Geisinger Commonwealth vs Drexel

[94ruski]

Hey all! I've gotten admitted to GCSOM and have an upcoming interview at Drexel. As a PA resident, I'm basically picking between these two school at this point. I've heard some negative things about Drexel from browsing SDN, but I haven't seen Drexel compared with GCSOM really in depth anywhere. As it stands:

Geisinger:
Pros:
-affiliated with Geisinger medical center which is big and established in NE PA
- I enjoyed the general atmosphere during the interview, and the students I talked to seemed to really like it there
- Brand new building/facilities
- pretty good match list for a new school
- Student feedback and input seems to have a lot of influence based on what I gathered
- relatively small (108) class size

Cons:
-Not really established or prestigious since it's 10 years old
- In Scranton (which isn't that big a deal for me, but it's not as nice as Phili)
- Not sure what to think of third year hybrid longitudinal vs traditional rotations

Drexel:
Pros:
-Older and more established program
- in a major metropolitan center
- decent match list on the east coast
- international opportunities
- mulitple curriculum tracks
Cons:
- more expensive plus cost of living in philadelphia
- large ~250 class size
- new curriculum that doesn't have in person lectures (not sure about this)
- have heard that hospital affiliations are weaker especially when compared to the other med schools in philadeplphia

Obviously, my pros/cons list is limited because I didn't get to experience Drexel yet. I'm curious to hear what other users and current students who have more information about these two schools might be able to give feedback on. What do you guys think?

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[sixersfan]

Personally the not in person lectures is a big turn off for drexel (of course this is only my opinion)

 

[94ruski]

Yeah, I don't really like not having the option but I'm not sure if it works smoother in practice than it sounds.

 

[trickydick]

The third year rotations for Geisinger seemed wack. Don't know anything about Drexel.

 

[sixersfan]

(I'm from scranton) The thing about scranton is the cost of living is so much less than in Philly. You can get a real nice apartment in scranton for the same price as a sketchy apartment in Philly. Also the 3 hospitals in scranton are literally less than 5 min from the school, which when the time comes, will make rotations very convenient (if they are at that those hospitals). The school is brand new as you mentioned and i drive past it weekly and it really is beautiful. However, I cannot speak for Drexel as i have not seen their campus. Also about it being part of geisinger is a huge opportunity not only for match but for further employment.

 

[94ruski]

I was accepted to both schools. I immediately withdrew my acceptance from Geisinger. At my interview, I found out it's common for students to SOAP there, and they have very limited research opportunities there (my faculty interviewer even told me that)

That’s kind of weird. At my interview we were given a list of all the different research opportunities, and they seemed to make a big deal of it. Did you interview this cycle?


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[trickydick]

That’s kind of weird. At my interview we were given a list of all the different research opportunities, and they seemed to make a big deal of it. Did you interview this cycle?


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The fact that they could give me a list of their research opportunities with a decent level of detail was pretty telling about the research availability

 

[94ruski]

The fact that they could give me a list of their research opportunities with a decent level of detail was pretty telling about the research availability

I didn't interpret that list to be exhaustive though. Looking at Geisinger's website shows that the whole institution has around 800 studies of both clinical and hard science research going on in various stages. You would think that students could get in on some of that...

 

[i12bMD]

I personally don't think that Drexel supports its students as effectively as it could. If any institution has seemed corporate to me in the Medical School community it was Drexel. Admittedly I didn't interview there, but from stories I've heard from classmates it was certainly not pleasant.

 

[madanada]

I was accepted to both schools. I immediately withdrew my acceptance from Geisinger. At my interview, I found out it's common for students to SOAP there, and they have very limited research opportunities there (my faculty interviewer even told me that)

GCSOM has average/above average match rates, with very few students having to SOAP (so better or the same as Drexel). Those *few* who have had to SOAP in the past vied for ultra-competitive specialties (ortho, neurosurg), and ran into the same issues that students from any medical school pursuing those specialties face. Please let me know the name of this faculty interviewer, because I'd love to figure out where he or she is getting this mysterious data.

There are 15-20 basic science research faculty at the medical school in Scranton, and MANY clinical research opportunities within the Geisinger Health System. MANY as in MANY more positions than medical students. The list you received on interview day was definitely not exhaustive. Also, medical students as a whole do not work on research projects during the school year (evident in that the average number of publications/presentations across all matched students was 4.7 in 2017, with most students having 2-3 of those from undergrad). There are more important aspects to a medical education than research (curriculum, student life, clinical exposure, patient exposure, small class size).

I interviewed at both, and I have no regrets on my choice in GCSOM. Drexel's dissection labs were old and disgusting (you'll be spending more time there than you think), and the lecture situation and enormous class size were big turn offs.

 

[kaleidoscopeheart]

I interviewed at both places and I was incredibly impressed with GCSOM! Also, if you're interested in remaining in the area, Geisinger is a big name in NEPA.

 

[Kingsmen2018]

Do not go to drexel. Drexel gets flamed on SDN so u can see for yourself why. Still a US MD don't get me wrong, but its arguably 2nd worst only behind north state

 

[1203xx]

Do not go to drexel. Drexel gets flamed on SDN so u can see for yourself why. Still a US MD don't get me wrong, but its arguably 2nd worst only behind north state

I thought NYMC or RFU is the second worst behind northstate

 

[i12bMD]

I thought NYMC or RFU is the second worst behind northstate

Generally NYMC and RFU are also pretty low on that totem pole with FAU or FIU also in that mix. Drexel is definitely down there.

 

[ciestar]

I interviewed at both Commonwealth (as it was at the time) and Drexel.
I cannot explain it, but Drexel definitely felt more “right” for me?

I am from NEPA. I was honored to interview there, but Drexel was a better fit for me overall. Naturally, Geisinger wasn’t even the parent institution at the time.

I don’t think I am getting a subpar education at Drexel. You can take that with a grain of salt, but the only people that should be commenting on the quality of an education at any school, is a student there.