That’s super helpful! So which measures should I be looking for quality of the medical school generally..
Depends on what you value in your medical education.
All US medical schools will meet and exceed the minimum requirements needed to train competent residents and physicians. So I would recommend focusing on other things that a school would bring to your education. If you are in the fortuitous position to choose between schools, things that I would recommend placing emphasis on (in no particular order):
- P/F pre-clinical curriculum
- No mandatory lecture attendance requirements
- Location
- Low total cost of attendance (less debt = more financial freedom)
- Good clinical experiences during 3rd and 4th year (you'll need to ask current 3rd/4th years or recent graduates about this)
- Match list that fits your career goals. Are you happy with where their average student matches? What about where the bottom 10% match? Having a large 'margin of safety' when it comes to matching is a good thing
If you are dead-set on other interests, such as global health, research, healthcare administration, etc, then certainly take these into account as well but with the understanding that almost all schools will allow you to do these through gap years, etc.
Things that I think are completely overblown: pre-clinical curricular innovations. In the grand scheme of things, none of these curricular changes are unique, innovative, or even that impactful in my opinion. There are much more important things to look for in a medical school. Just my thoughts.
