Once again, UF or UMiami the better school?

[atlantis1]

Wanted to get your thoughts on which med school (UMiami or UF) you would prefer if you got accepted to both (especially since UM just changed their curriculum)?

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[deleted1099068]

UM solely for location. UF Is ranked higher by USNWR, but try telling anyone living in Florida, that's not in Gainesville, that UF is a better med school than UM. People will laugh. This is not a slight to UF, just UM > UF > USF > any other med school in Florida.

 

[deleted1001720]

I think this largely depends on what fields you are interested in. Miami has a stellar program in ophthalmology. At least according to US News and World Report, UF Shands Hospital also has its strengths: #12 Pediatric Cardiology, #25 for ENT, etc. Miami's US News scorecard is not as good in fields other than ophthalmology. Besides specialty interests, I think another important question is how well you would fit in at the school. Which school offers better mentorship opportunities with peers and faculty? Which school has a patient population that you are most interested in? Which school has a curriculum that best suits your learning style (it seems UF has mostly lectures, and I'm not too familiar with Miami's curriculum)? Do either of the schools offer dedicated time for a research project? What is the length of their preclinical curriculum? Personally, I would prefer UF to UMiami because I have an interest in rural health, I can't stand Miami traffic, and I have little interest in ophthalmology. Your criteria may be different, though. In terms of prestige, I have always thought of UF as superior to UMiami, but that might just be my bias against Miami talking. At the end of the day, they're probably comparable.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

Miami. But do you have other choices ?

 

[atlantis1]

Miami. But do you have other choices ?

was impressed by both UF and UM's match list!

 

[atlantis1]

I think this largely depends on what fields you are interested in. Miami has a stellar program in ophthalmology. At least according to US News and World Report, UF Shands Hospital also has its strengths: #12 Pediatric Cardiology, #25 for ENT, etc. Miami's US News scorecard is not as good in fields other than ophthalmology. Besides specialty interests, I think another important question is how well you would fit in at the school. Which school offers better mentorship opportunities with peers and faculty? Which school has a patient population that you are most interested in? Which school has a curriculum that best suits your learning style (it seems UF has mostly lectures, and I'm not too familiar with Miami's curriculum)? Do either of the schools offer dedicated time for a research project? What is the length of their preclinical curriculum? Personally, I would prefer UF to UMiami because I have an interest in rural health, I can't stand Miami traffic, and I have little interest in ophthalmology. Your criteria may be different, though. In terms of prestige, I have always thought of UF as superior to UMiami, but that might just be my bias against Miami talking. At the end of the day, they're probably comparable.

I will keep this in mind! They definitely have different strengths

 

[Endee]

I chose UF. Felt warmer about my fit there. I’ve lived in South Florida for a long time and cannot wait to leave. Miami doesn’t even have an anatomy class which I found very strange. Their admissions office was also completely responsive while UF quickly responded via text or phone call throughout the process. Also we could buy a house in Gainesville versus having to rent a small house or apartment in Miami.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

I think the poster immediately above meant to say that Miami has been unresponsive. Anecdotally, at least in the admissions process, Miami was incredibly non-responsive to questions. May not translate to admitted students' experience but it would give me reason to question whether I want to go there. Then again, Miami is a strong school and matches well.

 

[atlantis1]

I chose UF. Felt warmer about my fit there. I’ve lived in South Florida for a long time and cannot wait to leave. Miami doesn’t even have an anatomy class which I found very strange. Their admissions office was also completely responsive while UF quickly responded via text or phone call throughout the process. Also we could buy a house in Gainesville versus having to rent a small house or apartment in Miami.

I think the poster immediately above meant to say that Miami has been unresponsive. Anecdotally, at least in the admissions process, Miami was incredibly non-responsive to questions. May not translate to admitted students' experience but it would give me reason to question whether I want to go there. Then again, Miami is a strong school and matches well.

I have heard the same thing but I have also heard that it doesn't necessarily translate to the student experience

 

[Endee]

I think the poster immediately above meant to say that Miami has been unresponsive. Anecdotally, at least in the admissions process, Miami was incredibly non-responsive to questions. May not translate to admitted students' experience but it would give me reason to question whether I want to go there. Then again, Miami is a strong school and matches well.

Of course there’s anatomy class at Miami. Please don’t post false information.

Yes sorry I meant unresponsive.

Also with regards to anatomy I was told that it was certainly not traditional anatomy and it was extremely pared down compared to what one would expect. Not trying to misrepresent anything, just going off my understanding from talking to current students and how it factored into my personal decision.

 

[Woahtherebecky]

UM solely for location. UF Is ranked higher by USNWR, but try telling anyone living in Florida, that's not in Gainesville, that UF is a better med school than UM. People will laugh. This is not a slight to UF, just UM > UF > USF > any other med school in Florida.

On the contrary, everyone I’ve talked to in Florida have unanimously told me UF>UM. But tbh there’s more to it than saying one is better than the other.

Both hospitals are very good. While Jackson Memorial has more beds than Shands, they’re about equal in ER visits and yearly discharges (not including UF Jax and the other UF hospitals) (source: https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/subscriber-only/2019/12/27/largest-hospitals-in-florida.html). Both also have a large VA to rotate through. They’re also large organ transplant centers with people coming across the country to receive care. UF’s heart and lung transplant centers are nationally well known, while Miami has the only abdominal transplant program in Florida.

Curriculums are very different as well with UF being more lecture heavy and Miami using TBL as their source of learning. Who’s to say what’s better, it depends personally on your style of learning. UF also starts clinical rotations a little later than Miami because they have ~3 months extra of preclinical curriculum as well as 2 months off for dedicated/vacation. Both schools gets first-year summer off for research. Both are also Pass/Fail for preclinical and graded for clinical. Both schools are leaders in diversity in medicine as they are ranked top 20 by USNEWS (Miami 29.7% URM, while UF 23.7%).

UM costs more than UF but ~60% of students receive scholarships from UM from what I remember. UF also gives scholarships and most people typically get some. COL is significantly cheaper in Gainesville than Miami.

Overall, I don’t think it’s as easy as saying one school is better than the other. It depends on a lot of factors. A lot of people I know who choose UF over UM did so because they felt a sense of community at UF as well as the faculty and felt like they belonged there.

Can’t go wrong either either though.

 

[OrthopedicNeurosurgeon99]

On the contrary, everyone I’ve talked to in Florida have unanimously told me UF>UM.

Agreed. I don't know who Feynman's been talking to, because every Floridian pretty much knows UF is the best undergrad and medical school in the state.

 

[atlantis1]

On the contrary, everyone I’ve talked to in Florida have unanimously told me UF>UM. But tbh there’s more to it than saying one is better than the other.

Both hospitals are very good. While Jackson Memorial has more beds than Shands, they’re about equal in ER visits and yearly discharges (not including UF Jax and the other UF hospitals) (source: https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/subscriber-only/2019/12/27/largest-hospitals-in-florida.html). Both also have a large VA to rotate through. They’re also large organ transplant centers with people coming across the country to receive care. UF’s heart and lung transplant centers are nationally well known, while Miami has the only abdominal transplant program in Florida.

Curriculums are very different as well with UF being more lecture heavy and Miami using TBL as their source of learning. Who’s to say what’s better, it depends personally on your style of learning. UF also starts clinical rotations a little later than Miami because they have ~3 months extra of preclinical curriculum as well as 2 months off for dedicated/vacation. Both schools gets first-year summer off for research. Both are also Pass/Fail for preclinical and graded for clinical. Both schools are leaders in diversity in medicine as they are ranked top 20 by USNEWS (Miami 29.7% URM, while UF 23.7%).

UM costs more than UF but ~60% of students receive scholarships from UM from what I remember. UF also gives scholarships and most people typically get some. COL is significantly cheaper in Gainesville than Miami.

Overall, I don’t think it’s as easy as saying one school is better than the other. It depends on a lot of factors. A lot of people I know who choose UF over UM did so because they felt a sense of community at UF as well as the faculty and felt like they belonged there.

Can’t go wrong either either though.

I'm interested in oncology! Do you know which school tends to be stronger in this field?

 

[kidddo598]

There is no better school. It comes up to personal preference. I chose Miami due to a more diverse patient population, location, and stronger match list. Miami also has 3rd year dedicated to research which is huge since I’m interested in the surgical subspecialties.

 

[Woahtherebecky]

I'm interested in oncology! Do you know which school tends to be stronger in this field?

UF for sure. Their cancer hospital is one of the best in the country. Their Radiation Oncology Program is also highly regarded nationally.

I will say though that Oncology fellowships don’t really care about what medical school you went to. If anything where you did your residency matters more.

 

[atlantis1]

There is no better school. It comes up to personal preference. I chose Miami due to a more diverse patient population, location, and stronger match list. Miami also has 3rd year dedicated to research which is huge since I’m interested in the surgical subspecialties.

Their match list is strong!

 

[atlantis1]

UF for sure. Their cancer hospital is one of the best in the country. Their Radiation Oncology Program is also highly regarded nationally.

I will say though that Oncology fellowships don’t really care about what medical school you went to. If anything where you did your residency matters more.

That makes sense. As a follow-up question are the internal medicine residencies at UF and UM on par with each other?

 

[Woahtherebecky]

There is no better school. It comes up to personal preference. I chose Miami due to a more diverse patient population, location, and stronger match list. Miami also has 3rd year dedicated to research which is huge since I’m interested in the surgical subspecialties.

Personal Preference is one thing, but I wouldn't put too much worth into a match list. Miami does match very well into competitive specialties (21.2% of the class), but UF also has a high percentage of its class match well into these specialties (22.5%).

For those who are gonna ask about this calculation, I included ENT, Ophthalmology, Vascular Surgery, Neurosurgery, Orthopedic Surgery, Dermatology, Urology, Rad Onc, Interventional Radiology and Plastic Surgery and compared it to the respective number of matches each school had (Miami 45/212; UF 32/142). The website didn't clarify if the transitional year was due to failed match or not so plus or minus 5 for their total. These are the most competitive specialties

That being said, some of the smartest people I know want nothing to do with these specialties and would be extremely unhappy in them. I know students who ranked top programs last and smaller programs higher because they wanted to be near a spouse or liked the culture of the program.

As I said, you can't really say one school is better than the other.

 

[Woahtherebecky]

That makes sense. As a follow-up question are the internal medicine residencies at UF and UM on par with each other?

They're similar.