IdahoCOM Interview Experience + Exploration

I had the pleasure of going to Idaho to interview at the newest addition to the osteopathic colleges of medicine. I was a little apprehensive from the idea that a new school might be difficult in terms of rotation site affiliation as well as the lack of precedence, but I decided to embrace the opportunity to interview and attend a school with new opportunities. It is a wonderful idea that I have the privilege to shape the next few classes at a brand new school and I thrive on guiding others.

The interview day was an exciting presentation of the school’s new facilities, their faculty as well as the curriculum starting promptly at 7:30 am in a temporary office building. It also did not hurt that we got an ICOM coffee mug as swag. We (as in the 13 of us) started the day by meeting Dean Hasty who is a very bright and cheerful fellow. I enjoyed the little chat with him and the fact that he answered a number of our questions and concerns. I was in the interview first group and interviewed with an administrator, a science faculty and a clinical faculty. Each of the interviews were relaxed one-on-one conversations. I felt very comfortable and welcomed. The questions were not hard to answer and very personal to my application and experiences. I asked quite a few questions myself since it is important to know more information about the new school’s way of handling things.

I know that the morning classes have a business casual dress code and certain standards require that we wear a sports bra and shorts, or just shorts as a guy during OMT labs. The anatomy lab is a state of the art gross anatomy lab shared with ISU’s PA program and during lab the student to body ratio is 6:1. They are also opening a research section of the school and there is tons of designated study space all over the new building. Classes are mandatory for the most part but lectures are recorded. Since the school is brand new, they are not eligible to apply for federal loans until their inaugural class has completed 2 years. It’s a little concerning to possibly have to deal with private loans but I believe there will be plenty of ways to manage.

After the interview we were given a presentation on financial aid, school curriculum and accreditation. They also informed us that the adcoms were going to give a decision to us by Friday any time between 10 am-5 pm MST. This is the fastest turn around I had ever heard of. They provided a lunch and to my surprise it was a catered meal from one of my favorite food chains, Qdoba. Following lunch was a optional, tour of the school, at this point it is a visit to the almost completely constructed building. The school is right off the highway which means it is accessible to get to from Boise and the parking is free. I like that they emphasize no separation between the students and faculty when discussing the shared spaces of the building. The school food is going to be catered by a local business with fresh and healthy options made daily. Building hours are between 7 am-11 pm which is a slight bummer to be since I like to crank out some late night studying. We returned to the temporary office buildings at around 2 pm which concluded the interview day.

Once the day was over I wanted to try the local food staples so I went on an adventure to downtown Boise riding their bus system. The bus system is not necessarily on time or completely time sensitive but otherwise it got you to where you needed to go. It was super cheap, I paid $1.50 for a day pass and I used it to get to Boise Fry Company, from Franklin Street. I would not recommend it for getting to your interview but for just exploration I highly recommend it as a cheaper alternative to ride share. Ride sharing with Lyft tends to be more reliable for getting to the interview or the airport. Boise Fry Company had some really friendly staff who recommended the Gold and the Lauren fries which were both very delicious and easy to salt and dip with the numerous options available. The Hot fry sauce was probably my favorite, besides the classic ketchup.

Aerial arts is something I find very important to me for keeping my life well balanced. I had to find a place near the school I might be attending so I was excited that Ophidia offered some classes at their studio and the first class was only $5. I used the bus to get there that night and took a Lyra class. I’m glad there is a studio in town so I can continue to do what I love while chasing my dreams.

Pole dancing and aerial arts is one of the reasons why the dress code does not bother me much since I find it an excuse to buy new clothes and I love sports attire.

Here’s a link to my favorite sports bra that is flattering and very supportive.

Amazon also has some really affordable pole shorts that are great alternatives for Bad Kitty and Dragonfly, if you just wanted to try out pole.

I will write a post about pole and aerial in the future.

Again, I highly recommend going to the state the day before to settle yourself in and it is really nice to do so cheaply. Airbnb has been my go-to for my travels to interviews and other travels. You could get $40 for your first trip on airbnb with my link here and even help me out on my interview travels as well as $20 off your rides with Lyft here. If you already have an airbnb account click here.

Thank you for reading I really appreciate it! Leave a comment if you’d like. I want to hear some feedback.

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