Mayo (AZ) vs. Cooper Medical School

[ChrisMack390]

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[Astra]

1. How much do you wanna do public health with urban populations? Is this a career goal that you've had for a while or is it a interest that might change during 3rd,4th years?

2. Have you talked to people in public health regarding how much med school prestige impacts the job prospects? ( From my limited knowledge, I think it does. )

3. Are you interested in academics, if so, go to Mayo for sure.

I would personally choose Mayo with your career/life goals. Mayo is an international name with much respect and that will certainly help you with public health. Their residency programs are top notch

 

[Pr1d3D0c]

Full disclosure: I am on the WL at Mayo AZ.

My response won't add much but rather puts this back on you. Where do YOU want to be OP? Personally, I loved Mayo and it's curriculum and mission to care for the person. If given the choice, I would go to Mayo even with a full price tag. However, you are asking this question it seems because you feel that Cooper fits your personality/career goals (correct me if I'm wrong...sorry if I assumed). I think Mayo does have the name as you referred to, and there will definitely be a positive there cause there is SOME PD value placed on the name for residency. But as I've learned over my months on here is that this decision is super personal and going to any medical school is huge so happiness is a paramount consideration.

From a personal standpoint, outside of my (multiple) WL, I will likely be considering UMD and Hofstra. I am likely going to choose Hofstra (if no WL moves) even if it is a tad pricier than my state school because I think I will excel and be happiest in that environment. I'm sorry I don't give a very logistical argument but from what I've garnered here it seems that this decision is more personal/gut than anything else because you cannot go wrong with your MD school choice at the end of the day.

Good luck and congrats on the acceptances!

 

[ChrisMack390]

1. How much do you wanna do public health with urban populations? Is this a career goal that you've had for a while or is it a interest that might change during 3rd,4th years?

2. Have you talked to people in public health regarding how much med school prestige impacts the job prospects? ( From my limited knowledge, I think it does. )

3. Are you interested in academics, if so, go to Mayo for sure.

I would personally choose Mayo with your career/life goals. Mayo is an international name with much respect and that will certainly help you with public health. Their residency programs are top notch

1 - I've been involved in urban community service since I was around 10-12 years old. Whatever specialty I end up in, I absolutely intend to have some underserved and/or global component to my practice. I can't imagine deviating from that, the only thing I don't know is what % of my time.

2 - Not so explicitly, but I think with any research the school prestige does matter. I've noticed as much with the epidemiology research I've done so far. Not sure if they prestige matters vs. literally being located in the heart of Camden.

3 - definitely interested

 

[Astra]

1 - I've been involved in urban community service since I was around 10-12 years old. Whatever specialty I end up in, I absolutely intend to have some underserved and/or global component to my practice. I can't imagine deviating from that, the only thing I don't know is what % of my time.

2 - Not so explicitly, but I think with any research the school prestige does matter. I've noticed as much with the epidemiology research I've done so far. Not sure if they prestige matters vs. literally being located in the heart of Camden.

3 - definitely interested

I would definitely choose mayo then! Plus mayo recently opened up a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida so that's another place for you to do Mayo residency/research.

Plus with Mayo, you will be recognized world wide and that will help you set up public health projects in other countries if you'd like.

 

[deleted785918]

Just an additional thought: you could definitely make the most of your selectives at Mayo by focusing on your interests in urban communities and public health, especially with the faculty connections you'll have!! I would pick Mayo 100%

 

[libertyyne]

TLDR, shouldnt be a question. Mayo.

 

[ChrisMack390]

All the people saying Mayo, I assume you don't think AZ/MN is particularly relevant?

 

[libertyyne]

All the people saying Mayo, I assume you don't think AZ/MN is particularly relevant?

Stopped reading at MAYO, Honestly though, i dont think it matters much. Does AZ have home programs for residency you are looking for?

 

[ChrisMack390]

Stopped reading at MAYO, Honestly though, i dont think it matters much. Does AZ have home programs for residency you are looking for?

Mayo has residencies in MN, FL, and AZ, and you can do various things during (including core rotations) at all 3 sites. At this point I'm very open minded but think I'm most likely to do IM for which there are residencies at all three.

 

[libertyyne]

Mayo has residencies in MN, FL, and AZ, and you can do various things during (including core rotations) at all 3 sites. At this point I'm very open minded but think I'm most likely to do IM for which there are residencies at all three.

The connections you will make there will probably help you land what ever IM residency you would like.

 

[To be MD]

D

So I have more or less narrowed my decision down to these two schools. I am having a tough time deciding between them. Mayo is obviously a big name with amazing resources and such, but I think maybe Cooper is more in line with my personal values and goals as a physician. When applying, I thought of Coop as a place I could get in and would love to go because of their mission, and Mayo was basically a wild dream school situation that actually panned out.

Some factors I've been considering:

Location - For Mayo, I really love the Phoenix area. I thrive in hot weather, I speak Spanish, and one day I would love to end up living on the West Coast, which may be more reasonable from Phoenix than from NJ. For Cooper, I grew up in NJ so I am somewhat "meh" about continuing to live here, though I would be able to live in Philadelphia which is a fun city. My family is about an hour from Cooper, but I have been living ~6 hours from them for nearly a decade and its not a big thing for me really. Overall I like both locations, but Mayo probably wins out.

Reputation - On the surface, this obviously goes to Mayo. At the same time, I am very interested in urban populations, public health, and healthcare policy, so training in Camden might be a great thing. Whether the fancy academic name actually matters is probably a "10 people/11 answers" situation.

Philosophy - As I mentioned, I want to get involved with public health and urban populations. I know many people say this and don't do it, but I have been working with poor urban communities my entire life and don't plan to stop now. Cooper's mission really resonates with me and this is probably why I got accepted there in the first place. At the same time, Mayo seems to equip its students to do whatever they want, so its not as if Mayo would be devoid of such opportunities. That article that came out yesterday re: Mayo giving preferential treatment to privately insured patients really rubbed me the wrong way, but honestly that is probably true at most/all hospitals, Mayo just got caught.

Cost - Mayo gave me a pretty nice scholarship, such that the COA for Mayo is exactly the same as the in state COA for Cooper. I am still waiting on Cooper's aid, but they were very candid at the interview that they do not have much aid to give. An unexpected huge package would likely push me to Cooper, but as it stands I don't think there will be much difference here.

Curriculum - Mayo is a bit more traditional with mostly basic science M1 followed by systems most of M2. Of course they use flipped classroom and small groups as mandated by the ACGME, but for the most part their curriculum resembles the standard traditional med school curriculum. Cooper is very new and used the more recent fully integrated curriculum with tons of small group and such. I THINK that the latter suits me better, but like all applicants I don't really have any way of knowing for sure. Mayo also gives tons of selective time and has the science of healthcare delivery certificate, both of which appeal to me. Cooper has a really cool sounding student continuity clinic.

I guess ultimately the decision is between the school that is very well suited to my goals and my mission as a physician or the school is less tailor made for me but has all of the resources I could need to do whatever I want to do. Any input would be greatly appreciated!

BTW - I am also holding a spot at Rush. I loved Rush, but basically see it as almost exactly the same as Cooper with a higher price tag. A big aid package could bring it back into the running, but its unlikely I think.

Chris, you and @Gurby have to choose Mayo. There's just no question!

 

[Gurby]

D

Chris, you and @Gurby have to choose Mayo. There's just no question!

I'm definitely leaning more and more that way. The big thing holding me back is that my closest mentor through this process (friend from high school who is a resident at a top hospital, was involved in med school admissions, etc) has been super discouraging about it. He has been 100% spot on with all of his advice throughout pre-med and the application cycle, and he obviously has a much more informed perspective having been through the match+fellowship app+his wife is an attending so he has her perspective as well.

He told me, "they will make a big push to make it seem like it's not a new school. Whatever they say, it's a new school." He is worried about not having connections and reputation for matching. I feel like it's apples and oranges compared to most of the other new schools popping up though - they have already hosted 3rd and 4th year students for rotations in AZ, and M1/M2 are pretty much whatever and you learn the same stuff wherever you go. It's kind of unfortunate that there won't be interest groups already established for us - I imagine as an M1 I'll be busy trying to keep my head above water, and not have time to be the one who organizes and runs a group, but I might like to just show up and participate if one was put together by someone else.

Feels bad man to not have the blessing of somebody you trust and who has been right about everything up to this point. But maybe sometimes you have to put on the big boy pants and make your own decisions.

 

[ChrisMack390]

I just don't understand that perspective at all. Everyone knows the preclinical parts of medical school are the least important for residency and such. After that, our M3/4 experience should be exactly the same as the MN students. They have rotated at the AZ Mayo Clinic and Phoenix Children's hospital for years, and we can rotate at the MN and FL sites.

Only thing I'm gonna do slightly differently if I do end up there is try to find a Minnesota based research mentor. I'm interested in clinical research not basic, so there's no reason that won't be possible/easy.