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Thanks!!
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Iowa vs Jefferson
- Thread starter Futuredoc532
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Cost differences?
Did you do much exploring of Iowa City on your interview day? It is a really cool college town in my opinion. But can definitely understand if you are more of a city person. I love Center City Philadelphia.
Full disclosure: I'm on the HPWL at Jeff.
Did you do much exploring of Iowa City on your interview day? It is a really cool college town in my opinion. But can definitely understand if you are more of a city person. I love Center City Philadelphia.
Full disclosure: I'm on the HPWL at Jeff.
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I interviewed at both! I think each has it's strengths. Iowa is a great school and I agree the staff is very supportive. Jefferson is located in an amazing area and in my opinion, has a less stressful curriculum. My con with Iowa is that you won't get the same diversity in patient population as you will at Jefferson. Philly is a major city and living in an urban environment like that will also obviously give you more social opportunities. As a side note, you may have to commute for Iowa rotations as well...
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Jeff is winning so far, any more reasons why? Thanks!
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You seem to have a strong preference for the location
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Thanks! Any Iowa voters care to explain?
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Did you already make your decision? If not, i'll throw some pro Iowa points out there
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not yet, thank you!
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Alright, so a little about me: I grew up in Iowa, did undergrad in LA, have been kicking it around SoCal for the last few years, and am going back to Iowa this fall for school. I have close friends in every level of M1-M4 of the program. Wrote ya a bit of a book. Sorry about that, but if I can clarify anything, don't hesitate to ask!
Bad news first:
It seems your biggest reservation is that Iowa is in Iowa City, a smaller town with weather, and that it matches lots of people in the Midwest in addition to appearing to lack diversity. The whole small town/weather thing is way overblown by people out West and is not bad after about a week. Yes, the cold sucks, but Iowa has heat, and you develop a whole new appreciation for the sun when it isn't available 320+ days a year. With your specific decision, Philly has a pretty mixed back of weather as well, so I wouldn't let that sway you too much. The state as a whole does leave some to be desired in terms of diversity (one of the reasons I went out West for a while), but Iowa City itself is actually a melting pot of students from all over. The med school class is fairly diverse and, taking into consideration that 2/3 of it are state residents, match diversely with regards to location as well. Of my friends that graduated in the last two years, one went to Stanford for IM, one went to Utah for gen surg, one went for Neurosurg in North Carolina, and another stayed in Iowa for Derm. Yes, lots will match in Iowa, but that's more due to regional/student preference and can be seen at universities around the country. You won't be stuck by going to school there, with regards to either location or specialty. Lastly, Iowa City is dirt cheap compared to urban California. You can get a very nice studio, all utilities included, for around a $900, and that's on the expensive end of the spectrum. Gas is about 70 cents cheaper, there is no traffic, and drinks are max $4, with most bars running dollar you-call-its ($1 drinks) or $2 pints, should enjoying a beverage from time to time be your thing (Iowa City has 64 bars in a 1 mile radius). I'd equate the value of your dollar to that scene in Eurotrip where they are in Bratislava. Your debt load would be severely reduced in comparison to school in an urban center due to COL alone.
To touch on your other cons:
As you touched on, Iowa's staff and the general population of Iowa/the Midwest (less Chicago) have people that are ridiculously nice/supportive. Whenever someone from the West Coast asked me about the thing I missed the most about the Midwest, it was the quality of the people. Although I am slightly biased of course, this was also evident in my dealings with the administration on interview day when the school helped out an interviewee with getting new interview attire after their suitcase had been forcibly checked and lost in transit. I have not seen caring between strangers to that degree in larger cities/at other interviews. This attitude throws people from major cities because they think it's an act, but I promise you, it's legit.
Iowa has the full support of an entire state, since it is the only public medical school. Thus, no competition with other schools for rotation spots in the hospital system. More so, it is quite well funded with regards to research and includes a surprising number of well regarded research institutes/opportunities should that be your thing. Off the top of my head, there is the new Pappajohn Biomedical Institute for high risk, high reward translational projects, the Stephen A. Wynn (of the Wynn and Encore Casinos) Institute for Vision Research, and Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of 47 NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the country.
Additionally, something you didn't mention is that the entire pre-clinical 1.5 yrs is taken with the PA students for a truly collaborative learning environment. This system allows for an understanding of each providers role in the ever more team oriented atmosphere of medicine.
Bad news first:
It seems your biggest reservation is that Iowa is in Iowa City, a smaller town with weather, and that it matches lots of people in the Midwest in addition to appearing to lack diversity. The whole small town/weather thing is way overblown by people out West and is not bad after about a week. Yes, the cold sucks, but Iowa has heat, and you develop a whole new appreciation for the sun when it isn't available 320+ days a year. With your specific decision, Philly has a pretty mixed back of weather as well, so I wouldn't let that sway you too much. The state as a whole does leave some to be desired in terms of diversity (one of the reasons I went out West for a while), but Iowa City itself is actually a melting pot of students from all over. The med school class is fairly diverse and, taking into consideration that 2/3 of it are state residents, match diversely with regards to location as well. Of my friends that graduated in the last two years, one went to Stanford for IM, one went to Utah for gen surg, one went for Neurosurg in North Carolina, and another stayed in Iowa for Derm. Yes, lots will match in Iowa, but that's more due to regional/student preference and can be seen at universities around the country. You won't be stuck by going to school there, with regards to either location or specialty. Lastly, Iowa City is dirt cheap compared to urban California. You can get a very nice studio, all utilities included, for around a $900, and that's on the expensive end of the spectrum. Gas is about 70 cents cheaper, there is no traffic, and drinks are max $4, with most bars running dollar you-call-its ($1 drinks) or $2 pints, should enjoying a beverage from time to time be your thing (Iowa City has 64 bars in a 1 mile radius). I'd equate the value of your dollar to that scene in Eurotrip where they are in Bratislava. Your debt load would be severely reduced in comparison to school in an urban center due to COL alone.
To touch on your other cons:
- Of the 1.5 preclinical, only MOHD is graded that way, with the CAPS and MAS being P/F
- Getting Step 1 out of the way may be nice, but lots of students in the program have said it is nice to have clinical correlates to pre-clinical material, as that is how the exam phrases its questions.
- Exams every week/two weeks may suck, but that also implies less material is covered on each exam. Exams are going to be hard at any medical school.
As you touched on, Iowa's staff and the general population of Iowa/the Midwest (less Chicago) have people that are ridiculously nice/supportive. Whenever someone from the West Coast asked me about the thing I missed the most about the Midwest, it was the quality of the people. Although I am slightly biased of course, this was also evident in my dealings with the administration on interview day when the school helped out an interviewee with getting new interview attire after their suitcase had been forcibly checked and lost in transit. I have not seen caring between strangers to that degree in larger cities/at other interviews. This attitude throws people from major cities because they think it's an act, but I promise you, it's legit.
Iowa has the full support of an entire state, since it is the only public medical school. Thus, no competition with other schools for rotation spots in the hospital system. More so, it is quite well funded with regards to research and includes a surprising number of well regarded research institutes/opportunities should that be your thing. Off the top of my head, there is the new Pappajohn Biomedical Institute for high risk, high reward translational projects, the Stephen A. Wynn (of the Wynn and Encore Casinos) Institute for Vision Research, and Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of 47 NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the country.
Additionally, something you didn't mention is that the entire pre-clinical 1.5 yrs is taken with the PA students for a truly collaborative learning environment. This system allows for an understanding of each providers role in the ever more team oriented atmosphere of medicine.
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Iowan Entrepreneur, not to be confused with the terrible pizza chain
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Not a joke. He has given away over $100 million. He has 4 named items at the University of Iowa: a hospital pavilion, the cancer center, the Business School building and the Biomedical Institute. He gave $26 million just for the Biomedical Institute.
about - John Pappajohn - entrepreneur, philanthropist, business leader
