Hackensack Meridian vs. CUSM

[2019Hoos]

Hackensack Meridian vs. CUSM

Hello everyone, I am having a hard time deciding between these two schools.

Background: I am originally from California, and the majority of my family resides in NorCal (about a 5 hour drive from CUSM) however I attended undergrad in Virginia and have been living here now for about 6 years. THe majority of my friends (who I am very close with) live on the east coast.

I realize how competitive it is and how everything is subject to change, but I am very interested in pursuing Orthopedics. I'm not dead set on it, but I am fairly confident that I don't want to pursue primary care.

Hackensack Meridian:

Pros:

• Affiliated with massive health system in New Jersey so ample opportunity for networking and strong clinical rotation spots
• They have a home Ortho residency program
• Seems like they have better research opps compared to CUSM
• Accelerated didactic and opportunity which gives you flexible time to pad resume/do research/scholarly activities after completion of mandatory clerkships
• Faculty/admin seem very focused on their student's success (probably because it's new and they need to build a reputation)
• Seems like the Hackensack Health system has a fairly good reputation in the Northeast
• close to friends

Cons:

• New school, only 1 year of match data, lot's of ???'s
• I don't believe they are fully accredited yet (issues with federal loans)
• Far from family
• High COL
• Worried residency match results will be strongly biased towards NJ locations

CUSM

Pros:

• Almost all rotations are at Arrowhead (ARMC) which seems like a great hospital to train in
• Faculty and admin also seem very focused on their student's success
• 1st year match data seems like it went well
• In an area saturated with medical schools/residency programs so ample opportunity to network/get good letters
• closer to family after being away for so many years

Cons:

• I've read that their reputation isn't the best in the area
• new school, so a lot of ???'s
• Research opportunities seem somewhat shaky
• No home Ortho program that I can find

Other questions:

What makes CUSM so unappealing to many people? I know it's a new school that will have some kinks to work out and a reputation to build, but from my interview, it seemed like they were doing the right things.

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[Go2Mars]

You mentioned lot of people find CUSM unappealing. I am not an expert by any means, but here are 2 reasons I found:

1) LCME Accreditation: CUSM is still on preliminary accreditation which could mean that the LCME Accreditation Committee saw something wrong in the school and refused to give them provisional accreditation. In contrast, Hackensack Meridian is fully accredited. For reference, CUSM is the only medical school founded from 2017-2020 that is still on prelimary accreditation while all of the other med schools (including Hackensack Meridian) from this same time period have moved on: Accredited U.S. Programs - LCME

2) History: CUSM has ties to the founder of California Northstate University (this issue is self-explanatory) and Dr.Prem Reddy, who is notorious for scandals (lawsuits, punching a physician, etc) in California and had his hospitals investigated by the federal government and CA Dept of Justice. Go to page 4 of this thread: California Northstate University College of Medicine(CNUCOM): Avoid this school at all costs!

I am sure the students and faculty at CUSM are very hard-working, intelligent, and smart. In addition, Arrowhead seems to still have solid rotations for students. I am sure would succeed at CUSM if you did choose to attend. It is up to you at this point since family and support system are very important factors. However, I would proceed cautiously since accreditation can be a big factor (for example, CNUCOM in Northern California is at risk of closing down in 1-2 years if they don't fix their accreditation issues).