I think that advice is definitely directed at more traditional med schools. We are smaller, but growing so we may not have individual departments outside of the core 6 specialities (the LIC specialities). As far as charter class and what those who matched competitively did - many have stated that because Scranton has never had med students before, the local specialists rally around our students and help them in whatever manner possible to get them interviews, research, etc. For example - one of the 4th years who matched into ENT said the local ENTs really took him under their wing and made sure he was up to par with all of the requirements for such a competitive specialty. Currently, for derm - the President of the American Academy for Dermatology is the father of a current 4th year (and also a local physician) and has been invaluable to other TCMC students pursuing derm. Similarly - there are many extremely accomplished physicians in the area helping out with other specialties. Dr. Dudrick , the father of TPN (total parenteral nutrition), is part-time faculty here and extremely respected. He was full-time faculty at UPenn for many years and has been helping students who are interested in surgical specialties. I could go on and on. For whatever reason, NEPA seems to have an abundance of extremely accomplished physicians. Part of the problem is that they are aging and towards the end of their careers (hence TCMC's mission). Hope that helps.
