Three Year Medical Curriculum - Thoughts?

[sinigang14]

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Hey everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone had thoughts on a 3-year curriculum. There are certain medical schools that offer this and essentially, you would graduate in 3 years and go into residency. You forgo the match system and have to go into a residency with your school's affiliated residency programs. There is no match and you are given assurance as long as you meet the standards.

Hackensack Meridian SOM at SHU offers this curriculum with an optional 4th year to fulfill a dual degree or research-intensive year to fortify your CV for the matching process if you choose to do so. I was just wondering if faculty/med students/premed students want to give their thoughts on the Pros Vs Cons.

***The biggest benefit I see of a 3-year curriculum is that you don't have to pay for the 4th year of medical school.***

 

[makemeadoctordoctordoctor]

Pretty sure Stony Brook just started offering this as well.

 

[jonak]

Yes, Stony Brook does offer this, as well as LECOM as a 3 year DO program. I think you have to do something in primary care and do some summers as well. But other than that you do save a year of med school tuition which is substantial.

 

[sinigang14]

At other programs, you don’t have to go into primary care if you don’t want to.

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Saving a year of tuition sounds nice, but IMO it would be unwise to pidgeon hope yourself at such an early stage.

Many people change their interests during med school. A major part of medical education is forcing you to see many different fields and practice models. Even if you LOVE primary care, you may find out later on that you love optho even more. And if you can’t do it because you already signed on the dotted line for a different program, that would be very sad

 

[puahate]

This seems attractive but can you pick what specialty you go into ?

 

[deleted787552]

This seems attractive but can you pick what specialty you go into ?

You can at Hackensack but not sure about elsewhere. Plus you’re gaurenteed a spot but still have the option to pursue a normal match in your 4th yr

 

[deleted787552]

Hey everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone had thoughts on a 3-year curriculum. There are certain medical schools that offer this and essentially, you would graduate in 3 years and go into residency. You forgo the match system and have to go into a residency with your school's affiliated residency programs. There is no match and you are given assurance as long as you meet the standards.

Hackensack Meridian SOM at SHU offers this curriculum with an optional 4th year to fulfill a dual degree or research-intensive year to fortify your CV for the matching process if you choose to do so. I was just wondering if faculty/med students/premed students want to give their thoughts on the Pros Vs Cons.

***The biggest benefit I see of a 3-year curriculum is that you don't have to pay for the 4th year of medical school.***

I’m a fan of it. Not sure how it works at other schools so I’ll just stick to Hackensack.

Pros:
-guaranteed Match into a residency while not being pigeonholed into a certain specialty
-save yr on tuition
- still have option of doing normal match
- can pursue research year, get a masters, travel etc instead
- can still do away rotations since they’re built into the curriculum
- take step after clinicals


Cons:
- you’re gonna be stuck in the same place for a decade
- they don’t have all the residency options yet (no neurosurg and optho yet but they said they’re working on it)
- you can still be rejected from your main specialty of interest (you’ll still get in somewhere though since they make you rank your top 3)
- it’s gonna be a fast paced curriculum so time for ECs like research May be limited

 

[BubbaGump15]

MUSC started doing this as well (Charleston isn't a bad place to spend that much time in). Not sure of the details

 

[sinigang14]

I believe another benefit is taking away the anxiety filled match process. I understand a lot of students do elective rotations in the 4th year, but you also spend a lot of time doing interviews.

 

[nobaddays]

Cons:
- you’re gonna be stuck in the same place for a decade

Can you explain/elaborate on this? Do they "lock you in" to work for their local medical groups or what?

 

[sinigang14]

Can you explain/elaborate on this? Do they "lock you in" to work for their local medical groups or what?

Because you can’t match, you have to take up residency within the affilitiated hospital network. You won’t be stuck in a single building/hospital/clinic your entire medical education and residency. It’s more like you’ll be in the same geographical area for your medical education. This is because hospitals within the same network usually are all located in the same area. For example, Hackensack meridian hospital systems have about 16 affilitiated hospitals located all across the New Jersey area and eastern seaboard.

 

[deleted787552]

Can you explain/elaborate on this? Do they "lock you in" to work for their local medical groups or what?

Lock you in as in you're gonna be in the same area for med school and residency aka about a decade. Since they're 3 years, you have to match into one of their residencies in their network