Florida Med school rankings

[premeder89]

Hey,

I am in the process of choosing between florida med schools. I was wondering if anyone could rank the following schools based on overall ranking: UF, UM, FSU, UCF, USF.

thanks

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[bobow98]

From what I have seen,

UMiami=UFlorida>USF=FSU>UCF=FIU

The first two are the more prestigious, with Miami known for its #1 Opthalmology porgram in the nation I believe.
The middle two are somewhat younger programs compared to the previous, and the final two are new medical schools (less than 2-3 years) and are "unproven" according to some people perhaps (not my opinion, I didn't apply in Florida).

Take this with a grain of salt, as you may find things in a different light.

 

[eablackwell]

You can always look at their board scores and match lists, though I think most of that information is self-reported. I agree that name-wise UF and UM are definitely the most prestigious, but I read somewhere that UF has the lowest student happiness rating (although I know a few students there that are perfectly happy). I have heard from several students that 3rd year rotations at USF are kind of a pain if you pull a hospital far from campus. FSU I don't know much about at all.

The thing with UCF and FIU is that while they are new they have a ton of money and lots of new shiny stuff. Both have very good hospital affiliations, and were actually my 2 top choices. I am not sure about all of UCF's affiliations but some of the ones I was very interested in at FIU were Miami Children's and Cleveland Clinic. FIU has a very large scholarship fund (10 or 20 million, I can't remember which), and in the past 2 years UCF has given generous scholarship incentives too. I did hear that some who interviewed at UCF were told scholarships would be few and far between this year. At FIU we were told approx. 25% of the incoming class would get scholarships.

It is true that they are "unproven" but most people I've talked to in medicine (outside of pre-meds) don't see that as a really big deal when comparing state schools, unless they happen to be high ranked like UNC. Obviously if you're comparing to HMS or Mayo, or a specific specialty that a school rocks in then yeah. However, you have to remember that med school is kinda like undergrad in that many people don't really know what they'll want to go into until sometime around 3rd year.

Also take all this with a grain of salt, because I'm biased since I'll be attending FIU in the fall. Good luck deciding, and congrats on having the option!

 

[Tomatogirl]

FSU began in 2000, and USF in 1971, so USF has a good 30 years on FSU, and I believe it's considered a stronger program, however not quite as prestigious as UM and UF.

 

[premeder89]

Thank you guys for all of the replies!

 

[nlax30]

I really don't think you can go wrong with any of the schools here.... or really in most ANY med school in general.

And all these schools are located in very different locations with different settings for their clinical years so don't let rankings be the only factor. If you love large cities then going to FSU in Tallahassee may make you miserable regardless of if you like the school better.

And I also have high hopes for UCF. I'm from Orlando and even though it's a new school they have a lot of resources around them and a good amount of support from the community in general that wants to see them succeed.

Are you a Florida resident? If not then that could be an issue if you're looking at some of the public state schools.

 

[Gr8Aspirations]

I would definitely say Miami>UF. The clinical experiences at UF aren't anywhere near UM

 

[taco bell]

USF is actually the dark horse. Believe it or not, it is rapidly rising in ranking (more so now, then for the past 30 years), and research money. With Adventist taking over University Community Hospital (located right across the street form the College of medicine), there are rumors that Adventist hospital will rename/retool that hospital with hopes of hooking back up with USF and start residency programs/rotations. TGH has always been a lock for usf, and with the new affiliation coming up look for USF to increase its presence at TGH. Also in 2 years, i beleive USF will have an incoming class of around 180 students with the new Lehigh valley affiliation (making it the largest medical school in florida by enrollment? i believe).

 

[CarlATHF]

I would definitely say Miami>UF. The clinical experiences at UF aren't anywhere near UM

While I would agree that Jackson is definitely a better hospital to get training at in residency, I'm not so sure that medical students will get a "better clinical experience" at either one.

The absolute best Florida Med school is the one that is the cheapest to attend/gives you the most money. Trust me, you'll get great professors and clinical experiences at all of them.

 

[greatdoctor]

While I would agree that Jackson is definitely a better hospital to get training at in residency, I'm not so sure that medical students will get a "better clinical experience" at either one.

The absolute best Florida Med school is the one that is the cheapest to attend/gives you the most money. Trust me, you'll get great professors and clinical experiences at all of them.

This can't be stated enough.

 

[Spin]

Here's my personal ranking. Take it with a grain of salt.

UF>UM>FIU=UCF>USF>FSU

Maybe I just had a really bad interview day, but FSU made a terrible impression on me. They were disorganized, repeatedly emphasized that they have almost no research opportunities, and reminded us over and over that they would try to recruit all of us into primary care no matter what was actually best for us as individual students. The campus was nice, but it's in a sketchy area without very good clinical opportunities.

I have friends at USF, and they've told me that the classrooms aren't even big enough to hold all of the med students. Students who don't come, like, an hour early to class end up in a "spillover" room that only gets audio, not visual. They said it gets better after students start skipping class, but I wouldn't want to go to a school with such a bad set-up. I didn't bother filling out my secondary.

UF and UM both have good reputations, well-established curricula, good clinical experiences, etc. UF in particular has great learning tools, including an augmented reality anesthesia machine and fake human body so you can "see" what's going on inside them when you hold up a specialized laptop. I have a friend at UM who loves it and considers it the best medical school in Florida... "Except for UF, of course."

FIU and UCF are both young, but they seem very together, and it's exciting to be a part of something so new. I've only interviewed at FIU, but I absolutely loved the fully-integrated curriculum, the accessibility of online material, the location, the students, the faculty... everything.

When it comes down to it, I felt most at home at FIU (even though it's pretty far away from my current home), so I'll probably go there even if I get accepted at one of my "higher ranked" schools.

EDIT/UPDATE: I've talked to some FSU students, and I've been re-thinking my first impression. Every school's first two years will cover about the same material, so what really matters is the second two years -- and FSU has amazing rotations. They let their med students work directly under attendings, which results in a lot more high-quality hands-on learning. That's important because 1) it'll prepare you better for residency, 2) it'll prevent the burn-out that pervades less hands-on programs, and 3) it'll give students a better idea of what their future work in any given field could actually be like. I'm seriously considering attending next year.

 

[RedWheelbarrow]

This can't be stated enough.

Seriously. This thread reminds me how lucky we Florida residents are when it comes to med schools. Still, while we can't go wrong, it can still be a difficult decision, especially when the financial picture could be pretty similar at each school. Doesn't help that the majority of their second looks are on the same day, either.