How do Stanford med students compare the program at UCSF to their own? I've always been curious about this. I've also heard things about the clinical facilities/training at Stanford being a huge drawback, although the research is top notch. Having no knowledge of the school, would someone mind chiming in with their views/experiences?
Yay, finals are over, and I'm still in med school (well until they grade everything...). Just kidding. They actually went really well, so nothing to worry about, and plus even if I don't pass, Stanford will make sure I get the tutors, etc. to make sure I do later, so it isn't a huge deal. It is all about making sure you know the material to be a great clinician, not scoring the highest.
So in terms of how we compare UCSF to our own program, I asked my friend, and he came back with a great answer, but much of it was already said by our Fellows classmates, so I'm going to distill it into something shorter. However, let me start off by saying if you have the opportunity to choose between UCSF and Stanford, you can't go wrong, both schools are wonderful, both schools have their strengths and weaknesses, and you'll just have to go with what feels right for you. We'd love to have you here, but also acknowledge that not every school is for everybody, so you have to just go with your gut. However, here's some differences we see:
1) Stanford is more interdisciplinary - We kinda talked about this already, but in his words, "UCSF is part of a health-sciences only institution whereas Stanford Med is part of a major multi-disciplinary university. For me this was the major distinction." Also, in terms of social things it is nice being at a whole university (hello football and other all campus functions!)
2) Stanford is way more chill - "Having a TRUE P/F grading system, with no internal rank or honors societies, lets you relax a bit and focus on the big picture. Also, having Wednesdays off lets you continue your interests outside of medicine -- like exercise, sleep, musical instrument, ceramics, or take classes at the main campus, explore a research interest, etc. -- and even allows for time to do something new and interesting like learn a new language. You can remain a whole person as a medical student here."
3) Stanford is smaller and more intimate - Specifically, he said, "Stanford has a very small class size, 86, so your voice is twice as loud as a medical student here. You will be heard. The resources are also much more available and personalized that I had expected, presumably due to a smaller school."
4) Stanford is cheaper - According to him, "Stanford was more affordable than any state school I was considering. The average debt is one of the lowest in the country -- mostly because they reward scholarly work and teaching with a generous tuition stipend."
You mentioned clinical training and research as potentially being a difference between us and UCSF, but I don't think either are huge differentials. Clinically, we get really great training through a unique program where from the very beginning, we have an advisor work with us biweekly on dealing with both normal, as well as potentially difficult patient encounters with real time practice and feedback with standardized and real patients. We also have a lot of variety in clinical locations here with diverse patient population, after all, if you just count population, we're bigger than San Francisco (and also bigger geographically, after all we don't confine ourselves to Palo Alto, we're all throughout Santa Clara County, though now that I saw that, I wonder if UCSF branches out of SF, I don't know). In terms of research, I think UCSF's research is probably pretty awesome too, so I personally don't distinguish the two institutions on clinical and research, but that could just be me.
Anyways, that's how we see ourselves in comparison to UCSF, which may or may not be true, it is just our perception heheh. I'm sure you could ask 100 different UCSF and Stanford students and get 100 different answers. Hope that helps still though! Let me know if anyone has any more questions, and as always, my fingers are crossed for everyone to get interview invites, on your interview day, and hearing back after interviews!!!!!!! Good luck everyone!!!
