What's in a name?

[Spyder007]

Hello everyone...I know this question has been posed before but I was wondering everyone's take on just how much you believe the name of a med school will carry you professionally, especially among schools that are ranked fairly high (for what they're worth)…is there really a significant advantage in going to an Ivy League school (Yale, Columbia, etc.) versus other great schools such as Vanderbilt or Baylor which may not be considered "top ten," but are great schools none-the-less? I know that many people have differing opinions on this. If you had the opportunity, how would you choose?

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[Yogi Bear]

i don't think it'll matter unless u're interested in academic medicine, i.e. teaching at hospital, etc.

 

[Aoshi]

i agree...the only reason to go to a big name school is if you intend to do research which probably means you'll be involved in academia as a doctor.

 

[Spyder007]

Do you guys feel like it wouldn't even make that much of a difference for residency placement?

 

[DrSuga]

i think usmle scores and recommendations matter more in residency placements...i think if youre planning a career that relies on patient care rather than academia then its where you did your residency, not where you went to med school, that makes the most difference...i dont know, thats just my opinion from having a ton of family members and family friends who are physicians from diverse backgrounds...

 

[riotgurl]

I just thought I'd add this. I was watching this documentary about med students on Discovery Health channel. They interviewed and followed a first, second, third, and fourth year from Hopkins. They said that 75% of Hopkins grads get their first choice for residency. The fourth year that they followed got his first choice - dermatology at Columbia.

 

[Ranger Bob]

I agree with many of the above statements. A big-name medical school is more important if you're interested in academic medicine. For residency placement, it is better to be a top student (AOA) from a middle-of-the-road school than a middle-of-the-road student from a top school. This is based on conversations I've had with quite a few fourth-year medical students and also with my wife, who's a physician. Of course, there may be a handful of schools (say, the top 5) where a big-name can overcome a mediocre class ranking for purposes of residency placement.

 

[lilycat]

There's a thread going on right now in the Residencies and Rotations forum that might give you more insightful information since most of the posters are upperclassmen med students or residents:

Does School Name Matter?

 

[coop]

i think there is clearly some difference as to what school you come from, but what struck me is the schools you chose to represent your question. Maybe in east coasters' minds yale and columbia are bigger than baylor and vandy, but to the rest of the country I think that all 4 of those places are BIG TIME names. If you want to go into some super tough surgical subspecialty is where name of school comes into play most i think, and from a lesser known or less "prestigious" school it may make things more difficult, but baylor and vandy are not going to hurt you chances one bit. This site has a bunch of matchlists, it has vandy and yale, not the others, but you'll see, aside from the fact that more vandy people stay in the south (most likely by choice), people get big name residencies across the board at both schools.

My point is there may be in general a difference between the very top places and some lower ranked schools, to nitpick amongst the top places is pretty silly. usnews can't make an accurate differentiation between whoever they put #8 and #13 (or possibly between schools on the whole list, but that's another thread altogether) so don't put too much weight in it.

 

[Spyder007]

Thanks for the help guys. Coop, I happen to have pretty much the same exact sentiments you do. When you start taking about the top schools collectively, there are probably many other factors one should consider since all carry great names and reputations in their own right. The reason I chose to list the schools I did was that while there is always this gray area about whether or not one's residency and career are greatly enhanced by the med school one attends, it becomes even more unclear when you start trying to differentiate among highly ranked schools, yet there are still many people who are dogmatic in their belief that an Ivy League school, or even other "top ten" schools (ie, UCSF, Duke, WashU) will still enhance your career above those schools that USNews does rank just shy of the top ten (ie, Vandy and Baylor). But in the end, I feel med school and your future is what you make of it.