angelMD said:
To current RFU students:
Sorry to post a random question, but I recently got accepted to RFU and have to decide between RFU and Wayne State University. I have a couple questions:
1. How good do you think the clinical locations are at RFU? Are there any specialty hospitals you can work at, or more community based and general hospitals?
2. Is there a large disconnect between the M1 and M2's on campus and the M3's and M4's scattered throughout the city during clinical years? Does this make things difficult?
3. Is there a good mix of working at suburban vs urban hospitals? Does the faculty have a strong interest in helping/representing RFU students because they do not have a main hospital, or does it seem that you are more on your own and switching to many different institutions?
4. Not to bring this up, but I know the school has made many improvements since its probation from the LCME. Despite the changes, do you feel this situation will cast a negative image on the school for quite some time, or are doctors and others you have spoken to enthusiastic about the improvements? Do you feel this could affect your future success as a doctor, or is getting into your residency more about board scores, grades and your dean's letter?
5. To refresh my memory, what was the average USMLE Step I and II scores?
Thanks so much for any help you can provide. I need to make a decision fast and I want it to be the right one. I loved the facilities at RFU and everyone seemed so nice. WSU is more an urban school with specialty hospitals, and I may want to enter a specialty in peds or ob/gyne, which they are known for. Yet, I want to remain in Chicago. Please Help!
Congrats on getting in to RFU. I really believe it to be a great place to recieve a clinical education. I'll see if I can answer your questions.
1. There are a variety of hospitals to work at. Right now, we are working on developing a much tighter association with the Advocate system. These hospitals offer excellent clinical teaching. Their locations vary from urban to suburban, so you get a great range of patients. We also have our other affiliations, County and Mt. Sinai, which would be our largest urban facilities. These are places where you may not get the most didactics, but you learn A LOT by doing. For example, I'm doing anesthesia right now as a 4th year. I'm doing as many intubations as I can. Rest assured, you will get great clinical training. Word of mouth will tell you where it's better to do what.
2. I would say the only real disconnect involves the M4's and the current M1's and M2's. But I see this happening at all institutions since the M4's are scattered throughout the country. Otherwise, I thought the M1's and M2's have great relationships, and this carries over to your M3 year. I had many friends from the class above me and the class below me.
3. See #1 for the mix. The faculty is great. Occasionally you do run in to some interesting individuals, but this is no different from other schools. You don't have to switch from hospital to hospital if you do not want to. And if you do, it takes a couple of days to get used to whatever the new clerkship is anyways. But after that, you go about your daily business with no problem. I've enjoyed every single rotation at every hospital, never having any issues with the faculty. They have all been more than supportive.
4. The LCME probation was in a few words...BS. Don't listen to what anyone says about it or what you hear. It will have NO AFFECT on your career. Unfortunately, there are many who have not truly learned the details of the probation (which is completely lifted and we recently learned that we are now back on the regular schedule of re-accredidation visits). Ignorant individuals will talk about the probation, but I have yet to encounter anyone saying anything negative. The negative comments tend to come from premeds.
5. This varies from class to class. But we have generally been above the national average for Step 1. The unofficial number for my class was 221, with the national average usually hovering around 217 or 218. Step 2 tends to be a little lower. Not because of clinical training, but mainly because it depends on when you take it. Half the class will take it late in their 4th year, depending on how well they did on Step 1. If you did really well on step 1, you may wait till after the interview season because a score lower than step 1 could hurt you. These people tend to bring the average down since they don't study as hard (it correlates with how late in the year you take it).
Hope this helps.
