Miami vs Temple vs UCF

[alegitbroski]

Hi everyone, I'm extremely fortunate to have a very difficult decision between these schools and am interested in your opinion on which school I should attend. I am currently interested in pursuing a surgical subspecialty (ENT, ortho) or a competitive IM subspecialty (cardiology, GI), although I recognize my goals may change once I am in school. Also, I have a girlfriend who will be moving with me wherever I go to school. We currently live in Orlando and she has a few friends in south Florida, but she grew up and has family in New England, including her brother 1-2 hours from Philadelphia. She has said she is 100% cool with moving to Miami or Philadelphia, or just staying put in Orlando, basically leaving this decision solely up to me. I grew up an hour north of Miami and went to undergrad in Florida, so I have many friends in both Orlando and the south Florida area (only a couple friends in downtown Miami/Brickell). I'm mostly torn between Miami and Temple, although I'd love to hear opinions on UCF too.

Miami Miller School of Medicine ($40k tuition + COL, still waiting to see if I get any tuition scholarship $):
Pros:

• Location- beautiful weather, close to mom (1 hour away), many friends in south Florida and Miami. May have connections to some physicians through family friends, step father who was an ENT, etc.
• Slightly higher rank/prestige. On this note, Miami gets the best cases in South Florida, as it is the biggest academic center in the region
• Very nice medical campus, with 3 hospitals right on site. Medical education building and library are kinda old though, although have all the necessities.
• Great clinical training. Have spoken with a current Ortho resident at my job who went to Miami and says he was much better prepared for residency than his colleagues.
• Heavy Spanish speaking population, seems like a good opportunity to learn and be able to use medical Spanish
• Vast research opportunities in basically every field
• Would live in very cool part of Miami (Brickell) only 10 minute train from campus
• Slightly higher prestige/rank than Temple, although not sure how much this matters

Cons:

• Curriculum non-graded P/F. There are rumors they are changing the curriculum to be P/F, but there is no official word yet. Either way, I don't particularly enjoy competitive atmospheres like that and definitely feel uncomfortable with a changing curriculum, as I'd be one of the guinea pigs
• Older medical education building and library

Lewis Katz Medical School at Temple University (Received $20k tuition scholarship, so cost is now $35k + COL):

Pros:

• Philadelphia is a cool city that would be a change of pace. Also close to my dad (3 hours away), girlfriend's family, and a lot of good friends who live in NYC. This also makes more weekend travel options compared to Miami.
• Great clinical training. One of my best friends is an MS4 here and cannot recommend the training at Temple enough.
• Has home programs for every field and should be able to do research in any field, although maybe not as prevalent research as Miami?
• Brand new medical education building and library, seems like a good environment for preclinical learning.
• P/F preclinical curriculum. Seems like a more laid back preclinical environment than Miami, but that's just from interview day

Cons

• School is 30-40 minutes away from where I'd live via Subway. The area around the hospital is pretty shady.
• Weather. I grew up in South Florida, so I'm not used to or prepared for snow and cold weather, although I don't think it's the end of the world.
• Slightly lower prestige/rank than Miami, although not sure how much this matters

UCF College of Medicine ($30k tuition + COL, still waiting to see if I get any tuition scholarship $):

Pros

• Likely the cheapest school of these options due to low COL
• Brand new medical education building. Also building new hospital in Lake Nona, although unsure how much this matters
• High average STEP 1 score and generally very good match lists
• Love living in Orlando. Many friends, brother, niece, etc all live here. Plus close enough to South Florida to see my mom regularly.
• Warm weather (not as nice as Miami though)
• Already have a good amount of physician connections in Orlando

Cons

• Graded preclinical curriculum, not P/F
• Weird vibes on interview day. Didn't interview with actual faculty or physicians. The staff was extremely nice and inviting, I just couldn't get over the actual interview portion.
• Lots of turmoil with where clinical rotations will be, and apparently they send students all over Florida after they ruined relations with Advent Health and Orlando Health (Orlando's 2 big hospital systems)
• Lowest prestige of the 3 schools
• Potentially limited on research opportunities
• Mediocre clinical training compared to Miami and Temple

I really appreciate any feedback and opinions on which school you all think I should choose!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[puahate]

miami w/ scholarship would be a clear winner.

 

[FamousLinen]

Temple=Miami>>>UCF

I don't think you can make a wrong choice with the first two. Personally I'd choose Temple for the change of pace, but Miami would also be amazing. Just pick where you would be happier/rather live between those two.

 

[BunsenBeaker]

Weird about your UCF interview day. I interviewed with 2 physicians. I wonder what happened?

 

[md_mph_applicant_EY19]

Weird about your UCF interview day. I interviewed with 2 physicians. I wonder what happened?

Same thing happened for me - I got one physician interview and the other was with a librarian. I'm assuming it just has to do with who is qualified and available for that day.

 

[Phoebus Apollo]

Philly is a great city but that commute would be a pain. How much does it matter to you that you’d be spending all that time on the train?

Seems like Miami would be better for life style, and the schools otherwise seem about equal in opportunities that they provide you.

No to UCF. Rotation struggles seem like a deal breaker.

 

[yakarma11]

Philly is a great city but that commute would be a pain. How much does it matter to you that you’d be spending all that time on the train?

Seems like Miami would be better for life style, and the schools otherwise seem about equal in opportunities that they provide you.

No to UCF. Rotation struggles seem like a deal breaker.

For Temple (center city) and Miami (brickell), OP will be likely will be taking a train to campus. Train from center city to Temple campus is def not 30-40 min. Both schools will take 10-15 min by train from where you live.

 

[Phoebus Apollo]

For Temple (center city) and Miami (brickell), OP will be likely will be taking a train to campus. Train from center city to Temple campus is def not 30-40 min. Both schools will take 10-15 min by train from where you live.

I was referencing what OP said about Temple and where they predicted they’d live (“School is 30-40 minutes away from where I'd live via Subway.”)

It would be possible to live closer if they were okay with North Philly, but it sounds like they may have their sights on another neighborhood.

I’ve never been to Miami’s campus but from the pros/cons provided I’m wondering if OP will be able to enjoy the city more based on where they’d actually be living.

That said it doesn’t seem like there’s a wrong choice here between Miami and Temple. It’s all about personal taste at this point.

 

[alegitbroski]

Thank you all for the responses! Those commute times were a rough estimate based on the areas of Miami (Brickell) and Philly (Center City) that I would live. Realistically, a difference of 15 minutes isn't the end of the world, but was just a small factor in my decision. Another small factor I forgot to include that's a pro for Miami is their awesome on campus gym! But again, not a factor I can actually swing my decision on.

 

[dark_knight]

Temple. Pass/Fail helps a lot with reducing stress. I don't recommend going to a school with grades.
Philly is a great city. The fact that it's cheaper is also really helpful.

 

[rabiesawarenessFTC]

Miami student here. We’ve all been told Miami will be switching to P/F next year but it’s true they’re still working out the kinks. I will say though that the new dean is really shaking things up and and working hard to improve the school - there will be a lot of changes to the curriculum, etc this next year which is exciting!

 

[puahate]

Snow sucks though. Go to Miami