OHSU vs University of Miami

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

CoinFlip2242

New Member
5+ Year Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2017
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Hi all, in keeping with the consistent trends of having to decide in a few days, I'd like to hear your opinions on advice between picking these excellent institutions.

Oregon Health & Science University
+
Research Prestige factor, well-known regional lay prestige, well-known national medical prestige
+I want to come back, work and settle down in the PNW when I'm somewhat older and wiser eventually
+Parents are hard-working and have saved money their whole lives. They insist on paying for my tuition 100% (Blessed to be in this position). But they are not by any means extremely/filthy rich, and I want minimize their financial strain if I can to do this for me. I plan on taking on some loans ~15K/year for cost of living and other stuff.
+P/F
+Very close to immediate family: parents, sister, grandma, and where I grew up/went to high school
-Very close to immediate family. I am absolutely am ready to get out of the PNW rain
-Out of State Tuition $65,000 per year !!! (You can probably guess what state I live in lol)
-Many students I've talked to say the school grants a lot of independence in learning but not much in terms of support of their students
-Interview day didn't vibe well with the current students or applicants
-New curriculum not translating to higher step averages

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (MD only)
+
Had an excellent interview day, felt like I fit in with students. Explored the city, LOVE Miami
+About $42,000 yearly tuition which saves my parents about 20-25K per year
+Fantastic Clinical exposure (Jackson Memorial, Ryder Trauma, etc) and 24/7 opportunities to volunteer in multi-hospital UHealth and DOCS in South Florida
+Global health trips are frequent and established
+Sunny Weather and beaches while it's not storm/hurricane season
+Matches well to competitive specialties (yes, I know it's like reading tea leaves)
-Hybrid P/F aka Percentiles given and ranked amongst peers pre-clinicals
-Pre-clinical curriculum has some issues according to students I've talked to; also relatively low step averages
-Spanish is basically Miami's predominant language, English second. I took 4 years in HS and have a basic understanding but I think I would be at a disadvantage here as I think a large portion of the patient population only speak Spanish.
-Lower research grant $$, however I think they do a good job with helping finding students research opportunities, not a huge negative
-Literally the opposite end of America from home

Summary: Currently, I haven't shadowed enough to know for sure what I want to specialize in, but I don't want to limit myself in any way if I end up wanting to pursue something more competitive like an IM subspecialty or surgery. My parents would like me to stay close to home at OHSU and have been telling me to stop worrying about saving their finances because "they choose to spend their money how they like to". To tell you the truth if I didn't love my family so much I would be enrolling at Miami in a heart beat. I am worried about only seeing them 1-2 times per year. My SO works in Seattle, she's ready to uproot and be with me in Miami but if I choose OHSU she thinks that she would be keeping her job and having us be long distance (3 hours or so driving down I-5). Thanks guys for reading all of this.

Members don't see this ad.
 
This is a family vs. career option here. Honestly, it looks like Miami is a better school overall -- their match list is much stronger, as OHSU is known to have a weak matchlist. If family were not a factor at all, I would say Miami offers better opportunities at a lower cost. I'm surprised that you put Spanish as a negative, but I guess not everyone wants to work with a diverse population. However, if you think family is most important, then really it cancels everything I said before. While I would say Miami offers better academic opportunities at a lower cost, it isn't that much significantly better than OHSU either.
 
Speaking for UM, learning Spanish helps but I don't think you'll be at much of a disadvantage if you don't know it. Many attendings and residents at UM don't even know Spanish, and I doubt the one's that do will judge you for not speaking it. Jackson has many options for translation, which, while not ideal is used frequently since not everyone can speak all the dominant languages in South Florida (English, Spanish, Creole).
 
@ivybme yes, the draw of the diversity, scope and amount of the Clinical Experiences and training I would gain at Miami is certainly enticing.

@ace_inhibitor111 Thanks a lot for your input. I've seen lots of doctors use translator phones at the hospital I work at to communicate with non English-speaking patients and I think it's an extremely slow and unreliable method of translation. I feel like they miss a lot of important history or things get "lost in translation". Looks like I'll have to brush on my Spanish! But regardless, I'm super excited and I've committed to Miami!
 
Top