How Much Does "Ranking" of Schools Matter

helpabrotherout

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If talking about med schools. If one is planning on just practicing clinical medicine in his or her own state, would the top school in that state be respected as much as a degree from Harvard or Yale or something? Because I've heard that medical schools are ranked by research and things like that, and that the top schools are mainly for academic medicine. The in state school I am talking about is UT Southwestern. Would people from the elite medical schools have an advantage when applying for jobs inside Texas?

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If talking about med schools. If one is planning on just practicing clinical medicine in his or her own state, would the top school in that state be respected as much as a degree from Harvard or Yale or something? Because I've heard that medical schools are ranked by research and things like that, and that the top schools are mainly for academic medicine. The in state school I am talking about is UT Southwestern. Would people from the elite medical schools have an advantage when applying for jobs inside Texas?
I thought Baylor College of Medicine is the top medical school in that state? @jturkel
 
I thought Baylor College of Medicine is the top medical school in that state? @jturkel

*Insert Shawn's "I've heard it both ways"*

But still, I'm just trying to gauge how much of a difference there is between the elite northeastern med schools and the more "state" med schools
 
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*Insert Shawn's "I've heard it both ways"*

But still, I'm just trying to gauge how much of a difference there is between the elite northeastern med schools and the more "state" med schools
I don't think people who attend "elite" medical schools in the Northeast, per your original post, will be flocking towards Texas for medical jobs. People who are of the NE elite, stay with the NE elite.
 
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I don't think people who attend "elite" medical schools in the Northeast, per your original post, will be flocking towards Texas for medical jobs. People who are of the NE elite, stay with the NE elite.

I think OP is saying if there was a texan who got into a north east elite and the best in his state, which would give him better job prospects if the person wanted to return to practice in texas?
 
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I think OP is saying if there was a texan who got into a north east elite and the best in his state, which would give him better job prospects if the person wanted to return to practice in texas?
I don't think it works exactly like that bc Medicine works differently than other jobs where doctors are always wanted. For his state, going to a NE elite school is more an accolade than anything else, esp. since he wishes to practice at home. It's not really the medical school that matters as much as residency. See here:
http://www.massgeneral.org/cancer/doctors/doctor.aspx?ID=18596
 
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I think OP is saying if there was a texan who got into a north east elite and the best in his state, which would give him better job prospects if the person wanted to return to practice in texas?

Yes!

I don't think it works exactly like that bc Medicine works differently than other jobs where doctors are always wanted. For his state, going to a NE elite school is more an accolade than anything else, esp. since he wishes to practice at home. It's not really the medical school that matters as much as residency. See here:
http://www.massgeneral.org/cancer/doctors/doctor.aspx?ID=18596

So if it's the residency that matters, would not the medical school matter for the residency?
 
So if it's the residency that matters, would not the medical school matter for the residency?
Depends on the specialty, and also depends on how you do in medical school: class rank, board scores, etc. Residency however, is the training that matters when it comes to applying for the variety of jobs. A more "prestigious" residency does help you crack academic prestigious medical centers. If your goal is private practice, it really doesn't matter.
 
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The three doctors that I've shadowed shared the same consensus: It doesn't matter where you go for medical school, it all matters what you score on the USMLE.

Sure, there was some individual differences (like state vs. private medical school preferences), however they all said the same thing. The EM doc that I shadowed went to UMC. He was single and independent so he spent all of his time studying for boards. He got #3 in his class and during 4th year, he got letters from Yale, Stanford, and Berkeley telling him how much they wanted him to do an Anesthesia residency at their program. He quickly decided to switch to EM last minute and got stuck in a string of hospitals in North Mississippi before moving out to where he practices now.
 
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Depends on the specialty, and also depends on how you do in medical school: class rank, board scores, etc. Residency however, is the training that matters when it comes to applying for the variety of jobs. A more "prestigious" residency does help you crack academic prestigious medical centers. If your goal is private practice, it really doesn't matter.

The three doctors that I've shadowed shared the same consensus: It doesn't matter where you go for medical school, it all matters what you score on the USMLE.

Sure, there was some individual differences (like state vs. private medical school preferences), however they all said the same thing. The EM doc that I shadowed went to UMC. He was single and independent so he spent all of his time studying for boards. He got #3 in his class and during 4th year, he got letters from Yale, Stanford, and Berkeley telling him how much they wanted him to do an Anesthesia residency at their program. He quickly decided to switch to EM last minute and got stuck in a string of hospitals in North Mississippi before moving out to where he practices now.

I see. Thanks guys, really appreciate it.
 
The three doctors that I've shadowed shared the same consensus: It doesn't matter where you go for medical school, it all matters what you score on the USMLE.

Sure, there was some individual differences (like state vs. private medical school preferences), however they all said the same thing. The EM doc that I shadowed went to UMC. He was single and independent so he spent all of his time studying for boards. He got #3 in his class and during 4th year, he got letters from Yale, Stanford, and Berkeley telling him how much they wanted him to do an Anesthesia residency at their program. He quickly decided to switch to EM last minute and got stuck in a string of hospitals in North Mississippi before moving out to where he practices now.

Berkeley? You sure you are telling the story right lol?
 
The three doctors that I've shadowed shared the same consensus: It doesn't matter where you go for medical school, it all matters what you score on the USMLE.

This is the closest to the truth I've seen here. Your board scores will be the main thing that residencies will look at, just like MCAT and GPA are the main thing med schools look at. I was told by a Harvard physician (as well as many others) that 99% of residencies will take the student that went to a low tier school, excelled, and got outstanding board scores over the student that attended Harvard, was an average student, and got decent boards. This doesn't mean that residencies won't look at other factors such as class rank, research, rec letters, etc. However, the most important factor is your board scores because it reflects your knowledge and abilities as a future physician.

School ranking typically doesn't matter much other than possibility providing you with some connections to certain residency sites. For example, some residencies like to take students from med school X because in the past, students from that school were great residents. Other than that, the 'school rank' is pretty much meaningless compared to your individual profile. Also, keep in mind that the 'top tier' med schools have that reputation for a reason, usually because their students do better on boards and in residency than 'low tier' schools. So if you go to one of those schools and don't do well on boards then going there doesn't really give you any advantage over any other applicant. Generally speaking, if you go to a school where you will succeed and get a great board score then you will most likely be pretty happy where you end up doing your residency and where you eventually get a job.
 
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I was told by a Harvard physician (as well as many others) that 99% of residencies will take the student that went to a low tier school, excelled, and got outstanding board scores over the student that attended Harvard, was an average student, and got decent boards. This doesn't mean that residencies won't look at other factors such as class rank, research, rec letters, etc. However, the most important factor is your board scores because it reflects your knowledge and abilities as a future physician.
:lame: -- :eyebrow: -- :uhno:
 

Perhaps I should have said "supposedly predicts your knowledge". Obviously some people who are brilliant don't get great scores, but overall I would guess that it's a good measure of most people's knowledge up to that step otherwise it probably would have been scrapped for a different evaluation method long ago...
 
Perhaps I should have said "supposedly predicts your knowledge". Obviously some people who are brilliant don't get great scores, but overall I would guess that it's a good measure of most people's knowledge up to that step otherwise it probably would have been scrapped for a different evaluation method long ago...
Or it's just a good residency filter. Step 1 and clinical ability are hardly correlative.
 
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Not sure if it was Berkeley or some other University Hospital in California. Maybe UCLA? Don't remember, this was over a year ago.
Berkeley is neither a hospital nor a med school.
 
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