Mayo Clinic (MN) vs Feinberg

[go_apollo]

Hello! I would really like some help choosing between Mayo and Feinberg. I really love both schools which is making it extremely difficult for me to choose which to go to. For some context, I am interested in brain-machine research, likely will be aiming for a surgical specialty (keeping my options open rn), and am from the chicagoland area (which is why I like the location of Feinberg much more). Aerospace medicine is a strong interest of mine as well and although I noticed some students at Feinberg have similar interests, it looks like Mayo has more connections/opportunities. Below are the pros and cons I thought of for both schools, and I would greatly appreciate it if there are any significant ones I am missing! Financials are very similar for both schools so I ignored that in my pros/cons:

MAYO:
pros:

Travel to different locations: Arizona, Florida

Very nice Simulation Lab (compared to what I've seen at Feinberg)

Best hospital in the US - more connections/opportunities?

No rankings

1-week selective breaks: Can go home/travel

Aerospace medicine opportunities

cons:

In the middle of nowhere

Living far from home

Not much brain-machine research (I am interested in the intersection of tech and medicine)

1.5 year

FEINBERG
pros:

I love the location

Connected to a university system

Home nearby

Can make my own aerospace club

Better research opportunities

2year and ECMH

cons:

Less opportunities (Mayo seems to have the option to travel & pushes outside rotations which I really like)

Ranked and AOA

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[zestyzigzagoon]

I think away rotations are doable at both of these institutions, so I wouldn’t worry too much about that. I think the decision comes down to whether or not Mayo’s unranked (ergo less stressful) academic environment outweighs its poor location.

 

[BritainKittenMittens]

I usually am an advocate of going to the less stressful place, but my understanding is May is still graded during clinical it's just not ranked? In that case, I'm not sure how much less stressful that is. (aren't you still graded and PDs see the distribution?)

If it were P/F that'd be a different story, but still as someone who also values location, I think Northwestern is the way to go. Being in Chicago and close to family might be better for your mental health. And I don't think there will be fewer opportunities at Northwestern, at least not that noticeable. Mayo hospital system is a beast, but it's not like Northwestern's is a joke.

 

[go_apollo]

Thank you! Because I am interested in going into academic medicine, would Northwestern be the better option then? Also, does the medical school play a large part in matching at the same location? I wouldn't be able to see myself settling in a place like Rochester, but I'm not sure if residency programs like people who went to the same med school. Also, if I want to go back to northwestern for residency would it look unappealing if I go to Feinberg (since I also did undergrad at NU and thus look like I have less of a variety in experience)?

 

[zestyzigzagoon]

Thank you! Because I am interested in going into academic medicine, would Northwestern be the better option then? Also, does the medical school play a large part in matching at the same location? I wouldn't be able to see myself settling in a place like Rochester, but I'm not sure if residency programs like people who went to the same med school. Also, if I want to go back to northwestern for residency would it look unappealing if I go to Feinberg (since I also did undergrad at NU and thus look like I have less of a variety in experience)?

Lol they don’t care about variety. They prob will appreciate the fact that you’ve been a part of the Northwestern family for 8 years, so I wouldn’t worry about matching there