Official Technion American Medical School Thread 2014 - 2015

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I don't know if you can answer this, but do you have any idea how the other schools in Israel (specifically MSIH but also Sackler) compare to Technion with regard to the problems you've stated?

I can't say too much about MSIH and Sackler, but from my impressions talking with students from these schools about the curriculum, etc., I do think these schools are better choices. I find the Technion to be less equipped to handle students' needs comparatively based on what I've heard from the other students discussing board prep, their typical schedule, and the guidance the school gives.

The problem of being an IMG would still be there, but I think its impact is a bit less at the other schools (or at least Sackler) because with their larger alumni base (from having larger classes) or the way the curriculum is set up, more residency programs have probably heard of the school. Again, this isn't definitive, but it certainly seemed reasonable to think so based on the respective match lists.

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Thank you for your insight. What do you mean by typical schedule?
 
I strongly advise against going to school here. Unless you have a desire to stay in Israel after school, strong Hebrew skills, or simply an unwavering calling to study in Israel, do not go here. Yes, there are many positives, but the risks make these pale in comparison. I agree the school is a notch above Caribbean schools, but the problem is that many residency programs have never heard of the Technion and do not want to take the risk of taking a student from here. This is why so many people match into New York schools-- these schools are more IMG friendly and know of the Technion. Regarding this year's match list, the class was as a whole "successful" on paper, but many of these places were the students' lower choices. Medical school is meant to get you to residency, and this school doesn't do a good job of getting you there. It's getting tougher and tougher for the IMG crowd, and I really think that if you have options elsewhere, avoid this place. The administration tries to be helpful, but they simply don't have the man-power or experience to address students' needs. It's just too much of a gamble to come here. The affiliations the Technion has generally mean absolutely nothing-- for the vast majority, they don't help you secure clinical electives in your fourth year, etc. Also, the hospital experiences within Israel will leave any student struggling to adjust on their US rotations as they are much much less rigorous with lower expectations here. There is no adequate preparation doing SOAP notes, pt presentations, case management, etc. And if you don't happen to speak Hebrew fluently, you miss a HUGE part of your education bc you can't gain from meetings, journal clubs, rounds, pt interviews. Of course you can do well on boards (although the school struggles to adequately prepare students) and these scores can take you far, and there are benefits of being here (very hands-on, cultural competence, forces resilience with all the difficulties of living here, the doctors have impressive knowledge, huge diversity in care), but it's not worth the gamble, especially with the huge disadvantage IMGs face as more and more medical students apply for a static amount of residency spots. The Technion has matched well in the past, but it's become harder and will continue to be harder. Obviously, if this is your only option, then you can make it to residency, but you will likely be settling for less than you want even with all of your hard work. Medical school is hard enough on its own; don't make it harder on yourself by coming here. There have been so many hassles of trying to get even the simplest of things done here or trying to get needed information, and you want a program to help you with these basic needs. It's not a good sign when most of your class is ready to leave the Technion and never look back. If I had known what I know now, I would not have come here unless I had no other option.

You are not the first person to try and tarnish the reputation of the Technion. Also, based on what you have said-I doubt you are a student here. My guess is that you are someone who did not get in and are angry. Either that or you are an student from many years ago when the Technion was having some serious problems and you suffered tremendously. (If it's the latter- sorry dude. That sucks.) Your message doesn't really deserve a response since it is by and large a lie but I will address your points for the prospective applicants on this page.

1) "I agree the school is a notch above Caribbean schools". Yes we are way above the Caribbean schools. That is based on yearly match percentages as well as the overall quality of the residency placements.
2) "The problem that many residency programs have never heard of the Technion and do not want to take the risk of taking a student from here." This is simply not true. The Technion has multiple Nobel prize winners, and our students get great residencies. Most normal programs have heard of us and as our match results show year after year- they are very willing to take us... I really doubt we'd get great residencies if the programs had never heard of us.
3) "This is why so many people match into New York schools-- these schools are more IMG friendly and know of the Technion." Many of our matches over the last few years were in programs with either very few or no IMG's. Also, many students match in NY because NY has a ton of great programs and many of our students are from NY. Also, there are many great programs with IMG's...
4) "Regarding this year's match list, the class was as a whole "successful" on paper, but many of these places were the students' lower choices." The match list is great on paper but what?!?! You go on and on saying we have trouble finding residencies etc. yet you admit we seemingly do very well. The match lists have been excellent and you have no way of knowing if students matched low on their lists. That kind of information is generally kept very private- I guess not for you! Also, If the great matches were in fact low on the match lists (which you completely made up) that just means our students had some pretty awesome places above where they matched. (Strange how we get great interviews if no one has heard of us)
5) "The affiliations the Technion has generally mean absolutely nothing-- for the vast majority, they don't help you secure clinical electives in your fourth year, etc" Many of our students do electives at our affiliations. If you were actually part of our school you would have a list of where students rotated each year and you would see that what you are saying is just false.
6) "Also, the hospital experiences within Israel will leave any student struggling to adjust on their US rotations as they are much much less rigorous with lower expectations here. There is no adequate preparation doing SOAP notes, pt presentations, case management, etc." Our 4th years told us they were extremely well prepared when they got back to the US. They said they were at the same level or better than any other students they encountered. They got excellent residencies because they got excellent letters of recommendation from their US electives since they were very well prepared and performed very well. Do you think they could have done that if they were ill prepared? Do you think that matching well and being unprepared go together?
7) "And if you don't happen to speak Hebrew fluently, you miss a HUGE part of your education bc you can't gain from meetings, journal clubs, rounds, pt interviews." The vast majority of this is done in English. (You're simply not a student here.)
8) "but it's not worth the gamble, especially with the huge disadvantage IMGs face as more and more medical students apply for a static amount of residency spots." This has nothing to do with the Technion. This is true of all IMG's. However, our match rates are above and beyond virtually all other IMG programs. Specifically for the Technion and the rest of the Israeli schools- It seems it definitely IS 'worth the gamble'.
9) "It's not a good sign when most of your class is ready to leave the Technion and never look back." This is not even remotely true for any of the 4 classes. All prospective students are encouraged to contact the school to speak to actual students here.
10) "If I had known what I know now, I would not have come here unless I had no other option." First of all it seems you know nothing. Second of all, you didn't come here.

The Technion has it's problems like every other medical school- just not any of the problems that you mentioned. Our students leave the Technion with an excellent education an excellent residency, and an incredible group of friends. You are not a student here and I'm sorry for whatever it is you went through.

Like I said before, you did not deserve a response and I will not waste any more time responding to you. My guess is that you will create new usernames and respond to yourself as if you are other students to help validate your points. Have fun.
 
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From what I've heard, although I need to do more research, Technion is a better choice if you want to stay in Israel but as far as preparing you for the American exams and residencies it's not quite as good and because of that it sometimes takes students more than 4 years to finish (who are planning on returning to the states). I think the residencies that students get from the other schools (MSIH and Sackler) are better. But again, I'm not totally sure and still doing research. I have applied to Technion and MSIH. I got invited for an interview by Technion a few weeks ago but still never recieved an official date. I've already interviewed with MSIH.

There have definitely been students over the years who took more than 4 years to finish. However, that is definitely the rare exception to the rule. The program is 4 years and virtually all complete it in 4 years. Reasons for taking more than 4 years are generally either personal (had a baby/marriage/research) or academic (failed a board exam). I'd say less that 5% take more than 4 years which is on par with any other medical school. Also, in terms of preparing us for American exams and residencies- i'd say our students are very well prepared. Every year we have students who score in the >90th percentile on both their boards and shelf exams. The rest for the most part do very well. Our residency placements are excellent and speak for themselves. The Technion does not encourage students to stay in Israel but it doesn't frown on it either. Our school helps you do whatever it is you want to do.
 
You are not the first person to try and tarnish the reputation of the Technion. Also, based on what you have said-I doubt you are a student here. My guess is that you are someone who did not get in and are angry. Either that or you are an student from many years ago when the Technion was having some serious problems and you suffered tremendously. (If it's the latter- sorry dude. That sucks.) Your message doesn't really deserve a response since it is by and large a lie but I will address your points for the prospective applicants on this page.

1) "I agree the school is a notch above Caribbean schools". Yes we are way above the Caribbean schools. That is based on yearly match percentages as well as the overall quality of the residency placements.
2) "The problem that many residency programs have never heard of the Technion and do not want to take the risk of taking a student from here." This is simply not true. The Technion has multiple Nobel prize winners, and our students get great residencies. Most normal programs have heard of us and as our match results show year after year- they are very willing to take us... I really doubt we'd get great residencies if the programs had never heard of us.
3) "This is why so many people match into New York schools-- these schools are more IMG friendly and know of the Technion." Many of our matches over the last few years were in programs with either very few or no IMG's. Also, many students match in NY because NY has a ton of great programs and many of our students are from NY. Also, there are many great programs with IMG's...
4) "Regarding this year's match list, the class was as a whole "successful" on paper, but many of these places were the students' lower choices." The match list is great on paper but what?!?! You go on and on saying we have trouble finding residencies etc. yet you admit we seemingly do very well. The match lists have been excellent and you have no way of knowing if students matched low on their lists. That kind of information is generally kept very private- I guess not for you! Also, If the great matches were in fact low on the match lists (which you completely made up) that just means our students had some pretty awesome places above where they matched. (Strange how we get great interviews if no one has heard of us)
5) "The affiliations the Technion has generally mean absolutely nothing-- for the vast majority, they don't help you secure clinical electives in your fourth year, etc" Many of our students do electives at our affiliations. If you were actually part of our school you would have a list of where students rotated each year and you would see that what you are saying is just false.
6) "Also, the hospital experiences within Israel will leave any student struggling to adjust on their US rotations as they are much much less rigorous with lower expectations here. There is no adequate preparation doing SOAP notes, pt presentations, case management, etc." Our 4th years told us they were extremely well prepared when they got back to the US. They said they were at the same level or better than any other students they encountered. They got excellent residencies because they got excellent letters of recommendation from their US electives since they were very well prepared and performed very well. Do you think they could have done that if they were ill prepared? Do you think that matching well and being unprepared go together?
7) "And if you don't happen to speak Hebrew fluently, you miss a HUGE part of your education bc you can't gain from meetings, journal clubs, rounds, pt interviews." The vast majority of this is done in English. (You're simply not a student here.)
8) "but it's not worth the gamble, especially with the huge disadvantage IMGs face as more and more medical students apply for a static amount of residency spots." This has nothing to do with the Technion. This is true of all IMG's. However, our match rates are above and beyond virtually all other IMG programs. Specifically for the Technion and the rest of the Israeli schools- It seems it definitely IS 'worth the gamble'.
9) "It's not a good sign when most of your class is ready to leave the Technion and never look back." This is not even remotely true for any of the 4 classes. All prospective students are encouraged to contact the school to speak to actual students here.
10) "If I had known what I know now, I would not have come here unless I had no other option." First of all it seems you know nothing. Second of all, you didn't come here.

The Technion has it's problems like every other medical school- just not any of the problems that you mentioned. Our students leave the Technion with an excellent education an excellent residency, and an incredible group of friends. You are not a student here and I'm sorry for whatever it is you went through.

Like I said before, you did not deserve a response and I will not waste any more time responding to you. My guess is that you will create new usernames and respond to yourself as if you are other students to help validate your points. Have fun.

I can appreciate your pride in the Technion; but, as you said, each medical school has its problems. I wrote not to defame the school but to provide more information to those applying. Applicants should learn as much as they can, and I share what I know about the program to help them make such an important decision.

To act as though you have more authority than anyone else to comment about the school is not logical, and to respond to me in such anger and insult is inappropriate (and reflects poorly on the school you are representing.) As you mentioned in a prior post, you are not very far along in the program, so I am surprised you esteem your opinion so much to claim everything I have mentioned is a lie. Those reading these posts can believe from your aggressive response that everything I’ve said is a lie, or they can have faith that I might actually know a thing or two and am posting because I want to help those applying make informed decisions.

I won’t respond point by point because it’s clear that you’re a student with little or no experience with the 3rd/4th year happenings, but I will say that recognizing the Technion for its Nobel Prize winners doesn’t say anything about the quality of its tiny American program, and that is why a good chunk of residency programs hesitate to take students from here. You would benefit from asking all of the fourth years how many of their interviewers asked, “What’s the Technion?”

Interestingly, even you wrote that the Technion has had some serious issues. I firmly believe that the program is still trying to iron out some pretty big problems. Just as you are entitled to your thoughts, I am entitled to mine, and so I’d appreciate if you please direct your disrespect elsewhere because it is not constructive.
 
The question is 12 out of how many? The answer is 12 out of 14. In a class of 20, 6 did not do the match because they are staying in Israel. the remaining 14 did the match and 12 matched. 12 out of 14 is 85%. Also, the 12 matched at awesome places.

For those who wanted the numbers, this isn’t totally correct. Of the graduating class of 2015, only 13 people entered the official NRMP Match. Three people did not match this year, but one managed to SOAP into a completely different field. The pathology position was prematch (i.e. program does not participate in the Match.) So the Match Day statistics before SOAPing are actually 10 out of 13 (76%).

Also, the class of 2015 has 20 students. Four of these students were from earlier years, so 4/20 (20%) took more than four years to graduate. Of these four, three took longer due to failed classes or boards. This class also started with three other students who are no longer in the class. In other words, 3 of the 19 that started in 2011 (16%) didn’t make it to graduate in 2015.
 
Those reading these posts can believe from your aggressive response that everything I’ve said is a lie, or they can have faith that I might actually know a thing or two and am posting because I want to help those applying make informed decisions.

Those reading don't have to believe anything. You made your points and I went through them one by one. Prospective students can now speak to the school and get information directly from (non-anonymous) students.

You say you aren't trying to defame the school yet after reading your original post no one in their right mind would come to the Technion. Fortunately, most of what you say is just plain false. Want an objective measure of our school? Check out our match list!

I recommend not blaming the school for what has happened to you but trying to figure out what went wrong.
 
Those reading don't have to believe anything. You made your points and I went through them one by one. Prospective students can now speak to the school and get information directly from (non-anonymous) students.

You say you aren't trying to defame the school yet after reading your original post no one in their right mind would come to the Technion. Fortunately, most of what you say is just plain false. Want an objective measure of our school? Check out our match list!

I recommend not blaming the school for what has happened to you but trying to figure out what went wrong.

The only thing that "happened to me" is that I willingly chose to go to school here and have recognized that there are problems in the program. You listed several positives of the school, which are great, but you've glossed over negative elements, possibly because you haven't reached a position yet where you would experience the problems, e.g. going through the boards/rotations/interviews/match process. All medical schools have problems, and an applicant should be able to weigh their options. Just because I choose to be anonymous doesn't mean what I say is worthless.

I put the numbers for 2015 there to try and impart objectivity. The match list is objective only to a degree-- you don't know from this where these places were on students' rank lists (which is super important to know, even if they're still at so-called great places-- again note most are in NY, where the Technion is more known-- because you'll want a program that can get you where you want), if they got their speciality of choice (because people apply to family, prelim, or internal as back-ups), if they had personal connections in the program (from doing rotations there or from family members). I know from my close friendships within the 2015 class that some of these match results were pretty far down on their lists, even from people who rocked the boards. I also know that some people who failed the boards made their decision to stay in Israel in part because they had more than one board attempt.
 
So where do people do their fourth year rotations?
 
So where do people do their fourth year rotations?
All over. There are many places that say they won't take IMG's for rotations but most of our 4th years did rotations at such places.
 
So where do people do their fourth year rotations?
The Technion allows 18 weeks of fourth year to be spent doing clinical electives-- these can be done anywhere in the US or Israel. Here is a list of the specific places. The list does not take into account how many students did rotations at the same place. Several students also did rotations in Israel (not listed.)

Technion students aim to do electives in June, July, or August to get LOR. However, obtaining US electives was a challenge for a number of students due to many programs training interns during June or July and therefore not accepting students then. US schools go through applications in order (their students first, then US students, then Caribbean/IMG), so some people had trouble getting electives summer and early fall. People had the best luck with Einstein and NYMC, other affiliations that accept 1-2 Technion students/year (Hopkins, UPMC), or places where students had a family connection. I'm not sure from this list how many of these programs accept IMGs officially (e.g. the Cleveland Clinic no longer takes IMGs for electives), but people can work around that with connections.

US Elective Rotation Locations- Class of 2015
Pediatrics
NYU
Einstein Jacobi
Cleveland Clinic
ECU- Brody school of medicine
Children's Hospital of Colorado
Einstein-Montefiore
University of Illinois (Chicago)
Baystate Medical Center/Tufts
Loyola

IM
Lennox Hill
UPMC
Johns Hopkins- Howard County General Hospital
Mayo Clinic
HUP-UPenn
Forbes Hospital part of Allegheny General Health System in Pittsburgh
UPMC (University of Pittsburgh)

ObGyn
Wayne State
Sinai Hospital of Baltimore
Temple University
Jefferson University Hospital
NSLIJ/Hofstra School of Medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital
Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center
Mayo Clinic

EM
NYMC- Metropolitan Hospital Center
New York Methodist Hospital/NYPH-Cornell Medical

Psychiatry
Einstein – Montefiore

Radiology
Einstein-Jacobi

Family Medicine
University of Arizona
 
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Anyone have a current admission office phone number? The one on the website doesn't seem to be valid...
 
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Thanks for your response, MooDoc15! Another thing I was wondering.. how do students find who to do their research project with? Is there a way I can look up labs now?
 
I have an interview next week.


Question for ppl.. Would I be dumb to give up a US MD acceptance for Technion?
 
I have an interview next week.


Question for ppl.. Would I be dumb to give up a US MD acceptance for Technion?
i think it depends on the school you got into. although in general you are probably better off when it comes to residencies if you've gone to an american program regardless of which one. the other thing to consider though is where you think you'll personally succeed the most. if you think technion is more geared to helping you succeed (maybe it's a less competitive program and you do better in that kind of environment and be more likely to do well or if you think their research opportunities are much better and you'll enjoy the program more) then ultimately it will help you more with residency because you'll have higher grades/marks on your USMLEs and then have a better chance at a good residency even though technically they will look at you differently as an IMG. not sure if that made sense but those are my personal thoughts on the subject:)
 
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Technion or US DO - which would you take? I am feeling that Technion seems very risky and I don't want to be stuck in Israel.
 
Technion or US DO - which would you take? I am feeling that Technion seems very risky and I don't want to be stuck in Israel.

I decided on DO but there's pros and cons to both! But with the merger happening in the near future, DO is a bit more appealing than it used to be. Also I wanted to stay on the west coast and the technion didn't seem to ever match there. Message me if you want someone to discuss it with!
 
Technion or US DO - which would you take? I am feeling that Technion seems very risky and I don't want to be stuck in Israel.
Do you want to be a DO? Do you want to learn OMM? Do you want to take the USMLE and COMLEX? Just some things to consider.
 
I don't really want to be a DO. OMM seems like a waste of time that nobody seems to use and I would rather use that time to study for the USMLEs.
 
I would go to Technion over a DO... but then again I'm like you. I don't like OMM and I would rather just study for the USMLEs. Some other people don't care as much as just want to be a doctor - whether that is DO or MD.
 
Has anyone heard anything from the admissions office recently? Any movement on the waitlist?

And finally--Does anyone know how many people got in so far?

Thanks
 
Thanks everyone for all the info and things to think about.

I have a 28 MCAT and just graduated with a 3.82 cGPA from a great Canadian university.

I interviewed with Technion just over 3 weeks ago and have not yet heard back. Does the answer come by Mail or email?

I also interviewed with Sackler and was waitlisted.

MSIH is not for me so i didn't even apply.

I applied to US Med schools, but very late in the application cycle and didn't get an interview anywhere. I also didn't get any interviews at Canadian Med schools either. It's crazy just how competitive med schools are now!

I know my MCAT is low and although I only took it once, I have no interest in taking it again.

My main dilemma, is whether I should wait another year and apply early to the US med schools again and to the Canadian ones, or, if I get into the Israeli schools, if I should go there instead and not risk losing a spot in med school.

I have some friends and relatives in Israel but i know it would be a culture shock and is far away from home. Additionally, I am a little worried about being branded an IMG.

Any thoughts?
TIA.
 
Thanks everyone for all the info and things to think about.

I have a 28 MCAT and just graduated with a 3.82 cGPA from a great Canadian university.

I interviewed with Technion just over 3 weeks ago and have not yet heard back. Does the answer come by Mail or email?

I also interviewed with Sackler and was waitlisted.

MSIH is not for me so i didn't even apply.

I applied to US Med schools, but very late in the application cycle and didn't get an interview anywhere. I also didn't get any interviews at Canadian Med schools either. It's crazy just how competitive med schools are now!

I know my MCAT is low and although I only took it once, I have no interest in taking it again.

My main dilemma, is whether I should wait another year and apply early to the US med schools again and to the Canadian ones, or, if I get into the Israeli schools, if I should go there instead and not risk losing a spot in med school.

I have some friends and relatives in Israel but i know it would be a culture shock and is far away from home. Additionally, I am a little worried about being branded an IMG.

Any thoughts?
TIA.

I'm in the same boat except I got into NYCOM also but Im not sure I want to go there. I really could retake the MCAT and do better because I was having a bad day that day and reapply but I am not in the mood for that and just want to get med school started already. I'm also nervous about the culture shock and being away from family. If you haven't gotten accepted yet though I would start preparing to reapply next year.
 
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I got accepted to Technion! And it was by email for who would like know.
 
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Hi. I got into Technion today and I'm trying to figure out what the story is with the school. I hear people say that it is a great program and then I hear other people say that many people do not match. Has anyone done extensive research into how likely you are to get a normal residency from Technion?
 
Hi everyone, I'm a current student in the TeAMS program and when I applied there was no info out there for me so I know how frustrating it may be. I want to help and answer your questions. If you are serious about applying/joining our medical school, shoot me a private message and I'll try to answer questions as best I can.
 
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