Hey all, another M1 here, I'm also in the DO/MBA right now, so if you've got questions feel free to PM or ask here.
Also, going to try and answer a lot of questions in one swoop, so sorry for the long post
Are there any nontrad students out there that have had difficulty securing health insurance? I just started looking and was shocked by how expensive some of the health plans were. It's still surprising to me that KCUMB doesn't have a school health plan. Trying to figure out how to handle this expense!
That's tough. I just turned 26, so I know how painful that search can be. If you can get residency in Missouri or Kansas I'd use the marketplace. You can get decent plans on there for basically nothing as a student. Unfortunately that didn't work out for me because I'm oos and would have had to use medicare. Problem is the network would only be in the state I'm a resident of, yea...
Any recommendations for places to live?
The bigs ones nearby are North KC, downtown, and westport. I'd also throw Crossroads in as it's basically downtown. All of those are within 10 minutes of campus and have reasonably priced places (under 800). If you don't mind commuting you can also come from the suburbs, but that can be a pretty long drive. There's also CT, where a ton of students end up. It was too much like a dorm for me and is overpriced imo, but extremely convenient (across the street from campus).
Might consider the MBA. You have to have a good GPA first year (or semester) then you apply for it. Don't know much about the MA in bioethics though. I thought there was an MS in Biosciences med students could do but I guess you can't.
MBA and Bioethics both require you to maintain a 2.5 GPA I believe. As Chizled said, global med requires you to be in the top 1/3 of the class to apply. I didn't realize ambassador required a 2.75 GPA, but you have to stay in good academic standing to be in any program here. There is a biomed dual degree, but it is a 6 year program that is meant to be for students who plan on making research the primary goal of their career. So if you aren't 100% sure you want to go into research for the rest of your life, it's not for you.
When does the lottery for the clerkship rotations happen?
Fall of second year, specifically October I think. I know the second years found out where they would be in December.
I would caution against the MBA. At least as of now, you have to stay in KC for rotations. The quality of those rotation is spotty at best. Your first and foremost goal should hopefully be to become the best physician possible. I am of the belief that this is not going to happen while following around some community based preceptor.
The top i-banks, hedge funds, private equity shops, venture capital funds, do not recruit or higher from a place like Rockhurst. Having a DO + an MBA from an unheard of place (Rockhust) will NOT make you that competitive or open any doors.
There's a reason why the top B-school programs in the country don't accept people directly out of college. They want work experience, and not just a year or two, but significant experience so you can actually contribute something. Without ever working as a physician, you're not going to have any experience to draw on in a healthcare MBA.
This is not to say that the skills you will learn won't be valuable, but I just feel that later on in your career, you could probably do an executive MBA at a much more prestigous institution that will open some doors. Besides, if you end up practicing at a university that has B-School, you'll probably enjoy a very nice discount on the tuition. I don't think paying full price for an unranked MBA is a good business decision.
For the most part, I agree, although apparently a few things have changed. Staying in KC is NOT a requirement for the MBA dual-degree. You can go wherever you want, the perk about it is that if you want to stay in KC for years 3 and 4 then you are guaranteed a spot by doing a master's degree.
Also, I agree and disagree about the top business school thing. Most people on SDN will tell you a business degree that's not from a top 10 school is useless, but I feel like that's an exaggeration. While Rockhurst is not top 10, it was ranked top 25 in 2013. I was completely shocked by that considering it was the only school on the list I had never heard of before moving here. Also, while it's not cheap (around 33k), it is significantly cheaper than most other 'elite MBA' programs which can be well over 40k. So monetary value of the program isn't the issue imo.
I think Meliora is spot on with the experience thing, but something to keep in mind is that a dual degree now will look good on residency apps (helping you get more interviews) and possibly allow you to serve on an administrative board during residency (according to multiple deans, you're required to sit on some kind of board during residency?). Obviously that experience could be useful during your career. That being said, I agree with meliora that experience far outweighs the value of the degree itself, but if you're looking at it that way, connections are just as important in business. The people that are successful are the ones who are able to network and meet people that can help them advance. While you don't need an MBA degree to learn how to network, it can definitely help you meet people that will get you places.
