Med school Interview Tours

[Falco2525]

Has anybody actually found them to be useful...I have been to several interviews and I have to say all med schools are for the most part very similar in set up and have very similar amenities for their students...I honestly can not think of a tour where I was overly impressed...in fact I am even starting to mix up which schools had what...anybody else feel this way?

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[maestro1625]

I use them to ask a lot of quesitons... the big one for me is to ask what the "worst" part of the school is. (I tend to couple this with the "best" part in a single question). Forcing honest answers out of admissions people is often quite telling of the quality of the school.

 

[ph8]

Has anybody actually found them to be useful...I have been to several interviews and I have to say all med schools are for the most part very similar in set up and have very similar amenities for their students...I honestly can not think of a tour where I was overly impressed...in fact I am even starting to mix up which schools had what...anybody else feel this way?

I would say that the point of the tour is not to see the facilities, which can be similar from school to school, but to get direct and pointed answers from the tour guides to your own specific questions. Maestro provides a good example. One question I usually ask the tour guide(s): "If you had it to do over again, would you make the same choice for this school?".

 

[Lorienne7]

I'm not a fan of interview tours, but I can't really think of an alternative. Like the previous poster said, I keep myself interested by trying to ask questions because talking to med students more than anything seems the best way to learn something about a school, not looking at its pretty/ugly/old/new hospital/classroom/student lounge/library. Usually, by that point in the day, the interview's over, lunch is over, the fact that I haven't had enough sleep begins to catch up with me, and I begin to realize that if I have to walk down one more flight of stairs in my heels, I will be rendered officially handicapped.

Hmm...I think that came off as more bitter than I intended it...

 

[Haemulon]

I found the tour I went on to be extremely useful by talking with the student tour guide. You rally can ask the kind of questions that are not as appropriate for interviews, but are important nevertheless.

 

[baylormed]

I have found my tours to be very helpful. I got to see the hospitals where, if accepted, I would be spending the majority of my time. I guess that is the biggie for me, to see the actual flow of patients and the size/location of the hospital (which has a lot to do with how much you will get to see and how much practice you'll get as a doctor....for example, Parkland hospital in Dallas has the reputation of delivering the greatest number of babies in the US per year, and has a pretty diverse patient population, meaning tons of good practice).

You also get to see classrooms and labs, but as it has been pointed out before, those things shouldn't be the decisive factor in your decision to attend any particular school.

 

[thedelicatessen]

It is mildly helpful to see the facilities, but eventually all the tours start blending together. After seeing the first patient simulation lab or anatomy lab, they don't seem as unique as they initially were.

 

[aglaiaer]

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[cakebaker2]

I agree with the other posters who thought their tours were helpful. When I was at Drexel, the tour guide was very talkative and informal. She talked about inconveniences (like how the cafeteria has odd hours), what they're doing to solve the problems, what areas arn't safe around campus, where students like to get together, etc. I found it a great way to get to know the school environment.

 

[JustBreathe]

Most interviewees are very impressed by the facilities here. Not all schools have equal facilities - I know I interviewed at places last year (I won't name any names) that weren't nearly as nice.

That said, the importance you place on nice facilities is up to you.

 

[Falco2525]

Most interviewees are very impressed by the facilities here. Not all schools have equal facilities - I know I interviewed at places last year (I won't name any names) that weren't nearly as nice.

That said, the importance you place on nice facilities is up to you.

I have to agree the one set of facilities I remember well is WashU's...my parents are from St. Louis and I have family there so I would like to be there next year...but who knows what will happen

 

[CardiacIntensivist]

Tours are never useful for me. I am usually only interested in seeing the living areas, the anatomy lab and the library. It might help you come up with a few questions should you have an afternoon tour.

 

[Dookter]

I would suggest taking the tours seriously. I know they all seem the same, but you might find yourself having to choose between schools in May.

 

[DoctaJay]

The only time I'm impressed during the tour is when we tour the hospital, because as you said the medical schools pretty much look the same. Vandy's children's hospital was unbelievably nice; words can't even describe it. So that was impressive. The hospital as Maryland is pretty nice too.