DMU vs MSUCOM vs UMN-TC vs Wayne State

[excitedtobehere]

Hi! Please let me know your thoughts. Here are the schools I'm considering:

DMU Pros

• Seems like students are happy with the school, it's a close community
• Match rates are really good (from Minneapolis, so about 3.5 hour drive)
• Close(ish) to home

Cons

• Iowa isn't necessarily an exciting place to be, although I'm not super against it
• Not as many clerkship electives as some other schools

MSUCOM Pros

• Well known state school, has a good reputation and multiple great locations (I'd probably want to be at the Detroit campus)
• The clerkship electives look really interesting
• There seems to be a decent amount of student involved with the military (something I am a part of)

Cons

• I'm not sure if I'll get my desired campus location

UMN-TC Pros

• I'm from the Minneapolis area, so I'd be close to family
• Really awesome school with a great reputation and a lot of opportunities

Cons

• It might be a little too close to home, it feels like playing it safe to a certain degree
• Ideally, I want to be in a new area so that I can experience a new city and different patient population

Wayne State Pros

• Really amazing clerkship opportunities
• Large school in a city that I like (Detroit)
• Seems similar to UMN except in Detroit

Cons

• It could be such a large student body that it's hard to make yourself known to faculty
• Not as much funding as UMN

Summary: I love all of these midwestern schools. They all seem like they could be great fits, please give me some outside advice as to what I should consider! Or if you're a current student at one of these schools, please give me some advice!

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[PapaGuava]

Wayne State. They have good residency programs as well.

Congratulations on your acceptances friend!

 

[djiboutiman]

Take the MD acceptance. U MN has the highest ranking and is probably the cheapest for you I’d imagine. Also having a built in support system would be super helpful during your classes. I’m a current DMU student and while I think it’s a good school, there’s just a lot of unnecessary things to deal with in DO schools. On top of that going MD opens up more doors.

 

[excitedtobehere]

Thank you for your replies!

 

[WSUMedStudent]

Hi! Wayne State soon-to-be M3 here. Third year clerkships just got totally overhauled and this year will be the first time they use the new curriculum (was derailed by Covid last year). What their hopes are for this is that you have more time to study during difficult rotations like surgery and internal medicine. All my friends love the clerkship years and you have different sites and electives to choose from.

As for the cons, you are right, it is definitely difficult to make yourself known to faculty. Wayne State is incredibly difficult to deal with in the first two years because your interactions are mostly with people who have never actually been to medical school, but just give you advice about how to deal with it. This means that what you experience and what they have in their heads when they come up with curricula etc are two different things and do not always align. Furthermore, they are not very good at taking feedback from students. Most students do not go to lecture and thus, do not have relationships with faculty. However, this can change if you show up to lecture or work in their lab or go to their office hours. If you want a relationship with faculty or administrators, you will have to put in a lot of extra work on your own time.

There are some good things in the first two years, like the clinical experiential clerkship (you go into a clinic every other week during M2 where you are paired with a preceptor 1-on-1). But overall, there is a lot of chaos and frustration. If you can get through those years, everyone says that the clerkships in Detroit are unparalleled. I would agree that the clinical experience you would get in Detroit is incredibly unique and valuable.

I would go with whatever school you think you would learn best in, regardless of match and all the other figures because ultimately it is about how you, personally, learn and what your needs are.

 

[ThatSerb]

Hi! Wayne State soon-to-be M3 here. Third year clerkships just got totally overhauled and this year will be the first time they use the new curriculum (was derailed by Covid last year). What their hopes are for this is that you have more time to study during difficult rotations like surgery and internal medicine. All my friends love the clerkship years and you have different sites and electives to choose from.

As for the cons, you are right, it is definitely difficult to make yourself known to faculty. Wayne State is incredibly difficult to deal with in the first two years because your interactions are mostly with people who have never actually been to medical school, but just give you advice about how to deal with it. This means that what you experience and what they have in their heads when they come up with curricula etc are two different things and do not always align. Furthermore, they are not very good at taking feedback from students. Most students do not go to lecture and thus, do not have relationships with faculty. However, this can change if you show up to lecture or work in their lab or go to their office hours. If you want a relationship with faculty or administrators, you will have to put in a lot of extra work on your own time.

There are some good things in the first two years, like the clinical experiential clerkship (you go into a clinic every other week during M2 where you are paired with a preceptor 1-on-1). But overall, there is a lot of chaos and frustration. If you can get through those years, everyone says that the clerkships in Detroit are unparalleled. I would agree that the clinical experience you would get in Detroit is incredibly unique and valuable.

I would go with whatever school you think you would learn best in, regardless of match and all the other figures because ultimately it is about how you, personally, learn and what your needs are.

what makes you say that the clinic experience in Detroit is incredibly unique and valuable?