@trustybsms - Again it comes down to what that resident wants to do next. If plan is to work regionally it probably won’t matter. If they want to join a reputed (not necessarily ranked ) teaching/research hospital in different region prestige may help securing first job.
All medical schools and training programs meet certain standards, but the experience they gain vary vastly from program to program( again not necessarily because of ranking ). In fact those who are tied to community hospitals usual treat more patients and variety of cases than those who are at some of the brand name schools. Lot of times community hospitals are tied to public schools hence public schools tend to have better primary care ranking than private schools.
@mygrad2021 - She needs some volunteering experience and leadership experience. Not every school cares about research. They see medicine as a service profession catering to underprivileged and wants candidates who are not doing it for prestige and/or money.
Because people are reading this thread for advice about whether to accept a BSMD program and forgo the chance for a prestigious medical school, I think its important to be accurate and keep things in perspective as much as possible. I have experience in the field of law. There, the Law School you attend makes a tremendous difference in whether you will find a job after graduation. Kids from the top 10 schools have enormous opportunities that kids from lower ranked schools struggle to obtain. There is no comparison.
I don’t think we have the same situation in medicine, except perhaps for people looking for academic medicine. For people looking to join existing practices and groups, I have not seen any evidence that there is a problem, regardless of medical school. I know that @srk2017 has suggested there may be, but I haven’t seen it. Speaking to doctors around here (suburban NY), the issues seems to be finding enough qualified people. I have not met or heard of any doctor having trouble finding a job.
@gallentjill - Yes, school prestige makes big difference for law. My argument is private practices are decreasing and school prestige may help going forward securing first job at big hospital chains. Time will tell What did your doctor friends saying about medical school prestige in terms of getting more competitive residencies at prestigious medical schools?
Not sure where these assumptions are coming from, i.e. getting first job, getting academic jobs etc. Most places (including hospital chains) have difficulty recruiting and retaining physicians. As long as you are board eligible/certified, almost no doctor has trouble finding a job irrespective of medical school/residency ‘prestige’. Academic jobs typically are poorly paid and have a hard time attracting and retaining faculty. I am a physician and am only chiming in as I think there is some amount of misinformation regarding medical school prestige/residency being circulated here. The advice I always give is to just focus on becoming a sensible, compassionate doctor…everything else will follow.
Thanks @srk2017 ! I understand that she should have some leadership. Unfortunately the school is highly competitive and she is in general not very outgoing kind of personality. She couldn’t find many opportunities for youth other than the regular food pantry etc. She has been volunteering at a hospital. Any thoughts?
@mygrad2021 - All volunteering doesn’t have to be medical related. Basically you need to show that you are compassionate. As per leadership don’t worry too much about it.
A lot of great comments/statements that I strongly agree with:
“But people on the field know the realities. As @WayOutWestMom pointed out some time ago, certain relatively not so known names, like UAB for example, are considered way superior in certain areas of medicine and only folks exposed to those areas know it’s significance.”
certain specific hospitals/medical centers become specialists for a specific field. While usually unknown
to the average lay person, those in the medical field especially for residency, would be aware of such.
“MD school name is fairly insignificant- it’s way less important than Step 1, AOA, and clinical rotations.”
this is the great equalizer. A higher step 1 score, being AOA, and getting excellent recommendations will almost always trump a lower step 1 score, non-AOA, and average recommendations (even if from a top 20 medical school). Of course, all things being equal, tiebreaker would likely then go to the medical school attended.
“In fact those who are tied to community hospitals usual treat more patients and variety of cases than those who are at some of the brand name schools.”
one is more likely to get hands-on experience as a medical student in community/public hospitals vs tertiary/university hospitals (which usually have fellows further dividing up hands-on or direct clinical experience.
University/tertiary centers recognize this and usually tries to incorporate such community/public hospitals as part of their teaching rotations for their medical students and residents.
“If they want to join a reputed (not necessarily ranked ) teaching/research hospital in different region prestige may help securing first job.”
this is a strong argument to go to a ‘prestigious’ medical school - if one aspires to be a chairperson/division director of a given department. Again, going to a less prestigious medical school won’t necessarily eliminate this path as it’s one’s resume and achievements that matter.
“(Law school)…I don’t think we have the same situation in medicine, except perhaps for people looking for academic medicine.”
absolutely correct. Not the same in medicine. I would add business school to law school where undergraduate college would play a factor. Looking at most law firm websites and businesses describing the partners and/or CEOs, almost always ask the undergrad to mention a look at physician, it is more, and that the undergraduate college university has not mentioned.
@trustybsms You will NOT find many top ranked medical schools but many not-so highly ranked medical schools including NJMS, AMC, Temple etc in 2019 Neurosurgery Residency Match list.
@srk2017 Yes, but there are many more other not so highly ranked medical schools like any other residency match. There will always be a statistical distribution among medical schools. Interestingly, there are a few out of USA medical schools ( probably FMGs with research work done in USA ). Here FMG - Foreign Medical Graduates outside USA/Canada
Thank you @srk2017 ! we will look into more volunteering opportunities. She recently took SAT and scored 1510. I know it’s little low but trying to take ACT this Summer. Is the SAT score good enough even if she cannot score well in ACT later.
@mygrad2021 Are you an ORM (Over Represented Minority- read mostly Asian-includes South East Indians) ? It is a low score for an ORM (Many ORM candidates have near perfect SAT and SAT subject scores and 4.0 UW GPA and great Medical Related ECs).For an ORM, ideally SAT >= 1550 and ACT >= 35 may be competitive. ORM candidates compete against each other for an interview/acceptance.
@mygrad2021 - Most says you need over 1550, but some get in with lower scores as well. I would recommend taking ACT or SAT again only if she is consistently scoring in the range she wanted at home.
) teaching/research hospital in different region prestige may help securing first job.
). In fact those who are tied to community hospitals usual treat more patients and variety of cases than those who are at some of the brand name schools. Lot of times community hospitals are tied to public schools hence public schools tend to have better primary care ranking than private schools.
What did your doctor friends saying about medical school prestige in terms of getting more competitive residencies at prestigious medical schools?