Hi everyone, I’ve been blessed with two amazing options, that I think would offer me incredibly different experiences. As you all know, I have to make a decision by April 30th.
To give some background on me:
Based in Oregon, but did undergrad OOS
Personal interests & background in biomedical engineering, a BIG priority for me is the opportunity to stay involved in medical device/innovation/regenerative materials type of research during med school (if that’s even possible, I know most med students only have time for clinical research).
No specific specialty interests at the moment, but likely not primary care. Also, I would like to ultimately end up at an academic medical institution, where I can teach, research, etc
Would like to match into an urban/city academic medical hospital. No strong preference for region but would probably like East coast or West Coast
RUSH (27K tuition)
Pros
Half-tuition scholarship
Chicago is the kind of big city I’ve never lived in before but always wanted to experience at some point in my life
Significantly more diverse patient population
Several well-established student run community healthcare clinics for many specialties from ENT to primary care
Great vibes from adcoms and faculty in general: transparency from the adcoms throughout the process, and met several faculty members during secondary look who took an hour to just sit and answer any questions we had in small groups
Stronger ties than OHSU to east coast residencies if I decide I want to match out there?
P/F pre-clinical, no internal rank
Cons
Less prestige? Lower PD rank, many west coasters I’ve talked to have never heard of rush
Potentially fewer research opportunities: NIH funding at RUSH is $64,666,318 vs OHSU $235,673,428
No biomedical engineering department, medical innovation research may be harder to find
Away from family support system, no ties to Chicago/Midwest (however my partner plans to relocate with me)
About 1-2 required lectures a day
H/P/F clinicals
Starts very early… June 25th (not much time off before med school starts)
OHSU (50K tuition)
Pros
Higher PD rank (if that even counts for anything, I believe OHSU isn’t very well known outside of the west coast)
Significantly larger research institution, with a BME department that I have been a research assistant for during my gap year
OHSU is Oregon’s ONLY academic medical institution, all of the states most complex cases will come here
ALL lectures are recorded and way fewer mandatory lectures compared to rush
1.5 hr drive away from family/hometown
True P/F clinicals
Starts August 11th (lots more time off)
Offers better nature: skiing, hiking, rock climbing, etc are all readily nearby
Cons
Higher cost, I don’t think the COL difference between Portland and Chicago outweighs RUSH’s scholarship
While I love Portland, I would like to explore other larger cities (Seattle, SF, Chicago, Boston, NYC, etc) Could possibly see myself settling back in Oregon way down the road but only after I had lived in other places and realized they weren’t for me
In general student cohort seems to be less connected? OHSU is known for its preference for older students, and many have their own personal families, lives, etc outside of the med school community
Only one community health clinic, that seems to run on a much smaller scale than rush’s student clinics
Faculty seems to be less involved? I didn’t see or meet a single faculty/adcom member at Second Look Day
For the past few years, OHSU has gone through major financial challenges on both the large scale hospital and academic/research side of things
Both:
P/F preclinicals, no internal rank
Opportunities to do shadowing rotations in specialties of your choice during M1 and M2 years
Have residency/fellowship programs in basically every specialty and sub specialty
Both have a strong primary care/community service mission, but both their match lists still have several competitive specialties across all geographic regions
Overall: OHSU feels like the safer option because I’m most familiar with it, and know what opportunities/connections are waiting there for me, while RUSH feels like a leap of faith given how unfamiliar I am with its reputation, potential research opportunites, and just the midwest in general. I appreciate everyone's input!!!
I'm going to go through your pro cons and strike out what I think is not important/bold what I think is important.
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RUSH (27K tuition)
Pros
Half-tuition scholarship
Chicago is the kind of big city I’ve never lived in before but always wanted to experience at some point in my life
Significantly more diverse patient population
Several well-established student run community healthcare clinics for many specialties from ENT to primary care - doesn't matter as much unless you really want to be volunteering constantly, there's limited time for this anywhere
Great vibes from adcoms and faculty in general: transparency from the adcoms throughout the process, and met several faculty members during secondary look who took an hour to just sit and answer any questions we had in small groups
Stronger ties than OHSU to east coast residencies if I decide I want to match out there? Doubt this is substantially different
P/F pre-clinical, no internal rank
Cons
Less prestige? Lower PD rank, many west coasters I’ve talked to have never heard of rush Plenty of east coasters have never heard of OHSU.
Potentially fewer research opportunities: NIH funding at RUSH is $64,666,318 vs OHSU $235,673,428 Funding # differences doesn't matter for med school research. As long as there is research in your field (aka a department) you'll be fine.
No biomedical engineering department, medical innovation research may be harder to find I bet you can find med innovation research at another one of the many Chicago institutions.
Away from family support system, no ties to Chicago/Midwest (however my partner plans to relocate with me) Chicago is awesome, but it is a big change. Weather is brutal.
About 1-2 required lectures a day This sucks, but it depends on your personality how much this sucks.
H/P/F clinicals This REALLY sucks.
Starts very early… June 25th (not much time off before med school starts) This minorly sucks, but it would really annoy me so also bolding it.
OHSU (50K tuition)
Pros
Higher PD rank (if that even counts for anything, I believe OHSU isn’t very well known outside of the west coast)
Significantly larger research institution, with a BME department that I have been a research assistant for during my gap year - in house BME is a small advantage. It's a shame OSU doesn't have a stronger presence in Portland so you could collab with them - but maybe you could do distance work with them and drive down to Corvallis occasionally? Random idea. Continuing research that you've already been doing is an awesome opportunity.
OHSU is Oregon’s ONLY academic medical institution, all of the states most complex cases will come here
ALL lectures are recorded and way fewer mandatory lectures compared to rush
1.5 hr drive away from family/hometown
True P/F clinicals
Starts August 11th (lots more time off)
Offers better nature: skiing, hiking, rock climbing, etc are all readily nearby
Cons
Higher cost, I don’t think the COL difference between Portland and Chicago outweighs RUSH’s scholarship
While I love Portland, I would like to explore other larger cities (Seattle, SF, Chicago, Boston, NYC, etc) Could possibly see myself settling back in Oregon way down the road but only after I had lived in other places and realized they weren’t for me. I think this is valid but I am not getting a sense for if you'd rather leave or not.
In general student cohort seems to be less connected? OHSU is known for its preference for older students, and many have their own personal families, lives, etc outside of the med school community You will also have your personal family life closer so this isn't a huge con in my book for you.
Only one community health clinic, that seems to run on a much smaller scale than rush’s student clinics
Faculty seems to be less involved? I didn’t see or meet a single faculty/adcom member at Second Look Day I wouldn't read into this too much.
For the past few years, OHSU has gone through major financial challenges on both the large scale hospital and academic/research side of things How would this affect you?
~80k over 4 years is not a huge sum. I think based on my edited list OHSU seems like the better option in my opinion. Biggest reasons: support network, established connections, interest in BME/med devices and that research being in-house, and the incredible gift of PF. I might change my mind if you've been looking for a way out of Oregon.
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