Very interesting. Never was aware... I will have to call the school and see what is up with their curriculum.
I want to say a couple things here because I don't want to be insensitive to any current Meharry students, or prospective students whose only option is Meharry, or much less any faculty/staff who endlessly labor to repair Meharry. Ya I mean it's not to say anyone that is currently there should panic, or that no one should apply there, but the board passing rates definitely is something to be aware of, and something that should be respectfully but directly discussed by any student interviewing there.
My hunch is certainly that the low board passing rates has got much more to do with the level of students and less to do with the faculty - thus if you are a great student I would assume you have less to worry about. Such a hunch is difficult to prove, and although we all know from basic stats class that correlation does not imply causation, one still wonders about the connection between being a minority school (and thus having less competitive matriculants) and decreased academic performance. Although hard to quantify, it darn sure appeals to common sense to put up Howard and Meharry's low academics more to accepting less competitive students who are minorities than to the faculty attempting to train said students. You gotta be honest about who they have to work with, on top of what is already difficult material to pass.
So I want to be clear that I'm not criticizing the institution as much as the philosophy behind the institution (accepting less competitive minorities). Now, I'm not saying I
disagree with this philosophy - I actually think it's extremely noble, helpful, and downright necessary to the increasing diversification of the society at large, and specifically in the professional medical community. Look, since I went back to school to pursue dental, although my pride would say otherwise the fact is I only have a 3.8 BCP GPA and DAT AA of 21 because my wife made enough money working as a nurse this past year and a half to allow me to focus all on studies without working. So I understand that the Hispanic kid that had to work 30 hours a week at the convenience store while helping watch his 2 cousins in the projects throughout the week is probably going to have less competitive stats than me -
and as such there is a degree to which he deserves a shot at dental school too. Now, to what degree we could argue all day - I mean I don't care how hard your life has been, if you have a 2.1 GPA and 14 AA on your DAT you shouldn't be in dental school anywhere, but I think there's some middle ground there where it's good and helpful to give some minorities with lower stats a chance.
But my (or anyone else's) personal approval of a school accepting less competitive minorities does not withdraw such an establishment from what will likely be a scholastic downfall from the decision. So ultimately, given Meharry's educational philosophy, they must implicitly accept any of this type of criticism I or anyone else may have toward them.
Sorry for the ramble, I just know how brutal this entire pre-req/DAT/application process has been to me and I wanna make sure not to discourage anyone stoked about their Meharry interview/acceptance. If that's you - be encouraged to work hard and prove this wrong! I'm sure the school is improving.
