Wayne State vs. Oakland William Beaumont vs. Central Michigan

[GVSULakers9456]

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[Sherbie]

If you're interested in rural medicine, then CMED might be a good choice. Otherwise, it'd be down to WSU and OUWB. Both are good schools with Wayne being more established, strong clinical rotations, and 17k cheaper per year or 68k overall.

 

[Oso]

I vote for Wayne:

-well established program
-DMC seems like a good place to train and you'll see just about everything
-more research/opportunities than the others
-in state tuition (compared to OUWB)

Disclaimer: I don't actually know much about any of these schools. My thoughts are based on a few students I know who go there and were choosing between those 3 schools and michigan state.

 

[GVSULakers9456]

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[FA5297]

I chose Wayne. The following is a quick assessment of these programs' strengths and weaknesses:

1). Research. For NIH grants: Wayne = $70 million, OUWB = $2 million, CMU = no data. Wayne is also building a new $90 million research facility able to house 500 researchers, which should be complete in 2015.
http://www.freep.com/article/201403...y-Multipurpose-Biomedical-Research-Building​​

2.) Clinical Experience. First year residents affiliated with the following schools' teaching hospitals: Wayne = 570, OUWB = 104, CMU = 29. I used number of residents to approximate size of departments and hospitals. In other words, a small community hospital may have a dermatologist, but is unlikely to have dermatology residents, and therefore the complexity of the cases they see will be limited. I also used it as a rough measure of the size of the hospital systems. Check out the size of the departments you are interested in below.
Source: http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/programresults2009-2013.pdf

I also thought Wayne's clinical experience would be better due to their location in Detroit. The ER doc I interviewed with at Beaumont indicated they mostly see run of the mill cases, usually the most acute cases being car accidents. Wayne sees gunshot wounds and penetrating wounds on a daily basis. Unfortunately for Detroit, the city has diseases not commonly found in the US, such as trench foot and tuberculosis. This is excellent for their medical students. Not to mention the specialized Children's Hospital, Karmanos Cancer Center, Kresge Eye Institute, and a new Cardiac Hospital. You will see stuff at Wayne you will not see at OUWB or CMU.

3.) Location. Central Michigan is very rural. You will also have to move when you do your rotations. Oakland is suburban, though many of their students move as well. Wayne is urban. Safety will never be an issue at OUWB, but you will have to be somewhat intelligent about it at Wayne. About half the students live in the 'burbs, the other half in the city. No moving required between basic sciences/ clinical years.

4.) Residency. Wayne had an excellent match list last year. The ability for OUWB and CMU to match well is as yet undetermined. Wayne is well known for producing specialists as well. Only 30% of their class went for primary care this year, so if you're dead set on that, you may want to consider this focus. Ultimately, you're spending 4 years of your life and a couple hundred grand on this experience, so you want to make sure it pays off.

5.) Price. Debt sucks, and although this should not be your first criteria, understand that 4 years of say a 10k price difference plus interest throughout residency will mean approximately a corvette. Or a nice BMW. Or a down-payment on a house. The medical field is experiencing significant upheaval, and the salaries physicians have come to expect may not be here forever. Choose wisely.

6.) Attendance. I can't stand being forced to attend a lecture, especially at 8am and with a boring lecturer. I'd rather just stream those. I also don't like being babied. Really dislike attendance policies.


Best of luck as you (and others) make your choice.

 

[Dr psychopath]

I chose Wayne. The following is a quick assessment of these programs' strengths and weaknesses:

1). Research. For NIH grants: Wayne = $70 million, OUWB = $2 million, CMU = no data. Wayne is also building a new $90 million research facility able to house 500 researchers, which should be complete in 2015.
http://www.freep.com/article/20140316/NEWS01/303160056/Wayne-State-University-Multipurpose-Biomedical-Research-Building

2.) Clinical Experience. First year residents affiliated with the following schools' teaching hospitals: Wayne = 570, OUWB = 104, CMU = 29. I used number of residents to approximate size of departments and hospitals. In other words, a small community hospital may have a dermatologist, but is unlikely to have dermatology residents, and therefore the complexity of the cases they see will be limited. I also used it as a rough measure of the size of the hospital systems. Check out the size of the departments you are interested in below.
Source: http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/programresults2009-2013.pdf

I also thought Wayne's clinical experience would be better due to their location in Detroit. The ER doc I interviewed with at Beaumont indicated they mostly see run of the mill cases, usually the most acute cases being car accidents. Wayne sees gunshot wounds and penetrating wounds on a daily basis. Unfortunately for Detroit, the city has diseases not commonly found in the US, such as trench foot and tuberculosis. This is excellent for their medical students. Not to mention the specialized Children's Hospital, Karmanos Cancer Center, Kresge Eye Institute, and a new Cardiac Hospital. You will see stuff at Wayne you will not see at OUWB or CMU.

3.) Location. Central Michigan is very rural. You will also have to move when you do your rotations. Oakland is suburban, though many of their students move as well. Wayne is urban. Safety will never be an issue at OUWB, but you will have to be somewhat intelligent about it at Wayne. About half the students live in the 'burbs, the other half in the city. No moving required between basic sciences/ clinical years.

4.) Residency. Wayne had an excellent match list last year. The ability for OUWB and CMU to match well is as yet undetermined. Wayne is well known for producing specialists as well. Only 30% of their class went for primary care this year, so if you're dead set on that, you may want to consider this focus. Ultimately, you're spending 4 years of your life and a couple hundred grand on this experience, so you want to make sure it pays off.

5.) Price. Debt sucks, and although this should not be your first criteria, understand that 4 years of say a 10k price difference plus interest throughout residency will mean approximately a corvette. Or a nice BMW. Or a down-payment on a house. The medical field is experiencing significant upheaval, and the salaries physicians have come to expect may not be here forever. Choose wisely.

6.) Attendance. I can't stand being forced to attend a lecture, especially at 8am and with a boring lecturer. I'd rather just stream those. I also don't like being babied. Really dislike attendance policies.


Best of luck as you (and others) make your choice.

Thanks very good info