How Dangerous is Drew?

[Supafly MD]

I am intersted in Drew University in Cali. However, I am not sure how safe it would be to go to med school in South Central LA. Also do you need to reapply to Drew after the 2 preclinical years at UCLA? I heard they only take 24 students a year(is that admission to the clinical years?)

Need some advice!!!

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[Jessica]

LA County/Drew med center was featured on TLC's "Trauma, Life in the ER" a while ago, and it looked kinda scary, expecially if you are not used to the inner-city environmnet. I work for an organ procurement center and we have an office there, and I know that the area is not the safest. However, from the looks of it you will get a ton of excellent clinical experience there!

 

[sjordan]

After your first two years at UCLA you don't have to reapply to Drew. Only 24 students are admitted to the Drew/UCLA program each year (it's separate from applying to UCLA alone) and you are guaranteed to do your clinical rotations at Drew. Although it isn't the safest place in the world, it is definitely a great place to be if you are dedicated to working for underserved populations. I've also had a tour through the hospital and I personally got a really good feeling from it. All the employees seemed really kind and willing to help. (Although that was just a first impression) hope this helps

 

[sjordan]

After your first two years at UCLA you don't have to reapply to Drew. Only 24 students are admitted to the Drew/UCLA program each year (it's separate from applying to UCLA alone) and you are guaranteed to do your clinical rotations at Drew. Although it isn't the safest place in the world, it is definitely a great place to be if you are dedicated to working for underserved populations. I've also had a tour through the hospital and I personally got a really good feeling from it. All the employees seemed really kind and willing to help. (Although that was just a first impression) hope this helps

 

[EpiII]

Safety is really quite relative.

Remember, if you are applying to Drew, you want to really work with underserved populations. Some of the underserved populations live in areas that are not as safe as Beverly Hills (at least that is what Nicole Brown Simpson thought), but how do we expect to serve them if we are not living and working where they live, work and die?

My brother-in-law taught high school near by and they do take safety precautions - football games start at 3 pm to avoid playing at night, etc. But, if you are called to this type of medicine, then it is not too dangerous.

 

[jmejia1]

I am a South Central Los Angeles resident and thus should know about my own community. Sometimes I'm up late studying and decide to take a break and jump on my bike. Though I wouldn't necessarily recommend riding your bike at 1:00am through South Central L.A., I've never really pondered its dangerous since this is the only nieghborhood I've known.

The fact of the matter is that there is alot of crime and violence. My brother was robbed at gun point for his truck, my sister was robbed as well for her rings on her way to the mini-market, and I guess I've been lucky aside from fending off a group of little kids who thought they were bad enough to be gangsters. If you wish to attend Drew you can't be afraid of living in South Central, though I guess you can live in a more save nieghborhoold and commute to the school and hospital.

 

[LizardKing]

I worked at King-Drew for a couple of years. Next to the hospital there is sort of a buffer zone, but if you venture a mile north you're in Watts and if you go a few miles south you run into Compton. So, the surrounding area is one of the most dangerous places in the city statistically in terms of shootings, etc. I never ran into any problems working there during the day. But I wouldn't recommend sticking around there at night. Nonetheless, the hospital is right next to the freeway entrance, so no big deal.