- Joined
- Jul 18, 2005
- Messages
- 42
- Reaction score
- 0
I think G'Town is ranked higher than GW but I'm curious what the reputations of the schools are in the DC medical world. Thanks!
What is the best school in DC?
- Thread starter Woodstock
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2003
- Messages
- 4,775
- Reaction score
- 1
there was a very recent thread on this. run a quick search on gw vs. gu. reputation-wise, georgetown is definitely suprerior to gw on a national scale. however, i've visited both and they are both fine schools.
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2003
- Messages
- 6,526
- Reaction score
- 108
Georgetown currently has the stigma of all its financial problems, which I believe will erode its reputation (or at least overshadow it) if the school can't get itself in the black before too long.
The impression I have these days is that GW is on its way up, while GT is on the skids. Hoyas begin flaming me... now!
The impression I have these days is that GW is on its way up, while GT is on the skids. Hoyas begin flaming me... now!
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2005
- Messages
- 717
- Reaction score
- 5
It depends what you mean by "best". If a higher US news ranking is what you are looking for then Georgetown is the "best".
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2004
- Messages
- 531
- Reaction score
- 11
Howard is... well.
It's not the ideal place for a professional to set up shop for his/her life, unless you're very interested in clinical urban medicine and providing services to the underserved communities nearby. It's in a tough area--though it's not as bad as DC's southeast side, but it's bad enough for most premeds who grew up in different kinds of places. Its focus has to be more on meeting the clinical needs of its patients, since there is such a great need. In addition, many of the people in its patient base are uninsured or on medicare. So reimbursements are low for services rendered. Sometimes nonexistent.
I think that limits the school on a number of levels. It limits who wants to go there, limits how competitive they can be with accepting people, limits their clinical focus, limits their breadth of service (though they are getting to be very good with emergent interventions often necessary in their patient population), limits their ability to financially balance the institution so the infrastructure can support new research.
That's just my opinion/impression of it.
It's not the ideal place for a professional to set up shop for his/her life, unless you're very interested in clinical urban medicine and providing services to the underserved communities nearby. It's in a tough area--though it's not as bad as DC's southeast side, but it's bad enough for most premeds who grew up in different kinds of places. Its focus has to be more on meeting the clinical needs of its patients, since there is such a great need. In addition, many of the people in its patient base are uninsured or on medicare. So reimbursements are low for services rendered. Sometimes nonexistent.
I think that limits the school on a number of levels. It limits who wants to go there, limits how competitive they can be with accepting people, limits their clinical focus, limits their breadth of service (though they are getting to be very good with emergent interventions often necessary in their patient population), limits their ability to financially balance the institution so the infrastructure can support new research.
That's just my opinion/impression of it.
N
njbmd
Woodstock said:
Hi there,
All three of the DC medical schools offer something different and different atmospheres. All three are private. GW and GT are very, very expensive. Howard has a national charter and is less expensive.
The student body at GW tends to be fairly diverse in age and ethnicity. The class size is around 165. The medical school, library and hospital are all located above the GW Metrostop (easy access) and were built in the 1975 era or later. The new hospital is very nice and the patient population tends to be more well-to-do urban dwellers. GW is known for its cardiology department and Experimental medicine departments.
Georgetown has the largest student body with a more traditional age group. GT is not located on or near a metro stop (no easy access). The library is nice but not as nice as Howard's or GWs. GTs hospital has recently been bought by MedStar Health Systems which owns Washington Hospital Center. The Lombardi Cancer Institute attracts patients from across the country for its innovative cancer work.
Howard is a historically Black university and has the smallest medical school class. It is located in northwest DC across the Reservoir from Washington Hospital Center. The student body is very diverse with a slight majority Africian-American or of African descent. There is a metro stop (Shaw-HU) located about 2 blocks from the medical school (semi-easy access). Howard tends to treat a very underserved population of patients that is African-American, Latino and Vietnamese. Howard is a center for research and treatment of sickle cell anemia, diabetes and minority organ transplants.
You can do very well coming out of any of these medical schools. It is not so much the ranking of the medical school as how well you do with your coursework. The best students at a lower ranked medical school will go much further than mediocre students at a higher ranked medical school.
Do not forget that UHUHS is located in Bethesda, MD which is about a mile over the DC line and U of MD and Hopkins is located within an hours drive of DC. DC has lots to offer in terms of medical schools and in terms of reseach opportunities if you attend one of the medical schools there or in the vicinity. All three DC medical schools are represented in the Medical Society of DC and lots of organizations meet across campus boundaries.
Housing is very expensive ( $1,200 for a 1-bedroom) but public transportation is readily available. GT has the GUTS which is their transit system and available for medical students.
njbmd 🙂
From Northern Virginia (right over the bridge from DC)
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2002
- Messages
- 417
- Reaction score
- 2
I have experience with all three schools: went to GU, worked at GWU hospital for 2.5 years, did clinical research at HU for 1 year.
They're all good schools for different reasons. GU has a good name, and they'll mold you into a good physician. They seem very concerned with appearance, and rank. Expensive.
GWU has a great new hospital. They're doing advanced procedures there, and have great faculty. Great location. Close to Arlington VA and the Georgetown area. Right on the metro blue and orange lines. Expensive as heck!
HU is a cool school, but they're disorganized, as was stated previously. And if you're used to the niceties that you'd find in a fancier hospital, you'll be frustrated. But my mentor was great. And the docs there are doing great things. They care about the patients, and the focus is on serving the underserved. Howard occupies a proud place in medical history. Many world class docs have graduated for HU. And a lot of procedures were first performed there.
I think you'd get a good education at any one of those schools.
They're all good schools for different reasons. GU has a good name, and they'll mold you into a good physician. They seem very concerned with appearance, and rank. Expensive.
GWU has a great new hospital. They're doing advanced procedures there, and have great faculty. Great location. Close to Arlington VA and the Georgetown area. Right on the metro blue and orange lines. Expensive as heck!
HU is a cool school, but they're disorganized, as was stated previously. And if you're used to the niceties that you'd find in a fancier hospital, you'll be frustrated. But my mentor was great. And the docs there are doing great things. They care about the patients, and the focus is on serving the underserved. Howard occupies a proud place in medical history. Many world class docs have graduated for HU. And a lot of procedures were first performed there.
I think you'd get a good education at any one of those schools.
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2005
- Messages
- 46
- Reaction score
- 2
I'm a current third-year at Georgetown. I disagree with some of what has been said.
First, I don't think it's an easy decision between GW and GTown (some on this thread say "just go to GW")... Well, whatever. They're both damn fine schools in my opinion. In fact, the first 2 years are arguably irrelevant and fairly homogenous across many medschools, so it really comes down to clinicals. We rotate with many GW students at similar places, so rotations may wind up being similar experiences at both institutions. It's really going to boil down to money, location, and 'reputation'... Georgetown does rank higher, but that doesn't mean squat really. True, Gtown is under financial stress, and tuition keeps hiking like 3-4% a year. But GW isn't exactly cheap either.
I think GW hates Gtown people because there's a rumor that "people only go to GW because they were rejected from Gtown"... which is total BS, but I think unfortunately GTown gets a reputation of being filled with arrogant yuppies.
Blah, at any rate, they're both great schools, and if you get into both, you won't go wrong either way!
First, I don't think it's an easy decision between GW and GTown (some on this thread say "just go to GW")... Well, whatever. They're both damn fine schools in my opinion. In fact, the first 2 years are arguably irrelevant and fairly homogenous across many medschools, so it really comes down to clinicals. We rotate with many GW students at similar places, so rotations may wind up being similar experiences at both institutions. It's really going to boil down to money, location, and 'reputation'... Georgetown does rank higher, but that doesn't mean squat really. True, Gtown is under financial stress, and tuition keeps hiking like 3-4% a year. But GW isn't exactly cheap either.
I think GW hates Gtown people because there's a rumor that "people only go to GW because they were rejected from Gtown"... which is total BS, but I think unfortunately GTown gets a reputation of being filled with arrogant yuppies.
Blah, at any rate, they're both great schools, and if you get into both, you won't go wrong either way!
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2003
- Messages
- 1,429
- Reaction score
- 999
fpr85 said:
😕 👎
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2004
- Messages
- 576
- Reaction score
- 0
dpoke1 said:😕 👎
Why the funny faces? I wasn't relating HU being a predom black school and ghettoness I was just speaking of the area -- and as far as the question went I was asking if the med school was predom black because the undergrad school is. It's very trashy (I live 10 minutes away from D.C.)
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2004
- Messages
- 4,573
- Reaction score
- 486
Uniformed Services University is the best school in D.C.
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,204
- Reaction score
- 7,345
Bethesda is probably closer to my house than the Capitol, and I live IN Georgetown! 🙂
vhawk01 said:
I am from Bethesda and currently live in Foggy Bottom, so I am pretty familiar with where things are located in the area. However, the original question was asking what the best school in DC is. So why dont we stick to the schools actually in DC and not out in the suburbs... 🙄
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2004
- Messages
- 12,204
- Reaction score
- 7,345
Well, I am NOT from DC, so I will yield to your expertise. But in my short experience, it seems that the actual city of DC is kind of a meaningless concept around here, DC metro area seems much more common. Also, if you go to Bethesda, u know a second year named James Slotto?
Similar threads
