MIDWESTERN azcom VS ccom

[DoHzA]

So I am eagerly expecting acceptances from both AZCOM and CCOM and I was curious as to what you all thought were the good's and bad's of each...there's alot of hype goin around and I thought that maybe as a group we can clear the air.

I'll give examples of advantages and disadvantages of each and i'd love for u all to jump in on this...

AZCOM: awesome board scores, gorgeous brand new facilities, unique workshop and early on preceptorship program, hot weather, on campus housing, no cafeteria, ****ty weightroom, still young and apparent in their rotation opportunities within phoenix

CCOM: impressive board scores, nice facilities, barely any clinical exposure in the first two years, deadly cold weather for a good part of the year then unbearable heat and humidity for the rest of the year, have on campus housing, have cafeteria, ****ty weightroom, awesome rotation spots

i gathered all this from my tours, interviews, pamphlets, and research online

please feel free to comment on what i've included as well as pluggin in your own new info

THANKS ALOT and good luck to u all!

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[DoHzA]

****ty weightroom = crappy weightroom

 

[Dr_sax]

Both are great schools. No question. You may want to go with AZCOM because whereas the clinical situation will only get better in Phoenix(and who knows what it will be in 3 yrs when you're an MSIII), the weather in Chicago will not change. Those two things seemed to be the only differences you chose to list(which usally means they are the only ones you see). Plus, you're from CA(right?) and AZCOM is closer to home.

Speaking from a native IL point of view, the weather honestly isn't horrific. I don't know what you consider cold, but I've been in much colder/snowier parts of the US than IL and it was manageable. If you want, you can PM me and ask for specifics.

Dr_sax

 

[SM-UCLA tech]

Who told you there is barely any clinical contact in the first two years for CCOM? That is COMPLETELY untrue. In fact, I would argue that we have more clinical contact in the first two years than almost any medical school in the country.

We have our own student run clinic. MS-I's have the opportunity to begin seeing actual patients in the clinic after the first couple weeks of medical school! Then there are two other clinics that are staffed with our students as volunteers. We triage, take histories, and shadow the attending. Some people end up doing quite a lot. It works on a sign-up basis. You just let someone know when you want to go, and it's that simple.

Then we have the Early Clinical Contact Program, or ECCP. That is a school assigned placement with a physician. We shadow a doctor in his office and into the hospital. That begins in the second quarter of your first year!

I just felt I need to "clear the air"


Good Luck to all of you, and I'm sure that if you have the choice between CCOM and AZCOM you can't go wrong either way. I am very happy here at CCOM, and if I had to choose all over again, this would still be my first choice.

 

[scubadiva]

CCOM: I actually asked my interviewers about their curriculum and board scores, and the nurse told me that they were actually actively incorporating more problem based learning and patient based problems into the curricul because they felt their students would do better on boards if they included this. So for our incoming year, there would be a shift towards more hypotheticals. Yes, they are addressing the issue.

CCOM: on campus housing also, safe area, great people from who i've met. i got lost on my tour (yeah, i get distracted easily). Students here helped me walk around to find my tour group.

AZCOM: really friendly atmosphere too, laid back, close to home for me too, but what is there to do in phoenix? I don't want to do the "college" life anymore anyway.

AZCOM: yup, good board scores, but rotations are lacking (According to AZCOM almuni who are now in their residencies). You have to go the preceptor route, not much availability for hospital based rotations.

CCOM: great nearby city, but not too close

P.S. I am totally up for an adventure with my med school location. Therefore, I am still torn.

 

[DoHzA]

actually it was my tour guide in ccom that mentioned the fact that students are asked to do their clinical visits only twice their first year...now that's not the type of exposure i was talking about.

thanks for your input

 

[SM-UCLA tech]

hmmm....never heard that before......

I've already been there twice and was just asked to go as often as I could.

 

[SM-UCLA tech]

also remember, you will be studying quite a bit, and you will definitely not have the amount of time you think you will have.

and.....many schools don't have their MS-I's and MS-II's ever see patients.

 

[BPlato]

I'm going to have to back up Kristopher on this one. I was actually given the opportunity to attend either school, and ultimately chose CCOM. I was a little hesisitant about the brief history of AZCOM, compared to the 100+ years here at CCOM. Additionally, the possibilities for rotations are endless here in Chicago. Yes, it's cold...but if you're in class all day it's warm in the classrooms. I don't intend on stepping on anyone's toes here and start a fight, but I could not be happier here at CCOM. I think that our class dynamic is unlike any other I've encountered. As far as early clinical contact goes, there are more opportunities here than you will have time for. I think another thing you may want to consider (which was one of the final deciding factors for me) is where you want to end up for your career. If you're interested in being in the midwest (I am) you probably want to plant your roots in the midwest for school. On the other hand, if you want to stay out west, AZCOM may be the choice for you.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[DoHzA]

sounds like azcom is off the hook!

 

[scubadiva]

DoHzA,

I forgot to mention that CCOM has a 20% discount at Bally's which is less than 3 miles away. In addition, if you sign up with all the first years as a group when you get there, you get an evern bigger discount!

So, does this mean that I'll be attending CCOM with you? Or am I still going to go with you to AZCOM?

scubadiva

 

[DoHzA]

u get a discount at l.a. fitness only a mile away from azcom

so that means azcom

haha
assumin i get in

 

[scubadiva]

Oh and I hope you're feeling the love on this thread since people here obviously did not ignore your topic.

 

[XCanadianRagwee]

I'm going to AZCOM...that might be nough to make you run for your life, or head for Glendale....

 

[scubadiva]

Food is your weakness, and I know that Chicago has all kinds of good food.

CCOM had a better on campus gym than AZCOM.

CCOM also has a three mile outdoor running trail on campus.

Guess we're gonna go to CCOM then, huh?

Heheh!

XCR, I don't think that we'd be running from you...more like, you would be running in the other direction the instant you met either of us scary individuals.

 

[DoHzA]

good luck runnin outdoors on the that "outdoor track of yours" when it's either snowin or humid and hot as hell

i'll take the dry heat of az any day


haha
i'm speakin like i'm in or somethin

why don't we just get the best of both worlds?? 2 years in az then 2 in chi?

huh?

huh?

 

[DoHzA]

btw

our whack tour guide never got us into the anatomy labs even tho she said "they are always open" and she was locked out
haha

but anyway how do they compare to western's or ccom's???

nice?

 

[scubadiva]

The problem with the best of both worlds, buddy, is that you forget I'm married (to my car ) and I would have to part with my soulmate earlier (as in as soon as school begins) in order to move on and get over him...if I am going to end up in Chicago in the last two years.

 

[DoHzA]

can't take an suv to az and chi?

 

[scubadiva]

Forgot to mention that regardless of AZ or IL, you would be indoors because of the weather, it's either too hot or too cold at both places.

 

[DoHzA]

u said "outdoor track"

 

[scubadiva]

If I went to AZ then I should stay there for the entire 4 years so I wouldn't have to part with my soulmate, but if I was going to end up in Chicago anyway for the rotations, then I might as well divorce my car sooner rather than torture myself with spending quality time with my car even though I know I'd end up having to give it up as soon as I made that last move.

 

[DoHzA]

F your car

it's all about doin what's right for me!

 

[scubadiva]

oops...I meant an outdoor running trail with trees and dirt. Whoa, I almost sound like little miss outdoors.

Hmm....flashback to the good old college days, a far cry from my pathetic attempts at roughing it during those EMT camping trips.

 

[DoHzA]

the "never have i ever days"?

haha what happened to AIM

it's just us ramblin'


WHO HAS MORE AZCOM VS. CCOM INFO!?

 

[scubadiva]

Yeah right, dude, I mean, DUDE, as if YOU had no love for your car, Mr. Bling Bling, crazy soundsystem, 18 inch rims.

 

[scubadiva]

You should thank me for NOT being on AIM, I'm helping increase your number of posts!

 

[DoHzA]

soundsystem was off the hook yes


but the rims were stock 16"

 

[scubadiva]

And, ahem, excuse ME, but I NEVER ramble. Ever. So speak for yourself, DoHzA.

 

[DoHzA]

i dunno if i know what that means exactly...but ok


what's the deal w/ gettin more posts?

what's that good for?

 

[scubadiva]

Oh and getting back to the original topic, here's a question I didn't think of until now, but

which school has more attractive people: AZCOM or CCOM? (All I know is that any school is better than being surrounded by high school kiddies)

Not that this applies to your interest since you're happily bitten by the love bug

 

[DoHzA]

i don't look at that stuff no mo

haha

 

[VentdependenT]

At AZCOM it is true that during your 3rd year you can get stuck with a lot of preceptor based rotations (not sure how the situation looks now). Some of them are great, and the docs are willing to teach. It is definately possible to learn a lot. But it isn't their job to teach you, so you can get screwed as well. It is a nice intro to clinical medicine, but very soon you will want the option to hit bigger academic institutions.

I chose to do 1/2 of my 3rd year and almost my entire 4th year out of state. I rotated at larger academic institutions in the midwest and elsewhere. The clinical education department is willing to help out students, and it helps even more if you aren't a prick to them. However, you have to schedule everything out of state for yourself. In addition you will have to drop some $$ for housing/transportation on these out of system rotations. The good thing is that you can basically move back to your home state your 4th year.

I was a little pissed off that we were forced to do 3 months of family practice. I think 2 would have been MORE THAN PLENTY. But in the long run I don't think it hurt me that much. Your education is what you make of it during the clinical years at AZCOM. Those who take an active role in finding superior places to rotate at are rewarded, but it takes some effort. I personally feel, at the very least, equal with any other osteopathic or allopathic student out there. Trust me, I have rotated with a ton of them.

Vent

 

[DoHzA]

what states did u do your rotations in?

 

[scubadiva]

By the way, you and my brilliant brother must have conspiracy against me because he called me late at night to convince me to go to AZCOM, which during my sleepy incomprehensive state at the time, I think I was almost convinced to go to AZCOM.

I think I may have even agreed since I was deleriously sleepy ! I think or maybe I was dreaming. I hate it when people wake me up when I'm sleeping. This is the only time I get cranky. Wait - the only other exception is if someone's in trouble and they need me to save their sorry @ss.

 

[ironmanba]

VentdependentT, or anyone who knows,

How hard is it to set up/get approval for the third and fourth year out of state rotations? Does it just take a phone call, or do you need to have some sort of connection? Plus, is AZCOM very helpful at assisting you in this process?

 

[VentdependenT]

Originally posted by ironmanba
VentdependentT, or anyone who knows,

How hard is it to set up/get approval for the third and fourth year out of state rotations? Does it just take a phone call, or do you need to have some sort of connection? Plus, is AZCOM very helpful at assisting you in this process?

So far I have rotated in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and Washington. Will rotate in Las Vegas for the hell of it.

Doing your first Pediatrics, Surg, Obgyn will be difficult to find out of state, but any other osteopathic institution will accomidate you for your 3rd year cores. You are competing for core's with all other 3rd year students who have medical schools contributing to the hospitals. Thus, you are at a disadvantage. St. Vincents in Toledo has tons of path and is a great place to do your first IM. Its a mixed MD/DO hospital of 600 beds. If you have connections at other places USE THEM. You may have to push the dept somewhat to get your initial 3rd year cores out of state, but they are usually helpful if you eloquently state your argument.

4th year is cake, go where you want, do what you want. You will have no problems going anywhere. This year is better than senior year in college and I couldn't be happier.

Vent

 

[DoHzA]

ccom looks mighty temptin' today for some reason!

 

[NewAgeDO]

DOHZA and SCUBADIVA,

Have you guys heard of PM? You guys are hijacking your own thread...hehehe. Guess I can't sell COMP to you guys, but I don't blame ya after all the B.S. that's going on at our school. Luckily I've survived the storm and enjoying every bit of my clinical rotations. Did I mention that I'm in Hawaii right now doing an OMM rotation. Oh, to finally reap the benefits of those horrible and tough first 2 years.

Your Big Bro'
(yes the both of you)
- Rob C.

 

[NewAgeDO]

BTW,

I say go to AZCOM!!!
Awesome board scores w/ very happy students. Haven't heard one student from there say anything bad about their school. Must be nice not to have to fight for change.

-Rob

 

[NewAgeDO]

Hey Sis,

YOU WEREN'T DREAMING. Go to AZCOM, I dobt you'll ever regret it! Convince DOHZA to do the same. Ten bucks says you Cali peeps can't handle the extreme cold. Peace.

 

[DoHzA]

I'm sorry did u say HAWAII!!!!!!!!???????????

HOW THE HELL DID U PULL THAT OFF?

only avail. for COMP?

what island?

livin in a hotel?

I NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS!

 

[scubadiva]

hey there big dork...i mean, big brother NewAgeDO

Uhhhh...what were you telling me before I even interviewed at AZCOM? I SPECIFICALLY remember you telling me NOT to go to AZCOM since they have horrible rotations. Now, you have changed your mind. Why? YOU were the one that told me about the resident that you spoke to who recommended to tell your sis (which is me) NOT to go to AZCOM.

Why are you being flaky and swimming in milk? Like DoHzA, I think I've brainwashed him into joining me at CCOM. Woohoo

scubadiva

P.S. Rob is doing a rotation in Hawaii, not by choice, but because COMP does NOT have enough placement for their students. yeah, you heard me right. The students have to fend for themselves since there are not enough rotation sites.

P.P.S or is that P.S.S. Rob and Andy are living in a ghetto shack in Hawaii, the size of a room that is smaller than a walk in closet. So, Mr. Bling Bling (DoHzA), rethink that Hawaii rotation!

Go CCOM!!! I am heading far northeast....Rob, I challenge you to convince me otherwise. Remember, I may be a future DO, but who said I follow that lifestyle in my ownpersonal philosophy.

Please PASS ME THE LEUKOTRIENES!!! Yes, I can prevent asthma, so that is not a concern.

I have heard of aim and PM, but DoHzA started this. Not me

 

[DoHzA]

ok i'm back on the azcom tip again


let's do this!

 

[XCanadianRagwee]

Don't go to AZCOM...I'm going there. I don't want to be fearing for my life with you two there

just kidding....

crap why am I leaving this post up? You two are gonna hunt me down once in Glendale giving the DA the following excuse as a motive "If we're the only two students remaining in our class, then we'll be the top two in our class and get into any residency we want."

Then again, you might not hunt me down, since I'll be the cellar dweller and make your stats look good....

hmmmm....I didn't help did I?

 

[scubadiva]

DoHzA,

Why are you being flaky? Thought you were joininh me at CCOM. What happened?

Don't worry, I think I can convince you to go with me to CCOM.

XCR,

Not to burst your bubble, but this gut instinct tells me that somehow I'm gonna end up at AZCOM with you . I am warning you that if you think I'm scary, you haven't encountered scary until you've met DoHzA ! And for real, I am scary, my students tell me periodically," Ms.Scubadiva, you're weird." Please don't hate just cuz I love algae.

Trust me XCR, DoHzA and I will find you on the first day of classes. j/k.

scubadiva

 

[LukeWhite]

Wow, you guys are strange. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the incoming class (and, if this anatomy test gets me, being in it!)

And a word about CCOM: I'm not about to say anything bad about them, but the word on the street is that they dissect dolphins and puppies just for fun.

 

[XCanadianRagwee]

Originally posted by scubadiva


Trust me XCR, DoHzA and I will find you on the first day of classes. j/k.

scubadiva

Does eBay have cheap full body armor?

 

[DoHzA]

gonna need more than body armor to help yourself defend against what's comin to ya pal


I WANT SCHOOL TO START ALREADY!

 

[scubadiva]

I want school to start already, too!

I think I'm confused because it's about 4:10 A.M. PST. Why am I up at this hour? I don't know...but probably because I'm adjusting to MST?

Are we going to call this the unoffical AZCOM class of 2008 thread? or CCOM class of 2008 thread?

DoHzA, I'm deciding for both of us buddy, so get ready to deal with the snow and freezing temperatures of Chicago.

Buying full body armour can't protect anyone from me (even you DoHzA). You better put your stethoscope where your mouth is before you say anything else that gets you in trouble (j/k).

Like I said, I'm tough and huge...so you both better be scared.