more relevant?: USNEWS medschools vs. hospitals rankings

[IcedCube]

true, neither may mean much.

but its strange how each list is so different. ie. UCLA med school is 14, but UCLA hospitals is "3". it seems that hospital rankings should matter more since thats where you'll learn the trade.

wayne state - not even in the top 100, seemingly
its hospitals - henry ford hospital top 15-50 in a lot of stuff.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/hosptl/honorroll.htm

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[Alexander99]

This gives you yet another picture but again, it doesn't tell the whole story (or perhaps even the story we think it tells.) If you check the methodology for how they came with the rankings, it's strictly based on the quality of care you can receive at each respective medical center. This doesn't necessarily mean that you'll get better instruction there as a med student.

For example, hospital X may have great care for its patients. Does this say anything about how well the quality of clinicial training the affiliated med school gives its students? What matters is the type of experiences you gain during your clinical years and how much of a teaching mentality the hospital staff have. It's conceivable where a medical center gives great care but it doesn't let its students do too much clinically for fear that the mistakes they make may decrease their reputation.

I think the best measure would be to compile residency directors' rankings of what schools they believe graduate the best trained students. I've been at several school interviews where they comment on how their med school is good because many residency directors will recognize that their gradutates are well prepared. That's great but I'd need some kind of numbers that would prove it's not just one guy that feels that way.

 

[BassDominator]

I agree with Alexander99. Even unranked schools/residency programs can have really good reputations among employers (residency programs, hospitals, private practices, etc.)

 

[Gleevec]

true, neither may mean much.

but its strange how each list is so different. ie. UCLA med school is 14, but UCLA hospitals is "3". it seems that hospital rankings should matter more since thats where you'll learn the trade.

wayne state - not even in the top 100, seemingly
its hospitals - henry ford hospital top 15-50 in a lot of stuff.

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/hosptl/honorroll.htm

I agree with a lot of what was said by above posters. The hospital rankings are even less useful to you as a med student than US News med school rankings are (which are only a tool in and of themselves). If youre a patient, you might care about the hospital rankings more, but those rankings mean little in terms of instruction offered there.

 

[CalBeE]

The way I make use of the hospital rankings is that you know students from a certain med school have a higher chance of matching at its affiliated hospital, b/c of connections, familiarity with the quality of education, etc.

So say if I'm interested in Psychiatry, UCLA's Neuropsychiatric Institute will be a great place for residency...That may affect my choice of school.