USUHS - any good?

[geldrop]

I am just wondering what your opinions are on it. I know they have some really interesting courses that are related to various infectious diseases you won't see elsewhere unless your in the military in some foriegn land.

Is USUHS considered a competative school compared to most of the other ones? Seems just floating around on this board that many people use it as their safty saying they'd rather go elsewhere.

Whats its advantage over going to some other school like UMD and getting the health profession scholarship?

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[abw]

Hey!

USUHS is a great place, but it's not for everyone - and it doesn't really hurt add it to your list of schools (no applications costs except for amcas). In addition to having extra infectious disease courses, it also has a special emergency medicine program. Anybody in the U.S. who wants to study this type of emergency medicine can only do so at USUHS (although they do not have to be a USUHS student).

Differences between USUHS and HPSP are the following (please correct me if I'm wrong):

HPSP - payback is 1 for 1 years for your scholarship, meaning a four year scholarship will lead to 4 years of payback unless you have a lengthy residency, which will increase the amount of years.
USUHS - payback is 7 years.

Both cover tuition/fees, but HPSP, you get a living allowance of a little over 1000 a month. At USUHS, you're an active duty officer who gets paid a slaray of about 40,000.

At USUHS, you have to do a military residency, however, you are guaranteed a spot at a military residency. HPSP students can defer to the civilian match if they can show they will match to a program in a needed area with better training than they will receive in the military.

At USUHS, you get all your military training before you graduate. I think HPSP students still have additional training after graduation. Some of this training happens the summer after m1 where you go to a field course and do an operational experience.

At USUHS, you wear uniforms every day, HPSP students don't.

I've heard both ways about the competition of getting in. THey do take a higher number of applicants than other schools. They also have a gpa mcat formula to screen secondaries. Any rejects from this formula get reviewed by a person to see if there are any unique or interesting qualities. The school pretty much defines rolling admissions in that it is really advantages to complete every step of the process as early as possible.

That's all I can think of - I'm sure other people could offer better insight though.

 

[Jet915]

Just some thoughts on USUHS since I might be going there. It is not the most competitive nor the least. I think last year, their stats were like 3.55 and like a 29 mcat which is not the lowest or highest. As for safety school, ive been to 8 schools and I would pick USUHS over 4 of them. I also have an interview at Davis and I would go to Davis over USUHS just because of my roots in cali and it's dirt cheap tuition. I also declined an interview at Finch because I knew I would rather go to USUHS over Finch. So for me, USUHS I guess was kind of a safety, but after visiting other schools, I liked USUHS over several of them, not all of them though.

Jetson

 

[Jet915]

Also, I forgot, maybe ABW or someone who interviewed there remembers but what I remember is that one of the directors told us that either 80% or 80 out of a class of 150 got acceptances elsewhere and decided to go to USUHS. Also, i think abw is right about the HPSP vs. USUHS. I applied to both so I am set for the Air Force either way....unless I get into Davis.

Jetson

 

[Caffeinated]

Although med schools turn out physicians of all varieties, there is no doubt that certain schools have their niche (primary care, surgery, research, etc). USUHS has a niche that is reflected in the school's motto: "Learning to care for those in harm's way." This is also reflected in the uniqueness of the curriculum.

To answer the original question ("Is it any good?") my answer is "yes" based upon my interview, visits to the school, and interaction with the students. I am in a position that I have frequent interaction with USUHS students, and I have been really impressed with the feedback I get from the students regarding their satisfaction with the medical education they receive. Over the last 2 years, I have met about 20-30 USUHS students, and nearly as many USUHS grads. All of them had positive feedback, and they all encouraged me to pursue this route.

I applied to 8 schools, but I only interviewed at my top 2 (I was accepted pretty early, so I didn't bother with the rest of the secondaries). My top 2 were Ohio State and USUHS. I spent 4 years at Ohio State as an optometry student, and I interacted with med students all of the time. I held the medical program in pretty high regard, because I knew some pretty smart people from OSU med. However, I can say that USUHS students seemed to have a more positive attitude toward their education than OSU students did. Don't misunderstand, OSU turns out fine physicians, and they have a great med school. (Maybe it's just that USUHS students are happier not being in debt?) I also found that my OSU interviewers didn't seem all that interested in "me" and were going through the motions of an interview (poor eye contact, cookie cutter questions). When I asked questions about the program, they looked at me like I was speaking a different language. USUHS felt like a more sincere interview, and I got the feeling that they really understood why I want to do this and why I was there.

In the end, my decision came down to stay in the military v. get out (I am active duty Army). If I decided to stay in, I wanted to go to USUHS because I have a lot of confidence in the education (the medical education in general and the military-specific education) and the students' quality of life. If I decided to get out, I would go to OSU. For me, I didn't want to do HPSP because I was more impressed with USUHS, but I don't think I would regret going to OSU if I were not staying in the military. It all comes down to what you want to do with your medical degree and where you see yourself in the next 10-20 years (sorry for the cliche). If you think military medicine suits you, I don't think you would be sorry if you chose USUHS.

I know that my situation cannot be generalized to everyone's situation, and we all have different goals, motives, etc. Nevertheless, I hope this information helps.

 

[republicandr]

Of all the schools I have been to, USUHS has the friendliest and happiest students.

I have been to three summer programs:
University of Washington (6 weeks)
University of Cincinnati (10 weeks)
University of Virginia (6 weeks)

I applied to 20 schools and interviewed at Albany, University of Rochester, University of Pittsburgh, Drexel, USUHS, University of Washington, UMDNJ - Newark and UMDNJ - Piscattaway.

USUHS was my top choice when I applied to medical school. I have wanted to join the Army since high school and always regretted not having done so earlier. Now, I have a family and looked at my options. I knew that I would either take an HPSP scholarship or that I would go to USUHS.

Each of the schools I interviewed at asked me where else I applied and which one was my top choice, I did not hesitate to say where else I applied and that USUHS was my top choice. Many of my interviewers would tell me that they would not go to USUHS because being in the military requires great sacrifice and that I could be deployed at some point and would have to be away from my family. These comments, mixed with the comments of my relatives actually discouraged me from considering USUHS further.

I researched military medicine by visiting an Army base and I shadowed USUHS graduates. Every one of them loved it and loves military medicine.

Some people who take the HPSP scholarship end up being bitter with their choice because they feel they were tricked for some reason or another.

The bottom line, do what is right for you and your family (if you have one). I made the best decision for me and my wife and I are pleased. We are well aware of the sacrifices that are going to be made, and I know that I am almost certainly going to be deployed at some point for up to a year.

Good luck geldrop.