What are you looking for?

[RL@UT]

OK, folks let's see what you're up to--
Question:What are you looking for in the medical schools that you have decided to send applications to?

Now, once you get past the most popular answer, "matriculation", what do you look for? Facilities, faculty, location, reputation? Where are you doing your research
and how are you faring?

I'd really like to hear from you all.

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[moo]

Affordability
Proximity to home
Reputation

Those are the three most important factors in me selecting a med school. And I think this is what most other premeds look for.

 

[Hercules]

Actually I'm not looking for proximity at all. The schools I'm interested in are quite far from where I currently live. That being said, I would say I'm looking for:

Reputation
Affordability
Intangibles (like atmosphere and student satisfaction)

 

[Dray]

Well, being from Houston,TX originally and having now moved to NYC, I realize how much I miss good ol' southern hospitallity. Never thought I would but I really do. That being said atmosphere and student interaction is really important to me. Good Luck in your search for a med school!

 

[mvalento]

here's what i've been going by-

location- far away from home! or chicago.

reputation- although this can be ambiguous, with all the infamous ranking systems.

residency placement

joint degree programs- i am interested in MD/MBA especially

'student happiness'- can't really figure this out until you visit a school, but i guess some schools (e.g. vanderbilt) have a reputation for student satisfaction

opportunities to study abroad in 4th year- many have these though

all that being said, things will probably change after any potential interviews, which seem to be the best way to get a feel for a school. affordability is an issue although i am applying to almost all private schools, so my options are limited there.

 

[s-pish]

here's what I look at for schools:

1) Location - I think a school in a relatively large city is good for clinical experience.

2) Affordability - ties in with location somewhat because of in-state tuition. Good thing about Texas is that i can be far from home but still be in-state.

3) Residency placement

4) Curriculum - Many schools have a similar curriculum, but Duke, for example, offers a lot more 'electives' during the third year since the clinical rotations actually take place during the second year.

5) Students - I can't be happy if i have to put up with people like mvalento.

6) Social life - oh wait, scratch that one. med schools don't offer that.

all of my criteria might well be tossed out the window once i find out which schools (if any) i actually get accepted into.

anyways, good luck

[This message has been edited by s-pish (edited 08-10-2000).]

 

[Arti]

I just like to put in my five cents:

One thing not mentioned is the type of curriculum different schools have. Example in one school you will probably spend 40+ hours in lectures as opposed to another where that number will be about 10 hours. Many schools are taking on a problem based learning appoach, where they spend minimal hours on lectures and more time on PBL side (case study, self learning etc.)

PBL schools ussually give you much more free time (classes end at 12 or 1 pm) plus you get to feel like you are actively involved in trying to figure out the diagnosis of your
paper patient.

Both systems of learning are pretty good and you will have to figure out which suits you better (more lectures or more self learning).

Just a few examples:

Very traditional curriculums : Stanford, Columbia

PBL curriculum: Harvard, Cornell, University of Rochester (at U of R you also begin seeing patients your first year, since they fuse clinical and basic during all four years).

Arti

P.S.

other things to consider
1. Financial aid (debt level of graduates)
60-70K for Duke
130-160K for BU
2. Free money available to students for research or other projects you might want to do (Stanford is #1 in that respect).
3. Ability to take an extra (5th) year if you want (75% of stanford med students do that)
4. get a scoop from current students on how commited faculty are to curriculum and teaching.
5. Big city or rural etc....

 

[lilycat]

Ahhh... the question I spent weeks pondering. Here is what I used for my criteria:

1) Location-specifically, do I think I could actually be happy/live comfortably in that area for 4 years, regardless of proximity to home. That narrowed down a lot of schools for me.

2) Tuition, amt. of student aid, typical amount of post-grad debt

No doubt, curriculum is extremely important -- I'm just not sure what would appeal to me most yet. I guess I'm hoping that if I get to the interview stage, that will start narrowing down the med schools more and more.

 

[RL@UT]

Thank you all for your input.....
Location, cost, reputation and curriculum are all major factors needing consideration. I'm spending a lot of time with these issues right now.

I'm pondering several programs that stand out from the typical curriculum: one is the "art of medicine" perspective at Columbia which incorporates seminars on literature--i.e. creative writing-- concerning disease issues
Solshenitsyn's CANCER WARD, e.g.; immigrant populations' needs and inner city medicine.

I also like the idea of seeing patients during MS1 (in the first week, in fact at Harvard's New Pathway) and the PBL-based learning. I really like the idea idea of a group effort centered around a case study where each member of a small group contributes to the learning process and keeps up the group's pace as a whole.

How do you feel about that?

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----It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive.

RL Stevenson