4. Teaching program. How recently has the
curriculum been updated? How are the
innovations working out in practice? Do the
senior faculty members actively
participate in teaching? Is the faculty as a
whole interested in teaching or is their
primary concern research and clinical
services?
5. Student performance. Determine the current
attrition rate and what percentage is
due to academic failure. Of interest also is the
number of students asked to
repeat an academic year; compare the figure with
the national average.
6. Facilities. Familiarize yourself with the
character of the basic science teaching
laboratories and what up-to-date equipment is
available. How many hospital
beds are available for teaching purposes? What
kinds of hospitals are used (pri-
vate, city, or state)?
7. Student body. What is the class size? What
is their morale, attitude, and enthusi-
asm for the school? Determine the nature of
student competition--is it stimulat-
ing or cut-throat?
8. Reputation. Speak with recent graduates
about the school's standing. Find out
what percentage of the school's graduates are
placed as interns in prestigious
teaching hospitals.
There is no authoritative list of distinguished
U.S. hospitals; however, an unranked
sampling of 20 institutions that many would
agree fall into this category is listed in
Table 4.3. Other prestigious hospitals can
undoubtedly be added to this list. By exam-
ining postgraduate training appointment lists,
usually found in the back of medical
school catalogs, one can see if any graduates
were placed in these hospitals. Although
the absence of placement need not be taken as
reflecting negatively on a medical
school's status, since the hospital sample is a
very small one (20 out of 2,500), the
presence of placed graduates should be
considered a positive sign as to the quality of
its education.
RANKING OF MEDICAL SCHOOLS
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There is a natural tendency to seek admission
to the "best" medical school possible. The
problem is identifying which medical schools
are the best. It is quite possible that in
reality the best school is the one that has
accepted you and is also most suitable to your
own special needs, rather than one whose only
attraction is its distinguished reputation.
Nevertheless, a list ranking medical schools
can be useful; it may provide information
that can help you decide which schools to apply
to and which school to select in case of
multiple acceptances.
In considering any ranking list, the following
factors should be taken into consideration.
1. The ranking of a school should be only one
of a number of factors affecting
your final choice.
2. Formulating a ranking list that cannot be
challenged is almost impossible,
because there are so many variables to consider
(size, curriculum, faculty, basic
and clinical facilities, student services,
supporting resources).
3. Since the educational philosophy of schools
varies (for example, some are
research oriented while others seek to train
primary care physicians), one cannot
objectively compare relative values. A judgment
can be made only as to how
well each meets its defined
mission.
4. A list that ranks the schools in numerical
order can be misleading, because it
would suggest that a school ranked number 21 is
superior to 22 when in reality
the difference is based solely on minute
statistical differences between the two,
within the data collected.
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