Med School Name Recognition

[Stolenspatulas]

Hopefully I won't get flamed for this:

I am applying to med school this year. There's a lot of conflicting arguments on the pre-allo forum on whether the name of a school, just merely the name, increases your chances at matching to competitive residencies.

As of now, Im seriously thinking about ortho. I know that it may be naiive to say it, since i havent done any rotations or clerkships (though ive seen some awesome surgeries), but as of now ortho is the plan.

Would going to a school like Hopkins or Penn have such a huge advantage over schools like Vandy or Pitt, or even schools like university of miami?

I know that no matter where I go, I have to do very well to get into an ortho residency (but, my guess is the higher more reputable school one goes to, the less relatively awesome s/he has to be compared to his/her peers). For a made up example, if someone goes to hopkins, they can get into an ortho residency if they're ranked in the middle of their class vs someone ranked in the middle of a class at a lesser known school would have no chance at ortho. this is just a guess. is this somewhat true?

any advice?

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[McAllenHopeful]

Penn or Hopkins has no real advantage over Vandy or Pitt. If you look at it, many would say that Vandy and Pitt have two of the best programs in the nation. Especially Pitt with Freddy Fu and his sports program. If you're asking between a small state school and Hopkins/Penn, then I'd say it makes a difference. But overall, it comes down to where you're going to get the best education to make the best grades and scores. Good luck, hope this helped.

 

[random-dude]

I guess if all other things are equal (board scores, grades, class rank, research publications, connections, personality, AOA status, extracurriculars) then yes school name will make a difference. Just remember that everything listed in above is more important than school rep.

 

[Wahoos]

I agree with MC..Hopeful, if you go to Pitt or Vandy vs Hopkins, it would make no difference b/c Pitt and Vandy have probably better names in the Ortho program than Hopkins. But if you go to a state school that is not very reputatable then if would make a difference esp if you want to end up in one of the top Ortho programs. The reason comes down to who is at the Ortho program in your home institution, if you get a strong letter from a bigger named person who is well known, it would help you very much. Most of the time, the committee looks at who writes your letters, with the most impostant factor being if it is from someone they know and it is very positive. Right now, I think the Ivory towers of Ortho programs with big names probably include, Mayo, U Penn, Harvard, Pitt, UCSF, Vandy, Hopkins, HSS = Cornell, Duke, Campbell Clinic = UT Memphis, Carolinas, ....... Whether the above programs will give you the best residency training or not, can be argued and that is another completely different topic.

The bottom line is that you still need to do very well in your home school to get a spot. Getting a 200 on step I and middle of the class and lukewarm letters from Harvard is not going to get you into good position for matching. But if you are AOA, 250s Step I, with clinical honors, research, and strong letters from a state school will probably get you a great spot in Ortho, although not guranteed. Hope this helps.

 

[moquito_17]

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[moquito_17]

Here is a table from an article that discusses this. As you can see, medical school reputation is #9 on the list.



Orthopaedic Resident-Selection Criteria
Adam D. Bernstein, MD, Laith M. Jazrawi, MD, Basil Elbeshbeshy, MD, Craig J. DellaValle, MD and Joseph D. Zuckerman, MD
The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American) 84:2090-2096 (2002)
© 2002 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.

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TABLE I: Ranking of the Twenty-six Resident-Selection Criteria According to the Results of the Questionnaire Completed by Orthopaedic Residency Program Directors

Rank/ Score/ Resident-Selection Criteria


1 7.88 ± 1.71 (n = 109) Rotation at director's institution
2 7.78 ± 1.48 (n = 109) USMLE Part-I score
3 7.77 ± 1.34 (n = 108) Rank in medical school
4 7.55 ± 1.57 (n = 109) Formality/politeness at interview
5 7.35 ± 1.39 (n = 109) Personal appearance of candidate
6 7.11 ± 2.12 (n = 102) Performance on ethical questions at interview
7 7.01 ± 1.94 (n = 108) Letter of recommendation by orthopaedic surgeon
8 6.92 ± 1.90 (n = 109) Candidate is Alpha Omega Alpha member
9 6.47 ± 1.71 (n = 109) Medical school reputation
10 6.25 ± 2.10 (n = 109) Dean's letter
11 5.84 ± 2.26 (n = 108) Personal statement
12 5.74 ± 2.56 (n = 107) Failed first attempt at matching to an orthopaedic residency program
13 5.67 ± 2.46 (n = 106) Telephone call placed on candidate's behalf
14 5.66 ± 1.97 (n = 109) Candidate has published research
15 5.50 ± 2.14 (n = 108) Candidate participated in a dedicated research experience
16 5.13 ± 1.89 (n = 108) Letter of recommendation from nonorthopaedic surgeon
17 4.93 ± 2.20 (n = 109) Candidate is MD/PhD
18 4.83 ± 2.13 (n = 109) Reputation of undergraduate institution
19 4.61 ± 2.38 (n = 108) Undergraduate grade-point average
20 4.44 ± 2.16 (n = 107) Appearance of curriculum vitae
21 4.30 ± 2.15 (n = 109) Letter of recommendation from a senior resident
22 3.94 ± 2.48 (n = 109) Candidate has a relative affiliated with director's program
23 3.56 ± 2.12 (n = 108) Candidate has an undergraduate engineering major
24 3.26 ± 2.41 (n = 108) Thank-you letter from candidate
25 2.32 ± 2.22 (n = 66) Performance on manual skills testing during interview
26 1.78 ± 1.76 (n = 64) Evaluation by psychologist/psychiatrist during interview
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[Modanq]

I also think that school rank doesnt matter. Sometimes Pre-meders get blinded by USNEWS rankings.

If there is an applicant from Rush for example, which by the way has one of the top ortho programs in the country, kills the boards, is in AOA, and did some research in ortho id take him over a mediocre student in medical school at hopkins with like a 215 board score, no AOA and no research.

Sometimes its even easier to get research done at smaller schools. Plus, people at the top schools are that much more gunner.

Look at the residency program if you are 1000% sure of ortho. Say for example you go to Rush and kill it. You will automatically be the internal candidate and be their top choice. Think about it.

 

[Stolenspatulas]

double post

 

[Stolenspatulas]

hey guys, thanks for all the replies.

right now im deciding between vandy and duke. the second look at vandy was ridiculously fun. i can see myself being happy there and am likely going to tip towards going there (but am still waiting for financial packages before making the decision).

i know duke has a very reputable ortho program. do you think vandy's is up to par? right now, as a prospective student, i want maximize the chances of doing good research in ortho during med school and working with physicians that have the reputation that could help me match well.