Wayne State School of Medicine vs MSU College of Human Medicine

Answering these questions might be a guide:

-Do you prefer PBL or traditional learning? This probably the most important question.
-Do you prefer smaller, more frequent tests (MSU) or larger, more spaced out tests?
-Do you like Detroit or would you rather be at one of the community campuses of MSU?
-Is there a difference in their financial aid packages offered to you?

It's the Socratic method , hope it helps.

Congrats by the way!

SikhSpartan89 said:

Thanks.....yeah I just want to know the opinions on which one is better...at this point i wouldnt mind PBL or traditional (im an HS student, and i got into these schools through BS/MD programs)

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I would definitely choose MSU since it has a much better undergrad. As far as the medical schools are concerned, neither one is top tier so there really isn't a "better" school (since you don't have a PBL/traditional preference).

Well I guess that complicates things a little more than what I had to deal with. I got into both and I will starting at MSU-CHM in the fall. For me, it was just the better choice. I like Lansing over Detroit, I like the CHM curriculum better (prob based all year 2), and even though the clinicals may be better through the DMC, I would rather not be in Detroit. You basically just have to decide which is better for you. If I was in your situation, I wouldn't even consider the any undergrad aspects, just base my decision on what medical school I liked best, but like I said, you need to figure out what works well for you. There is no bad choice between these schools.

I am a current senior at MSU and have some input on this. I will be going to Wayne if I don't get off any of my waitlists. I believe being a doctor is more than how much medical knowledge you have. If you can't interact with patients than your treatment plan may not be followed by your patient. I believe MSU will develop your interpersonal skills more than Wayne for undergraduate due to the massive amounts of students at msu (upwards of 40 thousand I believe). Wayne State is more of a commuter school so you won't be able to experiene as much as you would being a student at MSU.

On the other hand, I do not believe MSU med school provides students with ample opportunities to explore different options besides family practice. THe faculty at MSU is not as diverse as Wayne. Just click on a random specialty at Wayne and you will find a crap load of doctors affiliated with the school under that specialty. The same can not be said for many deparments at MSU. If you want to keep your options open I suggest not commiting yourself to MSU. What complicates this is the fact that I see MSU's move in the near future creating these same opportunities that Wayne currently has.

As far as the combine BS?MD program (I assume you are talking about the Medical Scholoars Progam), one of my good friends is in it. She likes the program a lot. She comments that all the students in the progam are incredibly smart so you will be in good company.

If you can get into the MD Scholoars program I assume you could get into UofM undergrad. I would suggest taking a look at going to that school and giving yourself more options in the long run.

SikhSpartan89 said:

Anyone else?

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I've heard MSU med students complain about how they're shipped out to do their rotations--I don't think that there's any question that you'll get better clinical experiences at WSU.

On the other hand, WSU undergraduates complain about campus life. MSU would be much more fun for undergrad if you want the Animal House/Van Wilder/Revenge of the Nerds experiences. Things are getting better at Wayne for undergrads, though. They've thrown up some pretty nice dorms in the past few years and built a really nice fitness center. It's got a way to go, but it's beginning to feel more like a normal school.

Though MSU may have a bigger enrollment in its undergrad, I think that WSU is as culturally diverse as MSU if not more so.

Have you visited both schools? What kind of impression did you get?

Wayne State tends to be the preferred choice between the two unless you have a strong interest in primary care... what Dr.D-man said are good questions. Class size might be a factor. Beware of PBL. It is a thorn in med student's sides. Wayne State also streams all their lectures and provides you all the notes before each block. If you are an independent learner this might be great for you (this is one of the bigger reasons I'm picking WSU).

I would not commit to either though and actually have a full college career. Congrats on the acceptances, though... you probably won't regret picking either way.

I believe the BS/MD program for Wayne State is also free? I'm not sure if MSU is similar in that facet. However, if it isn't, I think the decision is pretty easy. Both schools are good, but if one is free... the choice is clear in my opinion.

alright, not to come off as an idiot, but I have seen the term PBL thrown out all the time here at SDN. What exactly is PBL?

FrickenhugeMD said:

alright, not to come off as an idiot, but I have seen the term PBL thrown out all the time here at SDN. What exactly is PBL?

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let's not speak of it...it's that terrible

FrickenhugeMD said:

alright, not to come off as an idiot, but I have seen the term PBL thrown out all the time here at SDN. What exactly is PBL?

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Problem Based Learning... you sit around in a group and learn in 4 hours about as much as you get from one hour of lecture...

UMP said:

Problem Based Learning... you sit around in a group and learn in 4 hours about as much as you get from one hour of lecture...

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Although I have no experience in a PBL curriculum, I would assume that it really is one of those things that "you get out of it what you put into it." A lot of people criticize it, but it can be a highly effective approach for the right person.

I like PBL and I also am headed toward primary care so MSU is good for me. It is true though, if you want to do some kind of sweet specialty, Wayne may be the better choice. I guess is becomes hard for you because you haven't even started UG yet so you probably don't know what you want to go into. Do you?

Also, for the program that you're going in to, did you interveiw for it. If not, maybe you should go take a look around both schools, especially the medical schools, if you haven't done so already. I was torn between these two but what really drove home the decision to go to MSU was the gut feeling I had when I was at the interview day.

another thing to think about is where would you want to end up? If you want to be in southeast michigan/metro detroit, wayne would be better for you... the rest of the state or a rural area, MSU would be better

I went to WSU and graduated in 92. Let's face it, living in Detroit sucks. You can also commute in from the suburbs. For the first 2 pre-clinical years, at least at the time I went, I did so much better on tests when I only went to selected lectures, otherwise I stayed home and read the lecture notes.

You'll get great clinical experience in Detroit, on the other hand. I think this is the main reason why wsu is a better med school than msu. It's a huge school with many resources. Doing general surgery at Detroit Receiving Hospital and getting a gunshot wound patient multiple times a night.... you will not get that experience in the Lansing area.

You will be dreaming of leaving Detroit after a while though, so the Detroit part is painful while you're there, unless you're one of the Detroit martyrs that want to sacrifice their lives to "giving back to the community." Great if you're one of those, but I saw it as a sinking boat and chose to live in sunny CA.... Sooooo much nicer.

DocOB said:

I like PBL and I also am headed toward primary care so MSU is good for me. It is true though, if you want to do some kind of sweet specialty, Wayne may be the better choice. I guess is becomes hard for you because you haven't even started UG yet so you probably don't know what you want to go into. Do you?

Also, for the program that you're going in to, did you interveiw for it. If not, maybe you should go take a look around both schools, especially the medical schools, if you haven't done so already. I was torn between these two but what really drove home the decision to go to MSU was the gut feeling I had when I was at the interview day.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have the impression based on your previous responses that you are entering medical school in the fall. If that is the case, I wonder how you know whether or not you "like PBL," without actually having med school curriculum presented in such a manner. In my opinion it is a bad idea and will eventually fall out of favor with medical schools. When you are learning about disease processes for the first time during the second year of medical school self-directed learning is not efficient since you have no clinical basis to determine what is important and relavent. To each his own however.