I've been fortunate enough to receive offers from both schools and I'd like to have made up my mind (so I can start looking for apartments!) by end of January. I'm hoping you all can help!
I'll preface by saying I have read many of the threads related to this topic. The exam schedules, debate between 1.5 years or 2 years, Rice merger, and other seemingly trite topics don't concern me. From what I have read and heard, the fact is that both schools are going to give me what I need to do well on the Step 1 and be a good doctor. I also understand, and I hope other students who read this understand as well, that it is my responsibility to take advantage of the resources available to enrich my education and gain the knowledge necessary for Step 1.
My questions have to do with the "enrichment" available and have a somewhat more "long-run" focus - I'm hoping my questions can be addressed by 3rd and 4th years at each school.
1.) Are the students at Baylor/Southwestern "fired up" and wanting to really get involved in politics/business/related topics of healthcare? Are students at each school actively involved in student organizations? For instance, I am really interested in the healthcare bill, nutrition, and educating the community about food, the food industry, etc. Which school would have students who would be excited and actually get involved in this kind of "enrichment"? Are students at one or both schools just busy enough with preclinical studies?
2.) Baylor has no on-call. Southwestern does. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) Do residency directors prefer students who have on-call experience? Does anyone have information about what school residency directors tend to prefer students from?
3.) Which school has the better hands on clinical experiences? Which school has the clinical experiences that will make me the best, most accessible doctor? My concern with the Texas Medical Center is that, yes, I'll see some cool, unique stuff, but if I want to provide care to a community, I need to be hands-on with stuff I'm most likely to see in practice. When I visited Parkland, it seems that the medical students were often running the show, which I liked. Do the clinical experiences at Baylor allow this kind of hands-on feel, or is it more like "shadowing"?
4.) A friend of mine who went to Baylor and is now doing his residency in Parkland told me that the UTSW 3rd years looked unhappy compared to the Baylor students. Is this just because of the on-calls, and is it worth it? Does someone have a link showing students' satisfaction with each school? (I believe there's a standard questionnaire given for each medical school, but the name eludes me so I can't find it).
5.) How difficult is it to find people who actually want to hang out during the week or weekends? What's the true story behind how social each school is?
6.) I realize I need to see where I "fit." What exactly should I be looking for, besides my gut? I've been to both schools, both are Very different, yet both feel right.
I know this is a huge post to tackle, but any help for even just 1 of these questions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
I'll preface by saying I have read many of the threads related to this topic. The exam schedules, debate between 1.5 years or 2 years, Rice merger, and other seemingly trite topics don't concern me. From what I have read and heard, the fact is that both schools are going to give me what I need to do well on the Step 1 and be a good doctor. I also understand, and I hope other students who read this understand as well, that it is my responsibility to take advantage of the resources available to enrich my education and gain the knowledge necessary for Step 1.
My questions have to do with the "enrichment" available and have a somewhat more "long-run" focus - I'm hoping my questions can be addressed by 3rd and 4th years at each school.
1.) Are the students at Baylor/Southwestern "fired up" and wanting to really get involved in politics/business/related topics of healthcare? Are students at each school actively involved in student organizations? For instance, I am really interested in the healthcare bill, nutrition, and educating the community about food, the food industry, etc. Which school would have students who would be excited and actually get involved in this kind of "enrichment"? Are students at one or both schools just busy enough with preclinical studies?
2.) Baylor has no on-call. Southwestern does. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) Do residency directors prefer students who have on-call experience? Does anyone have information about what school residency directors tend to prefer students from?
3.) Which school has the better hands on clinical experiences? Which school has the clinical experiences that will make me the best, most accessible doctor? My concern with the Texas Medical Center is that, yes, I'll see some cool, unique stuff, but if I want to provide care to a community, I need to be hands-on with stuff I'm most likely to see in practice. When I visited Parkland, it seems that the medical students were often running the show, which I liked. Do the clinical experiences at Baylor allow this kind of hands-on feel, or is it more like "shadowing"?
4.) A friend of mine who went to Baylor and is now doing his residency in Parkland told me that the UTSW 3rd years looked unhappy compared to the Baylor students. Is this just because of the on-calls, and is it worth it? Does someone have a link showing students' satisfaction with each school? (I believe there's a standard questionnaire given for each medical school, but the name eludes me so I can't find it).
5.) How difficult is it to find people who actually want to hang out during the week or weekends? What's the true story behind how social each school is?
6.) I realize I need to see where I "fit." What exactly should I be looking for, besides my gut? I've been to both schools, both are Very different, yet both feel right.
I know this is a huge post to tackle, but any help for even just 1 of these questions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
