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  • Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine - Colorado
  • Osteopathic Medical School
  • Parker, CO
Individual Feedback 4 7 Responses
The Basics

Overall, how satisfied are you with this program?

Response Avg # Responders
3.29 7

0 = Terrible, 10 = World Class

What do you like most?

"Location, decent match results for a DO school. faculty are nice" | Report Response

"You do feel welcome and like your opinion matters." | Report Response

"The professors genuinely care about you as an individual, and they dedicate a lot of time trying to improve on our behalf. They are always willing to answer questions and to help clarify things." | Report Response

"There were many extremely dedicated faculty who did everything within their power to help students where they could. But their scope was limited by an authoritarian and very dogmatic administration." | Report Response

"The systems based curriculum" | Report Response

"The faculty, the atmosphere, the curriculum for years 1 & 2. Curriculum for years 3&4 is good, too, but handled poorly." | Report Response

"Location" | Report Response

What do you like least?

"Everything else. Administration is horrendous, out of touch with the students. Raised tuition during a global pandemic without ever offering an explanation for what the money goes to (this increase was communicated to us 2 weeks after being reassured by the administration that they would not increase tuition). Told in a town hall meeting "it's not the administration's fault that students take out extra loan money to buy nice cars so its the student body's fault that cost of attendance continues to skyrocket" Im not kidding that actually happened. 1 and 2 year students have virtually 0 opportunities for research and have had extremely limited access to campus without any communication on when the school would offer vaccinations. Clinical students are forced to find their own rotations as the school has extremely limited options and hardly any options in specialties of interest. School was bought by medforth some for profit company who also owns a Caribbean school. We were told by administration that our tuition money was used to evacuate students at this school when there was a hurricane warning. Administration cares about making money and nothing else - opened a second campus in utah without telling the students that lectures would be broadcast over both campuses and the two campuses would be considered one cohort. They get double the tuition money without hiring more faculty or providing any additional resources for students" | Report Response

"Many of the professors openly reject teaching board material. Although it is a good idea, in theory, the problem is that it results in our focus being directed towards information we are supposed to be taught in our third and fourth years (or even residency). It's equally possible that the information we are taught has little-to-no medical relevance. I assume this has to do with the recycling of lectures given to our students receiving their master's degrees. With our focus directed elsewhere, we are not allowed the opportunity to reflect or to develop the scientific principles that would enable us to think critically and apply solutions to new problems. RVU's curriculum is thus based on memory rather than understanding... Consequently, we are ill-prepared for boards." | Report Response

"Our curriculum is the worst. It is an old-school, lecture-based curriculum that adheres to the infamous learn-and-dump mentality. In terms of lecture and lab hours, it is one of the most rigorous in the country. In theory, this should be a good thing, but we are given so much information that we don't get the opportunity to synthesize and integrate the information. They go way beyond what we need to know in our first two years, and this dilutes the critical concepts that we should know down pat. Consequently, our collective performance on the USMLE Step 1 is a tragedy. Furthermore, our Learning Management System (student portal) is complete garbage and it does not facilitate learning at all. It is genuinely the worst one I've ever seen or used. Finally, our classes and assignments are not consistent. Classes may start or end at any time of the day, and you always have to check your calendar to be sure. Furthermore, you constantly have to go back to the portal to make sure you don't miss assignments or quizzes because they are never assigned consistently. It is so stressful having to learn medicine while also trying to stay organized with their messy system." | Report Response

"RVU preaches in their interview process that the RVU students, faculty, and staff are like a family. Yet this is far from the truth. In fact, after posting a similarly negative review on their Facebook page criticizing the campus president's own review stating that we were a family, they deleted the entire review page. They try very hard to protect their image, but behind closed doors they are only concerned with one thing, their board score statistics. And they treat their students as such. I had a terrible experience with RVU as a student. I failed a course late into the second semester due to issues stemming from a diagnosis of ADHD, and in response the school dismissed me (despite having an 81% average in all other courses that year). However, other students who failed the course were allowed to repeat the semester. I was told this option wasn't available to me because policy dictated that because I'd taken a leave of absence early on in my schooling at RVU (which I voluntarily took because I was struggling, and this is when I got diagnosed with ADHD), I wasn't allowed to repeat the semester like my fellow classmates. They admitted that this was a poor policy, and even told me that the policy has since been revoked. But they've told me the change to the policy was too late to effect me, and haven't let me back into the school. That cruel decision by RVU has left me with over $100,000 in student loans, and the devastation of having the thing I'd worked very hard for 5+ years for stripped from me in an instant. It's left me feeling defeated and worthless, and as I've worked with a therapist I've struggled to find a new purpose for my life." | Report Response

"The high number of contact hours for the basic sciences" | Report Response

"The way your clinical years are handled and graded." | Report Response

"Curriculum" | Report Response

The Details

Does the student body seem cooperative or competitive?

Response Avg # Responders
5.86 7

0 = Competitive, 10 = Cooperative

Does the environment seem supportive for underrepresented minorities?

Response Avg # Responders
4.86 7

0 = Not at all, 10 = Very

Does the environment seem supportive for lesbian/gay/bisexual/transsexual students?

Response Avg # Responders
5.29 7

0 = Not at all, 10 = Very

Does the environment seem supportive for married students?

Response Avg # Responders
8.57 7

0 = Not at all, 10 = Very

Does the environment seem supportive for students with disabilities?

Response Avg # Responders
5.86 7

0 = Not at all, 10 = Very

Does the environment seem supportive for older/non-traditional students?

Response Avg # Responders
5.86 7

0 = Not at all, 10 = Very

Do you/did you feel well prepared for your board exams?

Response Avg # Responders
3.00 5

0 = Not at all, 10 = Very

How approachable are faculty members?

Response Avg # Responders
6.43 7

0 = Not at all, 10 = Very

What are the facilities and clinics like (old/new, well maintained, etc.)?

"Nice new building, somehow extremely old training equipment" | Report Response

"They have new facilities that are well-maintained. However, there are not enough resources on campus (no gym, few printed books in the library, terrible research opportunities)." | Report Response

"Our campus was brand new, yet there were certain things that were already falling apart which sometimes took a while to be repaired. And certain equipment wasn't new despite being a brand new campus which was odd. The preceptors and fellows always complained about how old and outdated our ultrasound equipment was." | Report Response

"Mostly new and well-maintained. There are some things that are dating and need to be replaced." | Report Response

How do students from this program do after graduation - are they adequately prepared for practice?

"OK match results for a DO school" | Report Response

"It depends on the student. It has less to do with our school's curriculum and more to do with the student's work ethic." | Report Response

"Yes although I do not believe that RVU fosters an environment that produces empathetic physicians. That's not to say that empathetic physicians don't come out of RVU, but it is definitely not by RVU's own efforts." | Report Response

"Very well. High accolades." | Report Response

"They seem to be okay" | Report Response

What are rotations like?

"Good luck. Have to find many of your own unless you want to go to a rural family practice clinic 8 hours away and be responsible for finding your own housing" | Report Response

"Terrible mess. Good luck finding one that is worthwhile. There are no pipelines into residencies, so audition rotations are not a thing with RVU." | Report Response

"There were are issues surrounding rotations at RVU. The main hospital network in Utah, Intermountain Healthcare, was hesitant to allow RVU to have students do rotations in their facilities. The most recent rumor I heard was that at the last minute IHC pulled out of an agreement RVU had tried to make with them, and that students wouldn't be allowed to do rotations in their facilities after all. I've also heard that some of the third year students have had a nightmare during their rotations with being told they would be rotating in one city by RVU only to find out last minute that they would be rotating hours away from where they had already secured housing." | Report Response

"There are rotation sites all over Colorado and a couple of sites in Wyoming and Arizona. Most people get the location that they desire." | Report Response

"7" | Report Response

"4" | Report Response

How do students from this program do in the Match?

"Decent for a DO school. Mostly primary care" | Report Response

"The Match is acceptable, but nothing extraordinary. If you go to RVU be prepared to match into primary care specialties exclusively." | Report Response

"RVU is very proud of their Match statistics and boast about it all the time. But that comes at a cost, and the cost is weeding out students from their program who they think may hurt that statistic." | Report Response

"The match list seems more impressive year after year" | Report Response

Any other information you want to share?

"Will continue to worsen as they increase the size of their utah campus and PA programs, less and less clinical rotation and research opportunities. Tuition will continue to go up as administration has ZERO interest in helping curb cost of attendance. Stay away if at all possible." | Report Response

"Run as fast as you can from this dinosaur of a curriculum. Do not let the clean, newer facilities fool you." | Report Response

"I would not recommend RVU to any student considering medical school. My story is not an isolated one, and I have talked to over 10 students in my cohort alone who have had similarly devastating experiences with the administration at RVU." | Report Response

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