University of Hawaii versus Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University

[StephenCurry1]

Hawaii

Pros

• higher research funding; however, "Not a tremendously academic institution --> Varies between specialty, but in general less research opportunities than big academic institutions (although there's an NCI designated cancer center right next door now)"
• student to faculty ratio: 0.7:1
• Match list: http://jabsom.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Class-of-2016-Match-Results..pdf
• Ranking is higher
• " For nine of the past 10 years, our students have scored above the national average in the US Medical Licensing Exam, Step 1."
  
• weather, a lot of matches in California (positive for me)
• P/F
• "Enormous amount of time to study for Step 1 --> In addition to a strong curriculum I think this is part of why we've surpassed the national mean for several years (8 years I think?)"

Cons

• 92k a year COA
• heavily PBL, minimal lecturing (not sure if this is a con) However, "PBL lends itself to lots of independence and free time ("self-directed learning time")"
• small class size (I kind of like large classes)
• primary care focused
• "Uses community hospitals such as Tripler, Queens, Kuakini for their teaching hospitals, which can be good and bad"

CMS
Pros

• 74k a year (cheaper) COA
• comparable match list? https://s3.amazonaws.com/rfums-bigtree/files/resources/cms-match-list-2016.pdf
• Clinical rotations are regarded well and I've heard Cook County is amazing.
  
• Mostly lectures
• Chicago is great
• P/F

Cons

• bad weather
• low research funding (students have mentioned it is somewhat difficult to find research, clinical research)
• It does not have it's own hospital

Summary: I really do not know which school I should choose. I want to aim for something competitive as I highly value lifestyle. I'm not sure whether UH is worth it for the extra 20k per year.

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[Goldentide]

Hey I'm pretty much in the same boat except I'm IS for Hawaii.

I think the nice thing about Hawaii is that with the small class there is a good sense of community and JABSOM has pods with M1s, 2, 3, and 4 along with a couple of advisors. It seems that Hawaii does have some pretty good matches (this is the 2017 one) too: #Match2017: Hawaii medical students will begin practicing in Residency programs from Honolulu to Boston | John A. Burns School of Medicine

But I do share your concerns about the PBL curriculum and the inconvenience of rotations.

 

[StephenCurry1]

Sorry, but what do you mean by pods with M1s, 2, 3, and 4? Also, would you find the two match lists comparable?

I would like to do residency in California so do you think I have ample opportunity at either school?

Thanks for your reply!

 

[pandasaregreat]

where are you from? would going to Hawaii be a big difference for you lifestyle wise?

 

[StephenCurry1]

where are you from? would going to Hawaii be a big difference for you lifestyle wise?

California, so I would not think so.

 

[Goldentide]

By pods, I mean like groups or like families (you know how like fraternities or big clubs can be divided into like smaller sub-groups?)

It seems like JABSOM matches pretty well with Cali (17/55 M4s matched there this past Match Day) historically. But CMC has a great match list too (nation-wide) and my gosh, they have so many ppl who matched into EM.

I think you're G with either school man. Maybe get some input from one of the sdn OGs too?

 

[order66.exe]

I personally would choose CMC because flying into the mainland to visit family, do away rotations and do interviews would be a nightmare. If you felt that research opportunities at CMS are limited, you can always cross pollinate to UChicago, Rush or UIC to look for mentors.

 

[deleted709753]

Disclaimer: I'm a current jabsom student who is completely happy to be here. Please message me if you want to ask any questions, or want me to elaborate on my experience. I'm an in-state student though; you can also contact admissions and I'm sure they would put you in touch with someone who's from out of state to get their perspective.

I'll just post some quick and dirty objective data for you to consider.

Here's an older article (2012) regarding jabsom usmle scores. They are very transparent, which is awesome. As you noted, the trend in scoring above the national average has continued for the years following this article. UH JABSOM students outscore national peers in Step 1 licensing exam for 7th straight year | John A. Burns School of Medicine

Here are results I could dig up in a quick search for RFU. Scroll to the bottom. Student Achievement Data

It's not a fair comparison, but if you can find better data to compare then it's something to consider. The best part about jabsom, is that it only gets better after you get accepted. Once you arrive for orientation, you realize how much they care about you and make you feel special. Yeah it sounds corny, but it's true. You really feel a part of the ohana (family), and it gets better as you progress. The best is yet to come if you decide to attend jabsom. I can imagine at a bigger school, you would be more inclined to feel like you are merely just a number at a MD-producing factory.

If you're looking for more objective data, I urge you to dig deeper into how RFU performs on step 1. I am slightly familiar with their possible "issues" regarding step 1, because I was considering attending RFU BMS (their SMP program, which a large portion of the first year class is selected). I heard through the grapevine that they weren't scoring as high as they wanted on step 1, so they were accepting less and less BMS students into the MD program. I'm not making this up, nor do I know the whole story behind this. But if you're curious, I urge you to look more into RFU's step 1 performance.

I don't intend to bash RFU. There are some important things to consider, especially tuition. Good luck!

 

[StephenCurry1]

Disclaimer: I'm a current jabsom student who is completely happy to be here. Please message me if you want to ask any questions, or want me to elaborate on my experience. I'm an in-state student though; you can also contact admissions and I'm sure they would put you in touch with someone who's from out of state to get their perspective.

I'll just post some quick and dirty objective data for you to consider.

Here's an older article (2012) regarding jabsom usmle scores. They are very transparent, which is awesome. As you noted, the trend in scoring above the national average has continued for the years following this article. UH JABSOM students outscore national peers in Step 1 licensing exam for 7th straight year | John A. Burns School of Medicine

Here are results I could dig up in a quick search for RFU. Scroll to the bottom. Student Achievement Data

It's not a fair comparison, but if you can find better data to compare then it's something to consider. The best part about jabsom, is that it only gets better after you get accepted. Once you arrive for orientation, you realize how much they care about you and make you feel special. Yeah it sounds corny, but it's true. You really feel a part of the ohana (family), and it gets better as you progress. The best is yet to come if you decide to attend jabsom. I can imagine at a bigger school, you would be more inclined to feel like you are merely just a number at a MD-producing factory.

If you're looking for more objective data, I urge you to dig deeper into how RFU performs on step 1. I am slightly familiar with their possible "issues" regarding step 1, because I was considering attending RFU BMS (their SMP program, which a large portion of the first year class is selected). I heard through the grapevine that they weren't scoring as high as they wanted on step 1, so they were accepting less and less BMS students into the MD program. I'm not making this up, nor do I know the whole story behind this. But if you're curious, I urge you to look more into RFU's step 1 performance.

I don't intend to bash RFU. There are some important things to consider, especially tuition. Good luck!

Question: Why did the 2017 class only have 55 people match when JABSOM usually has a class of 64?

 

[doctorbobbybobby]

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[deleted709753]

Good question. I'm just as curious as you. Unfortunately, I'm not privy to that information, as I'm only a first year student, but if you're able get in contact with a 4th year student, they probably can give you more insight.

I can only speculate as to the reason why the low number of matches. A few reasons that I can think of why people didn't match are: people failing and being held back or dismissed, people taking time off to do research to make themselves more competitive or pursue an additional degree, and people leaving med school for personal reasons.

Historically, jabsom and pretty much all other US med schools have a high percentage of people matching, of those actually entering the match. I would guess that at most, if any, 1-3 people in the class submitted rank lists and flat out didn't match. Maybe they tried for a really competitive speciality and didn't match. I really don't know though.


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[doctorbobbybobby]

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[sazerac]

Hawaii

Pros

• "Enormous amount of time to study for Step 1 --> In addition to a strong curriculum I think this is part of why we've surpassed the national mean for several years (8 years I think?)"

8 years is a really long time to study for Step 1. I've heard of "island time," but that is bordering on the ridiculous.

 

[neekzg]

8 years is a really long time to study for Step 1. I've heard of "island time," but that is bordering on the ridiculous.

lols I think they mean that they've passed the national mean for the past 8 years

also I love Hawaii as much as the next guy but 92k COA.... no no no. no thanks.