NYMC Vs. Penn St.

[bbtbay]

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I'm from California and was wondering if we could have some discussion about these two schools. In terms of residency match, quality of life, clinical training, faculty, reputation, other students....

 

[cytotech27]

I am in the same spot. I am leaning toward penn state because of the lower cost of living. I know nymc has dorms as well, but they are more expensive, and then what do you do after second year? Nymc seems to focus on primary care, but everyone does these days. Its hard to judge faculty based on interviews, but the penn state ones were by researchers from well known programs. I would also like other peoples opinions on this since I am in the same spot.

 

[BigRedPingpong]

can you get in state tuition at penn state after one year? That would win it for me if I were deciding.

 

[Winged Scapula]

We have less snow than NYMC (and more chocolate). 😀

 

[tinkerbelle]

can you get in state tuition at penn state after one year? That would win it for me if I were deciding.

nope. it's like impossible to gain residency at penn state.

i liked penn state better though. the students were so much friendlier.

 

[SanDiegoSOD]

All I can say is that after seven months and countless hours on SDN, I have yet to hear anything positive about NYMC. Price, curriculum, location, student life, research opportunities, etc... NOTHING. Penn State, on the other hand, seems to have a better reputation on SDN.

I'm not saying this to make a value judgement on NYMC - I've never been there and don't know anyone who goes there, so I'm not going to judge it. It just seems so odd to hear NYMC so consistently bagged upon.

 

[sdnstud]

i'd choose Penn State over NYMC.

Residency Match:

Both schools emphasize Primary Care. At both schools, over 50% of graduates enter primary-care specialities. Students at NYMC match mostly in New York, and CA. Students at Penn State match mostly in Penn and CA. NYMC matches well in radiology (16 matches in 2004), while Penn State matches well in Emergency Medicine (12 matches in 2004).

Quality of life:

Vahalla is similar to Hershey. The difference is, Vahalla is only 30 minutes away from NYC. To me, NYMC feels like a boarding school. Students spend most of their days on campus, either inside the education building or in their dorms. From what I saw at my interviews, Students at Penn State are happier. They seem to be a closer-knitted group than students at NYMC.

Clinical training:

At Penn State, you will not be training at sites that are as busy as your city-hospitals. The downside to that is obvious- you will not see many cases. The upside is huge- attendings have time to teach you. At NYMC, you have an opportunity to train in NYC. Thus, you will see many cases, and a diverse patient population.

Faculty:

The faculty at Penn State is stellar and the students emphasize that on interview days. I heard stories about the anatomy professor hosting study session until 4am. I also heard stories about how nice and helpful everyone is, including community doctors who have no affiliations with the school. Personally, I interviewed with a ER doctor who was the nicest man I've ever met.

NYMC has a big class. The lecture halls were packed and some students had to sit on the steps. It's hard to imagine students receiving personally attention from the faculty with such a big class. To be honest, I had minimal interaction with the faculty at NYMC.

Reputation:

To me, Penn State has a better reputation. It is really a hidden secret in the medical-school-world. The medical center has state-of-the-art facilties and an award-winning staff. It has a well-known cardio department. It is the first to develop and implant a heart-assisted device for patients with end-stage heart failure. It is the first in the world to develop a long life rechargable pacemaker. It also has a well-known research department.

I'm from California and was wondering if we could have some discussion about these two schools. In terms of residency match, quality of life, clinical training, faculty, reputation, other students....

 

[bbtbay]

Thanks a lot sdnstud....a lot of good insight. I think for me I really enjoyed my day at Penn State as well. The biggest question mark was the quality of life factor when comparing Penn State and NYMC. I went to Berkeley and am currently living in San Francisco so I'm used to the big city life. And from what I've taken from others who are in med school right now, location is a huge factor. I was also unsure as to whether the students at Penn State have to do their rotations in Hershey for their third year or not. If anyone has info about that please do share...

i'd choose Penn State over NYMC.

Residency Match:

Both schools emphasize Primary Care. At both schools, over 50% of graduates enter primary-care specialities. Students at NYMC match mostly in New York, and CA. Students at Penn State match mostly in Penn and CA. NYMC matches well in radiology (16 matches in 2004), while Penn State matches well in Emergency Medicine (12 matches in 2004).

Quality of life:

Vahalla is similar to Hershey. The difference is, Vahalla is only 30 minutes away from NYC. To me, NYMC feels like a boarding school. Students spend most of their days on campus, either inside the education building or in their dorms. From what I saw at my interviews, Students at Penn State are happier. They seem to be a closer-knitted group than students at NYMC.

Clinical training:

At Penn State, you will not be training at sites that are as busy as your city-hospitals. The downside to that is obvious- you will not see many cases. The upside is huge- attendings have time to teach you. At NYMC, you have an opportunity to train in NYC. Thus, you will see many cases, and a diverse patient population.

Faculty:

The faculty at Penn State is stellar and the students emphasize that on interview days. I heard stories about the anatomy professor hosting study session until 4am. I also heard stories about how nice and helpful everyone is, including community doctors who have no affiliations with the school. Personally, I interviewed with a ER doctor who was the nicest man I've ever met.

NYMC has a big class. The lecture halls were packed and some students had to sit on the steps. It's hard to imagine students receiving personally attention from the faculty with such a big class. To be honest, I had minimal interaction with the faculty at NYMC.

Reputation:

To me, Penn State has a better reputation. It is really a hidden secret in the medical-school-world. The medical center has state-of-the-art facilties and an award-winning staff. It has a well-known cardio department. It is the first to develop and implant a heart-assisted device for patients with end-stage heart failure. It is the first in the world to develop a long life rechargable pacemaker. It also has a well-known research department.

 

[NYCDesi]

All I can say is that after seven months and countless hours on SDN, I have yet to hear anything positive about NYMC. Price, curriculum, location, student life, research opportunities, etc... NOTHING. Penn State, on the other hand, seems to have a better reputation on SDN.

I'm not saying this to make a value judgement on NYMC - I've never been there and don't know anyone who goes there, so I'm not going to judge it. It just seems so odd to hear NYMC so consistently bagged upon.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=151315&highlight=NYMC

 

[bbtbay]

I am still trying to decide between these two schools. Anymore thoughts...

 

[lightnk102]

I interviewed at both schools and I absolutely loved Penn State (didn't like NYMC at all). I'm also a city-dweller, but even despite that - I would choose Penn State over NYMC.

I don't think the proximity to NYC should be a factor since you'll probably be too busy your first and second year to go to NYC often anyways. You'd be basing your decision on 4 or 5 trips to NYC in a year. Not enough to swing a vote in my opinion.

Kids at Penn State seemed really happy, it's close to both DC and Philadelphia (about 2 hours i think), and I loved their humanities department (imagine that! I couldn't even take humanities in undergrad!). The faculty I met made conscious choices to come to Penn State, and the entire philosophy of the school matched up with what I thought medicine should be about. I think Penn Med recently implemented a Patient Project that is based off of Penn State Med's Patient Project.

I was underwhelmed by NYMC. Though their anatomy lab was impressive.

 

[annh31]

I don't know how important this is to you, but it is really really hard to become a Pennsylvania resident (read: basically impossible unless you work full time for 12 months or buy a house or something), just like Tinkerbelle said. So, you'll be paying a lot of out of state tuition.

 

[Freakingzooming]

I interviewed at both and was accepted at NYMC and waitlisted at Penn state:

I feel it's like black vs. white:

NYMC:

more traditional curriculum from 9 to 5, tests are every two weeks and miniboards are at the end of each class. facilities are more modern in my opinion than Penn state. Anatomy lab was the highlight- I wondered how it would be like to be dissecting and looking up through the skylight and seeing the stars. campus is really compact- dorms are like a stone throw away. Cafeteria is like right across from the library and student lounge- totally like a dormitory feel to it.

The religious thing I didn't get even a little vibe. I had a sense that the "Catholic tradition" was more I need money from the Church and the affiliation from the Catholic hospitals. Like in St. Louis U you'll see the cross in the classrooms but at NYMC I saw maybe a figurine of some weird baby Jesus but I figured that was for Christmas. Student body looked frazzled and frentic, not as friendly as Penn state. The location of the campus was decent I thought for an opportunity to get into the city. You'll need a car to get to the train station at White Plains from the campus but the train goes right to Grand Central and it was decently cheap and convient. 40 minutes and you're right in the heart of NYC. Fellow interviewees and I took it back to the city after the interview. Not much is surrounding the campus other than a prison. Westchester is pricey to live.

Penn state:

I flew into Harrisburg and I felt that it wasn't the bustling metropolitan I was hoping it to be for a state capitol. Hershey had a mall (aka four outlet stores)..... City life was definitely lacking. But what it lacked in city life it made in hospitality. Couldn't have met any nicer people there. Hershey was kind of quaint.but you'll definitely notice that the hospital sprawl/campus is the largest thing in town, other than Chocolate world.

Curriculum was more progressive and integrative. More case based and students were happy with scheduling of tests. Said block scheduling helped in that they didn't have to prioritize what classes to study. Student body was also diverse and much more friendlier. I had several of them sit down to talk to me while I was waiting for my interview. People literally throwing themselves in front of me to ask if I needed anything. The hospital was much more impressive than Westchester County- you could get a sense that they had more money than NYMC. More research done. I got a chance to walk into the ER for Penn State and chcecked it out. Completely empty in the waiting room. I didn't get to see Westchester's but I would imagine that it woudn't be like that. The ER was nice too. I wanted to know more about the helicopter response team. Seemed like that was where they got all the trauma cases. But overall patient population is sorta homogenous albeit the Omish.

 

[tab506]

Hey guys, I agree with whoever wrote this earlier, but NYMC totally gets ripped on on SDN. I'm just finishing up my first year here and let me say I'm 100% glad I came here. I was wait-listed at a couple other schools, my top choice was UCSD, but didn't get accepted to any in time. I just wanted to correct a couple things that I've read here and don't agree with. First, and maybe most important? is that i think the students here are totally happy. Granted, if you came and interviewed here the week before our exams, yea we probably weren't all smiles. But if you came on a week after exams I think you'd see that the students here are really happy not only with the school but also with our class. I can't speak for any class but 2008, but our class rocks! Pretty much every Wednesday nights most of our class goes out to a local bar and shows up lookin pretty haggard to Thursday classes. Yea, and some of us even sit on the stairs. But if anything you should look at that as the fact that when at most schools the students don't go to class at all, most of us feel our faculty give quality lectures and are worth going to. We definately go to the city more then 4 or 5 times a year. I know I go almost every week and a lot of us study in Manhattan during the days and go out at night on the weekends.
Hmm, what else? Um, yea, it's expensive. Can't argue with that. Yea, the apartments are kinda like dorms. That has its pluses and minuses though. I just hope you all know that the students here for the most part really are happy. I think the ones that aren't probably wouldn't be happy anywhere.
Anyway guys, good luck with gettin in. It'll happen somewhere for ya!

 

[bbtbay]

I just PM'ed you tab506...