Does the school really matter?

[sistermike]

Ok I am really curious about something. Ok for a school to become a medical school, they have to go through an accredidation proccess. Taking this into consideration, does it really matter what medical school you decide to go to? Of course we all have choices on which school we would like to attend but in the long run will it matter? Like does going to a less widely known medical school limit your chances of getting into a residency program when competing with some from hardvard or yale? I would just like some insight on this. Thanks!

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[Doctor Wyldstyle]

In the end, it doesn't really matter. If you score excellent on the boards and have great letters of recommendations, I don't see any reason for any medical student to be limited in his options. Schools with a high reputation may give a slight advantage perhaps for residency, but that's purely speculative. when you are practicing, no one really cares so much where you went to school as much as where you did your residency.

That being said, once your in, you've got your cake. Any additional things (scholarships, cheap tuition, strengths in the program, clinical training, etc. those are all icing on the cake. Good luck.

wyldstyle2000

 

[trout]

I wish I could say school doesn't matter, however, some schools are known for inbreeding, particularly harvard...overall as long as you aren't hated by your school it can be easier to match into a residency at your school (people like to work with people the know/like/respect than take a chance with someone else) so it might make a difference, however, obviously not everyone in a residency program is from one school so is it impossible to get into those programs no.....

 

[Kluver Bucy]

High school student: I've gotta get into the best college.
College student: I've gotta get into the best medical school
Medical student: I've gotta get into the best residency
I don't know where it ends, but I would hope that, at some point, it becomes: "I've gotta treat my patients well." For some reason, I question whether those who chase prestige are better at getting to that point than those who forget all about that BS and just focus on being great doctors.

 

[Ice Man]

Doesn't matter. Residency or Med school. Nobody cares. A doc from harvard makes no more money than a doc from SGU in the same field doing the same things. Nobody starts drooling when you tell them you tell them, "I went to Hooopkkins and am doing orthopedics at Mass General." You might get a whooptee doo, if you are lucky. Sometimes it is a bad thing. Stereotypes run wild.

 

[Jim Picotte]

A new article in the AJR based on 1997 grads showed that graduates from small, no name residency programs actually made 8% more money than graduates from the top residency programs. They even factored in academics vs private practice. Although money certainly shouldn't be viewed as the ultimate yardstick for success, it usually is unfortunately. We all worry about rankings, the best place and then when you're done, fellow physicians and patients only care about how good you really are, not where you trained. So no, it doesn't really matter. I mean you're still a physician.

 

[Sir William Osler]

money is no indication of success in medicine. Salary is based on specialty and geographic location. In my view, school reputation doesn't do anything but open up doors for you and gives more career choices. It does nothing for future earning power.

 

[trout]

Those numbers might be an indication of people from smaller schools go into private practice whereas people from other schools go into academic medicine....

 

[Jim Picotte]

They adjusted for the people going into private practice and those going into academics. What people seem to think is that those who are going to smaller, less known residencies don't mind practicing in the midwest, smaller towns where the pay is higher. Those who go to Harvard usually want to stay there. There's more docs, so the pay isn't as good.

 

[Ice Man]

Jim, you nailed it. I am in the midwest. Orthopod 5 years in a group makes $743,000 after taxes! He went to OSU. CT surgeon...... man he drives a Ferrari 550. Money shouldn't count for success, but it does.

 

[trout]

humm correct me if I am wrong...isn't harvard academic?

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Jim Picotte:
•They adjusted for the people going into private practice and those going into academics. What people seem to think is that those who are going to smaller, less known residencies don't mind practicing in the midwest, smaller towns where the pay is higher. Those who go to Harvard usually want to stay there. There's more docs, so the pay isn't as good.•••••

 

[dingiswayo]

trout,

it seems to me jim's "there" was in reference to boston (ie. a nice city with an abundance of docs and thus somewhat lower pay), not harvard.

 

[Jim Picotte]

Yeah I did mean Boston. The same can probably be said for a lot of places in California. I'm pretty sure that it's just because most of what are considered top rads programs are in bigger cities where people want to practice and because of the higher concentraion of docs, the salaries are lower. I'm here in Michigan and although very anectodal, talking to 3rd year IM residents, the salary difference between a bigger city (ie Detroit, Ann Arbor) and a small city here in Michigan is around 30-40K in favor of the smaller place.

You probably work harder in the smaller communities and don't have as much back up. Where I'm from, near Marquette, there isn't many specialties at all there. If you need an Endocrinologist, you need to drive 250-300 miles to find one so the IM docs there handle nearly all the endocrinology.

I don't like to use money as an indicator of success, but in the end as long as you're a good person, hard worker and care about your profession where you do your trainly is pretty irrelevant.

 

[Sanman]

Another thing I have noticed, people from name schools want prestige in their careers, where as people from smaller schools tend to care more about money. So, perhaps if a Harvard graduate were offered a position at (insert well regarded private hospital or practice here) they might take it versus a smaller suburban or rural practice with less docs and more money to go around. Also, I would like to know how lifestyle factored in, i.e. who had the greater payment per hour, or after accounting for benefits. Keep in mind that this is all completely anecdotal, and feel free to contradict me.

 

[Zeffer]

Scool does matter. Not as far as US News rankings, but rather as "would you enjoy attending there?"