Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine Rankings by Salary Score™

Please read regarding the 46th ranged PCOM PA program! After attending PCOM PA program, I made it out by the skin of my teeth! I spoke with numerous friends in other programs and my experience was horrible compared to theirs and I wish I would have gone else where but I didn’t know. I only knew of the prestiges name PCOM holds but that’s only for the DO program. The PA program is run by people who could careless about you as a student. I say this truthfully because I have heard them talking about how they... Read More only care about their PANCE 1st time pass rate. What this means is they wouldn’t care if they lost over 75% of the class as long as those that finished passed the PANCE 1st time. Professor say differently but they don’t mean it in their actions. The averages on tests are low 80's, they provide NO CURVE or grade boosters and you need to keep a 3.0 to progress through program! Even the employees in the learning center, who offer tutoring and study techniques say that the PA program is not well manages. For example in 1 term we have a 10 credit class but sit in class for 16-18 hrs a week for that class. Then we have a 10% exam that covers 16 different ppt that are minimum of 60 slides each. For the final we had a 100Q test that covered 90 ppt all about 60 slides each. That is 5,400 slides of information! Again that is just one class and all the 2 credit classes are very similar. They have a Pathology class for the PA students but its not directed to PA, its the exact same lectures and tests the DO students get but PA students get 1/3 the time to learn and digest info. I get that PA school or any Masters program is challenging but at PCOM they teach you the same curriculum that the DO program gets but you have to do it in 1/3rd the time. They never test you on Keyword or Hallmark information that the PANCE tests you on. PCOM tests you on the pointless information that they find within the required reading of a 2000 pg textbook called Current medical diagnosis & treatment. When it comes to the clinical rotations they have bad rotations guidelines and never give students their suggestions they would like! Out of my whole class, only 1 person got a rotation they suggested and there were over 60 students who have ability to submit. Finally you have to do a RESEARCH PAPER in this program. The research professor is very belittling in how he talks to students. The research paper is worthless and pointless. It solely is to make the PA program look good by them posting it on their webpages. They could make the class way more enjoyable and not full of busy work. I’m glad I barely made it through but hope by sharing my view of the school this makes people question PCOM. We need PAs out in the world, go to another school as being a real PA is learning on the job not jumping through a million hoops and doing countless busy work assignments that PCOM mandates.

If you are in any program other than the DO program prepare to be treated like a second class citizen. From DO students taking over classrooms to the faculty dropping the ball on scheduling all other programs here are below the PCOM standard due to the overarching faculty and leadership. In the Psychology department the heads are very kind and eager to help. Some advisors can be difficult to work with and a bit condescending but to have the PCOM name on a degree is worth it. Also it is important to remember... Read More that the psychology programs are not CAECREP accredited, which they tell you during interviews isn’t a hindrance on your career but in reality many places outside of the Philadelphia area will not view that as an acceptable degree. Just keep these things in mind before attending because it is glossed over during tours and interviews.