accepted to school emphasizing primary care

[nichols195]

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I am currently accepted to Wright State for the beginning of 2003 and I am on a few waitlists at OSU, Cincy, and Case. Assuming I do not hear from any of those three schools I will begin @ Wright in early August. Will attending Wright State (a primary care oriented community based medical school) affect my chances of getting into any specialties as well as my residency placement? I know how important school name and reputation are for residency placement. If you shine on Step I and honor in your classes (a big IF, i know) will you still have a good chance at obtaining a competitive residency in terms of location/specialty?

I am considering reapplying as I feel I was a very competitive applicant. If I already have 2 strikes against me by attending here I am not sure if I should go. I am very happy to be accepted but this is really weighing on me right now. I am nervous about reapplying having been accepted the year previous, and having to explain that. I am also worried about the possibility of not getting in the 2nd time through! If anybody knows anything about Wright's match list, as well as information relating to the questions I asked above I would greatly appreciate a response. Thank you for your help.

 

[nichols195]

I am still considering primary care by the way, but I am leaning towards specializing. If I go primary care I realize I'd be at a great school for that, but if not which is a decent if, I am not so sure. Thanks for any replies.

 

[mongoose]

it won't make a difference really. my school tries to emphasize primary care, but still (as a rough estimate) just over half the class specializes. just because they emphasize primary care, it won't limit you in any way. i am going to do general surgery (probably) and i don't feel like my school's emphasis on primary care is hindering me at all. in fact, it may be an advantage because i will understand a little more about the ins and outs of primary care than other surgeons. maybe.

 

[moviefreak]

for the 2 schools i interviewed with w/c are focused on primary care, a substantial # do go into specialties. i don't know about wright state though. ask for the school's match list and check it out yourself. also check out the much recommended residency guide and the surgery forum.

 

[Skip Intro]

Originally posted by nichols195
I am still considering primary care by the way, but I am leaning towards specializing. If I go primary care I realize I'd be at a great school for that, but if not which is a decent if, I am not so sure. Thanks for any replies.

What do you want to do if you specialize? That may help you to better focus.

Also, I'd consider the fact that, with job prospects so bad right now, applications from unemployed college graduates will increase dramatically next year (as they have in the past during similar economic times). What may be an exceptionally competitive applicant this year may not stand out as much the next, especially with a larger applicant pool schools have to chose from. Be grateful you already have at least one admission for this year's class.

Lastly, many subspecialists start out in Internal Medicine. Unless you want derm, optho, ENT, or ortho, you will have amply opportunity to specialize if you go the pure medicine route regardless of where you attended school. If you have your heart set on one of the former, I agree that you should look at your Wright's match list this year and see what the percentages were. This will give you the best estimate of your chances.

-Skip

 

[drmacd]

I'll be off to Wright State in the fall as well. I looked over there match lists, which are on the website and it looks like there are some specialities. I think that Im going to go the specialty route, but I think that Ill appreciate the primary care approach to patient care.

If you have any other questions, shoot me a PM, or email.


Beth

[email protected]

 

[nichols195]

thanks for all of the replies
i may not have to worry about it soon as I was just told by osu admissions when i called that i should receive a call in the next few weeks to come off of the waitlist (i was suprised they actually disclosed this over the phone)

but if that doesnt happen and the woman was just playing a cruel joke then its Wright all the way and i'll hit you up drmacd

i may indeed go the primary care route, i think its hard to say if you want to do certain competitive subspecialties this early but i was just worried about closing any doors, thanks again

 

[Winged Scapula]

This may be too late to be relevant, but "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" or something like that.

Unless you have your mind set on an ultra-competitive specialty at some ultra-competitive program, your undergrad school, even with a primary care "mission" won't significantly affect your residency application, all else being equal of course.

There are plenty of students going to "primary care" schools who match into specialties - I only need to look at this year's Penn State class to see the truthfulness of that - while we have a "mission" we matched several students into Integrated Plastics, Optho, Ortho, Derm, etc. I doubt the school's mission significantly affected that.

Although you may be competitive, you have no way of knowing should you give up an admission this year that you will gainone next year - it may look bad that you've given up a spot or the applicant pool may change. Don't take the chance.