Hawk22 said:
Let me clarify my post about their curriculum.
In undergrad before medical school, I worked for one of the doctors that helped design one of their primary first year classes. He worked there for several years and taught the course, but left to take another position at my school. He said that their first year accelerated curriculum was crazy and he didn't feel that the students were very well prepared because things were too condensed. The third year for research is nice, but he said you're basically PAYING THEM $34,000 a year to work for someone and that it made much more sense to use that time to get a MBA/MPH or other degree. In the end, Duke students do well because they attract some of the best students in the country, but that those people would do well anywhere (i.e. they would do well no matter how bad the curriculum is).
In the end, he said that Duke was the ONLY place that he wouldn't give me a letter of recommendation and actively discouraged me from applying there.
Multiple residents (I can think of at least 6) from Duke have also commented that students don't seem as well prepared for the wards as students from school with more traditional curriculums.
In the end, Durham isn't that bad. Just pick one of the nicer parts of town (around Duke's campus or on the southeast side of the county around Southpoint Mall).
Good luck to you all.
While I respect that everyone is entitled to their opinion, having been through most of the Duke curriculum now I find it very difficult to defend the position of the doctor you worked with. Just look at Duke's match list and you'll see that top residency programs consistently seek out Duke students, and it's not just because we're supposed to be "smart." Being intelligent doesn't translate into being a good physician; you can train bright people very poorly and end up with very poor doctors, so the fact that Duke graduates are sought-after speaks volumes about the quality of our training. Granted, we obviously know less when we start on the wards as 2nd years as compared to students at other schools who start on the wards as 3rd years, but such a comparison isn't fair and is thus useless. The important factor is where we end up, and this is where the match list is quite telling. Indeed, I'd argue that in the end we benefit from this earlier clinical exposure and ultimately develop a better integration of basic science and clinical knowledge, making us excellent physicians. Plus, our board scores are reportedly the second highest in the country, so I doubt that our abbreviated basic science curriculum is worthy of being called "crazy," especially since it's worked well for literally decades.
Also, most students aren't really "PAYING THEM," as you say, to do 3rd year research, as a good 40% of us get another degree without additional cost, and a large percentage of the rest win large scholarships like those from the NIH, in addition to a number of internal Duke scholarships, many of which are in excess of $20,000.
As for the "number *****" thing, I know for a fact that some of my classmates and other Duke students have MCAT scores in the 20's. While the average may be impressively high, trust that Duke is perhaps THE most diverse medical school in the country, both ethnically and with regards to academic opportunity/background. I know many students who have served on the admissions committee, and can assure you that numbers are hardly the focus of the selection process (although it often makes people feel better to label us "number ******").
It sounds to me like the professor you worked with had a serious chip on his/her shoulder, or a bone to pick with Duke (I wonder if it has something to do with why he/she left, perhaps not having been given a promotion, or something of that sort?). I give you the benefit of the doubt, but must also assure you and other readers that most people here and elsewhere would dispute his/her assertions about Duke and the quality of education it provides.
I agree though that Durham isn't a bad place to live. Many of us, myself included, actually LOVE living in this area, counter to what is often presumed. It's absurdly affordable, which is a much more valuable trait than I anticipated when I was starting medical school. Anyone who says there's nothing to do here just hasn't made the effort (and it doesn't take much).
And so ends my rant for the day!
😉
