Which UCLA school to pick?

[DrMattOglesby]

I am trying to apply to UCLA medical school (no need to laugh...i MIGHT be competitive).
anyhow, I tried selecting this school on my AMCAS and there are like 2342525 different schools affiliated with UCLA???
which one am I sposed to pick? I have info about David Geffen SOM @ UCLA that I got from reading the MSAR from 2008...but whats going on with the others?

just FYI: the other schools are UCR/UCLA Thomas Haider Program Biomedical Sciences, UCLA/Drew Medical Education Program, and UCLA PRIME

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[flaahless]

Each program has a specific goal. Drew and PRIME are geared toward students that want to work with underserved communities. The Haider program is only open to UCR students so don't apply there.

 

[Raryn]

Drew and UCLA PRIME are for people that want to work with underserved populations. Mostly for URMs as I understand it...

Haider is only for UC Riverside undergrads.

Geffen is the normal school.

 

[flaahless]

Drew and UCLA PRIME are for people that want to work with underserved populations. Mostly for URMs as I understand it...

Haider is only for UC Riverside undergrads.

Geffen is the normal school.

Not really, they are just geared toward students that want to work with underserved communities.

 

[DrMattOglesby]

1) Raryn, are you really just 18 years of age?!
2) If i want to work in underserved areas (i do), is it required that I work in an underserved community near UCLA? I want to work in the pacific islands, which are definitely underserved.

 

[172858]

1) Raryn, are you really just 18 years of age?!
2) If i want to work in underserved areas (i do), is it required that I work in an underserved community near UCLA? I want to work in the pacific islands, which are definitely underserved.

If you apply to UCLA/Drew, make sure to have a lot of experiences on your app that exhibit a desire to work with indigent individuals and in underfunded, under-resourced environments. Some examples of past applicant's experiences include medical mission work in Hati, Africa, Costa Rica, etc, significant time (like a year) working for a non-for-profit, significant volunteering in a free clinic, teach for america, etc. If you can't, somehow, display a tangible track record along those lines, I wouldn't waste the cash and would just focus on Geffen.

PRIME is a 5 year program where they pay for your your 5th year (MBA, MPH, MS etc that is done between your first two year and your clinical rotations. It's more geared towards working towards working with indegent populations and closing the heathcare disparity gap via health policy, medical management, etc.

If you have the app to apply to Drew, I WOULD recommend applying to PRIME as well. I know quite a few people in my class that got into both, as the missions kind of overlap.

As far as where you work, you'll do your med school clerkships at clinical affiliates of UCLA (MLK if it opens, UCLA harbor, UCLA olive view, UCLA westood, UCLA santa monica, Ceder Sinai, etc), and as usual, where you go with your graduate medical education is up to you.

Hope that helps! Best of luck!

 

[Raryn]

1) Raryn, are you really just 18 years of age?!
2) If i want to work in underserved areas (i do), is it required that I work in an underserved community near UCLA? I want to work in the pacific islands, which are definitely underserved.

1. I graduated high school early. Just finished my junior year of college though.
2. No idea

 

[mimivirus]

good answer texas! here i was lookin all over for the other thread where somewhere asked a similar answer but you summed everything very nicely

OP -- it kinda sucks that you have to apply to all these schools separately (each its own primary AND secondary application fee) but if drew and prime sound like something you'd be into i say go ahead and apply to all the programs...i think they are excellent =)..and for me, being part of a more intimate (smaller) ucla community (through prime) was something i was seeking.

applying to all three also gave me more perspective on ucla--as the reg. program interview day for me was not very informative by itself--keep in mind also that you dont HAVE to do prime or drew to be involved in health disparities and working with the underserved--for me, getting the masters and being in a smaller community is what attracted me to prime over the other two progs..
and congrats on the triathlon!