Wayne State vs Quinnipiac vs TCU/UNTHSC

[beastmode20]

Hey guys just trying to figure out what medical school would be the best fit for me. I think I'm interested in emergency medicine or orthopedic surgery as of right now but obviously things change during med school. Consider the COA to be about the same at all 3 med schools:

WAYNE STATE
Pros:

• Detroit seems awesome
• Highest ranking amongst my choices, prestigious
• Strong home residency program

Cons:

• Very large class size
• Administration problems (seems to be some disorganization and communication issues)

QUINNIPIAC
Pros:

• Strong match list
• New facilities, no mandatory attendance
• Heavily focused on academics

Cons:

• No home residency program, no affiliated hospital
• Long travels to rotation sites
• Limited research options

TCU/UNTHSC
Pros:

• Warmer weather, amazing food
• I eventually want to settle in Texas
• Brand-new technology and buildings, the administration seems very receptive to student body

Cons:

• no match list, we would be the second class
• no reputation amongst PDs for new Step 1 P/F

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[m1redsox]

Strong arguments for Wayne State and TCU-UNT. Between the two, I would go with Wayne St because of its reputation. However, if you are willing to take a lower-quality community-based residency to stay in Texas, then maybe TCU-UNT is fine for you.

 

[beastmode20]

Strong arguments for Wayne State and TCU-UNT. Between the two, I would go with Wayne St because of its reputation. However, if you are willing to take a lower-quality community-based residency to stay in Texas, then maybe TCU-UNT is fine for you.

Why do you think TCU's residency will be lower-quality than Wayne State's?

 

[m1redsox]

Why do you think TCU's residency will be lower-quality than Wayne State's?

TCU could potentially limit you in terms of your matching ability. For example, Wayne State has many well-known departments and residency positions like ortho, neuro surg, you name it. That means that even if you don’t match there, you can get some great LORs from reputable departments within the specialty of your choice. Apart from that you will have plenty of access to great research opportunities. Meanwhile, TCU is brand new and less respected. You have no ability to match into a home residency program, and you will be seen as less competitive because you will be coming from a no-name school with probably a lot less research on your resume. New schools tend to have many community-based residencies on their match lists and have a harder time matching into reputable university-based ones. In other words, TCU may help you stay in Texas, but it will probably be at a lower-tier community-based residency program.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s still a meritocracy (for the most part). If you can publish 5 papers in Fort Worth, get tons of service, pass all your clinicals with honors, and score well on step 2, you will probably still match very well. However, the chances of you matching at Baylor or UTSW will still probably be slim compared to if you had all of those things coming from Wayne State.

 

[DirtyNewYorker]

I'd probably roll with WSU on this one, but I think it depends on your personal goals. Are you interested in competitive specialties like ortho, derm, optho, ENT, etc? WSU is as mid-tier as they come, so while matching into more competitive specialties is gonna be an uphill battle, it's probably not nearly as uphill as it will be at a newer program. I think also if you're interested in emergency or urban, underserved medicine, Wayne is hard to beat.

 

[beastmode20]

TCU could potentially limit you in terms of your matching ability. For example, Wayne State has many well-known departments and residency positions like ortho, neuro surg, you name it. That means that even if you don’t match there, you can get some great LORs from reputable departments within the specialty of your choice. Apart from that you will have plenty of access to great research opportunities. Meanwhile, TCU is brand new and less respected. You have no ability to match into a home residency program, and you will be seen as less competitive because you will be coming from a no-name school with probably a lot less research on your resume. New schools tend to have many community-based residencies on their match lists and have a harder time matching into reputable university-based ones. In other words, TCU may help you stay in Texas, but it will probably be at a lower-tier community-based residency program.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s still a meritocracy (for the most part). If you can publish 5 papers in Fort Worth, get tons of service, pass all your clinicals with honors, and score well on step 2, you will probably still match very well. However, the chances of you matching at Baylor or UTSW will still probably be slim compared to if you had all of those things coming from Wayne State.

TCU is opening a home residency program at Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center in 2021 that’ll have EM and IM with plans to add other residences along the way such as gynecology, general surgery, anesthesiology. I think I would easily pick TCU over Wayne State if the prestige was the same but that’s my big problem right now. I’m interested in EM or orthopedic surgery as of right now but things obviously may change during med school.

 

[beastmode20]

I'd probably roll with WSU on this one, but I think it depends on your personal goals. Are you interested in competitive specialties like ortho, derm, optho, ENT, etc? WSU is as mid-tier as they come, so while matching into more competitive specialties is gonna be an uphill battle, it's probably not nearly as uphill as it will be at a newer program. I think also if you're interested in emergency or urban, underserved medicine, Wayne is hard to beat.

I’m interested in emergency medicine and orthopedic surgery as of right now. I wouldn’t say I’m into urban medicine, I’ve never been a fan of big cities haha.