Availability of Research Opportunities at Saint Louis University

[marmanqmd]

I'm trying to decide between attending Tulane and Saint Louis University for medical school. I was accepted at Drexel ,Toledo , Tulane , and St Louis University. I believe I had the best fit at Tulane and St Louis University thus I am mainly deciding between those two. Of those two I'm leaning towards St Louis because I like their curriculum and campus better but research is really important to me. Using NIH funding as an indicator of research opportunities, I believe I'll have more of them at Tulane. Can anyone from St Louis give me the idea of the availability of research opportunities at SLU?

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[Lucca]

Moving To help me decide

 

[SymphonyNo9]

Disclaimer: I was accepted by SLU but not Tulane. I don't know how to compare two schools, but I do know a bit about SLU.

SLU doesn't have a lot of research opportunities compared with many research powerhouse for sure. If you are accepted, you can go to their Student Affairs website, which requires login. There is a little bit information about students involvement in research. Apparently there is summer fellowship program, but I guess the positions are limited and the majority of the topics are either clinical or translational. A number of students also went to WashU, a nearby research powerhouse, or elsewhere for research.

So I guess if you need a tons of research opportunities, like connections with faculties, different fields of research, or funding, SLU might not be the ideal place. However, I think it's doable at SLU. Research is what I'm planning to do during med school, and I'm also personally undecided among a few schools because of research opportunity (as one of the reasons).

 

[Astra]

Plus SLU is currently on probation.

 

[citrusytart]

Well, what are your research interests? That's important to consider first, because while some top schools are just strong across the board, every mid-tier school has its own strengths too. SLU has an excellent liver center, does a ton of transplants, is a top 10 program for geriatric medicine, and has a strong vaccine center. I would say if your research interests involve any of the areas in which SLU is strong, you should be able to find an appropriate mentor and project.

The main research opportunities:
> Summer research fellowship (~25-30 people do this each year, comes with funding)
> Can graduate with an M.D. with Distinction in Research
> MD/PhD program with fully funded positions that accepts internal applications (i.e., you can apply during M1 year after matriculating as an MD student)
> Self-directed research electives

As others have mentioned, it also helps being close to WashU. Lots of SLU students conduct research with faculty at WashU, and there are many collaborations between SLU and WashU faculty. So there are opportunities there as well.

 

[alcoholdehydrogenase69]

Also, SLU just got out on accreditation probation by LCME because of several problems with their program. I would look into this more before deciding if I were you.


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