What are some differences between schools to look out for?

[DenTony11235]

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For questions like: "Why do you want to go this this school?"

What qualities should I look for that make a school stand out? Aside from location and cost, since the schools probably want better reasons for you wanting to attend. What kind of things should I be more attentive to when getting to know the strengths of a school?

 

[Remy LeBeau]

Look at schools' mission statements to see if they resonate with you or your experiences. Maybe you went to a Jesuit high school and had a wonderful experience, and maybe you would like to go to a Jesuit med school. Do some research on the types of service opportunities the school offers for medical students. Maybe you are interested in rural medicine, and a particular school has a rural medicine outreach program. Also, see if each school tends to be research-focused or patient care-focused. Maybe they pride themselves on being a school that offers students ample opportunities for both. Class size might be another consideration. Do you do better as a big fish in a small pond?

Others will say things like pass/fail grading and PBL or non-PBL curricula. I personally didn't add any schools to my list or cross any off because of these factors. I was far more concerned with just casting a wide net and getting into school.

 

[ridethecliche]

Curriculum, timing of clinical experiences, focus on primary care and/or research, care of vulnerable populations, etc.

If you have even an inkling of what you're interested in, then it's not a bad idea to see how their residency program in those fields stack up.

 

[Goro]

Type of curriculum, match lists, research opportunities, faculty, school mission, region the school serves, rotation sites, affiliated hospitals. A few schools are specifically religion-friendly: LUCOM= Southern Baptist/Evangelical, Loma Linda = SDA, The Touros +orthodox Judaism. Still don't know about Catholic-associated schools like Loyola, MUCOM, BU, etc.

For questions like: "Why do you want to go this this school?"

What qualities should I look for that make a school stand out? Aside from location and cost, since the schools probably want better reasons for you wanting to attend. What kind of things should I be more attentive to when getting to know the strengths of a school?

 

[DenTony11235]

Very interesting. This is plenty to go by, very helpful. Can anyone else contribute?

 

[ridethecliche]

Very interesting. This is plenty to go by, very helpful. Can anyone else contribute?

Yes, you.

Start doing your research.

 

[DenTony11235]

Yes, you.

Start doing your research.

Thanks for the invaluable advice. I've been doing plenty research, just needed some pointers in comparing 30+ schools. Please feel free to avoid my future threads.

 

[Catalystik]

Some schools offer clinical exposure during the first year (basically, physician shadowing with benefits) or opportunities to volunteer in student-run free clinics that makes good fodder for Why this school-type questions.

 

[DenTony11235]

Look at schools' mission statements to see if they resonate with you or your experiences. Maybe you went to a Jesuit high school and had a wonderful experience, and maybe you would like to go to a Jesuit med school. Do some research on the types of service opportunities the school offers for medical students. Maybe you are interested in rural medicine, and a particular school has a rural medicine outreach program. Also, see if each school tends to be research-focused or patient care-focused. Maybe they pride themselves on being a school that offers students ample opportunities for both. Class size might be another consideration. Do you do better as a big fish in a small pond?

Others will say things like pass/fail grading and PBL or non-PBL curricula. I personally didn't add any schools to my list or cross any off because of these factors. I was far more concerned with just casting a wide net and getting into school.

Same boat here. But i figure that it can only help to know more about the schools I may go to. Thank you for the input it'll really help me out.

 

[DenTony11235]

Curriculum, timing of clinical experiences, focus on primary care and/or research, care of vulnerable populations, etc.

If you have even an inkling of what you're interested in, then it's not a bad idea to see how their residency program in those fields stack up.

Thanks for the pointers.

 

[gyngyn]

P/F vs grades, PBL vs didactic, webcasting vs required attendance, required research...

 

[DenTony11235]

Type of curriculum, match lists, research opportunities, faculty, school mission, region the school serves, rotation sites, affiliated hospitals. A few schools are specifically religion-friendly: LUCOM= Southern Baptist/Evangelical, Loma Linda = SDA, The Touros +orthodox Judaism. Still don't know about Catholic-associated schools like Loyola, MUCOM, BU, etc.

Thank you for replying. Didn't realize to check out ratemyprofessor for faculty rating.

 

[snowflakes]

This is more for you to think about yourself than to discuss in the interview, but think about how schools portray the work-life balance of the students, and how much that matters to you. All schools definitely claim to care about it, but some schools definitely seem to genuinely care a lot more than others.

 

[juliuspepperwood]

Type of curriculum, match lists, research opportunities, faculty, school mission, region the school serves, rotation sites, affiliated hospitals. A few schools are specifically religion-friendly: LUCOM= Southern Baptist/Evangelical, Loma Linda = SDA, The Touros +orthodox Judaism. Still don't know about Catholic-associated schools like Loyola, MUCOM, BU, etc.

Boston Uni is methodist, Boston College is catholic

 

[karayaa]

Curriculum, timing of clinical experiences, focus on primary care and/or research, care of vulnerable populations, etc.

If you have even an inkling of what you're interested in, then it's not a bad idea to see how their residency program in those fields stack up.

How can you assess this?

 

[ridethecliche]

How can you assess this?

MSAR, reading through the schools website for mission and curriculum, talking to current students, etc.

It's not rocket science.

 

[DenTony11235]

MSAR, reading through the schools website for mission and curriculum, talking to current students, etc.

It's not rocket science.

Why are you so condescending? We all want to hear each others opinions on approaching these things. Chill out man were all here for the collective benefit.

And thank you for actually answering the question this time.

 

[Time Table]

Would something like area ties such as having family nearby or being just half an hour away, but in a different state work? Or should I look for something stronger than that, and try to relate more to the school's mission statement.

 

[DenTony11235]

Would something like area ties such as having family nearby or being just half an hour away, but in a different state work? Or should I look for something stronger than that, and try to relate more to the school's mission statement.

To me it would be a bit shallow.. It's kind of like having a girlfriend and liking her mostly because she lives nearby. I would say look a bit deeper.. at least be prepared to tell adcoms what about the school stands out to you during interviews.

 

[ridethecliche]

Why are you so condescending? We all want to hear each others opinions on approaching these things. Chill out man were all here for the collective benefit.

And thank you for actually answering the question this time.

Sorry if you're seeing my honesty as condescension.

I just don't see why this is difficult, but that goes with the SDN trend of blowing everything out of proportion.

 

[Catalystik]

Would something like area ties such as having family nearby or being just half an hour away, but in a different state work? Or should I look for something stronger than that, and try to relate more to the school's mission statement.

I don't think it should be your sole reason, but including mention of a nearby support system along with school-specific interests works fine.

 

[NickNaylor]

To me it would be a bit shallow.. It's kind of like having a girlfriend and liking her mostly because she lives nearby. I would say look a bit deeper.. at least be prepared to tell adcoms what about the school stands out to you during interviews.

Perfectly appropriate to bring up or mention but, as @Catalystik mentioned, should not be the sole reason. Even if that's the sole reason in practice, come up with something more meaningful.

 

[ndafife]

Talk about the research focus, talk about the clinical focus (then tie it to you - I like the research focus because I did research in undergrad).

Play around on the website (look at the mission statements) and see if there is an on campus organization or program that stands out to you. If you can mention something kind of specific about the school that'd show that you did your research. And when on the website (or even wikipedia) you might find a specific focus of the school - North Dakota for example specializes in rural medicine, others have one program that is way better than any other program (like a school has a top tier Podiatry program or something)