I did say anything... You get into Emory by being awesome? Really, Emory wants what everyone else wants - the whole package - but also has an emphasis on being a physician. They want people who want to be doctors to help their fellow man. That seems trite, and I apologize for that, but if anything has been emphasized this year, it's that we are in training not for ourselves, but for the good that we will one day do, whether it's research or clinic.
Hi everyone! I'm currently in the process of applying to med school and I was just wondering if you all could tell me a little about Emory. I really want to know how good the balance is between patient care and research at Emory. Does the school stress one more than the other? Also for clinical rotations/ med school is there a lot of hands on learning? Thanks in advance!
With the understanding that I'm a touch biased - Emory does an excellent job of immersing you in both clinical and research practice. Our curriculum is shortened, so we study from August to the next November, and then take Step 1 in January. For example, I entered Emory last August 2012, and I'm taking my boards this coming up January 2014.
This shortened curriculum allows a dedicated 5 month research period to do whatever you want. It can be associated with the CDC and some of those projects, working on something in a lab, or you can come up with your own project. If you need more time and want more of a product, you can extend those 5 months to a year. Alternatively, instead of research (we call it Discovery Project), you can get another degree. Rollins School of Public Health is right on campus about a stone's throw away, and a significant portion of every class will take a 5th year to get an MPH. A few more will do a business degree, and some will go abroad or to another school. It's extremely flexible.
Even with the shortened curriculum, we still get a great deal of clinical exposure. That's OPEX - our out-patient experience, which starts around November of M1. That's biweekly out-patient at a clinic (extremely variable, mostly general practice), where you learn from a doctor how to be a doctor, how to think like a doctor, and how to work with patients.
So, Emory stresses both clinical and research. The emphasis is probably on clinical, but there are so many avenues for research if that's what you want to do, and everyone has to do some. It gives you something to talk about during your interviews, and a lot of people get a publication out of it.
As for hands-on, you will literally have a difficult time finding a place with more hands-on experience during your clinical rotations. That's all thanks to Grady, one of Atlanta's public hospitals (Level 1 Trauma) - it operates as a safety net for the surrounding population. There's always too much demand and not enough supply, so as medical students, you get to do a LOT of things. The M4s that matched Internal Medicine across the country all reported that, at their interviews, the interviewers commented that 'Oh, you trained at Grady. You can handle our hospital.' That's a high compliment, I believe.
Also, an interesting factoid : If you take the area surrounding Grady (a few mile radius), it ranks up there with some African countries in terms of TB cases.
All the M3s and M4s love Grady. You have to do 1/2 of your rotations there, and you get an incredible experience. (RE the TB above, along with others)
One neat thing about Atlanta in terms of medicine is that there is no other huge hospital system in the area. The closest ones are Duke and Vanderbilt, so it serves a huge area, and you see everything.
I second the above! More info about what actually goes on each year please! Also, I've never been in the area... How is it? Safe? Traffic? Living/expenses?
Thanks
Atlanta itself is not the safest area, but Emory is on the suburbs, and it's more or less safe here. It's an urban environment, so that comes with the territory, but Emory is in a great area.
There is a lot of traffic, but I'm from places with worse traffic so I don't hate it too much. Other people complain bitterly. A car is definitely necessary, especially for your clinical years. Some people get by without one, but it's a pain.
Living expenses vary on, depending on where you live and with how many people. Rent is anywhere from 400 to 1000 (or more) if you're at a ritzy place. Mine is right around 700 with utilities added in. Other expenses are what you would guess, cable, phone, going out money, etc, but most of us live on loans.
Hope this helps! Let me know what else you would like to know - I'm off to my OPEX!
