<p>I am thinking about applying to Texas Tech's BS/MD Program, but I'm bit worried about the quality of the "MD" part of the deal- Should I be concerned that the "Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center" isn't a well known Medical School nationally?</p>
<p>Yes, you should be concerned not only bc it isn’t a well-known medical school at the national level but even at the state level as well - placed like UT Southwestern and Baylor College of Medicine, one could even argue UT-Houston (due to the huge medical center with MD Anderson) are more well-known than Texas Tech’s medical school in Lubbock.</p>
<p>Point well taken… thanks for the input MD!</p>
<p>I’m guessing you are a Texas resident as you are thinking of applying to Texas Tech and you may want to consider other Bachelor/MD programs available if you qualify:</p>
<p>[JAMP</a> Homepage](<a href=“http://www.texasjamp.org/]JAMP”>http://www.texasjamp.org/)</p>
<p>Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX
[Bacc/MD</a> Programs - Medical School - Baylor College of Medicine](<a href=“http://www.bcm.edu/medschool/baccmd.htm]Bacc/MD”>http://www.bcm.edu/medschool/baccmd.htm)</p>
<p>The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center College of Medicine College Station, TX
[Partnership</a> for Primary Care - Texas A&M Health Science Center](<a href=“Texas A&M School of Medicine”>Texas A&M School of Medicine)</p>
<p>University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston Galveston, TX
[EMSAP</a> @ UTMB](<a href=“http://www.utmb.edu/emsap/]EMSAP”>http://www.utmb.edu/emsap/)</p>
<p>University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio San Antonio, TX
[The</a> University of Texas Health Science Center - School of Medicine](<a href=“http://som.uthscsa.edu/Admissions/earlyMatriculationProgram.asp]The”>http://som.uthscsa.edu/Admissions/earlyMatriculationProgram.asp)</p>
<p>Here is an article on Texas Tech’s Med School:</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.uwire.com/Article.aspx?id=3654068]UWire[/url”>http://www.uwire.com/Article.aspx?id=3654068]UWire[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Most American LCME-accredited schools have a high pass rate, high 90s, on the boards, it just so happened that in that year at Texas Tech everyone PASSED. That doesn’t mean everyone did well.</p>
<p>If Texas Tech (140 students) did the national average of 92% for Step 1, they would have about 11 to 12 students not passing. They achieved 100% passing (ALL passed; NO ONE failed). I think the importance of Step 1 speaks for itself. And I think this achievement reflects positively on the school (students, teachers, curriculum, etc.).</p>
<p>Bopop, you are not reading the article carefully: It says, the “national pass rate for the USMLE was about 92 percent.”</p>
<p>What it doesn’t tell you, is that this national pass rate is putting together all test-takers who test in the United States: U.S. allopathic (M.D.) medical students, U.S. osteopathic (D.O.) medical students, as well as International Medical Graduates, with the latter two categories having MUCH lower passing rates than if you were to take U.S. allopathic (M.D.) students only.</p>
<p>Also mentioned in the article are Texas Tech’s previous pass rates: “The pass rate for step one was 82 percent in 2005, 85 percent in 2006 and 90 percent in 2007.” As even admitted by Dr. Berk in the article, the one time pass rate of 100% doesn’t qualify as a trend.</p>
<p>The real importance in Step 1 is not the percent passing (the percent who achieved a score of 185 or higher), as any U.S. LCME accredited medical school should have a high pass rate on Step 1 (if it doesn’t, that should be a red flag to you, as it is your school’s job to adequately prepare you for these licensing exams to progress in medical school). This is esp. the case when you look at the previous pass rates of Texas Tech stated above (look at the trend, not one data point). The actual real importance of Step 1 is the average score at the school.</p>
<p>For example, Baylor College of Medicine also had a 100% pass rate on the USMLE Step 1: <a href=“https://www.bcm.edu/medschool/successindicators.html[/url]”>https://www.bcm.edu/medschool/successindicators.html</a>. But as you can see while the national average score is 222, Baylor College of Medicine’s average score is MUCH higher at 239 (so the average Baylor student not only passes, but also does much better than the national average score). They have had a high USMLE Step 1 average score consistently AND their pass rate has been near 100% for quite a few years unlike Texas Tech which has only had it one year and which they did not even tell what their average USMLE Step 1 score at that school was.</p>
<p>This will tell you. The national average is 92% based on US/Canandian Allopathic students only. [USMLE®</a> : Scores & Transcripts](<a href=“http://www.usmle.org/Scores_Transcripts/performance/2008.html]USMLE®”>http://www.usmle.org/Scores_Transcripts/performance/2008.html)</p>
<p>And this will tell you the Texas Tech’s average score (221, not bad) [News</a> Radio 1420 Lubbock, Texas](<a href=“http://newsradio1420.com/newsradio/newsMaker.asp?storyID=18291]News”>http://newsradio1420.com/newsradio/newsMaker.asp?storyID=18291) Whether you base your opinion on passing rate or average passing score, Texas Tech seems to be doing pretty well.</p>
<p>And when I read the article carefully, it also said that they implemented an “integrated curriculum”. The fact is that in the most recent year, they did very well. Trending up is much better than trending down. Who knows? In 4 years when OP is ready to enter Med school, TTUHSC may be well recognized outside of West Texas. </p>
<p>BCM is one of the best in the country. Not doing as well as BCM is nothing to be ashamed of. May be OP would be interested in this as well. [Rice</a> University | Prospective Students](<a href=“http://www.futureowls.rice.edu/futureowls/Rice_Baylor_FAQs.asp?SnID=2]Rice”>http://www.futureowls.rice.edu/futureowls/Rice_Baylor_FAQs.asp?SnID=2)</p>
<p>Thank you for the link that clearly delineates it. That 92%, includes people who failed it the first time, and are repeating it and it also includes Canadian medical students who are considered to be foreign medical graduates ([ECFMG</a> | ECFMG ERAS](<a href=“http://www.ecfmg.org/eras/]ECFMG”>http://www.ecfmg.org/eras/)), even though their medical schools are LCME accredited.</p>
<p>On the U of Virginia USMLE site ([Medical</a> Student Handbook](<a href=“http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/handbook/academics/licensure.cfm]Medical”>http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/handbook/academics/licensure.cfm)) for 2008 on their posted official score report from the NBME: <a href=“http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/handbook/pdf/usmle1-08.pdf[/url]”>http://www.med-ed.virginia.edu/handbook/pdf/usmle1-08.pdf</a>, you can see the national average USMLE Step 1 score for 2008 is 221.</p>
<p>From your link on Texas Tech: “The School of Medicine has shown substantial improvement with Step 1 outcomes moving up from 82 percent in 2005, 85 percent in 2006, 90 percent in 2007 and now the 100 percent pass rate with this class.” It will be interesting to see if this one good year holds up for 2009 and beyond, or it was just a fluke.</p>
<p>The OP is inquiring about Bachelor/MD programs, not 4+4 programs. Thus, by entering Texas Tech’s BS/MD program he would have to commit as a high schooler to Texas Tech’s medical school. As far as an “integrated curriculum”, most medical schools have already switched over to a more integrated, organ-systems based curriculum (Cardiovascular, Respiratory, GI, etc.) from the traditional curriculum (Gross Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, Pharmacology, etc.)</p>
<p>Even if the OP weren’t able to get into BCM either as a Bachelor/MD or 4+4, even UT-Houston is much better in comparison to Texas Tech due to its access to the Texas Medical Center (research, etc.), unlike Lubbock which really doesn’t have much in comparison.</p>
<p>If the OP was inquiring about 4+4, the answer would have been much easier, 8. ;-)</p>
<p>I thought the question was about the quality of Texas Tech’s MD part of the BS/MD program, so the answers were 100% passing and 221 average score on Step 1.</p>
<p>Just a FYI… <a href=“https://www.umchealthsystem.com/Trauma1/[/url]”>https://www.umchealthsystem.com/Trauma1/</a></p>