UMD vs. Emory

[Nadia83]

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I know this is ridiculously close to May 15 decision making deadline but I'm freaking out here, so here goes....

About me: Non-trad (29), did Neuroscience undergrad, then worked at a homeless shelter, then got an MPH, and is now at CDC hating life in an office and realizing that I want either clinical possibilities and/or some decision-making opportunities that come with an MD in public health. Main interests: health disparities ('underserved' populations), mental health / substance abuse, activism (as in: "poverty causes disease, let's do something about it!"). Considering residencies in: family medicine, psych, internal medicine (though... I don't foresee my career being hospital-based), some kind of IM/psych of FM/psych combo, or maybe just Preventive Medicine if I decide not to pursue clinical options.

In med school, was looking for an integrated curriculum, P/F (not competitive), less lecture, opportunities to stay connected to public health (or at least not be on the only one who cared about it.) I applied late and MCAT scores were expiring so I didn't have as many choices as I'd like to have...

Deciding between UMD and Emory. Don't LOVE Atlanta (hated it for a LONG time) and dislike being a plane ride away from family - but I am getting used to it and have good friends who will be there at least for another year or two. UMD would be closer to friends and family in northeast - and to close friends in DC - though I am not in-state. Same cost / financial situation for each.

Here are thoughts. Please offer yours.

Curriculum: Emory is a bit more integrated (good thing) and is condensed to 1.5 years (I think that's a good thing for me) - provides opportunity for research project in 3rd year which could be public health related. However, Emory has 2x as much lecture (4 hrs vs. 2 hrs/day) while UMD makes more of an effort to mix it up with case studies, etc. I'm worried I'll go nuts in the half-day lectures at Emory - my undergrad and grad school were much more oriented towards small group learning.

Curriculum/quality of life: Emory is P/F (yay!) - exams are on Fridays, are cumulative, whole-day affairs (stressful, but then you're done for a few days?). But students all say their quality of life is good. UMD is graded (boo!) but has exams every 3 weeks or so on Mondays, so... you are never "off" [in terms of ability to see family on weekend] but there is a steady rhythm to your study schedule, and students say competitiveness is not a problem.

Quality of school / success on Step 1 / matching - Seems to close to make a call? Both claim success, both seem to have successful matches, if I want to go into a non-competitive residency or a weird one (FM/psych) I'd imagine other factors matter more than school choice.

Clinical training - Grady is a huge county hospital, trauma hospital - said to be great clinical training and - this is the type of medicine I want to do. But, UMD is very similar in terms of patient population, is said to have great reputation for clinical training, it's just that the hospital doesn't FEEL run down like Grady does. I get the impression that UMD - with required rural rotations, a family medicine track, public school - is much more friendly to primary care than Emory.

Public Health - Emory has a lot more connections, CDC, profs who teach at the public health school, etc. UMD has a tiny public health program and there are students who do the joint degree - but not as many. At the same time, how much time will I have for this anyway? A lot of what I care about is the ethos - to what extent do students know/care about public health, the importance of evidence-based practice, the social aspects of medicine? It's hard to tell which is better for this.

Good place for non-trads - ?????


Any thoughts out there? Thanks 🙂

 

[aspiringdoc09]

Congrats on both your acceptances. It sounds like to me you have already decided. You seem to lean more towards Emory minus the ATL and family thing. If you will be testing every Monday at UMD how do you plan to make time for family members. According to you, at least if Emory gives tests on Fridays, You can leave over the weekend if you choose. Think about it: you like that Emory is P/F, it is great for your PH interest, and has condensed preclinical year. I think 4 hrs per day is better than 6-8 for some schools w/ mandatory attendance. UMD really has 2 hr lectures per day?? I find that odd. Overall, hands down you are leaning more towards Emory but you need to figure out what will truly make you happy especially if cost is a nonfactor. Good luck!

 

[afob100]

Something to consider is that you can pretty easily establish Maryland residency and begin paying instate tuition after first year. This would make UMD ~$10-15k a year cheaper.

Still, that's a tough call. I think Emory's connections to the CDC (on the same campus, etc), P/F low stress environment, + higher ranking should probably tilt in favor of Emory.

If the money thing doesn't matter to you, I would go to Emory. If you want to save ~$30-50k + interest, then I would probably go to UMD. In either case, you will be an MD when it's all said and done. So you really can't go wrong with either school.

 

[Nadia83]

UMD has 2 hours of lecture and 2 hours of small group of some kind (usually ~20 students-ish) whereas Emory tends to average closer to 4 hours of lecture per day. Does less group work (4 hours/week?) - but when there are small groups, they are much smaller (7-8 people).

I asked about the UMD residency but they seemed to say, "It would be very difficult to establish residency." (??) hard to tell. Would obviously be nice to spend less on med school and I won't have residency anywhere OTHER than UMD though, since I'm an adult who's been independent for a few years and won't have ties elsewhere.

 

[Nadia83]

Other thoughts on more lecture vs. less lecture, public health or primary care ethos, etc?

 

[Mazdave]

I am actually pretty sure it is not that easy to establish residency in Maryland. You can try, but it's not the case that you can simply meet certain criteria and after a year have it changed like you can in some states. One OOS student at my interview said that they were not able to successfully have their residency changed, and another said that they were only able to because they were married and their spouse worked full-time in MD. If cost is a major issue, don't assume that you'll be able to get three years of IS tuition -- if it works out that way it's a bonus.

 

[Nadia83]

I thought I'd decided on Emory but still freaking out?! How/why? I mean part of me would like to be done by the day with lecture/lab by noon (UMD) but part of it me is like, well sitting in a library by yourself isn't always fun, you're paying a lot for medical school, a full day of lecture/lab/small group / clinical could be well worth it. Must stop freaking out?!

 

[darkhope]

choose emory