Does a Big Name Med School really matter?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
1

<p>My uncle, who is a very successful radiologist, has told me that I might be better off taking it easy on my path to Med School. Go to UF instead of UPENN. Get a high GPA and you'll be fine. And don't worry about the prestige of the Grad school.</p>

<p>His practice is basically made up of radiologists who all graduated from the Texas state med school. And they are obviously doing awesome and making a lot of money.</p>

<p>Is Medicine different in this regard than other professions (such as business). Does the med school not matter as much? Are there enough hospitals and private practices out there to do super well?</p>

<p>Another thing: Do you all believe it is important to attend Med School in the state you want to reside in? Because Med School is where you make your connections (through the residency and such- further de-emphasizing the importance of the Med School.), and thus probably where you will want to practice on your own. </p>

<p>If that is true, it is important to go to undergrad in a different state than the state of a potential Med School you'd want to attend? Because I've heard unless you live, in say Florida, and attend a school in Florida, the Med School in FL will prob not take you because they want diversity. Convoluted? Yeah. haha. But I think you know what I mean.</p>

2

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...told me that I might be better off taking it easy on my path to Med School

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<p>Well that sounds like EXTREMELY DANGEROUS advice to me. The fact of the matter is that med-school admissions are cutthroat competitive and getting more and more competitive every year. There are plenty of people with extremely high GPA's who nevertheless get rejected by every single med-school they apply to. That's right, they don't just get rejected by the top med-schools, they get rejected by every single med-school they apply to. </p>

<p>In the past, the competition for med-school spots was less intense. Basically, as long as you had good grades and a good MCAT score, you were going to get in somewhere. Maybe not at the best med-schools, but you would get in somewhere. Now, not so. These days, you can have very good grades and MCAT scores and still not get in anywhere. Hence, I would say that you have to get as high of grades as you can, to maximize your chances of getting in somewhere. You don't want to be taking it easy, and then find yourself not getting admitted anywhere. </p>

<p>However, it is true to some extent that the quality of med-school is not tremendously important. Don't get me wrong, if you get admitted to Harvard Medical and some no-name medical school, you should probably go to Harvard Med. On the other hand, what tends to matter more is your residency, and your performance in that residency. Go to a no-name med-school, but land a good residency, and do well in it, and you'll do fine. </p>

<p>As far as the kind of money you can make as a doctor, what I would say is that I wouldn't go into medicine for the money. If all you care about is making a lot of money, don't be a doctor. Go work in investment banking, or for a hedge fund or in private equity. The kind of money that those people make puts doctors to shame. A star investment banker can easily make more money in one year than a doctor can in his entire lifetime. </p>

<p>As far as connections are concerned, I would argue that there are certain med-schools that have a certain 'pop cachet' that would probably outweigh the connections you would have by going to a local med-school. Schools like Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, and some others. What is nice about going to your own state school is the tuition you will save. </p>

<p>About your last paragraph, that really depends on how certain states define whether you are truly a resident of that state for the purposes of state university admissions.. Some states are far tougher than others. California, for example, has extremely tough rules. The point is that simply attending college in a particular state does not by itself mean that you will be considered a resident of that state.</p>

3

<p>I think that the name of the med school matters more if you're looking to go into academic medicine. Graduates of the top med programs (especially MD/PhD) are able to get the top teaching and research positions. I don't think it matters as much for clinical medicine. The top practitioners are not necessarily Harvard or JHU grads.</p>

4

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>To clear things up, by saying "taking it easy" I meant go to a decent state school rather than a top tier Ivy, but still get the best grades possible.</p>

<p>And making money isn't my one and only incentive for becoming a doctor (of course it plays some role, as it would with most peopel), I just said that as a way to say "hey, they have jobs!"</p>

<p>So this Med School thing seems a lot tougher than I ever imagined.</p>

<p>Sakky, if you saw my previous post, I was talking about how I wanted to battle out Wharton business while taking the "pre med" science courses (which would include some summer sessions I am sure). Do you think this is too risky? Would a 3.4 GPA hurt me too much, even with this unique and strenuous courseload? On one hand, the business/med thing isn't that common, especially at Wharton. But it only makes so much sense to have a good background in business as a doctor, especially nowadays. I've always thought it would be such a great combination and am surprised it isn't more popular (probably because of the courseload). Would this combination help me in the admissions process. And with the 3.4, I know I probably won't make it to HMS, but there's got to be some good schools out there that will take me. </p>

<p>And if that is so, I should be fine career wise, as you and ForeverZero are saying.</p>

5

<p>A friend of mine got his MBA after MD, but he became an administrator of a large health plan and now does consulting, rather than clinical medicine.
While a business background may be nice, Wharton may be a bit extreme if you want to be a clinician. Your uncle is pretty much on the mark.</p>

<p>I also don't think it hurts your chances to stay in state. A young lady I know went to USF undergrad, USF Med and just matched a Dermatology residency, one of the most sought after specialties.</p>

6

<p>Well, if you definitely want to pursue medicine as a practitioner, I'm not sure if going to Wharton is such a good idea. Having a solid business background will help if you want to go into hospital administration or something like that, but if you just want to go to med school and become a practicing doctor, it might not be the best idea. Wharton's very tough in terms of grading and it'll be hard to balance all those business classes with pre-med requirements. Also, Wharton's not designed to prepare you for a career in medicine, so it'll be kind of hard to go against the system. If you really want to do it and you think you can handle, go right ahead. After all, it has been done in the past. But if you're looking to just have a solid business background without enrolling in a hardcore business school, why not major in Econ at a regular college?</p>

7

<p>"But if you're looking to just have a solid business background without enrolling in a hardcore business school, why not major in Econ at a regular college?"</p>

<p>Thing is, I don't think Econ can really be considered business business. Sure, you learn about trade offs, but it is not an applied business major, which probably renders it relatively useless in the medical field. Marketing, risk management, OPIM is the stuff I am interested in, and is the stuff I believe can help me along in the my potential medical career.</p>

<p>'Also, Wharton's not designed to prepare you for a career in medicine, so it'll be kind of hard to go against the system. If you really want to do it and you think you can handle, go right ahead. "</p>

<p>Exactly. I am trying to find someone/a clear answer that can clue me in on what it exactly entails. However, thusfar, I haven't been able to find it...</p>

8

<p>the big name probably will help you initially when you are finding a job, but after that, it probably isn't going to matter.</p>

9

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the big name probably will help you initially when you are finding a job

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<p>It's all about the residency as far as clinical hiring (the above may have some validity in academics)</p>

10

<p>I have a friend whose graduating with a 3.4 from Penn who just got accepted to med school....although he's graduating from the college. I don't see any real point of getting a degree from wharton then going to med school. If you're interested in management then go get a joint MD/MBA. Wharton really caters more to the future investment banking/consulting crowd.</p>

<p>edit:
the required courses at wharton are hardcore business stuff, (remember wharton is a preprofessional program) - management, finance, accounting, etc. None of this has any relevance to medicine. Go get a well rounded liberal arts education and take wharton classes that interest you as electives.</p>

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<p>I am interested in finance and management though :(.</p>

<p>Why do you not think it is relevant to medicine? If I am vice-president of my corporation, you don't think those skills would come in handy? My uncle, who is always telling me he wishes he had a solid business background, made a big boo-boo by associating his corp with this company, which plunged. Some other deals he hasn't handled so well. Personally, I think all those classes would help in situations like that.</p>

<p>Furthermore, those classes would help in life in general. Being able to spend your money wisely and knowing how to do it is something I would like to be knowledgable and confident in. </p>

<p>And also, Med Schools want vareity. I think I would be much more intriguing getting a degree from Wharton rather than being a Chemistry Major.</p>

<p>Then again, I could go to the college and take them as electives, as you said. </p>

<p>Hmmm, the choices! Ahhhhhh!</p>

12

<p>If you're interested in administration you should get an MBA(which requires no business background usually) and an MD. Get a minor in your undergrad if you want to make sure you like business. Some places let you do an MBA in a year, lots of schools will let you take a year off in between 2 and 3 of med school to do another degree, and some have joint programs.</p>

13

<p>from what ive heard, it depends on the individual, you can have the best names on your resume and be a horrible doctor who was silver spooned your entire life with no bedside manner and others will see that and most likely not hire you. In the end, if you really think about it...what is a good doctor anyway, medicine is an imperfect science and no school teaches it to perfection. You wanna be a good doctor, you have to do it yourself, dont rely on the name of your school to get you places. By the way, i plan to do the same thing TM2000, finance and money management is a knowledge that everyone should have. And ive also heard med schools want variety. </p>

<p>And besides, lets say medical school doesnt work out...what am i gonna do with a biology degree, become a teacher???...i dont want that, with a major in business, im set for life.</p>

14

<p>Well the med licensing exams and board exams do have clinical components which test your bedside manner so its not really possible to be a horrible doc. Sure you may think that a doc has bad bedside manner but in reality it might be just the type of person they are. I know a surgeon who many would consider to have bad bedside manner. But he is highly regarded by everyone of his colleagues because he is just so good, and gets the job done with a very serious attitude.</p>

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<p>lol just because you pass a clinical doesnt mean you are a good doctor. Its like a job interview, you are on your best behavior at first but whos to say thats how u really are. Besides bedside manner doesnt only determine if you are a good doctor. Fact is, just because you pass all your exams and clinicals, you arent a good doctor until you have so many patients that you dont know wut to do with</p>

16

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you should get an MBA(which requires no business background usually

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<p>If you're talking about a top-flight MBA, it is EXTREMELY difficult to get into such a program with no business background.</p>

17

<p>Yea thats true, but I dont know how many doctors or future doctors would be interested in getting a top-flight MBA or having experience necessary since its more of a secondary interest. My assumption is he just wanted a general administration background in case.</p>