Advice and Perspective from a current medical student

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nicksain

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Hi Premeds,

We at [unnamed] med school recently had another batch of you guys roll in for interviews. I've seen more than 15 groups of 30-40 students at a time and talked to them.
However, in our last group, there was one applicant who really reminded me of some important points:

1. Most of you know jack-**** (excuse my french). The things I heard about MY medical school (and even undergrad) were totally false, especially coming from someone who is not a current student.

2. Those same people who think they know what's going on OFTEN ARE POSTING THE SAME CRAP HERE. When I was applying, I remember reading plenty of info on here and making MY life decisions based on what other people were saying -- when i had NO IDEA who the person was, what they were like, and whether or not I trusted them.

3. When picking a medical school - pick a place you FIT and you think you'll be happy. If you're unsure, don't talk to people who aren't yet in medical school too much, but instead MAKE AN EFFORT to talk to current medical students at that school- they'll be able to give you a real perspective and answer your detailed questions ACCURATELY.

Everyday, I laugh at the things I THOUGHT were important when choosing a medical school, not realizing that I was asking all the wrong questions just because someone on SDN told me those were important things to look into.

Choosing a medical school is a HUGE commitment (one you wont realize until you're in it / done with it), so choose wisely and ask about things that are important to YOU! Every interview you go to should be a chance for you to learn about individual schools, not only to sell yourself.

Also last point -- dont stress too much, because guess what -- in the path of medicine it only gets HARDER each step of the way. There is no end game so find ways to stay sane and happy now, otherwise you'll just burn out down the line when you realize you can no longer cope.

If you have any questions, PM me or reply to the thread and I'll try to give you examples of what I think are dumb questions that shouldnt be a factor in choosing a medical school for you.

-----
-a current MS2

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Everyday, I laugh at the things I THOUGHT were important when choosing a medical school, not realizing that I was asking all the wrong questions just because someone on SDN told me those were important things to look into.

...

If you have any questions, PM me or reply to the thread and I'll try to give you examples of what I think are dumb questions that shouldnt be a factor in choosing a medical school for you.

well, off the top of my head, i think these topics are pretty significant on sdn (please comment):
location
reputation
cost
match success
opportunities for research
atmosphere/attitude/"feel"
PBL vs non-PBL
...

and rather than listing off wrong/unimportant questions, could you offer recommendations for what you think are more appropriate/important questions?

thanks for offering your advice.
 
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rather than listing off wrong/unimportant questions, could you offer recommendations for what you think are more appropriate/important questions?

thanks for offering your advice.

yes, please. what questions should we be asking? what do you wish you had known? we get it, we're stupid and unprepared. so please help us become smarter and better equipped to make these decisions :)
 
perhaps my post came off too rant-ish based on a recent experience. my apologies.

Here goes, one of you asked about these categories. I guess my issue is that people are asking questions and comparing apples and oranges without making them PERSONAL. I'll try and explain through examples about how each of these questions each applicant should try and really answer within THEIR context. It'll require some inward dissection and figuring out who you are and what makes you happy.

Quote:
"location
reputation
cost
match success
opportunities for research
atmosphere/attitude/"feel"
PBL vs non-PBL"

I'll go through these step wise and try and explain.. Most people think that each of those categories has a right / wrong answer automatically better than another. Instead of asking what the "location is like" ask- "what is important to me/what makes me happy outside of medicine? snowboarding? then continue the line of reasoning - am i near mountains? will i get time to snowboard? can i take a day off to snowboard without hassle due to curriculum of do i have to be in class 8-5 everyday?" or vice versa -- Going to the met makes me happy. Are there museums in this location? etc. etc. etc.

reputation - what does reputation really mean? ask students - does the reputation of your school affect you on a day to day basis? did it hurt your school in the match? how did it help / affect you get into summer research programs outside of your school? Are there big shots in certain fields whose names carry weight to have an impact around the country? -- these questions seem SUPER impt on SDN - but if you're looking to practice family medicine in a rural environment, you may not be so worried about these and instead care more about the types of clinic opportunities -- ask about those instead. But if you're interested in possibly a competitive field than these may matter. But just because its XXXXXXXX big name school doesnt mean that the world's top most guy in XXXXXX field you're looking into works there. He/she may be at the no name school down the road (I was pleasantly surprised to realize how famous of a guy works at my "not so big name" school.) [yes im trying to keep this vague]

Cost - Meh you got me. yes keep it in mind.

match success- this is a product of you, NOT your school in my opinion. sure it matters a bit, but people from everywhere match everywhere. Plus, match probably has alot to do with life choices in terms of locations for living, specific programs, etc.... not just hospital rankings. This is probably one thing i think is overrated (then again when it comes to match I'm a "jack ****" knowing person)

"Feel" --- you gotta visit and talk to students. Just because one person felt one way on SDN based on 1 day at that school, doesnt mean its going to "feel" the same to you (or that even the students feel that way at all). Ask about camaraderie. Ask about fun. Ask about class bonding. Ask about friendships. Ask about personal / social lives. Ask about stories from med school to judge this oh-so vague "feel"

PBL vs. non PBL -- this is rant #2 for me. If you are like me when i was applying, you wouldve been going "YEAH PBL blah blah" without knowing what it meant (ie you'd never really had a PBL medicine class before). PBL is a personal choice. you need to know you'll like it. Personally, after having one PBL class, I hated it. It REQUIRES your time which I hate (i like planning my life instead of being required to be anywhere), plus I don't like feeling completely lost. I require background knowledge before discussing a case. If a prof is going to be spending his time somewhere, I'd rather him/her explain to me the concepts, give me examples in class, and then ask me to reapply the knowledge on a test instead of just asking me "so what do you think" as a i stare at them with a blank look. However, this is me. If you've had PBL classes and know that's how you learn best, then go to a PBL school you'll be happier. I have many classmates who realize now that PBL would've been the way to go for them. (my school is not PBL, we just had one class PBL like).



This post is losing focus. I'll try and sum up.
1. Think about what makes you happy, then think about life in med school and how you can maximize those little things that keep you happy (cause if you don't have them once in a while you might just go crazy) - ask questions related to those things are for you.
2. Look beyond what other SDN people think about schools and try to as much as possible use gut feelings to find your fit.
 
i've gotten alot of PM's about what questions to ask

The reason I didn't list things to ask (and instead said i can tell you things that i think may be dumb to ask) is because the whole point is that I have no idea what YOU should ask.

Look into yourselves, find out what'll make you happy.

If its saving money, then emphasize cost / financial aid questions.
If it's being the best of the best, emphasize reputation questions (and dont forget to find out if your school offers a class on bragging)
It it's matching in a certain specialty, ask questions about who's big in that field at that school and if students match there and if their interest group has a big presence or not.
If it's community outreach, ask about free clinics, etc. etc.
If it's being sane and happy while surviving med school, ask about the specific things you know make you get through the day and see how you'd be able to work those into your life at each medical school

but it shouldn't be the formulaic category checklist listed above.
 
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Hi Premeds,

We at [unnamed] med school recently had another batch of you guys roll in for interviews. I've seen more than 15 groups of 30-40 students at a time and talked to them.
However, in our last group, there was one applicant who really reminded me of some important points:

1. Most of you know jack-**** (excuse my french). The things I heard about MY medical school (and even undergrad) were totally false, especially coming from someone who is not a current student.

2. Those same people who think they know what's going on OFTEN ARE POSTING THE SAME CRAP HERE. When I was applying, I remember reading plenty of info on here and making MY life decisions based on what other people were saying -- when i had NO IDEA who the person was, what they were like, and whether or not I trusted them.

3. When picking a medical school - pick a place you FIT and you think you'll be happy. If you're unsure, don't talk to people who aren't yet in medical school too much, but instead MAKE AN EFFORT to talk to current medical students at that school- they'll be able to give you a real perspective and answer your detailed questions ACCURATELY.

Everyday, I laugh at the things I THOUGHT were important when choosing a medical school, not realizing that I was asking all the wrong questions just because someone on SDN told me those were important things to look into.

Choosing a medical school is a HUGE commitment (one you wont realize until you're in it / done with it), so choose wisely and ask about things that are important to YOU! Every interview you go to should be a chance for you to learn about individual schools, not only to sell yourself.

Also last point -- dont stress too much, because guess what -- in the path of medicine it only gets HARDER each step of the way. There is no end game so find ways to stay sane and happy now, otherwise you'll just burn out down the line when you realize you can no longer cope.

If you have any questions, PM me or reply to the thread and I'll try to give you examples of what I think are dumb questions that shouldnt be a factor in choosing a medical school for you.

-----
-a current MS2


Ok, I think you will be the right person to run my questions through again. Below is a list of questions that I have accumulated based on information from med students and residents. The major obstacle: finding an objective source to answer them. Some med students here are either pessimistic or sarcastic and think that it won't be possible to get objective responses. I wonder what you think. My main concern is to find out the best way/source to get answer to these questions. Feel free to add more questions if I am missing some:


    • 1) How much did students feel like their medical school experience kept them from choosing a more competitive specialty?
      2) How much did students feel like their medical school experience kept them from applying to more competitive institutions?
      3) How much did students feel like their medical school experience helped them to become competitive applicants in whichever field they chose?
      4) What percentage of students in less competitive specialties were able to match to one of their top 2 choices?
      5) What percentage of students in more competitive specialties were able to match to one of their top 3 choices?
      6) How do students feel about the competency, helpfulness, and friendliness of their ROADs mentors
      7) How well does their school take care of them in terms of making sure that they get enough clinical experience in any of the ROADs rotations without being forced to do a lot of scutwork?
      8) Whether they believe that their matching ability was in any way affected by their medical school?
    • 9) (Continuation from #7) Do students do a lot of procedural work in their rotations or do they simply shadow?
    • 10) How much contact/access do students have to the attendings during rotations?
 
Last edited:
perhaps my post came off too rant-ish based on a recent experience. my apologies.

Here goes, one of you asked about these categories. I guess my issue is that people are asking questions and comparing apples and oranges without making them PERSONAL. I'll try and explain through examples about how each of these questions each applicant should try and really answer within THEIR context. It'll require some inward dissection and figuring out who you are and what makes you happy.

Quote:
"location
reputation
cost
match success
opportunities for research
atmosphere/attitude/"feel"
PBL vs non-PBL"

I'll go through these step wise and try and explain.. Most people think that each of those categories has a right / wrong answer automatically better than another. Instead of asking what the "location is like" ask- "what is important to me/what makes me happy outside of medicine? snowboarding? then continue the line of reasoning - am i near mountains? will i get time to snowboard? can i take a day off to snowboard without hassle due to curriculum of do i have to be in class 8-5 everyday?" or vice versa -- Going to the met makes me happy. Are there museums in this location? etc. etc. etc.

reputation - what does reputation really mean? ask students - does the reputation of your school affect you on a day to day basis? did it hurt your school in the match? how did it help / affect you get into summer research programs outside of your school? Are there big shots in certain fields whose names carry weight to have an impact around the country? -- these questions seem SUPER impt on SDN - but if you're looking to practice family medicine in a rural environment, you may not be so worried about these and instead care more about the types of clinic opportunities -- ask about those instead. But if you're interested in possibly a competitive field than these may matter. But just because its XXXXXXXX big name school doesnt mean that the world's top most guy in XXXXXX field you're looking into works there. He/she may be at the no name school down the road (I was pleasantly surprised to realize how famous of a guy works at my "not so big name" school.) [yes im trying to keep this vague]

Cost - Meh you got me. yes keep it in mind.

match success- this is a product of you, NOT your school in my opinion. sure it matters a bit, but people from everywhere match everywhere. Plus, match probably has alot to do with life choices in terms of locations for living, specific programs, etc.... not just hospital rankings. This is probably one thing i think is overrated (then again when it comes to match I'm a "jack ****" knowing person)

"Feel" --- you gotta visit and talk to students. Just because one person felt one way on SDN based on 1 day at that school, doesnt mean its going to "feel" the same to you (or that even the students feel that way at all). Ask about camaraderie. Ask about fun. Ask about class bonding. Ask about friendships. Ask about personal / social lives. Ask about stories from med school to judge this oh-so vague "feel"

PBL vs. non PBL -- this is rant #2 for me. If you are like me when i was applying, you wouldve been going "YEAH PBL blah blah" without knowing what it meant (ie you'd never really had a PBL medicine class before). PBL is a personal choice. you need to know you'll like it. Personally, after having one PBL class, I hated it. It REQUIRES your time which I hate (i like planning my life instead of being required to be anywhere), plus I don't like feeling completely lost. I require background knowledge before discussing a case. If a prof is going to be spending his time somewhere, I'd rather him/her explain to me the concepts, give me examples in class, and then ask me to reapply the knowledge on a test instead of just asking me "so what do you think" as a i stare at them with a blank look. However, this is me. If you've had PBL classes and know that's how you learn best, then go to a PBL school you'll be happier. I have many classmates who realize now that PBL would've been the way to go for them. (my school is not PBL, we just had one class PBL like).



This post is losing focus. I'll try and sum up.
1. Think about what makes you happy, then think about life in med school and how you can maximize those little things that keep you happy (cause if you don't have them once in a while you might just go crazy) - ask questions related to those things are for you.
2. Look beyond what other SDN people think about schools and try to as much as possible use gut feelings to find your fit.

Are there opportunities to find out if PBL will work or not?
 
6) How do students feel about the competency, helpfulness, and friendliness of their ROADs mentors
7) How well does their school take care of them in terms of making sure that they get enough clinical experience in any of the ROADs rotations without being forced to do a lot of scutwork?

:laugh: oy.
 
well, off the top of my head, i think these topics are pretty significant on sdn (please comment):
location
reputation
cost
match success
opportunities for research
atmosphere/attitude/"feel"
PBL vs non-PBL
...

and rather than listing off wrong/unimportant questions, could you offer recommendations for what you think are more appropriate/important questions?

thanks for offering your advice.
I can chime in here, especially for those of you who will be making difficult decisions in the next month.

location - if you are from CA, this will be very important to you. (Especially the socalers, we are very spoiled and I realized this very quickly. Ohh how I miss LA.) On a more serious note, go where you think you'll be the happiest. If family and friends make you happy, stay close to them. If you enjoy skiing, surfing, biking, hiking... go where you can do all of that stuff. THIS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE PBLvsNON-PBL CONSIDERATION!
reputation - I wouldn't ignore it, however, debating over a USNWR #21 ranked school and a #41 ranked school because of "prestige" is FOOLISH. There are a LOT of really nice medical schools that will prepare you to go wherever you want in medicine. This should not be your main consideration, unless of course you get accepted to ucsf. Then you absolutely have to go. But seriously, go where you will have the best opportunity to succeed in academics and in life. This may be at big name school X, or at local state school Y.
costIt really depends on what's important to you. Some people really stand by the "go where it's cheapest" motto. I'm a fan of experience instead of finances, so if two schools were within 50K of each other, I didn't consider the $. If they were more than 50K apart, then I considered it.
match successunpredictable. Go where you think you will have the best opportunity to succeed in academics and in life.
opportunities for researchThis really depends on how important research is to you. This wouldn't be high on my list since most med schools have decent research opportunities for you to take advantage of or can network to place you in a field that pleases you. Also, don't pick a school based on NIH $, instead base your decision on the accessibility of the faculty and the amount of space available for med students.
atmosphere/attitude/"feel"I'd rank this high. Go to the school where you will be the happiest and have the best opportunity to succeed. If a school makes you warm a fuzzy, you should consider it. However, interview days and 2nd looks etc aren't 100% accurate representations of a school. Talk to the students and faculty to get a more thorough understanding of how well you fit.
PBL vs non-PBL This depends on your learning style. I actually really like PBL because it reinforces the important concepts that can easily be lost in the overwhelming amount of material you have to learn. Also, I think of PBL as the stuff that is soooooo important, they have to force you to learn it. Also, the effectiveness of PBL depends on how cool you classmates are, and the strength of your facilitator. I actually think the PBL factor is rather insignificant, and what is most important is the amount of lecture time. As a med student, you will learn by reading the material. Sure lecture helps, but you're still going to have to read the material. So go to a school that gives you enough time to read the material AND live your life.
 
Yeah the OP was kinda rude on that first post. Don't forget all med students, doctors, and even the dean started as a med school applicant. :sleep:
 
like i said, i came off a bit rantish. my apologies.
 
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