Michigan vs Pitt

[DrSmooth]

I am married with young kids, very excited to be able to choose between these two amazing schools. I am planning on going into clinical medicine, perhaps IM or a subspecialty. Can people with first-hand knowledge of these schools give me some input on how they compare, especially in terms of curriculum, clinical training, quality of life, cost and location? Any other major factors I am missing? I am from the west coast so would be OOS at both. Thanks so much.

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[JasonE]

I am married with young kids, very excited to be able to choose between these two amazing schools. I am planning on going into clinical medicine, perhaps IM or a subspecialty. Can people with first-hand knowledge of these schools give me some input on how they compare, especially in terms of curriculum, clinical training, quality of life, cost and location? Any other major factors I am missing? I am from the west coast so would be OOS at both. Thanks so much.

cant go wrong with either. id give mich the +1 for location (good city). it would be colder though. also, residency directors really like mich because of its strong IM program. cant speak for pitt though

 

[ruiner]

The weather difference between AA and Pitt is neglible. Michigan is in a great location for a family. I don't know enough about Pitt to compare the schools but both are great, but since you are looking for a place for your family, I don't think you could go wrong there.

 

[DrSmooth]

Weather is definitely not a factor for me. To me, anything below 60 is "cold". We'll adjust. The biggest factors for me are curriculum/academic excellence, clinical training, and quality of life/free time. From my perspective Pitt has a slight edge academically but is more rigorous (e.g. mandatory scholarly project), Michigan offers better quality of life & seemed to have happier students. For example, there were over 40 students from all 4 years at interview lunch, vs 2 M1s at Pitt lunch. As for clinical training, I really don't know how to judge this since I am still premed and not an M3 or M4. I would go with my gut but my gut is not giving me any help on this one. Anyone else out there familiar with either or both schools have some input? Thanks.

 

[Bbon]

I've only interviewed at both schools, so I can't give you insider information. But at least for me, I liked Michigan significantly more. I would guess that your quality of life for the first 2 years will be better at Michigan. For one, Michigan is P/F for the first 2 years, while Pitt has at least some kind of grading, either honors, or honors + high pass. Also, Pitt has a lot of small group activities that are required, like PBL, forcing you to roll out of bed at the early hours and get to class. At Michigan, few if any classes are required, and all the lectures are posted online. And the flex-time quizzes are another nice bonus that should make life and studying manageable.

In terms of clinical training, Michigan boasts that they're one of the top ranked schools by residency directors. Outside of that, I can't really tell you much, other than you're more than likely to get a top notch education at either school. Plus if you're planning on going into something like IM, you'll be overprepared if anything by either school. You were probably aware of most if not all of these things, so sorry if I wasn't too much help.

 

[DrSmooth]

You were probably aware of most if not all of these things, so sorry if I wasn't too much help.

No thanks, it really helps to hear other people's thought process and perspective.

 

[oaklandguy]

I am in no position to talk about U of M's med-school, but I can tell you that the atmosphere and location are out of this world at U of M. One of the best college towns I've ever been to. Literally the hospital is in the middle of Ann Arbor and it's seriously one of the coolest places I've been to.

I've also met a lot of U of M doctors and their phenomenal. There's a hospital in the metropolitan Detroit area that advertises having U of M cardiac surgeons on staff 24/7.

Both are amazing schools. The one thing Pitt has over UMich is that Pennsylvania is thriving a lot more than Michigan, and the state of Michigan may not be the best for an aspiring doctor. However, Ann Arbor is one of the bright spots in Michigan and would be an awesome place to spend four years. Just my $0.02 and I can't really speak for Pitt at all.