tough that i can't blame you for wanting to get the skinny on all that you can. Good luck!

this is kind of a tough question as it pits two schools and groups of students against each other. I was accepted to both and give you what i felt at each respective school. Personally-- and i don't want to offend anyone out there-- i liked AZCOM MUCH more. Like i said, i interview and was accepted to both and AZCOM just seemed to be more on the ball. I attribute this greatly to the fact that touro is so new, but also to the fact that they want to expand the school into an undergrad/law/business school. While this is great, it means that--again this is my personal opinion-- that it seems your tuition is going into expanding the school and not so much into you as a DO school student. I thought AZCOM's facilities are much nicer- comp.labs, classrooms (AZCOM wins this without comparison!--tiered, A.V. vs. an old movie theater), and i felt the students were much more united and supportive at AZCOM--again my opinion--. It seemed to me that touro is still experimenting while AZCOM is quite established. Both are in unique areas but it seems AZCOM has integrated itself more into the community. The rotation set up at AZCOM is wonderful as well. Preceptor based will allow one-on-one learning, mixed with traditional hospital based-- you'll stand out as one who understands how medicine works on a more intimate level. Many medical schools are now implimenting what AZCOM is doing with 3rd/4th year rotations. Also, early patient contact is what drew me to AZCOM. In your first year you are spending time in a docs office seeing patients, doing histories, learning about the diagnostic process-- that is awesome!!! Dr. Haight told our interview group to expect spending most of the 3rd/4th years OUTSIDE the bay area-- i have heard conflicting info on this site so i'm not too sure. It is interesting that the two schools are almost the same "age" yet AZCOM just seems much more developed, built, and progressing. It is important to note that AZCOM's mother school is Midwestern(CCOM) so they had the advantage of building on the century plus of experience CCOM was able to provide.
Touro has a lot of potential-- but at the moment i would choose AZCOM with little/no hesitation. Everyone will have an opinion- but go with the gut feeling you had while interviewing--where did you feel most comfy and where could you see yourself earning your DO degree? I hope this helped, and again, i hope i didn't offend anyone.. i don't mean any of this maliciosly-- just my personal opinion. We all will be working next to each other some day and in the end our respective schools will only help us contribute to one anothers development.

 

[irish79]

I was faced with the same exact decision. I interviewed at both AZCOM and TUCOM in the same week. When accepted to Touro, I was accepted with a "bullet," which I felt special for. Though I liked both schools, I have to agree with jhug, that AZCOM just felt right, for me. I think the most important thing to do is to base it on your feelings during your interview. While I was quite happy with both, I just seemed to "fit" better at AZCOM. Good luck in your decision, and if it is AZCOM, I'll see you in the fall.