Your top 3 DO schools......

[PayingMyDues]

Here is mine:

1. PCOM
2. CCOM
3. NYCOM

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[stoic]

here's my completely subjective, regionally biased list of the best DO schools (in no particular order)

1. KCOM
2. OSU-COM
3. MSU-COM

 

[Herpeto]

Below is a list of my three top choice based upon my pre-interview research. However, they could change slightly after seeing what other schools have to offer.

AZCOM, NSUCOM, CCOM

 

[deleted6669]

TUCOM, UNECOM, NOVA
AZCOM WOULD HAVE MADE THE LIST BUT IT IS WAY TOO HOT THERE.....

 

[PublicHealth]

UNECOM
PCOM
NYCOM

 

[Chronotropic]

AZCOM
UHS
OSU

 

[Shinken]

1. KCOM
2. CCOM
3. NOVA / NYCOM (tie)

 

[FowlersGap]

1. COMP
2. TUCOM
3. AZCOM/NOVA tied
again based on regional biases and distance to water

 

[Toejam]

COMP, because it's the only one I applied to and I'm starting next week!

 

[Dr Sum Day]

1) TUCOM
2) UNECOM
3) OUCOM

 

[DOdan]

1) UMDNJ
2) PCOM
3) NYCOM

 

[FrogE7]

1. PCOM
2. NYCOM
3. CCOM

 

[doctorperez]

No way

1) UMDNJ
2) PCOM
3) KCOM

 

[DD214_DOC]

1. Nova
2. DMU-COM
3. NYCOM

 

[jkhamlin]

1. OSU
2. OSU
3. OSU

I would have another if there were any reasonably close to me with a MSTP besides just OSU.

 

[jonb12997]

1. UNECOM
2. PCOM
3. NYCOM

 

[DrQuinn]

Stupid thread... but what the hell.

1) NSUCOM/PCOM/CCOM/NYCOM/AZCOM


'nuff said

Q, DO

 

[The Sgt]

1. KCOM, no question.
2. PCOM

Beyond that is a toss up in my mind.

 

[Ms. Dawson DO]

1. PCOM
2. UMDNJ-SOM
3. NYCOM

 

[DrQuinn]

Originally posted by CharlesCarino
The University of Health Sciences (UHS) has received a
SECOND John Templeton Spirituality and Medicine
Award, becoming one of only two medical
schools in the United States to win the award twice.

The award is given to outstanding medical school
programs that incorporate issues related to spirituality
and medicine.

1. UHS
2. UHS
3. UHS

you cant argue with national recognition!!!!

Actually, I believe NSUCOM won some award like that when I was applying to medical school (can't remember the name of the award, but like it really means anythign).

Point is, those awards are literally BS and don't mean jack snot in the long run. *yawn* Time to get some rest... mmm 31 hours straight on call.
Q, DO

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

1) NSUCOM
2) NSUCOM
3) NSUCOM

Without a doubt! I really, really, really hope I get some love from them.

DOCTORSAIB

 

[birdie]

Doctor Saib are you from florida?

 

[racerx]

1. VCOM
2. UNECOM
3. PCOM

 

[bokimbo]

1. KCOM
2. NSU-COM
3. MSU-COM

 

[cluelessdoc]

1. MSU-COM
2. NSU-COM
3. CCOM

 

[DD214_DOC]

I change my order

1. Nova
2. Nova
3. Nova

I really, really want to stay in the South.

 

[stoic]

At this point, is there any DO school that hasn't been on the list? LOL. I think it's cool, though. It would seem that DO schools all maintain a level of quality .

dave

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

birdie,

no, im from DC/Virginia, but Ive heard/read such great things about that school...plus, its in Florida.....who can beat that.

DOCTORSAIB

 

[Lions Pride]

1.NYCOM
2.PCOM...(I like cheese Steak)
3.UNECOM...(I like seafood)

 

[normalforce]

The answer to your question is about what you are looking for and where you want to be. There are several things to think about:

1. Facilities
2. National Board Performance
3. Additional degrees offered
4. Previous Residency Match Lists
5. Research
6. Nightlife/Location/Cost of Living

With those things listed, you need to research each institution on the internet and see what they offer. Go to www.aacom.org. The have all the school info and links to the schools. For me, I chose UHS because of the large city (my wife needed a good job), the 4-year DO/MBA joint degree program (one of three four-year programs in the country), and the board pass rate of 95%+ for first-time test takers.

So, look at those things and you'll come to a good choice for yourself.

Good luck.

Normalforce

 

[Aberfly]

1) Kirksville
2) Midwestern
3) UNE-COM

 

[DrQuinn]

Originally posted by normalforce
1. Facilities
2. National Board Performance
3. Additional degrees offered
4. Previous Residency Match Lists
5. Research
6. Nightlife/Location/Cost of Living
Normalforce

*sigh*

Facilities of a medical school mean very little. Especially at DO programs. Your first two years you are *in a classroom*. Does it matter if its in a marble building or an old church? And a good majority of the DO schools (UHS is no exception) send their students to other cities for rotations. So the "base institution" means terribly little for most students.

National Board Performance- Most, if not all, of the DO schools have a >90% board pass rate. So what if a class has 2 or 3 more "losers" than the rest. What you want to look for is the "AVERAGE" board score, not the pass/rate fail. If you are a *decent* student, you will pass. Those that fail usually didnt' study enough or studied wrong, or are just bad test takers. Check the "average" board SCORE (not pass rate) and see how little that varies amongst schools.

Additional Degrees Offered. Very much a pre-med criteria. Do you think in your spare time during medical school you'll want to do a MPH degree or an MBA degree? You don't even know what you really want to do after medical school. And do you want to pull 80 hour weeks in rotations and have to add 8-10 hours a week on top of that for a degree you may never need/use? Most of hte time, people get them for CV "fluffing" anyways.

Previous Residency Match List. Somewhat useful but very misleading. Look at my school. My class, a large %age stayed in FL. The year before, many students left the state for residency. My year, only 3-4 people matched EM, a few years before that, 10 or so. Beware the data. Know that you can match anywhere from any school.

Research. Pah. How many people really want to do physiologic research? Still a pre-med thought. If you are interested in research, there's plenty of time in residency for that. Mots of the research done in DO programs is post-graduate, not the basic science stuff. If research is TRULY your bag, go to an MD program.

Nightlife/Cost of Living - Now you're talking!

I think the criteria you should use are:

Where do you want to live for 2, 3, or 4 years?
How much is the tuition?
Do you want to live close/far from your family?
Did it "click" when you interviewed there?

These four criteria are both sensitive AND specific... Quinn tested, mother approved.

Q, DO

 

[JustD0it]

Why isn't TCOM on anyone's list?!

 

[MDmiracle]

Not picky anywhere that'll except me.
maybe UNECOM?

 

[doctorperez]

Originally posted by QuinnNSU
If research is TRULY your bag, go to an MD program.

Or even better go to UMDNJ-SOM

 

[jkhamlin]

Originally posted by MDmiracle
Not picky anywhere that'll except me.
maybe UNECOM?

I think you want them to accept you, not except you. Those are kind of opposites.

 

[jkhamlin]

Originally posted by QuinnNSU
If research is TRULY your bag, go to an MD program.

No way, baby. Research and Osteopathic Medicine are my bag baby, yeah!

 

[Bull's eye]

In reply to Quinn, the MBA program is very useful for me especially in medicine and isn't that time demanding. I agree with the rest.

 

[Dr JPH]

Originally posted by racerx
1. VCOM
2. UNECOM
3. PCOM

VCOM?

Never even had a lecture there yet. How can they be #1?

Sure...looks very promising, but at least graduate a class first. You're going up against 104 years at PCOM.

And 20 or so with UNECOM.

 

[BradMcC17]

Good point JP. However using Normalforce's and Quinn's guidelines:

1. Facilities TOP NOTCH
2. National Board Performance REFUTED BY QUINN
3. Additional degrees offered VT IS 2 MINUTES AWAY IF YOU WANT TO TORTURE YOURSELF WITH THAT
4. Previous Residency Match Lists REFUTED BY QUINN
5. Research NEW RESEARCH BUILDING BEING CONSTRUCTED ONCE SCHOOL IS FULLY COMPLETE. LET ALONE THE SCHOOL ITSELF IS IN THE RESEARCH PARK OF VT, A LEADING RESEARCH SCHOOL IN THE COUNTRY.
6. Nightlife/Location/Cost of Living GREAT COLLEGE TOWN/GREAT MOUNTAINOUS YET URBAN LOCATION/AVERAGE


1. Where do you want to live for 2, 3, or 4 years? INDIVIDUAL BASIS
2. How much is the tuition? RIGHT ABOUT AVERAGE ($29,000)
3. Do you want to live close/far from your family? INDIVIDUAL BASIS
4. Did it "click" when you interviewed there? INDIVIDUAL BASIS


Like SM-UCLA tech said... I just gotta defend my school.
But yes JP, having a class going through 4 yrs and graduating would be a big help to my argument.

 

[racerx]

Originally posted by JPHazelton
VCOM?

Never even had a lecture there yet. How can they be #1?

Sure...looks very promising, but at least graduate a class first. You're going up against 104 years at PCOM.

And 20 or so with UNECOM.

While I see your point, I also believe that your education is what you make of it, moreso than the ranking or long tradition of an individual school.

Location is the main reason for VCOM being in the top 3. Having lived in Virginia for 7 years, my wife and I fell in love with the state and we want to go back.

I didn't rank them in any particular order. . . VCOM isn't necessarily #1. I just listed my top 3 schools.

As far as longevity goes, I feel comfortable with Dean Took-Rawlins <sp?> track record.

I have noticed most of your posts relating to VCOM are quite negative. Before becoming a naysayer, why not give the school the benefit of the doubt and see what it can do?

Cheers,

racerx

 

[Fenrezz]

I see OSU is getting no love as usual. It's okay, I like being the forgotten, ugly step-child.

Obviously my top choice would be OSU, so I won't bother to add it to my list, but off the cuff my 3 would be, in no particular order:

NSU - it was a 20 minute drive from where I lived, would have been nice but I withered and died on the waitlist (always send in your apps early!). Nice location, good campus, with lots of pretty nursing, dental, PA, PT (etc.) students to meet.

NYCOM - for no other reason than it's close to Manhattan. What more can you say?

PCOM - good reputation, long history, and big city (granted it is philly).

Can't really add any from the west as I don't know anything about those schools, although I hear a lot about AZCOM being nice on SDN.

 

[fabiolablake]

PCOM
CCOM
UHSCOM

 

[BACMEDIC]

hmmmm.....

No one has listed wvsom - what are your reasons for not picking wvsom?

 

[futuredo32]

After interviewing at all three:
1.MSUCOM
2.OUCOM
3.KCOM

 

[jkhamlin]

Originally posted by Fenrezz
I see OSU is getting no love as usual. It's okay, I like being the forgotten, ugly step-child.

Didn't you see my first post?

 

[normalforce]

I must respectfully disagree with QuinnNSU. Facilities are somewhat important. For example, does your school have a good anatomy and micro lab with enough cadavers/scopes, etc...? Do they use prosections or do you actually get to dissect? Are they technologically up-to-date or are the presentation still from overhead projectors? How is the library? Computer access? Cafeteria? These things are small, but may be important over the course of two years.

Additional degrees are a plus if you want one for the right reasons. Therefore, if you have a sincere interest, then it is a valid criteria that must be considered.

You must look at things from every possible angle. When picking a school, it is far better to be over-critical/prepared than not.

normalforce

 

[jhug]

1. Azcom
2. Kcom
3. Ccom
(in order)

A class of 200+ is WAY too big! is this medical school or undergrad?!?!

 

[Dr JPH]

I like a big class.

More girls.

 

[jhug]

I like a big class. More girls