@Roentgen, I am out of state in both cases
@downtoearth, between only those 2 choices, I would pick the South Alabama program, no question.
Here are the residencies at USA: <a href=“http://www.usahealthsystem.com/workfiles/com_docs/gme/2011%20Links/Program%20Directory.pdf”>http://www.usahealthsystem.com/workfiles/com_docs/gme/2011%20Links/Program%20Directory.pdf</a>
So like UMKC it’s missing many of the relatively competitive specialties. You don’t gain anything, except 2 years, but this is heavily offset, by being financially worse off. At least with the USA program you take the MCAT, with a low score requirement, and theoretically you could still apply to even better medical schools.
wrong post
Okay, I have my final choices:
• UMKC - 6 year program (regional pool)
• Neomed - 6 year program (out of state)
• University of Oklahoma Medical Humanities Scholar Program – 8 year program (out of state)
• IIT/Midwest BS/DO program - 8 year program
I live in Chicago suburbs. Any advice on choosing between these programs would be great.
It seems to me 8 years is better. You will have a normal college life.
Thanks .IMGDAD, Roentgen…
After reading the posts and also after doing some study my son is leaning more towards University of South Alabama (EAP). Money plays an important part too. Don’t feel like giving up a spot at UMKC though., He worked very hard for the spot… Anyway, he will go where he wants to go. South Alabama probably…
@downtoearthmd there is a poster named something like mom2collegekids I think her kids go to Alabama and at least one if not both are in MD programs and she seems to know a lot about Alabama programs. You might want to PM her or check out her posts.
@docstudent Among your choices, I would definitely choose University of Oklahoma, as it has available some of the more competitive specialties with residency programs (i.e. Dermatology, ENT, Radiation Oncology, Urology, Neurosurgery, etc.) that UMKC and NEOMED just do not have. Having a home program during medical school in the specialty you want, is very key, if not essential to matching in certain specialties: <a href=“http://www.oumedicine.com/collegeofmedicine/information-about-/academic-departments”>http://www.oumedicine.com/collegeofmedicine/information-about-/academic-departments</a>.
Not to mention, you have the full ability to apply out to other medical schools at the end of your 4 years of undergrad at Oklahoma.
This isn’t as likely with UMKC or NEOMED. Even with NEOMED, in which you do in fact complete all the required premed coursework, it will be very difficult to maintain a high GPA just bc they cram an entire B.S. degree into 2 years where you’re taking a ridiculous number of credit hours each semester to make it fit and then apply out to another medical school. It’s definitely possible, but not practical.
<a href=“http://www.uakron.edu/dotAsset/8dbefaad-94ad-44d6-ba0e-b0fe44a10ce5.pdf”>http://www.uakron.edu/dotAsset/8dbefaad-94ad-44d6-ba0e-b0fe44a10ce5.pdf</a>
Thanks Midhelper!
@Roentgen, Thank you for your advice.
Debating between UMKC and UIC GPPA.
I am regional for UMKC (from Illinois). Is anyone making a similar decision or can add some input?
Illinois1234, I think the choice is obvious. I would go to UIC GPPA, unless you cannot wait to be a physician and wants to reassure yourself that you are already accepted into a medical school.
@IMGDAD, why do you think that UIC GPPA is better choice?
@docstudent, I am comparing mainly the location. The quality of programs may be subjective and dependent on what you are looking for in your training. Being in Chicago, UIC will offer more opportunities for interaction with students from other medical schools in Chicago. Also being within Chicago, one may have advantage when it comes to applying to residency programs within Chicago’s many other university-based residency programs.
@IMGDAD thank you for your input.
I was leaning towards GPPA and I’m a little more sure about that decision.
I dropped out of UMKC and never heard of the Chicago program. That being said, a bunch of my classmates went to Rush Medical Center for residency, so Chi-town was the promise land out of KCMO.
Unless the Chicago program is $400K, I’d go there.
@Johnny H can I ask why you decided to dropout of UMKC? or just what your experience was as a student in it?
You should only go to UMKC if you are 100% sure you want to be a physician, are willing to go ALL in financially (hence the $360K+ loan), are terrible at standardized tests, and willing to give up any sort of academic pedigree to have essentially a guaranteed MD. From my perspective, the tradeoffs are very similar to a Caribbean med school.
Competing for hard residencies is an uphill battle and that’s the major price you pay, aside from the $. Some of my good friends bucked the trend and got top-tier residencies (sub specialties at known hospitals). They underestimated their abilities (240+ Step 1 scores) and would’ve done themselves a service by going to a better school. They would’ve done well on the MCAT, for sure, even though they were scared of it in high school. We all heard how hard it was to get in to med school the regular route. Nonetheless, I am proud of many of my former classmates.
For me, I left the program early because I realized that I did not like clinical medicine and the financial risk was just too much. I didn’t have options if I changed my mind. Volunteering in high school isn’t the same to hanging around Truman Medical Center. Most importantly, if I somehow did end up deciding to do med school, letting my ego get in the way was not an excuse (you are not racing against anyone to graduate in 6 yrs or 8 yrs)…this is your career and life.
From a superficial standpoint, I was looking at schools like Duke and Rice, so when I got on-campus for orientation, I felt very under-whelmed, like I was going to a third-tier college (which it is). Looking back, I should’ve had a better attitude - KC itself isn’t that bad and can be fun. But leaving was the best call I ever made.
Everyone has different expectations. For some, having an MD from a no-name school doing family medicine in Independence, MO is good enough. For others, having great opportunities/flexibility, which can often require pedigree + added risk of not achieving the goal, matters more. I didn’t like the automatic handicap UMKC put me in.
I ll give same opinion I gave to an accepted student. Getting into a 6 year program is a very prestigious deal coming out of high school. You have worked hard and deserve it, but when you are done with your six years with an MD, you are not necessarily considered anything special. Residency program directors are skeptical of those that graduate from 6 year programs and this puts you at a disadvantage for many spots including ones that are not competitive at times. Regardless of your grades and scores, they are still skeptical at times because you are most likely 2 or 3 years younger than those who went the traditional route. It doesn’t seem like much a difference but more than likely older people like me would think that those few years make a big difference when it comes to maturity. I went the traditional 8 years and did my residency at Truman and subsequently a fellowship at KUMC. I found the students at umkc to be well trained, in fact they had better clinical skills than their counterparts at kUMC. But the students at KUMC consistently did better on their test scores and place better in residencies. The didactic portion is no doubt better at a traditional 4 year med school. These are of course generalizations since those who score well on step I and step II will likely get a good residency. But keep in mind that if you are competing with someone with similar stats from a 4 yr program, you are likely to lose the spot. I have no doubt that those of you who have done so well in high school to get into umkc will have no problems doing well in college and getting into a traditional 4 year program. The 4 year college experience is once a lifetime opportunity that should be enjoyed coming out of high school. So before you decide on the six year program you should careful consider what is best longterm. You are all so young and saving 2 years now really won’t mean much in the bigger scope of things. Costs should be considered as well. Going to an in state 4 year med school should also be a consideration for all you. It will be less expensive and your state school will give you preference. Also note that some of the best places for clinical sand research are the major in state universities and just about every state has one. It is also true that umkc does not offer many of the highly sought after residency programs. Their focus is on general medicine. In fact the family practice program for umkc at Truman East is one if the best in the country. Good luck to you all what ever you decide