Hard to understand school's missions

[Spongeman7]

Hello! I am researching schools for applying to and finding it a little difficult to differentiate between the various schools based on their core mission and values. I know you are supposed to apply to where you fit the mission the best, but aside from a few schools with very clear mission statements (focusing on underserved or rural care), it seems like a lot of medical schools have pretty much the same statements (develop great physicians, primary care, good research, compassion, and diversity). Maybe I am not looking hard enough, but how do you really differentiate between what a school is focused on, to help write your essays and in applying? Thank you!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[wydoc]

One thing I did was search up SDN "help me decide" threads that discussed schools I was looking at. You'll often find input from current students or people who are familiar with the school!

 

[beattheprocess]

It’s not you - there’s no difference in 95% of their missions statements. Medical schools and their missions statements are like hipsters on a college campus who think they are unique, but in reality they’re all the same. Luckily each medical school cannot see your secondaries that you send to other schools where you inevitably just copy and paste a template from a word document and just change the name of the school.

 

[TheFutureDoctor9]

The mission of most schools are the exact same, just worded differently. Don't look at the mission when deciding what schools to apply to.

I suggest going off these criteria:
-Avg MCAT/GPA
-Primary Care/Rural-Based vs. Not focused on primary care/rural
-Research Opportunities
-Whether the school's hospital has the specialties that you are interested in
-Reputation of School
-Location of School
-Cost (in state vs. out of state)
-Acceptance rate for students from your state
-Acceptance rate for your demographics (ethnicity, gender, etc.)
-Teaching style (some schools are completely flipped classroom instead of lecture-based)
-Avg. Step Scores
-Match results

 

[LizzyM]

It’s not you - there’s no difference in 95% of their missions statements. Medical schools and their missions statements are like hipsters on a college campus who think they are unique, but in reality they’re all the same. Luckily each medical school cannot see your secondaries that you send to other schools where you inevitably just copy and paste a template from a word document and just change the name of the school.

This is a very important point. Do not overlook this step. Every year I see a few essays from people who forgot.

 

[MEtoMD]

You’re right most schools missions/vision/values are near identical. A good way to judge is not what the medical school says but what it does. Dive into their website, look at the themes of what their curriculum emphasizes, maybe they require research or community engagement, are their specific populations they aim to serve in their community, what initiatives do they offer students, etc. etc. etc. The more you look into their website beyond their mission/vision/value page the more you’ll actually learn about them and you’ll be better prepared to write secondary essays to that school that show you understand the type of student they are looking for and you are the right “fit.”

 

[KnightDoc]

It’s not you - there’s no difference in 95% of their missions statements. Medical schools and their missions statements are like hipsters on a college campus who think they are unique, but in reality they’re all the same. Luckily each medical school cannot see your secondaries that you send to other schools where you inevitably just copy and paste a template from a word document and just change the name of the school.

It's a little more nuanced than this, but, yeah, basically this is true! My essays are going to be tweaked so that it's not obvious that they are 25 versions of the same document, but, yes, at the end of the day, there really aren't 150 different ways to develop competent, empathetic, service focused care giving leaders.

Some schools do stress certain things more than others, which is good to know, but, given how difficult is to get into med school, beggars can't be choosers, and you really do have to apply widely and hope for the best without regard to seeking the perfect mission fit. I like the list @TheFutureDoctor9 posted.

 

[Goro]

It’s not you - there’s no difference in 95% of their missions statements. Medical schools and their missions statements are like hipsters on a college campus who think they are unique, but in reality they’re all the same. Luckily each medical school cannot see your secondaries that you send to other schools where you inevitably just copy and paste a template from a word document and just change the name of the school.

News flash, we already know people do that.

 

[beattheprocess]

News flash, we already know people do that.

Oh I know. It’s just that most times you don’t have empirical proof.