Penn State Vs. Temple

[Radbone]

I know, I know, there are a million and one comparisons between med schools on SDN. But hopefully others can derive benefit from this one as well.

Penn State V. Temple.

Here is a bit about myself.
I am out of state from NYC. I am more interested in clinical rather than research. I come from Brooklyn, which is very city like. I am not sure how much ($) Temple is for OOS, but I assume it is in the same ball park as Penn State. I know Penn State has more money backing it with a possibly better rep (?). You see interesting cases in Temple due to its surrounding environment. Lastly, for me at least, proximity is somewhat a factor. Hershey (Penn State) is 3 hours away while Philly is about 1 hour and 45 min (factors in if you come home for the weekend here and there).

Other than that I may not know too much about the schools themselves (i.e. who has a better internal medicine base?) And other important questions. I honestly don't know what I should be asking.

I thank you in advance for assisting me in this time of need!!!

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[146233]

Penn State. Better rep, better facilities, better clinical opportunities. (Purely my opinion.)

 

[Winged Scapula]

I'm not sure what you mean by "better internal medicine base".

Obviously the environments are quite different. If you want a more urban lifestyle with more penetrating trauma during medical school, Temple is the obvious choice.

As noted above, PSUSOM has a beautiful campus, great facilities and pretty happy medical students. For an OOS, the cost is probably not significantly different.

You'll get a good basic medical education from both places I suspect. While going home once in awhile is a plus, with the traffic in Philly and North Jersey on a Friday pm, I'm not so sure you'll get back to Brooklyn in under 2 hrs. But as you note, Hershey is even farther (albeit not much more).

So it probably comes down to whichever school you feel more comfortable with and you feel like you fit in best.

 

[ExKitty Doctor]

Thats tough. I would say penn state if you base it on research opportunities. But clinically, Temple will probably be a bit better because of its location. Hershey is SMALL. For me, I know I'd go crazy there. But everyone is different, if you like the small town feel that may not be an issue. Check out their match lists too. I know penn state has a pretty good one, not sure about Temple though. I would say factor in the school *vibe*, money (take a close look - penn state is notoriously expensive OOS), location, clinical/research opps... and just see where the most positivity lies. Good luck!

 

[gsmithers68]

I know, I know, there are a million and one comparisons between med schools on SDN. But hopefully others can derive benefit from this one as well.

Penn State V. Temple.

Here is a bit about myself.
I am out of state from NYC. I am more interested in clinical rather than research. I come from Brooklyn, which is very city like. I am not sure how much ($) Temple is for OOS, but I assume it is in the same ball park as Penn State. I know Penn State has more money backing it with a possibly better rep (?). You see interesting cases in Temple due to its surrounding environment. Lastly, for me at least, proximity is somewhat a factor. Hershey (Penn State) is 3 hours away while Philly is about 1 hour and 45 min (factors in if you come home for the weekend here and there).

Other than that I may not know too much about the schools themselves (i.e. who has a better internal medicine base?) And other important questions. I honestly don't know what I should be asking.

I thank you in advance for assisting me in this time of need!!!

You are from NYC.... so you like city life. Hershey is not city-life. You want clinical exposure... Temple is in a ghetto where you will see some of the most ridiculous cases possible. Much much better exposure. Penn State is a good school but it doesn't seem to fit your lifestyle or what you want to see as a medical student. Temple is also closer to home. I mean obviously you need to go where you feel like is the best fit. For whatever reason things seem to point to Temple from my point of view.... who knows, maybe I'll see you there next fall I am still trying to decide.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I think the one thing that pre-med students tend to forget is that while Hershey is small, it is the only Level 1 hospital, the only Children's hospital and the main referral/tertiary hospital for the entire state lying between Philly and Pittsburgh.

Hershey township proper is small, but the hospital draws its patients from a large area. We may not see as many GSWs as Temple does, but we see lots of genetic defects from the large Amish population in the center of the state, lots of colorectal and GI disease (for the same reason), a fair bit of infectious disease and psychopathology from downtown Harrisburg, Lebanon ( you may also rotate at the VA there), and the prisons, loads of blunt trauma, especially farm implement disasters, good plastics research and lots of labs to choose from, etc. Busy transplant service, peds heme-onc.

Despite the above, it does sound as if the OP would seem to fit better into Temple.

 

[majik1213]

i heard that last may, a temple medical student decided to go across the street to get ice cream. He was pistol whipped in broad daylight.


EDIT: philaPMR has pointed out that this story likely did not happen as I've heard it to be .. most likely, the student was an undergrad .. thanks for pointing this out to me

 

[thebeatblitz]

Well he should have been studying, not eating ice cream .

 

[dr midnight]

I don't know about Penn St but at Temple you can do you 3 and 4 year at over 15 diff hospitals in the state. Temple will have a new hospital 2009. Temple is City and ruff but Penn St has a very good rep. I think it is a life style choice rather than anything... ( school cost is about the same it is housing that makes the diff)

 

[digitalraid]

Only a new medical school is going up for 2009 (I'm a first year at temple). Seems like Temple is the better choice for this person based on the info provided. I enjoy it here too but I'm not the type to worry about location.

 

[philaPMR]

i was a 4th year at temple last may, if anyone was pistol whipped in broad daylight, i would have heard about it. about 3 years ago a student was held up very very late at night (i think at knifepoint), he was unharmed. other than that isolated incident, i don't know of anyone who was harmed during my time at school. north philadelphia is a dangerous place, but the students are safe on campus.

if anyone is curious, the temple university police force publishes a crime report every year that compares the safety of temple students to other students in the city. if you can find it, you'll get a better idea of the safety on campus.

please be more careful, and know what you're talking about if you're going to spread rumors that may discourage someone from going to an excellent medical school.

 

[majik1213]

i was a 4th year at temple last may, if anyone was pistol whipped in broad daylight, i would have heard about it. about 3 years ago a student was held up very very late at night (i think at knifepoint), he was unharmed. other than that isolated incident, i don't know of anyone who was harmed during my time at school. north philadelphia is a dangerous place, but the students are safe on campus.

if anyone is curious, the temple university police force publishes a crime report every year that compares the safety of temple students to other students in the city. if you can find it, you'll get a better idea of the safety on campus.

please be more careful, and know what you're talking about if you're going to spread rumors that may discourage someone from going to an excellent medical school.

hey .. I won't say I know my facts .. I know this happened at temple to a student .. BUT it may have been an undergrad student .. but i'm completely sure about this .. my father, a doctor in PA, heard about this story .. so yeah it's a whisper down-the-alley thing, but who would make such a thing up?

and as for making sure I know my facts .. how should I go about verifying this incident .. i was careful to say that I said I "heard" this tale .. just spreading around the tales .. and the tale fits the stereotype

 

[Dmizrahi]

All I know is that all this talk about pistol whipping is making me more excited to start school at temple

 

[majik1213]

All I know is that all this talk about pistol whipping is making me more excited to start school at temple

veynice!!

 

[philaPMR]

temple's undergraduate campus is about a mile and half away from the med school campus. as a med student, you're never on the undergrad campus. so this alleged pistol whipping incident (possible a fight between two undergrads? and maybe not the random act of violence was implied by your post- who knows?) has no bearing on the safety of medical students at temple.

so once again, please be more careful with your facts before you spread rumors about what is a fantastic place to go to medical school.

thanks.