Food for pre-medical thought...

Einsteinemc2 · Dec 3, 2005

To be honest, I find it hard to believe after interviewing at yale, harvard, and hopkins that all medical education is the same. the resources at these schools are simply unparalleled. furthermore, the faculty have proved themselves in one way or another. i mean, compared to a school like UTMB, or UT-Houston (i interviewed at these places), it's clear that there are differences in medical schools. big differences. why must we keep insisting that all medical education is the same? there is a reason everybody goes to hopkins if they have a special case/disease; and there is a reason they don't go to UTMB...

not to pick on UTMB, the people are wonderful. i just want to point out that there are clear differences.

Peter Griffen · Dec 3, 2005

Einsteinemc2 said:
To be honest, I find it hard to believe after interviewing at yale, harvard, and hopkins that all medical education is the same. the resources at these schools are simply unparalleled. furthermore, the faculty have proved themselves in one way or another. i mean, compared to a school like UTMB, or UT-Houston (i interviewed at these places), it's clear that there are differences in medical schools. big differences. why must we keep insisting that all medical education is the same? there is a reason everybody goes to hopkins if they have a special case/disease; and there is a reason they don't go to UTMB...

not to pick on UTMB, the people are wonderful. i just want to point out that there are clear differnces.

I think that you probably make excellent points. To be honest though, medical school comes down to one variable for me...cost. If I can get into my state school (or in my case, schools that offer students from my state cheap tuition) and save X amount of $ I'll be rolling in that Honda Civic that much sooner. Bling.

MoosePilot · Dec 3, 2005

0 posts going to into a controversial subject does not lend you any credibility.

Nobody claims the education is exactly the same. The general point that is made is that all US medical schools offer a good education and the differences, due to regulation, are tighter than they are in other fields. So while there are schools that are probably better than the average, there aren't really substandard schools. There is also so much material offered that you're not going to learn it all, even at a "lesser" school, so what you get out of med school is based more on your ability than the school's resources.

PRmed · Dec 3, 2005

Education is what you make of it. It does not matter if you have the greatest resources in the country if you do not personally care to take advantage of them. It all depends on the person first.

Einsteinemc2 · Dec 3, 2005

MoosePilot said:
0 posts going to into a controversial subject does not lend you any credibility.

Nobody claims the education is exactly the same. The general point that is made is that all US medical schools offer a good education and the differences, due to regulation, are tighter than they are in other fields. So while there are schools that are probably better than the average, there aren't really substandard schools. There is also so much material offered that you're not going to learn it all, even at a "lesser" school, so what you get out of med school is based more on your ability than the school's resources.

not 0 posts... see my previous posts. and i disagree. the amount of resources at the schools i mentioned go way beyond most schools; therefore, this will certainly affect your abilities. i'm too tired to go into much more detail. however, the vast majority of incredibly specialized cases go to these academic institutions... why is that? and i think that it's a nice idea to think that there aren't any substandard medical schools... but give me any proof... or evidence! there isn't any. you're going by what you've been told by the medical world. it's good to question convention.

MoosePilot · Dec 3, 2005

Einsteinemc2 said:
not 0 posts... see my previous posts. and i disagree. the amount of resources at the schools i mentioned go way beyond most schools; therefore, this will certainly affect your abilities. i'm too tired to go into much more detail. however, the vast majority of incredibly specialized cases go to these academic institutions... why is that? and i think that it's a nice idea to think that there aren't any substandard medical schools... but give me any proof... or evidence! there isn't any. you're going by what you've been told by the medical world. it's good to question convention.

Yes it is and you're failing to :laugh:

Proof? Ok, LCME creates standards leading to accreditation. If a school does not meet those standards it is placed on probation and required to fix the problems. So any substandard medical school is corrected.

Now, let's hear proof how these great resources actually improve student ability.

BaylorGuy · Dec 3, 2005

Einsteinemc2 said:
To be honest, I find it hard to believe after interviewing at yale, harvard, and hopkins that all medical education is the same. the resources at these schools are simply unparalleled. furthermore, the faculty have proved themselves in one way or another. i mean, compared to a school like UTMB, or UT-Houston (i interviewed at these places), it's clear that there are differences in medical schools. big differences. why must we keep insisting that all medical education is the same? there is a reason everybody goes to hopkins if they have a special case/disease; and there is a reason they don't go to UTMB...

not to pick on UTMB, the people are wonderful. i just want to point out that there are clear differences.

I agree with you....to a point. I've held steadfast that unless you get into a top 10 school (the Yale, harvard, hopkins, etc.), the medical education you get at any school is going to be on par with all the rest. There is a reason why these schools are a cut above the rest and it probably doesn't revolve around their education so much as does the way they use their resources and its applicability to students.

Messerschmitts · Dec 3, 2005

Certainly you will get a "good" medical education in any American school; at the same time there are obviously varying degrees of excellence. However, I do agree that when you get to the top 5 (or top 10...maybe), we are talking about a different beast. People who matriculate at HMS or JHS are probably not going to do family practise in their home town when they get out of residency. Schools like Harvard don't train doctors. They train hospital directors, departmental deans, NIH directors, surgeon generals, and governors/senators. That said, I just want to be a regular doctor.

Thus, HMS would be nice, but not necessary for my life goals.

QofQuimica · Dec 3, 2005

MoosePilot said:
Nobody claims the education is exactly the same. The general point that is made is that all US medical schools offer a good education and the differences, due to regulation, are tighter than they are in other fields. So while there are schools that are probably better than the average, there aren't really substandard schools. There is also so much material offered that you're not going to learn it all, even at a "lesser" school, so what you get out of med school is based more on your ability than the school's resources.

I agree with this. No matter where you go, you still have to work hard to learn the material, pass the Boards and become a good physician.

OP, what is the point of this thread? Different schools have different strengths and weaknesses, but a school's lack of "resources" doesn't mean that it offers a substandard education. (I'm not even sure exactly what "resources" you mean, anyway. Facilities? Nobel Prize laureates? Research funding? Something else altogether?) If rep and "resources" matter so much to you, then attend one of those schools that you think has these things, and withdraw from the TX schools that don't meet your resources criterion.

1Path · Dec 4, 2005

Q, Moose, I fully agree with you guys and while I can't speak on the medical school side of top 5 school versus state school, I can speak from the experience of having taken grad courses (students in certain programs take courses with medical students) at a top five (Hopkins) AND a state school (UMaryland), and here's what I found:

The faculty and administrators at UMaryland are by FAR more "accesible". No pretentiousness to speak of.

Most of the students at Hopkins started doing PCR in the 3rd grade.

Quite a few of the students at UMaryland remember when John Lennon died (RIP). Maybe half of the students at Hopkins know a "Beetle" only as a bug.

At Hopkins you'll get to see many types of rare pathologies (my personal interest). At UMaryland you don't forget that most of what you'll see is normal anyway. Plus, NIH is THE source for rare "anythings" in this area.

Japanese and Chinese are main languages at Hopkins.

Hopkins has GREAT places to eat on campus. UMaryland has GOOD places to eat.

The area around UMaryland is reasonably safe. Around Hopkins, you'd better be "packin" even with security around.

How much of this has to do with academics?? Absolutely nothing! :laugh:

njbmd · Dec 4, 2005

Einsteinemc2 said:
To be honest, I find it hard to believe after interviewing at yale, harvard, and hopkins that all medical education is the same. the resources at these schools are simply unparalleled. furthermore, the faculty have proved themselves in one way or another. i mean, compared to a school like UTMB, or UT-Houston (i interviewed at these places), it's clear that there are differences in medical schools. big differences. why must we keep insisting that all medical education is the same? there is a reason everybody goes to hopkins if they have a special case/disease; and there is a reason they don't go to UTMB...

not to pick on UTMB, the people are wonderful. i just want to point out that there are clear differences.

Hi there,
On interview day, you see what the school WANTS you to see. You also hear their sales pitch to some degree. Hopkins, Yale and Harvard are great schools but you have to be able to graduate and do well. I promise that if you hate your classmates and hate your location, you are not going to do very well. Doing well in medical school is all about your individual performace. The ivy-covered building will not get you very far unless you can do the work and perform well.

The top graduates of "lesser" medical school are going to go further than the bottom grads of a higher ranked school. We all take USMLE/COMLEX and I do not see every person at Harvard, Yale or Hopkins outscoring every other student in the country.

Go where you are most comfortable and can do your best. Harvard, Hopkins and Yale may be great for you but they can easily be the wrong place for you too. Many of those folks coming out of the Texas schools are going to have great careers and do very well withou the Harvard, Yale and Hopkins education and expenses too.

I congatulate you on your wonderful interviews but you have done nothing except interview. Come back later when you have graduated and finished a residency.

njbmd

Scintillation · Dec 6, 2005

trekster54 said:
Education is what you make of it. It does not matter if you have the greatest resources in the country if you do not personally care to take advantage of them. It all depends on the person first.

YES!

Skeptrix · Dec 8, 2005

are you counting the Gunners in this list of people as well??

heheh

Food for pre-medical thought...

Einsteinemc2

Member

Peter Griffen

Member

MoosePilot

Y Bombardier

PRmed

22

Einsteinemc2

Member

MoosePilot

Y Bombardier

BaylorGuy

Enter witty comment here

Messerschmitts

Mythic Dawn acolyte

QofQuimica

Seriously, dude, I think you're overreacting....

1Path

Membership Revoked

njbmd

Scintillation

Full Member

Skeptrix

should be studying ..

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