Medical school mission statements?

[yellowfever2012]

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I'm a rising junior majoring in Public Health with a potential minor in Anthropology. I look forward to applying to medical school after graduating college (taking one year off). This question may be more suited for those who have already experienced some medical school education:


How important is a medical school's mission statement?


For example, I'd like to attend a school that places high emphasis on community service and involvement. In applying to medical schools, I wouldn't necessarily disregard one for not mentioning service in its mission statement, but would it be fair to consider more closely those schools that do include community service as part of their mission statements?


This is probably a strange question, but I'm curious, especially since the mission statement of my undergraduate institution (University of Rochester) seems to come up daily in classes and the like.

Thank you kindly for your help!

 

[The Poet Sings]

I'm a rising junior majoring in Public Health with a potential minor in Anthropology. I look forward to applying to medical school after graduating college (taking one year off). This question may be more suited for those who have already experienced some medical school education:


How important is a medical school's mission statement?


For example, I'd like to attend a school that places high emphasis on community service and involvement. In applying to medical schools, I wouldn't necessarily disregard one for not mentioning service in its mission statement, but would it be fair to consider more closely those schools that do include community service as part of their mission statements?


This is probably a strange question, but I'm curious, especially since the mission statement of my undergraduate institution (University of Rochester) seems to come up daily in classes and the like.

Thank you kindly for your help!

yes, it would be fair. select schools based on whatever criteria you find to be important, be it location, price, or the values they have on community service. i believe the msar has a section for each school on their community service and research stances, so that could be worth looking into. some places require things of their students, and others do not. if you ended up at a school that didn't require it though, there is nothing stopping you and your classmates from making a group to fulfill your community service desires.

 

[DaisyBuchanan]

If you want to find schools that value community service, go through the MSAR and look for schools that have a community service requirement for its students. For example, Georgetown has one... can't think of others right now, but Gtown is the last secondary I did so it's fresh in my mind 🙂

 

[yellowfever2012]

thanks for your feedback! i'll make sure to check out the MSAR. community service isn't the only crtierion in which i'm interested. i was sort of using it as an example, but it is a great idea to look at which schools require service of their students. a school's emphasis on research, public/community health, and global outreach are also really important to me.

thanks again!

 

[moxche]

Out of curiosity, why does it even matter if the school has a community service requirement?

I imagine that as long as your school isn't in the middle of nowhere then you should be able to easily find volunteer/service opportunities in the surrounding community. No?

 

[The Poet Sings]

Out of curiosity, why does it even matter if the school has a community service requirement?

I imagine that as long as your school isn't in the middle of nowhere then you should be able to easily find volunteer/service opportunities in the surrounding community. No?

i don't know this to be a fact or anything, but it is probably going to be easier to do community service if the school already has those channels set up with local hospitals/clinics/whatever. i assumed this person meant medical related community service. so if the school has a relationship with some group or w/e, the students don't have to be the ones struggling to put something together. just my idea, though. the opportunities probably exist everywhere, it's just the amount of resistance you'll encounter if the school doesn't have anything already set up.

 

[yellowfever2012]

thanks for your feedback. i'm not necessarily looking for a school that REQUIRES community service per se. i suppose my question should have been more specific (or split into a few parts). but i'm most curious as to whether or not medical students fulfill their schools' mission statements in general.

i used community service as an example because i was hoping to assess the degree to which a school's mission statement affects culture. in essence, at the medical school level, is a mission statement simply words on paper or does it represent the school environment on a larger scale (in this instance, a service-oriented culture among students)?

i apologize for the convoluted explanation

 

[BigRedder]

I'm pretty sure that mission statements are little more than marketing from the administration. Town gown relations and such. Ask current students about the culture if you really want to know.

U of R is all about their "Meliora". It is so vague that it can be applied to anything.

 

[yellowfever2012]

thanks for the advice -- i'll try to contact some students from schools for sure.

the Rochester mission statement is about the freedom to choose, blah blah blah, but it truly does permeate the undergraduate culture.

 

[yellowfever2012]

bump :]