This is certainly true. I'm starting a residency in EM and I feel a lot more competent than some of my peers that went to more traditional schools (some of which are top med schools). When we were practicing central lines on mannequins, the attending asked if we'd done them before. One person said they had done 1 or 2, another said they had only done them on a mannequin. I felt a little uncomfortable saying that I had done at least 30 between my MICU and EM rotations. Same with suturing. We sewed up some pigs feet during orientation. They were going over basic suturing technique and, although I'm certainly not the best at suturing, I feel competent with all of my techniques and knot tying. Some people said they'd sutured a couple times - on my gen surg rotation, i closed every dang wound for 2 months......it to the point where I was pretty over it. My attending would close the abdominal fascia then just leave, letting me close the sub-q and skin layers. After 8 weeks of doing this several times a day, I learned a lot. I'm not saying I'm going to be an all-star intern, but FSU certainly gives you a ton of hands-on learning that will help down the road.
Also, I interviewed at a truly elite program for residency with an FSU student in the program. He said that he was the best intern in the program because "FSU treats fourth year med students like interns."
Good luck all.