5. A school's place on a list cannot be used as
a definitive measure of the school's
status, but merely serves as an estimate of its
perceived reputation.
6. Any list should be considered in the context
of your own observations, your
advisor's opinion, and alumni
comments.
Because of the absence of any recognized ranking
list, an awareness of some of the
most prestigious U.S. medical schools may prove
helpful to prospective applicants and
acceptees. To this end an unranked list of some
of the top U.S. medical schools is pro-
vided in Table 4.2. This list correlates well
with the list of the most prestigious hospitals
(see Table 4.3) and the mean MCAT admission
scores (see Chapter 6). Obviously, on
such a short list, there may be
omissions.
Bottom Line
It is desirable to use the following criteria
when selecting which medical school to
attend, assuming that you have multiple
choices. Much of the information needed to
make an assessment should come from information
acquired during the course of your
interviews. Check your notes
carefully.
· Get the facts. Find out as much as you
can about each institution from its litera-
ture, Web site, and present and former
students.
· School mission. Medical schools have
different orientations as to the type of
physician they seek to graduate. Determine from
the school's literature its specific
mission and see if it is compatible with your
ultimate goal.
· Size and cost. Evaluate your
preference for a small or large student body.
Determine
to what extent total costs, namely,
tuition-related school expenditures as well as
living expenses, will strain your finances.
Evaluate whether your debt potential
after four years of school will be
acceptable.
· Reputation. Schools are known to have
different cultures, with some considered
to be competitive, high powered, or laid back.
Determine what atmosphere you
favor and see if it is comparable to that of
the institution in question.
· Curriculum/teaching methods. There are
various curricula in use at medical schools.
Determine how recent the school in question
reviews and updates its own curricu-
lum. Determine if a problem-based approach is
used as part of the educational
methodology, an approach that is currently
favored by many institutions.
Determine to what extent computer-assisted
instruction is used at the school.
· Early clinical exposure.
Traditionally, students get their clinical exposure
only
near the beginning of the third year of medical
school; the modern trend has now
been to introduce clinical exposure early on.
Determine when and to what extent
this is done at the schools you are
considering.
· Clinical facilities. The essence of
learning medicine takes place at a clinical facil-
ity. There are various types of settings. Your
interview notes may indicate if you
can obtain diversified exposure, such as at
respected tertiary-care teaching hospi-
tals, community hospitals, long-term care
facilities, and ambulatory care settings.
Such exposure provides strong preparation for a
successful medical career.
· Outside learning experience. Determine
if the medical school offers a realistic
option of taking electives at nonaffiliated
domestic or foreign institutions.
· Evaluating performance. Consider
whether you are comfortable with the major
evaluation system in use at the institutions,
be it letter grade or honors/pass/fail.
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