UIC v. Miami Miller

[mdtobe0817]

Hi all,

Looking for feedback deciding between these two schools. I am interested in surgery/surgical subspecialties, so I am keeping in mind what school will set me up the best for that as well.

UIC

Pros:

• From the Chicago area
• All of my family and friends are in Chicago, so I will have a huge support system
• Great clinical opportunities with private hospital, public hospital, and VA
• Opportunity to participate in a scholarly concentration program
• More opportunities for residency for SO, who will be starting residency before I finish med school
• Want to end up back in the Midwest for residency so UIC gives me the opportunity to network/make connections in Chicago

Cons:

• Ranked slightly lower than Miami (55 v. 50)
• Traditional 2-year pre-clinical curriculum
• Less prestigious matches in surgery/surgical subspecialties

Miami

Pros

• Ranked higher than UIC and seems to be climbing
• Incredible match list this year - getting better and better each year
• New 1 year pre-clinical curriculum, which seems to be coming at just the right time for pass/fail Step 1
• Also has awesome clinical opportunities
• New curriculum offers the possibility to spend most of 4th year doing solely research, which would help for competitive specialties

Cons

• Extremely far from my support system, which is very important to me
• Very limited opportunities for residency for SO
• Although I love the new curriculum, I will be a guinea pig for it

I appreciate any and all insight you may have. Thanks!

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[m1redsox]

Go with UIC! The ranking difference is negligible, and having your family/SO close will be a huge plus.

 

[Icebird]

What specialty are you interested in? Are you looking to match back into Chicago area?

The almost full year worth of research time with NextGen over the 4 years will be a definite advantage if wanting to match competitive specialties but UIC should still be able to provide you with opportunity if you work hard enough.

On program alone I would chose UMiami by far however support system/SO are all very important so I think for your situation UIC would be the best fit!

 

[mdtobe0817]

What specialty are you interested in? Are you looking to match back into Chicago area?

The almost full year worth of research time with NextGen over the 4 years will be a definite advantage if wanting to match competitive specialties but UIC should still be able to provide you with opportunity if you work hard enough.

On program alone I would chose UMiami by far however support system/SO are all very important so I think for your situation UIC would be the best fit!

I am most interested in orthopedic surgery, and I ideally would like to match back in Chicago. Would this make UIC more attractive?

 

[TSHJB302]

Hi all,

Looking for feedback deciding between these two schools. I am interested in surgery/surgical subspecialties, so I am keeping in mind what school will set me up the best for that as well.

UIC

Pros:

• From the Chicago area
• All of my family and friends are in Chicago, so I will have a huge support system
• Great clinical opportunities with private hospital, public hospital, and VA
• Opportunity to participate in a scholarly concentration program
• More opportunities for residency for SO, who will be starting residency before I finish med school
• Want to end up back in the Midwest for residency so UIC gives me the opportunity to network/make connections in Chicago

Cons:

• Ranked slightly lower than Miami (55 v. 50)
• Traditional 2-year pre-clinical curriculum
• Less prestigious matches in surgery/surgical subspecialties

Miami

Pros

• Ranked higher than UIC and seems to be climbing
• Incredible match list this year - getting better and better each year
• New 1 year pre-clinical curriculum, which seems to be coming at just the right time for pass/fail Step 1
• Also has awesome clinical opportunities
• New curriculum offers the possibility to spend most of 4th year doing solely research, which would help for competitive specialties

Cons

• Extremely far from my support system, which is very important to me
• Very limited opportunities for residency for SO
• Although I love the new curriculum, I will be a guinea pig for it

I appreciate any and all insight you may have. Thanks!

Don’t underestimate the benefit of having a support system close by. Also, UIC has a ton of opportunities for students interested in surgery. When you get a chance, look into SEAD. Finally, if you’re interested in matching in Chicago, UIC is definitely the better option.

 

[proudofmykids]

I believe you will see a noticeable difference in the match lists to higher ranked programs from Miami.

 

[AsprDoc]

I believe you will see a noticeable difference in the match lists to higher ranked programs from Miami.

Do you mind saying why this might be? Just curious. Would it be because OP mentioned the difference in surgery matches between the two?

 

[mdtobe0817]

Do you mind saying why this might be? Just curious. Would it be because OP mentioned the difference in surgery matches between the two?

If you look at the match lists, Miami has significantly more people going to higher-ranked institutions for residency. Even though the schools are similarly ranked, Miami's match list, especially this year, is unreal. I'm not sure whether it's because Miami is private or their new dean is making some significant changes that are making a difference, but it's definitely something I noticed.

Here are the two match lists if you want to look at them.

COM Chicago Match Results

2020 Match Day Results - Miller School of Medicine Admissions

 

[proudofmykids]

Do you mind saying why this might be? Just curious. Would it be because OP mentioned the difference in surgery matches between the two?

The post immediately above is exactly what is was thinking and referring to after I looked at the recent list from UIC.

My kid is currently applicant, and my way of looking at match lists is in the occurrence of top 25 programs as a percentage of all matches. UIC seemed to be at a 10% occurrence rate which is probably half or less of Miami’s.

 

[futuredoctor20202002]

If you look at the match lists, Miami has significantly more people going to higher-ranked institutions for residency. Even though the schools are similarly ranked, Miami's match list, especially this year, is unreal. I'm not sure whether it's because Miami is private or their new dean is making some significant changes that are making a difference, but it's definitely something I noticed.

Here are the two match lists if you want to look at them.

COM Chicago Match Results

2020 Match Day Results - Miller School of Medicine Admissions

Currently accepted to and attending Miami, so I have personally interacted with many of the deans. They are some of the most involved deans that I have met through this process (interviewed at 8 other places). Additionally, they are making some very progressive changes to one year pre-clinical and symptom-based learning. I think that your hypothesis that the investment of the deans or new leadership could certainly be why the match lists have been so good for the past couple of years.