Florida schools - interviews?

[McMD]

OK, just to get a little action on this thread...if you are my friend on facebook, I posted pics of my bachlorette party...in case you want to see my bridesmaids and I get a little wasted.

P.S. Dr. H said I'd probably hear next week on my Boca to Miami campus transfer...just FYI to anyone else waiting to hear.

Hope everyone's weekend was great!

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[REL]

I'm trying to decide between UM and USF... It just doesnt feel right to withdraw from UM, especially after the partial tution scholarship...

What do you all know about the clinical experience at USF? Thats really the main thing pulling me toward UM... I have heard that they offer lots and lots of clinical experience... any comments?

Hi Mike, I just wanted to take a moment to let you know that you will not get more time with live patients and with a live doc in any other program in Florida (and possibly in the nation) during your initial two years. You will spend at least 4 hours every week in this situation. Over the first two years you will have spent this time with three separate docs in three separate specialties, probably in three separate hospital scenarios. While Miami has great clinical opportunities, they dont put you in them as often as USF. Our population is the most diverse in the state based on the 2000 census and we have many diverse hospital facilities from the only Shriners in Florida and full-scale NCI-accredited Cancer Hospital (Moffitt) plus TGH, All-Childrens, two large VA's and several other 300-400 bed hosptials. All staffed with USF teaching faculty for your use. Of course all of the Florida MD Programs also provide you with a course called Physical Diagnosis for most of the first and all of the second year of the curriculum. That is where you will work on your clinical skills in a controlled environment with mock patients in a mock clinical environment. For this, as you may recall, we have just completed a 14 room Clinical training suite which has the most modern equipment, moreso than even FSU's beautiful facility. Diverse patients, diverse facilities, more hand-on clinical in a real environment with a large patient population. Definitely the best clinical opportunity in the state -- rushing up the scale in research dollars too, a solid, but not the best option (yet) in research.

 

[McMD]

After I post something mindless, REL posts after me...it makes me feel like a bad person. haha.

 

[gujuDoc]

After I post something mindless, REL posts after me...it makes me feel like a bad person. haha.

hahahahahahaha!!!!!!!! I'm going to go check out facebook pics now.

 

[deuist]

I notice that people on this board are starting to ask about clinical exposure. About UMiami:

We have preceptors that we meet with every month to test our clinical skills. We also see patients in Jackson several times throughout the semester to practice. Finally, every time we learn a new technique such the neurological exam, we spend about 15-30 minutes practicing on our classmates. For truly dedicated FAU students, we can also go to the Boca hospital to watch surgeries, round in the ED, even shadow radiologists---and who says that sitting alone in a dark room isn't exciting!

As much as pre-meds harp about wanting to see patients early, and as much as schools have caved into this demand, I saw that the whole ordeal of seeing patients during the first two years is rather pointless. First, we'll have plenty of opportunities to see patients later on. Second, these patient encounters (as well as ethics, recognizing child abuse, and evidence-based medicine classes) distract us from our studies and usually a royal waste of time. Finally, even though I say that we get all of these patient encounters from our preceptors, we really just stand in the corner and watch the docs at work, doing everything that our professors tell us not to do (e.g., interrupting the patient, not making eye contact).

I've spent over 100 hours seeing patients in what has surely done more harm than good. I really wish that we could scrap the whole Doctoring course---EBM, ethics, differences in health care systems around the world, and everything else---and focus on our basic sciences. We'd certainly do better on the boards.

 

[gujuDoc]

I notice that people on this board are starting to ask about clinical exposure. About UMiami:

We have preceptors that we meet with every month to test our clinical skills. We also see patients in Jackson several times throughout the semester to practice. Finally, every time we learn a new technique such the neurological exam, we spend about 15-30 minutes practicing on our classmates. For truly dedicated FAU students, we can also go to the Boca hospital to watch surgeries, round in the ED, even shadow radiologists---and who says that sitting alone in a dark room isn't exciting!

As much as pre-meds harp about wanting to see patients early, and as much as schools have caved into this demand, I saw that the whole ordeal of seeing patients during the first two years is rather pointless. First, we'll have plenty of opportunities to see patients later on. Second, these patient encounters (as well as ethics, recognizing child abuse, and evidence-based medicine classes) distract us from our studies and usually a royal waste of time. Finally, even though I say that we get all of these patient encounters from our preceptors, we really just stand in the corner and watch the docs at work, doing everything that our professors tell us not to do (e.g., interrupting the patient, not making eye contact).

I've spent over 100 hours seeing patients in what has surely done more harm than good. I really wish that we could scrap the whole Doctoring course---EBM, ethics, differences in health care systems around the world, and everything else---and focus on our basic sciences. We'd certainly do better on the boards.

Perhaps its a waste because of the way your program has dealt with it. I'm not trying bash UMiami because I think they are a great school. However, I've talked with several USF students who've told me that they don't just observe but get to learn how to do things and actually get in there and help. I've observed and shadowed several physicians at USF and worked with getting others to get shadowing opportunities. The physicians at USF medical school are some of the nicest people and most enthusiastic people for wanting to teach others clinical skills. Not one physician that I've dealt with has had negative attitude towards students. Most of those who I contacted are actually the directors of their respective departments.

The students seem to be happy about the clinicals here too from what I gather at forums and what not.

I actually know a friend who scrubbed in on a few plastic surgeries and they actually were teaching her some stuff. One of the reasons I think students get to do more here is because before the new mock patient center thing was installed, real life patients was the only way USF had to teach the students how to do these things. But perhaps I could be wrong on that one and only REL could speak on that last statement with some validity. But with the rest of my post, I think I've seen a lot of evidence of this helping them.

Furthermore, I should also mention that USF has been one of 12 school's selected in the nation to help improve upon med school curricula. So I'd say they have a good solid program.

That said, I don't think you can go wrong with either USF, UF, Umiami, or FSU. All of have solid programs and will ultimately depend on what you make of med school. Go with the one that you feel is the best fit for you and you feel you will be able to spend 4 years at and be relatively happy. Good luck.

 

[REL]

Perhaps its a waste because of the way your program has dealt with it. I'm not trying bash UMiami because I think they are a great school. However, I've talked with several USF students who've told me that they don't just observe but get to learn how to do things and actually get in there and help. I've observed and shadowed several physicians at USF and worked with getting others to get shadowing opportunities. The physicians at USF medical school are some of the nicest people and most enthusiastic people for wanting to teach others clinical skills. Not one physician that I've dealt with has had negative attitude towards students. Most of those who I contacted are actually the directors of their respective departments.

The students seem to be happy about the clinicals here too from what I gather at forums and what not.

I actually know a friend who scrubbed in on a few plastic surgeries and they actually were teaching her some stuff. One of the reasons I think students get to do more here is because before the new mock patient center thing was installed, real life patients was the only way USF had to teach the students how to do these things. But perhaps I could be wrong on that one and only REL could speak on that last statement with some validity. But with the rest of my post, I think I've seen a lot of evidence of this helping them.

Furthermore, I should also mention that USF has been one of 12 school's selected in the nation to help improve upon med school curricula. So I'd say they have a good solid program.

That said, I don't think you can go wrong with either USF, UF, Umiami, or FSU. All of have solid programs and will ultimately depend on what you make of med school. Go with the one that you feel is the best fit for you and you feel you will be able to spend 4 years at and be relatively happy. Good luck.

A huge majority of the USF Med I-II students look forward to their weekly time with real patients. You do glove up and get dirty here in your clinicals. I just spoke with a Med I this year and this was her experience after having been linked up with a cardio-thoracic surgeon for this year. Of course met weekly as the program requires. On one Monday night (in Oct) the surgeon called her at 9pm and invited her to view a heart transplant -- the heart was due in between 10-11pm. The student got there, scrubbed in, and was AT THE TABLE during the entire operation. They continued to meet weekly then one day in Dec the student scrubbed in as they replaced/repaired 3 valved in the heart of a 22 year old -- during this operation the student held clamps and operated the suction, etc. (All before Christmas of first year). During the spring there have been several more "gloved up and dirtied" activities. This is just one story of clinincal activity, there are many more. It is these activities that bring the basic science book learning to life -- it motivates, it is often what keeps them going through the "book learnin" years. Diverse facilities, diverse and large population creating heavy patient loads, one-on-one clinical teaching with live docs/patients, cant get any better than that in the first two years of med school.

 

[RunnerMD]

Mc--Did Dr. H personally email you to tell you about the movement on the Boca/Miami list, or did you ask? I'm just wondering b/c I'm getting anxious about finding a place to live. Why oh why did I switch to the Boca campus? Well, actually I know why....I'm just re-evaluating right now.

PS - How many days until your wedding? I'm so excited for you.

 

[McMD]

I had written him asking him a question concerning the deposit...OF WHICH WE DO HAVE TO PAY AFTER MAY 15Th (for anyone interested)...and he asked me if I was still interested in transferring in his response email. He told me to check my email early this week because he's expecting movement.

11 more days until my wedding!!!...Runner, I will PM you sometime to give you pictures of the wedding stuff.

 

[unfrozencaveman]

I had written him asking him a question concerning the deposit...OF WHICH WE DO HAVE TO PAY AFTER MAY 15Th (for anyone interested)...and he asked me if I was still interested in transferring in his response email. He told me to check my email early this week because he's expecting movement.

11 more days until my wedding!!!...Runner, I will PM you sometime to give you pictures of the wedding stuff.

Hey they finally sent out some info on parking. It's too bad we never ended up getting that number sooner. If only someone had known it in advance. That would have been awesome.

 

[McMD]

Hey they finally sent out some info on parking. It's too bad we never ended up getting that number sooner. If only someone had known it in advance. That would have been awesome.

haha...YEAH!! I'm probably first on the list! Such an overachiever. Did you get an email about it, or just from the website, caveman?

 

[RunnerMD]

I had written him asking him a question concerning the deposit...OF WHICH WE DO HAVE TO PAY AFTER MAY 15Th (for anyone interested)...and he asked me if I was still interested in transferring in his response email. He told me to check my email early this week because he's expecting movement.

11 more days until my wedding!!!...Runner, I will PM you sometime to give you pictures of the wedding stuff.

Yeah--definitely! I'm not on Facebook so I can't see those pics. Which reminds me....you should get on MySpace and join Yrodi, Kleintje, and Caveman (as well myself ).

 

[McMD]

I just PMed you Runner. I was on MySpace for like a day. I couldn't find any of my friends and I didn't really understand the set-up. PLUS...I put that I was "in a relationship" and it changed it to "single" for some reason and my fiance saw it when he was overseas and got a little upset...so I deactivated my account.

 

[RunnerMD]

So I love hurricane season in FL. Everything about it is so exciting. But I just came across this article and was wondering what would happen if this occurred....

Katrina-size hurricane would devastate South Florida, scientists say

Obviously we would have to attend other schools...but how would they determine how we were "distributed" among the other 3 FL schools?

 

[unfrozencaveman]

haha...YEAH!! I'm probably first on the list! Such an overachiever. Did you get an email about it, or just from the website, caveman?

Email.

 

[RunnerMD]

Has anyone looked at the Biochem refresher on the Miami website? I printed it all out at work on Friday and it completely filled a 3 in binder. Its a massive amount of material--I hope we're not supposed to know all of this...

 

[McMD]

Has anyone looked at the Biochem refresher on the Miami website? I printed it all out at work on Friday and it completely filled a 3 in binder. Its a massive amount of material--I hope we're not supposed to know all of this...

Oh Lord.

 

[unfrozencaveman]

Has anyone looked at the Biochem refresher on the Miami website? I printed it all out at work on Friday and it completely filled a 3 in binder. Its a massive amount of material--I hope we're not supposed to know all of this...

You are lame for having even printed it out.

Now I will run off and secretly memorize the whole thing.

 

[MrBurns10]

So I love hurricane season in FL. Everything about it is so exciting. But I just came across this article and was wondering what would happen if this occurred....

Katrina-size hurricane would devastate South Florida, scientists say

Obviously we would have to attend other schools...but how would they determine how we were "distributed" among the other 3 FL schools?

That's a very scary thought, although I must admit I found it appropriate that the name of the quoted director of Miami's building department is Charles Danger. "You're looking at major, major, major destruction," said Charles Danger. "They will be blown out and you will never find them," Danger said. Great name.

I wonder if they'd let us go to a med school out of state if that happened. If not, I would hope they would let us go where we had family or friends.

 

[methamike]

I got off the waitlist!! I'm going to USF. I can't wait.

 

[inflamesdjk02]

I'm A College Graduate!!!

 

[McMD]

Dr. H called me this afternoon and told me he had a spot open for me at the Miami campus!!!....I'm so excited!!! Runner, you have to switch back to Miami!!!

In other news...tonight it was raining and I was walking/running the dog and fell flat on my face and scraped up my hands and knees really bad (felt like an idiot) and it's only 10 more days until my wedidng!!!...I HOPE the damage goes away before the wedding!!!!

Congrats inflames!!

 

[QofQuimica]

I'm A College Graduate!!!

Congrats! I'm a graduate now too. Congrats on your acceptance, methamike, and sorry about your spill, McMD....your knees won't show anyway, and you can always wear gloves if your hands are too bad.

 

[DwyaneWade]

Hey I guess I will be seeing you guys at UM next year...that sucks about hte biochem I was hoping I could get by on the lippincotts book

 

[labelwhore]

McMd - im just curious, when did you request a transfer from boca to miami?

 

[deuist]

Hey I guess I will be seeing you guys at UM next year...that sucks about hte biochem I was hoping I could get by on the lippincotts book

For the majority of classes at UM, all you need are the notes that the professors give you. You won't need a textbook until anatomy. The rest of the first semester is doable with nothing more than what you'll get in class.

 

[McMD]

McMd - im just curious, when did you request a transfer from boca to miami?

Back in Feb.

 

[Tigerstang]

Ok folks, I need some help. It's decision time, I guess. I need to finally decide between UF and Miami. I know a lot of people here have chosen Miami over UF, and I'd like to know why. I know a lot about UF (there are a lot of Gators in my family), but admittedly little about Miami (I mean, you only get so much from a one day visit to interview). Folks who picked Miami - what made your decision? I appreciate your advice folks. And I know this might have been discussed before, but I've been out of the country for the past month and have thus missed a lot of discussion on this thread (though I'm sure most of it focused on Red Tide and the perils of Durham, NC).

 

[labelwhore]

mcmd - interesting, i requested a transfer in february also...hopefully i hear some good news pretty soon.

 

[MrBurns10]

Ok folks, I need some help. It's decision time, I guess. I need to finally decide between UF and Miami. I know a lot of people here have chosen Miami over UF, and I'd like to know why. I know a lot about UF (there are a lot of Gators in my family), but admittedly little about Miami (I mean, you only get so much from a one day visit to interview). Folks who picked Miami - what made your decision? I appreciate your advice folks. And I know this might have been discussed before, but I've been out of the country for the past month and have thus missed a lot of discussion on this thread (though I'm sure most of it focused on Red Tide and the perils of Durham, NC).

I got put on hold at UF (I know why, though), but I thought I would chime in because I would have most likely chosen UM over UF anyway for in-state (I'm not pursuing the waitlist). They both have their good aspects and their bad ones, so I'll just make a short list that is based completely on personal opinion.

UM Pros:
- it's really an up-and-coming school. They're getting more research money than ever, their clinical training is highly respected and their basic science teaching is getting better; the new med school dean was the head of internal medicine at Duke and everyone I talk to here about UM brings up how he's a "powerhouse" and he'll "make UM rise in the rankings" (both direct quotes)
-they put their lectures online. The fact that UF doesn't really bothered me because I think it would help me learn and not force me to go to class if I'm sick or was up late the night before.
-UM is P/F for basic science years (I believe? someone correct me if I'm wrong. but at least I know UF is graded)
-more diverse patient population and diseases. My dad was a pathology resident at Jackson years ago and said he's seen stuff there he's never seen anywhere else
-cooler city
-I meshed better with the students I met at UM. I thought they seemed more chill than the students at UF (but that was just my initial impression...it could just be the result of the small sample I met). and UF in general seemed to have a superiority complex that I thought wasn't completely warranted.

UF Pros:
-more established research reputation
-they seem to sort of "teach to the boards", so their students do well on step 1. I think you can do well anywhere if you put in the work and practice a lot, but maybe their teaching style might help.
-Shands is a great hospital
-can/have to do your rotations in other cities to get diverse experiences (can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it)
-smaller city with lower living expenses
-closer to my parent's house
-and of course, there's a piano in the reading room

I don't think you can go wrong with either school, it's just up to your tastes and what you think is important.

 

[labelwhore]

does anybody happen to know what address we send the UM deposit to and who we make the check out to?...i just want to get this done beforehand because i'm going on vacation. thanks

 

[RunnerMD]

Ok folks, I need some help. It's decision time, I guess. I need to finally decide between UF and Miami. I know a lot of people here have chosen Miami over UF, and I'd like to know why. I know a lot about UF (there are a lot of Gators in my family), but admittedly little about Miami (I mean, you only get so much from a one day visit to interview). Folks who picked Miami - what made your decision? I appreciate your advice folks. And I know this might have been discussed before, but I've been out of the country for the past month and have thus missed a lot of discussion on this thread (though I'm sure most of it focused on Red Tide and the perils of Durham, NC).

check your pm box

 

[McMD]

does anybody happen to know what address we send the UM deposit to and who we make the check out to?...i just want to get this done beforehand because i'm going on vacation. thanks

Sorry labelwhore, I knew before they updated the incoming freshman website....the old one said it on there. They are updating the new website with the deposit info on May 15th.

 

[DwyaneWade]

For the majority of classes at UM, all you need are the notes that the professors give you. You won't need a textbook until anatomy. The rest of the first semester is doable with nothing more than what you'll get in class.

well that's good news.

And to chime in...why would you go to gainesville over miami?? 305 baby!

 

[Opallife]

McMD I think I met you at the FAU open house...I am putting in a transfer to switch from Miami to Boca this week as soon as I can talk to Dr. Hinkley and ask him a few questions. From what I have been told there were quite a few people who wanted to switch to FAU so that should open up some slots soon

 

[McMD]

McMD I think I met you at the FAU open house...I am putting in a transfer to switch from Miami to Boca this week as soon as I can talk to Dr. Hinkley and ask him a few questions. From what I have been told there were quite a few people who wanted to switch to FAU so that should open up some slots soon

Nope, I didn't make it down to the FAU open house, I was planning on it but decided against going. Sorry Opallife. I think there are many requests to transfer between campuses, I would go ahead and get your request in!

 

[RunnerMD]

Dr. H called me this afternoon and told me he had a spot open for me at the Miami campus!!!....I'm so excited!!! Runner, you have to switch back to Miami!!!

In other news...tonight it was raining and I was walking/running the dog and fell flat on my face and scraped up my hands and knees really bad (felt like an idiot) and it's only 10 more days until my wedidng!!!...I HOPE the damage goes away before the wedding!!!!

Congrats inflames!!

Mc--Congrats! I'm so happy for you! I'm trying to transfer! As much as I prefer the Boca area, I just feel like the housing options are soooo much better in Miami, esp since I would like to buy/invest. I didn't get on the list though till late March/April though....*sigh* if only I had stuck with the Miami campus instead of transferring.

Re: your fall--how is everything today? Is it just your knees and hands? I'm sure everything will heal within 10 days. Speaking of...it reminds me of when I fell and "busted" by lip/scraped my face right before my interviews this year. I don't think the two of us klutzes should go running around SoBe together lol

 

[McMD]

Mc--Congrats! I'm so happy for you! I'm trying to transfer! As much as I prefer the Boca area, I just feel like the housing options are soooo much better in Miami, esp since I would like to buy/invest. I didn't get on the list though till late March/April though....*sigh* if only I had stuck with the Miami campus instead of transferring.

Re: your fall--how is everything today? Is it just your knees and hands? I'm sure everything will heal within 10 days. Speaking of...it reminds me of when I fell and "busted" by lip/scraped my face right before my interviews this year. I don't think the two of us klutzes should go running around SoBe together lol

Runner, only by the small information that I have gathered from talking to you through this proceess, I think we have a lot in common-you HAVE to go to the Miami campus.

Re my fall-my freakin knee hurts really bad, it's all scraped up...my hands are healing thank goodness. I'm going to go invest in some neosporin to heal faster. It won't show in my wedding dress, but it will show in my dress that I'm wearing the day after.

I think we're going to look into buying after the first year-but definitely rent the first year....that will also give us a feel of the city and where the good places to buy are. We'll see!

My fiance is coming home today, I haven't seen him in a month...I'm SO excited!!

 

[deuist]

And to chime in...why would you go to gainesville over miami?? 305 baby!

Less traffic, cheaper living, hotter girls... don't act like it's the other way around.

 

[RunnerMD]

Runner, only by the small information that I have gathered from talking to you through this proceess, I think we have a lot in common-you HAVE to go to the Miami campus.

Re my fall-my freakin knee hurts really bad, it's all scraped up...my hands are healing thank goodness. I'm going to go invest in some neosporin to heal faster. It won't show in my wedding dress, but it will show in my dress that I'm wearing the day after.

I think we're going to look into buying after the first year-but definitely rent the first year....that will also give us a feel of the city and where the good places to buy are. We'll see!

My fiance is coming home today, I haven't seen him in a month...I'm SO excited!!

Mc--I feel the same way! Plus, it would be so cool to know people before starting school (unlike Boca where I won't know anyone). I just emailed Dr. H asking about any movement on the list to see if I might hear good news soon as well.

You must be so excited about your fiance! Since I have a feeling you won't be on SDN much now that he's home, hope you have a great week

 

[MrBurns10]

Less traffic, cheaper living, hotter girls... don't act like it's the other way around.

You're not kidding, a lot of the girls there were quite attractive. This, of course, didn't factor into my medical school decision as my path to lesbianism goes through unfrozencaveman. On the other hand, I only saw one attractive guy there and it was a friend of mine from middle school. Strange...

 

[RunnerMD]

modified my avatar but you can't reall see it too clearly...any advice? should i go back to the road sign

 

[McMD]

Love the avatar. I am VERY excited about my fiance's return. I'll keep you updated on the wedding stuff, I still am addicted to SDN when he's here, just not as badly...plus I'll still have to work during the week, so I'll be on SDN then!

Ok, I'm confused by Deuist and Burns...I think Dueist was implying there's hotter girls in Gville, which I'd DEFINITELY have to disagree....and I think Burns was implying hotter girls in Miami, which I'd agree with, but I think a large percentage of Gville girls are unattractive compared to any city. (no offense to anyone currently in Gville...I'm sure you're hot, just my opinion from visiting Gville often)

 

[RunnerMD]

Re: the hotness of girls in various FL cities. I actually had a convo with a friend about this lately. As far as undergrad goes, I think Tally has the hottest (as in Maxim type hotness) girls in FL. Gville has many girls who are beautiful in the traditional/classic sense.

However, I think that once you exclude the undergrad population, all bets are off. In the general population, I'd guess Miami has hotter girls than typical "college towns."

 

[MrBurns10]

Ok, I'm confused by Deuist and Burns...I think Dueist was implying there's hotter girls in Gville, which I'd DEFINITELY have to disagree....and I think Burns was implying hotter girls in Miami, which I'd agree with, but I think a large percentage of Gville girls are unattractive compared to any city. (no offense to anyone currently in Gville...I'm sure you're hot, just my opinion from visiting Gville often)

Actually, I did mean that the girls at UF were really attractive. I have no idea what the undergrad population is like at any of those three schools (although I have seen some pictures of FSU girls and I'd agree with Runner on that one), but specifically from my interview day the UF Med girls in general were pretty attractive (while the guys were surprisingly not). I remember thinking the guys at UM were cute, but I didn't meet as many of them on the interview day; same with the girls.

Have fun with your fiance!

 

[McMD]

YES!! FSU girls are way hotter than any other undergrads!!...I went to FSU for undergrad, so maybe I'm a little biased-but that's just my opinion, and I'd have to agree with Runner that Miami has the hottest girls actually in the city, not necessarily undergrads. If you are my friend on facebook, you'll see my group "FSU girls are way hotter than UF girls"...if you click on that group, you'll see one of the funniest pictures-I'd recommend it for a good laugh!

 

[QofQuimica]

You're not kidding, a lot of the girls there were quite attractive. This, of course, didn't factor into my medical school decision as my path to lesbianism goes through unfrozencaveman.

I thought we had something special, burnsie. After you told all of SDN how you and I slept together, how you could do this to me??? Why me???

 

[inflamesdjk02]

modified my avatar but you can't reall see it too clearly...any advice? should i go back to the road sign

How long did it take you to make that???

Haha that's awesome.

 

[deuist]

modified my avatar but you can't reall see it too clearly...any advice? should i go back to the road sign

That "For Dummies" book is awesome! You sure are good with the image editors. Can you spruce up our website, ummsm.com? What do you know about sound engineering? Can you make my voice sound better (Click on the first news story on the ummsm website)?

 

[REL]

Ok folks, I need some help. It's decision time, I guess. I need to finally decide between UF and Miami. I know a lot of people here have chosen Miami over UF, and I'd like to know why. I know a lot about UF (there are a lot of Gators in my family), but admittedly little about Miami (I mean, you only get so much from a one day visit to interview). Folks who picked Miami - what made your decision? I appreciate your advice folks. And I know this might have been discussed before, but I've been out of the country for the past month and have thus missed a lot of discussion on this thread (though I'm sure most of it focused on Red Tide and the perils of Durham, NC).

If you want to be a clinical MD there is no question that you will get a more thorough clinical experience at UM. There is little difference in NIH standing between the two. Gainesville is a wonderful undergrad town but doesnt have what it takes to sustain the overall clinical experience without sending you to the Jax. UM has it all right there, large population, tons of great clinical facilities, culture, and the ability to fly out on breaks and for missions trips. Those of some of the same reasons many are beginning to pick USF over UF -- the realization has hit. You really need diverse clinical training facilities, large patient populations, and a curriculum and technology which is used for the overall learning of the student doctor. Residencies at all three schools are strong all over the states and your final tuition debt will be similar over the long run. If you want to go clinical, it's and easy choice.