a question about Howard College of Medicine

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medhearter

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Hi all,

I would be very happy to have the chance to be a student at Howard College of Medicine. The school stands for values that I feel are very important to me and to the way I want to practice medicine.

What I wanted to get an impression of, though, is impressions of the clinical training at Howard, and any kind of feedback about how residency directors perceive the training and dedication of the students of Howard.

Any substantiated response is appreciated.
Responses from residents or beyond much appreciated.

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I have a couple of friends who graduated from Howard med and told me to stay far, far away from the school. They said that residents and attendings at Howard hospital treat the med students as second-hand citizens and that the way residents are treated at their hospital is very different than the way that med students are treated. I had another friend who almost got expelled for attendance issues-- until they realized they had mistaken him for someone else. One of my friends said he had a professor show up drunk to lecture, when he bothered showing up at all--some days, he wouldn't come to class and would not give advance warning about his absence, either. The administration seems a bit disorganized and quite frankly, many are pretty rude too.

At first, I wanted to go to Howard because I really felt the same way you did. Unfortunately, that really changed for me after dealing with their administration and hearing from my Howard friends, and I will be attending elsewhere.
 
You guys both have the same avatar. For a while I thought you were answering your own question. :scared:
 
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I would try to find Howard med students and find out from them. Use the search function and try to PM some Howard students.


All you will get from the pre-allo forum is hearsay based on a friend of a friend. If you want the real info you need to talk to somebody who is there. Not people who only interviewed.
 
I have several good friends who are attending Howard right now. They do complain about the disorganization of the admin dept. However, about your clinical training question, Howard students do rotations in a grossly understaffed hospital so they get to do a lot more hands on stuff that most other students don't usually do. In that regard you're getting more first-hand clinical experience which is invaluable come residency time. Howard students tend to have an easier time adjusting to residency because they had to do procedures since rotations. Other than these small points I don't know much more about all the day to day experiences.
 
Hi all,

I would be very happy to have the chance to be a student at Howard College of Medicine. The school stands for values that I feel are very important to me and to the way I want to practice medicine.

What I wanted to get an impression of, though, is impressions of the clinical training at Howard, and any kind of feedback about how residency directors perceive the training and dedication of the students of Howard.

Any substantiated response is appreciated.
Responses from residents or beyond much appreciated.

First off, the education here is second to none. From us in the med school to the residency programs. We have some real heavy hitters here in our hospital. But you have to seek out us students that go here. If you listen to people who are on the outside or go by hear say, you will truly miss out on something special.

Our residents have excellent training. Yes the attendings are tough on them, but that is because in my opinion, they want to prepare them for what it is going to be like when they leave residency. The attendings here are very open and willing to teach to residents as well as students. I did my preceptorship with the chief of one of the depts here and it was great. He answered any question I had, told me I can come to any of his procedures when I want to. Howard is family environment, but just like any family, sometimes you get tough love. But it is only to help you and make you stronger. Our residency programs here are excellent and I know that I would be honored to attend a residency program here.

Make sure you take advice in pre-allo with a grain of salt. If you want good answers or info, reach out to someone at that school and get it straight from the source. Howard is an awesome place and I love it. I honestly could not see myself being anywhere else for medical school.
 
Of course, know that everybody's experiences with any particular school are going to vary; some will love it, some will hate it, some will find it pretty average. I was just letting you know what I have heard and experienced; just my two cents. I live practically next door to Howard and have a few family members (I come from a big family of doctors) who have gone through residency at Howard and said it was great. They got good training and they were the ones who originally encouraged me to apply. However, I get the impression from the people I know who were either students or residents there, that there is a big difference.

Just do your research and no matter what, take what the administration at ANY school says with a big heap of salt. For the most part, all schools try to make themselves look good, for obvious reasons. You can't blame them. That's why it's important to seek out advice from neutral parties. Here's an idea: ask the hospitals around DC about their experience with Howard students when they become residents, telling them that you are looking at medical schools right now and want to get a better idea of what to expect at each school. If they say that that the residents they accept who went to Howard seem to be very well prepared and successful, then that's good news!
 
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