Rutgers-NJMS vs Ohio State

[wiloghby]

Let's assume I get no scholarships and no other offers of admission.

I'm leaning toward primary care, but I want to keep my options open in case I fall in love with neurosurgery or dermatology or anesthesiology or something. I just want to keep as many doors open for as long as possible....with that in mind:

I am deciding between OSU and NJMS:

Match List
I am trying to decide which school has a better match list. By that, I do not mean how many graduates are matching into competitive specialties. I know that is often a matter of personal choice. Rather, what fraction of students are matching into strong/well-known programs in their specialty? I'm hoping that will help control for differences in mission and non-professional considerations (i.e. location near spouse). Can anyone who knows which programs are strong nationally (4th year med student?) take a look at the most recent match list at OSU and NJMS and tell me what they think? (I'm from the NYC area so I know some of the programs here and NJMS match list looks strong. But OSU.. I don't know Midwest programs that well????)

Curriculum
NJMS has a nice P/F (internally ranked) block curriculum which I think would be slightly easier for me to adjust to. I think it will make me better at standardized tests like STEP 1, but I think OSU's more time-consuming, clinically integrated MS1/MS2 curriculum will better prepare me to practice medicine -- despite being more demanding in terms of time commitment and reduced flexibility.

Facilities, Location, Quality of Life
Buckeyes are undefeated here.😍

Weather/Climate
Really, it's a wash. Both places have almost the exact same average temperatures. I eventually want to practice somewhere warm. I hate winters.

What do you think??

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[eizeral]

It snows WAY more in Ohio than it does in NJ, that is an absolute fact.

 

[wiloghby]

It snows WAY more in Ohio than it does in NJ, that is an absolute fact.

I have heard the amount of snowfall in Central Ohio is quite mild. NJ has Noreasters to contend with.

EDIT: Average snowfall in Newark per year is 28.6 inches. Columbus is 27.5 inches. All in all I don't think weather/climate will factor into my decision.😉

 

[eizeral]

Both are great schools, one just happens to be in a much better place to live. I would go to that school! haha. Location is important to me though.

 

[nemo123]

I don't know where Ohio State is, but NJMS is in Newark...

 

[wiloghby]

I don't know where Ohio State is, but NJMS is in Newark...

I already work in Newark and go to school there. I can handle it, but of course Columbus is much nicer.

I guess I'm mostly concerned with which school has ties to better residency programs? And which school is seen more favorably by PDs?

 

[seeinghowitgoes]

I didn't read the whole paper, but it seems that the big school-dependent thing for residencies (at least surgical) would be going to a top 40 NIH funded institution

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951766/

Ohio State is ~45, Rutgers is ~80 in NIH funding, so I would imagine that OSU would help you keep your options open slightly more? Of course this is extrapolating from a study whose outcome is simply matching into a surgical speciality, not quality of those programs (every little bit of data helps though, I suppose?).

I know it's anecdotal, which you might not want, but I do know, having spent extensive amounts of time talking with graduates of OSUCOM as well as physicians around the area last year, that the perception is the school will not limit you in your residency choices assuming you hold up your end of the bargain (and certainly not in the midwest - OSU was on USNEWS honor roll a few years back and is well respected). Unfortunetely I can't comment on Rutgers, but if you like Columbus more anyway, I suppose that might not matter much anyway.

 

[IncognitoGuy]

I wouldn't say our curriculum (OSU) is inflexible at all. It is actually quite flexible, between recorded/streamed/downloadable lectures, online modules that you only have to do by a certain deadline (meaning you can do them whenever you want) and so forth. You could never go to class except for the occasional mandatory patient panel and weekly small group and anatomy dissection. I'm happy to answer any other questions you have about the school as well.

I wouldn't base the school choice on match lists - you simply don't know a student's motivation for ranking places as they do (nor do you know the quality of institutions). People vibe differently, which translates into different preferences when it comes to residency. Throw in location preferences, limitation in terms of grades/Step I score/research/etc, familial ties, significant others and you've got a lot of threads to unwind if you want to decipher a match list.

 

[Ja3ger]

Cost aside, I'd probably pick OSU. How far away is family?

 

[Omppu27]

It snows WAY more in Ohio than it does in NJ, that is an absolute fact.

I've lived in Columbus all my life. It's honestly hit or miss. Lately we've been having some green Christmases but there have been years recently where you're not even thinking about leaving your house due to weather. All in all, I think the difference between the two areas are negligible.

For what it's worth, I'll give you my opinion of Columbus and OSU but just take it with a grain of salt. Lots of what i say might be completely irrelevant to a medical student and Newark might have everything and more that Columbus has (i've never been there), but whatever:

Columbus is certainly growing as a city and is a great place to learn medicine. It's quite amazing to see how Ohio State has grown as well (always constructing new buildings, becoming more of a prestigious university, etc.). I'm sure you know about the addition to the CCC (Comprehensive Cancer Center) which is quite amazing. The faculty at OSU is also unbelievably nice. I have grown old of OSU and Cbus since I've been here so long, but one thing that will never change is my opinion of the people that work at Ohio State. And it's not just at the main medical center, it's at all their locations around the city. My grandparents spent lots of their last years in and out of OSU's medical system and I can truly say they treat the patients and families with top notch respect. It's noticeable compared to other hospitals/clinics i've been to. Also, just down the road (like 10min away) Nationwide Children's just underwent a huge renovation ($800 million). Their ER looks like a 5 star hotel IMO. Riverside Methodist (literally just down the road) is also adding on a pretty big Neurology wing. The patient population in Columbus is fairly diverse. You'll get the people from disadvantaged areas around the city as well as people coming from the rural areas around the state (and neighboring states in some cases). I know this from working at the hospital and working in private EMS.

Best of luck in making you're decision. Also, Cory Booker is a stud. 😀

 

[Omppu27]

Also, with regards to being able to keep an open mind, I know plenty of OSU students who choose primary care specialties but i've also met students who haven't had any trouble finding research opportunities in more competitive fields like rad and NS.

 

[wiloghby]

I wouldn't say our curriculum (OSU) is inflexible at all. It is actually quite flexible, between recorded/streamed/downloadable lectures, online modules that you only have to do by a certain deadline (meaning you can do them whenever you want) and so forth. You could never go to class except for the occasional mandatory patient panel and weekly small group and anatomy dissection. I'm happy to answer any other questions you have about the school as well.

I wouldn't base the school choice on match lists

Thanks. Re match lists, I agree. I'm just trying to look as far down the road as possible and set myself up for success. I will admit that I do not know what data is best to look at for that purpose.

Re curriculum: I did not know this about the new curriculum. The "sample week" they post on their website really does not do it justice, then. I spoke to an MS3 (last of the old curriculum) who seemed to suggest that it was hard to find MS1/MS2 students to take over their community service projects at the end of MS2. She seemed to think that was because the new curriculum leaves them with much less free time. I suppose that "more time-consuming" does not mean the same thing as "less flexible". It is the former that I meant to say.

Perhaps you would disagree with the notion that you have less free time to pursue ECs & community service initiatives than the MS3/MS4s did when they were in their first and second years?

Certainly I am leaning very much towards OSU because of how incredibly state-of-the-art the facilities seemed on interview day. Everyone there seemed pretty happy as well. NJMS gives the appearance of financial problems and there are lots of people who seem jaded by the bureaucracy. Maybe it's just because I have spent more time there.

Cost aside, I'd probably pick OSU. How far away is family?

All of my primary family lives in New Jersey. However, I am single and have no family of my own yet. I think Columbus would be much better for meeting people.

Also, I should mention that assuming no merit/need aid at OSU, its COA for 4 years is ~$20k less than NJMS even though NJMS is my state school. How awesome is that?

I really do love Ohio State.

 

[SN12357]

If it's cheaper there's no contest. Ohio State.

 

[alpinism]

OSU is more highly regarded by most PDs and generally speaking matches better. It will also have more research opportunities.

If you like both schools and OSU is cheaper, go there.

 

[jeffs office]

OSU, for sure.