question for MD students

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seth2000

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Hi guys,
I am interested in attending an MD school with a focus on teaching as opposed to research----an emphasis on primary care would be OK too. I also want to attend a school where the med students become close knit (like a second family). I know that each class differs, but general trends at schools tend to be the same. I do not want to attend a school where the students and teachers are impersonal to each other. So any MD students out there that have opinions of their schools in this regard--please reply.
-seth

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I would say try to pick a school with a small class size. This will help to have a close group. Also, you can try to pick a school with more emphasis on primary care. (for exp. East Tenn State) Also, you may want to consider osteopathic med school, many of their schools tend to focus more on primary care.

Even large classes can have close knit groups. My class of over 170, had a great time together. Not a very competitive group. I think alot has to do with having people in the class that really like to get events and socials going. We had great class leadership. But, the class behind us is very competitive and cutthroat. Go figure.

I will say if you want to teach at an academic center when you are finished, it would still be a good career move to go to a more prestigeous school. This will give you more job opportunities. Good Luck.
 
Check out Mayo and U of MN -- Duluth: both are very small, the latter with a primary care focus. And I've heard good things about Indiana, with a similar setup to UMD/U of MN main campus...

Get yourself a copy of the master book of US and Canada med schools and start flipping through it. Some will pop out at you.
 
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I live in Illinois, so I need to focus on Illinois state medical schools or private medical schools. Also, I wanted to do Teach for America for two years before applying to medical school (kind of a break before applying to medical school). I hope this won't be seen by admissions committees as me wasting my time. Any comments?
 
Illinois has two very good primary care schools. First is SIU which is consistently rated in the top 20 for family practice. Second is the Rockford track of University of Illinois with programs like the rural medical education program. The Urbana-Peoria-Rockford track of the University of Illinois offers the small class size that you desire. You start with 125 in Urbana the first year and then split up for the last three years (50 in Rockford, 50 in Peoria, and 25 in Urbana). Seems that class size is good at SIU also. Just some thoughts, hope that helps.
 
Cassidy
Do they split the classes up in the Chicago campus? The downtown Chicago campus may be an option for me, but moving or commuting two hours a day is not. Can I start and finish at UIC? Thanks.
Russ
 
If you are accepted to the Chicago campus, you will stay there throughout your four years. They do not split the Chicago track students.
 
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