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Hi everyone! I would appreciate some help, as this has been agonizing for me. Before everyone's knee-jerk response is UWSOM because of its relative ranking, I want to share my thought process as well as explain some of the unique aspects at UW compared to other medical schools.
At UW, I will be part of the Idaho cohort. For the first 18 months, I will live in Moscow, Idaho (middle of nowhere, lol) for the first 18 months. There will be 40 students at the Idaho campus, education will be essentially the same across all the WWAMI sites (the 5 state area that UW covers). This is a pretty standard preclinical curriculum compared to other medical schools.
Clerkships are where things get interesting with the WWAMI program. There are several options for rotations, but for the purposes of this post, I will narrow it down to the TRACK rotations. TRACK is where you have a home base outside out of Seattle where you do the majority of your rotations (50-70%) at that Track site. The two Track programs I am most interested in are 1) Spokane and 2) Idaho. The Idaho track is based in Boise, but technically any rotations in the state will qualify for your guaranteed Track rotations. The remaining clerkships will be in Seattle or any other site in the WWAMI region. I would most likely try to do the rotations most relevant to my specialty of choice in Seattle to get LOR's and stuff. The hands-on experience at these WWAMI clerkship sites is amazing; you are often the only med student in the entire hospital, so there is a ton you can see and do.
Now, here is what I am struggling with at UW. I will summarize this below, but here are the basics. I am married with kids, and I like to plan. Even when on a Track, the lifestyle at UW is somewhat transient. The school pays for housing at locations outside your Track site, but this is usually only for the student and not families (Seattle is the exception). In the best-case scenario, I can stay with my family most of the time. Worst case, I am away for several months out of the year, unless we pay for an Air BnB (yikes). Also, due to the logistical problems with coordinating rotations across 300 hospitals, students don't get a lot of say in where, when, or in what order they have their clerkships. That part, I really don't like. The planner in me wants to know where I will be living two years from now. That being said, all of this unaccommodating stuff is worth it because the clinical experience is so amazing here.
Case Western was my dream school for the longest time. It's what I thought about to motivate me in undergrad when the premed life was stressful or tough. I have loved everything about the school (except maybe the zoom email invites, lol) and their education philosophy aligns perfectly with mine and the education research I did in undergrad. Anyway, all my other info about Case will be in my Pros and Cons list below.
Relevant info: My current specialty of choice is dermatology, maybe with a procedural fellowship. This is SUPER flexible to change once I get more experience in med school. I also have an interest in academic medicine (more of a clinical/education focus), but I'm the first to admit that I don't have much exposure to this yet. Lastly, cost will be a huge and likely deciding factor for me, and I will detail this below.
University of Washington
Pros
Cons
Case Western
Pros
Cons
Summary: I know both of these schools have the tools and resources to get me where I want to go, even with a specialty like derm. I might feel more hardcore if I go to Case, and the school mission and resources align much more closely to my career goals. Is this advantage enough to overcome the cost and convenience of attending UW?
Thanks for the help everyone, I will try to update this later if I think of more pros and cons.
At UW, I will be part of the Idaho cohort. For the first 18 months, I will live in Moscow, Idaho (middle of nowhere, lol) for the first 18 months. There will be 40 students at the Idaho campus, education will be essentially the same across all the WWAMI sites (the 5 state area that UW covers). This is a pretty standard preclinical curriculum compared to other medical schools.
Clerkships are where things get interesting with the WWAMI program. There are several options for rotations, but for the purposes of this post, I will narrow it down to the TRACK rotations. TRACK is where you have a home base outside out of Seattle where you do the majority of your rotations (50-70%) at that Track site. The two Track programs I am most interested in are 1) Spokane and 2) Idaho. The Idaho track is based in Boise, but technically any rotations in the state will qualify for your guaranteed Track rotations. The remaining clerkships will be in Seattle or any other site in the WWAMI region. I would most likely try to do the rotations most relevant to my specialty of choice in Seattle to get LOR's and stuff. The hands-on experience at these WWAMI clerkship sites is amazing; you are often the only med student in the entire hospital, so there is a ton you can see and do.
Now, here is what I am struggling with at UW. I will summarize this below, but here are the basics. I am married with kids, and I like to plan. Even when on a Track, the lifestyle at UW is somewhat transient. The school pays for housing at locations outside your Track site, but this is usually only for the student and not families (Seattle is the exception). In the best-case scenario, I can stay with my family most of the time. Worst case, I am away for several months out of the year, unless we pay for an Air BnB (yikes). Also, due to the logistical problems with coordinating rotations across 300 hospitals, students don't get a lot of say in where, when, or in what order they have their clerkships. That part, I really don't like. The planner in me wants to know where I will be living two years from now. That being said, all of this unaccommodating stuff is worth it because the clinical experience is so amazing here.
Case Western was my dream school for the longest time. It's what I thought about to motivate me in undergrad when the premed life was stressful or tough. I have loved everything about the school (except maybe the zoom email invites, lol) and their education philosophy aligns perfectly with mine and the education research I did in undergrad. Anyway, all my other info about Case will be in my Pros and Cons list below.
Relevant info: My current specialty of choice is dermatology, maybe with a procedural fellowship. This is SUPER flexible to change once I get more experience in med school. I also have an interest in academic medicine (more of a clinical/education focus), but I'm the first to admit that I don't have much exposure to this yet. Lastly, cost will be a huge and likely deciding factor for me, and I will detail this below.
University of Washington
Pros
- AMAZING reputation, well regarded, and many top-tier residency programs. This part about the school speaks for itself.
- Tons of clinical experience in the first two years. They also set you up with several mentors in the community, which leads to the next point...
- Great community outreach. My wife and I are both from Idaho, and we would love to end up close by long term. The school makes it very easy to network and meet practicing clinicians all over the WWAMI area. I know several people who basically had job offers during med school, lol.
- Class size of 40. Some people would hate this, but I think it would be nice to have relationships with my classmates.
- Lots of research dollars. Plenty of projects going on to join. Optional 10-week summer research project between M1-2.
- Cost. I'm assuming I will take out all loans for med school, this will be about 80K or so cheaper than Case over 4 years. There may be the possibility to have some financial aid, but I wouldn't be able to find out about this until well after matriculation.
- I get to be close to home! We will be close enough for holidays and weekend trips. During preclinical, we will even be close enough for day-trips back home if something is going on. My wife and I are both from bigger families, so we have tons of relatives in the area. This is obviously a large support system for us.
- P/F preclinical, no rankings. H/HP/P/F for years 3 and 4.
Cons
- Feeling like a nomad for clerkships. I've outlined this above.
- No matter what, I will have to move all my stuff at least once after Preclinical.
- Only chance to interact with big wigs in Seattle is through clinical rotations. They do give you enough experience to get good LORs. You can meet with specialty advisors early and get set up with specialty-specific mentors and research, but this is all on the student and requires more effort than at a regular medical school (I think.)
- The class composition is not as focused on specializing. The school has a very clear focus for primary care. Of course, they will help you specialize if you want to, but that is not the primary goal. As a result, the class composition may be less driven, as evidenced by board scores. I still don't know if this would bug me or not.
- Students do not have the same historic academic achievement as the students at Case. However, they all have meaningful life experiences. Many will be closer to my age.
- Match list is deceptively bad, but that is a reflection of the student's goals. Those who do choose competitive specialties generally match very well. So I guess this isn't a con, lol.
Case Western
Pros
- The curriculum is fantastic, and one of the most stress-free environments out there. I love PBL and TBL, which is huge at Case. Also Hololens is cool.
- Much more research-driven for students. There is a lot more required and integrated research time at Case. I would love to really dive deep into some meaningful projects for me
- I get to stay in the same area for all 4 years. COL is very cheap, and we could maybe even buy a house
- Match list is incredible. In my opinion, it is the best out of the schools that are similarly ranked.
- More exposure to decide if I want to pursue academics.
- Obviously, the hospital affiliations in Cleveland are amazing, and I know the clerkships are high-caliber
- It would be fun to have an adventure in life. I have spent most of my life in either Utah or Idaho, so it might be nice to branch out, meet new people, experience other cultures, etc. The medical school demographics would also be much less white than at UW, and I would enjoy associating with people who are different than me.
- Everyone has excelled academically, and I feel like I could learn a lot from my peers there.
- P/F and clinical grades same as UW.
- Tests for grades are very infrequent. Low stress and lots of collaboration.
Cons
- More expensive. I am still waiting on financial aid. I'm guessing this will be all loans, although I will try to negotiate financial aid. They do not have merit scholarships this year, so I don't know if I will be able to get any aid from them.
- Less family ties. I do have one sibling and his family living in Cleveland.
- Clerkships may be less hands-on and more shadowing. Probably lots of sitting behind residents, interns, or other med students, but I have yet to confirm this.
- Every trip home is at least two flights away.
- The class is ambitious, but maybe there could be too many gunners, idk.
- The average student is younger than me. I do not know how well I would fit in with a family and kids. UW is slightly older and I already know people with families who will be going there.
Summary: I know both of these schools have the tools and resources to get me where I want to go, even with a specialty like derm. I might feel more hardcore if I go to Case, and the school mission and resources align much more closely to my career goals. Is this advantage enough to overcome the cost and convenience of attending UW?
Thanks for the help everyone, I will try to update this later if I think of more pros and cons.
