Southern California University of Health Sciences — Attraction in La Mirada

It has been difficult to write this review, though I feel it is time, over 6 years after graduating and being a student there for about 5 years total.

Let's start with the good: In my experience, nearly every faculty and staff member were great. All of my instructors - special shout out to all the instructors I served as a TA for in the Chiropractic Procedures department - were kind and respectful, always open to questions and visits during office hours.

Dr. Mike Sackett was the Dean during much of my time there (2011, then 2013-2017), granting me a 2 year leave of absence so I could help my family during some challenging times - I will always be grateful to him.

In general, the majority of examinations (written and practical) felt reasonably difficult yet fair, though the rate and volume of such examinations could be considered excessive - true for all chiropractic schools. The school's board preparations (ICE) were very helpful for the actual board exams.

--Not so good-- Irene Gold: It seemed like the school had a relationship with Irene Gold, which costs extra, as it was advertised regularly. I always felt like the school should feel confident in what they were teaching - along with their ICE - so why deal with a third party? Maybe this is a relationship all chiropractic schools have with Irene Gold?

I did not take any Irene Gold courses and felt comfortable with all the Board exams (except Part IV) - aside from the random draw of "Did your school emphasize what is on this round of Board exams?".

Part IV Board Exam Despite doing well on SCUHS ICE IV (as well as ICE I-III/PT), my part IV Board exam was the worst result - still passed on the first time, thank goodness! The exam took place in the school's clinic, which was WAY too crowded for such an event. Not only were you right next to other exam takers, but the very long process (3 hours or so, if I recall) is without any water or break. Further, I witnessed the examiners drop papers, seemingly not paying attention, and overall not being engaged.

For those of you who don't know, not once do you perform any adjustments on a mock patient. No residency exists in chiropractic, which is somewhat alarming considering all the risks.

Cheating Somehow, certain groups of students had access to old exams and similar. This was not specific to SCUHS, as I originally started at LIFE West then CCCLA, which had similar issues.

I think some instructors caught on, as many students who used these old exams to 'study' by would usually get the same questions wrong. Some students were actually expelled for this kind of thing as well as falsifying their hours during PPR shifts.

The pace at which the regular program operates at and the focus on matching/name recognition for Board exams is a fairly unrealistic way to learn and retain, but cheating never pays off.

Lifetime Access Despite the promise of having 'lifetime access' to my account due to being Valedictorian of my graduating cohort, my access was removed and no explanation or help was given.

Dr. Scaringe I didn't engage much with Dr. Scaringe while a student, pretty much the only conversation I had was when I told him I was not going to give a Valedictorian speech and to please select the student(s) with the next highest GPA. My reasoning was that, due to my leave and lighter load, I was in classes with many cohorts and didn't feel I represented any of them singly.

Nearly two years after graduation, I wrote to Dr. Scaringe by email and written letter more than once. Along with asking about my so-called lifetime access, I wanted to shine some light on not being told my chiropractic degree and passing all the Board exams would NOT be enough to become licensed in some states. How could something so crucial have slipped by? No response at all. It is a reality that some states require one to have a Bachelor's degree to obtain your chiropractic license.

I do not regret my decision to go to SCUHS or become a Doctor of Chiropractic (to go along with my now 23 years in the massage field), just wanted to share...

I go to this school for chiropractic and am closing in on graduation. My whole cohort feels the same way some teachers are great some are awful. The admin at this school is awful. They change things constantly in regards to events and important classes and let us know days before. Selectives are a complete joke at this school. Sports medicine is a complete joke and there are teachers here who hate adjusting. The gonstead club is banned because it’s too chiropractic for this school. There are numerous alumni who call this place LAPT because we come out of here so good at soft tissue and not at adjusting. This school teaches things the wrong way. Dean fachinatto is the worst dean possible she would not work with anyone to get an in person white coat ceremony without families in attendance. All we wanted was a Facebook live ceremony where we were presented our white coat on camera and put on the coat for our families to see at home, but she would not work with us at all and we were given the worst zoom ceremony ever. She even claimed it would be super special but it was literally our names on the screen being read off on zoom. Do your research on this place...

Do not waste your time at this school, Please stay away, they have poor professionalism, quality of care, rude workers specifically at the billing center. They will tell you one price first and then on the day of payment tell you a 20% increased price. These people are not honest, and will steal from you, mind that if you do pay all this money you will get the worst customer service ever. I submitted a payment plan and never got a response back I had to initiate like hey I'm calling about my payment plan, they really set you up for failure. I asked to speak to a supervisor never got a call back. I cannot believe I had to pay $2,450 for a 100% online course. Be careful with hidden fees! They lie to you and will not help with solving any issues. I dunno if there is a Dean in the school but I have called many different "supervisors" never got an answer or call back, no one ever helped me solve my issue. Only one person was helping me from admissions but what was said from that person did not match with the billing department or...