ok...here we go:
dont make your decision based on match lists or "facilities"
-a match list can't tell you the difference between what people were "qualified" for and what people simply wanted to do. if 100 people want to do internal medicine, it doesnt mean they werent "good enough" to do surgery, it means they *wanted* to do internal medicine.
-as for facilities, i will grant you that the outside of georgetown hospital does look a bit outdated, and our lecture halls arent uber-modern. the med school is slowly undergoing an overhaul inside as we speak, but there is only so much money for doing these sorts of things. i dont think how attractive my lecture hall is detracts from my education one iota. and, the inside of the hospital is top notch, and frankly that's what counts anyway. no patient at G'town hospital thinks less of the care they recieve because the outside of the building is still made of the original brick. go look up the cyber knife. we have two of them
.
what you *should* be choosing your school based on is the kind of educational and life experiences you want to have in medical school. i dont know anything about wake forest so i wont comment on it, but i can tell you a bit about my experience at georgetown. a few comments:
-the education style is mostly lecture based although i believe with the new curriculum coming in next year, there will be more small group and case based learning in addition to the traditional style lectures. there is a lot of enthusiasm coming from the faculty for the new curriculum. the deans and faculty are very receptive to student concerns and input (we have "deans lunches" every month or two), and i'm sure there will be changes made next year based on the suggestions from my class. in general, i enjoy the academics here very much, and i have liked the vast majority of my classes. we have a very open and friendly atmosphere amongst all the students, and despite the curved grading scale, there is no shortage of people sharing review materials and working together.
-DC is a great place to be a student. when you get the time to go out, you will never be short of things to do or places to go. it is, of course, probably more expensive than north carolina. the cost of living in the immediate G'town area is double what I would have paid to stay in NJ.
-Georgetown's philosophy of Cura Personalis; and serving the underserved. you wouldnt have been accepted if they didnt think you had something to offer in this department. you will be expected to fulfill a 20hr service requirement before graduation, and there is heavy emphasis on social justice. be prepared to roll up your sleeves and get involved. (sooner or later everyone catches on
). in this vein, G'town has the first and only student run free clinic in the city, the HOYA clinic. it's a great way to serve the community, and to boot, we get mega hands on time with real patients, and the Dr's that run the clinic are great teachers and wonderful people.
-Hoya basketball. 'nuff said
[this was more impressive last season, i know
]. it's still a fun afternoon out anyway, and we get discounted tickets.
-Great patient contact/clinical opportunities at any of the MedStar hospitals that are affiliated with Gtown, throughout DC and in nearby areas of VA and MD.
-opportunities to lobby on Capitol Hill for medical legislation. this got spouted at me non stop when i got here and i didnt really see what all the fuss was about...and what on earth was i going to do as a first year anyway? two weeks from now i'm going up to Capitol Hill to lobby for better legislation for children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, as part of an elective i'm taking. you wont be doing this sort of thing at many other schools. there is also an M4 elective on medical legislation/healthcare bill writing sort of stuff, if this is something you get excited about.
-finally, you should be aware that we have a research paper requirement for graduation. the good part is that it doesnt have to be bench research. the bad part is, i guess, that you have to do one. however, to be competitive for residency the odd paper or two certainly wouldnt hurt, so think of it as enforced resume building.
i could probably go on, but i think you get the point. dont discount Gtown because of the price. take some time objectively with what both schools have to offer before you make a choice. feel free to PM me or reply if you have any questions.
