Hey everyone. I realize I'm a little late to post for most of you, but hopefully this may help some people. I saw a few questions in this thread that have not gotten answered so I will try to answer some of them. Sorry in advance for the long post.
I am an M1 at Temple, in the St. Luke's regional campus. The difference between the campuses is primarily just where they are. Main campus is in North Philly while St. Luke's is in Bethlehem. So students in the St. Luke's regional campus will spend year 1 in Philly with everyone else, then years 2-4 in Bethlehem. There were a few things that drove me to choose St. Luke's over main campus (since I am still in year 1 I haven't experienced all of these yet but these were what I gathered.)
1. The class size is significantly reduced. Main campus will have 150-180 students while St. Luke's caps at 30. This allows for you to have more hands on experience during workshops, rotations, etc.
2. The lectures in year 2 are taught almost entirely by practicing or retired MDs. For this reason, the classes are much more clinically focused. At main campus, many of the lectures are given by PhDs, who might put a focus on other aspects of the material.
3. All of your rotations are done at St. Luke's. You will never have to move out of your apartment/house to travel for a rotation, and you will never have to learn the ins and outs of a new hospital. You can also get very close to the residents and attendings. I've been told that if you are interested in a field, the docs might text you to say they are doing something really interesting and you should run over to watch/help.
4. Bethlehem is a beautiful city, with some really cool things to do. With that in mind, it is not anywhere near Philadelphia. It is much smaller, quieter, calmer, and has far fewer people. This is more personal preference, I am not much of a city person myself.
Those were my main reasons, and some of them may be drawbacks for you. Some drawbacks for me are the lack of many opportunities that you have in Philadelphia. There is quite a bit more to do in Philly at Main Campus, including clubs, research, shadowing opps, etc. Also you will have to find a place in Philly for your first year, then leave all your newly made friends to go to Bethlehem in the second year. There will also be times when you will have to drive to Bethlehem in your first year, which is just over an hour drive, but still may be inconvenient for some.
Some people were mentioning what Temple's focus is, as every school has to pick what they will prioritize. Someone mentioned research, and I would have to disagree. The school certainly does have research opportunities that you can get involved in, but there is not a huge emphasis on research in my opinion. In my opinion the two main focuses at Temple are Doctor-Patient interaction and City Pride. For the entirety of the first two years, you will be enrolled in a class called Doctoring, in which you learn how to be a doctor. Sounds strange, right? It is actually one of my favorite parts of the curriculum. The classes ranges from how to take a history, how to talk to adolescents who have a helicopter parent, how to calm down/ talk to angry patients, etc. All of these things are not things you might initially think of needing to know, but they are amazingly helpful. These classes are typically a brief lecture with an accompanying workshop. Most of these will be with a standardized patient, in which you will get to actually do the things talked about for that week. You will be in the simulation center within your first week and the SPs will help guide and refine your techniques throughout the year. Temple grads are renowned for their ability to effectively communicate and work with patients.The other major thing is what I have dubbed city pride. Temple loves Philadelphia and everything in it, and the school really aims to make it a better place. From community service (yes students are required) to inviting members of the community into the school for certain events, Temple really aims to be a part of the community in any way they can. You should watch Temple's newest advertisement to get the idea (Experience Philadelphia through Temple University.) This is also true for the St. Luke's campus and Bethlehem.
Anyway I hope this is helpful for some of you. I hope most of you have already submitted your secondaries already, but if not don't count yourself out yet. Just get them in as soon as possible. Good luck to everyone and let me know if you have any questions/concerns.
