Noob Question about MedSchool School Work

[SLKHERO]

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Hi,
I am pretty sure that someone has already asked this qustion before, but I can't really find it so I'll ask it again. Coulde somebody please describe to me the amount of readings (or any kind of homework) assigned at MedSchool? Do all schools have for subjects per semester or how does that exactly work? How often do you get exams? Anyways, hope someone could please answer these question. Thanks a lot.

 

[Brainsucker]

All those questions depend on your school. Plus, different people study differently. I tend to do a lot of textbook reading while some just use lecture transcripts. There isn't much homework (that you have to turn in) at all. We have 6 (I think) blocks the first year, each with a few different tests at the end. 2nd years have tests every two weeks, or so it seems. You can find a whole lot of this stuff online at various schools' websites.

 

[Law2Doc]

Hi,
I am pretty sure that someone has already asked this qustion before, but I can't really find it so I'll ask it again. Coulde somebody please describe to me the amount of readings (or any kind of homework) assigned at MedSchool? Do all schools have for subjects per semester or how does that exactly work? How often do you get exams? Anyways, hope someone could please answer these question. Thanks a lot.

All schools are different, and each individual's study plan within each school is going to be different. There are some schools where you have multiple courses at a time, some where you take one at a time but at a more compressed pace. There are daily lectures, and you will be informed what portions of the note set and books the lectures will correspond to. Some people read before the lecture, some after, some instead. A lot of self study. But a virtual ton of material to get through and know well before the tests. I've heard of folks getting away with as little as 25-30 hours a week of study, and as much as 70. Depends on the kind of student you are, the program you are in, and the kind of grades you would be satisfied with.

 

[tupac_don]

Hi,
I am pretty sure that someone has already asked this qustion before, but I can't really find it so I'll ask it again. Coulde somebody please describe to me the amount of readings (or any kind of homework) assigned at MedSchool? Do all schools have for subjects per semester or how does that exactly work? How often do you get exams? Anyways, hope someone could please answer these question. Thanks a lot.

Like other people said, each school is different. You can always read the book, but its best to focus on notes given in class at least as far as the course is concerned. Amount you study per day really varies first of all from person to person and on your capabilities. For some people 4hrs per day is enough for some they need like 10hrs per day. Also quality and not quantity is imp. If you can get 4 quality hours and you are a fast reader, that's way better then 10 hrs punctuated with breaks every hour. But you will find your way once you are there. Main thing is not to get overwhelmed by the volume of material and not to try and know everything. I find a lot of the time I am overprepared for the test, they tend to ask much less then they actually could have. So the key I find is to pay close attention to profs, b/c they guide you onto what you need to study and if you master that, all else is gravy. But med school is just about discipline and effort. Yea you do need intelligence, but effort and consistency are more imp in my opinion then sheer intellect. Simply you must get through those 300 or 400 pages in a 3 week period. Superior memory may help, if you can read something once or twice and know it pretty solid, but other than that that's it. I find most people who struggle are ones who don't have particularly stellar memory and find it tough to memorize all the material in such a short time. But otherwise its all gravy.

 

[SLKHERO]

Thank you guys for replying...🙂. My main problem is reading speed and memory. I seem to be lacking of both. I am an average reader and need to re-read a lot to remember something. The 300-400pgs in 3 weeks sounds scarry. If it's for all the subjects then it could be done, but if each subject will have so many pages then it sounds extremely tough.

Do you also have labs for most of the subjects in Med School?

 

[Brainsucker]

Thank you guys for replying...🙂. My main problem is reading speed and memory. I seem to be lacking of both. I am an average reader and need to re-read a lot to remember something. The 300-400pgs in 3 weeks sounds scarry. If it's for all the subjects then it could be done, but if each subject will have so many pages then it sounds extremely tough.

Do you also have labs for most of the subjects in Med School?

For most subjects, we do not have labs, anatomy being a major exception. Histo also has labs as will path next year (these last two are just looking at stuff, not actually doing anything). If you're a slow reader, you might do better to just go through the lectures a few times instead of trying to wade through hundreds of pages.

 

[tupac_don]

Thank you guys for replying...🙂. My main problem is reading speed and memory. I seem to be lacking of both. I am an average reader and need to re-read a lot to remember something. The 300-400pgs in 3 weeks sounds scarry. If it's for all the subjects then it could be done, but if each subject will have so many pages then it sounds extremely tough.

Do you also have labs for most of the subjects in Med School?

Yea 300-400 sounds scary, but keep in mind several things. Its not 300-400 pages of dense written material, there is plenty of pictures and figures too. These are notes not textbook. Also not everything is emphasized. I find that if they really asked what they taught it would be very difficult. But profs tend to focus on certain things more than others. Its really not that bad, I mean you have to study regularly, but if you are slow reader that just means you will need to spend a little more time than someone who is a faster reader, but you will be fine.

 

[SLKHERO]

Yea 300-400 sounds scary, but keep in mind several things. Its not 300-400 pages of dense written material, there is plenty of pictures and figures too. These are notes not textbook. Also not everything is emphasized. I find that if they really asked what they taught it would be very difficult. But profs tend to focus on certain things more than others. Its really not that bad, I mean you have to study regularly, but if you are slow reader that just means you will need to spend a little more time than someone who is a faster reader, but you will be fine.

thanks...🙂...do u by any chance know anything about UIC?...I keep it as my back up so am kind of interested about their system

 

[tupac_don]

thanks...🙂...do u by any chance know anything about UIC?...I keep it as my back up so am kind of interested about their system

I have no clue about UIC, your best bet is to post a forum calling out students from UIC and ask them how the set up is overthere. But like others have said, all schools are different, so its really imp to know the specific system at school you will be going to next year.

 

[synapse lapse]

Yea 300-400 sounds scary, but keep in mind several things. Its not 300-400 pages of dense written material, there is plenty of pictures and figures too. These are notes not textbook. Also not everything is emphasized. I find that if they really asked what they taught it would be very difficult. But profs tend to focus on certain things more than others. Its really not that bad, I mean you have to study regularly, but if you are slow reader that just means you will need to spend a little more time than someone who is a faster reader, but you will be fine.

I don't know what you guys are talking about, the sylabus is dense and yes, they do draw questions from every piece of minutia in it. You have to literally memorize the 250 pages because a question could have been one or two words in a sentence or a number off of a graph, and can't always be deduced from knowledge, though yes probably 85% can be deduced.

 

[SLKHERO]

do people form study groups???...does each subject have a supplemental instructor or somebody that can basically tutor the students?...

 

[erin682]

do people form study groups???...does each subject have a supplemental instructor or somebody that can basically tutor the students?...

Well some people form study groups but you really have to study a lot on your own as well b/c so much of med school is just memorization.

As far as tutors, thats gonna depend on the school. My school only offers tutors to people who have subpar performance, but other schools may have other people to help out any student who wants it. Honestly though most of the information in medschool is not that difficult its just that there is a lot of it. You just have to put in the time memorizing it. Some exceptions might be like lab type stuff where it can be helpful to have someone point stuff out to you, but even then you have to do most of the work yourself.

 

[fun8stuff]

I don't know what you guys are talking about, the sylabus is dense and yes, they do draw questions from every piece of minutia in it. You have to literally memorize the 250 pages because a question could have been one or two words in a sentence or a number off of a graph, and can't always be deduced from knowledge, though yes probably 85% can be deduced.

well, for a lot of classes if you pay attention in lecture you can generally figure out what the prof thinks is the most important. There are topics you can almost guarentee there will be a question on- so you memorize that topic. I have found that this will give me 75-95% of the material on the exam (Depending on the class and the exam). Sometimes you can figure out the additional important material, sometimes you can't. Most of the time, just by paying attention you can figure out 75% of the important points that an exam will emphasize- which is passing.

I generally try and first memorize what I know is important, then memorize the things I think are important, and then, given time, memorize the minutia (starting with the minutia deemed most important).

Of course there are always those bastard profs that don't let any clues slip, but in my high school, undergrad, and med school experience... i have not had that many.

 

[SLKHERO]

well, for a lot of classes if you pay attention in lecture you can generally figure out what the prof thinks is the most important. There are topics you can almost guarentee there will be a question on- so you memorize that topic. I have found that this will give me 75-95% of the material on the exam (Depending on the class and the exam). Sometimes you can figure out the additional important material, sometimes you can't. Most of the time, just by paying attention you can figure out 75% of the important points that an exam will emphasize- which is passing.

I generally try and first memorize what I know is important, then memorize the things I think are important, and then, given time, memorize the minutia (starting with the minutia deemed most important).

Of course there are always those bastard profs that don't let any clues slip, but in my high school, undergrad, and med school experience... i have not had that many.

thanks for the thorough explanation...🙂...do u know where I can check out old med school exams?...just to get a feel of it...see how demanding it really is...thanks

 

[tupac_don]

thanks for the thorough explanation...🙂...do u know where I can check out old med school exams?...just to get a feel of it...see how demanding it really is...thanks

It will be tough to gauge it, by old med school exams. But honestly med school exams are not that tough, just think you go through 300 pages and they ask say 60-70 questions, so you need to have a pretty good idea of everything to do real well. But these questions are not very hard at all if someone gave same questions but say you had more time to study. But they will ask harder questions in some undergrad courses. The trick is the time limit and they often teach 20-30% of what will be on the exam the last week right before the test. So you don't have that much time to master it.

Some question examples are: Like, p53 does all of the following except, or what happens if you sever the median nerve before the carpal tunnel. I mean these are not tough questions, but there is so much material, that if you read it and memorized it there won't be too much thinking its more or less recall. The trick is to sort all the garbage from useful material and that is where I find that lectures are very useful, b/c they more or less focus on things sometimes they outright tell you. But if they didn't focus on something at all, generally speaking they will not ask it. Also any topic that is amenable to APPLIED questions, they love to ask that.

I strongly believe that if you can pay attention in lecture or can tape them via mp3 or whatever, and get the most out of em. It saves you the anguish of asking what to study, then you just memorize as much as you can of that and anything else you can manage. But really I find people who do real well follow lectures closely, another method is to look at old exams and see what kind of q they asked in the past. However problem with that is, that every year they tend to focus on different things so to have a pool of questions they can ask from. So they are a good general guide to see what kind of detail is asked, but then again in lectures they tell you that. Word of caution if you go to lectures and are falling asleep then they are useless, you actually need to get info from the lectures, not just be present at the lectures.

I probably gave you way more info than you asked for, but I guess this topic goes with the OP's post.

 

[SLKHERO]

It will be tough to gauge it, by old med school exams. But honestly med school exams are not that tough, just think you go through 300 pages and they ask say 60-70 questions, so you need to have a pretty good idea of everything to do real well. But these questions are not very hard at all if someone gave same questions but say you had more time to study. But they will ask harder questions in some undergrad courses. The trick is the time limit and they often teach 20-30% of what will be on the exam the last week right before the test. So you don't have that much time to master it.

Some question examples are: Like, p53 does all of the following except, or what happens if you sever the median nerve before the carpal tunnel. I mean these are not tough questions, but there is so much material, that if you read it and memorized it there won't be too much thinking its more or less recall. The trick is to sort all the garbage from useful material and that is where I find that lectures are very useful, b/c they more or less focus on things sometimes they outright tell you. But if they didn't focus on something at all, generally speaking they will not ask it. Also any topic that is amenable to APPLIED questions, they love to ask that.

I strongly believe that if you can pay attention in lecture or can tape them via mp3 or whatever, and get the most out of em. It saves you the anguish of asking what to study, then you just memorize as much as you can of that and anything else you can manage. But really I find people who do real well follow lectures closely, another method is to look at old exams and see what kind of q they asked in the past. However problem with that is, that every year they tend to focus on different things so to have a pool of questions they can ask from. So they are a good general guide to see what kind of detail is asked, but then again in lectures they tell you that. Word of caution if you go to lectures and are falling asleep then they are useless, you actually need to get info from the lectures, not just be present at the lectures.

I probably gave you way more info than you asked for, but I guess this topic goes with the OP's post.

wow...thanks a lot tupac...I enjoyed reading all the knowledge u've donated...🙂

so basically lectures should be followed with high scrutiny...I like the idea of recording the lectures...are profs ok with that or it depends?...am I gonna have to get something that's not too obvious...like a pen for example? (recorder, that is)

you've said that some questions ask u to recall what are certain pages about?!?...now that's insane...how can I remember all that stuff...I guess u can break it down into subjects and eliminate w/e doesn't fit there

one more question...are majority of the medschools pass/fail or not?..thanks

 

[Brainsucker]

At my school, they'll postlearning objectives and self-assessments, which are quite helpful.

 

[tupac_don]

wow...thanks a lot tupac...I enjoyed reading all the knowledge u've donated...🙂

so basically lectures should be followed with high scrutiny...I like the idea of recording the lectures...are profs ok with that or it depends?...am I gonna have to get something that's not too obvious...like a pen for example? (recorder, that is)

you've said that some questions ask u to recall what are certain pages about?!?...now that's insane...how can I remember all that stuff...I guess u can break it down into subjects and eliminate w/e doesn't fit there

one more question...are majority of the medschools pass/fail or not?..thanks

I dont' believe that I said that you have to recall what certain pages are about. I mean you have to have a general idea lets say about a diagram, like and alpha receptor and what the mech is say thru phospholipase C and then PIP2 and bla bla bla. But I mean they do emphasize this in lecture. I think if you don't go to lecture and study on your own you will think that they are testing minutae. I mean I havent' found them yet that they tested some obscure factore Efgc found in cell x when making protein. If they want you to memorize something they are pretty clear about it.

Lot of schools have lectures either online or have scribes who take notes and you can buy these. I would say get them. You can do fine without lectures too, but in lectures they just hone you in on the right stuff instead of you having to do it. Also don't try to suck a lecture dry, if you find its taking you like 3 hours to listen to a lecture, that's way too much, you shouldn't be speniding more than 1.5 hrs at the most ideally 1 hr. The whole thing I find is that lectures are way to quick to pay attention to them, but you do need the prof to point things out for you. Makes things way easier. Of course you will find some will be pointless and you can study it on your own, but even then its' a good review, to hammer some concepts home.

Oh yea most schools are pass/fail/honors, some are pass/fail, some are pass/fail/highpass/honors. But I wouldnt' pick a school if its all pass/fail. Some people think oh there is no competition. That's just not true, they still rank you and they have a good idea where you stand in class. One big suggestion I have for you, look for a school that suits you. Some schools, have tests every 2 weeks, some schools its maybe once a month/3 weeks. Some schools do anatomy in 6 weeks just rush thru it, others take 3-4 mos. Some schools have their lectures, taped, others don't, some have scribes others don't. You should find what features of school you like and what school you think you will fit best in.

Good luck.

 

[BooMed]

I think he might have thought that "p53" meant "Page 53".

 

[SLKHERO]

I think he might have thought that "p53" meant "Page 53".

lol...u're right...🙂...I did...how noobish of me...I guess not it make sense tha page can't do anything except explain something...that would be ridicolous if they actually had such questions

 

[synapse lapse]

lol...u're right...🙂...I did...how noobish of me...I guess not it make sense tha page can't do anything except explain something...that would be ridicolous if they actually had such questions

Again I disagree with the posters here. My med school experience has been completely different. Most of the times they just pull exam questions from a bank so there is no way to know what they will emphasize. Then most lectures have like 10-20 lecturors for the block so they all emphasize all of their section. I really find that understanding the concepts would get you a pass, but minutia would get you a good grade. A lot more challenging than these posters seem to have.

 

[Law2Doc]

I think he might have thought that "p53" meant "Page 53".

Yeah - that page is a killer.

 

[tupac_don]

Again I disagree with the posters here. My med school experience has been completely different. Most of the times they just pull exam questions from a bank so there is no way to know what they will emphasize. Then most lectures have like 10-20 lecturors for the block so they all emphasize all of their section. I really find that understanding the concepts would get you a pass, but minutia would get you a good grade. A lot more challenging than these posters seem to have.

Wow I guess either your school is ridiculously hard, or you are not taking full advantage of your lectures. I can't really say. I can only tell you my experience. I find that lecturers do tell you, some more so than others. Some are blatant about it, some are much more subtle. Sometimes it is minuta they mention, sometimes they mentioned it in class, but it was not in the notes. But you also keep in mind, that I don't go to lectures physically, I listen to them on Mp3 so I get every single detail out of the lecture. I did find that when I just went to class that I didn't get much out of lecture. But when you get to dissect the whole lecture piece by piece. Naturally the prof emphasizes and throws in minutae that they might think is imp. But when you listen to it on mp3 you focus in on it much better than you do in actual class or that you might have if you simply read it. I found that sometimes they said something in 1 sec during the lecture boom it was on the exam. But he did say it in lecture, and you could have potentially found it in the book, but what are the odds you might have thought it was imp. I find that they give emphasis to certain things, that could be very subtle if you are dozing on and off throughout the lecture, but soon as you can stop rewind digest the lecture, its all right there plain as day. That's just my interpretation, from what I seen at my school. Maybe your school is different I don't know.

 

[potato51]

Again I disagree with the posters here. My med school experience has been completely different. Most of the times they just pull exam questions from a bank so there is no way to know what they will emphasize. Then most lectures have like 10-20 lecturors for the block so they all emphasize all of their section. I really find that understanding the concepts would get you a pass, but minutia would get you a good grade. A lot more challenging than these posters seem to have.

oy... my elation has suddenly turned to depression 😉

Studying for minutiae is unbelievably taxing on my brain. Happy I'm in at your school, but man lol.

 

[tupac_don]

oy... my elation has suddenly turned to depression 😉

Studying for minutiae is unbelievably taxing on my brain. Happy I'm in at your school, but man lol.

My suggestion is run deep, run long, run far, but the key word here is RUNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!

 

[SLKHERO]

Wow I guess either your school is ridiculously hard, or you are not taking full advantage of your lectures. I can't really say. I can only tell you my experience. I find that lecturers do tell you, some more so than others. Some are blatant about it, some are much more subtle. Sometimes it is minuta they mention, sometimes they mentioned it in class, but it was not in the notes. But you also keep in mind, that I don't go to lectures physically, I listen to them on Mp3 so I get every single detail out of the lecture. I did find that when I just went to class that I didn't get much out of lecture. But when you get to dissect the whole lecture piece by piece. Naturally the prof emphasizes and throws in minutae that they might think is imp. But when you listen to it on mp3 you focus in on it much better than you do in actual class or that you might have if you simply read it. I found that sometimes they said something in 1 sec during the lecture boom it was on the exam. But he did say it in lecture, and you could have potentially found it in the book, but what are the odds you might have thought it was imp. I find that they give emphasis to certain things, that could be very subtle if you are dozing on and off throughout the lecture, but soon as you can stop rewind digest the lecture, its all right there plain as day. That's just my interpretation, from what I seen at my school. Maybe your school is different I don't know.

🙂...I got the same problem...sometimes I tend to space out during lecture...lose focus for couple of seconds...I think that the mp3 could be more effective for me as well...however, I can't really try that out currently when I am in the undergrad...don't see how it would work out...someone would have to record it for me, but I won't be able to listen to it the same day...I don't know...it would be better if they would already have the notes pre-recorded

 

[SLKHERO]

Again I disagree with the posters here. My med school experience has been completely different. Most of the times they just pull exam questions from a bank so there is no way to know what they will emphasize. Then most lectures have like 10-20 lecturors for the block so they all emphasize all of their section. I really find that understanding the concepts would get you a pass, but minutia would get you a good grade. A lot more challenging than these posters seem to have.

do you need to get high grades in order to get better residency position or how does that work?...is passing good enough?

 

[Law2Doc]

do you need to get high grades in order to get better residency position or how does that work?...is passing good enough?

Med school basic science grades are but one factor considered in getting a good residency (and a small factor in that). Your board scores, clinical years, recs, research, interview, etc will play a much bigger role. However if you are shooting for a highly competitive and more coveted residency, it certainly helps to have decent class rank and perhaps even honor a course or two, because it's a safe bet that some of those you are competing with will have this. But again, if you do really well on the boards, less impressive grades probably won't be fatal to a good match.
(Disclaimer - This is all second hand information, albeit from credible sources, so anyone who knows otherwise, please feel free to correct 🙂 )

 

[Law2Doc]

🙂it would be better if they would already have the notes pre-recorded

May have already been said, but at most med schools, either there are transcription services which will let you have a typed up transcription of the lecture, or the schools will often just make the lectures available to students in MP3 or AVI format. There is usually no playing "hide the ball" in terms of what was said at lecture, and at lots of places, some people don't attend and just catch the lecture on the replay at their own pace. You don't generally need to bring your own recording equipment. For some people, having the lecture is helpful, for others it just constitutes one more thing you think you need to study.

 

[SLKHERO]

Med school basic science grades are but one factor considered in getting a good residency (and a small factor in that). Your board scores, clinical years, recs, research, interview, etc will play a much bigger role. However if you are shooting for a highly competitive and more coveted residency, it certainly helps to have decent class rank and perhaps even honor a course or two, because it's a safe bet that some of those you are competing with will have this. But again, if you do really well on the boards, less impressive grades probably won't be fatal to a good match.
(Disclaimer - This is all second hand information, albeit from credible sources, so anyone who knows otherwise, please feel free to correct 🙂 )

all right...so grades play a small part in this game...boards and clinical experience are more crucial

can I get a residency anywhere in the World or it has to be only in US?...what about when I am, lets say at UIC; can u get residency anywhere or you have to work for Illinois hospitals...I am not really sure how that works...does the location of your medical education holds you back where u will work in the future or u can apply anywhere u want?...thanks

 

[SLKHERO]

May have already been said, but at most med schools, either there are transcription services which will let you have a typed up transcription of the lecture, or the schools will often just make the lectures available to students in MP3 or AVI format. There is usually no playing "hide the ball" in terms of what was said at lecture, and at lots of places, some people don't attend and just catch the lecture on the replay at their own pace. You don't generally need to bring your own recording equipment. For some people, having the lecture is helpful, for others it just constitutes one more thing you think you need to study.

i c...what worked for you?

 

[Law2Doc]

can I get a residency anywhere in the World or it has to be only in US?...what about when I am, lets say at UIC; can u get residency anywhere or you have to work for Illinois hospitals...I am not really sure how that works...does the location of your medical education holds you back where u will work in the future or u can apply anywhere u want?...thanks

The match is nationwide, you are not limited to Illinois residencies. It's not worldwide though, and every other country will, I'm sure, have its own rules, requirements and tests for accepting foreign (i.e US) educated doctors.

 

[Law2Doc]

i c...what worked for you?

It's still a work in progress. 🙂

 

[tupac_don]

all right...so grades play a small part in this game...boards and clinical experience are more crucial

can I get a residency anywhere in the World or it has to be only in US?...what about when I am, lets say at UIC; can u get residency anywhere or you have to work for Illinois hospitals...I am not really sure how that works...does the location of your medical education holds you back where u will work in the future or u can apply anywhere u want?...thanks

You can apply anywhere you want in US for sure. However, applying for different countries would be different upon the rules of that country. But its much better to finish residency in US and then go specialize to another country or as an attending go to another country. I really wouldn't do residency in a foreign country unless you intended to leave US for good. But who does have a problem is if you are coming from a foreign school, its tougher to get a residency anywhere you want, but there are still plenty of places that will take them.

In short no you don't have to work for the hospital which is affiliated with school you did med school at.

 

[SLKHERO]

The match is nationwide, you are not limited to Illinois residencies. It's not worldwide though, and every other country will, I'm sure, have its own rules, requirements and tests for accepting foreign (i.e US) educated doctors.

ok...does the school's reputation influences the residency acceptance or it's solely on test scores and experience?...ex. will the person that attends Hopkin's get the spot over someone that goes to UIC; and they both have same test scores and clinical experience?...thanks

 

[SLKHERO]

You can apply anywhere you want in US for sure. However, applying for different countries would be different upon the rules of that country. But its much better to finish residency in US and then go specialize to another country or as an attending go to another country. I really wouldn't do residency in a foreign country unless you intended to leave US for good. But who does have a problem is if you are coming from a foreign school, its tougher to get a residency anywhere you want, but there are still plenty of places that will take them.

In short no you don't have to work for the hospital which is affiliated with school you did med school at.

this isn't really related to the previous question, but when do you have to decide in med school which field u want to specialize in...or u have to know that upon your entrance?...also, do u need to have certain stats to take sub-specialty after 4 yrs?...thanks

 

[Law2Doc]

this isn't really related to the previous question, but when do you have to decide in med school which field u want to specialize in...or u have to know that upon your entrance?...also, do u need to have certain stats to take sub-specialty after 4 yrs?...thanks

There is no reason to know what you want to specialize in at all during the first two years. Third year is probably the year most use to decide (I've heard - someone can correct me on this if I'm wrong). More competitive residencies will require better stats (particularly board and clinical scores).

 

[Law2Doc]

ok...does the school's reputation influences the residency acceptance or it's solely on test scores and experience?...ex. will the person that attends Hopkin's get the spot over someone that goes to UIC; and they both have same test scores and clinical experience?...thanks

Everything counts, but some things count more than others. Harvard, Hopkins and the like will always get some street credibility with residency directors due to the name, but other factors can override that. If you have stellar board scores and good grades, recs, etc. from UIC you will often beat out a lesser stat applicant from Hopkins. You do not see just the top ten schools represented in the most competitive specialties. But bear in mind that since so many of the best candidates applying to med school go to the top ten schools, it stands to reason that a lot of them will still be the best in 4 years coming out.

 

[tupac_don]

this isn't really related to the previous question, but when do you have to decide in med school which field u want to specialize in...or u have to know that upon your entrance?...also, do u need to have certain stats to take sub-specialty after 4 yrs?...thanks

You don't really have to decide untill probably 3rd year, and that's only b/c you want to schedule your rotations in 4th year accordingly, but you can change your opinion even mid 4th year. Best thing is to work as hard and as best as you can so that in case you change your opinion you are in good shape.