I am in the process of selecting a medical school from a list of several acceptances. The school I am most interested in is only 2 years old and thus has not had a graduating class. I am really interested in this school because of its location (NYC) and lower tuition. Should I be more focused on reputation rather than comfort? I have no doubt I will succeed academically at any school I attend, and I am not one to complain much. Reading all of these boards is confusing and overwhelming, especially when seeking advice from current med students or pre-meds. I want to be a surgeon and therefore I need great board scores. In terms of obtaining a better residency does going to a slightly more reputable school help or is it ultimately your performance in school (Boards,GPA,Rec letters)? I ask this bc I have friends who went to decent or subpar universities but excelled in their academics. In the end they went to some of the best graduate schools in the nation. I get the feeling that it's what you make of every opportunity for yourself. None of the schools I've been accepted to are that amazing anyways, so its not like I'm passing on Columbia. Any thoughts?
Residents? Need Advice Please
- Thread starter trag08
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Don't f**ck around here... Just tell us the NYC medical school if you want help...
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I know students in their first year and they have a bunch a kinks to work out. They are too just too new... Program directors have no familiarity with the quality of their education, however, luckily Touro has several other medical schooling, so the name/reputation is established already.
You speak of "reputation versus comfort," that latter is very important for you to do well in an educational environment.
Good luck!
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he's not a resident. wait for some better advice. theres no need to give names, it won't get you any better advice... just people who "have a friend..."
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I'm not a resident either, but unless you have an overwhelming personal reason to be in New York I would choose one of the other DO schools to which you've been accepted, with their own hospital networks, alumni already out in practice (thus making you a 'known entity' when applying for residency) and who are most likely a bit more rigorous in their selection criteria.
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Hmmm...I don't know too much about DO schools.
blondedocteur may have a point
On the other hand, if you want to do residency in the NYC area, then going to an accredited school in NYC (including Touro) might be better than some random DO school in the Midwest which perhaps nobody in NYC has heard of.
I think you need to do more homework r.e. the residency placements of each school (I know you can't know for Touro...). Another thing you can do is send a short, polite email to the chairs of some surgical departments (say, in NYC if that is where you want to practice).
I think you could probably do fine going to any accredited medical school...but it might be preferable to go somewhere with a bit more of a track record. If wanting to do an allopathic residency, you could also look at which DO schools are more open to students going either to DO residency or MD residency. I mean, some might prefer and/or push students to do a DO one, wanting to preserve their legacy and traditions, etc.
You don't need "great USMLE scores" to do general surgery either. Not that it hurts, but it's really your 3rd year surgical clerkship and letters of rec from surgeons that will get you in. Research doesn't hurt either.
blondedocteur may have a point
On the other hand, if you want to do residency in the NYC area, then going to an accredited school in NYC (including Touro) might be better than some random DO school in the Midwest which perhaps nobody in NYC has heard of.
I think you need to do more homework r.e. the residency placements of each school (I know you can't know for Touro...). Another thing you can do is send a short, polite email to the chairs of some surgical departments (say, in NYC if that is where you want to practice).
I think you could probably do fine going to any accredited medical school...but it might be preferable to go somewhere with a bit more of a track record. If wanting to do an allopathic residency, you could also look at which DO schools are more open to students going either to DO residency or MD residency. I mean, some might prefer and/or push students to do a DO one, wanting to preserve their legacy and traditions, etc.
You don't need "great USMLE scores" to do general surgery either. Not that it hurts, but it's really your 3rd year surgical clerkship and letters of rec from surgeons that will get you in. Research doesn't hurt either.
Thanks for your input. I just thought that being in new york would be a good networking tool in itself. Some of the other schools are pretty new themselves. I wouldnt start rotations for another 3 yrs so by then it should all be set up. As far as alumni already in practice, I don't know how relevant that is for most DO schools. You go to a top 5 med school in the nation and therefore it's huge for your position. I wish I had the MCAT scores to go to Columbia, and I've come to terms I have to go the osteopathic route. Couple of my friends went to Nova (osteopathic) and are now derms and they said to go wherever and just excell and be a well rounded student. I started a new thread to seek additional input.
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Being in New York in and of itself is not a networking opportunity-- especially if the clinical rotations your school sets up are still wobbly. If you wish to apply to residency up here and your choice is between Touro and Lincoln in Tennessee, another very new (and currently bottom-ranked due, perhaps, to its newness) osteopathic school, then you might have an argument. But otherwise I would attend a DO school that is more established, in whatever part of the country it is. If you go to PCOM or Des Moines you will have a better shot at matching into surgery in New York than if you go to Touro.
By alumni in practice I wasn't referring to shadowy networks of power where people pull strings for you, but rather the fact that people will have heard of your school, they will have trained residents who graduated from your school all the way up through and have seen them as attendings, and therefore have an opinion of the caliber of student your school produces. That is very important-- and it's what I meant by saying you'd be a "known entity."
I think you can get a good medical education as an osteopath and you can certainly become a surgeon-- though it is difficult. There are relatively few DO spots, and allopathic general surgery is becoming more and more competitive. Last year there was almost perfect parity between the # of spots and the # of AMGs applying, meaning it's very tough for DOs, and even more so for FMGs, to nab a position. If surgery is truly your goal then I think it is all the more important to go to a school-- like Nova-- that has a good hospital network, lots of established, affiliated clinical faculty, and a track record of placing students into surgery.
I would also disagree with Dragonfly here, though she's normally so spot-on that's unsual-- I would not email surgery PDs. They will most likely not respond to you, but they won't appreciate hearing from a premedical student. If they do answer it will be something very formulary that won't give you the information you're after.
By alumni in practice I wasn't referring to shadowy networks of power where people pull strings for you, but rather the fact that people will have heard of your school, they will have trained residents who graduated from your school all the way up through and have seen them as attendings, and therefore have an opinion of the caliber of student your school produces. That is very important-- and it's what I meant by saying you'd be a "known entity."
I think you can get a good medical education as an osteopath and you can certainly become a surgeon-- though it is difficult. There are relatively few DO spots, and allopathic general surgery is becoming more and more competitive. Last year there was almost perfect parity between the # of spots and the # of AMGs applying, meaning it's very tough for DOs, and even more so for FMGs, to nab a position. If surgery is truly your goal then I think it is all the more important to go to a school-- like Nova-- that has a good hospital network, lots of established, affiliated clinical faculty, and a track record of placing students into surgery.
I would also disagree with Dragonfly here, though she's normally so spot-on that's unsual-- I would not email surgery PDs. They will most likely not respond to you, but they won't appreciate hearing from a premedical student. If they do answer it will be something very formulary that won't give you the information you're after.
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moving to pre-osteo since this is a pre-med issue.
BlondeDocteur,
Thanks for the advice, you r both very knowledgeable and helpful. what do you think about pcom-ga? it doesn't have a graduating class but it seems like a more stable program than touro-ny bc of pcom-philly? thanks again.
Thanks for the advice, you r both very knowledgeable and helpful. what do you think about pcom-ga? it doesn't have a graduating class but it seems like a more stable program than touro-ny bc of pcom-philly? thanks again.
did you apply to NYCOM? they are close to NYC have a great network and reputation, and have a kick ass match-list.
NYCOM Match List 2007.pdf
NYCOM Match List 2008.pdf
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did you apply to NYCOM? they are close to NYC have a great network and reputation, and have a kick ass match-list.
NYCOM Match List 2007.pdfNYCOM Match List 2008.pdf
MD derm in 08 ... nice. How big are NYCOM's class sizes?? Seems like there was a TON of people on that list. Also, quite impressive.
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About 300 per. They told us at the interview about 230 in lecture pathway, another 50-60 in problem based. Yeah their match list was definitely impressive.
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At one of my interviews, my interviewer told me, "In my 20 years of teaching medical school students, the biggest factor I've been able to identify which ultimately leads to success or failure is if the student, and their family if they have one, is happy living in the location of the school." Surprised me, but...true?
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Interesting.
On the interview trail, a friend of mine was told by the interviewer that the single biggest factor that he identified in a successful student was their Org Chem I grade. Yikes.
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And I was told @ my DMU interview that Orgo is pretty much useless and Biochem is much better and more predictable
