SLU vs. UTHSC

[700825]

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SLU
Pros

• Pass-Fail Preclinical
• New Hospital
• Happier/more diverse student body
• Home Residency in my specialty of interest

Cons

• Cost 70k/year
• Probation

UTHSC
Pros

• Cheaper 50k/year
• Already live in Memphis, so familiar location and some semblance of a support system
• St. Jude Affiliation (may allow research opportunities in my current are of interest)

Cons

• Graded and Ranked preclinical
• Lack of research focus (to the point that it seemed that they could care less if students did research and would provide minimal support to students wanting research)

Summary: If it wasn't for the substantial difference in cost I'd be leaning towards SLU, but 280k (+interest) vs. 200k (+interest) in student loans is a big difference especially considering I want an academic career. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[700825]

Bump

 

[Giraffe_Funk]

What is your specialty of interest?

 

[SuaveCardigans]

i dont think slu’s current status on probation should be a major deterrant

 

[700825]

What is your specialty of interest?

Interventional Neurology

 

[700825]

i dont think slu’s current status on probation should be a major deterrant

Valid point. Its definitely more of a minor concern than a deciding factor.

 

[Kingsmen2018]

80k difference may be worth it when u think about the pass/fail, new hospital, happier students. Graded and ranked sounds like a competitive cutthroat dingus nightmare. Med school is hard enough as it is, I say SLU

 

[MD2BE92]

80k difference may be worth it when u think about the pass/fail, new hospital, happier students. Graded and ranked sounds like a competitive cutthroat dingus nightmare. Med school is hard enough as it is, I say SLU

That is not the culture whatsoever. My classmates are some of my best friends and we are all very much supportive of one another, people tend to naturally segregate by ability over time. There is no culture at UT of undermining others or gunning to someone else's detriment. I'm not a fan of being on the graded system yrs 1/2, however it does mean that we all know where we stand with our class rank as opposed to having smoke and mirrors till fourth yr when class rank may or may not matter for the real world expectations depending on how competitive the specialty youre applying to is (match).

I would definitely be concerned paying more and going to a school on probation...that is a scary thought.
Source: Current student

 

[700825]

That is not the culture whatsoever. My classmates are some of my best friends and we are all very much supportive of one another, people tend to naturally segregate by ability over time. There is no culture at UT of undermining others or gunning to someone else's detriment. I'm not a fan of being on the graded system yrs 1/2, however it does mean that we all know where we stand with our class rank as opposed to having smoke and mirrors till fourth yr when class rank may or may not matter for the real world expectations depending on how competitive the specialty youre applying to is (match).

I would definitely be concerned paying more and going to a school on probation...that is a scary thought.
Source: Current student

Thanks for your reply! Glad to get a student perspective on UT. I guess my concern with P/F preclinical wasn't really a cut throat culture or gunners (I actually talked to twl current UT students since I posted this and they said pretty much what you said), but rather that I feel I will fair much better in clinical years than preclinical, and I have concerns about pre clinical grades dropping my class rank if that makes any sense. That aside, could you possibly speak as to research opportunities at UT? And probably a long shot, but any chance you have the new match list (more curiosity than anything)?

 

[700825]

SLU's new hospital won't be opened until 2020 at the very least but it definitely sounds promising, especially the new trauma center they're supposed to have. As an STL native I think it's important to note that the location of SLU is not the best, mid-town/downtown STL is kinda sketchy, but major improvements are on their way according to the emails we've received. Most med students I know live in the CWE which is also quite costly considering the fact it's a much nicer area than SLU itself, so that might be something to think about. As an undergrad we have plenty of opportunities to do research at the med school, usually by helping out a med student working with a faculty
One thing I've noticed with the neuro dep (from like ~25 hours of shadowing and family friends that did their residency at SLU) is that there is a significant number of IMGs as attendings and residents, just my personal experience. Most people from SLU that want to try to stay in STL for residency try for Wash U/BJC/Children's, again though, just my experience. Congrats on the acceptances and best of luck!!

Thanks for the input! The new hospital seemed like it would be impressive. I'm kinda curious if it will boost the reputation of the school and its' residencies at all. Kimda funny, I'm a Memphis native and UTHSC is similarly not in the best part of town and most of the students (or at least the ones I talked to) live in the more expensive Mud Island area. So the sketchy area con is pretty much a wash. As for Neuro, neuro residencies to my understanding aren't very competitive, but some of the fellowships (vascular, sleep, interventional) are competitive. SLU has vascular, sleep, and interventional fellowships, which while rather minor I found to be cool. And thank you!!!

 

[MD2BE92]

Thanks for your reply! Glad to get a student perspective on UT. I guess my concern with P/F preclinical wasn't really a cut throat culture or gunners (I actually talked to twl current UT students since I posted this and they said pretty much what you said), but rather that I feel I will fair much better in clinical years than preclinical, and I have concerns about pre clinical grades dropping my class rank if that makes any sense. That aside, could you possibly speak as to research opportunities at UT? And probably a long shot, but any chance you have the new match list (more curiosity than anything)?

Generally, this years class was very competitive. We had people match in every field of medicine and it seemed that as a class their match was subspecialty/surgery heavy. I can't name specifics just because I don't want to release info that isn't public from UT yet, but they post their match list every year on the COM website..you're welcome to look here for previous years'.

As far as class rank goes, preclinical years are only a small portion of your overall rank...I'd say somewhere in the realm of 30-40% of total hours. 3rd year you are graded (just like everywhere else) and those hours are 14 per every rotation so its a heavier weight. 4th year depending on your schedule you can make up ground as well, just all depends on what your goals are. Class rank, while mildly important if your're going into a hypercompetitive field, is only a small portion of what makes a prospect competitive for residency. Step 1 is huge, and letters plus networking with aways are arguably much more important components of your overall application.

Research is also important for a good match, there's no shortage of opportunities within the UT system. We have St Jude and Le Bonnheur in our back yard and the affiliation with hospitals in knoxville, chattanooga, and nashville offers ample opportunity to get involved and network.

 

[700825]

Generally, this years class was very competitive. We had people match in every field of medicine and it seemed that as a class their match was subspecialty/surgery heavy. I can't name specifics just because I don't want to release info that isn't public from UT yet, but they post their match list every year on the COM website..you're welcome to look here for previous years'.

As far as class rank goes, preclinical years are only a small portion of your overall rank...I'd say somewhere in the realm of 30-40% of total hours. 3rd year you are graded (just like everywhere else) and those hours are 14 per every rotation so its a heavier weight. 4th year depending on your schedule you can make up ground as well, just all depends on what your goals are. Class rank, while mildly important if your're going into a hypercompetitive field, is only a small portion of what makes a prospect competitive for residency. Step 1 is huge, and letters plus networking with aways are arguably much more important components of your overall application.

Research is also important for a good match, there's no shortage of opportunities within the UT system. We have St Jude and Le Bonnheur in our back yard and the affiliation with hospitals in knoxville, chattanooga, and nashville offers ample opportunity to get involved and network.

Thank you! I looked at the website for last years match and it showed specialties and showed locations, but not the two together. I was impressed w/ number of matches to competitive specialties, but was curious as to what percentage of the IM matches were academic. And that is good to hear about preclinical/ranking and research. Just curious is it difficult to get in at St. Jude for research? Thank you again for all the good info!!!