I've heard various opinions about the school's reputation and quality of training. Also extended to post grad opportunities, which I know is student dependent. It's the wide range of opinions from very good to very poor that is confusing. Maybe it might have to do with people's opinion of the city. I have spoken to a residency program director, adcom member, academic physicians, and students, so I have a wide net of people from different perspectives. Not trying to be convinced about the quality of school. Just want to know why I've heard such variance. I might be the only one who has had this experience.
Rush, Tulane, & nymc acceptances
Waiting to hear back from Slu and temple
I'll add another n=1 to the list. Here's where I'd put the topics you mentioned.
Things we do well:
1) Post-grad opportunities
It's hard to decipher a rank list as a med school applicant, but take a look to see where we send our people. We go all over the place to some of the best programs in the country. Our faculty also go to bat for us during application season. They will place personal phone calls on our behalf to program directors at programs we're interested in. This is not because they need to in order for us to match, but they sincerely want to find a good fit for our career goals.
2) Reputation
Tulane has been around FOREVER, meaning we have alumni all over the country. We've trained many pioneers in multiple specialties and we attract some of the biggest names in the field. Additionally, before Katrina we used to be a powerhouse in the South. We're still pretty good, but we did lose some researchers and residency spots, and it takes some time to build that back up. Overall, people outside of the South have been impressed when I mention I go to Tulane so I don't think our reputation has suffered.
Things we can definitely improve on:
1) Quality of training
This is something we could real work on, mainly because there are too many med students for such a small population. Between Tulane, LSU, and Ochsner, New Orleans is saturated with eager third years. Part of that will be relieved when the new VA opens but we're also working on developing partnerships with other hospitals in the area. On the other hand, our faculty, residents, and staff are fantastic and eager teachers. They like having med students around so we're never relegated to shadowing.
2) New Orleans
Oh, New Orleans. There are some really great parts and some really bad parts so on average, we're average. It's a fun city to live in because there's always something going on, whether it's festivals, food, sports, etc. On the other hand, we have a lot of problems with poverty and hopelessness in many of our neighborhoods. Because we're so small, you can't hide and avoid the not-so-nice parts of town. Multi-million dollar mansions will be two blocks from the worst housing and poverty this city has to offer. Many people are willing to overlook the bad because the good is so great. For others, the bad greatly outweighs the good. So you either love New Orleans or you hate it. It's definitely not for everyone.
To address your original point, I'd attribute the variance to what different people find important.
If you're looking for a research powerhouse, our reputation isn't great for that. Most departments are tiny by academic research standards so we don't have the output of the top-funded institutions. For some, reputation = research funding and volume of publications, so we're screwed in that regard.
Clinically, our residency graduates are some of the best trained in the country because of the pathology we have down here. A lot of that training trickles down to the students, but we're pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to medical student quality of training. We have great teachers and pathology, but at some sites our census is too low. So if you're looking to be able to carry 5 patients as a med student, you'll be limited on some rotations. But if you're wanting to be involved in the care of your patient, including procedures and decision-making, then you're golden.
How you perceive our quality of education and reputation greatly depends on what you value most. Our highs are high and lows are low.
New Orleans is a love it or hate it kind of city, so I'm not surprised you've had such differing opinions on this matter.
