medical school

[cajun9]

If this has been posted elsewhere please excuse me and point me in the right direction if possible. I am applying to ms next year and deciding where to apply. My question is this.. does the medical school you attend make a big difference in residency acceptance. I have been researching radiology for awhile, very interested in it and I just want to give myself the best chance I can. thank you for any input

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Dimoak]

It bears a more-than-negligible, but not overly important role. One thing to consider in potential medical schools if you are pursuing a certain specialty is that school's past rank-lists (most schools make them available) of how many people matched into what specialty, and at what program. Choosing one school over another won't alone disqualify you from being able to secure a spot, but a school that has a long history of sending graduates into a certain specialty would only help. For a competitive specialty like rads, your best option would be with a U.S. allopathic school. From there, it's mostly about Step I, grades, LoRs, etc.

 

[cajun9]

thanks for your response, I was just curious if for example if a tulane grad would have a better shot a good rad residency versus a lsu new orleans grad with all other factors bieng equal. thanks for the input dimoak

 

[Labslave]

thanks for your response, I was just curious if for example if a tulane grad would have a better shot a good rad residency versus a lsu new orleans grad with all other factors bieng equal. thanks for the input dimoak

It matters much more what you do when you get into medical school. What you'll also notice is that the big names in undergraduate education don't necessarily correspond to the big names in medicine. You gave a decent example; Tulane is a pretty good school in undergrad and is not a big name in medicine at all (not saying you'd get a bad education there or anything). Good luck!

 

[penguin24]

From what I gathered, getting into rads is no sweat, as long as you're willing to put in the work that a good Step 1 score, grades, etc, requires. The only thing I noticed is that big-name med schools send more students to big name rads programs, whereas small-time med schools still get their med students into the specialties, but in lesser known residency programs.

 

[cajun9]

thanks for the input, makes sense

 

[Labslave]

The only thing I noticed is that big-name med schools send more students to big name rads programs, whereas small-time med schools still get their med students into the specialties, but in lesser known residency programs.

Just as a clarification to the OP, the above statement is dependent upon a lot of things. A big part of this phenomenon is the kind of students that go to "small-time med schools" in the first place (not a very good choice of words, btw). I'm not even just necessarily talking about aptitude; many of these peeps may not be interested in a career in academic medicine or pursuing fellowships, so why would they want to go to a big name residency in the first place (or put the work in that is required to get there)? Other critical considerations are the connections, research opportunities, and big names available at said lesser known schools, which are all real factors.

Many people think that going to a medical school outside of the US News top 40 research rank automatically means that you get a sub-par education, hence producing an inferior physician. That's definitely not the case. I have friends that go to non-big name med schools and they're getting just as good an education as I am.

To the OP: choose a program that will help maximize your effectiveness. This should include factors like proximity to family and friends and weather in addition to hardcore academic criteria.