Lewis Katz SOM (Temple) vs Zucker SOM (Hofstra)

[WillyC]

I've been fortunate to receive a handful of acceptances this cycle and have narrowed it down to two schools: Temple and Hofstra. I'm from downstate NY so Hofstra would be closer to home, however I visited Temple for their Second Look and really loved the vibes from the students/curriculum). Another big point is that I received a scholarship from Hofstra, however I am trying to negotiate more aid from Temple.

LKSOM (Temple)
Pros

• Philly!
• Curriculum is more what I'm used to compared to Hofstra
• Non-mandatory lectures which are recorded
• Great social justice programming

Cons:

• Philly.. (the school is located in a not-so-good area and most students live off campus, which can get pricey and I'd have to deal with apartment hunting as opposed to having student housing)
• Cost (~$90k/year)

Zucker SOM (Hofstra)
Pros:

• Cost (received a scholarship which brings cost down to ~$60k/year)
• Proximinity to NYC can give me access to more research/shadowing opportunities
• Closer to home

Cons:

• Flipped classroom/PBL-style which I am not used to
• In-house made short-answer exams opposed to NBME-based MC exams

All-in-all I'm wondering about the extent to which I should let cost drive my decision of where to attend. I feel like the schools' rankings are not significantly different and they both match equally well. If anyone has any direct experience with Hofstra's curriculum then that would be immensely helpful. Thanks all!

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[chilly_md]

Saving 120k while being closer to home is hard to beat.

 

[showkayaker]

Hofstras graded exams are in house written, but exam week does include non-graded NBME exams. Additionally their curriculum schematic does include lectures, the PBL is additional to the lectures. Many schools are adopting that same style now of including both.

Did you attend a Hofstra admitted student day? Seems like you prefer Temple over Hofstra

 

[WillyC]

Saving 120k while being closer to home is hard to beat.

I knoww haha that's really what's thrown me for a loop, I was originally 100% Temple bc I feel like their curriculum will be a better fit, but I'm unsure now to what extent that will matter.

Hofstras graded exams are in house written, but exam week does include non-graded NBME exams. Additionally their curriculum schematic does include lectures, the PBL is additional to the lectures. Many schools are adopting that same style now of including both.

I've heard they do the non-graded NBME-based exam during exam week! It sounds interesting, do you know if students find having that exam on top of the graded non-NBME exam helpful?
That's a good point regarding the mix of lectures and PBL, although I do remember learning that Hofstra practices flipped classroom which is a red flag for me. I may need to reach out to current students and ask how they feel about flipped classroom.

Did you attend a Hofstra admitted student day? Seems like you prefer Temple over Hofstra

I have not, I am waiting to hear back from my student interviewer to ask them questions. I have been Team Temple since I was admitted but am not having second thoughts based on my finaid package and considering the potential living situation.

 

[chilly_md]

I knoww haha that's really what's thrown me for a loop, I was originally 100% Temple bc I feel like their curriculum will be a better fit, but I'm unsure now to what extent that will matter.

Most medical student supplement with 3rd party resources anyways regardless of what type of curriculum is being used.

 

[showkayaker]

I knoww haha that's really what's thrown me for a loop, I was originally 100% Temple bc I feel like their curriculum will be a better fit, but I'm unsure now to what extent that will matter.


I've heard they do the non-graded NBME-based exam during exam week! It sounds interesting, do you know if students find having that exam on top of the graded non-NBME exam helpful?
That's a good point regarding the mix of lectures and PBL, although I do remember learning that Hofstra practices flipped classroom which is a red flag for me. I may need to reach out to current students and ask how they feel about flipped classroom.


I have not, I am waiting to hear back from my student interviewer to ask them questions. I have been Team Temple since I was admitted but am not having second thoughts based on my finaid package and considering the potential living situation.

Hofstra does not practice flipped classroom, unless you are talking about the PBL sessions? Lectures are your traditional in person style and the PBL is in addition to traditional lecture. The admissions office can put you in touch with a current student to give you more of a firsthand perspective.

 

[WillyC]

Hofstra does not practice flipped classroom

Interesting, it says on their MSAR page that they practice flipped classroom and self-directed learning. My concern with this system is too much out-of-class time being dedicated to learning material when it should be spent doing research, community, outreach, etc. Of course even with the traditional model students spend a lot of out of class time learning material anyway.

 

[showkayaker]

Interesting, it says on their MSAR page that they practice flipped classroom and self-directed learning. My concern with this system is too much out-of-class time being dedicated to learning material when it should be spent doing research, community, outreach, etc. Of course even with the traditional model students spend a lot of out of class time learning material anyway.

I’m not sure why it says that, possibly referring to the PBL, but again I would reach out to the admissions office and ask to be in touch with a current student. I attended a visit day and have been in contact with quite a few students and they have all said the same thing, the school overemphasizes the PBL for prospective students when the reality is they have traditional lectures and PBL. For PBL you will obviously have to prepare outside of class and do that “self directed learning.” I believe the last visit day for Hofstra is April 14th if you still wanted to visit and learn more about the school if your heart is not 100% set on Temple!

 

[ginsengreset]

Interesting, it says on their MSAR page that they practice flipped classroom and self-directed learning. My concern with this system is too much out-of-class time being dedicated to learning material when it should be spent doing research, community, outreach, etc. Of course even with the traditional model students spend a lot of out of class time learning material anyway.

As a current student I'm just gonna chime in and say that the PEARLS portion of the curriculum is consists of three 2-hour sessions over the course of the week. On Monday you're given 2 cases, about ~2 pages each, to read over and figure out what you all, as a group, want to look up at home (e.g. there'll be labs, drugs, pathophysiology, symptoms, etc that will be new to you). It might take longer in the beginning, but if you're averaging more than 2 or 3-ish hours per case, you could probably be improving your efficiency.

It's important to note that you're done for the day at around 11:50 AM, sometimes 12:50 PM every single day, except for the 1 day a week you go to your ICE preceptor in the afternoon. It probably is designated as a "flipped classroom" curriculum because in addition to the PEARLS cases, the other sessions (lectures, structure lab, etc) will have a document with "required"/suggested reading beforehand. In reality, you will be totally fine if you happen to not have time to do the lecture pre-readings because those sessions will recap everything you're supposed to know.

A sample week's worth of the absolute "minimum" work you do (outside of classes from 8 am-noon and the 1 ICE session) might look like:
Monday: nothing
Tuesday: 2 hours prepping for Case 1
Wednesday: 3 hours prepping for structure lab (or less if you wanna be more of a wallflower that day and let other people do the talking)
Thursday: 2 hours prepping for Case 2
Friday: nothing

Obviously YMMV, and this schedule is probably more realistic once you get the hang of things. The rest of the time you can fill in with watching step 1 prep videos (idk if people still do this with step 1 going P/F), Anki, actually doing the other preassigned readings, research, volunteering, playing Xbox, booling with friends, etc.