Western/COMP Discussion Thread 2009-2010

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Let's get some things straight:

Dress Code - At this point, nothing has been officially decided. After polling the 2013 DO students, their inclination was to actually enforce the dress policy that has been in the University Catalog all along. It is as follows:

"DRESS CODE/IDENTIFICATION
Students are required to dress in a professional manner at all times.
During classroom lectures, students are required to wear clothing that is in good repair (no patches).
Footwear is required at all times. Dress for skills labs should not be worn outside the laboratory area.
Tank tops, halters, scrubsuits and headgear (hats/helmets) are not to be worn in the classrooms. Shorts may
be worn, but no more than 3” above the knee. Hair, beards, and mustaches must be clean, net, trimmed at
all times. Students are expected to conform to the commonly acceptable social standards of personal
hygiene.
White clinic jackets must be worn at Honors Day, Awareness Conferences, Health Fairs, and in all
clinical settings."

This has been brought to the dean, and an ongoing discussion is taking place, and will involve a student-lead proposal for what the final plan of action will be.

Class/Attendance - What has been implemented is a shift in the way curriculum is delivered at Western/COMP. Beginning with the system-based courses (i.e. cardiology, GI, blood & lymphatics, etc), students will engage in a Case-Based approach to learning, where they work in small groups during the week, and then the class meets in a large group discussion of the cases. This large group discussion is lead by all the involved clinical and basic sciences faculty to the system, where they supplement the discussion with smaller, condensed lectures that are focused on the cases. This takes the total in-class lecture time for a given systems course from ~20 hrs per week to 6-9 hrs (depending on how many large group sessions there are, 2 or 3). This is NOT PBL (problem-based learning), as all the essential information to solve the cases and answer the relevant questions is provided in supplemental documents generated by the faculty. Should you choose to do additional literature searches on your own, that's up to you. Regarding attendance, at this point, its not technically mandatory in the sense that they will take attendance, but there is always a quiz at the beginning of the discussion, so it's on you to decide whether or not you plan on attending.

I hope this clears up some of the confusion. Feel free to reply with questions, I'll be happy to answer.
Members don't see this ad.
 
"Let's get some things straight?" Sounds like faculty disguised as a student maybe???

First, we all know what the catalog says about the dress code. That is not the issue. The issue is that a current student reported from a meeting with the Dean that it might be changing to a more strict and/or more enforced standard. That concerns a lot of students and potential students. Very few students want to dress up in office or clinical attire to go to med school five days a week.

And now for the big one, the atom bomb... Case-based learning. This is a major change in teaching methodology, not what I would call a "shift." This represents a major change in our schedules, the hours we spend on campus, the number of times we might have to go to campus per week, and most importantly, the source of all the critical information that we need to learn to become physicians. That source "shifts" from a PhD or DO in a lecture hall to a PowerPoint posted online. And one more thing... To say that CBL is NOT PBL is like saying that an SUV is NOT a truck. Of course they are different, but by definition, CBL is a variant of PBL, it is born of PBL, just as although an SUV does not look like a pickup truck, it is most definitely built on that chassis.

I wonder if the recent movement on the waiting list is due to students backing out of Western because of these issues.


darthsolo84 said:
Let's get some things straight:

Dress Code - At this point, nothing has been officially decided. After polling the 2013 DO students, their inclination was to actually enforce the dress policy that has been in the University Catalog all along. It is as follows:

"DRESS CODE/IDENTIFICATION
Students are required to dress in a professional manner at all times.
During classroom lectures, students are required to wear clothing that is in good repair (no patches).
Footwear is required at all times. Dress for skills labs should not be worn outside the laboratory area.
Tank tops, halters, scrubsuits and headgear (hats/helmets) are not to be worn in the classrooms. Shorts may
be worn, but no more than 3” above the knee. Hair, beards, and mustaches must be clean, net, trimmed at
all times. Students are expected to conform to the commonly acceptable social standards of personal
hygiene.
White clinic jackets must be worn at Honors Day, Awareness Conferences, Health Fairs, and in all
clinical settings."

This has been brought to the dean, and an ongoing discussion is taking place, and will involve a student-lead proposal for what the final plan of action will be.

Class/Attendance - What has been implemented is a shift in the way curriculum is delivered at Western/COMP. Beginning with the system-based courses (i.e. cardiology, GI, blood & lymphatics, etc), students will engage in a Case-Based approach to learning, where they work in small groups during the week, and then the class meets in a large group discussion of the cases. This large group discussion is lead by all the involved clinical and basic sciences faculty to the system, where they supplement the discussion with smaller, condensed lectures that are focused on the cases. This takes the total in-class lecture time for a given systems course from ~20 hrs per week to 6-9 hrs (depending on how many large group sessions there are, 2 or 3). This is NOT PBL (problem-based learning), as all the essential information to solve the cases and answer the relevant questions is provided in supplemental documents generated by the faculty. Should you choose to do additional literature searches on your own, that's up to you. Regarding attendance, at this point, its not technically mandatory in the sense that they will take attendance, but there is always a quiz at the beginning of the discussion, so it's on you to decide whether or not you plan on attending.

I hope this clears up some of the confusion. Feel free to reply with questions, I'll be happy to answer.
Click to expand...
 
Is this new CBL going to be taught at the new Lebanon, OR campus? Is that to cut down on how many professors they need? Will that also increase "group study" time?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
NukeQuazar said:
"Let's get some things straight?" Sounds like faculty disguised as a student maybe???...

I wonder if the recent movement on the waiting list is due to students backing out of Western because of these issues.
Click to expand...

No. You're the only one. Plus, there's been ~4 kids who have moved on the waitlist (reported on FB and SDN) in the past month. It's June. Seems like a typical movement rate to me.

Seriously. You've read the COMP2014 page just as much as anybody else. Nobody is as concerned as you. You've been reduced to grasping at straws on SDN. If the CBL (or PBL as you so adamantly claim) is so offensive to you, withdraw and reapply next year to a place you're happy with. While this is risky, I personally know somebody who has done it and succeeded.
 
Last edited:
mechanictodr said:
Is this new CBL going to be taught at the new Lebanon, OR campus? Is that to cut down on how many professors they need? Will that also increase "group study" time?
Click to expand...

If you need professors for each small group it would increase the number of professors needed.

I know UMDNJ, for one, is hesitant to employ a large scale PBL curriculum (they have a small PBL group of 6 students per year) because it costs so more in terms of faculty.
 
I'm not the only one. I've PM'd with a couple of them (I don't know of anyone dropping, just not happy) and certainly there are more who aren't posting.

Cheshyre said:
No. You're the only one. Plus, there's been ~4 kids who have moved on the waitlist (reported on FB and SDN) in the past month. It's June. Seems like a typical movement rate to me.

Seriously. You've read the COMP2014 page just as much as anybody else. Nobody is as concerned as you. You've been reduced to grasping at straws on SDN. If the CBL (or PBL as you so adamantly claim) is so offensive to you, withdraw and reapply next year to a place you're happy with. While this is risky, I personally know somebody who has done it and succeeded.
Click to expand...
 
NukeQuazar said:
I'm not the only one. I've PM'd with a couple of them (I don't know of anyone dropping, just not happy) and certainly there are more who aren't posting.
Click to expand...

But, you're the only one making a ruckus. I wonder why that is.
 
You can't blame Nuke, if you're paying 45k a year for your tuition, you should know what you are paying for ahead of time. But on the other hand, I think its only second years right? It said the systems based stuff, and I believe that is second year material....

So 1 out of the 4 years might be different, and they should work it out by the time this class would start for our incoming class. Not that bad. You learn most of your stuff during clinical and residency years anyway...

I'm just sooo happy I don't have to do this application process again
 
Hmm just called to check the waitlist and they told me there has been no movement yet. THEY LIE? :eek:
 
dude3 said:
You can't blame Nuke, if you're paying 45k a year for your tuition, you should know what you are paying for ahead of time.
Click to expand...

I'm not blaming Nuke, actually. I'm sure everybody (myself included) was very concerned when first news of the changes came out. You're right - this is 45, no, a whopping $72K COA that we're responsibly for per year. We deserve some kind of official communication.

However, you, like most people, have thought about it. While we all probably have differing opinions, we've all calmed down. It will be okay. Nuke hasn't come up with anything besides "OMG IT'S PBL" since this topic came up weeks ago. At this point, he's just stirring the sh..tuff with his talk of "I wonder how many people will be angry at orientation?" No. We heard you the first time. Potential fears have, seemingly in the eyes of most people, been addressed. Don't want to come to class? There are only, what, 2 mandatory days? Worried about huge class sizes? You'll have 10-student small groups to cover for that. Dress code? There's not even one set in stone yet.

I was never talking about any ulterior motive that Nuke may or may not have had. My point was to try and gently steer Nuke towards one of these conclusions:
1) Yes, we all know you dislike PBL. Many people have offered their take and most have been supportive of the curriculum change. It may incorporate more case-based education than you'd prefer, but it should be fine. You haven't come up with any other concerns besides the fact that there are cases and less lectures, so it's impossible to address them. At this point, it's reasonable to believe that things won't be horrendously bad.
2) If you are truly, truly bitter about this change, the door is still open. You'll lose at least a year of your life reapplying to medical schools and lose the $2K deposit, but it's better than trying to get out after being 70K in the hole.

I'm not being mean, or at least, I'm trying hard not to be. This is a huge decision that all of us will have to live with for the rest of our lives. If you want to make it super-dramatic, then, MY GOD, our families, our future/current spouses, our UNBORN CHILDREN, WHO AS OF THIS MOMENT DON'T EVEN EXIST IN THE WOMB, may be affected by this decision. It's time to act like an adult who is going to a professional school - figure out what you want and go for it before it's too late. Complaining is great, even awesomely cathartic (and I whine so hard that the wah-mbulance is calling for a Lifeflight chopper), but it's not going to save you.
 
VooDooo327 said:
Hmm just called to check the waitlist and they told me there has been no movement yet. THEY LIE? :eek:
Click to expand...

images


:D

Anyway, best of luck to you.
 
Oh, as far as COA, it's a bit over estimated. I returned $3k first semester (I would have returned more, but things came up...) and, looking at my account today after paying my credit card bill (I put most charges on my card, but pay in full every month), I'm looking at returning around $5k. Personally, I'd rather have COA over estimated than underestimated. It's much easier to return funds than request more funds.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I know this is a very very generalized question but there is without a doubt in my mind that Western is the school that I want to attend. What can I do to ensure this? Any advice would be much appreciated! Willing to do anything!
 
Siggy, did you accept the full COA amount?
 
Yep. One thing to think about is when you return funds during the semester, the accrued interest and the origination fee is also refunded for that part of the funds.
 
Cheshyre said:
It's time to act like an adult who is going to a professional school - figure out what you want and go for it before it's too late. Complaining is great, even awesomely cathartic (and I whine so hard that the wah-mbulance is calling for a Lifeflight chopper), but it's not going to save you.
Click to expand...

Funny... I've been discussing (ranting, venting) issues brought up by other members; important issues regarding our education. You are discussing me and how you suggest ("gently steer") that I behave. Who needs to grow up?
 
i'm a current student. i'll go on record saying that the new small group/large group curriculum is not looking too promising. i'll elaborate more after the musculoskeletal midterm.

*note: hopefully my post count is enough to convince you that i'm not a troll
 
i'm a current student as well. i think that the small group/large group portion of musculoskeletal has been the most beneficial for me (going into tomorrow's exam), so i am really excited that they'll be using this model next year. i'm not trying to argue the above post, but i just wanted to give another perspective and let you guys know that not everyone thinks this change is a ridiculous move. feel free to ask me any questions you may have too. i know change is scary, but i think this is a change in the right direction.
 
Siggy said:
Oh, as far as COA, it's a bit over estimated. I returned $3k first semester (I would have returned more, but things came up...) and, looking at my account today after paying my credit card bill (I put most charges on my card, but pay in full every month), I'm looking at returning around $5k. Personally, I'd rather have COA over estimated than underestimated. It's much easier to return funds than request more funds.
Click to expand...

Damn... thats actually really good, you're like one of the few I knew who did this.


Majority of the class took out max loans because you also have to consider your summer expenses/living situations. Also, a lot of people are traveling from left over money they didn't use, for example, S. America, Honduras, Central America, Europe, Asia.

A lot of the money we are supposed to spend on books pretty much gets turned into money for yourself.

Whether you think its worth the extra 10k in debt later on in life because of interest is up to you.
 
Good Morning WesternUers,
I have posted this on whats my chances but honostly I truly want to go to Western and wanted the opnion of the people that have gotten or are in the process of getting in:
-UCLA graduate (physiological Sciences)

-3.2 sGPA

-Taking MCATs July 30 (min. 30)

-Work at Hosptial for over 5 years (since freshmen year) as ECG/ER tech, so thousands of hours of experience and working with DOs and MDs. (ironicly MS3 and MS4s do they rotations at my hospital)

-Some research

-Africa Medical Mission

-lots of EC and leadership

-will submit my primary app by end of Jun so all it will need would be the MCAT score

Any thoughts/opinions/comparisons will be greatly appreciated

cheers and good luck to all of you.:luck:
 
Last edited:
wolverinepwns said:
Good Morning WesternUers,
I have posted this on whats my chances but honostly I truly want to go to Western and wanted the opnion of the people that have gotten or are in the process of getting in:
-UCLA graduate (physiological Sciences)

-3.2 sGPA

-Taking MCATs July 30 (min. 30)

-Work at Hosptial for over 5 years (since freshmen year) as ECG/ER tech, so thousands of hours of experience and working with DOs and MDs. (ironicly MS3 and MS4s do they rotations at my hospital)

-Some research

-Africa Medical Mission

-lots of EC and leadership

-will submit my primary app by end of Jun so all it will need would be the MCAT score

Any thoughts/opinions/comparisons will be greatly appreciated

cheers and good luck to all of you.:luck:
Click to expand...

If you do end up scoring that 30 on the MCAT, you should be fine.... but taking the MCAT at the end of July means your score wont be released to AACOMAS until at least the end of August or early September. I believe Western screens the primary (GPA + MCAT) fairly heavily, so if they don't have your MCAT score, your application will just be sitting there. Your 3.2 sGPA will hurt, since it's quite a bit below the average for a matriculant at Western..... but, all you can do at this point is rock the MCAT anyways. Your EC's sound awesome... so that might help you out a bit, if nothing else, you should have plenty to talk about during your interview.

Good luck!
 
Black Adder said:
If you do end up scoring that 30 on the MCAT, you should be fine.... but taking the MCAT at the end of July means your score wont be released to AACOMAS until at least the end of August or early September. I believe Western screens the primary (GPA + MCAT) fairly heavily, so if they don't have your MCAT score, your application will just be sitting there. Your 3.2 sGPA will hurt, since it's quite a bit below the average for a matriculant at Western..... but, all you can do at this point is rock the MCAT anyways. Your EC's sound awesome... so that might help you out a bit, if nothing else, you should have plenty to talk about during your interview.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, I was hoping that aamc releases the score to schools faster than to the general public but I might be wrong! if thats the case then I will have the secondary ready to go and I will submit it the day they offer it to me!
 
Last edited:
it seemed like a big selling point for the curriculum change was that it would save us time and increase retention of the material. however, something brought up in the dean's town hall meeting was that we covered material that would have been covered in 3-4 hrs last year in about 6 hours this year (4 scheduled small group hours and 2 large group hours). small groups usually do not meet for the entire time, but they have scheduled that amount of time on the schedule.

During the presentation of the curriculum changes, they stated that ppts would be primers that gave the vital information you need to know. The first small group/large group run presented us with three different powerpoints presenting the same information. That is not consolidating information efficiently.
 
Hi guys, I'm subleasing my apartment for the upcoming year (taking a year of absence). It's a 900 square feet 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment located in the Racquet Club in Diamond Bar. It's in a very beautiful gated community with 2 swimming pools (poolside view from my room) and 4 tennis courts. The drive to school is about 15 minutes both by freeway or by local streets.

My old roommate is going to continue living there and most of the shared furniture belongs to him (he's a really chill guy though, clean and very helpful if you ever have any questions). He's going to be a 3rd year student and will be on rotations for most of the day and will be gone for several months of the upcoming year.

I'm asking for the same price that I've been paying the entire year. And that will be 735.00 a month which already includes all utilities/cable tv/cable internet. If you would like to use my own furnishing (brand new full sized bed purchased last year, brand new glass desk and shelves, with a couple wooden nightstands), it will be an additional 15.00 a month for a total of 750.00.

If you are interested and would like to see some photos or check out the apartment in person. Please email me at [email protected]
 
Hi,

I was just accepted in the DO class of 2014. Does anyone know if there is a facebook group? I'm looking to get to know some of my classmates and also look for a potential roommate, but I couldn't find a group on facebook.
 
Wow just got accepted off the deferred acceptance list. Totally unexpected
 
I've been on the regular waitlist since interviewing in October. Just got offered a spot in the class today. I'm soooo excited! I totally was not expecting this to happen.
 
flaquitabonita said:
I've been on the regular waitlist since interviewing in October. Just got offered a spot in the class today. I'm soooo excited! I totally was not expecting this to happen.
Click to expand...

Congratulations! Do you have any recommendations for others waiting on the regular alternate list?
 
I sent regular letters of interest expressing my enthusiasm about the school and why I felt I was a good applicant. I also called my counselor a few times to make sure my letters were being recieved and reinforce my interest...just to keep my name fresh in their minds. Since I work a ton of hours, I couldn't really do any additional classes or volunteering, or anything like that to enhance my application (though my admissions counselor mentioned several times that this would be a good idea). I have no idea what changed their minds, but I am thrilled! Good luck to the rest of you still on the waitlist!
 
I also got accepted off the regular waitlist! I'm SO excited! Can't wait to start next month! Good luck to everyone still waiting to hear.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

PapaGuava
  • Locked
2022-2023 Alphabetic Index of Osteopathic School-Specific Discussion Threads
Replies
0
Views
62K
PapaGuava
PapaGuava
PapaGuava
  • Locked
2021-2022 Index of Osteopathic School-Specific Discussion Threads
Replies
0
Views
68K
PapaGuava
PapaGuava
PapaGuava
2022-2023 Western University of Health Sciences (Pomona, California)
20 21 22 23 24
Replies
1K
Views
206K
shinbong
S
PapaGuava
2022-2023 Western University of Health Sciences (Lebanon, Oregon)
2 3 4 5 6
Replies
286
Views
41K
oopsie_daisy
oopsie_daisy
PapaGuava
Alphabetic Index of Osteopathic School-Specific Discussion Threads
Replies
0
Views
48K
PapaGuava
PapaGuava
Top