<p>These programs are really recruitment tools. The best medical schools don’t need them.</p>
<p>asmallchild, </p>
<p>If you want to go based off “But sometimes you luck into situations” as a roadmap to a career, go ahead. Like I said, quite a few of the BA/MD programs DO NOT have those prestigious residencies IN THE FIRST PLACE and so are less likely to have “connections”. Also you are wrong. Competitive specialties are not obligated to take their own as there are MANY MANY overqualified applicants. You do know that OUTSIDE medical students rotate as well right?</p>
<p>“As an example, Harvard had 18 kids apply for dermatology this year. Granted, a significant # of them matched. But still, my boyfriend’s med school (Which is a lower ranked school with a BA/MD program) had 3 applicants applied for 3 derm positions. The school took all 3 from within. One of them was a BA/MD programmer.”</p>
<p>Harvard had a much higher rate also in Dermatology matching at OTHER INSTITUTIONS, not JUST at Harvard. Harvard has a very stellar derm program esp. in research, as well as stellar medical school education-wise so it’s very well respected by other places. Those Harvard applicants had much more opportunities of publication at their school, than most others.</p>
<p>As I said, the top tier schools have better opportunities esp. with respect to research, than lower tier ones. Many of them DON’T NEED a combined Bachelor/MD program to sell themselves, as they ALREADY get an overload of applications as it is. Places like NEOUCOM can not compete with the top tier schools with respect to opportunities available.</p>
<p>You do know that in the match it’s a ranking system on BOTH sides right? You have no idea WHERE other highly qualified applicants from top tier schools may have placed that program in their rankings. You’re implying that the program ranked all 3 internal applicants as 1, 2, and 3 when you have NO WAY of knowing that. It could have been that other applicants did not want to go there and ranked it much lower while the internal applicants ranked their home program higher, thus ending up there.</p>
<p>juillet and FDAmom are right on the money. Many of the medical schools need these programs to recruit high level students, which they wouldn’t get otherwise, and they capitalize on the fact that students are afraid of the MCAT (one standardized test) and are afraid of going through the pre-med process. In reality many of these students would have been just as successful if not more in the 4+4 route, and would have gotten into better schools.</p>
<p>This is obviously program dependent.</p>
<p>I remember looking at Penn State/Jefferson’s BA/MD program as a high schooler myself. I ultimately decided to pursue my education elsewhere but this is an example of a program that offers more than meets the eye.</p>
<p>Jefferson’s medical school ranking continues to slide and yet, they do offer outstanding (almost undersung) residencies in radiology, dermatology, radiation oncology, ortho, urology, ENT, etc… etc… etc…</p>
<p>And they often take back their own students. Yes, it’s a match. Yes, there are visiting rotators. But if you’re talking about a student who has his/her eye on a particular field early, few rotators will be able to match a student who has made connections early, shadowed early, and completed research during the preclinical years with the faculty of that particular field.</p>
<p>80% of MD’s in our locality graduated from local Med. school (low rated) with few from Caribian med. school (lower ranked than any US med. school) - one of them from Caribs is reknown internatinally cardiologist, considered to be one of the best in US. According to discussion above, we do not have good doctors in our city? I think our doctors just as good as anybody else in other places of USA.</p>
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<p>Don’t know if I agree with this sentiment. Although I can’t speak for the medical school early admission programs, I do know something about similar progams at a few U.S. vet schools and getting a spot in one of these programs is quite competitive. At the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, for example, their “early admission class” usually consists of about 20 students, about half of whom eventually make it into the vet school. The “normal” vet school admissions cycle receives more than 1,100 applications for 108 seats. Clearly, K-State does not “need” the early admission candidates. Many of them are simply exceptional students with a long standing interest in veterinary medicine and they have the grades, test scores and animal related work experience to back it up.</p>