Wake Forest(MD) vs Toledo (MD/PhD)

[mdplease2024]

Toledo: scholarship + stipend during PhD years = no debt

Pros:
+++ Non-mandatory lecture that is recorded
+++ Pass/Fail Preclinical that does NOT count toward AOA (they want it to be an actual P/F) system
++ Match well into specialties I'm interested in
++ 18 month preclinical systems integrated
++ Got really good vibes on interview day and at second look. I'd have strong mentors and liked the students I met
+ Lots of home programs to get LORs from, etc.
+ Cost of living is SO cheap
+ Only 6 ish weeks of required stuff MS4 so you have 32 weeks of elective time and 8 weeks of flex time (aka off)
+ In-state tuition after one year
+ Easy/publishable research available
+ Only med school in area so you aren't fighting with other med students over rotation locations

Cons:
- The location isn't really great
- 8 weeks rural AHEC rotations
- Less name recognition than Wake
- Not close to home and know no one in the area
- Parking is not free

Neutral:
+/- PhD - don't love bench research but am interested in subject matter
+/- Can decide not to do the PhD but then will have to pay tuition, etc. (but can get in-state tuition after the first year)

Wake Forest COA: 225k ish + potential for scholarship?

Pros:
+++ Does NOT rank students in Dean's letter (MSPE)
+++ Stay in Wake Forest for all clerkships
++ Recorded lectures with no mandatory attendance
++ Easy to get involved in research, has funded summer research program
++ Sketchy, uworld, pathoma included in tuition costs
++ Free parking, free printing
+ Matches well into specialties I'm considering
+ Cadaver lab is new and doesn't smell (6 people per cadaver; 8 hours per week but split so that you're only dissecting in groups of 3)
+ Strong ultrasound integration
+ Faculty and admin actually seem to care
+ Got a friendly vibe here at second look, interview day, and when speaking to current students I know
+ New facility is amazing and the study spaces are incredible - if I wanted to study anywhere, it would be here
+ The professors take practice step exams so they know what to teach and also dissect first aid and integrate it into their classes
+ Winston Salem has more going on

Cons:
- Use PCs not macbooks (given by school) and I'm used to Apple stuff
- Preclinical grades count toward AOA even though they're P/F and unranked in the MSPE
- In order to get Honors, High Pass, etc in clinical years, you have to get honors on everything (shelf exam, OSCE, faculty feedback, etc. If you get honors in all but one part (ie: high pass from faculty feedback) you get the lower grade)

Neutral:
+/- not super close to home but do have family 2 hours away ish

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[Dr. Anonymouss]

@TheDataKing

 

[deleted972488]

+/- PhD - don't love bench research

Wake Forest 100% for this reason alone... Also you'll start making an attending's salary much sooner by doing the MD only, so that offsets the cost difference.

 

[FatherTime-PhD]

Go with Wake and run with it.

 

[TheDataKing]

I'd figure out whether you want to be in the middle of nowhere Ohio & do a PhD or if you want to go to a school where you're closer to family and is more established/higher ranked.