From the other thread:
Do you have any cons about the program? And what do you feel are its biggest strengths? How were your rotations, and how well do you think they prepared you for boards? Do you think they placed you in a good position to get the residency of your choice? Thanks for the help.
Cons: Well, we're not very diverse for one thing. I came from the SF Bay Area, and it's pretty hard to find a place as diverse at that. But Loyola is predominately white. That took some time to get used to. With that said, I've yet to here anyone complain about not feeling like they belong, and everyone is friends with one another, regardless of race, religion, etc. My friends span the political, religious, and ethnic spectrum. But, it would still be nice to be a bit more diverse... Cost is another con, but most medical schools will have that problem, esp. private ones.
Strengths: The people. I really like my classmates and the faculty. The people you work with on a daily basis have an immense impact on your formation as a physician and as a person (and of course, on your overall happiness). I had a very easy time finding lots of friends at Loyola. I get along with pretty much everyone in my class. Sure, we have some gunners (probably fewer than most schools--we tend to have more of the volunteer-type and non-traditional students than your average school), but the gunners we do have are not that bad. I really liked the curriculum--more or less focusing on one class at a time for all of first year, and then having two or three during second year at a time. I really enjoyed the Patient Centered Medicine course. Lots of classmates find it too touchy-feely, but if you have any interest in the art of medicine then it's a great course. The mentors here are fantastic--I've been really lucky with the mentors I've been assigned. Our third year has also been changed for the better--we now have two months each of IM and surgery (as opposed to three months each) and now get a month of neuro and a month of an elective. That elective is really handy if you're considering something other than the core clerkships (in my case, PM&R). I think most schools now offer you an elective during your third year now, and if they don't, I'd highly recommend you ask them if you can push a third year clerkship into your fourth year so that you can experience your choice of specialty if you're interested in something else. If you want to go into something like optho, urology, rad onc, etc., etc., you want to try and experience it in your third year so you can make sure you actually want to go into it! I thought I was going to go into psych my first two years. At the time, I felt about 95% sure about that. But I was wrong!! And it's a really good thing I had the chance to explore other specialties during my third year. (On that note--I highly recommend shadowing specialists in your first two years. You won't have time for it in your third year, so shadow all the "weird" specialties no one talks about much while you still have the time.)
Clerkships: The teaching during clerkships is excellent. Loyola and Hines (the huge VA next door) are the two best teaching sites. We have the option of rotating at a number of community hospitals for certain rotations, though the teaching varies at them. For example, I spent a month at a community hospital for surgery, thinking I'd get more hands-on experience and get a better idea of what a general surgeon does in a community hospital (I was considering surgery briefly). Well, I was wrong about hands-on experience--I actually got far less than the others (the VA is GREAT for hands-on experience doing any kind of procedures). On the bright side, I didn't have to show up to round until 6:00am and often left by 3:00pm. So I actually had a life that month... Which is nice. On the other hand, that was my one month to learn general surgery... When I did trauma/transplant surgery the next month at Loyola it was a lot busier, but the learning was also much better. Loyola was great for IM. I did psych at the VA. Great rotation. But I also realized then it wasn't the specialty for me. OB-Gyn is run really well--I actually enjoyed it (I thought I'd hate it). Peds outpatient at Loyola was phenomenal. I did inpatient at a community hospital--that wasn't so phenomenal. Neuro was pretty cool, though not our strongest rotation. Family medicine is almost all community-based, but everyone usually loves that rotation regardless of where they end up. I thought PM&R was great as well, but that's not a required rotation...
I think the clerkships definitely prepare you for the boards (though I am still studying for Step 2). It's largely about how much effort you put in--are you studying when you get home, reading around your patients, etc. There's far less hand-holding during your clerkships than the first two years. Which is how it should be, and I think most schools will be the same in this respect. Some attendings/residents are really good at noticing knowledge deficiencies you might have. Others not so much. But I really liked working with almost all of the residents/attendings I was assigned to work with. On some rotations the attendings took us out to lunch or dinner at the end of the rotation--I thought that was pretty cool.
Residency: In my case it helps a lot that Loyola has a PM&R department, so I've been able to make contacts. I have friends going into neurosurgery (far more competitive--you generally want to make contacts by the end of first year, if not earlier). It really helps to get to know someone in the specialty you want to go into so that you can get good advice, a good letter of recommendation, maybe get involved in research, etc. Otherwise, what best prepares you for getting into a good residency is how well you performed on the boards and on your clerkships, and that has more to do with your personal motivation than the school, in my opinion. Once you start third year it's really more about independent learning. Sure, we still have lectures, but by and large once clerkships begin, you get what you put in. Most residencies will want someone they can work with, and while residency is far less competitive than getting into medical school, a number of programs will still filter out applications based on your grades/board scores. We do tend to do really well in the match. In general Loyola seems to be ranked "average" in terms of our GPA, MCAT scores, etc., but we seem to do above average when it comes to residencies, number of chief residents, etc.
As I'm sure you're aware, the MCAT really doesn't predict how good of a doctor you'll be (just your odds of doing well in medical school, academically speaking). Loyola students, on average, are average medical students. But we tend to be above average people, and I think that's what makes us so successful when it comes to residency applications, and then practicing in the real world.
I think I rambled on a bit there... Let me know if you have any other questions.
