What is Meharry's Reputation, in the World of Medicine???

[Sonic Wig]

question

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[Fizz]

I interviewed there in November and was really surprised at how much I liked the school. I really felt that if you were motivated, then you could do well there and get some great support. When I was interviewing, a lot of doctors and people I work with, had not heard of it, so I don't know much about the rep. If you got in, GO!!!! Don't pass up the opportunity at a US medical school.

 

[MacGyver]

Dont go to Meharry unless its the only US med school you get accepted to.

Its certainly the "worst" med school in the country, but I put worst in quotes because even if you go there you will still be a doc and can practice medicine anywhere.

I would go to Meharry over a caribbean/foreign school, but thats about it.

 

[MD4Life03]

I'm sorry. I must have missed your statistics on Meharry. Would you please post them again. I would like to see for myself how Meharry is the worst medical school in the country. Have a great day.

 

[lady bug]

Originally posted by MacGyver
Dont go to Meharry unless its the only US med school you get accepted to.

Its certainly the "worst" med school in the country, but I put worst in quotes because even if you go there you will still be a doc and can practice medicine anywhere.

I would go to Meharry over a caribbean/foreign school, but thats about it.

Do you have any justification for such harsh criticism against Meharry? What makes you think of it as the "worst"?

 

[Moskeeto]

It doesn't matter if its the worst med in the US or if just MacGyver thinks it is, if you only get into one school, then you should go. You should be proud that you got in somewhere, unlike 20k other people that made it to the application phase. Go have a good time and don't let Rankings Slaves bring down your good news. Congrats on getting in and you're right its what you make of it, focus on school and try to land the best residency that you can.

 

[emtji]

I'd definately jump at the Meharry acceptance. An MD is an MD is an MD.

I interviewed there in November and was rather impressed. they have a pretty respectable tuition.

and while they may have a poor pass rate, they also had one or two of the top 10 usmle scores in the country, so they're doing something right.

the only perceptable negative from my perspective was that their technology was poor. I decided to check my email at a computer in a lounge during some downtime and it was as if the birth of the internet had just occurred. it took about 2-3 minutes for a webmail page to load....

they spend their money on necessities, so they're not going to have blazing computers and a fancy student gym. any med school can charge 40K a year and have state of the art facilities. their goal is to offer a quality medical education for a cheap price, which, in fact, they do.

good luck in tennessee.

 

[fernj1975]

For shallow Hal or should I say MacGyver. Meharrry is certainly not the worst medical school in the country. For you information we have an 89 percent passing rate for step 1 last year. There was a student who scored a 256, and another who scored 248. While it?s true we might be under funded compared to other medical schools, the training and demands are outrageous. We have to take finals for Neuroanatomy, Physiology, Microanatomy and Introduction to clinical medicine in 2 weeks, and then follow that up the next week with the shelf exams for Neuro, physiology and microanatomy. We are required to pass both to get credit for the class. So while you may revel in your rankings, you should look into the teaching aspect of training a physician.

 

[lilnix]

if you get an acceptance to meharry....GO!! it's a great school, but you can only determine if it's right for you once you visit and get a feel for it yourself, just like any other school.

as far as pass rates for board exams here's my take on it. one of the things i like about meharry is that they look at the total applicant (not just grades and test scores), and they make you sit through 3 interviews to really try to get to know you. a lot of really great people are given the chance to become doctors but some may not be good test-takers. at any school there are people who do well on the boards and a few that don't do well. a 98% pass rate means that somebody failed right? lol. well the fact that there are many that do well means that the school does provide adequate preparation. i believe how you do on board exams is really an individual thing and not entirely dependant on the school you go to.

just my opinion...anyway Good Luck

 

[pathstudent]

An 89% pass rate on step 1 sucks. The national average for "first time takers" is 91% and someone from Finch (which also seems to get dubbed as "the worst MS") said they had a first time pass rate of 96% on this message board.

So an over all pass rate(meaing after a second chance) of 89% is poor .

Moreover, a highest board score of 256, isn't that high. It is a great score for sure, but given a national average of 216 with a standard deviation of 22, means at least 3% of US med students scored higher. If that is your best, than your best isn't that great. I know a guy that got a 285 on step 1, and that ain't B.S.

 

[SolidGold]

I interviewed at Meharry and I did not think it was that bad. Any medical school in the US is a quality medical school. I really can't say that enough on these boards. If Meharry was the only acceptance that I had, I would happily go there.

All those who use their board scores as a measuring stick of the school are misguided. Medical school is what you make of it. People at Harvard fail the baords every once in a while, and I'm sure they did not think they were going to fail simply because they were going to Harvard. Going to a big name school does not mean you are going to pass the boards and going to a no name school does not mean you are going to fail the boards.

 

[pathstudent]

Actually you are right.

I read a story about how a few years ago HMS changed the nature of their curriculum and out of those first batches of students a shocking number of students failed the boards on repeated attemmpts.

It is true that no standardized test can measure character, leadership, empathy and all other things that go into being a great doctor. Surely, those at Harvard stand heads and shoulders above the rest of medical students across the country. But still board exams do measure your body of factual knowledge which is also important in managing patients. And just as with med school, for the residency application, number are numbers and they mean a lot. In Iserson's "guide to getting into residency", he states that an applicant with Junior AOA status and top board scores is considered more desirable than being am average student from a top medical school. I think I will go start a new thread about this.

 

[dakotaman]

MacGyver has little credibility to say which medical school is the worst if he isn't smart enough to know how to use apostrophes!

I've been admitted to Meharry and I my impression during the interview was that the environment was a very supportive one and the people were very friendly. I'm not black, either. It's an honor and privilege to be admitted as a minority student!

The main drawback I see is that it's more expensive because it's a private school. Other than that, it seems like a great place to get an M.D. degree.

As has been stated, too, any United States M.D. degree-granting school is going to be a good school. EVERY medical school has tons of people that want to attend.

 

[Sonic Wig]

Bump

 

[DarkChild]

FWIW i agree with Macguyver. I have a friend who goes to meharry dental - he trashes the med students. Its competitive and there is a LOT of cheating.

 

[MichiMO]

I am really surprised by Darkchild's post. I interviewed at Meharry and it seemed like an incredibly supportive environment. I did not detect one ounce of competitiveness among the students. As for the cheating, how do you cheat in medical school? How do you cheat on board exams? Maybe I am nieve.
Reputation-wise, Meharry is probably not well-regarded in snooty circles. However, if you are interested in attending Meharry and believe in their mission, I would not think this would matter much to you because you would be going into medicine for a different reason than prestige.

Sonic Wig, from the sounds of your posts concearning Meharry, I personally don't think you should attend. You should be confident in your choice of medical school and I have heard you voice serious concearns. This is a very important decision and not something you would want to regret later down the line. I know I wouldn't want to be asking myself if my school was "good enough." It really does not matter what other people think of Meharry. What do YOU think of Meharry? Base your decision on that.

If Meharry is not a good fit for you, it is not a good fit. This is not something to be ashamed of. Give your seat to someone who would be thrilled to attend. There are plenty of them out there who would not doubt their decision.

 

[MD4Life03]

It doesn't matter what school you pick there is going to be cheating everywhere you go. It's amazing how some of the so called smart ones were accepted into some of the medical schools. Believe me at my college some of the smartest people are the worst cheaters ever. Believe me I've seen plenty of them. But I agree with the above thread your decision to go to Meharry should be based on the right fit for you, not anyone else's.

 

[Celiac Plexus]

Choosing a med school should be a deliberate process. Physical facilities, educational resources, faulty:student ratio, research opportunity, student diversity, location, and reputation are all very important factors.

I would say that if Meharry has an overall pass rate of 89%, then I would say that is a serious concern. You should ask yourself why 11% of the student body completes the Meharry curriculum satisfactorily but does not pass the boards. 11% is very high for a US MD school. At my school, our 1st time pass rate is 98% and the overall is 100%. This difference is significant since Meharry is training people who will never be able to graduate and practice.

OTOH, if Meharry is your only acceptance then by all means go for it. The reputation is not great in the sense that coming out of Meharry you are not going to get the kind of burn that someone coming out of a ranked, nationally known school will get, but if your grades and board scores are solid then you will have no problems.

Good luck.

 

[dakotaman]

The national allopathic pass rate average for the USMLE Step One for 2001 was 91%. Meharry is 89%. I don't see WHY that's so bad. It seems average and very acceptable. No, it's not Harvard, but it's not supposed to be!

Osteopathic medical schools had a 72% USMLE Step One pass rate in 2001.

Foreign medical school students had a 66% pass rate.

Do these numbers lie? Am I missing something? It seems Meharry is where it should be.

 

[Celiac Plexus]

Originally posted by dakotaman
The national allopathic pass rate average for the USMLE Step One for 2001 was 91%. Meharry is 89%. I don't see WHY that's so bad. It seems average and very acceptable. No, it's not Harvard, but it's not supposed to be!

Osteopathic medical schools had a 72% USMLE Step One pass rate in 2001.

Foreign medical school students had a 66% pass rate.

Do these numbers lie? Am I missing something? It seems Meharry is where it should be.

If the "overall" pass rate is 89% then that is alarming. If the "first-time" pass rate is 89% then even though that is sub-par, it is not itself alarming.

We need to know the "overall" pass rate since that number describes the actual pass rate. If 11% of Meharry's student body (or any school's for that matter) will complete the curriculum but not achieve licensure then that is a serious problem.

 

[suzi]

Cheating happens everywhere!!!!!!

Yeah its not harvard, but the attention you get is amazing. The class size is 80 people which is very good. the only downside is its expensive. Also there are tons of alliances with Vanderbilt. Also maybe the students who get into that school are the students who are bright but maybe are poor test takers. that maybe why the averages are lower. AND think about it. for a class of only 80 students it does not take much to bring down averages.

people need to me more sensitive when making generalizations in regards to institutions.

 

[Nuel]

Originally posted by dakotaman
No, it's not Harvard, but it's not supposed to be!

It could be better than Harvard. If a few Nobel laureates emerge from the institution things could change; think of UT Southwestern. "Oh the black man will never be given the credit he deserves," some will say. I have nothing to say regarding that now, but a truly deserving work can never escape notice.

 

[Sonic Wig]

Well, what I was told at interview time is this: Meharry gives a chance to many "high risk students." That term was not defined, but I am assuming for lack of info, to mean students who are bright but have had limited access to educational resources, and possibly that effected test taking skills. Giving a chance to high risk students is very admirable and fits with Meharry's mission. Many of these high risk students have gone back to their communities to practice medicine in areas where very few will go.

The 70% or 89% pass rate is made up of many of these high risk students. I understand that. But I wish I knew what part of that score is reflective of the teaching at Meharry, and what % of the class are the high risk students? ALSO what kinds of scores are the other students, ( not high risk) that passed- getting, for example, are their scores well above the 216 mean? I wish I knew this information but I don't. Is there anyone at Meharry that would talk about their scores???

 

[Medical123]

When I interviewed there, I was told that there had been a problem with their board pass rate a couple of years ago. I also heard this about another school that I interviewed at. Perhaps there was a problem with the board exam itself? Anyhow, I was told by the faculty at Meharry that things have changed. The staff has been working very hard with the students to find out what happened and is trying to remedy the situation. Last year, the board scores increased tremendously and most of the students get into their first choice residency programs. The students are now required to take simulated board exams as a part of each course to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Kaplan comes in and teaches a board review course as a part of the tuition there. This has helped tremendously.

As a side note, I even interviewed at a school where my interviewer was a Meharry graduate. This person is a surgeon and graduated from a top notch residency program. This person is also ranked as one of the top physicians in the Northeast. Meharry graduates do become very successful if they want to be!

 

[JlazyMD]

I think what you will find at Meharry is that a lot of students (these "high risk" students they accept) will really struggle with the material. My guess is that will lead them to be a little less laid-back and happy (and more stressed-out and competative) than the typical med student who works hard, but by this point knows how to study and do well academically. However, Meharry probably has a wide range of students and its just a matter of finding your niche. I'm sure the opportunity to receive a quality medical education is there.

 

[kanyuek]

I went to Meharry and was top 5% students, they sent me and 4 other students to Vanderbilt Medical school for 3rd year (in 1980's) and I did my clinical training
at the old Metro Nashville General Hospital which "was" run by Vanderbilt Professor, fellows, senior residents and interns.

I received a scholarship and free housing there. By the way, I was on my way to Columbia University School of Dentistry and re-routed to Nashville.

I could get into Ivy League school or Northwestern, but Meharry offered me a full scholarship, I did go there and I am proud of it!

 

[michigan1030]

I went to Meharry and was top 5% students, they sent me and 4 other students to Vanderbilt Medical school for 3rd year (in 1980's) and I did my clinical training
at the old Metro Nashville General Hospital which "was" run by Vanderbilt Professor, fellows, senior residents and interns.

I received a scholarship and free housing there. By the way, I was on my way to Columbia University School of Dentistry and re-routed to Nashville.

I could get into Ivy League school or Northwestern, but Meharry offered me a full scholarship, I did go there and I am proud of it!

Holy necrobump, Batman!