Prestige of Medical School

[mathlegend]

Does the prestige of your medical school matter for obtaining a residency? For anything in the future?

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[DLi]

Does the prestige of your medical school matter for obtaining a residency? For anything in the future?

Yes, the prestige of your medical school does matter, to varying degrees depending on each person.

Obviously someone from the top of the class at Harvard or Johns Hopkins would be considered better than someone from the top of the class at University of South Florida.

But then comes other factors like class rank, the amount of research you do, and just how well you did on the residency application.

Don't sweat it too hard now and work to getting into a top 10 medical school.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Prestige is a very minor factor if you're going to practice clinical medicine. it matters more if you're going to do research or academics. You'll get the same education everywhere you go. It's just a matter of the connections you make along the way.

Obviously someone from the top of the class at Harvard or Johns Hopkins would be considered better than someone from the top of the class at University of South Florida.

Is that really obvious? Med school isn't like college.

But then comes other factors like class rank, the amount of research you do, and just how well you did on the residency application.

Class rank is certainly important, but research isn't a big deal for most specialties. I'm not sure what you mean about "doing well on the residency application," but the personal statement is one of the least important things about your application, according to NRMP data. That's the only thing I can think of that would be subjective and up to you where residency application is concerned.

 

[nlax30]

Prestige is a very minor factor if you're going to practice clinical medicine. it matters more if you're going to do research or academics. You'll get the same education everywhere you go. It's just a matter of the connections you make along the way.

A big +1. There is a LOT to be said for networking and who you know. The other, probably biggest factor, is that you rotate at a program you are interested in and work your butt off there. If they see that you work hard, are a team player, and someone they could see themselves getting along with and working with for the next few years that will probably be the biggest factor in the decision.

And it also depends where you want to do residency and in what sort of program.

 

[mathlegend]

Thanks for the responses guys. I'm thinking of surgery now, but who knows what might happen. After all, I'm still in high school

 

[lrkoehle]

It's just a matter of the connections you make along the way.

I would say this is one of the most important things in all of life, but for residency this is why you do away rotations. My wife's sister-in-law has two away rotations set up at two residency programs she plans on applying to next year.

 

[BigRedBeta]

Depends a lot on the specialty, but overall, it's not even as big of factor as people here are making it out to be. Like college work and getting into med school, it matters a lot more what you've done than the name that's going to be on your degree. A high prestige school isn't going to make up for poor board scores or a horrible interview.

Further, if you're just a pre-med right now, you have no idea what life has in store for you. Most people don't choose residency programs based on prestige or name. There might be a few, but they're rare exceptions. If you go straight from undergrad to med school, you'll be about 26 or 27 when you're beginning as an intern, you might be married, have a child, have bought a house, need to look out for aging grandparents or even parents, or your career plans might have changed because of unique opportunities in specific locations. Never mind the fact that you might not even like the "big name" residency programs you interview at - don't like the hospital, don't like the other residents, don't like the program director, don't like the educational setup, don't like the call schedule, don't like the benefits, don't like the city, don't like the cost of living, don't like the weather, so on and so forth (or your spouse/SO doesn't like any of those things). You have to remember that you're looking at residencies as potential jobs - there are alot of factors that go into your overall hapiness than just prestige...

The bottom line, focus on getting good grades in HS now and getting into a college where you can be successful, regardless of whether you stay pre-med or end up doing something else entirely.

 

[Aladdin]

Prestige is a very minor factor if you're going to practice clinical medicine. it matters more if you're going to do research or academics. You'll get the same education everywhere you go. It's just a matter of the connections you make along the way.

Is that really obvious? Med school isn't like college.

Class rank is certainly important, but research isn't a big deal for most specialties. I'm not sure what you mean about "doing well on the residency application," but the personal statement is one of the least important things about your application, according to NRMP data. That's the only thing I can think of that would be subjective and up to you where residency application is concerned.

Well said. If you are tops in your class and do well on USMLEs from any school, you will get the residency you want.

 

[mathlegend]

Top of class...that may be tough...pretty much everyone in med school is smart

 

[MilkmanAl]

You don't have to be AT the top of your class. Basically, you just want to stay out of the bottom 1/3, if at all possible. If you're not at the VERY top, it's not going to make a whole lot of difference other than that, from what I hear.

 

[45408]

Top of class...that may be tough...pretty much everyone in med school is smart

It really depends on what you want to do. If you're just looking to be a good clinician, there are many programs in many residencies that will do a good job of training you. There are some residencies that are competitive no matter where they are (derm, plastics, rad onc, ortho, etc), but there are many more that are fairly readily available.