Medical School Reputation (Again) [Residents and doctors please advise]

I'd say it helps to be in the general area where you plan to do residency. ALL the UC schools have a very good rep in California, so if you are looking to stay in CA for residency and maybe beyond, I'd have to go with UCI. On the West Coast, the U of PIttsburg probably doesn't carry much weight either negatively or positively...

My opinion...

 

I'd go with general reputation. (ie. the reputation column on US News, although subjective and random, does give a general ballpark of comparative reputation.)

Board score averages between institutions vary only very slightly. (ie. a school with board scores of 225-230 would be high while a school with a below average boards, like 210 would be considered low. Almost all med schools in the country fall within this range.) It's how YOU do on the boards that's important, not how your school does. A school with relatively high average and relatively low reputation will invariably put more pressure on you to do well on the boards, and if you dont, you'll look bad because you'll be preceived as below average compared to your classmates.

Ultimately, you can do extremely well on the boards no matter which med school you are from if you work hard - it's something you can control in your own hands. Every med school have their share of gunners every year that put up fantastic board numbers. You will need to work hard to get through ANY med school anyways. But reputation is something you can't control. So I think everything else being equal (ie. personal fit, preferences, etc. aside) it's a better idea to go to the good reputation school rather than a school with high board scores.

Just my 2 cents...

 

I agree. Go to a school that you feel that you are the most comfortable in. After you interviews you should make some mental notes on the positives and the negatives for each school, and how well do you see yourself doing well in that school. At the end, if you are fortunate, you will have been accepted by 2 or 3 schools that you like, and visit them again, talk to people and re-evaluate. Go with your gut feelings.

My post above made the assumption that everything else (ie. all of the above) being equal, going to a school with a higher overall reputation should be a higher priority than going to a school for their board averages. You will work hard at any med school - and every med school have their share of people do well on the boards and secure top residencies. It's just that if you do go to a highly esteemed school, your pressure of doing extremely well on the boards/getting high grades can be considerably less than going to a less-known school. If you graduated middle of the pack from Hopkins with a 220 boards, you will tend to match better than someone from U of Nebraska with the same credentials - just because you go to a better school. In fact, if you go to a lesser-known school and want to go into the top programs for a competitive residency position, the pressure for you to do well and to stand-out can be considerable.