I don't know if I'm the best person to answer this question since I'm just a first year, but since nobody else has taken a stab at it I'll try.
Strengths? I feel like it's a pretty friendly, supportive atmosphere here among the students. There have been many times that some chart or notes that another student made and shared with the rest of the class really saved my hide.
Since we have an established network of "base hospitals" around the state where we can go to for our rotations, I think we have it a little easier than at some other schools. You don't have to worry about setting up your rotations on your own or moving around a lot. Since I haven't done 3rd/4th year yet I can't speak on the quality of the experiences, but so far I haven't heard any complaints. Michigan seems to have quite a few good osteopathic hospitals.
Personally, I prefer the way they teach anatomy here: We use prosections, not dissections. For me, looking things over instead of doing the cutting myself is a more efficient way to learn anatomy - but everyone learns differently, so some people might not like it. If you really want to do dissections, the school offers a chance to do an elective in it after anatomy.
Weakness? I don't have any big complaints so far.
Someone who really likes OMM might think of it as a weakness that the school doesn't emphasize OMM much. We only have an hour of OMM each week and it isn't integrated with the other classes.
To be honest, though, I personally like it better that way. When I first started here I thought OMM might be nice to know to have another tool in the toolbox, but I'm pretty sure I won't be using it in my practice.
Some people might not like the way our class schedule runs. We almost always have at least one exam every week (usually on Monday mornings). It can be a bit stressful at times if you have a hard exam and then there's another exam just around the corner. However, personally, I prefer having smaller, more frequent exams rather than huge exams less often. I think it's easier to handle all the info in smaller chunks like that.
No, there isn't as much of a summer break here as there is at other schools. I didn't like the idea of that at first, but now that I'm used to the routine here I don't really care much. It's only one summer, and most of us will be working through summers the rest of our lives so it doesn't really matter that much in the long run.
I believe most of our graduates end up staying in Michigan to practice, so this may not be the best place to come if you're planning on practicing elsewhere.
I don't think that anyone will look down on you for having come to Michigan State for med school, but it is just the way things are set up here with the base hospitals and such that I think encourages you to stay in the area to practice.
My impression so far is that Michigan is a good place to be if you're a DO, since we have so many osteopathic hospitals around here. Even though MI does have the internship requirement that is kind of a nuisance, I think this is a very DO-friendly state. Most of the general public around here do seem to understand that DOs are equivalent to MDs (even though they don't know EXACTLY what the distinction is between us). I don't think I've encountered any prejudice because of my osteopathic status yet.
So, in summary, I think this is a very good school and I've never regretted coming here, but it may not be for everyone. Best of luck with your decisions!
