Should I apply to Mercer?

[RocuROMANium]

Mercer's mission is to train medical students to become primary care physicians that practice in rural Georgia. I neither want to pursue primary care nor live in rural Georgia. This may seem like an obvious and stupid question but I am asking because Mercer only accepts GA residents and, thus, increases my chances of being accepted into medical school if I apply (unless, of course, I cannot convince them I want to purse their mission statement). So, would it be unwise to NOT apply to Mercer as an IS applicant due to these circumstances?

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[esob]

If it is their mission to train those types of students, my bet is that they may try to sway you in that direction. If you are open to listening to their ideas, then why not? TBH, you won't 100% know what you want to do until you match for residency, so, if there is even a .000000001% chance that you might end up doing rural primary care, then I say it's fair game.

 

[RocuROMANium]

If it is their mission to train those types of students, my bet is that they may try to sway you in that direction. If you are open to listening to their ideas, then why not? TBH, you won't 100% know what you want to do until you match for residency, so, if there is even a .000000001% chance that you might end up doing rural primary care, then I say it's fair game.

Is it more difficult to match into a specialty from a school like this? Also, it’s the primary care part that doesn’t interest me. I don’t necessarily mind rural medicine so, out of curiosity, what is the population cut off to be deemed rural?

 

[Humeruspremed]

It is also apart of Mercer’s mission to serve underserved populations of Georgia including those in Atlanta. When I interviewed they said if we only accepted students from rural Georgia and who wanted to practice in rural Georgia they would not be able to fill their class every year. Additionally, they had a map of where their graduates ultimately end up practicing. It looks like many of them are concentrated in metro Atlanta and they will give you the resources to pursue any speciality you’re interested in. So if you can show that you’re dedicated about Georgia’s underserved populations, I definitely think you should apply.

 

[esob]

Is it more difficult to match into a specialty from a school like this? Also, it’s the primary care part that doesn’t interest me. I don’t necessarily mind rural medicine so, out of curiosity, what is the population cut off to be deemed rural?

I don't know that there is a specific cutoff, other than the definition probably varies from gov't organization to organization if there are regulations dealing with the area (for example in Texas, based on your population you do or do not have to have vapor recovery hoses on your gas pumps). Matching to a residency is beyond my scope of expertise but from my time reading SDN, it is pretty much like med school in the sense that your test scores (STEP) and LOR's, personal statement, etc, will make up most of your ability to get in, with the exception of home programs (ie, most institutions tend to favor their own grads for their residency slots)

 

[futuremdforme]

I applied to a state school whose mission was to train family doctors for rural care. At my interview, I said I wanted to do family medicine, and my interviewer said "everyone says that, only 17% do, be honest or I can't help you." We had a great chat about choosing specialties and I was accepted.

Short answer: apply.

 

[RocuROMANium]

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the help. I do have a lot of experience with underserved populations and would like to volunteer for these populations around the world as an attending as well so maybe that will help.

 

[Goro]

Mercer's mission is to train medical students to become primary care physicians that practice in rural Georgia. I neither want to pursue primary care nor live in rural Georgia. This may seem like an obvious and stupid question but I am asking because Mercer only accepts GA residents and, thus, increases my chances of being accepted into medical school if I apply (unless, of course, I cannot convince them I want to purse their mission statement). So, would it be unwise to NOT apply to Mercer as an IS applicant due to these circumstances?

They can't force you to do residency or practice in rural GA. How do I know this? Google is my friend!

http://medicine.mercer.edu/www/mu-m...y/nrmp2017/upload/MUSM-2017-Match-Results.pdf

Note the match in plastics at UTx SW!

 

[naway]

Mercer student here. This year's match list was actually pretty "mission compliant"...roughly half the class matched into internal or family medicine. It varies year to year. But yeah, I have plenty of classmates who are very open about not wanting to be primary care doctors. They pound us over the head with the mission while we're here for sure, so at minimum, be prepared for that.

 

[RocuROMANium]

Mercer student here. This year's match list was actually pretty "mission compliant"...roughly half the class matched into internal or family medicine. It varies year to year. But yeah, I have plenty of classmates who are very open about not wanting to be primary care doctors. They pound us over the head with the mission while we're here for sure, so at minimum, be prepared for that.

Are you at the Macon campus? If so, what do you think about it? Also, where do students do clinical rotations?