Med Students Far From Home

[Wahoo]

I'm copying this over from the allopathic forum... the more advice, the better!
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Hi everyone, I have a fairly difficult question for you. I was lucky enough to receive acceptances to UCSF and the UCSF/Berkeley Joint Medical Program in the past week. So far so good, right? However, I live in Virginia. Most importantly, my mother who is ill (probably terminally) also lives in Virginia. If this wasn't a factor, I would without a doubt go to UCSF. As it is, I'm pretty worried about being 3000 miles from home at a time like this.
Do any of you have experience with a situation like this? Do any of you go to a medical school far from home, and if so how often do you get to see your family?
Any suggestions/stories/etc are greatly appreciated! Thanks!

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[mdhopeful]

Hi Wahoo - Congratulations on 2 fabulous acceptances! While I am not in medical school, I am a Californian who went to college on the East Coast. I can tell you that it was somewhat difficult for me, but only because I was 17 when I moved, and I only came home twice a year. However, I did spend every summer back at home. While UCSF and the JMP are both awesome programs, you have to do what is best for you. So much of the problem with education in this country is that we are so focused on school rankings. You would think that this wouldn't be as big of an issue for medical school as it is for college, but just check out these boards and you will find people trying to compare Harvard to Hopkins to UCSF to wherever. I think UVA is a great medical school and if you get in there, that would be a definite possibility over UCSF given the nature of your family situation. I don't know the details of your mother's illness, but you should also consider where it is that you want to do a residency and ultimately practice. If you want to settle in Virginia and aren't too caught up in having UCSF on your pedigree then there are plenty of schools closer to home that might serve your situation better. On the other hand, meidcal school really is only 3 years and not 4. You will have plenty of flexibility during your last year to be wherever you want to be, so you could be close to home then. Another thing to consider is that the nature of medical school is that the 1st two years you are studying your butt off, so would it really matter whether that was in Virginia or CA? You probably wouldn't have much time to be around anyways. Don't forget that everything is just one plane ride away...Good luck.