When you are applying for residency in medical school, do your publications from undergrad carry over? Say if I want to specialize in dermatology, is it beneficial to start racking up the publications starting year 1 in college?
These are all excellent points to think about when we make decision. Thank you everyone here to give valuable information and devices
It is a double edge sword. I will not give too much consideration for a medical college if it is has beautiful EHR or not.
Implementation of the popular EHR costs literally Billion $. Not every college can afford. From student perspective also, some time while learning it is easier to understand the case in the few sheets than trying to figure out via navigating so many modules and / or screens. Some kids are computer savvy. EHR has so much access controls and what can be seen etc., Simple is better while learning medical education. Complexity of EHR is not related to clinical aspect rather Health Plan (insurance).
[quote=āGoldenRock, post:5152, topic:2054445ā]
It is a double edge sword. I will not give too much consideration for a medical college if it is has beautiful EHR or not.
Implementation of the popular EHR costs literally Billion $. Not every college can afford. From student perspective also, some time while learning it is easier to understand the case in the few sheets than trying to figure out via navigating so many modules and / or screens. Some kids are computer savvy. EHR has so much access controls and what can be seen etc., Simple is better while learning medical education. Complexity of EHR is not related to clinical aspect rather Health Plan (insurance).
Agree
How can you start racking up publications from year 1 ? It requires real clinical research, data collection, analysis leading to significant scientific findings worth publishing new knowledge which advances the field. It takes time to do clinical research. If you have published something, it stands on its own regardless when did it happen. Yes, do research and publish.
@GoldenRock
@grtd2010
Yes he plans to take a gap year and hone up his ECs which given corona not sure how much he can do.
His counseller advised him against taking the mcat again.
His strategy is do early decision for a lower ranked school to increase his chances. He seems confident . Iām a fairly clueless parent as we are both comp science people.
Yes he will apply to DO schools as well which I think he will have no problem getting in?
Ps. Is there a good thread to discuss med school applications?
@priapat - Why did counselor advice against taking MCAT again? How was he scoring in FL practice tests? If he is consistently scoring above 515 he can give it a shot. Otherwise I agree he should should apply for some DO schools aslo. Unless he is aiming for competitive specialities, DO is as good as MD.
only 5 MD schools have median less than 509.
SDN is better place tp discuss MD/DO applications
Not sure how less competitive = safer ?= better, not sure who wants a less competitive runner for a marathon.
@BSMDstudent how current affairs in the country affecting your M3?
I agree with the fact FL tests from AAMC are close indicator of the actual MCAT score. Let him take MCAT again after achieving the target score on AAMC FL tests. Otherwise DO schools are safer bet.
With 3.2 being the minimum GPA, it is a better safety net than a 3.7 being the minimum GPA requirement. This does not mean one should target a GPA 3.2. As someone has been consistently praising the caliber of BU SMED batches, actual GPA could be much higher than 3.2.
Better safety net not necessarily = better school for this particular scenario between HPME and SMED.
The strategy to apply ED for a lower ranked school is a risky one. He may benefit from a second attempt at MCAT resulting in a higher score. Will this be his first application cycle as an applicant ? The number of applicants to a low median MCAT score school is huge since every one is following the same strategy. These are low yield schools i.e. a few seats and a very large number of applicants. Some of these may attract 5-10 thousand applicants.
Agreed NU HPME is better than BU SMED but what good is it if one fails to reach the target. This is a little bit of risk mitigation strategy. This may not be applicable to this particular applicant.
HPME GPA of 3.7 is very doable. I agree with @PPofEngrDr 's comment.
May be I am biased toward HPME as my D is there and I have seen her grow, to me it is better choice - both from undergrad and med school perspective.
And add to that brand prestige as a cherry on the cake.
Sure, it is a better choice. I remember a few years back it was 3.5 and folks were complaining about it on CC. It may soon become closer to median GPA of regular MD. I thought BS/MD meant a little break from regular MD stats.
Thanks for sharing your stats and reflections. Congratulations on having two great options to choose from.
I would have suggested that you search this thread for key words BU and Brown to look up earlier posts and perspectives. But since you are new here, may not be that familiar. So at the cost of being repetitive, I will note down few points which may be of help in your decision making, of which you may be aware of some already.
- Both the programs are liberal arts education focused. At Brown you spend an extra year and so the cost difference between the both may be around 100k (assuming you haven't received any non need based awards at BU also). However if you aren't too sure about medicine at this time, Brown will give a great platform for pursuing other career paths if you should change your mind in a year or two. You may want to refer to my response to someone yesterday on this.
- Brown doesn't need MCAT and BU does, but the requirement is modest. (Most students in that program score >= 95% ile with ease). Recently learned that if you take MCAT and Brown comes to know about it, may cancel your PLME guarantee.
- Brown stronger in liberal arts and BU has kick ass departments in sciences and make sure you will be well grounded in sciences by the time you enter med school (as a side effect, the students of the program excel in MCAT as mentioned above with little effort).
- Boston is a great place for engaging in research and medical ECs, not only at BU but at any of the similarly world class institutions all around. May be limited at Brown.
- Most students at BU SMED take MCAT right after sophomore year. If you do well in that, say around 520 range and had maintained good GPA and ECs, you may want to consider withdrawal from the program and graduate in 3 years, take a gap year and apply to cheaper med schools or fancied ones. You need to inform the program director by early junior year if so (As I gather, rarely any one does it though)
- BU SMED doesn't grant any AP/IB/DE credit at all for Chem, Bio and Phys but very liberal with Math/Stat, Comp, Social sciences and economics and Foreign language ones. Also allow credit for community college enrollments during summers to help students on the cost containment aspect.
- Not sure of your interest (or parents') in bragging rights of Ivy brand name (hope not).
- Hope you have had chances to visit both the campuses and got a feel of the vibes there. You should feel happy staying at one of them for next 7-8 years.
Drop a line here when you finally make up your mind. Good luck!
Some med schools tend to have lower MCAT stats. Those that are prohibitively expensive for OOS students. Michigan State for example. Good med school(s) nevertheless. Hope you are from one of such states.
ā Which state r u from @priapat ?
@Swordfischer ā Congratulations on your acceptance to two very strong programs. You canāt go wrong with either of the choices ā BU SMED or Brown PLME!
BU SMED saves one year & cost. BU SMED has better research ranking
Brown UG is more prestigious. easier Matriculation requirements compared to BU SMED.
Wish you the best!