An idea just struck me…or, an “idear” as they say it up here in New England! There are lots of us in or recently out of a multitude of medical schools. Maybe if each one os us…and YOU know who YOU are…open a thread entitled with the name of your particular medical school & field questions about your school. Awesome idear huh?
OK, I will start - my alma mater is the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine or KCOM for short. It is the founding school of osteopathic meedicine & I think I was in approx the 111th graduating class. It is a small private school in the far northeast corner of Missouri - 30 miles from Iowa & ~50 miles from Illinois - in the small, farm town of Kirksville, MO. K-ville is only about 17k people & that is the largest concentration of people for a 100 mile radius. The nearest interstates are I-70, 100 miles south & I-80, ~125 miles due north. The neares city of any size - Columbia, 100 miles south. Large cities: Des Moines ~150 miles; Kansas City ~200 miles & St. Louis ~230 miles.
The town itself if populated with salt-of-the-earth, mid-western farm community people - some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Living in K-ville constantly reminded me a Mayberry, RFD (remember the Andy Griffith Show?). It is a very clean, well-kempt little town with a good bit of charm. The locals truly respect & revere the physicians & medical students in the community.
As such, it runs a ‘split’ curriculum - everyone on campus for years 1 & 2, but only about a 12 or so remain in K-ville for years 3 & 4. To fulfill your clerkship obligations, KCOM maintains several regional/remote campuses. You are based in small to large sized hospitals in various places. One of the KCOM requirements for a regional campus is that you must be able to fulfill all of your clerkship obligations w/i that metropolitan region, thereby precluding the necessity of traveling to clerkship sites in other places. There is some flux in the location of these campuses as students interests change & the school seeks to always be able to provide top-notch clinical education opportunities. Right now, these are to the best of my recollection, KCOM’s campuses are:
– Denver: w/ opportunities in another hosp in Grand Jxn, CO
– Pheonix: 4 hospitals to be based in there & the ability to rotate in all of them
– K-ville: small, community-based regional medical center; there are multiple smaller sites all over MO for those who desire to train in small, rural, community-based situations
– St. Louis: 2 medical centers there & the ability to move back & forth
– Detroit: 4 medical centers there
– Saginaw, MI: based @ Covenant Med Center (750+ beds) & St. Mary’s Med Center (300+ beds) - this is where I was & I can tell you all about it - superb training site!
– Cleveland: 4 or 5 medical centers here & the opportunity to your pediatrics in 1 of 3 major children’s hosp including Rainbow Children’s, Akron Children’s & Cleveland Clinic
– Columbus, OH: 1 med center there & the ability to rotate in Columbus Children’s & the main, huge medical center there whose name escapes me right now
– Tampa/St. Pete, FL: Don’t know too much about this one, added after I left
– Patterson, NJ: St. Joseph’s medical center
OK…that’s enough for starters. Please read & make comments or post your inquiries below. I will answer in as timely a fashion as my residency allows. 
Bump! I hate to be at the bottom of the list…
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One of the KCOM requirements for a regional campus is that you must be able to fulfill all of your clerkship obligations w/i that metropolitan region, thereby precluding the necessity of traveling to clerkship sites in other places.
So the average student stays in Kirksville for MS1 & 2 and then chooses a regional site for MS3 & 4? I’ve been wondering about that for a while, since I’m married and moving about for clerkships would be impractical.
Yes, that is the case. KCOM has an appeals process whereby folks who have generated “roots” in K-ville may be granted special permission to remain there. For example a couple of my classmates’ children had enrolled in school & they purchased homes - so they petitioned, and were granted, special dispensation to remain in K-ville. But, the overwhelming majority go elsewhere. Yes, that is one extra move, but at least w/ KCOM tiy know that you will be able to do all of years 3 & 4 at where ever you “match” [there is a mini-match for the MS-2s to assign their clerkship site].
Furthermore, the “split campus” is far far more common than most folks realize & med school don’t exactly waive the split campus banner for all to see. Even in big cities some schools have part of each class go elsewhere. For example b/t 25 & 33% of Tufts (Boston) go to Springfield, MA; the Chicago DO school has some students for some rotations go elsewhere & even Dartmouth students may have to travel long distances (some of them have to do peds in CA or Phoenix) for their clerkships. So, mandatory travel is a much more common entity than most applicants realize.
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Since I am rather biased about the superior quality of my medical school education, I wanted to bring this thread back to the forefront & hope that others will throw some questions my way to field about my alma mater.
Dave,
I would like to know if the regional/remote sites are Osteopathic Medical Centers or are they combined Osteopathic/Allopathic?
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Dave,
I would like to know if the regional/remote sites are Osteopathic Medical Centers or are they combined Osteopathic/Allopathic?
They are somewhat labile, but sites are chosen on the premise that all required stuff can be completed w/i the metropolitan area precluding the need to travel to other cities to satisfy requirement x, y or z. That is not always the case & schools (both DO & MD) do not make this mandatory travel known up front. For example, Dartmouth med students frequently have to go elsewhere for both OB/Gyn & peds - sometimes as close as NY state, but sometimes as far away as Phoenix & LA.
At the current time, KCOM has sites in MI (multiple Detroit, Flint & Saginaw), MO (several), CO (Denver), Poenix (3 or 4 sites), UT (SLC metro), OH (Cleveland metro & Dayton), NJ & FL (Tampa/St. Pete). They occasionally add/delete sites depending upon trends in student interest & demographics.
I was in Saginaw & found the training superb.
Dave,
I know this wasn’t an issue with you when you were in Kirksville. . .What do you know, or have you heard, about the quality of the public school system in Kirksville, MO? I’ll have sixth and first graders upon entry.
Ian
I asked this on the interview and was told the school was A+ rated, but I would like any additional information you can provide. The elementary schools were recently consolidated into one large nice building.
http://www.kirksville.k12.mo.us/K2/index.html
Any information on the DO/MS program they offer?
Great link, thanks for posting it.
Ian
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I asked this on the interview and was told the school was A+ rated, but I would like any additional information you can provide. The elementary schools were recently consolidated into one large nice building.
http://www.kirksville.k12.mo.us/K2/index.html
Any information on the DO/MS program they offer?
Ian,
Can’t really comment about the K’ville public schools. However, I do recall them winning some sort of State of MO award for qualit of public education & that most of the Doc’s kids went to public & not private school.
Are you still seriously consider my alma mater?
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Are you still seriously consider my alma mater?
Well, the way my wife’s work has been lately, she has become quite open to the idea of relocating. One advantage is that it opens up a few more schools for me.
Racer, MO schools aren’t like NY at all, but you might be better in a small town than in a bad section near a large city university. Dave, I have heard others complain about the Kirksville people having to move around alot and do too much driving, so they aren’t on my list. I am going for Western or Midwest (AZ campus) so is there something I should know about these two schools? I can always add Kirksville.
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Racer, MO schools aren’t like NY at all, but you might be better in a small town than in a bad section near a large city university. Dave, I have heard others complain about the Kirksville people having to move around alot and do too much driving, so they aren’t on my list. I am going for Western or Midwest (AZ campus) so is there something I should know about these two schools? I can always add Kirksville.
LilBird,
I think you must be thinking of the Kansas City DO school and not of Kirksville. One of KCOM’s stipulations for a place to be considered for a sattelite campus is that their students must be able to complete all required rotations w/i that metropolitan area. It is rare that students ven have to travel to another hospital other than the one they are based in…so, I think someone has misinformed you.
I do recall the KC DO students having to travel substantially & also being largely responsible for setting up many of their required rotations. This may have improved, as I do not keep tabs on that school. But I personally know that KCOM students, once they are located in the 3rd/4th year site, are not required to do extensive travel.
Oh, and just to address this up & out front - the split curriculum (1st & 2nd on one campus & 3rd & 4th on another) is far more common than most realize…and, as you might imagine, it is not heavily advertised. TxTech - only 1/3 stay in Lubbock for their clinical years. Tufts, in Boston, 25% have to move to Springfield, MA for their clinical years. Also, many programs require you to do certain rotations away - Dartmouth has studsents going to NY-state for peds, Concord for FP & OI know of a couple of student who they shipped to San Diego for something…not an elective. Many private schools have this system. It is not just DO school or rural schools.
Sepcifically referring to the two programs you mentioned: Western - have no idea, but I can give you an e-mail of some one in the admissions office who could help you answer this question.
Midwestern in AZ - I knew several of their students through SOMA (student wing of the AOA) and they were uniformly pissed off over the amount of travel they had to undertake…not for electives, for REQUIRED rotations. I knew people who had to do rotations in MI, then CA and thn WA and so on. Mind you, this was several years ago & I hope that this has improved. But, it used to be very bad there.
Again, on Kirksville - I am biased since it is my alma mater - but I can put you into touch with any of several school officials who substantiate my description.
Overall - I would seriously caution everyone researching schools: while it is a good idea to talk to many people on their perceptions of the programs, it is best to actually talk to the students there for the real answers. Also, never hesitate to contact the programs themselves - if they are miffed that you called or don’t have time for you, take that as an indication on how they treat their student. The rumor mill is rampant in this biz and there is a small minority who have no remorse in trying to derail you thinking that somehow that gives them a leg up, rare & unfortunate - but very real.
Thanx for your info, Dave. By the way, my info on DO schools is from current Western students and practicing DO’s, but things to seem to change rapidly. There seems to be an East/West rift amongst the DO schools --very difficult, as you say, to get at what’s really going on. I don’t really have a frontrunner, but would like to see how they all feel if and when I can visit.
So this is my first post, i will have intro in another…
I know a few people who went to Kirksville-probably still there… that is really interesting about the last 2 years… Sounds GREAT, do you get to choose? I would love to stay in CO but if i could return to CO for the last 2 years, and then possibly get residency here, that would be just as well…
But are there no classes in year 3 and 4? or do you do something online? i’m just a little confused about that, or do you attend classes at another school?
neelia 
)
3rd and 4th year are the clinical years where you do core and elevtive rotations. You are VERY busy. Dave or someone else can aswer how they are specifically set up at KCOM, but for the most part I’m sure have to be done at a DO-accredited facility.
As far as I know, there aren’t too many “on-line” medical courses. It’s too much of a hands-on degree
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I know a few people who went to Kirksville-probably still there… that is really interesting about the last 2 years… Sounds GREAT, do you get to choose? I would love to stay in CO but if i could return to CO for the last 2 years, and then possibly get residency here, that would be just as well…
Kirksville is one of those nifty little places that almost every student cannot wait to leave at the end of year two only to eventually yearn to return. A LOT of physicians/KCOM alum eventually return to K’ville. Personally, I get nostalgic for the place quite frequently. Were it not for a couple of factors, I could definitely resettle there.
Now…onto your inquiries - assignments for the last 2 years at KCOM is done by a lottery…matter of fact, the same software that the NRMP Match uses, slightly modified. During their MS-2 year, most students try to visit a couple of the sights that interest them. For the KCOM match, you submit your rank order list & on match day, it is announced.
If you feel that you have circumstances that merit special consideration, they will accept & consider them. Usually, those who are successful have ill family, spousal career issues or buy home/kids in school/est roots sorta thing - the last corollary is generally how students remain in K’ville, which is not surprisingly one of the most competitive clinical sites to obtain.
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But are there no classes in year 3 and 4? or do you do something online? i’m just a little confused about that, or do you attend classes at another school?
When I was a Jr/Sr med student, there were no formal classes, although there are quite a few med schools who either require or offer as elective time formal lecture styled classes during the final years. But, you will attend a large number of service-specific lectures - better known as “Grand Rounds”. These are undertaken with the residents & usually conducted by faculty &/or residents. Most places will require that the students do x-number of presentations too.
Also, under development during my tenure, were video-linked classes from the mother-ship (KCOM) for those out on rotations. These were not going to be the daily-grind sorts of lectures, but occur a few times per month & allow the home-base to see & interact w/ students who are far flung to the heavens to provide some modicum of continuity. That is probably one downside of going to other places for rotations - you sometimes feel out of the loop or disconnected.
However, my site (Saginaw, MI) was superb & the benefits far far outweighed any downsides. KCOM’s students were intermingled w/ Mich St’s MD students; so there was a lot of co-lectures & activities. In my humble opinion, any opportunity to learn from differing perspectives is more than worth the effort of obtaining it.
Plus, it was so refreshing to see that other students had the same or worse points of frustration that you have to deal with your own program. Believe me, virtually everyone feels angst over relatively minor things & is tempted to redirect those emotions towards their med school. My theory is that you are under such continual & escalating duress that things that would normally not even phase you accumulate. Like I said, when I left K’ville, I was stoked to be doing so. However, once in MI & around students from MI State - I gained a whole new insight & deep appreciation for just how freaking awesome KCOM actually was/is.
Even more importantly, how very very well prepared we were to take flight in the clinical world vs students from other schools. Myself & a classmate were actually the pilot team (the first 2 to go to Saginaw for rotations); so the Saginaw people had no idea what to expect - all they’d ever had for many years were MI St MD students. Christopher & I rec’d accolades of praise over our preparedness, work ethic & knowledge base & several docs outright stated if all of KCOM’s students were like us, they wanted as many as they could obtain. That speaks volumes for the KCOM program.