Tufts or Jefferson?

[aardvark14]

Which would you choose and why?

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[gsmithers68]

Which would you choose and why?

Tufts. Period. Better school in a better part of an equivocal size urban town.

 

[old_boy]

Jeff is much cheaper in a cheaper city. But I'd choose Tufts since Boston is sweet! You'll have great opportunities at both, but Jeff has 255 students per class, which seems a little big for my tastes. Marginally better research opps at Tufts too. Jeff is very clinically focused.

 

[BrownianMotion]

i dont know tufts is ridiculously expensive as is living in the city of boston as is its brutally cold...

 

[aardvark14]

Come on people work with me here......

 

[kronickm]

I actually work at Jeff and I must say that they do provide a good environment for their med students as far as the hospital is concerned. I would rate the hospital above both Drexel/hahnemann (not enough research/notable docs/procedures done and what not) and Upenn (feels like students get lost in the fray of keeping up ivy league appearances, not to mention stuck up docs). Jefferson is sort of a happy medium between the two, nice encouraging environment, and yet a very busy advanced hospital.

Keep in mind this is just my advice about the med students/residents/attendings in the hospitals, not the med schools.

 

[smq123]

Come on people work with me here......

What do you want to know? What do you want to get from a school? Ask more concrete questions about what you're looking for (ex: "I really love the idea of PBL, which school has more?") and you'll get better answers.

 

[-Goose-]

Which would you choose and why?

Tufts.

Unless you want ortho. Jeff has a bad@ss ortho dept (this is where i want to do residency).

 

[smq123]

Come on people work with me here......

Okay, okay - By reading the allopathic class forums, I found the Tufts Class of 2011 thread. And since I'm totally proscrastinating now (sorry, retinoblastoma pictures are too much to think about right now!), I'll tell you some differences b/w Jeff and Tufts. [DISCLAIMER: This is based only on what I've read from the Tufts 2011 thread. I never applied to Tufts, and never even thought about going there.]

Plus, in the interest of full disclosure, I attend Jeff, so I'm biased, probably.

* Tufts records lecture audio. Jefferson records audio, and then synchs it up to a streaming video that plays the powerpoint presentation off of the computer as well. If the professor uses a mouse or the computerized pointer, the recording will pick this up as well. The system works well, except if professors run the lecture presentation off their own laptop (although they generally will provide a copy of the presentation for the students to download themselves), or if the professor plays a video in the lecture. For some reason, the streaming video recorder does not pick up videos well.

* Tufts does not have a noteservice/scribe service. Jefferson does. It's free, completely online, and scribed by students. It's an excellent system that's run by student council.

* Tufts students, recently, scored slightly below the national average for Step 1. Jefferson students were above the national average. The students on the Tufts thread said that the administration doesn't really "hold their hands" when it comes to taking Step 1. Jefferson, I feel, does. They stage a mock Stage 1 in the spring. They have a Step 1 orientation session in the fall, and your student deans are always on your back about Step 1 prep. (When I say "on your back," I really mean it lovingly. The student deans here are wonderful. If you don't do well on Step 1, it isn't because the administration neglected you. They will remind you about prepping for Step 1 all the time, since they know how important it is.) They are also doing similar stuff when it comes to Step 2 CS, thanks to our fantastic clinical skills center and faculty.

* It looks like Tufts tries to schedule the exams so that you have a free afternoon the day before a test. At Jefferson, you are guaranteed a whole free day before the test. If it is a cumulative final exam, you will have 2 free days. Usually, the last day of classes before a test is usually just "review/ Q&A sessions," so I skip those. That gives me 2 days before the test. The tests (with the exception of 1st year neuro, which is a different ballgame) are always on a Friday, or at least the day before a major holiday break.

* Tufts students said on their thread that some tests may be clustered together. This is not the case at Jefferson, because we are on block scheduling. You have 1 exam on 1 day, and that's it for 3-4 weeks. No other major tests. You might have an assignment (ex: a short essay) that's due a week and a half after a test, but that's it.

* Not much student housing at Tufts, apparently. (I think there's a dorm?) Plenty of student housing options at Jeff. (If you're into that sort of thing.)

* It seems like the MD/MBA is popular at Tufts. We don't offer that kind of dual degree at Jeff. We offer an MD/MPH, but you have to go to Hopkins to finish the MPH, I think.

* It seems like PBL is more popular, and run better at Tufts than it is at Jeff. We don't have a lot of PBL here (2-3 sessions in the first year only), and our small group facilitators are not accustomed to PBL themselves. I get the feeling that many of them, although they're adept clinicians, don't really know how to run a great PBL session. It's not a big deal to me, because I hated the idea of PBL anyway, but some people like PBL, so....

Hope this is useful. Maybe a Tufts student will come over and add their thoughts.

 

[aardvark14]

Wow thanks for the thorough response, smq! What do you think about the Jeff class size? It seems odd that it is SO much bigger than just about every other school.

 

[BrownianMotion]

tufts students scored below the national average on step 1? really? wow, that blows! i woulda never thought that

 

[smq123]

Wow thanks for the thorough response, smq! What do you think about the Jeff class size? It seems odd that it is SO much bigger than just about every other school.

I've always been confused about people's concerns over Jefferson's class size. Yes, it's big, but Drexel's class size is about the same, and no one ever complains about them.

I don't have a problem with the big class size at all. I think it's better actually - with a larger group of people, you're more likely to find your niche faster. Plus, you don't get on each other's nerves quite as fast. It really lets you decide - you can be as outgoing and as social as you want, or you can find your own small tight circle of friends if you prefer that.

Even though it is a big class, we have class discussion boards and email lists, which everyone uses a lot. I have to say - the students at Jeff place a high value on cooperation, and the administration encourages this. Some of my classmates, though, go above and beyond what you'd expect them to do. Comprehensive review sheets, pathology review slides - some of these people really deserve to get paid for what they pass around to their classmates.

As a first year, you'll do a lot of work in small groups - anatomy lab, your Doctor-Patient relationship type class, and clinical skills sessions. You'll get to know these people quite well. Plus, since practically everyone is involved in a bunch of extracurriculars, it's easy to get to know a lot of people. I've never felt like another number, or another face in the crowd. Many of the teachers have been at Jefferson for a long time. (Some are alumni.) As a result, they're very good at handling large groups of students without making you feel like cattle.

 

[smq123]

tufts students scored below the national average on step 1? really? wow, that blows! i woulda never thought that

I think it was a minor difference - like a couple of points below the national average.

 

[stimmed]

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[smq123]

To the poster above - you certainly did plenty of research; how benevolent of you! Honestly, one should be more aware of faulty, damaging information they choose to disseminate about a particular institution in order to promote their own.

Hey!! I said, as a warning, that I was gleaning this information from the other Tufts students who have posted on this site. I tried to make the disclaimer as clearly as I could. As accurate as I tried to be, I'm not going to look all over Tufts' website or Google to try and find this information (which probably wouldn't be available to me, as a non-Tufts student, anyway). Don't take your irritation out on me - you should find the threads where this is posted and make the correction yourself.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=335789&page=2 (Post #93). I will note that this was posted by a Tufts student. Again, don't take it out on me.

Sorry if the inaccuracy bothered you that much. But to try and assume what my motives were is unfair, and does not provide a good representation of the kind of people who are at your school.

 

[deleted103644]

Isn't it funny how every school has above average USMLEs?

 

[BrownianMotion]

Isn't it funny how every school has above average USMLEs?

well i thought it was funny that ever school ive managed to interview at (and most of them were mid-tier) manage to brag about their board scores that i jus assumed these carribean schools were the only ones below the natl average but i guess there are a few skools out there now, lol...

 

[deleted103644]

Yeah, except caribbean schools are not national, hence should not be factored into the national average. Btw, how do people think Buffalo compares to these schools (not to hijack or anything...)?

 

[BrownianMotion]

Yeah, except caribbean schools are not national, hence should not be factored into the national average. Btw, how do people think Buffalo compares to these schools (not to hijack or anything...)?

then howz every skool above the natl average then????

 

[dantt]

Schools that are above the national average sometimes say they above the national average.

Schools that aren't will lie about it or say something along the lines of, "we match well" because of our clinical reputation or whatever.

 

[smq123]

The slides are provided on TUSK (Tufts' online service for its medical students). All syllabi (course curriculums) are also provided online as well as printed out as books for every course; they are free.

I should probably point out here that Jefferson does the same thing. I used to think it was stupid to point this out, because I assumed that all schools did this, but I found out a few weeks ago that apparently some schools don't provide you with printed lecture handouts.

Patient contact begins 1st semester of 1st year. By 2nd semester of 2nd year, you are examining patients at a clinical site once a week, writing up reports, creating problem lists, and submitting order sheets (with the assistance of a supervising physician of course) in preparation for 3rd year.

This is similar to, but slightly more intense than, what we do at Jefferson. Patient contact begins 1st semester of 1st year. 2nd year, you'll be seeing patients in an inpatient unit, usually once every 3 weeks or so, and writing up reports and presenting to your attending. You don't submit order sheets. You'll have clinical skills sessions, every other week, with standardized patients, to practice histories and physicals. JeffHOPE, which everyone does during 1st year, lets you go out to homeless shelters and practice writing orders etc.

 

[smq123]

The slides are provided on TUSK (Tufts' online service for its medical students). All syllabi (course curriculums) are also provided online as well as printed out as books for every course; they are free.

I should probably point out here that Jefferson does the same thing. I used to think it was stupid to point this out, because I assumed that all schools did this, but I found out a few weeks ago that apparently some schools don't provide you with printed lecture handouts.

Patient contact begins 1st semester of 1st year. By 2nd semester of 2nd year, you are examining patients at a clinical site once a week, writing up reports, creating problem lists, and submitting order sheets (with the assistance of a supervising physician of course) in preparation for 3rd year.

This is similar to, but slightly more intense than, what we do at Jefferson. Patient contact begins 1st semester of 1st year. 2nd year, you'll be seeing patients in an inpatient unit, usually once every 3 weeks or so, and writing up reports and presenting to your attending. You don't submit order sheets. You'll have clinical skills sessions, every other week, with standardized patients, to practice histories and physicals. JeffHOPE, which everyone does during 1st year, lets you go out to homeless shelters and practice writing orders etc.

 

[stimmed]

.

 

[Orthodoc40]

then howz every skool above the natl average then????

This has been my question for a while now.
All I can come up with is that you can't believe any of them because it's impossible for every school to be above the national average.

 

[bbabul01]

To give my 2 cents to the topic at hand. I think Tufts and Jeff are both fantastic schools and it has everything to do with where you want to be.

Both Tufts and Jeff have great programs, and your education will be comparable at each. You might end up with better money from Jeff, but that's a personal issue depending on your finances. If I hadn't been a Tufts undergrad, I would've have a tough time deciding between these two schools as well. But in the end, I can't go back to another 4 years of Tufts, just because I need a change of pace.

It's really about where you want to be. Chinatown Boston is becoming a really cool place, and you're near the theater district and the common. All and all it's a great are to live. And you have your choice of anywhere in the greater Boston area to live. Boston is an amazing city, speaking from personal experience.

But Philly is also really great too. And you'd live on-campus in Center City, which makes your commute less (and your bills cheaper). Philly is pretty much a bigger version of Boston, and also a really great city.

If all things are equal with money, choose where you want to be for 4 years. I disagree with the above posts saying just go to Tufts.

 

[smq123]

To the poster above - you certainly did plenty of research; how benevolent of you! Honestly, one should be more aware of faulty, damaging information they choose to disseminate about a particular institution in order to promote their own.

Look, our objectives here are not diametrically opposed. You want to accurately and fairly portray both institutions and demonstrate that Jefferson is a great school, which by your descriptions I absolutely agree with.

I don't want people to incorrectly believe that there is any information available about board scores at Tufts, let alone information that reflects poorly on the school. The deans purposefully do not disclose this information. That's a respectable objective, right? I think we can both come away with those goals met. I'm sorry if I seemed to blame you.

Oh, sure - I totally respect your attempt to set the record straight, and I appreciate anyone who can improve the accuracy of the info on SDN. I just really resented the implication that I was purposely and maliciously disseminating negative information about Tufts that I knew to be false, just to try and "promote" Jefferson. Sure, I want to see people attend Jeff, but I'm not fanatic about it.

I had no idea that your deans don't disclose the average Step 1 score (our school sends out an email announcing this information), so I had no reason to believe that one of your fellow Tufts students would be incorrect. If you truly want to set the complete record straight, I'd really suggest going over to the Tufts 2011 thread and posting a correction, since people really do read those threads!

 

[SAS1284]

Hi I have been accepted at both Tufts and Jeff and was a little worried about which school I should chose. I have gotten no money from Tufts, and have been offered 10K in financial aid from Jeff. Having talked to people I get the impression that Tufts has a better program than Jeff. Any ideas on whether it is worth the extra money to go to Tufts over Jefferson ie is the difference between the schools significant?

 

[Doctor Doogie]

Both schools are good, tufts maybe better. It depends on where you want top live Boston or Philly. Having said that you have a scholarship from Jeff. So no doubt GO TO JEFFERSON.

 

[ChubbyChaser]

Jefferson because the Red Sox and Celtics suck