Thoughts on Hopkins

[spanamit]

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What are people's thoughts on Hopkins? What are the pros/cons of attending?

Here are a few I could come up with:

Pro: Excellent clinical exposure
Strong basic science
Strong public health

Cons: Baltimore
Honors/High Pass/Pass
Gunner image?

I am actually really curious about the last one. Do people at Hopkins tend to be more competitive (in a negative way) than people at other goods schools like Harvard?

P.S. This is not meant to be a Hopkins vs. XXX thread. It would just be nice to see what other people see as the strengths/weaknesses of the school. Any input from current students will be really appreciated.

 

[CardiacCathRat]

i think the public health strength is only relevant if you are getting an m.p.h along with the m.d. because bloomberg is pretty separate from the medical school (in contrast to other places where there are more ties than just a combined degree program)

baltimore is a tough area and you should really think about lifestyle for four years. when you meet jhu medical school alumni, they all have stories about friends (or themselves) getting robbed at gunpoint. remember, you can have diverse patient population/cases without being in a horrible area. people from all over the world fly into sloan kettering at weill cornell (on the posh, upper east side of nyc) because it is a great medical center. location is far from the sole determinant of seeing diverse cases. as long it is a well known academic center, i;m + there will be good exposure.

grading is probably not that big of a deal. yes they are H, P, F but only the third year grades are really looked at by residency directors. And ALMOST EVERYONE has a H HP P F system for the third year (even though many places have a straight up P/F for years one and two). Remember, any school with Alpha Omega Alpha has a ranking of students at the end and, I am +, at the time of residency applications. So I don't think the Hopkins grading thing is that big of a deal.

So,,,,in sum, JHU is obviously a great name. A degree from JHU will be recognized by any physician and any medical specialty out there has been significantly influenced by Hopkins work. At the same time, you can say this for almost any school in the top 10. And, more importantly, as time goes on, the differences in the quality of medical education among all medical schools is becoming narrower. Everyone has early entry into the clinic, a component of PBL, research stipends (as a med student, ur time will be mostly spent hammering the boards and doing coursework, u will do some reseach, but mainly so that you can get a boost in residency apps,), etc, etc

 

[Doublecortin]

What are people's thoughts on Hopkins? What are the pros/cons of attending?

Here are a few I could come up with:

Pro: Excellent clinical exposure
Strong basic science
Strong public health

Cons: Baltimore
Honors/High Pass/Pass
Gunner image?

I am actually really curious about the last one. Do people at Hopkins tend to be more competitive (in a negative way) than people at other goods schools like Harvard?

P.S. This is not meant to be a Hopkins vs. XXX thread. It would just be nice to see what other people see as the strengths/weaknesses of the school. Any input from current students will be really appreciated.

I've heard from someone who did a postbach there that it is actually true

 

[DoctorDreamer]

What are people's thoughts on Hopkins? What are the pros/cons of attending?

Here are a few I could come up with:

Pro: Excellent clinical exposure
Strong basic science
Strong public health

Cons: Baltimore
Honors/High Pass/Pass
Gunner image?

I am actually really curious about the last one. Do people at Hopkins tend to be more competitive (in a negative way) than people at other goods schools like Harvard?

P.S. This is not meant to be a Hopkins vs. XXX thread. It would just be nice to see what other people see as the strengths/weaknesses of the school. Any input from current students will be really appreciated.

Just interviewed today.

PH is incredible, but won't matter unless you get an MPH.

The Baltimore con may be a big deal if location is important to you.

Most of the people I met don't fit the gunner image at all, and every med student I talked to said they are competitive with themselves, but not with other students.

Meanwhile, I want your spot, so feel free to like another school more. 🙂

 

[spanamit]

Thanks for the input guys! Any other views?

 

[ucsdhibiscus]

I really enjoyed Hopkins while I was there. The students seemed nice (not too competitive) and the city seems like a descent live for a good school.

 

[1956Goldtop]

I also want your spot.

 

[DOCTORSAIB]

I don't understand what all this talk about "competitive environment" is about. Unless you're a struggling student who constantly needs someone to hold their hand through every exam this whole competition thing is honestly a bit over-rated IMO.

Almost everyone busts their a$$ in med school (to varying degress). But you do it b/c you want to do well not b/c you want to see everyone else fail. No one wants to be at the bottom but inevitably someone will. It's just the nature of the beast. Just study hard to make sure you're not that person.

And even if you are, coming from Hopkins with a half decent Step 1 score you will be able to land ALMOST any residency. Just look at Hopkins' match list. It's freakin amazing.

G'luck man!

 

[lord_jeebus]

Yeah, the only people who obsess about "competitive environment" are premeds.

There's hard workers everywhere. I haven't heard of any places where lots of people are actively sabotaging others to get ahead.

Med students everywhere come from the same undergrad institutions. They are the same people that they were as premeds.

 

[ylliw]

when people say that you get great clinical experience/exposure at hopkins, what are they referring to? i know it is supposed to be a very well-respected hospital, etc. but specifically how does this affect the experiences of the students? or is there something unique about the way they are trained?

 

[DoctorDreamer]

when people say that you get great clinical experience/exposure at hopkins, what are they referring to? i know it is supposed to be a very well-respected hospital, etc. but specifically how does this affect the experiences of the students? or is there something unique about the way they are trained?

Hopkins students are in an environment with the leaders in virtually every specialty. Thus, when they are on rotations, these are the doctors they are working with.

Also, the clinical rotations are very hands-on at Hopkins... You actually have your own patients in most rotations, as opposed to just shadowing another doctor and occaionally being given a tiny role.

The clinicians at Hopkins go out of there way to help students get any experience they want. If there's a cool surgery you want to see, or a specialty you want some experience in, just shoot the doctor an e-mail, and they'll schedule you in.

Also, you get the combined benefits of seeing trauma medicine because of Baltimore (Level 1 Trauma Center), treating the local underserved population, but also seeing unique cases flown in from all over the world because they're the best.

These are the things I noticed at my interview/heard from other students there.

But if you're leaning away, don't let me talk you in to it! I don't need any more competition, lol.

 

[1956Goldtop]

Great opportunities to work with underserved populations and the variety of experiences you will get The reputations of JHU Hospital makes it a premier medical center where people from all over the world will travel to in order to seek treatment.

 

[Epibackpacker]

As a current school of public health student and hopefully a school of medicine student I thought I could shed some light on the connection between the two institutions. As far as students go I dont think that there is much other than some faculty are giving lectures in both places such as my boss who used to teach physician and society in the medical school and also lectures over in various infectious disease epidemiology courses. Also obviously if you want to do research the school of public health has a whole set of labs and faculty all its own.
Just to touch on the advantages of the hospital, I have found the physicians there generally very friendly to me as a pre med as far as observing shadowing and really having an opportunity to learn. I feel like this extends to the med students as well. As far as Trauma is concerned a lot of it actually goes to the University of Maryland if it is adult because they are the location of the Shock Trauma center. The mix of cases at Hopkins can be good or bad and though this applies more for residency than medical school it is still too true that Hopkins probably has more than its fair share of zebras compared to other hospitals, though most large academic tertiary care centers have this phenomenon due to their expertise. The disadvantage of this expertise is a very busy faculty who travel frequently and may not have the same kind of time to be an advisor or mentor as you might find elsewhere.
Finally as a life long Baltimore resident, except for my time away in school, I can say the city can be a great or crummy place to live depending on where you live and such. Be very careful and talk to lots of people before choosing your housing location. I live out in the burbs which is not a problem since my route to Hopkins even in heavy traffic takes no more than forty minutes, but there are nice areas that are far closer depending on what you want to pay in rent.
Cheers and good luck everyone.

 

[spanamit]

Thanks for the constructive comments everyone! For those waiting to still hear from them, good !

 

[iluvpuppies]

I wouldnt worry about the postbac thing. from my understanding, thats actually a totally different campus (the undergrad campus across town) then the medical school. everyone i met when i was there was super nice and friendly. i also talked to a dr i met who went there who said that everyone is super accomplished and motivated but that u can make great friends. i think it makes sense that ud get students like that there and i figure its the same for a number of great med schools