Jefferson vs. Mercer

[CH3]

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Which one would you go to if you're thinking about completing a residency and going into clinical pharmacy. Both are great schools but Jefferson won't be fully accredited until 2012 while Mercer has been around for over 100 years. The fact that a school is not accredited makes me a little uncomfortable, but Jefferson is a whole different animal and has potential to be great. Thanks!

 

[CH3]

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[carbox]

*bump*

Mercer without even thinking. Many residencies wont even look at students from new schools. With the way pharmacy is going you want to go the best school possible
. However I would never pay more than 30k for Pharm school now considering you'll be lucky to get a clinical job. Everyone in my class is going for clinical Pharm LOL. The truth is clinical Pharm has not been fully developed yet and there are not enough positionsfor everyone . Go for a cheap, established, state school IMO. Goodluck

 

[BelleMD2B]

Typically, I would agree given research on the new schools. But regionally speaking, if you wanted to stay in the Philly area (although that's a whole other ball game) I would go with Jefferson - since it's linked to the extensive Jefferson Health System. Attending Jefferson SOP wouldn't guarantee a residency, but would give you more opportunity to make connections in the area.

On that note, I would personally pick Jefferson (even though it is new) - but that's because I want to end up in the Philly area.

 

[CH3]

Thanks guys for your responses. Although Jefferson is brand new and uncertain, the pharmacy school is part of an academic health center and focuses greatly on clinical pharmacy and working with other health professionals. On the other hand, Mercer does not have the bells and whistles of a large medical school, nursing school, research, and hospital to go along with it. Nevertheless, after researching some top residencies on the web, there are always Mercer graduates at these programs.

I'd appreciate more opinions please. Please neglect cost in your opinions. Thanks!

 

[Auriel619]

Hi Op,

I was in a similar situation a month back. I had been accepted to both Mercer and Temple, also in Philly. After putting up a similar question in the thread here: Temple vs Mercer

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=724490

It seemed like the overwhelming majority supported Mercer for a number of reasons. Personally the things that attracted me to Mercer was cheaper costs, a good 4-year MBA program and its residency connections in Atlanta, also a major city.

I copied this from the thread above with my pros and cons about both school.

Mercer COPHS
Pros:

Higher Ranked <- I heard rankings don't matter much/they're skewed, but it is ranked 31 w/e that means

Cheaper Tuition- ~33k/year vs 37k/year at Temple

Pharm.D/MBA Program- Not accepted into the program yet, but I plan on taking the GMAT's next year and it's something I'm interested in pursuing

Safe Area

Better Organizations? <- This also may not be necessarily true, but a lot of the organizations around Mercer were clearly displayed and the tour guide really stressed that the organizations such as Frats & philanthropy groups won a lot of awards. Temple seemed to be really lacking in such groups or it wasn't displayed as openly. From my impressions, it seems that the major groups are the frats at Temple.

Less Saturated area than Pennsylvania for Pharmacists

International Rotations!


Cons:
Will need a Car & Insurance to get around

In the South-> The people definitely seemed more relaxed in the South than in NJ, but it was strange because the Asian population at Mercer was almost non-existent. Maybe it's the area but I know UGA & Georgia Tech have a substantial Asian population, so why not Mercer? This is just a minor minor detail but something that bothered me anyways.

Very quiet, almost dead campus-> The only students walking around were P2 Pharm students and maybe one or two theology students.


Temple

Pro:
Vibrant Campus/Social Life- It's in the middle of Philly! Plenty to do/enjoy the city. 10 min shuttle ride away from BIG main campus

More options/ability to explore Pharm.D <- Temple offers a LOT of Pharm.D elective courses from Nuclear Pharmacy to QA. QA is definitely something I'm looking into, and may give me a better idea of what I'd want to do with a Pharm.D

Research- Temple is a large state school with more funding from PA. I saw a TON of research going on there that was absent from Mercer. Mercer certainly does it's fair share of research but it seems as if it has a difficult time competing with a large state institution.

GREAT Facilities -> Large gym, beautiful library.

Cons:

Pretty Dangerous Area <- 2 blocks in either direction at the Health Sciences campus will land you in deep trouble. The Assistant Director called the local area the "Badlands" haha

More Expensive than Mercer & more costly standard of living

Pharm Students VERY spread out- Temple is a big commuter school, a lot of students don't live together/ live in small groups of 4 scattered around Philadelphia. Expensive housing if on-campus

TL😀R
Mercer seems to have a more close-knit community with great organizations, cheaper tuition, a higher ranking and a fantastic Pharm.D/MBA program. However, will need a car and very dead campus.

Temple has GREAT facilities & research options and it's in the middle of Philly! Plenty to do. However, it's in a very dangerous area more expensive than Mercer & a seemingly lack of community.


LEt us know which school you decide to attend!

 

[CH3]

Thanks Auriel619. As a matter of fact, I did read that post a while back. I'm glad you felt that you made the right direction. Jefferson is in a great part of Philly and I personally would like to live in an urban area. Atlanta is a huge city too but not the concrete jungle like Philly. Although, I do like the huge pine trees surrounding Mercer.

 

[Farcus]

Thanks guys for your responses. Although Jefferson is brand new and uncertain, the pharmacy school is part of an academic health center and focuses greatly on clinical pharmacy and working with other health professionals. On the other hand, Mercer does not have the bells and whistles of a large medical school, nursing school, research, and hospital to go along with it. Nevertheless, after researching some top residencies on the web, there are always Mercer graduates at these programs.

I'd appreciate more opinions please. Please neglect cost in your opinions. Thanks!

Mercer has both a medical school, a nursing school, a Physician Assisstant School don't say it doesn't have affliction in health care. No, I don't attend Mercer. Personally Mercer looks really shady(environment wise) but its a pretty established school.

 

[rxlynn]

Mercer has both a medical school, a nursing school, a Physician Assisstant School don't say it doesn't have affliction in health care. No, I don't attend Mercer. Personally Mercer looks really shady(environment wise) but its a pretty established school.

Just to clarify - the medical school at Mercer is on the Macon campus, while the Nursing, Pharmacy, and PA schools are on the Atlanta campus. Therefore, there is no interaction at all between the pharmacy and the medical schools.

I'm not sure what you mean exactly by "shady (environment wise)". If you mean from a security standpoint, it's really a pretty decent area and has its own police force. I never felt unsafe on campus day or night.

 

[BelleMD2B]

I'm curious, what did you decide?