Another "vs." question.

[qwert]

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Any input greatly appreciated.
Would you pick Jefferson over MCPHU? Why?

Thanks.

 

[jargon124]

Ok, I haven't interviewed at either (didn't apply to MCPHU, and will withdraw from Jefferson soon) but I don't think there is any question Jefferson is a much better school. I'm sure others know more about the schools specifically and can give you a more rigorous account of why.

 

[THE instiGATOR]

Without having visited either school, I would probably not choose Jefferson over MCPHU. I like the options one has at MCPHU (PBL vs. Traditional). I also like their mock clinics. UF has similar clinics, and they are highly praised by the med students. I've heard Jefferson is quite competitive, and I think the options at MCPHU will help to dampen the amount of stress you will feel (you'll be doing something more "you").

I'm probably alone with this opinion.

 

[vyc]

i heard that MCPHU has a really low passing rate on the boards...

 

[Dr. Kermit]

I have yet to interview at Jefferson, but visited Temple and MCP. While I would attend Temple over MCP, I'm not sure about choosing Jefferson over Temple. While Jeff is ranked, my friends there have told me varying stories. First, it is very competitive. They told me that the admissions staff is saying they are going to P/F system to alleviate competition, but my friends have said there are no plans in the administration to do so. Jeff likes that residency directors know that their students are graded numerically and that they aren't P/F. Also, my friends have said that their clinical training isn't as good as Temple and Penn. Most of the trauma is seen at Temple, Penn, and MCP. Jefferson is in Center City which gives it a great location to live, but they don't get a lot of hands on training there because many of the patients are suburbanites who come into the city for care. Many of Jeff's students are great with OB/Gyn (which it is highly reputated), surgery, and radiology, but they struggle with the basics of primary care and try to do rotations at other schools. Finally, while you can do research at Jeff, it is hard to fund.

The good points of Jeff are that it is in Center City and near transportation, shopping, etc. MCP is 15 minutes out of Center City and there is not much around it. Also, since Jeff is ranked and more nationally known, you may have an easier time obtaining your residency position as opposed to having directors say, "Hahnemann, didn't they go bankrupt and then change their name?"

Hope this helps you out.

 

[qwert]

Thanks people!
Did any of you get to compare their match lists for last year?

 

[jackjinju]

Hi,

I'm a third-year at MCP. I would say Jeff is more reputable, but not so much more so that it would make a big difference in one's career. I've seen the match list from MCPHU, Temple, and Jeff and they're all fairly comparable. I know that being a premed can get you caught up in issues such as this, but in the real world, it matters very little where one goes to med school, if it's not at Harvard, Hopkins, etc..

I personally dropped Jeff like a hot potato for reasons insinuated above (grading system, old-school faculty, etc.). As far as the Allegheny thing back in 1998, it is a non-issue on the residency interview field, as I can tell you from MANY fourth-years I have spoken too.

Med school and medicine as a career is very self-driven, and I wouldn't hesitate to tell anyone to follow their own personal preferences for where one attends school. The only real time it should matter is if 1) You get into your state school. In that case...GO THERE!!! Unless you're in at Cornell, Duke, Harvard etc., AND you want to do academic medicine, there should be no question which is a better choice i.e. state school. 2) If you highly desire a very competitive specialty (ENT, ortho, derm, etc.) it may benefit you to go to an Ivy-level med school. Otherwise it is meaningless. Your personality, which will reflect itself on the wards and in interviews, will get you much farther than which school you attend. Jeff being ranked 48th or so out of 125 schools is a non-issue.

Anyway, here's the match lists for 2001 for Temple and MCP. I couldn't find Jeff's, but I've seen it and it's not remarkably different. The key to why which med school you go to is less important is that everyone learns the same things in med school, everyone is smart, and from a residency director's standpoint, it's what you as an individual would bring to the table in their program that counts. As you get older you realize the truism of this more and more....or at least I have.

MCP: <a href="http://www.mcphu.edu/medschool/medstudents/HOUSESTAFFLIST01.htm" target="_blank">http://www.mcphu.edu/medschool/medstudents/HOUSESTAFFLIST01.htm</a>

Temple:
<a href="http://www.temple.edu/medschool/saffairs/MatchResults01.PDF" target="_blank">http://www.temple.edu/medschool/saffairs/MatchResults01.PDF</a>

 

[qwert]

Thanks a lot, jackjinju.
Both schools are obviously in the same tier, so I'm accepted to MCPHU and won't go Jeff interview. Tired enough of this whole hellish process.
Just wanted to add that "vs." postings are useful, and those who's taking them offensively may wanna just skip them.

qwert.