Medical Schools in PA

[Femtochemistry]

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Hi guys,

Since I live in PA, i will be applying to ALL PA medical schools; as my odds are better in-state rather than out-state. Anywways, what do you guys think of PA medical schools, ie, the big 6: Pitt, Penn, Penn State, Hahnemman, Temple, and Jefferson. Since i live in Pittsburgh, I favor Pitt. Can you guys give me some feedback on these schools?

Thx!

 

[Dr. Kermit]

Hey Fern-

I'm a PA resident and will be up in NY come fall. I applied to all PA schools with a 3.56/30. I was rejected by Penn and Pitt and offered interviews at Temple, MCP, and Penn State. I was accepted to Temple and MCP, but did not attend my Penn State interview. I was put on hold at Jefferson, but later withdrew.

Good luck with everything.

 

[Femtochemistry]

Furthermore, what kind of grading systems do these schools have: A/B/C.. or Honors/Pass/Fail

Thank you.

 

[Dr. Kermit]

Jefferson (H/P/F)
MCP (H/HP/P/CP/F)
Penn State (H/HP/P/F)
Pitt (H/P/F)
Temple (H/HP/P/LP/F)
UPenn (P/F)

 

[Femtochemistry]

Thx a lot Kermit; anyone else like to comment?


WOW!! Penn is only P/F <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" />
You would think such a great school might have at least Honors!

 

[Femtochemistry]

anyone?

 

[psyche]

Femto:

I only interviewed at MCP Hahnemann, but I'll give what I know of the other schools.

Jefferson: Long history of providing top-notch medical education. The administration is a bit traditional as is curriculum. Great hospital system and first-rate clinical education. Rumored to have competitive atmosphere. Big class size(over 200). Not ethnically diverse. Great urban location. Has begun to focus more on research as of late. Private, expensive. Slightly favors in-staters.

MCP Hahnemann: Slightly unorthodox. Option of problem-based learning or traditional curriculum. Accepts many older students. Has large and ethnically diverse student body. Went bankrupt in '98, hospitals taken over by Tenet and school itself absorbed by Drexel University. Solid school and should improve. "Rodney Dangerfield of medical schools" on SDN, mainly because pre-meds face lots of rejection and need to lash out at something. First 2 years in W. Philadelphia and last 2 mostly in downtown. Private, expensive. Class size 225+.

Penn State: Rural location. Very attractive medical complex. Those who have visited report it's a very welcoming environment. Good clinical education. Somewhat conservative part of the state. In-state tuition makes it attractive choice. Favors state residents.

Temple: Very urban environment in downtrodden North Philadelphia. Very highly respected clinical education. Good hospital system providing wealth of experiences. Quasi-public, strongly favors in-state residents. Large class size(over 200). Ethnically diverse.

Pitt: One of the best med schools in the country and getting better all the time. Heavily into research. Welcoming to non-traditional applicants. Preference for in-state residents. Carefully thought out curriculum design that is extremely popular with students. Preference to in-staters.

Penn: Surely you don't need me to tell you this is a great school. Terrific on every score. Often #1 in NIH research funding.

 

[Bonds756]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Femtochemistry:
•Thx a lot Kermit; anyone else like to comment?


WOW!! Penn is only P/F <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" />
You would think such a great school might have at least Honors!•••••Penn is P/F during the first few months of year 1, but it is H/P/F for the last 3 1/2 years.

 

[UCLA2000]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by cbs7chuck:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by Femtochemistry:
•Thx a lot Kermit; anyone else like to comment?


WOW!! Penn is only P/F <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" />
You would think such a great school might have at least Honors!•••••Penn is P/F during the first few months of year 1, but it is H/P/F for the last 3 1/2 years.•••••And Penn only has 1.5 yrs of book work.

 

[Femtochemistry]

Thanks a lot guys! I would like to here more about Pitt: anybody here a student at Pitt med?

thanks.

 

[The Fly]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by UCLA2000:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by cbs7chuck:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by Femtochemistry:
•Thx a lot Kermit; anyone else like to comment?


WOW!! Penn is only P/F <img border="0" alt="[Wowie]" title="" src="graemlins/wowie.gif" />
You would think such a great school might have at least Honors!•••••Penn is P/F during the first few months of year 1, but it is H/P/F for the last 3 1/2 years.•••••And Penn only has 1.5 yrs of book work.•••••The first semester of the first year is P/F and then for the remaining two semesters (and clerkships), it's H/P/F. To reiterate, you begin clerkships after winter break of the second year, which is very exciting!

Regarding Penn as the #1 NIH school -- this is simply and utterly untrue unless you're talking about ONLY PA schools. Harvard Medical has nearly twice Penn's research budget from the NIH, although Penn is usually the #2 in terms of funding.

NIH Funding -- (in millions)

Harvard University -- $731.9
Univ. of Pennsylvania -- $373.6
Univ. of Washington -- $367.7
Johns Hopkins -- $348.2
Baylor College of Medicine -- $313.2
Wash U, STL. -- $310.5
UCLA -- $306.7
UCSF -- $287.6
Columbia U. P&S -- $251.1
U Michigan -- $230.7
Yale -- $225.6**
Univ. of Pittsburgh -- $214.6
Cornell Univ. -- $212.3

** - grants to medical school; does not include grants to affiliated hospitals.

Source: US News & WR, 2002

 

[psyche]

You're right that Penn is second in NIH funding, and has been for the past four years. This is pretty unimportant, but the information I got from NIH web page shows Johns Hopkins as #1 in NIH funding for the last ten years, not Harvard, which doesn't even make the top ten. This seemed strange to me too but go look at NIH web site if you don't believe me. I'm not sure where U.S News gets 700 million figure. Perhaps that includes MGH and other affiliated hospitals.

 

[medicine2006]

Although I am going to become an MD I think that often osteopathy unfairly gets the shaft. All you guys forgot to mention the two DO schools in PA, PCOM and LECOM. PCOM is one of the best DO schools out there. I would chose PCOM over MCP Hahnemann anytime. BTW I got accepted to both of those schools but decided to go to med school in Washington DC.

 

[jot]

the nih findung issue includes every single affiliated harvard hospital, mgh, brigam womens, not to name countless others. its arguable whether this is reasonable, but they still do it.
-jot

 

[The Fly]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by psyche:
•You're right that Penn is second in NIH funding, and has been for the past four years. This is pretty unimportant, but the information I got from NIH web page shows Johns Hopkins as #1 in NIH funding for the last ten years, not Harvard, which doesn't even make the top ten. This seemed strange to me too but go look at NIH web site if you don't believe me. I'm not sure where U.S News gets 700 million figure. Perhaps that includes MGH and other affiliated hospitals.•••••Indeed, as Jot says, this includes all of the affiliated hospitals. . .

BUT... I don't agree that its questionable as to whether this is a 'good idea.' Seriously, this is TOTALLY relevant!! Although research may be at the Brigham or Beth Israel, it's HMS research. . . that labs are affiliated with one hospital or another isn't nearly as important as the research performed by the umbrella organization.

I work at BIDMC, one of Harvard's big hospitals -- and it's less about being at Beth Israel and more about Harvard Medical School -- even though the school itself doesn't do that much research on campus.

Hopkins can go on and on about research, but after being in this field for a while, I can tell you that there are many other organizations with more prestiege than Hopkins (as far as research; this doesn't extend clinically, where Hopkins is top of its game) -- these include: Penn, Rockefeller (NYC), Univ. of Washington, UCLA, UCSF, Columbia, WUSTL, among others.

Ultimately, it's the total $$ that matters, and because Harvard has SO many great hospitals, they have the most research period.

Harvard wasn't on that list because there's no 'Harvard' hospital -- I'll bet that one or more of the following appears, however:

Beth Israel Deaconess Med. Ctr.
Children's Hospital
Dana Farber
Mass. General Hosp.
Brigham and Women's Hosp.

 

[Bonds756]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by The Fly:
•
Regarding Penn as the #1 NIH school -- this is simply and utterly untrue unless you're talking about ONLY PA schools. Harvard Medical has nearly twice Penn's research budget from the NIH, although Penn is usually the #2 in terms of funding.
•••••Yes, Penn is second overall. But its Pathology Department, of which I am a proud member, receives more money than any department at any school.

 

[The Fly]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by cbs7chuck:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by The Fly:
•
Regarding Penn as the #1 NIH school -- this is simply and utterly untrue unless you're talking about ONLY PA schools. Harvard Medical has nearly twice Penn's research budget from the NIH, although Penn is usually the #2 in terms of funding.
•••••Yes, Penn is second overall. But its Pathology Department, of which I am a proud member, receives more money than any department at any school.•••••This is actually pretty typical at many teaching hospitals. . . 🙂