<p>All med programs inevitably get you where you want to be, a practicing/researching physician. However, I was wondering if med programs limit your oppurtunities to obtain residencies in different fields of surgery. I understand an "MD" is an "MD" no matter where you come from, but do any of these med programs, especially the middle and lower tier, such as Lehigh/Drexel, Union/ Albany, RPI/ Albany, etc, as opposed to Rice/Baylor, Brown, etc. limit your scope as to what specialty you get into. I don't want to get stuck in general practice or anything of that nature. Have med program students gone on to becoming neurosurgeons, reconstructive surgeons, cardio-thoracic surgeons, and so on? How "normal" is it to see a med program student go on to higher specialties as opposed to a regular pre-med drudging their way through Harvard undergrad, Harvard Med, then going to to specialize in some crazy specialty?</p>
<p>If you don't understand my general question, I'll make it concise. Why is it hard for a med program to get a top residency? Because that is what I have collecting as I read through this forum. Can anyone show a percentage comparison of students from a med school like Johns Hopkins vs. an average med program school such as AMC or Drexel med?</p>
<p>I know a doctor who went to UMKC and is now a plastic surgeon after doing a fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. He has a big house and can get any woman he wants. I dont think the program hurt him at all.</p>
<p>I understand that, you can obviously gain a top residency in all of these programs, but is there sort of a "discriminatory" aspect that makes it harder than a normal student who went through a top notch med school. All these med programs are primarily 2nd tier, 3rd tier sometimes even lower tier med schools, but from my personal understanding the med school you go to doesn't really count for anything. My dad went to SUNY Downstate Medical Center the traditional pre-med way and got a cardiology fellowship which is pretty competitive. So what I really want to know is whether or not the status of the med school affects anything? Because I really don't think it does but that is the general impression I get.</p>
<p>i think its mostly board scores. But if you're competing with someone with the same score, I would believe that the school woudl come into factor.</p>
<p>if you're at the top of your med class and have good board scores, you'll most likely match well. my friend's dad went to albany med, graduated almost top of the class and matched for neurosurgery</p>